The "Ask a Mechanic" Thread

[Springfield]

Injected unfortunately for me, I get the old stuff.

I'll check the injector out.

How do I tell which one needs replacing?

I believe that there is only 1 injector, i think it's throttle body injected (TBI). Which is much closer to carburated than typical fuel injection. Don't quote me on that though.

Honestly I'd go after the fuel pump first. Chryslers don't have great luck with fuel pumps.

[Koolblue13]

I believe that there is only 1 injector, i think it's throttle body injected (TBI). Which is much closer to carburated than typical fuel injection. Don't quote me on that though.

Honestly I'd go after the fuel pump first. Chryslers don't have great luck with fuel pumps.

YBI has one injector, I knew that. OLS It's late.

I'll take a look, thanks guys.

[DeanCollins]

OK, SS, TWA, zonny my '99 olds bravada 4.3 vortec V6 with the CSFEI (central sequential electronic fuel injection) (100k miles) won't start sometimes. Engine turns over but roughly (like maybe one cylinder fires and it kicks the starter out). It's been doing for a year now off and on. When it starts, it starts right up and drives, never stalls. It's normally a cold start when it happens. It's almost like water in the gas. Major tune up and fuel filter at 80K, Just put in a new battery and starter. I use lucas fuel injector cleaner regularly (for better gas mileage). I put some dry gas (water remover) and It might be working as problem stopped for now.

The fuel pump is on when it won't start but I suspect that's it's a fuel problem. I'll try it several times, leave come back later and it starts. I left it at a service place for 2 weeks and the problem wouldn't present for them. My mechanic friend says that they have been finding that ethanol has been causing the fuel filters to fill up with trash (impurities) and rust. He also that a fuel pump may be working irregularly. It does seem to be a bit down on power (maybe 10-15%) but that too could be due to ethanol.

Edited September 9, 2008 by DeanCollins

[TrumanB]

This is an awesome thread SpringfieldSkins. I didn't know this existed until yesterday.

I have a problem that I hope you or someone else can shed some light on. I bought my daughter a 2003 Ford Escape about 4 months ago. The Escape is basically a smaller version of the Ford Explorer. It has 74,000 miles on it and has been running fine until a few weeks ago. The car will not kick into overdrive when it reaches the proper speed, which is about 50 mph. It's almost like I have overdrive turned off, which I do not. There is a button on the gear shifter to turn overdrive off and I have not pressed that button. When I do press the button to test it out, there is a light on the dash that says "OD Off". But, I immediately reset it back on before driving.

Edited for clarification: one very important thing that I forgot to mention is that it sometimes will eventually switch into overdrive. It is random and does not happen all the time. The engine revs to about 4000 rpm and sometimes if I press the accelerator several times, it will kick into overdrive.

Does this sound like a transmission problem? Or is there a separate unit apart from the transmission that controls the overdrive function? Could it be that the car thinks that overdrive has been turned off? Is there some type of control switch that regulates this?

By the way, I have checked the transmission fluid and it is at the right level and appears to be clean.

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

Edited September 9, 2008 by TrumanB

[zoony]

Truman- check your fuse boxes.

[TrumanB]

Truman- check your fuse boxes.

One very important thing that I forgot to mention is that it sometimes will eventually switch into overdrive. It is very random and does not happen all the time.

Could it still be fuse related?

[zoony]

well no, not if it does it on occassion. Nevermind then... probably computer related.

...

[Mickalino]

Have this problem that only occurs at specific times - after driving over an hour, high-speed on the freeway.

Whenever I drive about 70mph or higher constantly for about an hour, all of sudden I feel a downshift in the engine speed. I can't tell if it's the transmission or the engine failing, but as soon as I feel that shift, the car starts to slow down and lose power. I start to give it gas, but instead of accelerating, it gradually slows down. It feels like it is eventually going to stall completely, but it doesn't. Once it gets down to about 55 or 60, it stops slowing down - however I can't speed up at that point, either. It's stuck at that speed until I stop the car and let it sit for a while.

It doesn't happen in city driving or short-term driving, but only in the scenario I mentioned, and it happens every time in that scenario.

It's scaring me because I have to make about a 2 hour drive, about twice a week to go see a specialist doctor, and I'm wondering if it will eventually fail completely.

What kind of car is it? That could dramatically change how my opinion is formed. Year, make and model please.

My first two thoughts are transmission and fuel pump. When you get back to me, I'll offer up a little more explanation. Sorry for falling asleep, watching football all day wears me out.

It's a 1997 Buick LeSabre.

