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Well you should have the car scanned and the tail pipe "read" to see if there is excessive fuel enrichment---that could damage your catalytic converter.
Also, check the obvious, which is low tire pressure and a transmission that isn't shifting into 4th gear.
Normally I'd say that your mileage will improve as the engine builds up miles, but the fact that you are observing a constant decrease in mileage indicates to me that something is definitely wrong.
Last of all, we don't know your driving habits/conditions, so that's a factor as well. If you are often in traffic and use the AC a lot, that'll gobble up gas mighty quick.
You might use our "search" feature to the left of this page to find other discussions about your particular car, and query other owners of identical cars on how they are doing with fuel mileage. If you are all within 5-10% of each other, then that's your answer.
I am about to take delivery of a new BMW 330i Sport Pack. A question regarding break-in.
A number of web sites recommend that, in cars with a manual transmission, we should use engine braking as much as possible during break-in (running-in) of the car.
What is the reason for this? Surely this causes unburnt fuel to be drawn into the cylinders, thus diluting the effect of the oil and washing the piston walls with petrol and risking more wear than desirable? I imagine it would be worse when the engine is cold.
A number of web sites recommend that, in cars with a manual transmission, we should use engine braking as much as possible during break-in (running-in) of the car. Drive the vehicle normally, you want to load the engine occaisionally, so some long hills would be a good idea. You don't want to hammer on it, but you don't want to keep the rpms at one level too long. Vary the rpms if you can safely do so.
As for engine braking, well...... I guess if it makes you feel better. ; )
"Surely this causes unburnt fuel to be drawn into the cylinders, thus diluting the effect of the oil and washing the piston walls with petrol and risking more wear than desirable?"
If this was the case, I would have blown up every motor in every vehicle I've owned - this borders on the dramatic over-reaction, I'm thinking.
I don't think the danger is from excessive fuel being drawn into the cylinders (that should effectively be cut off by the computer) but rather over-revving from downshifting incorrectly.
Remember, your engine's rev-limited does not work on an improper downshift. Twisting a fresh BMW engine up to 7,500 rpm by downshifting into 2nd instead of 4th can't be too good for it.
Aside from long downhills, I'm not a big fan of using the transmission to slow a car down, unless you are also using the brake simultaneously.
As a final caveat, extreme downshifting can cause compression braking and vehicle instability, but this doesn't relate to break-in periods.
I'm trying to change the rear driver's side seatbelt but can't figure out how to get the seat apart so I can change the locking strap. Any suggestions?
I have checked all the "obvious" things. Yes, I suppose I will need to have the dealer sniff my exhaust for unburnt stuff. He's just so far away and his reputation is questionable, so I have been putting this off till now. I'll report back on what he says.
Sorry but I don't know this car well enough. I've done plenty of seats and as I recall there can be a hard seat back with small phillips head screws, a seat with zippers on the bottom so the top cushion slips off, or C clips that hold the seat covering at the bottom.
There are usually one or more sensors that read coolant temperature---one to turn the fan on and another to turn it off (systems vary from car to car). Often you can test the sensor by removing the wires and bypassing the sensor with a "bridge"; however unless YOU KNOW what you are doing I recommend that you let a shop test this for you.
If your coolant isn't hot enough, these fans won't normally work, so you really need to know what temp they normally kick in at.
My 98 Dodge Caravan fuel guage is having "issues". When the fuel gets down to about 1/2 tank, the guage will intermittently drop and the low fuel light will ding and come on. Then the guage will go back up and then start all over. It is not a consistent thing, but it is very annoying. I have a friend with an Intrepid that has similar trouble. He just pulled the fuse of the dinger to solve his problem. Anybody else ever seen this and solved the problem before?
Since the problem is related to actual fuel level, and doesn't occur when tank is near full, I'd definitely start at the float in the tank itself. Most of these operate on a principle of variable resistance and it sounds like the sending unit is having a nervous breakdown.
