Automotive Technicians Technical Discussion and Fixes for Aug 16, 2011

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	Help Request	Answers
	2001 Audi Allroad Quattro 2.7L Air Bag VIN: WAUYP64B61 Is thair a good way to test for leaking air bags on this audi ?.i used a sonic leak tester to find the lf leaking.replace lf air bag test drove pumped up ok butt leaked out front of car came down .	View
	2001 Audi A6 Quattro 2.7L Air Bag VIN: WAUED64B61 Hi Audi techs, we have this 01 A6 Quattro 2.7T with air bag code 65535. (U48023 internal control module memory check some error) This is the first time dealing with this code. I could use some imput on what not to do to avoid first time mistakes. I assume tha ...	View
	2006 Audi A3 Quattro 3.2L Horn VIN: WAUNF78P46 Horn will not function when button is pushed. NO fault codes stored, Replaced steering column control module. Can activate horn with scanner only.	View
	1998 BMW 318i 1.9L Poor Idle Quality, Cuts out, Stall VIN: WBACC0329W This vehicle runs very poorly for about 15 seconds over and over but then stops as though the computer is automatically shutting it down after poor running for 15 seconds. Has set a code for bad cam sensor, replaced but no change. A few tries later set a code ...	View
	2002 Cadillac Seville STS 4.6L Defrost VIN: 1G6KY54912 Customer states that the HVAC won't go into defrost mode (windshield vents) Verified complaint. Did a hard reset by removing the instrument cluster fuse, and agian disconnecting the battery. The servos were never removed from the case during the eveaporator jo...	View
	2005 Cadillac STS 4.6L Poor Idle Quality, MIL Lamp on VIN: 1G6DC67A35 car came in with sensor not mounted and gasket missing replaced parts and code still there checked wires and all check good pluged in pcm now has code p2119 this code was not there before iam leaning to a bad pcm thanks for any help Trouble codes: P0102, P2119	View
	1999 Chevrolet Blazer 4.3L MIL Lamp on VIN: 1GNDT13W6X ok came in for check engine light po171& po174..no biggie found vacuum hose at intake next to pcv valve busted and also found another hose by cruise and abs pump that was busted so while i was attempting to change that one a small hose came off somewhere in th... Trouble codes: P0171, P0174	View
	2000 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 LS 5.3L Brake Warning Indicator VIN: 2GCEK19T9Y A few months ago the wiring on the ABS Pump motor corroded off. Amber ABS light was on but Customer did not want fixed. Two weeks ago, truck is back with amber ABS light on AND the red BRAKE warning light on. When the truck is started the BRAKE light flashes, ...	View
	2002 Chevrolet C3500HD 6.5L Hesitation, Surge, Cuts out, Stall VIN: 3GBKC34F92 The truck is a 3500hd diesel bucket truck. Randomly the truck will start to hesitate and stall out. We noticed that it will happen after a left hand turn and if you back off on the gas pedal it will come back and wont stall.	View
	2003 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 5.3L No Start, Stall VIN: 2GCEC19TX3 This truck came in on the hook yesterday for a no start. Died at redlight and would not restart. Started down flow chart and did not have rpm signal on scanner. Removed starter to check wiring at crank sensor and did not have 12v igntion ref coming from PCM. W...	View
	2005 Chevrolet Suburban 1500 Z71 5.3L audio VIN: 3GNFK16Z35 This vehicle has the UQ7 uplevel navigation stereo WITHOUT the Y91 luxury amplifier. The head unit powers up but I have no sound. Alldata is a little vague about audio in general. How do I test the head unit output to the amp?? I put my Modis on the output w...	View
	2006 Chevrolet Express 3500 6.6L glow plug VIN: 1GBJG31246 any tips on removing broken glow plug in cylinder hesd	View
