Automotive Technicians Technical Discussion and Fixes for Apr 27, 2006

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	Help Request	Answers
	1987 Audi 4000 Quattro CS 2.2L No Start, Stall VIN: WAUFB0851H This is an EBAY special. Car is no start cold (with out assistance. Starting fluid until warm then runs OK). We have a flashing cooling temp warning on dash. Coolant level is good, and maintains a constant temp of 182 at top of rad with IR temp gauge once engi...	View
	1999 Audi A8 4.2L Torq.converter/gear incorect ratio VIN: WABG34D7XN Vehicle came with 8 codes:16524,16825,16839,17606,17607,17915 and 2 transmission code:17087-Torq.converter/brake sw B circuit malfunction and 17114 -gear incorrect ratio.Test O2 sensors and EVAP System,found 2 O2 sensors B1S2,B2S2 and Purge valve bad,replace b...	View
	1997 BMW 528i 2.8L vanos VIN: WBADD6324V Customer brought in car for an oil leak that was traced to the head gasket. Marked position of cams and chain (used no special tools) R&Red cylinder head. Car started fine, performed road test, again eveything seemed fine. Delivered car to customer and after h...	View
	1999 BMW M3 3.2L No power stering VIN: WBSBK9334X Car came in with no power steering. I replaced the rack first with a reman from world pack. That changed nothing. I then replaced the pump. A reman zf from bmw. At that point it got better but still not like it should be. Real stiff on a dry steer. Sterring wh...	View
	2000 Cadillac DeVille 4.6L Brake light switch VIN: 1G6KD54YXY Driver's information center said electrical system failure. Scanned vehicle for codes. Extracted PO1574 [brake light switch circuit]. Alldata doesn't give much info on this code. Made sure all the brake lights were working. I could replace the brake light swit...	View
	2001 Cadillac DeVille 4.6L Rear Aux HVAC VIN: 1G6KD54Y42 The car owner complained of no A/C cooling in the rear Aux ducts. I found the unit's aux blower mower working fine, along with the duct blend air motor. Agfter watching pid data I found when these controls are commanded by the switches I see no activity in my ...	View
	1997 Chevrolet Express 1500 5.7L MIL Lamp on VIN: 1GBFG15R8V hi all i have this van with a reoccuring p1441 ran through the flow chart on it and ended up replacing the vacuum switch in front of the purge solinoid, came back with same code checked the system for any charcoal granules in the purge solinoid and lines back ... Trouble codes: P1441 (evap system flow during non purge)	View
	1998 Chevrolet S10 LS 2.2L MIL Lamp on VIN: 1GCCS1949W vehicle came in with mil light on , no driveability complaints, scanned system & found p1133, o2 sensors reading normal on scanner. front changing rapidly from 100-1000, rear sensor staying lower 65-170 when warm. system is going in closed loop. i can add fuel... Trouble codes: 1133 (insufficent switching sensor 1)	View
	2001 Chevrolet Tahoe 5.3L Rear wiper motor VIN: 1GNEK13T91 Rear wiper motor on this Tahoe moves erratically or not at all, module clicks continuously. Trouble shooting on Mitchell seems fairly easily, check powers, grounds and switch. Wiring diagram looks very basic, testing looks obvious. Trouble tree leads to replac...	View
	1992 Dodge W250 5.9L Rear Brakes VIN: 3BTKM23C1N Customer complaint is poor braking action. Replaced booster due to vacuum leak (warranty). Test drove and found no rear brake action. Put it on a lift and you can't even stop the wheels with eng. running and trans engaged. Rear shoes look ok, no oil, etc. rear...	View
	1997 Dodge Ram 2500 5.9L alternator VIN: 1B7KF26D1V we have tried everything under the sun to repair this problem new oe pcm crank sensor and two different alt. still no help it will usally work for about ten minutes when cold then slowly drops until gen light comes on	View