If the problem were random and not related to fuel level, I'd be more suspicious of the dash gauge or its related systems.
the gauge level sender is goofy in the tank. not really all that unusual. neither is a bill of $300-500 to drain out all the fuel, drop the tank, replace the sender unit, and put it back together. if you have to do it, probably better replace the fuel pump on spec, because you have to do the exact same thing to replace the pump, and it's cheap compared to doing the labor again someday, maybe.
one other possibility.. some fuel refined by the shell affiliated refineries in southeastern states was badly done, left plug-full of sulfur, and that rotted a lot of gauge sender contacts late spring and early summer from louisiana to (especially) florida. if you live in that area, they are replacing senders for free. the fool who thought it didn't matter was summarily fired, and they have fixed their processes.
There should be one of both fans running when the air conditioning is turned on. Does that happen?
The fans should turn on when the cooling water heats up. To see if this happens, drive the car a while then let the car idle, maybe in your garage, while watching the temperature gauge. If it gets to the edge of hot and the fans haven't turned on to cool down the alternate method has failed. There probably is a relay that's not functioning if neither of these turns on the fans. If the air conditioning turns them on but they don't turn on when the water heats up, then you have a sensor that's not right or a wiring problem.
Hey all...hope somebody can help me. It's time to replace my fuel injectors, and I'm wanting to get something that will get me better gas mileage (and performance at the same time, if at all possible).
Does anybody have any suggestions as to what kind I should use? Thanks, everybody!
With low oil pressure. After replacing the catalytic converter the oil pressure got better briefly, but then ended up low again. On Monday it started making noise on start up. Took it to the dealer, they put a manual guage on it and found it only had 10-15 psi, this from an engine that normally runs 50-60 psi. Needless to say the oil pump is shot, its being repaired this week.
The dealer says its just the oil pump, course if they replace that and its still low then I'm sure they will look further. Up until a month ago the truck was running 50-60 psi, then it steadily dropped, first to 40, then on down to where it was on Monday.
Does the computer in a recent 03 04 GM car still adapt to the way the car is generally driven and use that to maximize fuel economy and minimize pollution. Would that affect how the car behaves when floored at 30 or 40 mph and make it seem to give less power than when floored from a dead stop? Does this apply to the Northstar engines?
You are probably experiencing the differences caused by gearing rather than the computer management of the engine. Starting from speed 0, you are in a somewhat optimum situation for gearing but at 30-40 mph the gear selected by the downshift might be less than optimum---especially if you only have a 4 speed automatic. 4 speeds can't really give the optimum gearing for all speed ranges.
Problem: Random, single (one at a time) knocking sound from lower right side of engine ONLY when engine is cold. Sounds like person periodically hitting block with 2-lb sledge, just once in a while. Noise IS related to engine heat (stops when car warms up), but NOT related to engine revs or load.
Diagnosis thus far: Took a long screwdriver to listen to location of noise. No noise or vibration of the knock was felt on engine block or water pump or timing case cover. When screwdriver is placed on idler pulley for fan belt, or on AC brackets, definite vibration felt each time knock occurred. You can even feel it a bit in the fender when it knocks. This is a sharp, deep knock, seemingly random in interval.
Mystery: The knock occurs with AC off, which seems to eliminate the compressor, right, or ??? Can a faulty AC clutch make such a deep knocking noise. I though they only kind of chattered like an upset parrot. Idler pulley when cold can be forced to and fro, and has play in it, but can a pulley knock like that?
Engine seems to be ruled out as noise disappears completely when engine is warm or when revved up or loaded up. You can drive all day at top RPM or high load without a peep.
What it really sounds like, but really isn't, is when a crank pulley is loose on its keyway. The reason I say "isn't" is because a crank pulley would not stop making noise if the keyway was loose.
Any ideas guys?
