Automotive Technicians Technical Discussion and Fixes for Jan 19, 2008

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	Help Request	Answers
	1998 BMW 318ti 1.9L Poor Idle Quality VIN: WBACG8337W Have this BMW with rough idle can feel vibration through out the car.engine will have a slight shake at idle.used smoke machine to found any vacuum leak none found.blocked off pcv hose no change.did compression test good all cyl.175 psi.vehicle does run good w... Trouble codes: P0455 (evap gross leak)	View
	2002 BMW X5 4.4i 4.4L ride control VIN: WDB3343456 This customer hit a curve on the rt ft bent the control arm, and so foth, we replaced the parts , reset steering angle sensor and sent the car for alignment. The alignment guy calls me to install a camber kit on the rt fr wheel, after that he tells me that the...	View
	1990 Buick Reatta 3.8L Blower and vents VIN: 1G4EC13C8L I replaced the blower motor and controller module on this Reatta last week. The blower motor was smoking intermittently and whisps of smoke would come out of the dash vents accompanied by an electrical burning smell. I found that about half of the windings in ...	View
	2000 Chevrolet Impala 3.8L Oil Pressure VIN: 22G1WH55K3 Having a problem with the the oil pressure on this 2000 impala 3.8 customer came in with an oil light on and a lot of lifter noise, after checking the oil level (4qts low), it seems the oil is building pressure in the oil filter and pushing the oil filter seal...	View
	1992 Dodge Stealth R/T 3.0L No Start, Cuts out, Stall VIN: JB3XD64B0N Vehicle first came in for fuel smell and no start. Found a broken sending unit. Replaced that, the fuel pump and the fuel filter. Started car and ran for about 10 mins. before it stalled. Would not restart. Found out the customer was having the same problem. C...	View
	2005 Dodge Grand Caravan SE 3.3L cooling fans VIN: 2D4GP24R35 vehicle came in overheating.replaced thermostat and radiator.Still overheating.removed water pump and found plastic impeller blades destroyed.Only recovered small amount of the plastic impellers.rest must still be in system.Electric cooling fans always turned ...	View
	1995 Ford Mustang GT 5.0L electric cooling fan VIN: 1FALP42T4S Hi there fellow techs, I have here 95 Mustang 5.0 L engine with fan trouble. The fan is always on during ON ignition.We have checked the fan wiring but found no fault.This fan is controlled by the PCM indirectly thru the (CCRM) relay module.The CCRM is gettin...	View
	2000 Ford Explorer XLS 4.0L engine VIN: 1MZU62X9YZ This vehicle came in with low heat and I installed a new thermostat. With the new thermostat the engine only runs 100 degrees F in 15 degree F weather and the heater puts out very little heat. Also the temp gauge on the dash does not move at all, I tried a new...	View
	2001 Ford Taurus LX 3.0L engine VIN: 1FAFP52UO1 this vehicle belongs to our parts store counter man so we are trying to help him out when outside temp got down below 50 degrees this fall it developed a chirp like a belt noise he replaced belt tensioner water pump idler and said it went away for awhile (temp...	View
	2004 Ford Excursion XLS 5.4L engine VIN: 1FMNU41L24 I have a 2004 Excursion with a 5.4 liter in it, it has a rattle in the front of the motor, sounds like a lifter or a timing chain noise, it is pretty loud, sometimes it will go away(not totally) but if you take the truck above 1000 rpm it will totally go away....	View
	1997 GMC Yukon SLE 5.7L Mechanical VIN: 1GKEK13R1V Has anyone tried with success with replaceing the 5.7 with a 4.3? Is there any exhaust manifolds that will work? or would it be more cost effective to replace with a 5.0? any help or web site would be a great help Thank You	View
	1996 Infiniti I30 3.0L Cooling Systems hi everymechanic. this I30 need waterpump replace, but my alldata show the procedure a little different and not detail. can anyone give me a little hint to replace waterpump on this infinity. it's said i have to remove the chain tensioner first after compress ...	View
	2002 Jeep Wrangler Sport 4.0L No Start, MIL Lamp on VIN: 1J4SA39S42 question on 2002 jeep wrangler 6 cyl emissions warr coverage ...on fuel pump and evap leak pump Trouble codes: P0446	View
	1998 Kia Sportage 2.0L Hesitation, MIL Lamp on, no power I have a 1998 Kia Sportage with a p0343 code which is a hard fault. I have checked everythimg posible and still cannot seem to find the cause. This fine vehicle came in with a lack of power and a p0343(camshaft sensor high input code). A cam sensor was install... Trouble codes: P0343	View
	2000 Nissan Altima GLE 2.4L Poor Idle Quality VIN: 1N4DL01D5Y This car runs rough at idle same as before the work was performed. We checked the ignition timing and valve timing and all is ok. The LTFT is about -10% at idle and when the vehicle is put in gear it runs even rougher. With it idling in gear and running rough ...	View
