Automotive Technicians Technical Discussion and Fixes for Feb 28, 2004

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(Also Available: All, Asian, Chrysler, European, Ford, GM.)
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	Help Request	Answers
	1990 BMW 735iL 3.5L central locking VIN: WBAGC4316L When locking this car, intermittently it will not double lock. This is noted as the factory alarm system DWA does not engage (no flashing red light on dash) and the whole car unlocks when opening the trunk. However we know that the microswitch and general modu...	View
	1996 Cadillac Seville SLS 4.6L Misfire VIN: 1G6KS52Y3T This thing is pulling out what i have left of my hair. It keeps cracking the number 5 plug. We have installed 5 new ones all Ac Delco by different sockets, by different Techs, and the Plug still cracks. It has all new parts around it. We look down the hole and... Trouble codes: P0305	View
	1995 Chevrolet Lumina 3.1L Unknown VIN: 2G1W152M45 HELLO EVRERY ONE . car came in with brake light broplem only the one in the mid. works the left nad the right do not work all the fuses aer ok wires all good brak swith has ben replace . thank you .	View
	1996 Chevrolet K1500 Suburban 5.7L drive axle seal VIN: 1GDFK16R4T front axle seals are leaking at the differential. All data says to use a slide hammer to remove the axle shaft from the differential but this thing just won't budge.Passenger side came out just fine.Do I need to remove and or disassemble the differential? Any ...	View
	2001 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 4.8L MIL Lamp on, No Communication VIN: 1GCEC19V51 No communication any time, brought in for Mil on all the time. (service engine soon light) will not communicate with the scanner. I used a jumper wire direct to battery on the ground side and it made no difference. Have any of you GM guys seen bad PCMs on thes...	View
	1995 Chrysler Avenger 2.5L 2-3 shift VIN: 4B3AU52N0S Shifts 1st 2nd then feels like a couple of pulses of pressure into 3rd then falres and goes into limp mode. What is the best way to test the trans. computer? Waiting on a test pressure plate that goes between the value body and case. For pressure testing the...	View
	1998 Dodge Ram 1500 Laramie 5.9L Dome Lights, VTSS, Door Locks, RKE VIN: 3B7HF13Z2W OK all you Dodge guys, This one is killin' me. This truck originally came in with a complaint of the dome lights "ON" at all times. 1st let me say I do not have a DRBIII at my disposal. The snap-on MT2500 I do have would communicate but data limited. However, ...	View
	1989 Ford F-150 Custom 5.0L No Start VIN: 2FTDF15N2K This Truck came to me from a Body shop. Fuel line broke and the vehicle caught on fire. Damage to the engine wiring harness and many engine components. The Body shop replaced all the burnt item's with used parts. I checked the computer and got the codes listed... Trouble codes: 22 (Baro/Map Range high), 35 (EVP/PFE High), 51 (ect -40f), 52 (PSPS open), 53 (TPS High), 54 (act/vat -40f)	View
	1996 Ford F-350 Special 7.5L No Start VIN: 1FDKF37GXT This truck either doesn't start, or starts and runs really bad. The customer already turned the distributor, but the timing seems to be erratic, even with the spout connector disconnected. My noid light on an injector is also erratic. Some times it flashes rea... Trouble codes: P0320 (PIP circuit failure), P1351 (IDM Ckt input malfunction), P0230 (fuel pump primary)	View
	1997 Ford Taurus GL 3.0L Hesitation, Cuts out, Stall Car starts up runs perfect, 2 minutes into stop and go test runs a little unstable like egr comes on then it might just shut off or it might not, then when depressing gas pedal shudders and then pops and stalls goes on for about 3 to 8 minutes then car runs li...	View
	1999 Ford Explorer XL 4.0L Air Bag Light VIN: 1FMZU32X4X Hello Techs, I got a 99 Explorer that has a code B1998 read with my Snap On Scanner for the passenger side air bag circuit. Previously I had cleaned the connector under the passenger seat that was really just a jumper plug the connection was not dirty nor dis...	View
	1994 Honda Accord EX 2.2L slow downshift VIN: 1HGCD5659R I am working on 94 accord with an automatic that is has been acting a little strange for sometime. As you slow down to around 18 mph as in coming to a turn or driving in a developement as you go to gently accel the trans will jump to first for an instant rathe...	View
	1994 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo 4.0L Excessive Emissions, No Start, Poor Idle Quality, Hesitation, Surge, Cuts out, Stall, Misfire, MIL Lamp on VIN: 449GKGUEYU hi all, please help.i have this jeep i am working on. it starts ok when cold and seems to run ok. once warmed up if you accelerate real hard it will start to break up the get worse the more you push it. with a few start and stops it may even stall. i have tra...	View