	2006 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 LT 5.3L Cooling Systems VIN: 1GCEK19BX6 I have this 06 Silverado that my customer states smokes white on start up. It does not smoke in the morning. It does it when he drives for awhile then lets the truck set for about a half hour or so then restarts it, but doesn't do it all the time. He couldn't ...	View
	2005 Chrysler Town & Country 3.3L MIL Lamp on VIN: 1C4GP45RX5 Code P0016 sets intermittantly while driving. I can't scope the sensors while driving. Scope wave forms are clean, no glitches, and coorespond to Chryslers specs found in AllData. Tapping PCM, Cam, and Crank sensors has no affect. I wiggled the harness from PC... Trouble codes: P0016 (Cam/Crank timing out of sync)	View
	2002 Dodge Grand Caravan ES 3.8L MIL Lamp on VIN: 2B8GP54L52 It's back so I've got to fix it this time. If I remember from the last time I worked on this, the system codes p0442 + p0456 after clearing codes and driving. I smoked it several times from different locations, didn't find anything! I ran the Evap monitor test... Trouble codes: P0442, P0456	View
	2005 Dodge Sprinter 2500 2.7L MIL Lamp on VIN: WD2PD64408 I have a good customer with a sprinter van. It has a po698- sensor c voltage low. I can find nothing on this code. I also called a good friend at a Dodge dealership and he found nothing either. I am thinking it may have to do with the "drive by wire" system fo... Trouble codes: P0698 (Sensor c votage low)	View
	1974 Ford LN700 361CID Starter VIN: N70EVT1063 I have a 1974 Ford LN700 that is a no start. It has power to the ignition switch until you move the switch to the stert or run positions then you lose all battery voltage to everything. You even lose battery voltage to the power side of the starter solenoid. W...	View
	1987 Ford Ranger S 2.9L Hesitation, Misfire VIN: 1FTCR10T5H My truck has intermittent miss that is worse when cold and under load. The problem is more so at low RPM in second gear, so I step the clutch and bring the rpm up to catch again.the problem is getting worse and missing when hot now.I cant keep throwing parts ...	View
	1997 Ford F-250 Lariat 5.4L transfer case VIN: 1FTFX28L5V using modis--scan data shows 4WD switch B open. Switch A,C,D closed. Can see command on scanner when turning switch. Can not find Transfer case motor relay-7 wire. I did find the clutch relay and it does work. Has code P1838 ---are these switches on the motor ...	View
	2001 Ford Ranger Edge 4.0L Erratic VIN: 1FTZR15E21 Fuel level gauge, oil pressure gauge. "Check Gauges" light on. Fuel gauge is stuck on full, oil gauge moves about 1/16th of an inch off the peg, with truck running. Truck came in originally for a no start condition. Found no fuel pressure. After confirming vol... Trouble codes: P0232 (Fuel Pump Secondary Circuit Fault), P0460 (Fuel Level Sensor Circuit Fault)	View
	2002 Ford Explorer XLT 4.0L airbag VIN: 1FMZU73K52 Ok so we just picked up this explorer saturday.its in very good shape (esp. w/ 146k miles) howver airbag light is on code B2292 (restraint system pre tensioner fault)stored.So Im usually pretty good at sir lights but this is the first pretensioner problem Ive ...	View
	2002 Ford F-550 Super Duty XLT 7.3L abs VIN: 1FDAF56F32 Since the replacement of rear pads and rotors driver complains of poor stopping power, also front end dipping under braking. Upon inspection everything appears to be working normally, I could only confirm that the rear calipers are closing and stopping the rea...	View
	2005 Ford Freestyle SE 3.0L master cylinder VIN: 2FMZA58285 thanks in advance for any help. this vehicle came in with a complaint of a very low brake pedal. test drive confirmed that vehicle had good stop but poor pedal height. 4 wheel brake inspection revealed all brake hardware and pads in good shape. visual inspecti...	View
