Automotive Technicians Technical Discussion and Fixes for Aug 6, 2010

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	Help Request	Answers
	2002 Buick Rendezvous CXL 3.4L Low oil pressure VIN: 3G5DB03EX2 Need help please. We are stumped. Oil pressure light comes on when turning at normal speed, at a stop or bump at idle, will go off when engine rpm is brought up to 700 rpm, will stay on at idle until rpm is brought up to 700 rpm, tested oil pressure at idle t...	View
	2000 Cadillac Catera 3.0L engine oiling VIN: W06VR548YR This Catera came in with a broken timing belt and with an interference motor we sold rebuilt heads and timing belt. When we took it apart we found the drivers side cams both frozen in the motor and the valve cover and Cam sensor melted. After replacing the hea...	View
	2004 Cadillac SRX 4.6L Starting VIN: 1GYED63A64 Hello. We have a intermittent draw on the vehicle. It can sit overnight and starts right up. If you take a 5 minute test drive, come back and shut car off, then go out 10-15 minutes later it just clicks and you have to jump start. The battery tested good and h...	View
	2006 Cadillac SRX 3.6L 1-2 Shift Solenoid VIN: 1GYEE63776 The original customer complaint was that the vehicle would have no power on take off, and the check engine light was on. Scanned the car and found code P0973 1-2 Shift Solenoid Control Circuit Low Voltage. After test drive with tech 2, found that after about 5...	View
	1986 Chevrolet C10 Silverado 5.0L 3rd and 4th gear, REV VIN: 1GCEC14F1G Hi there and thanks for the help on this one. I have this 86 chevy 2WD truck that I just overhauled the 700R4 in. The tranny is actually out of a 1989 Firebird V8(does have the auxillary valve body). The 86 trans was torpedoed, so we just got a junkyard unit ...	View
	1992 Chevrolet Camaro RS 5.0L Excessive Emissions VIN: 1G1FP23E4N This is a Frankenstein, I know, but it is my son's car so I am stuck with fixing this. He has failed emissions and so the story starts. The main issue that I have is the IAT signal showing on my Solus rolls. Generally the temp is around 378 then drops at a fa...	View
	1998 Chevrolet K1500 Silverado 5.7L Poor Idle Quality, no power VIN: 2GCEK19R6W Hello all. The customers main complaint on this vehicle is, rough idle and lack of power. The old engine was burning coolant on startup causing a misfire that engine ran fine and performed well. Based on the high miles customer decided to change the engine. Th...	View
	2002 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 LS 5.3L door locks VIN: 2GCEC19J9T Vehicle in driveway at home. Alarm went off. Could not be silenced with either remote. Unlocked door with key and turned on ignition to silence alarm. Now neither remote works and neither do the inside doorlock switches. Must be unlocked manually. Out of optio...	View
	1999 Chrysler Cirrus LXi 2.5L Expansion Valve VIN: 1C3EJ56H1X Okay I have a tough one here. The vehicle is a 1999 Chrysler Cirrus 2.5L. Customer came in with his own parts. The compressor seized up. So I put on a new compressor, drier, and expansion valve and flushed the whole system. Charged the system and would not kic...	View
	2006 Chrysler Sebring 2.4L Excess Crank Endplay VIN: 1B3EL46X86 Vehicle came with blown out front crank seal. Cleaned up oily mess and installed new seal- blew it out again. Upon further examination, we found .080" endplay- should be about .003". Crank was moving, causing seal to be pushed out. Pulling down the pan and lo...	View
	2004 Dodge Durango SLT 4.7L Misfire, MIL Lamp on VIN: 1D4HB48N84 customer says she took the car in for an oil change to a chain store and after replacing the oil the truck will not start they got it to start but car was shaking really bad i scanned the car found po300 random miss i took plugs out and bank 1 plugs are all fa... Trouble codes: P0300	View
	1997 Ford F-250 7.3L Poor Idle Quality, Misfire VIN: 1FTHW26F3V Truck came in with hard start and very poor run. Diagnosed 2 bad injectors. In course of diagnosing found IDM to have water intrusion so also sold customer rebuilt IDM. Valve cover gaskets replaced as well as harnesses on both sides, both under covers and outs...	View
	1998 Ford Taurus LX 3.0L Excessive Emissions, Poor Idle Quality, Surge, Poor Fuel Economy, MIL Lamp on VIN: 1FAFP5351W we are the 5th repairer to look at this car found 02 and fuel trims dpopping to 0 fixed 02 reads fine but fuel trim all still at 0 system in open loop will not close ben this way for a while no history ac system also will not function	View
