Automotive Technicians Technical Discussion and Fixes for Dec 12, 2009

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Open Help Requests for All Makes and Models

	Help Request	Answers
	1997 BMW 528i 2.8L no spark VIN: WBADD6322V Hello BMW Techs We are going bananas with this car, intermittently will have no spark, when you crank the first time, but will have injector pulse (noid light on) and if you crank again will start, although at times you have to crank at least 5 to 6 times befo...	View
	2008 BMW 335i 3.0L Poor Idle Quality, Misfire, MIL Lamp on, WHITE SMOKE, COLD VIN: WBAWB73528 Customer cals with "serious check engine light and car running rough and smoking". I scan and find all these lean and misfire codes, engine in safe mode(restricted boost I think)retrieve freeze frame data and clear codes. Start car, idles smooth, no smoke. Cus... Trouble codes: P0171, P0174, P0301 (cyl 1 misfire), P0302 (cyl 2 misfire), P0303 (cyl 3 misfire), P0300 (random misfire)	View
	2005 Cadillac STS 4.6L power assisit VIN: 1G6DC67A15 Hi Guys: Need some Cadillac help. This STS had a new power steering pump put on because it had no power assist at idle. It does have variable assist. I can not get into it with my Tech 2 because I don't have a candi adapter. No check engine light. I flushed ...	View
	2008 Cadillac CTS 3.6L Remote starter VIN: 1G6DS57V58 Hello, I have a 2008 CTS that the customer wants to install a remote car starter on for his wife for Christmas. My position on aftermarket remote car starters is that I don't recommend them, especially on complicated newer cars. 2008 CTS's had an option to g...	View
	1997 Chevrolet Cavalier 2.2L Stall VIN: 1G1JC1245V Car came from another shop. It has no real pattern. It will stall out at cruise speeds, or sitting and idling in the lot. Has always restarted but once and by the time I hooked up a spark tester it started. Another shop has replaced crank sensor, ign. mod., fu...	View
	2002 Chevrolet Impala 3.4L contaminiation of cooling system VIN: 2G1WF52E52 Hi gang ! Have this above mentioned vehivle innmy shop for a normal service. While checking the cooling system I found a visible amount of odd liquid in with the coolant, verified it was oil, oil and transmission fluid levels are good with no signs of coolant ...	View
	2003 Chevrolet Trailblazer LS 4.2L cant fill fuel tank VIN: 1GNET16S33 I had a po440 evap system malfunction found filler neck cracked on inlet of tank. tested evap purge valve ok. tested evap vent valve ok. all lines clear and holding vac when blocking of sections. tested evape sensor in tank normal readings at rest and applying... Trouble codes: P0440	View
	2002 Chrysler PT Cruiser 2.4L MIL Lamp on VIN: 3C4FY48B82 I have looked at this Cruiser multiple times. Each time a code p0456 is documented. I was out of smoke the first time so we rescheduled. I have blocked off the vent and smoked it multiple times and the flow meter ball drops completely to 0, I assumed (I know I... Trouble codes: P0456	View
	1997 Dodge Intrepid 3.5L will not run monitor VIN: 2B3HD4658V failed nys emissions inspection for incomplete monitors.tried differnt pcm ,reflashed @ dealer.pin #6 bat. voltage.pin 20 bat voltage.pin 46 batt voltage.grounds on pin #50,47,10.driven 458 miles .tried cold soaks tried dodge pretest requirments. tried global ...	View
	1997 Dodge Intrepid 3.5L Cabin Heat VIN: 2B3HD46F1V After changing engine with a used one, flushed heater core, new radiator, i have very little cabin heat.	View
	2005 Ford F-250 Super Duty Lariat 6.0L programming VIN: 1FTSW21P45 HI EVERYONE. I AM TRYING TO PROGRAM A BRAND NEW FICM MODULE INSTALLED ON THIS TRUCK. THE PROBLEM BEING WHEN I GET TO THE END OF THE PROGRAMMING EVENT, IT STATES "ACCESS DENIED" WITH AN ERROR CODE "0-0x33 85 1082". IT WONT PROCEED BEYOND THIS POINT. I AM RUNNIN...	View
	2003 GMC Sierra 2500 HD 6.0L Parking brake, high beam lights dimmly glowing VIN: 1GTHK29U73 Vehicle came in for random overnight no start. Pulled codes and only ones were B2610 and U1000 under bcm in history*** Both High beam and Parking Brake warning lamps dimly glow when vehicle is shut off, lamps will glow at proper brightness if flash to pass is...	View