	2003 Fiat PUNTO SPICE 1.25L Excessive Emissions VIN: NO VIN Dear Fiat tech, i got this car for regular service and found that spark plugs was very black . check the car gases and found C0 over than 10 % when idle. cleaned throttle and inlent manifold and got CO = 6 - 6.5 - 7 %. took the car my neighbour authorised ...	View
	1989 Ford Aerostar Eddie Bauer 3.0L No Start, Poor Idle Quality, Stall, Misfire, lacks power VIN: 1FMCA11U4K This "simple pushrod 3.0L" van got weaker over a couple weeks until it became a no start. By spraying carb cleaner in the intake it will start and sometimes stay running very roughly if it is warm enough. It will run slightly rough but extremely weak when warm...	View
	1998 Ford Ranger Splash 4.0L MIL Lamp on VIN: 1FTZR15X2W this ranger runs ok but keeps setting the rich codes.i have replaced the maf and fuel pressure reg with no change.have plugged evap purge checked air intake for restriction its ok.fuel pressure will drop 20lbs in 10 minutes.any suggestions will be appreciated.... Trouble codes: P0172 (rich bank 1), P0175 (rich bank 2)	View
	1999 Ford Windstar SE 3.8L Misfire VIN: 2FMDA5241X This vehicle came in with a block heater popped out. We replaced it and then tested to system. We found the head gaskets were leaking. We replaced head gaskets and then we noticed a running rough at idle. Tested the injectors, ignition sytem, compression and l... Trouble codes: 172 (02 sensor lean), 174 (02 sensor lean)	View
	1999 Ford Crown Victoria LX 4.6L abs module VIN: 2FAFP74W7X Greetings Customer brought in this Crown Victoria complaing of the ABS light on. Using my Modis I pulled a B1342, faulty ABS control unit. Alldata info is very limited on this code. I performed a pinout test on the plug at the control module and everything se...	View
	2001 Ford E-350 Econoline 7.3L Surge, Stall VIN: 1FTSE34F51 Vehicle was towed in with surge, hesitation and delayed shifting. Vehicle would stall and not restart imediately but would restart after sitting for 5-10 min. A PO340 (CAM SENSOR/CIRCUIT MAL-FUNCTION) code was set after vehicle stalled a few times ( NOT RIGHT ...	View
	1991 Jeep Cherokee Limited 4.0L MIL Lamp on VIN: 1J4FJT69L1 hi all tech out there can some help me how to reset this emmission maint lamp i tried with modis after reset and start vehicle a maint lamp back on again check with jeep dealer 1991 above not equip with timer or some one know about this this vehicle from canad...	View
	1999 Land Rover Range Rover SE 4.0L Steering Hose VIN: SALPA1242X Hi Folks, Got this 99 Rover 4.0 S that every so often make a loud groan, almost sounds like some large mammal bellowing out a call of the wild. Its clear when it does it , the noise emanate from the power steering hi pressure hose; however, I don't feel any l...	View
	1991 Lexus LS400 4.0L Hesitation, Cuts out VIN: JT8UF11E8M Hello Toyota/Lexus techs, this is a strange one. This car will cut out under light accel/tip in at cruise speeds. Pulled a code for tps, thought I had it nailed, but tps shows no faults when graphed under load, idle switch operation normal, timing set to spec....	View
	2001 Lexus IS300 3.0L MIL Lamp on VIN: JTHBD18271 This car came in a couple of weeks ago with cel on and code P1780 stored for the gear selector switch. I checked the wiring from the switch to the ecm and all i found was a bad spot in the switch in park position. Replaced switch and now the car is back with t... Trouble codes: P1780 (Trans selector switch)	View
	1993 Mercedes-Benz 300E 3.2L Poor Idle Quality, Surge VIN: WDBEA32E2P any benz techs! this car came in from one shop to dealer to me. Customer states that upon startup the ASR light will illuminate, idle will race at 1500rpm for few min's at which time the idle will drop and surge from 650 to 1000rpm's. At first pedal depression...	View