	2005 Ford Taurus SE 3.0L Surge VIN: 1FAFP53215 Customer states that the vehicle will all of a sudden start accelerating by itself INTERMITTENTLY. It will happen while using Cruise and without Cruise in-town driving. Customer delivers pizza's and says when it starts accelerating by itself he sometimes has t...	View
	2005 Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor 4.6L Cuts out, Stall VIN: 2FAFP71W85 supposedly this car dies when you back up and apply the brakes and sometimes stalls when coming to a stop no codes not able to duplicate and sometimes runs very poorly while driving also unable to duplicate ... looking for new ideas for something to check (do ...	View
	2005 GMC Sierra 2500 HD 6.0L Differential VIN: 1GTHK24U35 leaking gear oil from front diff left output seal i can not get the output shaft out from the diff any tips? thanks mark	View
	1991 Honda Civic 1.5L No Start VIN: 2HGED6455M vehicle cranks no spark, fuel pressure ok, spark ok. no injector pulse,injectors have voltage at key-up, but no trigger signal from pcm. have replaced main relay. pin-out test at ecm good. injector resistance is with in specs where does the ground signal come ... Trouble codes: 16 (injector circuit failure), 20 (electrial load fault)	View
	2006 Honda Pilot EX 3.5L Engine Noise- Loud tick/tap VIN: 2HKYF18426 This vehicle was recently purchased and there was a noticably loud intermintent tick/tap. I assumed valve adjustments. The valves were not off that much .001"-.003" all are within spec now. No difference. I had also checked to see if the VTEC rockers seemed to...	View
	2002 Hyundai Sonata 2.4L Engine VIN: KMHWF25S72 Hello Everyone, Got this 2002 Hyundai in the shop that is leaking oil from in behind the timing cover. Customer was at the dealer 4,000 miles ago for above related work. That was their 3rd attempt to stop the oil leaking. Oil was leaking then from the motor i...	View
	1995 Jaguar Vanden Plas 4.0L a/c compressor VIN: SAJKX1746S A/C compresor engages intermittently (mostly off than on). Trace cause to clutch relay not being grounded by the ECM. No DTC stored that would cause the ECM to not turn on the clutch relay. Tried a used A/CCM as it provides signals (data unknown)to the ECM. St...	View
	2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited 4.7L fuel smell VIN: 1J4GW58SB1 Hi all. This jeep came in with complaint of fuel smell shortly after starting.The problem seems to happen cold more than hot according to cust.Have checked for signs of fuel leakage and found none-no abnormal exhaust smell.Am thinking smell happens when evap l...	View
	1999 Land Rover Range Rover 4.0L Misfire, MIL Lamp on VIN: SALPA1247X First time customer came in stating check engine light and run rough. Scan for code and foung the listed codes in system. Engine have misfire while idling. Inspect spark plug wires and found arcing on spark plug. Can't seem to figure out which cylinder is miss... Trouble codes: P0300 (Random misfire), P0307 (Cyl. 7 misfire), P1316 (Excessive emission misfire fault), P1314 (Catalyst damage bank B misfire fault), P0430 (Cat below efficiency bank 2), P0420 (Cat below efficiency bank 1)	View
	2011 Land Rover Range Rover 5.0L instrument cluster VIN: SALME1D40B Can any one tell me how to remove the instrument cluster on this 2011 Range Rover HSE? All data has no info on this new of a Land Rover. Thank you, Bob	View
	1992 Lexus SC400 4.0L Excessive Emissions, Poor Fuel Economy VIN: JT8UZ30C8N Lexus/Toyota geniuses PLEASE HELP!!! I have this SC in here that is dumping fuel and running up CO% to noxious levels. Both HO2S pegged full rich no amount of added air will cause them to drop down. My main question is what if any, are the Ohms spec and testin...	View