(Don't laugh at the car - I inherited it, when my pickup truck blew an engine out, the day after my dad died, so I took his old car)

[PleaseBlitz]

2003 Nissan Maxima.

My brakes were squealing like a banshee so i figured i needed new break pads. I took it in, the guy said they were fine, sometimes brakes just squeak, charged me $30 for the inspection and said come back in 15,000 miles.

WTF? Brakes just squeak?

[DCsportsfan53]

OK, SS, TWA, zonny my '99 olds bravada 4.3 vortec V6 with the CSFEI (central sequential electronic fuel injection) (100k miles) won't start sometimes. Engine turns over but roughly (like maybe one cylinder fires and it kicks the starter out). It's been doing for a year now off and on. When it starts, it starts right up and drives, never stalls. It's normally a cold start when it happens. It's almost like water in the gas. Major tune up and fuel filter at 80K, Just put in a new battery and starter. I use lucas fuel injector cleaner regularly (for better gas mileage). I put some dry gas (water remover) and It might be working as problem stopped for now.

The fuel pump is on when it won't start but I suspect that's it's a fuel problem. I'll try it several times, leave come back later and it starts. I left it at a service place for 2 weeks and the problem wouldn't present for them. My mechanic friend says that they have been finding that ethanol has been causing the fuel filters to fill up with trash (impurities) and rust. He also that a fuel pump may be working irregularly. It does seem to be a bit down on power (maybe 10-15%) but that too could be due to ethanol.

I could be way off here because my experience is almost exclusively limited to VW but that sounds like an issue with a sensor of some sort, especially given that the car's been regularly maintained and it's an intermittent issue. In VW's, for example, when cold starting the engine computer bases it's fuel mixture on readings from the coolant temperature sensor until the O2 sensors have warmed up enough to take over. An intermittent cold start issue like that, if I had to venture a guess, would likely be related to a sensor that has a hand in telling the engine computer what the current conditions of the engine are when you're trying to start it. I have a hard time thinking it's something mechanical or a tuning issue given that it runs perfectly often times.

[Mickalino]

2003 Nissan Maxima.

My brakes were squealing like a banshee so i figured i needed new break pads. I took it in, the guy said they were fine, sometimes brakes just squeak, charged me $30 for the inspection and said come back in 15,000 miles.

WTF? Brakes just squeak?

PB - to fix the sound of squeaking brakes - just turn the volume UP on your car stereo.

[zoony]

2003 Nissan Maxima.

My brakes were squealing like a banshee so i figured i needed new break pads. I took it in, the guy said they were fine, sometimes brakes just squeak, charged me $30 for the inspection and said come back in 15,000 miles.

WTF? Brakes just squeak?

Yah... the squeeking is actually a harmonic caused by the brake pad vibrating within the caliper. (believe it or not- it's not a metal on metal squeek like it sounds. it's caused by intense vibration)

You can do a couple things to stop this. 1- you can buy shims to put behind the brake pads to stop the vibration, and 2- you can buy stop-squeel grease to put at the contact points where your pad touches the caliper.

The service guy should have known to offer that, what a douche. If he had it off to inspect, it would have only taken him a second to do, and he could have charged you a lot of money for applying some $2 stop squeek.

squeeking doesn't hurt anything though- it's just obnoxious.

Edited September 9, 2008 by zoony

[Corcaigh]

One very important thing that I forgot to mention is that it sometimes will eventually switch into overdrive. It is very random and does not happen all the time.

Could it still be fuse related?

It might be an intermittent faulty relay. I had a car that very rarely just wouldn't turn over. It was as though there was no battery connected at all. 99% of the time it started perfectly. We tried a software update first but it was a bad connection in a switch.

[PleaseBlitz]

Yah... the squeeking is actually a harmonic caused by the brake pad vibrating within the caliper. (believe it or not- it's not a metal on metal squeek like it sounds. it's caused by intense vibration)

You can do a couple things to stop this. 1- you can buy shims to put behind the brake pads to stop the vibration, and 2- you can buy stop-squeel grease to put at the contact points where your pad touches the caliper.

The service guy should have known to offer that, what a douche. If he had it off to inspect, it would have only taken him a second to do, and he could have charged you a lot of money for applying some $2 stop squeek.

squeeking doesn't hurt anything though- it's just obnoxious.

Thanks Zoon. Everything you said fits perfectly.

Actually, i think the mechanic DID put the stop-squeel grease on it and just didnt charge me, cause they stopped squeeking. I thought it was because he inadvertently fixed something just by taking the brakes apart and putting them back together (properly).

I love that mechanic, he very easily could have been like "yeah, you need new brakes and rotors" and i would have believed him and shelled out the $600 or whatever bucks for it, because the squealing was LOUD and it sounded very bad (metal on metal, exactly like you said).

Instead, he charged me the $30 he said he would just for the brake inspection, and fixed the problem.

