Automotive Technicians Technical Discussion and Fixes for Dec 26, 2008

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	Help Request	Answers
	2001 BMW 325i 2.5L instrument cluster/radio VIN: WBAAV33441 Could use some help with this 325xi. The directionals work on the exterior but the indicators on the instrument cluster do not light up. Also the highbeam indicator does not light up. The radio display reads disabled. I check all the powers for k bus and all i...	View
	2000 Buick Century Custom 3.1L blower vents VIN: 2G4WS52JOY Thanks in advance, I know you guys will fix this one. We have a 2000 Buick Century, with dual zone, manual climate control. The original complaint was no heat. After checking, the issue is actually we just get no blow out the vents. The engine gets up to temp ...	View
	1995 Chevrolet Lumina 3.1L fans inop VIN: 2G1WL52M8S Vehicle is running hot with no cooling fan operation. Code 14 came up with snap-on scanner, and I tested the coolant temp sensor as guided. with the sensor jumped the fans come on for one second. All of the readings during the test were as the scanner said the...	View
	1996 Chevrolet C1500 Cheyenne 4.3L Excessive Emissions, Poor Fuel Economy, MIL Lamp on VIN: 1GCEC14WXT vehicle came back with customer complaining of poor fuel economy. said truck ran good for about one week then he noticed lots of carbon coming from exhaust when idling and fuel mileage down. have checked fuel pressure, fuel pressure regulator and egr all look ...	View
	1999 Chevrolet Tahoe LS 5.7L gas needle VIN: 1GNEK13R0X whats up fellows, just trying to find out a gas gauge needle vibration, i've replaced several fuel pumps on chevy's and it seems after several months the needle starts to vibrate, but no problems with any of the trucks. i've replaced each one with a know good ...	View
	2000 Chevrolet S10 4.3L No Start VIN: 1GCDT13W31 We have no fuel pressure. We first went through and checked to see if the filter was plugged and it was not, fuel flowed out of filter when keyed up. but no pressure when checked with gauge. pulled lines out from above intake and had flow out of pressure side,...	View
	2001 Chevrolet Blazer LS 4.3L Excessive Emissions, Poor Idle Quality, Misfire, KICKS BACK CRANKING VIN: IGNCT18W31 truck towed in cranks will not start this is the second time it was towed. has good fuel pressure and spark. plugs maf and map new. is flooded clear cylinders and cleaned plugs during cranking it kicks back also pops through intake. will eventually start. when...	View
	2001 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD 6.0L Spark plug VIN: 1GCHK209V7 Customer restarted vehicle hot this morning and blew out #4 spark plug and what appears to be a helicoil type insert. I assume this insert is factory because we did the only plug change on this truck at 68,000 miles and had no problems with the plug holes at t...	View
	2001 Chevrolet Express 2500 5.7L Poor Idle Quality, Hesitation, Cuts out, Misfire, MIL Lamp on VIN: 1CGCG25R11 checked fuel pressure and tried to set timeing relearn and scanner showing error message.ckecked fuel pressure listed also has no misfire codes.and no misfire on the misfire monitor. we did check for 12 volts at crank sensor lt green wire has a good voltage he... Trouble codes: P0341, P0335, P0405, P1345 (ckp/cmp correlation promlem)	View
	2001 Chevrolet Cavalier 2.2L No Start VIN: IG1JC52401 Hello all. Happy Holidays. CALLING ALL CHEVY GM TECHS!!! I am up against the wall on this cavalier. Car was towed in for no-start; cranks ok. Checked codes none. NO CODES STORED OR PRESENT IN ANY MODULE!!! Ck spark good. Check fuel pressure- none. Power & grou...	View
	2004 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 6.0L instrument abs light VIN: 1GCHK29U34 imtermittent abs and parking brake dash lights coming on, service brake system message come on in message board , hooked up to genysis no codes were found, when abs lights go on truck brakes fine, can,t seem to duplicate symtom in shop.	View