	1997 Mazda Miata 1.8L gear chipped VIN: JM1NA3535V Customer wants to replace 5 speed with a 6 speed.Brought me a 6 speed completely disassembled.Replaced several parts from dealer.I need help to make sure it is reassembled correctly.Anyone with experience with this transmission?	View
	1991 Mercedes-Benz 350SD 3.4L wont shut off VIN: WDBCB34D8M Met the owner at a car show and he was telling, and showed me vehicle would not shut off with key. The only way to shut vehicle off is to push on diesel shut off lever on pump. The solenoid will move about 3/4 way but will not shut off fuel. Have not worked on...	View
	2004 Mercedes-Benz E500 5.0L TPMS Warning Indicator VIN: WDBUF70J74 Ford tech here, posting on behalf of our dealer to request assistance to reset a tire pressure warning display on the vehicle in question. This vehicle is a sold unit from our used car department. The servicing tech who did the safety inspection and all the wo...	View
	2006 Mercury Mountaineer Premier 4.6L Poor Idle Quality, Stall VIN: 4M2EU38846 Thank in advance for any help. This vehicle has a low idle (400) or will stall when every put in gear. It does not matter what gear (drive or reverse) either. I did notice that when in gear the spark-act will go to 127 degrees and if you try to power brake it ...	View
	2001 Mitsubishi Montero Sport ES 3.0L MIL Lamp on VIN: JA4MT1H91P Car came in with codes noted. Runs fine except for check angine light. Replaced front 02 sensor on right side thinking that was bank 2. Bank 2 is actually on the drivers side. So at this point the P0174 is still returning. Actually the P0174 has not returned s... Trouble codes: P0174 (System too lean bank 2), P0154 (02 Sensor CKT No activity bank 2 sensor1)	View
	1997 Nissan Quest XE 3.0L compressor VIN: 4M2DN1112V hi fellow techs ihave a problem with losing ground to the a/c relay after engins reaches temp all readings are normal i can shut the engine off for aprox 5 min and restart and the a/c will work for 5 or 10 min and do the same thing. if i just shut the a/c swit...	View
	1991 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme 3.1L No Start, Cuts out VIN: 1G3WH14T9M thanks for the help , the car has weak injector pulse,no start, good spark,fuel presure is good too,got running a couple of times ,then no start , its got rpm reading, repaired some wires under power steering pump, look for more broken wires but nothing.and i ...	View
	1992 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme 3.1L Stall VIN: 1G3WR11X3N This vehicle came to us with the complaint that it will stall at idle intermittantly. It initially had code 35 in it for Iac error. I found a vacuum line had fallen off and created a vacuum leak about 1/4 inch in diameter. Erased the code and test drove and ve... Trouble codes: 35 (iac error)	View
	1999 Pontiac Grand Am SE 2.4L Cruise control VIN: 12NE52T2XM The cruis control on this vehicle does not work. I have performed all the work on the mitchell flow chart. I have power at the cruise control module. Everything apears to work correctly except the cruise will not work. I have also changed the pcm per the mitch...	View
	2001 Toyota RAV4 2.0L timing cover OIL LEAK VIN: JTEHH20V91 bad vibration damper has worn a small hole in timing chain cover. Has anyone run into this and can I repair this with epoxy or the like...	View
	2004 Volkswagen Jetta TDI 1.9L Low power VIN: 3VWSR29M74 Thanks in advance. Car came to me with no power and smoking. Replaced turbo with oil feed and return lines and a fresh oil change. Turbo looked bad.. Exhaust vanes and end of shaft missing completely, intake vanes broken and mangled up. Replaced o2 sensor as w...	View
	2004 Volkswagen Jetta GLS 2.0L evaporator VIN: 3VWSK69M44 I am experiencing a noise from the evaporator area of this car. It may start out as a squeaking type noise then progresses to sound like something vibrating inside the dash. It is not in the blower motor. If you shut off the AC button (and leave the blower on ...	View