	2000 Mercedes-Benz E430 4.3L steering control VIN: WDBJ1F83J1 This vehicle pulls in direction the steering was last moved. Feels like the steering does not return to center. Causes constant steering correction while driving, especially on crowned or poor road surfaces. The symptom reminds me of sticking ball joints on a ...	View
	1999 Mercury Tracer LS 2.0L Hesitation VIN: 3MEFM15P2X The car came in with a check engine light and a cruise only intermittent misfire. P1408 and P0402 codes in memory. Tests showed DPFE Sensor Failed. Customer returned next day with complaint that the miss was still there. To me it felt like an ignition miss. At...	View
	1992 Mitsubishi 3000GT VR-4 3.0L Cuts out, Misfire VIN: JA3XE74C1N came in for a waterpump and rough run we did the pump and tbelt and said needed tune and declined. 2 months later came back did tune found plugs were good but did them and wires still was dropping 3-6 coil replaced it then checked the arcives and should have k...	View
	2002 Nissan Sentra SE-R 2.5L MIL Lamp on VIN: 3N1AB51D12 Thanks for any help! This one came in today with a PO031 O2 heater code. I ran through the verification test and it resets every time. The rest of the test I managed to get off the Nissan tech site says to check for battery voltage at O2 plug - ok. Then says t... Trouble codes: P0031	View
	1996 Plymouth Grand Voyager 3.0L No Start VIN: JFJJFGF587 Any help would be appreciated.	View
	1995 Pontiac Grand Prix SE 3.1L engine VIN: 1G2WJ12M9S After 10 minutes of idle the car will begin to run hot, approx 225-240 the right side rad fan never gets power. Left side will come on with activation of AC. Checked all wires leading to relay box and up to fan plug for damage. Is there someting I am missing t...	View
	1987 Toyota Camry DLX 2.0L High Idle VIN: J2SV21E2H3 For some reason the ECU is not controlling idle speed. It thinks it should open IAC full, which creats 1500 rpm idle. I have done pin out voltage check @ ECU for all inputs. All are within specs. If you ground pin 9 (ics1) it will pull the IAC closed and idle ...	View
	1989 Toyota Corolla DLX 1.6L No Start VIN: JT2AE94VXK Hi everyone. This car is hard to start after about a 15 min. drive. After it sits and cools off it starts up and runs fine. Has fire, injector pulse at the time of no start. The only thing we have done is replace the fuel filter, but it had this problem before...	View
	1991 Toyota MR2 2.2L compresor VIN: JT2SW21M3M Hello all, we have on going leaking ac system due to poor quality reman compresors. Last year at the end of summer we replaced compresor again due to leak, with a toyota new compresor.Then yesterday it shows up with inop ac.(In the past we recharged with leak ...	View
	1995 Volkswagen Jetta GL 2.0L dash lights VIN: 3VWRB01H1S Hello Everyone Just having some VW problems and need some help. This customer has been to other shops and they weren't able to fix his problem and we usually don't work on VW's but seeing how I know the guy, I thought I would help him out. The dash lights seem...	View
	2001 Volkswagen EuroVan MV 2.8L Excessive Emissions, Poor Idle Quality, Hesitation, Surge, Cuts out, Stall, Misfire, Poor Fuel Economy, MIL Lamp on VIN: WV2MB47001 Hi guys and girls. I have a van here that has a big problem and just wondering if anyone out there has run into this? Well this car is always serviced an ran great. Upon a trip to florida a cam sensor code came on and car ran like ass. A local dealer in Miami ...	View
	2001 Volkswagen Passat GLS 1.8L MIL Lamp on VIN: WVWPD23B51 This car came 2 weeks ago with several codes ( 18062 plus evap code and 17544 ) which I fixed with a new purge valve solenoid , inst cluster temp sensor , the low price dual output coolant sensor on the engine fixed the problem, it also had code P 0171 or P 11... Trouble codes: P0171 (17544), P1136 (16684), P0300 (16686), P0302	View