	2000 Ford Taurus LX 3.0L No Start VIN: 1FAFP5523Y Here is a good one people, 2000 Taurus 3.0 Flex will not start, cranks good, has good spark, has good fuel pressure, has injection pulse but will not fire. Disconnected egr valve and blocked off, pulled plugs & performed compression test, good. We're at a loss...	View
	2000 Ford Expedition Eddie Bauer 5.4L Mechanical VIN: 1FMPU18L8Y We really need a CLEAR 100% Correct way of timing this 5.4 motor. We have read so many different procedures and we can not seem to get it back into time just yet. We originally followed service information exactly (RH at 11 and LH at 12). We had a sluggish con...	View
	2003 Ford Windstar 3.8L Misfire VIN: 2FMDA53453 2 Month's ago customer came in for misfire diagnosis. 1 Week before we got vehicle, customer brought vehicle to chain repair shop (Goodyear) For Rough running. Chain shop did Tuneup. We got vehicle with 2 cyl. misfire. Misfire was companion cyl's. We Replaced ... Trouble codes: P0352	View
	2004 Ford F-150 FX4 5.4L Surge, Misfire, MIL Lamp on, no power VIN: 1FTPX14584 We are at a loss on this truck so far. We want some advice to make sure the time we spend on this is in the right direction. This truck came in with no power on accel. It feels really doggy even in town(IMHO). When you get out in the country and it shifts into... Trouble codes: P0171	View
	2005 Ford E-450 Super Duty 6.0L No Start, Hesitation, MIL Lamp on VIN: 1FDXE45P05 We have a 2005 Ford E450 Superduty with the 6.0 diesel with a crank no start. I know starting fluid is forbidden on diesels but originally it would start with a spray and drive fairly well (not completely sure how it really ran at first never personally test d... Trouble codes: P2291 (Long Crank ICP low), P0674 (Glow Plug Circuit Cylinder 4), P0678 (Glow Plug Circuit Cylinder 8)	View
	2006 Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor 4.6L Cuts out, Stall VIN: 2FAP71W26X Had car in shop for engine stall at idle, cruise, accel, decel no set pattern. No performance codes changed t- body, fuel pump, and reprogram still no luck. Customer stated the problem started after a trans shop rebuilt the trans. Only cose was trans code p073...	View
	1999 Jeep Wrangler Sport 4.0L distributor VIN: 1J4FY19S9X ok here is a good one thats not making sense.we have here a 99 jeep wrangler cust. did his OWN tune up and he states that the plug wires were routed wrong and he went off the serv. manuel and installed them to that.then the truck did not run after that so he t...	View
	2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited 4.7L steering VIN: 1J4GW58N2Y thanks for any help in advance for this nightmare, this vehicle came in for a noise from the front end. found the bushings in the axle supports worn so replaced them. the noise is gone but the truck has developed a horrendous shake. I have never seen anything ...	View
	2002 Kia Rio 1.5L has none VIN: KNADC12362 car will not complete drive cycle. after many miles can onlt get evap,misfire,o2 heater.No codes or pending codes.Car drives fine,no CEL.Any help would be helpful to get car to go through inspection	View
	2004 Kia Optima LX 2.4L Poor Idle Quality, MIL Lamp on VIN: KNAGD12624 only info i could find on system was that it had obout 6in of bypass vacumn at all times found egr valve to be opening at idle ck vacumn at valve it has 6 in. I thought that spring weak got new valve from dealer just hooked vacumn up did not install still open... Trouble codes: P0401	View
	2002 Lexus RX300 3.0L Safety VIN: JTJHF10U32 thanks for taking time to check this one out. car originally came in with air bag light on with codes b0133 (short in squib rh circuit b+) and b1100 (air bag sensor assembly fault). we cleared codes and coe b0133 was the only code to return immediatly. we foll...	View
	2002 Lexus GS300 3.0L monitors VIN: JT8BD69S32 the problem is that we fixed the code problem and cleared the computer and have driven to reset the monitors and i had all but the cat and evap and the next morning i went to check it and all the monitors have reset. i must be overlooking something but do not ...	View
	2004 Mini Cooper S 1.6L compressor VIN: WMWRE33424 hey guys im lost 2004 mini a/c inpo. no snowflake or rear defroster light when button is pushed, grounded #16 at pcm comprssor will run.	View