	2006 Volkswagen Jetta 2.5 2.5L Accessories VIN: 3VWRF71K56 there is a .8 amp draw from radio, on power distribution only radio is supplied direct power from #8 fuse, draw goes away with radio disconnected, customer states that they have replaced the radio already and problem is still present, I talked to volkswagen th...	View
	2008 Volkswagen Eos 2.0T 2.0L MIL Lamp on VIN: WVWBA71F68 Initialy this vehicle would set an evap dtc every 1500-4000 mile, now it has become more frequent. In the past we were never able to confirm failure. the last time it was in for service performed the onboard EVAP self test, and confirmed failure, vehicle set P... Trouble codes: P0456 (Evap small leak), P1643 (01110- VW- evap very small leak), 01110 (VW- evap very small leak)	View

Fixes & Summaries for All Makes and Models

	Fix/Summary	Answers
	2004 BMW 330i 3.0L MIL Lamp on VIN: WBAEV53484 installed new alternator and still get the code but no cel. Will update if anything changes. It does charge out fine. Found some stuff saying that there are software updates but not for that year. May have to check further if the car comes back. Trouble codes: 281D, 281C.	7
	1994 Chevrolet Caprice Classic 4.3L Stall VIN: 1G1BL52W8R Thank you to everyone who replied. Some of the replies were pertaining to a 4.3L V6, which this is not. This is a 4.3L V8. I cleaned all ground, no help. Ohmed all injectors, all within .2 ohms. Blocked off EGR supply vacuum, no help. After all this I was star...	16
	1997 Chevrolet Blazer 4.3L No Start VIN: 1GNDT13W8V Thanx for all the replies on this one the FUEL PUMP RELAY TOOK A DUMP.. Inside the glove box there is 3 relays left side is fuel pump relay..I swaped it with the right side relay still no change..come tofind out that both relays were dead..I had a spare relay ...	23
	2006 Chrysler Pacifica Touring 3.5L Fuel Gauge VIN: 2A8GM68456 This morning after going over the info received from several replies I sent a tech to see if in fact this vehicle was full of fuel. Nope, it was not. Took 10 gals to fill it. Shows full now. Thanks for all the help!	4
	2001 Dodge Ram 1500 Laramie 5.9L Poor Idle Quality VIN: 3B7HF13261 this truck is not fixed, but i know where the problem is. i did a compression test cold and hot. when cold number 3 cly. has only 100 [pds. compression. all others 160. when you start this cold you only have 15 pds vac. and it idles rough. with in to minutes i...	17
	1982 Ford F-250 XLT Lariat 4.9L Mechanical VIN: 1FTEX14E9C thank you all for the help.im sorry for taking so [...] to close this, but the restriction i was talking about,some of you called it a muffler well i took it apart and it was restricted so i cleared it out and it worked fine.	16
	2003 Ford Focus ZX3 2.0L MIL Lamp on VIN: 3FAHP31383 I used a generic harbor freight scanner and it read the codes. I knew I was getting signal because I scoped the Blu/red and gry/red wires and was getting wave forms. I am a little peaved that a 2500$ scanner could'nt read the codes when a 70 dollar can. I th...	8
	2004 Ford Freestar SE 3.9L Radio/ cd changer VIN: 2FMZA52264 Well I have come to the conclusion that Ford multi-disc cd changers are prone to this problem. Even my customer did a quick online search and found the problem is pretty prone to this radio. I have set a new policy in the shop to remove all cd's from any chang...	4
	2011 Ford F-250 6.7L No Start VIN: 17T7X2BT7B THANKS TO ALL WHO RESPONDED, IT WAS ONLY A SINGLE TANK SYSTEM SO WE REMOVED THE TANK AND DRAINED AND FLUSHED AND WIPED DRY. SOME OF THE RESIDUE WAS STILL ON OUR RAGS FROM YESTERDAY, IT LOOKED LIKE WHITE MOLD GROWING. I'M GLAD WE WIPED THE TANK OUT! THEN REI...	5