	2004 Nissan Sentra 1.8L MIL Lamp on VIN: 3N1CB51D54 Hi there we have this vehicle towed to shop when it was droped off here engine was flooded we cleaned all 4 cylinder with shop air and spark plugs as well and engine started wright up. this very same vehicle had other problem prior 3-4 monts ago had cylinder #... Trouble codes: P0404 (cylinder 4 misfire)	View
	2005 Pontiac Vibe 1.8L MIL Lamp on VIN: 5Y2SL63835 need some help on a 05 vibe keeps setting a po-171 code lean exhaust code turned ligt off came on about two months later, car runs fine scan tool information looks good, checked with smoke machine no vacume leaks,car runs good any help would be great.	View
	2003 Saturn Vue 3.0L electronic steering VIN: 5GZCZ63B33 i have a saturn vue that has electronic power steering.it will work intermittently.i have a snap on modis and it is not capable of communicating directly with the power steering control module.i have checked for bcm codes and found nothing.when the problem occ...	View
	1996 Toyota Avalon XL 3.0L brakes VIN: 4T1BF12B3T This is my brothers car came in about 2 months ago for lft rear wheel getting hot put new caliper on bleed system no problem about 2 weeks later he has same problem with rr caliper, has that and line changed by some other shop. he picks up car has low pedal no...	View
	1999 Toyota Corolla CE 1.8L No Start VIN: AE110-3249 HI FELLO TECHS : this vehicle came to the shop to get an engine swap.i remove the 1500cc engine to replace a black top 20 valve engine .the problem i am having is when i attempt to start the engine the combustion chamber is filling with gas and outing the spa...	View
	2001 Toyota Echo 1.5L hard to accelerate the customer of this echo tell me on the highway, sometimes it is hard to accelerate and he feels the brake pedal is also very hard when he exits the highway. when i put the scanner i only get the code p1349 for the vvt. i makes all the tests elaborate by mitc... Trouble codes: P1349 (vvt is not good)	View
	1998 Volkswagen Beetle 2.0L No Start, Poor Idle Quality, Misfire VIN: 3VWBB61C6W Hi fellow techs. Thanks in advance for your help. This car has a couple of problems- The first is that, after being driven for about 3 hours or so, if it is stopped and shut off, will occasionally crank but not start. Then, if left set for an hour or so, it ... Trouble codes: 16795 (P0411 Secondary air injection system faulty flow- Intermittent), 16684 (P0300 Misfire recognised-Intermittent), 16686 (P0302 Cylinder 2 misfires detected- Intermittent), 16824 (P0440 Evaporative emission control system malfunction- Intermittent), 16685 (P0301 Cylinder 1misfires detected- Intermittent)	View
	2001 Volkswagen Beetle GLS 2.0L power windows,rear hatch release VIN: 3VWCK21C11 thanks for taking the time to view this cry for help.both power windows done work.removed drivers panel module on motor has power and grounds.there is no voltage to either switch.i am not sure just that module is bad or both side.also not sure if need to repla...	View
	2003 Volkswagen Jetta TDI 1.9L timing VIN: WVWRP61JX3 After reinstalling head and aligning timing belt as book shows the vehicle would not start. There are 2 marks on the flex plate, we have made sure the mark we are using is TDC of #1, the injector pump has been aligned with hole in sprocket and cam is set corre...	View
	1991 Volvo 940 GLE 2.3L No Start, Cuts out VIN: YV1JA895XM Hello everyone. We have in the shop this volvo that is giving us a fit. It came in with a no start problem. This is what it does. It will start stall, start stall, like it is running out of gas. If you disconnect the maf sensor it will start and stay running. ...	View
	1993 Volvo 850 GLT 2.4L No Engine power VIN: YV1LS5502P Hello to all! I have a 1993 Volvo 850GLT. The vehicle has no power on accel, seems like exhaust is restricted (dropped exhaust at head pipe, no change), swapped out MAF sensor, Cam sensor, ECM, ICM, Crank sensor and coolant sensor with known good parts, NO cha...	View

Fixes & Summaries for All Makes and Models

	Fix/Summary	Answers
	2003 Acura MDX Touring 3.5L vsa VIN: 2HNYD18863 Thanks to all that replied and correctly stated that this MDX needed to have the VSA neutral memorization done, especially Jacob for giving me the correct procedure and LLoyd for verifying which pins to jump in the DLC. Not having the HDS to short the SCS cir...	5
	2001 Audi A8 Quattro 4.2L No Start VIN: WAUFL54D31 Hi, The new fuel pump corrected the problem. It was interseting to say the least to install the new pump. I must have dropped the pump into the tank 50 times before it finally fell into place. When it finally went it it just fell right in. Thanks for the help,...	6
	2001 BMW X5 4.4i 4.4L MIL Lamp on VIN: WBAFB33501 It was the valve at the back, the scanner does not specify which one of the 2 are bad. After replacing the front the code came back on, Then I smoked and the system and saw the leak at the rear , removed the liner and saw no other leak that out of the filter.... Trouble codes: 098 (activation tank-venting valve), 141 (activation electric fan).	4