	1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse GS 2.0L Surge VIN: 4T1BF28B03 We got a 19999 Mitsubishi Eclipse we need a little help and/or ideas on how to proceed. We just did a valve job about 2 weeks ago, 200 miles after the repairs, also replaced water pump, timing belt, bearings, and hydraulic tensioner. Vehicle runs fine with A/C...	View
	2005 Mitsubishi Montero Limited 3.8L Transfer cas VIN: JA4MR51RXW Customer complains that at times when driving in 2wd high 4wd light starts blinking.When it starts blinking you can hear a grinding under truck.We are presuming it is trying to engage into 4wd by itself.We looked at vacuum hoses and solenoids and they appear t...	View
	2002 Nissan Sentra GXE 1.8L MIL Lamp on VIN: 3N1CB51D92 Hi gang! Have this vehicle that has failed the emission test for MIL being on and no communication. She has had 2 years of extensions and has not had any luck and she has had all 4 O2's replaced ( she tried doing her own diagnostics) and had AZ do a code read ...	View
	2002 Nissan Maxima SE 3.5L Misfire, smokes VIN: JN1DA31DX2 hello,i have a 2002 nissan maxima and i need help.customer complaint is long crank,whitish gray smoke out exhaust that smells strongly of fuel and runs rough.when i first started the car it was missing and had the smoke that smells super strong of fuel.after a... Trouble codes: P0300	View
	2008 Nissan Altima SE 3.5L master cylinder VIN: 1N4BL24E88 Helllo all, Thanks for taking the time to read this. The Altima came to us from another shop. They installed 2 master cylinders for a low/spongy brake pedal. After install the brakes were fine for a week or so and the problem came back. We looked it over and ...	View
	2000 Oldsmobile Silhouette GL 3.4L 2-3 Shift Solenoid VIN: 1GHDX03E2Y This vehicle came into the shop for a Tranny rebuild. The rebuilder test all the solenoids by giveing them power and all solenoids worked. After the rebuild the van lefted and came back with the same codes of why she brought it in. The code that was pulled out...	View
	1999 Plymouth Voyager SE 3.3L Stall VIN: 2P4GP44G4X I'll do my best to keep this as brief as possible. This customer has complained of a very intermittant engine dying while driving for the past 6-8 months. Until several weeks ago I've never been able to duplicate the concern. Everytime I've looked at it it ha... Trouble codes: P0107 (Map sensor voltage low)	View
	1998 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP 3.8L abs VIN: 1G2WP5212W We recently replaced damaged transmission after improper installation. HAve had to repair a lot of damage. Both front speed sensor wire harnesses were missing and cut out. The ABS and traction control lights are on. Replace harnesses scanned for codes. Can not...	View
	1991 Subaru Legacy L 2.2L Stall VIN: 4S4BC63C5M brought in to us after anouther shop had done head job, barley ran, found #4 injector bad 55ohms, spec 12. no big deal. replaced, car ran great now. also did check timing belt for correct install. now vehicle want to die very intermittenly as it comes to a sto...	View
	2001 Toyota Avalon XLS 3.0L No Start, Stall VIN: 4T1BF28B41 I have a toyota avalon towed in. It cranks but will not stay running. If I hold the throttle partly open it will run, let go of the throttle and it stalls... also when it is running if I try to bring the RPMs above 2500 the engine just shuts off there is no fe...	View
	1981 Volkswagen Vanagon 2.0L Charging prior to replacing alternator we verified condition of grounds and B+ wiring from starter. all very good condition. charge indicator on dash is working perfectly. the odd thing i am finding is the the blue wire is getting 14 volts. faulty alternator? or am i m...	View
	2003 Volkswagen Passat GLX 1.8L internal oil leak VIN: WVWPD63B73 Car came in with no oil on stick, and she had put in a quart 2 days before. I checked and oil pored out of intercooler hose. I immediately thought, turbo leak! YEA!!! Good money!!! It took two weeks to get back to it, and during that time it kept eating at me....	View
	2005 Volkswagen Beetle GLS 1.8L Conv.Top VIN: 3VWCD31Y15 Open roof light blinking,top works fine up & down. Checked right front micro switch & also replaced with new one. Noticed rear latches don't latch. Checked for power & ground when putting top down, can't figure out what makes rear latches work	View