	2003 GMC Envoy SLE 4.2L Electronic VIN: 1GKDS13S13 well we replaced the blower motor resistor pack with on from the dealer instead of the after market one and all seems to be fine and customer will advise us of any changes...Thanks to all	6
	2001 Honda Civic LX 1.7L Charging System VIN: 1HGEM21901 THANK YOU TO ALL WHO TOOK THEIR TIME TO RESPOND. CHECKED ALTERNATOR + MOUNTING BOLTS,CHARGING OK+BOLTS TIGHT. CHECKED BATTERY,TESTED GOOD. CHECKED INTSRUMENT CLUSTER,PASSED TEST. CHECKED ELD+VOLTAGE ON RETURN WIRE, CHANGED WHEN LOADED. AS I SUSPECTED IN THE FI...	10
	1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo 4.0L Steering VIN: 1J4GZ58S9V IRECIEVED MANY REPLIES TO CHECK THE STEERING COMPONANTS FOR ANY KIND OF BINDING WE CHECKED AND EVERYTHING WAS GOOD.THE PROBLEM WITH THIS WAS THE POWER STEERING PUMP WE PUT IN WAS DEFECTIVE,WE INSTALLED ANOTHER PUMP AND ALL IS GOOD.I WENT WITH ANOTHER PUMP BECA...	15
	2002 Lexus ES300 3.0L compressor VIN: JTHBF30G02 found control head no good.(got one from pullapart	1
	2002 Mazda 626 LX 2.0L Vibration VIN: 1YVGF22C12 ok guys, thank you for your replies. I have this one fixed. Turns out who ever changed the mounts befor put the front mount in backwards. So, when I install it the way I took it out, it was again backwards. Took it back out and turned around and all is good no...	6
	2003 Mazda Tribute LX 3.0L Misfire VIN: 4F2YZ94133 thanks for hepling the biggest idiot today. I knew it would be something STUPID that I was missing. Never thought of the harness biening reversed. It looked so happy laying the way it was, just never doned on me. Reversed the harness, all better. Now my head h... Trouble codes: 304 (Cyl 4 miss), 306 (Cly 6 miss).	11
	2000 Mitsubishi Montero Sport XLS 3.0L 1-2 VIN: JA4MT31HIY Thanks to all who helped:JAY,ELBRUZ,JAMES,WINSTON and AVINASH.I was not able to fix this problem every suggestion was checked.the only problem I found was the 2 rear vss signal peak voltage were lower,like 1.5vlts compare to the fronts.I explained this to tran...	5
	2007 Pontiac Vibe 1.8L 1-2 shift VIN: 5Y2SL65837 Thank you to all you guys who took the time to help us with this pain in the a@# vehicle. The first part of this problem (code 2111) ended up being a bad TAC unit. After some very careful studying of it's action it turned out that the comparison between the tp...	4
	1978 Porsche 924 2.0L No Start VIN: 9249202091 car left yesterday. The fuel pump relay does not prime on this one i think it may have seemed like it was priming before because the dizzy was on its way out? Either way with the correct diagrams there is only one wire that references the rpm from the coil. ...	14
	2001 Toyota Corolla LE 1.8L MIL Lamp on VIN: 2T1BR12E01 Thank you to all who replied.AN extra thanks to Neil and Alan did find particles getting up to evap purge solenoid.Replaced charcol canistor evap solenoid and eveything is working good. Trouble codes: P0441.	7
	2001 Volkswagen Jetta GL 2.0L Starter VIN: 3VWSK69M42 So even though earlier I tried a new Multifunction switch (safety neutral switch) just by plugging it in outside the transmission and trying to crank it with no results. I took a shot from reading IATN and the net and installed the new switch. It still would n...	5
	2004 Volkswagen Passat GLS 2.0L engine VIN: WVWME63B54 thanks for all the help, no replies yielded a actual repair for this issue, just because all that replied have never gone inside and repaired a balance shaft module for this concern. customer declined repairs and is going to trade vehicle in. my next step woul...	3
	2000 Volvo C70 2.3L Steering VIN: YV1NC53DV1 Greased the steering stops and noise went away, however tires still rub and customer will be replacing with the correct size. Thanks to all who offered their help and advice. You guys are great!!!	11

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