	2004 Volkswagen Jetta GL 2.0L airbag control module VIN: 3VWPG71KX4 dealer supplied us with airbag control module [...] with index code 01e.. origional control module was [...] with index of 004. the new control module is not listed with alldata and if I remember correctly it is not the correct control module for thi...	View
	2000 Volvo S40 1.9L MIL Lamp on VIN: YV1VS2552Y Hello Volvo Guys and Girls: This s40 Volvo keeps setting an evap code for large leak, intermittent. We smoked the tank system and no smoke escaped. Gas cap failed vacuum test, so we replaced it. Re-tested and it failed. REplaced the purge valve (at radiator) a... Trouble codes: ECM, 68 (evap system major leak intermittent)	View
	2002 Volvo S80 T6 2.9L MIL Lamp on VIN: YV1TS91D02 Hello Volvo Techs, I don't have much diagnostic info on this problem. The customer stated the engine ran rough and the Mil came on. We have not duplicated the rough running problem but have codes: P0352 Cyl #2 ignition coil permanent fault P0355 Cyl #5 ignitio... Trouble codes: P0352 (Cyl 2 ignition coil permanent fault), P0355 (Cyl 5 ignition coil permanent fault), P0305 (Cyl 5 misfire)	View

Fixes & Summaries for All Makes and Models

	Fix/Summary	Answers
	1995 Audi S6 2.2L Ride VIN: WAULA84A7S Thanks to the many who gave up their time to help us out. Although this problem is/was intermittent, and may take some time to be sure that it's fixed, it seems to be corrected. Several people suggested that we check the steering dampner. Since we replaced t...	15
	1992 Cadillac DeVille 4.9L Excessive Emissions VIN: 1G6CD53B4N Hello everyone. Thanks for being patient and lending many replies. Many of which pertained to a possible poor catalytic converter and egr passage blockages. The problem lied in one of the two egr pipes that protrude below the throttle plates in the manifold. A...	14
	2000 Cadillac DeVille 4.6L magnasteer system VIN: 1G6KD54Y9Y Well a new P/S pump fixed this one. I checked the pressure at the pump cold NOT hot and I didn't do it long enough or repeatedly. If I did I would have seen the pressure drop from 1800 psi down to 800 psi(or more). I am guilty of not following exact procedure ...	2
	1996 Chevrolet Monte Carlo Z34 3.4L oil leak VIN: 2G1WX12X7T Thanks guys for all the help. Turned out the oil pump drive seal was the culprit. The owner wont spend the big bucks to take the head off so I did what Eric [...] said they have done. Eric said to cut the tab off head,being carefull not too mu...	12
	2000 Chevrolet S10 2.2L security,abs,airbag,seatbelt,batt,fuel lites on da VIN: 1GCCS1951Y Thanks for all the good information from you guys;most agreed that the ignition switch would be the fix and it was. Never can see anything wrong with these thingsand they give off lots of symptoms.	8
	1993 Chrysler Concorde 3.5L No Start VIN: 2C3EL5F9PH Thanks again to everybody that replied Jim from Missouri hit it with the timing belt being out of whack, before the vehicle had gotten to me someone else had put a water pump and timing belt in it had had it out of time, if the cam and crank sensors are to far...	18
	1981 Daihatsu Hi Jet Van 1.0L head gasket VIN: S81V-05476 Thank you for all the help the the best reply I got was to see daitahsu-help.com this put me in touch a man that gave all the info and specs for my car I got one member that will help me find the parts that lives in the dominican republic this has been the hel...	7
	1998 Dodge Ram 1500 Laramie 3.9L Unknown VIN: 1B7HC16X1W thanks to all...everyone was right on with the sensors i replaced both and it all checks ok!! thanks again	12
	2001 Dodge Ram 1500 Laramie 5.2L No Start VIN: 3B7HF13Y11 I recieved alot of excellent tips.Unfortunatly for me the customer took the truck to the dealer. They wanted me to find the problem the same day I towed it in. I will use the vast information for the next Dodge no start. Thank you all, Tom Trouble codes: P0320 (No crank signal to pcm).	6