	2004 Isuzu Axiom XS 3.5L cam sprocket and phaser and valves VIN: 4S2DE58Y44 Help me save Christmas for Marcia! This poor girl took her POS in for a check engine light a couple of months ago and was told it needed a tune up, I think she got codes p0304 and p0300. They did the work and last week it quit running, they diagnosed it as a b...	View
	2005 Lincoln Navigator 5.4L LR Air Shock deflates VIN: 5LMFU28565 Hi group: This Navigator is driving me insane. LR bag will deflate completely. Some background info. I first started on this vehicle about 2 months ago. LR bag would deflate a little too low when module goes to kneel. It should drop just shy of an inch, but pr...	View
	1994 Mercedes-Benz E320 3.2L Unknown VIN: WBADKIR547 Ok Benz masters... this one has me scratching my head... 1994 Benz has a blower problem... The blower actually seems to have a mind of its own and come on at any time it wants.. I thought I had a faulty blower regulator, so we replaced that first, No Dice... S...	View
	1997 Nissan Altima GXE 2.4L Poor Idle Quality, VIN: 1N4BU31D6V customer complains, and have verified, at cold startup, idle surges. 1100-1800 rpm. after warmed up, engine sometimes races to 2600-3000 rpm and wont "kick down". no vacuum leaks. smoke tested it, and when the engine races the computer IAC/AAC% is up to 75-88%...	View
	2008 Nissan Altima 2.5L rear defrost VIN: 3N1BC11E28 I don't see any relays or fuses anywhere for the rear defroster. Does anyone have wiring diagrams available for it? Thanks	View
	1971 Oldsmobile Cutlass 5.7L power steering pump and gear box VIN: 342671M187 Howdy Boys n Girls, Have this long time project, been working on this same car through 3 different owners, the lastest has owned it for about 9 years, over that time we have repaired and maintained it. The first assesment for the lastest owner included overhau...	View
	2001 Toyota Corolla S 1.8L Hesitation, Stall VIN: 1NXBR12E52 Customer drove in thier 2001 Toyota Corolla 1.8l complaining of a hesitation during takeoff and sometimes it stalls. I drove vehicle and there is a hesitation on acceleration. If you take off slowly barely feel it, but the harder you push on the pedal the wors...	View
	2004 Toyota 4Runner Sport 4.0L transfer case VIN: JNEBU17R24 4wd inop... 4wd green & amber lights flash when engaging switch to 4 high ... 4wd inop... no noise from acuator at transfer case , book says transfer case must be removed to replace acuator...??? thanks in advance...shawn	View
	2001 Volkswagen Passat GLS 1.8L pick up tube VIN: WVWPD63B11 Original request from customer was for a motorvac cleaning to try to revive a catalytic converter and get rid of P0420. He mentioned when he got the car here that the oil light comes on intermittently and he had replaced the sending unit. When he bought the se...	View
	1998 Volvo S70 2.4L Stall, MIL Lamp on VIN: YV1LS5538W Vehicle came back with complaints of low power output, hard restart after stall, customer was aware that suspect MAF could be verified with disconnect of MAF to put into fail safe mode, so additional p0103 was induced. I restored the connector and cleared code... Trouble codes: P0103 (maf high)	View

Fixes & Summaries for All Makes and Models

	Fix/Summary	Answers
	1995 Buick Riviera 3.8L Hesitation, Surge, Cuts out, Misfire, MIL Lamp on VIN: 1G4GD2219S Hi Folks, Sorry for the delay. It took literally 6 weeks to pin this one down. It was a bad ground wire where it attaches under the ignition module. We had tightened that one before but when replacing the module found the connector to be corroded on both si... Trouble codes: 260 (QDM 2 Fault), 341 (Camshaft Sensor Signal Erratic), 361 (EST not toggling).	37
	2003 Buick LeSabre Limited 3.8L Cuts out VIN: 1G4HP52K53 Well the majority was right even though the maf was replaced it was the problem. Unplugged it when it came back in hardley running, vast improvement. Ordered NEW OEM and replaced it so far no problems. I'm assuming it's fixed, car has been returned to custo... Trouble codes: P0101 (Mass air out of range), P0103 (Mass air failure).	31