	2001 Chrysler Sebring LXi 3.0L 1-2 & 2-3 shifts VIN: 4C3AG52H31 Vehcile will slam very hard from 1st to 2nd gear most of time and set p0750 & 0755 codes and them go into limp in mode. If it does shift into 2nd without incident then it will slam into third and set the 0760 and 0765 codes. I have ck'd solenoids(3.5 ohms) and...	View
	2006 Chrysler Sebring 2.4L crankshaft VIN: 1C3EL46X06 Hello all, we have a sebring 2.4 DOHC with a badly worn thrust bearing, that has pushed the oil seal out the front of the engine.. we have removed the engine and crank shaft. I have not found any problems that may have caused this type of failure. the transmis...	View
	1999 Dodge Ram 1500 Van 3.9L Valve Train VIN: 2B7HB11X4K van came in with no start cylinders washed down with fuel. 50-70 psi compression. during diagnostics timming chain jumped 90 degrees. replaced timming chain and gears. ended up with 3 cylinders with 140 psi 1 cylinder at 100 psi and 2 cylinders at 0 psi. engin...	View
	2000 Dodge Ram 2500 5.9L No Start VIN: 1B7KF2367Y Hello Everyone, This is my personal truck. Never had a problem from it. Ran fine. Went to start and just cranked. Checked fuel pressure and was 6psi. Two years ago, I converted over to the upgraded fuel pump kit. I bought another pump for 325.00 and now have 1... Trouble codes: P1388 (Auto Shutdown Circuit), P1693 (DTC stored in ECM)	View
	2000 Dodge Grand Caravan 3.3L Dash panel lights VIN: 2B4GP24R3Y When the headlight switch is turned on, the instrument panel lights will dim. (radio, mileage, gear indicator, and cluster lights). When the dimmer switch is turned on, and is in the dimmest position, the front reading lights and dome lights turn on. I removed...	View
	2002 Dodge Ram 1500 SLT 5.9L reverse VIN: 1D7HU18Z22 This is my first post, thank you all in advance for your help. I overhauled his trans over the summer and reverse has never been right since, slips terribly under load and will shudder if you accelerate(up hill or box loaded), if you really baby it, it backs u...	View
	1990 Ford E-150 Econoline Custom 5.0L Poor Idle Quality, Cuts out VIN: 1FTEE14N7L Van came to me for just a tune up. I found at the time that all tune up parts were original. The complaint I did not get from the customer was that when you accelerate under a load, the van will bog out badly and backfire through the intake. Seeing that all ...	View
	1997 Ford F-250 XL 5.8L Poor Idle Quality, Surge, Misfire VIN: 1FTHF26H1V hi guys here is one for you this truck came in for poor idle and power loss of power over 30 and surging i have replaced everything related to the dtcs but still have the problem timing is good compression is good back preasure is good for exaust no vacum leak... Trouble codes: 173 (412 -), 412 (testing and results)	View
	2001 Ford E-250 Econoline 5.4L Excessive Emissions, MIL Lamp on VIN: 1FTNE24L41 DEAR FORD TECHS,HAVING PROBLEM WITH po172+po175 reoccuring.fuel press@32,maf pids ok.short term fuel trims switching back+forth like they are supposed to.but the weird thing is ltft is at 6.2 positive when these codes were set.eng runs ok no noticable misfires...	View
	2004 Ford Expedition Eddie Bauer 5.4L ride control VIN: 1FMFU18L64 VEHICLE ARRIVED AT SHOP WITH FRONT AT NORMAL HEIGHT AND REAR PUMPED ALL THE WAY UP.wE UNHOOKED THE REAR SENSOR AND MOVED IT MANUALLY TO SEE IF WE COULD CHANGE ANYTHING, BUT NOTHING HAPPENED. CHECKED FOR LEAKS , JUST BECAUSE, NONE FOUND. OUR SCAN TOOL WONT PULL...	View
	2006 GMC Envoy XL SLT 4.2L cam phaser Customer brought vehicle in for suspected altenator noise. Diag. with stethoscope found a loud buzz/whine type noise in cam actuator area in vale cover. Allmost sounds like a mild power steering pump whine except under accel. it gets much louder.has anyone run...	View