	2000 Jeep Wrangler Sport 4.0L blower motor VIN: 1J4FA49S6Y a buddy of mine bought his jeep over and the blower motor would only operate very slowly in the high position and his truck had been doing this for a week and then no operation. So i pulled out the blower resistor and this was not working. Put in a new resisto...	View
	1996 Land Rover Range Rover SE 4.0L right front turn signal lamp VIN: SALPV1245T Hello! I wonder if any Land Rover technician had such problem: The front right turn signal light bulb is on all the time, aven with ignition OFF. Other lights work OK. Left and turn signals on sides and rear work OK. According to wiring diagram, the signal to ...	View
	1996 Lexus ES300 3.0L Misfire This Lexus came in running horrible. Misfire po302. Removed plugs, all show signs of fouling, but #2 was caked with sludge. Gap was filled. Compression about 150 except #2 was about 125, but thought there was washdown from misfire. Replaced plugs and wires, ch... Trouble codes: P0302	View
	1995 Mazda Millenia 2.5L No Start, Poor Idle Quality, Hesitation, Cuts out, Stall, Misfire VIN: JM1TA2212S i guess my first mistake was not test driving this vehicle,customer complained of a miss after coming back from dealership-she also explained that they recommened a major tune up. so i replaced her plug wires,plugs,cap and rotor.and there was almost no change ...	View
	1986 Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3 2.3L Excessive Emissions, Poor Fuel Economy VIN: WDBDA24D4G Hello MB fans. This car is running very rich!! It clogged the cat and fouled the plugs. The fuel pressure on the line going to the cold start valve is 80psi. Is this too high? I dont have fittings to check it anywhere else. I also checked the eha, with the koe...	View
	1998 Mercedes-Benz C280 2.8L electric windows VIN: WDBHA29GIW the right rear window does not operate from the door switch , it function fine from the front console switches . the door switch has 3 wires , the middle wire has a voltage , the right window has 3 volts , the left window that function has 12v .the 98 intro bo...	View
	1992 Mercury Grand Marquis LS 4.6L Convertor shudder & 4-2 runnaway (cold) VIN: 2MECM75W2N Hello all you fellow transmission techs. I have this taxi that has been reintroduced to me several months after rebuild with a couple of its doing the same as before complaints. Well I can assure you its not the same as before because it would barely move when...	View
	1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse RS 2.0L MIL Lamp on VIN: 4A3AK34Y4X Hi friends, This car has the same MIL codes that it had when they took it to the dealer,or atleast one.(see history) Im not sure if the dealer was too lazy to erase them ,and these are old or not. I wish they came with a date on them. The car is'nt acting up n... Trouble codes: P0300, P0301, P0302	View
	1986 Nissan Maxima SE 3.0L Poor Idle Quality, Surge high idle when cold and surging between 1500-2100 rpm's when warm. found poor connection at tp sensor and repaired. was told that air flow sensor or ect could cause this. decided to let nissan due injector recall with no help to idle. they informed me that it ...	View
	1991 Nissan 240SX 2.4L Excessive Emissions, MIL Lamp on VIN: JN1MS36P9M Hi, I have an EGR related problem that seems simple but has me stumped! This vehicle failed the CA smog check with excessive NOX and HC emissions. EGR valve will get a vacuum signal but will not open the valve fully - only open partially and flutter. This is n... Trouble codes: 32 (EGR Circuit Problem), 34 (KNOCK SENSOR open or shorted)	View
	1995 Nissan Altima GLE 2.4L No gauges, no idiot lights VIN: 1N4BU31DOS The car will start and drive, but few electrical circuits seem to have any power. The headlights work, but tail and parking lights do not. None of the dash instruments, including the tach work. There is a red plastic clip attached to the positive battery termi...	View
	1991 Plymouth Acclaim 2.5L Hesitation, Surge, Cuts out VIN: 1P3XA46K6M Hi Gang. Got an intermittent one here. Supposedly acts as if it is running out of gas after driving it on the freeway. I drove it on the interstate yesterday about 20 miles with no problems. Just listening to the fuel pump when you first turn on the key it sou...	View
	1991 Pontiac Grand Prix LE 3.1L Excessive Emissions, Poor Idle Quality, Surge, Cuts out, MIL Lamp on VIN: 1G2WH54T2M This car has been a problem for months. Sometimes won't idle. Now car is acting up all the time.At idle, up to TPS of .98 volts, car runs lean, o2 at o volts, iac counts to 198. Above TPS of .98 volts, it snaps right out of it, o2 comes back, iac counts down, ... Trouble codes: 31 (Map Sensor high), 44 (lean fuel)	View
