Automotive Technicians Technical Discussion and Fixes for Feb 21, 2009

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Open Help Requests for All Makes and Models

	Help Request	Answers
	1999 BMW 740iL 4.4L telephone VIN: WBAGH8336X Hello BMW Techs the car factory telephone on this vehicle is not in service but it will beep through the car speakers as if were a call coming,it will do it, when the car is parked with the ignition off, you can lock the car and will not make any difference, w...	View
	2007 BMW 320d 2.1L shifting gears VIN: 447NE03703 mayday to all bmw techs...out there, now i knw to some this may sound a bit weird bt i just cnt seem to get my head around it...this anaconda ws towedin yesterday afternun with a complaint simply stating gearz hard to shift and noizy in operation...so dd a qui...	View
	1991 Chevrolet V3500 Silverado 6.2L tps VIN: 1GCHV33N3M Hey guys and girls.Well I spent the big bucks (153.00 + tax) for the new tps.Replaced it this morning and now the ecm has a current 22 and under data the throttle angle stays at 35 regardless on accelerater movement or adjustment.I have good reference at 5.03 ...	View
	1997 Chevrolet C3500 Cheyenne 6.5L No Start VIN: 1GCHC39F9V We do not have alot of diesel experience , so we need some help. This truck came in as a no start no crank but Cust said is hard to start & no start at times. Batteries were dead . We replaced one battery & charged the other. After battery replacement the tru... Trouble codes: P1217	View
	2001 Chevrolet Impala 3.4L No Start VIN: 2G1WF55E71 This car came in with crank but no start. customer said it was acting up earlier in the day. Fuel pump runs and has fuel pressure. Can not connect my fuel pressure gauge because of the power steering hose is in the way. Have plenty of fuel when pushing schrade... Trouble codes: P1189	View
	2001 Chrysler PT Cruiser 2.4L Starting VIN: 3C8FY4BB51 Got a strange one here. 2001 Chrysler PT Cruiser Limited, 2.4. I was finally able to duplicate half of the customer concern. Customer says when they drive it somewhere in the area of 4 plus miles, when they try to restart it, it won't start. If they let it si...	View
	1998 Dodge Caravan 3.0L forward / reverse drive VIN: 2B4FP253XW Would appreciate your advice on a slipping transmission on this old caravan I've just acquired. Drives ok once it's warmed up but when cold it has no drive forward or reverse. I've tried a transmission oil flush but as I have no history on it, is it even worth...	View
	2001 Dodge Ram 1500 Van 5.2L Turn Signals VIN: 3B7HC13Z61 The customer/student noticed the turn signals would stop blinking and stay on when they were in operation for more than a minute. This truck has been in the family for several years, and this is the first time anyone noticed a problem with the turn signals. Th...	View
	2002 Dodge Ram 1500 SLT 4.7L brake lights VIN: 1B7HU18N92 Help, we have no idea where to go from here. Brake lights are always on with the key in the run position or the vehicle running. We have replaced the brake light switch, the front control module and the instrument cluster. We have a new problem, the fog lights...	View
	2002 Dodge Grand Caravan Sport 3.3L Power Steering VIN: 2B4GP44R12 Vehicle came in for power steering leak and noisy pump, Customer said he had problems and put in lucus power steering additive. Put a napa rack and pinion, power steering pump, and High pressure line on. Run the vehicle pump was making noise like air was in it...	View
	2005 Ford Ranger Edge 3.0L 1st gear VIN: 1FTYR14U15 customer complains that it takes 5 to 10 sec. for the first gear to engage, after it's put in drive. It was serviced afew days ago and did not make any difference. there is no DTCs. and all the other gears behave normal without any delay.	View