	1998 Honda Accord EX 2.3L erratic shifting VIN: 1HGCG5643W i hope santa comes with some good info this car will work fine when cold but once it warms up it will start to shift erratic and then it will finaly stop going into 3 & 4 gear just 1 & 2 gear only and sometimes first wont work good. i have checked line pressur...	View
	2000 Hyundai Elantra GLS 2.0L No Start VIN: KMHJF35F7Y We lucked up and got this car running the first time it came for a no start but we just lucked out--we didn't fix anything as we relayed to the customer. It's back again with a No start condition , we tried ground wire connections,computer,cam and crank sensor...	View
	1999 Kia Sephia LS 1.8L Misfire VIN: KNAFB1219X hello, this car has been giving me trouble with the wiring to the coils. I replaced the wires to the coils down the harness a ways and fixed that problem but the number 3 cylinder isnt firing properly. Its getting spark, the compression is good. The wires to t...	View
	1993 Mazda B2200 2.2L timing belt VIN: JM2UF1132P hello and hope all had a great christmas. this truck which is in very good condition for age and low milage came in a couple of weeks ago, the timing belt had jumped about six teeth on cam pulley. two cogs on the belt were missing but belt was not real loose. ...	View
	2006 Mercury Grand Marquis LS 4.6L Labor time VIN: 2MEFM75VX6 Hello there Guys I just need to someone give me the labor time to replace front suspension crossmember and both lower control arms, I need it for insurance quote and my mitchell don't show anything on this, Thanks for your time, please let me know is if it is ...	View
	2003 Mitsubishi Galant DE 2.4L MIL Lamp on VIN: 4A3AA45G93 This vehicle came in with an engine needing replacement due to lack of compression. A used replacement was purchased and supplied by the used car dealer that owns this car. After replacing the engine these 2 codes were present. P0335 and P0340. Crank and cam s... Trouble codes: P0335 (Crank Position sensor), P0340 (Cam Position sensor)	View
	1999 Pontiac Grand Prix GT 3.8L Cuts out, Stall VIN: 1G2WP12K8X This is two maf that has appeared to be bad what am i not seeing Is there anything i should check that might not show up in a diagnostics	View
	2000 Pontiac Grand Prix GT 3.8L none VIN: 1G2WP12K4Y Have this po481 code tested coolant fan circuit code for 2 but checked all voltage ground and ref. all circuits work fine no problems with car only engine lite on only thing changed on car was blower motor and temp. control both from dealer code not present un...	View
	1987 Saab 900 2.0L slave cylinder Hope some of you Saab tech out there can help me out.I try to install the new slave cyl,but couldn't figure out how to install it.I read the fixed and some of u mention to compress the PP.We had a hard time on last xmas eve to remove the leaks valve,we have to...	View
	2000 Subaru Legacy GT Limited 2.5L Poor Idle Quality, Misfire, MIL Lamp on VIN: 4S3BE6564Y We performed a cylinder head gasket job on this vehicle. We have seen it now 3 times with a MIL on with cylinder misfire codes stored. Cyl 2 and 3 being the affected cylinders. I ran through the basics and made sure ignition components were good. When I curren... Trouble codes: P0302, P0303	View
	1989 Toyota Land Cruiser 4.0L No Start VIN: JT3FJ62G2K We have this Landcruiser that has got us lost. It came in on a hook with no spark no injection pulse etc. We checked the fuses and the EFI relay and both are good. After that we replaced the ignitor since it's a common problem. Still nothing. Tested all power ...	View
	2000 Volkswagen Golf GLS 1.8L shift control VIN: 9BWGH21J7Y In limp mode. Removed trans pan and replaced valve body harness for the codes in the TCM. All open. Reinstalled pan an replaced trans fluid. Cleared DTC's in TCM. Hard faults return right away. Going to trace for bad ground but has any one seen this before? ...	View