	2007 Volkswagen Passat 2.0T 2.0L MIL Lamp on VIN: WVWJK73C17 Thanks for reading this. Car was just purchased used. Code p0016 & p0642 were confirmed codes when I got the car. Code p0016 was also a pending code. By request I cleared the codes & road tested the car. Upon the very first restart after clearing, (cold engine... Trouble codes: P0016 (Ckp correlation b1 sensor a), P0642 (Ckp sensor ref voltage a circuit low)	View
	1999 Volvo S80 2.9 2.9L No Start VIN: YV1TS97D3X First of all,thanks in advance! Car was brought in no start, no run. Customer had found that the car would run on starting fluid. This is true. I tested and found that there is power from the relay to the injectors, but the ECU does not ground them, so they sq...	View

Fixes & Summaries for All Makes and Models

	Fix/Summary	Answers
	2004 Audi S4 4.2L Misfire, MIL Lamp on VIN: WAUPL68E64 Well at long last...the fix was the cam timing solenoid on the left bank. Repair required removal of drive train from car to replace. Ball breaker of a job. $5500 later it's fixed. Customer very happy his machine is up and running again. Trouble codes: P0021 (Intake Cam Position Sensor Over Advanced Bank 2), P0300 (Random misfire).	10
	2003 BMW 760Li 6.0L MIL Lamp on VIN: WBAGN83403 Well we were all wrong. customer need the vehicle done faster then I could figure it out. So off to the dealer it went. Been there almost a week now and the customer has kept me in the circule. First they told him it need all the coils replaced because a b... Trouble codes: P0444 (Vent control), P0300 (Muli misfire), P0303 (Misfire 3), P0309 (Misfire 9).	7
	1990 Chevrolet C1500 Cheyenne 5.7L Poor Idle Quality, Hesitation, Surge, Stall, Hard Start VIN: 2GCEC14K2L Long story short, we did finally get this fixed, found that the pickup in the distributor was failing, thanks for all your help as usual, great site.	22
	2000 Chevrolet Blazer LS 4.3L Ac Pressure VIN: 1GNCT18W4Y Well first let me say thank you to all who replied. Thank you. Sometimes you cant see the forest through the trees. The radiator was replaced in Dec of 09 at a different shop. That radiator was defective when made. The cooling fins were defective. I could not ...	20
	2002 Chevrolet Corvette 5.7L Unknown VIN: 1G1YY22GX2 Thank you everyone for your help. I got replies back about the crankshaft endplay, which I checked and was ok. The noise sounded like it was coming from the torque tube, so I took it back apart and found bad bearings on the driveshaft like John had suggested. ...	6
	1998 Chrysler Concorde LX 3.2L inst. cluster VIN: 1CHD43W719 hi all i have been beatin" by chrysler not becasue i don't know what to do but by the frickin" outrages prices that chrysler wants for reman clusters 900.00 for a reman cluster that only cost 100.00 to make come on chrysler people live through this and s...	12
	1996 Dodge Dakota 3.9L Charging VIN: 1B7GG26X7T THANKS TO ALL WHO REPLIED.I BACKTRACKED MY STEPS AND HAD NO POWER WITH KEY OFF.I REMOVED FUSE BOX AND FOUND MY FUSIBLE LINK OPEN.REPAIRED WIRE AND WORKS WELL.	11
	2004 Dodge Dakota SXT 3.7L Excessive Emissions, Poor Idle Quality, MIL Lamp on VIN: 1D7GG16K24 found cyl 5 intake valve spring broken, valve bent, 5 worn intake guides, and some sticking lifters. had the heads reconditioned by machine shop. i guess the thing that threw me off was the lack of misfires on the monitor. thanks Trouble codes: 172 (rich f/t), 175 (rich f/t).	3
	2005 Dodge Ram 3500 SLT 5.9L No Start VIN: 3D7LS38C75 After checking and triple checking on the jefe's request I put in a new ECM and we are all happy. Thanks for the inputs to locate a more cost effective route to an ECM. Enjoy the rest of your summer!	11
	2006 Dodge Dakota SLT 4.7L Stall VIN: 1D7HW48N56 After cleaning the iac customer took the vehicle to try and has not returned yet. i cannot confirm that the vehicle is fix, but since he has not returned i would say that it either has not acted up recently or it is fixed Trouble codes: P2074 (MAP/TP Sensor Correlation-High Airflow/Vac Leak Detected).	4
	1976 Ford F-250 Ranger XLT 6.4L specs. VIN: F25MKC0247 Customer declined repairs. I believe it had a bad Expansion valve causing high side to go to 500 psi.	9