:applause:

[zoony]

okay, my pos Trailblazer (2006, only 60k miles, falling apart, complete piece of ****, don't buy GM) is making a high pitched whine. It's getting worse and worse. It goes up and down with the rpm of the engine. Doesn't sound like a belt. It's really loud, you can hear it from inside. Really freaking obnoxious too

I turn the car in in 5k but I'm thinking about taking it in anyways, it might be serious. Any thoughts?

Seriously, this car is a piece of ****. I would be sick if I paid money for this automobile. Center console is broken, steering wheel is coming unwrapped, engine knocks like crazy, upholstrey is ****, etc.

....

Well I took it in- turned out to be an idler pulley!

I've heard some crazy sounds from bearings before, but never one like that.

Actually, the mechanic had to guess that it was the idler- he said we'll start there b/c it was the cheapest to replace. He agreed though that it didn't sound like any kind of mechanical noise... but sure enough, that fixed it

[Springfield]

OK, SS, TWA, zonny my '99 olds bravada 4.3 vortec V6 with the CSFEI (central sequential electronic fuel injection) (100k miles) won't start sometimes. Engine turns over but roughly (like maybe one cylinder fires and it kicks the starter out). It's been doing for a year now off and on. When it starts, it starts right up and drives, never stalls. It's normally a cold start when it happens. It's almost like water in the gas. Major tune up and fuel filter at 80K, Just put in a new battery and starter. I use lucas fuel injector cleaner regularly (for better gas mileage). I put some dry gas (water remover) and It might be working as problem stopped for now.

The fuel pump is on when it won't start but I suspect that's it's a fuel problem. I'll try it several times, leave come back later and it starts. I left it at a service place for 2 weeks and the problem wouldn't present for them. My mechanic friend says that they have been finding that ethanol has been causing the fuel filters to fill up with trash (impurities) and rust. He also that a fuel pump may be working irregularly. It does seem to be a bit down on power (maybe 10-15%) but that too could be due to ethanol.

The Bravada is basically a Blazer donned in Oldsmobile trim. These cars have a couple of common problems when it relates to your symptom (cranks, no start). Almost all of the problems relate to a lack of fuel.

First thought is the fuel pump. Fuel pumps are very common failures on these vehicles. However, you say that you can hear the fuel pump when you turn the key on. Usually when the fuel pumps fail on these vehicles, you don't hear the fuel pump come on.

Second thought is the fuel injector assembly. We, at our shop, call it the "spider" because it has a central hub going to each of the injectors. These can clog up and are very susceptible to a marginally low fuel pressure (one that isn't out of range, but on the low end).

I would say it's a 50-50 chance on either of those two. Neither of them are very cheap to fix as well.

[Springfield]

This is an awesome thread SpringfieldSkins. I didn't know this existed until yesterday.

I have a problem that I hope you or someone else can shed some light on. I bought my daughter a 2003 Ford Escape about 4 months ago. The Escape is basically a smaller version of the Ford Explorer. It has 74,000 miles on it and has been running fine until a few weeks ago. The car will not kick into overdrive when it reaches the proper speed, which is about 50 mph. It's almost like I have overdrive turned off, which I do not. There is a button on the gear shifter to turn overdrive off and I have not pressed that button. When I do press the button to test it out, there is a light on the dash that says "OD Off". But, I immediately reset it back on before driving.

Edited for clarification: one very important thing that I forgot to mention is that it sometimes will eventually switch into overdrive. It is random and does not happen all the time. The engine revs to about 4000 rpm and sometimes if I press the accelerator several times, it will kick into overdrive.

Does this sound like a transmission problem? Or is there a separate unit apart from the transmission that controls the overdrive function? Could it be that the car thinks that overdrive has been turned off? Is there some type of control switch that regulates this?

By the way, I have checked the transmission fluid and it is at the right level and appears to be clean.

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

This could be either in the transmission or the computer control (of the transmission). Being that you can "slam" it into overdrive, I would suspect it is in the transmission itself. Could be transmission pump pressure related (which is inside the transmission) where as if you give it a bunch of gas it will force enough pressure to kick it into overdrive.

It could possibly be the PCM not telling the transmission to shift into overdrive also. I doubt that, but it is possible that their may be a reprogram available to the vehicle's PCM.

I haven't seen this problem yet on the Escape. So I don't have much history to go on as far as what the most common problem is. It wouldn't surprise me if the transmission was beginning to fail (or at least the shift into overdrive, pump pressure, etc.). Good luck.

[Springfield]

It's a 1997 Buick LeSabre.