Fixes & Summaries for All Makes and Models

	Fix/Summary	Answers
	1991 BMW 735i 3.5L oil filter housing VIN: WBAGB4315M thankyou all sorry I have to close this as my time ran out before my service manager have it fix. replies pointing to valve and spring inside the oil filter housing.I will repost once I fix the car. thanks rick	4
	1995 Buick LeSabre Custom 3.8L No Start, start and die VIN: 1G4HP52L65 Thanks to everyone on all the great suggestions. Let me start by telling what did not fix it. I got some crazy idea of my own to replace computer, no fix. Put back on original computer,talked to a locksmith friend of mine and he seemed to think that by this ... Trouble codes: 123 (throttle position high), 670 (qdm4 failure), 406 (egr pintle position error).	30
	1993 Cadillac Seville STS 4.6L Braking system VIN: 1G6KY5296P We would like to thank all those who responded and gave us advice. In the end it ended up being the master cylinder was bad again. The customer had replaced the original with a [...] unit th...	8
	1994 Chevrolet K1500 5.7L No Start VIN: 2GCEK19K3R Well guys, the truck finally did not start this morning, i took the ecm out, and warmed it up in the shop, but that did no good, tried a new coil, checked all the grounds, all did no good, still no start. I decided to try a new Ignition Module, and it started ...	25
	1997 Chevrolet Cavalier 2.2L No Start VIN: 1G1JC5242V Iatn and my power probe are the best tools I have bought for driveability work. You guys rock!! 10 responses in 3 days. I am going to go ahead and close this one, and maybe start a new one next week. Turns out I had 3 different issues,John [...] nailed one, ...	10
	2001 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 5.3L Cruise control VIN: 2GTEC19T41 I really appreciate the time involved with the replies I received. I'm closing this due to time. I haven't corrected this problem as the customer won't return with the vehicle until I can difinitivily tell him if his BCM is bad or not as it appears the speed s...	5
	2004 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 4.8L Misfire, MIL Lamp on VIN: 1GCEC14V44 Hello group, hope everyone had a wonderful CHRISTmas holiday. Just getting around to closing this out. After further testing, ran a static and running compression test on truck nand readings were good. Also removed the valve covers just to make sure did not ha... Trouble codes: P0300.	13
	2004 Chevrolet Suburban 2500 LS 6.0L shifting issues VIN: 1GKFK66U54 ignition switch was bad however still had other solonoid defective from chev so techs test parts before installing i know you shouldnt have to but it would have saved me a couple of hours . thanks too all who have helped	14
	2002 Chrysler PT Cruiser Dream 2.4L No Start, Cuts out, Stall, Misfire, MIL Lamp on VIN: 3C8FY68B32 Hey guys, This one is fixed, It was a wiring problem. The sensor ground circuit wire for the cam, crank, tps, coolant, and vehicle speed sensor was shorting to the power B* in the loom along the back side of the engine harness that feeds power to the alternato... Trouble codes: P0320 (Crank Sensor), P0340 (Cam Sensor), P0352 (Ignition coil primary/secondary problem), P1291 (testing and results).	4
	1994 Dodge Grand Caravan 3.0L plenum door VIN: 184GH2437R Gentlemen (and ladies too), The TSB is: "NO: 24-11-94 SUBJECT: A/C Heater Blend Air Door Sticking DATE: Jul. 1, 1994 SYMPTOM/CONDITION: Poor heater performance, or poor A/C performance, and/or temperature control lever difficult or impossible to move." Speci...	11
	2000 Dodge Dakota 3.9L Rear brakes VIN: 1B7GL22X7Y Thanks to all of you helping me out. Unfortunately the vehicle is still not working correctly. He is driving it at this point but the rear brakes are not braking like they should. You don't notice it until you are on ice. He is driving it and if I ever get it ...	7