	1998 Volkswagen Jetta TDI 1.9L MIL Lamp on, hard start VIN: 3VWRF81HOW Hope there are some VW guys out there reading mail.This Jetta has run me to the end of my info. and I'm still no closer to a repair.The original reason it came in was MIL illuminated.Glow plug light also flashing.Rpm sensor code could cause the flashing and af... Trouble codes: P0321, P0605, P0380	View
	2000 Volkswagen Passat GLS 1.8L Mechanical Hi vw techs car was towed in and found the valve bent.The timing belt had slipped.Have you seen this over there? Joseph [...] christian autotech praying network	View

Fixes & Summaries for All Makes and Models

	Fix/Summary	Answers
	1999 Acura Integra LS 1.8L Poor Idle Quality, Surge VIN: JH4DC435XX We removed the idle control solenoid, cleaned the ports. the ports were not very dirty though. The tps voltage was close enough not to cause a problem. The high o2 voltage was a bad heated o2 sensor. Now the fix, on the a/c liquid line there is a pressure sens... Trouble codes: P0505.	6
	1999 Buick Park Avenue 3.8L harsh engagement VIN: 1G4CW52K4X Hello Fellow Techs, thanks to all who responded. I'm sorry this took so long. The reason is the customer took the car to a nearby transmission shop with our recommendations and had the PCS (pressure control solonoid) changed by them. The entire cost for parts,...	5
	2000 Buick LeSabre Custom 3.8L Charging VIN: 1G4HR54K8I we received 13 replies with alot of good imfomation,most responses suggested intermitant drains caused by faulty alternator regulators or diodes,very common on delco alternators.some suggested checking for poor ground at right front fender.several informed us ...	12
	1990 Chevrolet G20 Chevy Van 5.7L Poor Idle Quality, Stall VIN: 2GCEG25K7L I did find a problem with the pick up after removing the dist. this was a strange one as I scoped the pickup coil & got a good signal. Trouble codes: 44 (Lean exaust).	6
	2000 Chevrolet Astro 4.3L No Start VIN: 1GCDM19W2Y Relpaded the fuel injector assy. Used scanner to cycle injector and the fuel pressure never change. R&R injector assy. it was very dirty. Replaced injector assy. Van run good with new injector. Thanks to all Brian	28
	2000 Chevrolet Suburban 1500 LT 5.3L tcc VIN: 3GNFK16T1Y The Suburban did indeed have a valve body problem. Installation of part of a Transgo shift kit cured the symptom & made the trans shift nicely. I only recommend that you do this modification if you have been in valve bodies before. If not, I strongly recommend...	10
	1994 Chrysler Intrepid 3.3L No Start, no start cold VIN: 2C3EH56T8R It's tail lights down the road for this one!!! I had many different suggestions. The two similair ones were cam sensor and plugs. I noticed on the scan tool when I attempted to start and it would fire then stall the cam sensor would drop out a fraction of a se...	11
	1989 Dodge Dakota 3.9L Poor Idle Quality, Surge, Stall VIN: 1B7FL26XXK Sorry for the late reply. We are a small family business and my Dad was ill. Recieved 13 replies, most mentioned distributor drive bushing, vacuum leaks, bad battery, and EGR valve. I adjusted the idle control motor screw and the customer reports that all is w...	13
	2000 Dodge Caravan 3.0L Surge, Misfire, MIL Lamp on VIN: 2B4GP2535Y I received three answers to my request. One I really believe was the actual problem, which was a cracked flexplate. There was some indication that something was amiss because we could see inside the crank sensor hole with a boroscope and things just didn't loo... Trouble codes: P1391 (cam/crank sensor missmatch).	4
	2001 Dodge Intrepid ES 2.7L No Start, MIL Lamp on, poss. cam sensor VIN: 2C3HH46RX1 thanks to all that replied. Most were bang on there was a difference in the tone wheel size. supplier of the replacement motor swears they were the same year manufacture but we found that they had 2 different wheels as most replies said they could. removed old... Trouble codes: 0340 (no cam signal at pcm).	8
	1997 Ford f800 5.9L backup electric motor running intermittently VIN: 1FDNF80C4V I recieved 4 replies from techs who were familar with the system. From the replies I recieved I found the module. The flow switch was replaced previously so I decided to cover all the other bases. I replaced the module, switch at the brake pedal, relay by hydr...	4
	1996 GMC Yukon SL 5.7L transfer case VIN: 3GKEK18ROT It took a few weeks to get the Yukon back to take another look at it for the transfer case stuck in 4LO. I was stumped after running the diagnostic flowchart G from the Alldata and coming up with replace the TCCM and that not being the problem. I recommended t...	2
	1999 GMC K1500 Suburban SLE 5.7L MIL Lamp on VIN: 1GKFK16R6X Thank you everyone sor the help. Customer reports problem is solved and light is not coming back on. Trouble codes: P0141 (O2 sensorheater malfunction Bank 1-Sensor 2).	29