	2005 Buick Rendezvous CX 3.4L driver seat heater VIN: 3G5DAO3E85 Dear fellow techs.my customer has not returned to complete diagnoisis. But with the the correct wire color and resistace values the seat heater should be quickly comdemed as several stated the heater grids break inside seat. Thanks again Jerry	5
	1999 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 4.8L Stall VIN: 1GCEK19VXX Well I was in hopes of posting a fix for this vehicle, the customer had it towed back to Seattle. She promised a call back with the fix, but so far no. We had it less than one week. What I can add is that the security light was not flashing other than when you...	12
	2000 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 5.3L brake lights VIN: 2GCEK19T6X I found someone had wired into the brake lights at the back of the bed for a brake light on the camper shell and it shorted out and burned up some of the wiring. I should hve known when I saw the added wiring.	19
	2000 Chrysler Concorde LXi 3.2L Differential seal VIN: 2C3HD36J7Y Well when we took this apart we found that one of the seals caught the pinion seal when we installed the shaft and rolled the edge of it over. After seeing what happened I still think I can do this job without any special tools. We did borrow the seal installe...	5
	1992 Dodge Grand Caravan 3.0L No Start VIN: 1B4GH443XN First I wanted to thank all who responded. I am almost ashamed that I missed such a seemingly simple diagnosis. the problem in a nutshell was weak spark not missing but weak. spark would easily jump a 1/2 inch gap out of the coil. that's great. spark would on...	9
	1996 Dodge Grand Caravan SE 3.0L illumination lights VIN: 2B4GP44R9V well thank you all for responding. I had checked most of your sugestions already. I have put way to much time in on this one. all the imputs and outputs of bcm seemed ok tryed a different bcm. switch got tested a 3rd time so.. I called customer and offere...	9
	1997 Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer 4.0L Excessive Emissions, Poor Idle Quality VIN: 1FMDU34E5V Thanks for all the great suggestions, unfortunately we were unable to correctly identify the root problem. All suggestions were tried however the customer did not want to spend any more time/money on the problem. The only thing that made any difference was whe...	19
	1999 Ford F-250 Super Duty Lariat 5.4L trans slipping VIN: 1FTNF21L7X I'm sorry it took so long to write back. It took us a while to find the problem, which ended up to be a wiring harness that had rubbed through on top of the front drive shaft. It was so hard see and to get to (no room to work). The customer is happy and so are...	11
	1997 Mazda Protege DX 1.5L Charging VIN: JM1BC1415V Thanks to all who responded. After very close inspection of crank pulley, found old belt material burned into grooves effectively raising the belt out of the pulley. As material wore out of groove, belt would continuously loosen/slip an dburn off. Material ...	8
	1992 Mercury Grand Marquis LS 4.6L Hesitation, Cuts out, Stall VIN: 2MECM75W6N some times i hate working on every brand that shows up--was not aware that some fords don't give you mass air data--we were barking up the wrong tree.---my tech is a gm guy with limited ford experience--we replaced the iac on this thing and it straightened it ... Trouble codes: 157 (mass air flow low).	6
	1996 Nissan Maxima GLE 3.0L Poor Idle Quality, Surge, Misfire VIN: JN1CA21D4T Hi everyone: This is a fix. All replies were on the issue. The injector failed. High resistance indicates a faulty injector. This one had close to infinity readings. The specs, at least on good injectors, is 10-12 ohms. Remember that temp affects resistance, s... Trouble codes: P1400.	10
	1999 Oldsmobile Aurora 4.0L No Start VIN: 1G3GR62C5X The customer picked the car up.Didnt have time to do much else with this vehicle. Thanks for the help. AJS	9
	2003 Oldsmobile Aurora 4.0L interior lighting VIN: 1G3GS64C03 sorry it took so long to get back to you but the customer is taking the car back under warranty. we ask that they get back to us after the car is fixed. thanks for all your help.	4
	2001 Volkswagen Beetle GLS 1.9L Engine VIN: 3VWCP21C41 As many of you expected this car had a defective injection pump. This car had apparently been driven this way a long time and the owner had never stated this. First off when the engine had no boost, we checked the boost control system, Vacuum pump, vacuum plu...	20
	1992 Volvo 740 2.3L Speedometer VIN: YV1FW8831N Hi again and many thanks to all who replied. Unfortunately, I was never able to find anything definate on this car. I did change the alternator, but though the new alternator did pass the alternator test, it didn't immediately solve the speedometer issue. I w...	9

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