	2003 Ford Taurus SE 3.0L Hesitation, Cuts out VIN: 1FAFP53U53 thanks to everyone. this turned out to be a bad mass air flow sensor. not sure why it only ran bad for the first 4 min. on a cold start up but its been good for a week now. thanks. this site really helps. the people here are the pros.	19
	2004 Ford Explorer XLS 4.0L Hesitation, Surge, Stall VIN: 1FMZU72K42 Thanks for all the help I got on this vehicle. As it turned out to be, It was an ignition missfire. The customer had motorcraft spark plugs and wires installed in this vehicle before it got to us but they were the wrong plugs. I replaced them with double plati...	4
	2006 Ford F-350 Super Duty XLT 6.0L oil pressure guage VIN: 1FTWW30P86 Thanks a lot for all the replies. This one turned out to be the cluster. I didnt have a schematic on the cluster itself, but tried grounding the brown/orange stripe wire at the oil pressure switch itself, no good, then grounded it 1 inch from the cluster, stil...	7
	2001 GMC Sierra 1500 SL 5.3L Radiator VIN: 2GTEC19T41 Well I hope everyone has had a good christmas, I will close this post know and I am thinking it could help someone in the future. I did talk to our supplier, they had there rad rep out to our shop last week, so they are aware of the issue and hopefully it get ...	7
	2001 GMC Yukon XL 1500 SLT 5.3L Poor Idle Quality, Misfire, MIL Lamp on VIN: 1GKFK16T71 I would like to personally shake hands with all of you fine folks for saving my butt. It did turn out to be the intake gaskets, which I was able to show my customer via the datastreams I recorded (I highly recommend the MAC flight recorder made by launch) bef... Trouble codes: P0101, P0300, P0171, P0174, P1133 (O2 Sensor Not Switching Bank 1), P1153 (O2 Sensor Not Switching Bank 2).	22
	2004 Honda Pilot LX 3.5L Parking paw VIN: 2HKYF18574 There have been several instances of this occuring across the county with more than one cause! This vehicle did this only once and we'll keep an eye on it. Thanks for all the replies.	3
	2002 Infiniti I35 3.5L Noise VIN: JNKDA31A72 Well we have this one fixed. Thanks to Scott [...]. It turned out to be the fuel damper on the fuel rail. Replaced with and OEM and all is well.	3
	1970 Jaguar XKE 4.2L Front Brakes Thanks to all: After reading your recommedations I have decided to replaced the complete servo unit. That solved the problem. Thanks	10
	2000 Jeep Cherokee SE 4.0L No Start VIN: 1J4FN28S0Y Thanks for the many replies. Thanks for waking me up with after market sensors. I should have known better. First I put a after market crank sensor on, and it had same symtoms. Once hot it might crank and might not. Then I replaced cam shaft sensor,same proble... Trouble codes: P0622, P0340 (no cam signal at pcm), P1388 (asd relay control circuit open or short).	11
	2001 Jeep Cherokee Sport 4.0L Rear Defrost VIN: 1J4FF48S21 Well sometimes you just want it to be a simple plug in part fix. I pulled apart the wiring between the body and the rear gate and wouldn't you guess, I found multiple broke wires and several wires with the insulation worn off. Repaired wiring and she's good ...	4
	1968 Plymouth Fury Sport 5.2L charging VIN: PM41F8D102 O.k. guys thanks foe all the help. I found the problem the feild wire is broken some where between the alt and the reg. When I was first testing I was puting batt voltage to the feild and alt would not charge so I was thinking I was doing something wrong or I ...	38
	1993 Saab 9000 Aero 2.3L ETS inop VIN: YS3CL65R0P After testing & retesting all components and related ckts, no fault was found with the vehicle. I was able to call in some skilled help to check my work with similar results. It has been determined that this vehicle has a calibration issue which will require a... Trouble codes: 5 (flash code - throttle position).	8

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