	2004 Buick Century Custom 3.1L pcm/ipc/bcm VIN: 2G4WS52J44 as usual, the majority of you suspected the bcm as the problem, and as usual, you were right. thanks again for taking time from your busy schedule to help me.	16
	1996 Chevrolet Express 2500 5.0L Unknown VIN: 1GCFG25M5T Hello Everyone, Thank you very much for all of your replies. For the record, I replaced the blower motor and resistor with genuine Chevrolet parts. Although the parts were O.E., the blower motor was manufactured in South Korea. The problem was the blower moto...	22
	1996 Chevrolet Camaro 3.8L SRS indicator ON VIN: 2G1FP22K7T I received some schematics for the vehicle, which were useful. I have determined that it has a harness issue with the SRS, and repair is not possible at this time due to the owner needing the vehicle.	3
	1998 Chevrolet Malibu 2.4L antitheft VIN: 1G1ND52T7W Well this car is starting for now and I will keep trying it until it quits. Many of you mentioned the ignition cylinder which I had replaced, but a few mentioned communication between the BCM and PCM which I will have to look at when the vehicle decides to qui...	15
	1999 Chevrolet K1500 Suburban 5.7L Misfire VIN: 3GNFK16R6X To all the techs that replied to my help request, each and everyone of you are great. I wish I could reach out and shake the hand of each and everyone. It was like having all of you in the shop with me. The Suburban is fixed. I went down the list of replies ch...	19
	2001 Chevrolet Suburban 1500 LT 5.3L MIL Lamp on VIN: 1HJ5231578 Tested the pressure sensor and it was good. Replaced the canister and the vehicle did not return. Trouble codes: P0446 (EVAP system performance).	22
	2005 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 5.3L Hours Counter VIN: 2GCEK13TX5 Turns out there is a "Special Policy Bulletin" for 04-05 years of this vehicle that covers instrument clusters for certain VIN's looks like cluster is defective, Thanks to all that pointed that out to me!	11
	1997 Dodge Dakota 5.2L Cooling Systems VIN: 1B7GG23Y6V short answer, blend door adjustment. did pull apart old heater core and it was very pluged up, heater core fixed first problem and i caused the 2nd flushed atlest 100 gallons of water threw cooling system. after we put in dealler t-stat and water pump i noti...	16
	1996 Ford Taurus GL 3.0L transmission cooler line VIN: 1FALP51U9T Well, the leak ended up being a cracked line. This problem threw me off because the line cracked inside of the fitting, so I was sure it was the fitting seals leaking. still could not see the crack, but a new line fixed it. thank you all.	20
	1999 Ford F-150 4.6L gem wont program VIN: 1FTRX18W3X sorry for the long time to reply to this post... I thank all who replied to this and it helped me learn alot about the IDS module programing feature. What ended up with this one was the module that had been sent to us was bad the box had been taped up several ...	9
	1999 Ford F-350 Super Duty XLT 7.3L No Start, hard start VIN: 1FTNX21F9X rebuilt all 8 injectors myself truck starts and runs fine now thanks to all that replied	16
	2000 Ford Expedition XLT 5.4L theft VIN: 1FMPU16L8Y Hi; The air intake hose came off the throttle body. when this was finally discovered and reattached truck runs normal,apparently this was left loose on some previous repair and was covered up by engine cover.thanks for all the replies. We clearly stepped on a ...	12
	2005 Ford Taurus SE 3.0L Power Windows VIN: 1FAFP53245 Thanks for all the help!!! Thomas from Michiagn had the answer. The smart junction box has a message stamped into the back if it falls more than 20cm scrap. This must be a very fragile box. The first one I got from a junk yard had the very same symptom. The ba...	7
	2007 GMC Sierra 2500 HD SLT 6.6L Starter, VIN: 1GTHK29D77 Soory took so long, sent my trouble to a goog freinds shop they found the problem, i was less than [...] away from bad power wire to ecm, go figure right, they fixed wire i got a ecm from dealer and they flashed it and put it in, truck runs great, gave back...	6
	2001 Honda Civic DX 1.7L engine dies VIN: JHMES16571 Well, turns out replacing the Cam sensor did the trick. It's not too hard to get to. Just remove the Valve cover, which means first the COPs have to come off then the upper timing belt cover. There is the sensor. Nice and easy to access. One bolt and the ...	9