	2000 Honda Passport EX 3.2L engine fuse blows VIN: 456SK58W8Y Hello everyone I have this Honda Passport that blows the engine fuse located in the driver side fuse location. Ive disconected various sensors to see if any are shorted. Sometmes it will run ok then all of a sudden it will blow the engine fuse. I would appreci...	View
	2001 Honda Accord LX 3.0L instrument cluster VIN: 1HGCG16401 the safety panel is intermittent and the customer recently reported that it sometimes starts to flash on accel or decell which leads us to believe that a harness may be damaged and is touching some ground somewhere.	View
	2001 Land Rover Discovery Series II SE 4.0L Mechanical VIN: SALTY12431 I have this Series 2 with oil leaks. Seems to be coming from just about everywhere. The front of the engine the back and the bottom. I have oil on top of the bellhousing and appears to be coming out of the rear main as well. I was just wondering how the Land R...	View
	1996 Lincoln Continental Anniversary 4.6L rear suspension VIN: 1LNLM97V2T Have this car that has a rattle in the rear of car that sounds like a loose shock.Its on both sides.Hoping I am not the only one fighting a loosing battle like this.I have tried different approaches at isolating it with no improvment.I have seen the tsb that a...	View
	1996 Mazda Protege DX 1.5L Stall VIN: JM1BB1412T Hey guys, a little help on this one. I have this little mazda that was towed in. Regular customer. She drove it home from work one night and was fine. (she is very meticulous about her car). Next morning starts and immediately stalls. Thats what it does. It st...	View
	2007 Mercedes-Benz S550 5.5L service meassag VIN: WDDNG86X17 does anyone know how to reset service message on this car? message will state to hold reset for 5 seconds. older version had button on instrument cluster between gauges	View
	1995 Pontiac Bonneville SE 3.8L alternator VIN: 1G2HX52K6S hello there my question is that at times i lose the batt+ signal on circuit 225 ( this is the batt + signal out of the pcm red connector to the L terminal at the regulator). should this be a constant 12v signal all the time with the key in on or run? could i h...	View
	1995 Toyota Land Cruiser 4.5L remove flex plate spacer VIN: JT3DJ81W4S R&R Tranny to replace rear main seal, Looking for somebody that has replaced one, How do you properly remove Flex Plate Spacer	View
	1998 Toyota Camry CE 2.2L all shifts VIN: JT2BG22K0W This vehicle seems to start off in 2nd. gear but there is a shift after that initial start in second. I have two codes for this camry, they are P0755 shift solenoid valve B (2) problem, and also P0750 shift solenoid valve A (1) problem. tranny feels real stran...	View
	2003 Volkswagen Jetta GLS 1.8L Excessive Emissions, exhaust oil smoke VIN: 3VWSE69M03 I have a 2003 Jetta 1.8 turbo that is blowing oil(blueish gray) smoke from the tailpipe. Have checked with Alldata for PCV system description of operation, component locations, etc., and they have very little info on this car. I'm not a VW admirer but the (dau...	View
	1998 Volvo S70 T5 2.3L MIL Lamp on VIN: YV1LS5371W Hello Volvo Techs! We have this 98/S-70 T-5 Automatic. The CEL has been coming on intermittenly. It can be 20miles or [...] until the check comes back on. Car runs great. It has one code 611 or P0455. Could not find code 611 on Vadis. P0455 is a Large EVA... Trouble codes: FET, 611 (Evap. system Large leak)	View
	2000 Volvo V40 1.9L Front coil spring mount VIN: YV1VW2551Y I am now replacing the upper spring mount & seat with the updated kit ([...]) which incorporates a much larger bearing (the original is a dinky thing). I have a bad time trying to compress the spring enough to relax pressure on the upper seat as I can only ...	View