(Don't laugh at the car - I inherited it, when my pickup truck blew an engine out, the day after my dad died, so I took his old car)

I would have to lean my opinion more towards transmission. Mainly because if it were a fuel pump, chances are it would die out instead of just "throttling back". It could also be something like a mass air flow (MAF) sensor that is giving the on board computer input as well.

[Springfield]

Well I took it in- turned out to be an idler pulley!

I've heard some crazy sounds from bearings before, but never one like that.

Actually, the mechanic had to guess that it was the idler- he said we'll start there b/c it was the cheapest to replace. He agreed though that it didn't sound like any kind of mechanical noise... but sure enough, that fixed it

Nice. Glad you got it fixed and it wasn't super expensive.

[wshngtn1]

I"m not sure if this is in the scope of this thread or not but...

I recently bought a 04 Wrangler that came with 31 inch tires (bigger than stock) on stock axles. I would like to move to 33 inch tires but I'm concerned that 33 inch tires on axles made for stock sized tire (not sure the size) will be much more vulnerable to breaking. How much stress does bigger tires really put on an axle?

Thanks.

[Mickalino]

I would have to lean my opinion more towards transmission. Mainly because if it were a fuel pump, chances are it would die out instead of just "throttling back". It could also be something like a mass air flow (MAF) sensor that is giving the on board computer input as well.

Thanks - btw, Corcaigh had an interesting theory he posted in my original thread before I was referred to this one. What's your take on this ?

I had a similar problem many years ago. Once the engine got to a certain temperature one of the sensors caused the mix of fuel and air to be completely wrong, and the car would loose power.

http://www.extremeskins.com/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=5511508

[PleaseBlitz]

Any electricians in the house?

[TrumanB]

This could be either in the transmission or the computer control (of the transmission). Being that you can "slam" it into overdrive, I would suspect it is in the transmission itself. Could be transmission pump pressure related (which is inside the transmission) where as if you give it a bunch of gas it will force enough pressure to kick it into overdrive.

It could possibly be the PCM not telling the transmission to shift into overdrive also. I doubt that, but it is possible that their may be a reprogram available to the vehicle's PCM.

I haven't seen this problem yet on the Escape. So I don't have much history to go on as far as what the most common problem is. It wouldn't surprise me if the transmission was beginning to fail (or at least the shift into overdrive, pump pressure, etc.). Good luck.

Thanks for your input. Obviously, a transmission failure is not what I wanted to hear.

I called the local Ford dealership this morning to schedule an appointment to have it looked at, but the "red" team leader was tied up with another customer. He called me back and left me a voicemail and said that it would cost between $150-200 just to diagnose the problem. I'm not sure why he gave me a range instead of a specific amount. I haven't called him back yet, but I do have a few more questions before I do:

1. That diagnostic fee seems a bit excessive. I had work done a couple of months ago on the car and they charged an $89 diagnostic fee. Anyway, if they fix the problem, will they still charge me the diagnostic fee? I don't recall if they did so last time and I can't find the receipt.
   
2. The dealership told me that they only had one transmission tech on staff, which surprised me. Do you know of any tranmssion shops in the Richmond area that you would recommend other than the dealership? Or are any of the national chains ones that you would recommend?
   

Thanks for any help you can provide.

[Mickalino]

SpringfieldSkins -

Can you give any tips on how to locate and identity auto mechanics who have integrity, honesty, character, and trustworthiness ???

[Springfield]

I"m not sure if this is in the scope of this thread or not but...

I recently bought a 04 Wrangler that came with 31 inch tires (bigger than stock) on stock axles. I would like to move to 33 inch tires but I'm concerned that 33 inch tires on axles made for stock sized tire (not sure the size) will be much more vulnerable to breaking. How much stress does bigger tires really put on an axle?

Thanks.

Simply put, yes.

Now the long answer. It will put more stress on your axles and everything along the drive train all the way back to the engine. This includes the differential, drive shaft and transmission. It's a question of how much MORE stress it would put on all of those parts.

I'll try and relate this. Think of it like a bike (I'm sure a better similarity is out there). The smaller gears on the bike are easier to turn and the harder ones harder to turn. Any time you increase the overall rolling diameter (the distance it takes to complete one turn of the wheel) it puts more stress on the things designed to move those wheels. I would definitely agree that the axles are most likely to be damaged because of such a thing.

Now the bright side. If you are moving up from a 31 to a 33, the total circumference (rolling diameter, or whatever you want to call it) increases, but not by a number that I would consider huge. I've seen plenty of Jeep Wranglers with enormous tires on them, you know the mud slinging kind.

I don't think you'll have much to worry about as far as breaking axle and such. I've seen much more problems with vehicle that have standard (or slightly larger) tires but are making a huge amount of power compared to stock. I think you should be more concerned about ride comfort, ride noise and handling in my own opinion.