	2001 Dodge Caravan Sport 3.3L radio VIN: 1B8GP45G11 hello again, received three replies, thank you for your time. original radio lights would only blink,nothing else. had replaced the radio with a used one. now the radio would play but cut in and out. by disconnecting pcm connector one the radio would function ...	3
	2003 Dodge Ram 1500 SLT 5.7L cylinder heads VIN: 1D7HU18DX3 we decided not to chance milling the heads. we install new heads from dealer (not all that expensive) and replaced the head bolts. truck runs great, thanks for the help.	12
	1992 Ford Ranger STX 2.3L transfer case VIN: 1FTCR11T8N I got alot of input but it still wouldn't go into 4x4 low.The vehicle was from a used car lot and they sold it that way.Thanks to everyone for the help.	8
	1997 Ford F-150 XL 4.6L fwd pressure VIN: 1FTDX1729V Thanks for the three that replied, this no fwd press condition turned out to be line press loss escaping past the a & b solinoids in the valve body. new sols and o-rings were the fix.	3
	1999 Ford F-350 Super Duty XL 7.3L Poor Idle Quality, Misfire VIN: 1FDWX37F5X Thanx for all the helpfull info, we have come the conclution that the motor is wornout and we are wating for cust ok to replace motor. Thankyou again	5
	1999 Ford Ranger XL 3.0L pulley VIN: 1FTYR14V1X Hello, Thanx to those that sent replies. I understand that this appeared to be a simple problem but it had me puzzled. After finding a knowledgable and helpful parts person at a Mercury Dealership, I found that the waterpump pulley was off of a Windstar. I pur...	4
	1999 Ford Taurus SE 3.0L Valve lifters VIN: 1FAFP53U6X Thanks to those of you who took time to respond. The more I thought about this noise I decided that it had to be a valve lifter problem because the oil sending unit hole is at the upper rear corner of the engine block. This meant that oil was getting thru the ...	4
	2002 Honda Passport EX 3.2L No Start VIN: 4S6CK58W92 Thanks , Recieved 5 replies , all good .The engine was trashed , RH cylinder head , The cam was not quiet siezed in the head but it was on the verge and finally did.The sludge was the tip off , the confusion was the low miles and the lack of experience with th... Trouble codes: P1125 (Fail safe mode acceleration position sensor), P1120 (TPS 1 tpsensor or circuit), 1220 (tps 2), 1295 (Power management mode).	5
	1995 Isuzu NPR 3.9L Charging VIN: 1G6DW69Y7G thanks guys for all the help.it turned out to be a defective reman alternator . when i called there tech line he said the charge relay should excite the alt but after fineding a wiring diagram the relay is excited by the alt. thanks again	4
	2002 Isuzu Rodeo Sport S V6 3.2L speedo VIN: 4S2CM57W52 ran new wire from speed sensor to the computer and computer to cluster fixed problem	3
	1997 Jaguar XK8 4.0L Cuts out, Stall VIN: SAJGX2744V Hi everyone: This one was not fixed. I only got 2 replies and the info is limited to the condition I have. Regarding the solderings on the engine harness, they should be replaced, but Jaguar had no wires(part numbers) for gold terminals. They say the whole har... Trouble codes: P1229 (p1242-), P1242.	2
	1990 Mazda Miata 1.6L air bag VIN: JM1NA3515L thanks for all the replys and thanks terry for for all your time/but my customer has opted to go no further with the air bag problem and has picked the vehicle.very thankful for the iatn network and the best techs in the world.	3
	1993 Mazda Protege DX 1.8L transmission VIN: JM1BG2232P Customer has not come back to the shop so I phoned him at home. He tells me the problem went away after I tested the car. It may have had a bad connection somewhere that was moved when I was working on it. The car belongs to a friend of my employer so I am sur...	5
	2004 Mazda 3 i 2.0L long cranking time VIN: JM1BK12F74 I finally got the fuel pressure to bleed off abnormally, so now the Dealer to replace fuel pump under warranty as per tsb... ...thanks to all that resonded!	8