Fixes & Summaries for All Makes and Models

	Fix/Summary	Answers
	2000 Chevrolet Corvette 5.7L key less entry VIN: 1G1YY32G0Y I would like to thank everybody who took the time to help with this Corvette, seems to be that the key fobs lost their information. After replacement of the first key fob the problem went away, at that time the customer had me order another set. She called me ...	4
	2000 Chevrolet Blazer LS 4.3L 1-2-3-4 shifts-lean o2 sensors VIN: 1GNDT13W7Y after an injector flush with a snap on motor vac the lean o2 sensor were gone back to normal had code p1875 but my high rpms on the out put speed sensor 4700-6500 were there under transmission data on a snap on scanner if i went under transfer case data the ou...	3
	2000 Chevrolet Astro 4.3L Poor Idle Quality, Hesitation, Surge, Misfire, Poor Fuel Economy, MIL Lamp on VIN: 1GCDL19WXY Thanks to all for your quick responce and pointers. I ended up replacing the injector pack and doing a deep cleaning to the upper and lower intake along with the throttle body and the misfire went away, truck runs great and fuel trims are back to spec. Thanks ... Trouble codes: P0300 (Random/Multiple Cylinder Misfire Detected), P0303 (Cylinder 3 Misfire Detected), P0304 (Cylinder 4 Misfire Detected).	21
	2000 Chevrolet C2500 5.7L Ignition VIN: 1GBGC24R1Y Installed new ignition switch today, found that the 3 wire connector that plugs into key portion if not plugged in creates same symptom of crank, but no run when key released. Also found the key chime now works if driver door is open and engine is running. Plu...	6
	2005 Chevrolet Express 1500 LS 4.3L No Start VIN: 1GCFG15X65 hi guys. well it turned out to be the ecm was bad. i dont no why?? i dont no why batt went dead ether?? the alt was charging fine, no shorts found that would drain the batt. i guess the batt shorted internally and took out the theft control in the ecm, no inj...	11
	2001 Chrysler Town & Country EX 3.8L starter VIN: 2C4GP54L61 Hi gang. Not really sure why this is a fix, but I added another shim and it's fine now. The trans was never changed in this vehicle and 2 starters did the same thing. The origial and replacement starters. No flex plate cracks or warpage. Must just be an odd ba...	11
	2000 Daewoo Lanos S 1.6L No Start VIN: KLATA2267Y Thank you for those who took the time to reply, but I was not able to fix the problem, I have not worked on this cars before, so what I've found out is that according to alldata and the dealer, it says that whenever you disconnect or replace the ECM, Battery, ...	4
	2000 Dodge Intrepid 2.7L theft VIN: 2B3HD46RXY Thank you to all who replied. Sometimes it is great to just get a fresh idea on a frustrating problem. Call it oversight, call it not seeing the forest for the trees, call it what you want but the posts about determining whether it had a factory alarm or an ...	6
	1999 Ford Ranger XLT 4.0L Poor Fuel Economy, MIL Lamp on VIN: 1FTYR11X5X Thanks to all that replied. It was the upper plentum seals on the intake. all seems fine for now. Thanks again to all Trouble codes: P0171, P0174 (lean rich limit bank 2).	18
	2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo 4.0L Cooling fan VIN: 1J4GW48SXY First Thanks for all replies. Fan was ok, couldn't run fan W/ old relay so we tested fan directly to battery which is apparently wrong way to test. Tried W/ new relay(PWM not foot to the floor)and current at start only 38Amp (OK).Only .32 Voltage drop on groun...	9
	2001 Mazda Tribute DX 3.0L Poor Idle Quality VIN: 4FTYU06151 thanks for all the help several said iac and manifold gaskets ,after cleaning iac, some improvement,replaced with new part and eliminated 80 to 90 % of customer complaint,after verifing and replaceing intake manifold o rings problem solved again thank,s to eve...	5
	2000 Mercedes-Benz ML430 4.3L wipers VIN: 4JGAB72EXY thanks for the help guys. i must admit that i kind of jumped the gun on this one and didn't do enough research before i posted a help request. i found that the k17 relay was missing. special thanks to David from New Jersey for pointing me in this direction. i ...	4
	2004 Mini Cooper 1.6L slips of reverse gear VIN: WMWRC33414 Hello Mini Techs sorry for being late to close this post, but I am happy to report the car is fixed, we received 3 responses and all advised to check shift cables for too much slack and we did that first and they were OK, therefore the next step left was t...	3
	1995 Nissan Pathfinder LE 3.0L long crank time VIN: JN8HD17Y4S After getting the problem to happen in the shop found out that the pressure was droping off intermintaly traced it back to the fuel pump we have ordered a new fuel pump just waiting for the customer to come back in to change it out. Thanks to all that answere...	6
	2001 Nissan Frontier SE 3.3L Misfire VIN: 1NGDD26591 Thanks most replies pointed to the same area. The EGR passages in the intake were clogged up . Cleaning the intake passages solved the problem. Trouble codes: P0301.	6
	1999 Volkswagen Beetle GLS 2.0L head VIN: 3VWCA21C5X Thank you to all who replied. Just a note it was recommended at the timing belt service that the customer replace the spark plugs and they declined, wishing now that they had as it appears that the plug that blew out originally just loosened up in the hole an...	6
	2000 Volkswagen Beetle GL 2.0L Mechanical VIN: 3VWCA21COY HELLO EVRYONE, IM SORRY IM LATE GETTING BACK. I REPLASED THE BEETLE ENGINE. LIKE MOST OF YOU SAID ITS NOT THAT BAD OF A JOB. THE ENGINE AND TRANS COME OUT TOGETHER FROM UNDER NEATH. YOU DON [...] HAVE TO MESS WITH THE SUBFRAME. MAINLY UNBOLT THE ENGINE AND TRNS AND...	13

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