	1999 Honda Passport EX 3.2L cyl head ? VIN: 4S6CM58W0X the fix is done,my bad.found info{finaly}in MOD for holding cam gears with 5mm bolt.nicely,it can be done without removing t-belt.thanks to all who responded.	8
	1996 Isuzu Rodeo S 3.2L Excessive Emissions, Poor Idle Quality, Hesitation VIN: 4S2CM58VOT Well, here's the fix. As is common with problems occurring after engine repairs, we found the other shop had mixed up the wiring harness where the o2 sensors hooked up. The left and right harnesses for the o2 sensors were reversed, but to make things worse... Trouble codes: P0174 (system too lean bank 2).	9
	1991 Jeep Cherokee Limited 4.0L Engine quits VIN: 1J4FJ78S9M The overflow tube from the radiator had a split in it. It was spraying coolant onto the fuse panel and shorting the 30 amp fuse! We believe this is what was causing the blown fuse and car dying. We made the fix about two weeks ago and the customer says it has ...	6
	1996 Mazda Protege DX 1.5L No Start, Hard Start Cold VIN: KM1BB141XT Well, it's been 2 weeks and the customer says the car has never run better. I verified cam timing, base ignition timing, and compression before letting it sit outside over night. The next day I went to start it and it would just crank and fire here and there. ...	12
	1999 Mazda Protege DX 1.6L fan belts VIN: JM1BJ2229X Hello all, New factory reman alternator seemed to have done the trick. I also replaced the slotted aftermarket serpentine belt as well with a Mazda belt. Like I said, we held a straight edge to the pulleys to check for alignment and they seemed pretty good but...	5
	1974 Mercedes-Benz 280 2.7L oil pressure VIN: 1140601210 Thanks for all the replies. As expected , the car was not worth to fix, especially when probably was driven without oil pressure for at least half an hour (until noise from engine was heard and noticing no pressure on the gauge). I agree with some guys, that t...	12
	1986 Mercedes-Benz 300SDL 3.0L Alarm VIN: WDBCB25DOG Thanks for all the help, the anti-tow device was behind the panel covering the gas tank area in the trunk. The attaching bracket was broken and it wou;d roll over and set off the alarm. I disconnected it and taped over the connector, the car has been gone for ...	10
	1996 Mitsubishi Diamante ES 3.0L abs VIN: EF36A00012 only one reply of any use. the member faxed me some info on code 54. abs pump motor on, and somewiring diagrams. so the wiring was checked and fond to be ok. and because the fault was so intermiant i thought id try a motor relay. Ive been driving the car for 2...	4
	2000 Plymouth Voyager SE 3.3L Steering wheel VIN: 1P4GP45GXY Thanks for all the responses. I actually found a combination of problems which all added together could cuase quite a shake in the wheel. Oddly enough the vehicle had a slighly bent right axle shaft and a bent left front rim. When I changed the axle shafts it ...	8
	1989 Pontiac Grand Prix 3.1L MIL Lamp on VIN: 1G2WJ14T5K Received 8-9 replies, most mentioning the problems with the PCM (the infamous GM 1227727), PROM, K/S, or connecting wiring. Since all these items had been changed (a couple more than once), it was decided to back off and re-evaluate. Turns out I was wrong ab... Trouble codes: 43 (ESC Problem).	9
	1996 Pontiac Grand Am GT 2.4L Camshaft/ Power steering pump VIN: 1G2NW12TJT The chamshaft on this vehicle has a pressed in dive bushing to drive the power steering pump. The bushing had gotten pushed up too far into the camshaft. After spending too much time trying to get it to pull out we replaced the camshaft and all is well except ...	3
	1998 Pontiac Grand Am GT 2.4L Excessive Emissions, Poor Idle Quality, Misfire, MIL Lamp on VIN: 1G2NW12T2W Thanks for all that replied 5 in all. Most were correct in one way or another. First i checked the fuel regulator again and it was dry. I let it sit overnight with it disconnected (This was by chance) and next morning i came in and sure enough it had fuel leak...	5
	1992 Saturn SL 1.9L brake pedal VIN: 1G8ZF5497N cust. has not returned. from replies received the most likely repair would be caliper slides rusted and not allowing proper operation. thanks for all the help.	16
	1993 Saturn SL2 1.9L Reverse VIN: 1G8ZK5573P Greetings, most replies stated the the valve body is the culprit for the harsh park to reverse engagement. Pressure level too high being the issue. The failed mounts were caused by this pressure condition Customer opted to service the vehicle at a tranny shop....	6
	1997 Volkswagen Jetta GL 2.0L MIL Lamp on VIN: 3VW5A31H6U thanks to all.i will get them back in asap to clean t-body.also going to check with otc for better info with the euro software.unfortunetly we no longer have a snap-on dealer{retired}and no replacement yet. Trouble codes: 16684 (random misfire), 16688 (cyl misfire), 17990 (idle adadation at limit).	10

(Also Available: All, Asian, Chrysler, European, Ford, GM.)