	1988 Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3 2.3L 2-3, 3-4 shift VIN: WDBDA28DXJ This nightmare has ended for me, I put in the last used transmission for this customer and the transmission works great. 3rd time was a charm. I really did not receive any usefull information, which I do have to say was a first on the IATN, but I thank the 5 p...	6
	1994 Mercedes-Benz E320 3.2L Mechanical VIN: WDBEA32E5R A new harness and a new head gasket and it's fixed. Steve B's article and a digital camera helped immensely! It's a very straight forward enjoyable job, and thankyou sir;I'll have another!	12
	1995 Mercedes-Benz E320 3.2L oil leak VIN: WDBEA32E4S Well this one's outa here. A couple of the replies hit the nail on the head. Blowby was definitely the problem. Did the dry & wet compression test. Results were: Dry - 175 psi on all but 1 cylinder it was 150. Wet - 225 psi on 4 out of the 6 cyliders including...	8
	2000 Mercedes-Benz ML320 3.2L MIL Lamp on VIN: 4JGAB54E2Y Hey everyone...I as bombarded with the MAS solution. I have a bit of Egg on my face over this one...'I keep this MAS in stock' because of the high failure rate. I had the customer drop the car of the night before so I could operate it through the 'warmup' mode... Trouble codes: P0170 (Fuel Trim), P0173 (Fuel Trim).	15
	2001 Mercedes-Benz ML320 3.2L Misfire VIN: WDC1631542 Thanks to everyone who offered help with this one. Especially Gil who took the time to find my phone number and call and Andrew who offered his number straight away. Unfortunately this vehicle is used for work and we can normally only see it once every couple ... Trouble codes: 080 (Catalytic convertor deterioration misfire detected), 086 (Misfire Cylinder 5. harmful to catalytic convertor detected).	12
	2001 Mitsubishi Eclipse GT 3.0L Poor Idle Quality, MIL Lamp on VIN: 4A3AC54H91 well, it's fixed. I had a suspicion that the donor engine came from a Chrysler. We were lucky to have an identical Eclipse in yesterday, so a side by side comparison of the respective CMP's was possible. Here's some photos:[CMP hard codes for CMP/CKP]This one ... Trouble codes: P0335, P0340.	4
	2001 Nissan Maxima GLE 3.0L Poor Idle Quality VIN: JN1CA31DX1 well i had about 6 excellent techs write me back on what to do-i followed exactly what they suggested and i fixed this car-runs perfect-first after we replaced the idle valve we pulled the connector back apart and saw that it was burned-also pulled the compute... Trouble codes: P0505 (idle valve circuit fault).	6
	1997 Plymouth Breeze 2.4L starter,ignition VIN: 1P3EJ46X4V I pulled the starter wires ,replaced the fuse and turned the key to crank position and whaddya know...no blown fuse.I replaced the starter and problem solved.Apparently the starter was drawing higher than acceptable amps for this circuit because when I bench t...	12
	1999 Porsche 911 Carrera 3.4L dome/map lights VIN: WPOCA2992S Thanks to all that took the time to reply. We took the car to the dealer to see if they can take it out of 'transport' mode. It turned out that the dome lights did not work because the alarm control module was not coded to the car. As far as the other lights c...	4
	1997 Toyota T100 DLX 3.4L pinging VIN: JT4UN22D7V First of aLL I want to thank everyone that replied, Reno,Ray, and Melvin all recommended top engine cleaning and going to a higher octane, We had already did the top cleaning, and have tried higher octain and fuel from different stations, no luck.Ray had also ...	7
	2001 Volkswagen Golf GLS 1.8L Poor Idle Quality, Hesitation, Surge, Cuts out, Stall, Misfire VIN: 9BWGD61J91 sorry no fix. this is a fight between customer,insurance co. and body shop. i checked motor for vac. leaks nothing. double checked all hoses in and out plus intercooler. all good. car runs awsome with maf disconnected. plug it in and it goes crazy. its getting...	4

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