	1997 Ford Thunderbird LX 4.6L Starting VIN: 1FALP62WXV Thanks everyone for the suggestions. This was a very difficult fix. A few of you guys were right. It was a bad pcm. I checked all the grounds on the car, checked for corroded wiring around the battery, checked the car up and down for bad wiring, voltage dr...	11
	1999 Ford F-250 Super Duty XL 5.4L temp. VIN: 1FTNW21L4Y thanks for all the help it ended up being the evap.vent temps are now in the mid to upper 40s.	11
	2004 Ford F-350 Super Duty King Ranch 6.0L Mechanical VIN: 1FTWW33PX4 I replaced the condenser on this truck. The temp difference was better at about 21 degrees. Thanks, everyone for your help.	4
	2004 Ford F-150 XL 4.6L Stall VIN: 1FTRF12WX4 OK IF YOU LET IT RUN IN DRIVE AT IDLE WITH A/C ON IT WILL DIE . WHILE ATTEMPTING TO REPROGRAM THE ES6510 FLASHER WANT ME TO DO A KOEO SELF TEST CAME UP WITH A CODE THAT MY MODIS WOULD NOT PULL UP . P0605 INTERNAL KAM MEMORY ERROR . ATTEMPTED TO REPROGGRAM AND ...	1
	1998 Jaguar XK8 4.0L radio VIN: SAJGX224XW well this nightmare on madison street is finally fixed!!sorry it took so long to close this but custemer picked up car for a while.i was hoping he wouldnt bring it back!!HA HA but to the point thank you for the replies steve from new mexico sent me on the que...	8
	2007 Kia Sportage LX 2.7L Starting VIN: KNDJE72387 We took the advice of most who replied and shipped this off to the dealer. Thanks to everyone who helped.	6
	2002 Land Rover Range Rover HSE 4.6L ignition VIN: SALPM16472 We bought a used body control mod and had it reprogrammed by the dealer and everything works and is good as new. Thank you to all who helped out and we appreciate your time. [...] Auto	5
	1994 Lexus ES300 3.0L Poor Idle Quality, Hesitation, Cuts out, Stall, Misfire, MIL Lamp on VIN: JT8GK13T2R Thank you for all of your replies. I have rechecked all wiring and gone through the diagnostics again and by process of elimination I believe it is the ECM. Customer does not have the money to repair at this time. I wish I could be more definitive but the d... Trouble codes: P1300 (igniter circuit malfunction), P0303.	8
	2003 Lincoln LS 3.9L Glass VIN: 1LNHM87A43 Well. we got it fixed. Apparently the tech attached the glass to the regulator before making sure the motor was in the full down position. I've never run into this before. Thanks for all the replies.	4
	2005 Mercedes-Benz E320 3.2L Vibrate VIN: WDBUF65J85 Thanks for everyones help. The driver motor mount was leaking and tran mount was bad. Replace 3 mounts and car runs smooth. Thanks again.	6
	2007 Mercury Milan Premier 2.3L A/C inop VIN: 3MEHM08Z37 Thanks for the feed back. Went through system many times checking and trying differant ideas, but still did not find the problem. I generally try not to be just a parts changer, so I refered them to the dealer. Thanks for all the help.	6
	2002 Nissan Altima SE 3.5L No Start VIN: 1N4AL11D52 Many thanks to all who responded and helped. I checked all the grounds again, all OK. I was going to swap the cam and crank sensors to see what would happen, but when I pulled the crank sensor out, I was surprised to see it was a relatively new OEM sensor. At ... Trouble codes: U1000, U1010.	10
	2002 Saturn SC1 1.9L MIL Lamp on VIN: 1G8ZK52722 O.K. this one is fixed,did some more testing.The fuel tank pressure sensor always read 0 volts on the scan tool.While testing the sensor it read 4.98 volts.Just decided to replace sensor,I was hoping something was wrong with scan tool data because it still rea... Trouble codes: P0446 (Evap Vent Solenoid Valve Control System).	2
	2001 Toyota 4Runner SR5 3.4L brake booster VIN: JT3HN86R51 Thanks for the help. The problem actually fixed itself i stopped bleeding the master and just let it sit and after a couple days the problem went away. ???	3
	1987 Volkswagen Golf GTI 16-Valve 1.8L Hesitation, Cuts out, Misfire VIN: 1VWDB0175H She is fixed! Thank you all for the informative suggestions. Special thanks to Doug [...] for going above and beyond. It ended up being the factory foam in my fuel cell was coming apart (small particles) and starving me for fuel. After being suggested by a f...	7
	2004 Volkswagen Jetta GLS 2.0L Ac VIN: 3VWSK69M14 I received alot of responses from members indicating that the problem is possibly a blockage in the system. It would appear that this system uses an expansion block system. The customer has not brought the vehicle back and has indicated that she will wait unti...	8

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