	2001 Hyundai Santa Fe GL 2.7L timing belt tensioner bolt VIN: KM85C83091 We are calling this one fixed. We changed all important parts again. OEM every thing. Tensioner, belt. Idler and pivot pulley. We also changed the pivot bushings bolt to a grade 8 bolt. Test drove. no problems so far. customer took the car and checked with him...	19
	1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited 5.2L No Start VIN: 1J4GZ78Y7T This one had me tearing myu hair out of my head. The PCM was bad, the O2 sensor wires were rubbing on the driveshaft, thats why it popped the fuse. AAAAAAAnd the fuse socket for the ASD relay battery power was spread open to big so that was why I would loose p...	4
	1996 Kia Sportage EX 2.0L Excessive Emissions thank you for taking the time to reply. Unfortunately the owner has decided to wait until after the holidays to spend any more money on this vehicle. I have verified all grounds at computer, and o2 heaters are working. I will update this post with a fix when...	5
	1999 Lexus ES300 3.0L Hesitation, Misfire VIN: JP8PF2808X It looks likei had recieved a defective part from my supplier and after replacing the ignition coil on the missing cylinder it solved the problem thanks to all who helped with repair information. Trouble codes: P1300 (igniter circuit malfunction).	2
	2001 Lexus IS300 3.0L Misfire VIN: JTHBD18211 HI,thank you all tech help.i just replace #4 cylinder ignition coil and mass air flow meter.after done ,road test at freeway and come back to pass smog check test. Trouble codes: P0301, P0302, P0303, P0304, P0305, P0306.	4
	2006 Lincoln Mark LT 5.4L Hesitation, Poor Fuel Economy, MIL Lamp on VIN: 5LTPW16506 Thanks for the help ery one , I try doing what i can but customer wants to take it to the DEALER . I may have a BAR complaint . and my diag was VCT actuator and valve sealing issue , pac defective . leat see what dealer says . i will post more info. Trouble codes: P0300, P0301, P0316, P0172, P0174.	7
	1984 Mercedes-Benz 500SEC 5.0L Poor Idle Quality, Hesitation, Stall VIN: WDBCA44B4E Ok, after a week of me pulling my hair out this vehicle is finally fixed. The technician that originally worked on the vehicle repaired multiple vaccum leak which helped slightly but definitely did not resolve the problems this vehicle was having. After chec...	12
	1985 Mercedes-Benz 500SEL 5.0L Air Pump/Alternator VIN: WDB1260371 I want to thank everybody that did took their time, as many of You stated this Mercedes Benz was a Gray market car, all the lambda system including Air Pump it was adapted & fabricated in a very chip way, and Yes the US model use a different belt for alternato...	13
	1992 Mercedes-Benz 300D 2.5 2.5L Excessive Emissions, Misfire VIN: WDBE345T6N I guess this was just a strange coincedence with the resealing of the pump, but the head gasket was split in cylinder 1... wow...	5
	2006 Mercury Mountaineer Premier 4.6L convertor VIN: 4M2CU571X6 thanks to all that replied. This was my thought process, and what I did to repair vehicle. The condition happened the same way, at the same time consistently. To me, this ruled out an electrical problem, i.e. solenoids. I have found electrical problems are...	8
	1998 Nissan Altima SE 2.4L fuel tank VIN: 1N4DL01DXW the check valve in the vent line was blocked. blasted it with air until it freed up and problem is solved.	10
	1998 Toyota Camry LE 2.2L condesor fan VIN: 4TBG22K8W4 thank you all for the great info this one is fixed condensor fan is operataion is good what i had was a broken wire between fan relay #1 pin c g-w wire to #3 fan relay pin2 g-w wire i opened fuse block jb2 there it was broken wire repaired al is well now hope...	9
	1994 Volvo 940 2.3L Excessive Emissions, MIL Lamp on VIN: YV1JW8313R The customer doesn't want to spend any more money. Both fuel pumps were replaced, the in tank pump didn/t work at all. The maf sensor was also replaced.No more codes for lean mixture. The vehicle is still running on the lean side 15.5. The pre cat Nox is 1000p... Trouble codes: 231.	7

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