I have heard that AC will knock like this when air-bound.
seriously, injectors are NOT going to save any fuel for you. they are spray nozzles attached to on/off solenoid switches. if the car runs and has power on all cylinders, the injectors are OK. if you have cylinders not firing because of gas starvation, one or more injectors need replacement.
there is no injector maker that has a magic voodoo injector that will save you any gas.. it's a function of whether the computer says it's time to spray gas, the fuel rail pressure, and whether you also have air and spark at the right time in that cylinder. physics and chemistry says that if you need a certain amount of power in a cylinder explosion to provide a certain amount of power at the flywheel, to get that power, you have to have X amount of vaporized gasoline with Y amount of air in the top of the cylinder before you spark it off. any other options will result in less power. ANY other options, because if oyu pack in more gas, there is less room for air, and vice versa.
you can get more power with a turbine compressor and a longer fuel spray time, but that's it. won't help with economy.
whomever told you injectors will get you more miles per gallon is just running a scam on you. the car will run like a lawnmower if the injectors are a problem, and you might have black smoke. otherwise, don't waste over a thousand bucks on injectors that won't change a thing.
had a family reunion last weekend for the fiancee's mother's side, and one trucking relation was talking about a "tick..... tick......tick" he got on his IH semi tractor around 600,000. only on startup, only when cold. couldn't find anything, he techs couldn't find anything. eventually, it got more persistent on a sunday in cody, wyoming, and he started trying to find an open shop. getting close to dark, and everything closed at 6 pm in cody on sunday, and I mean closed TIGHT, they rolled up the sidewalks and took down the trees along main street until monday.
he finally saw somebody's welding arc from the parking lot of another dead and abandoned machine shop, and went over. turns out he had a warp in the alternator bracket, and a 6-inch through bolt had worked forward an inch when a nut fell off. under exactly the right circumstances, moon in venus and the fireflies going counter-clockwise, etc... this bolt was far enough forward so one blade on the fan came by and tapped it. there was a very small scrape on the edge of the fan blade.
you might have one of these someplace. hope it's in the open where you can see it ....
since the noise happens only when the engine is cold,you might want to take the belts off.run the engine for a short time and see if the noise goes away.look at the idler pulleys for powdered rust also.
Ah, both excellent suggestions. I am SURE at this point that it is something totally weird.
When I first heard the noise, I freaked. It sounded SO MUCH like a rod bearing you wouldn't have believed it. Fortunately my few seconds of panic receded when I realized that rod knocks are rarely random and spontaneous. Like a hatchet in your head, you know when you have one.
Anyway, I just bought one of those neato mechanics' listening devices that you thread together into a long probe and plug into your ears.
Bolt that adjusts the AC compressor backed out of its bracket and bolt head just barely touching the inner fender well.
Now why would this noise go away when the engine was warm?
Well, because this engine runs smoother when warm! It was THAT close. I could like slightly drag a business card between the bolt and the fender...so maybe there was .001-.002" clearance.
These mechanic's stethoscopes are very cool items.
Hello. I recently bought a used car. 92' Chevy Cavalier. When I turn on the a/c, all I get is warm/hot air. There is a R12 identifying sticker on the high pressure valve area.
I saw a "Interdynamics r12/r134a conversion kit" on ebay for $80. I did a google search and saw some people posting about how great this worked, and that they bought it for $25 at Kmart or Pep Boys. But these were old postings from the early 90's.
I looked at Pep Boys, Advance Auto Parts, and Autozone websites but could not find this item for sale anywhere.
Is this kit no longer for sale? Do you know where I can find a similar kit for a decent price?
This "Interdynamics kit" came with everything needed to convert from r12 to r134.
The oil was in with each can of refridgerant, and the guage tells you when you reach 85% (recommended) of capacity. It says you don't have to worry about changing parts or oil because their oil "flows with" the r12 oil, so all I have to do is put about 2 1/2 cans in.
I don't plan on taking it to a shop to "properly" dispose of any remaining r12 first, since I assume there is none left to dispose of anyway. Am I right on this?
What's the deal on this kit? Is this company still in business? Does it work and do you know where I can find a retailer that sells it?
I suspect this is no longer stocked because it is a federal crime to release R12 into the atmosphere.
if you are out of gas, the system will need to be pumped down and checked to insure it holds a vacuum before you go further.. if it won't hold a vacuum, you need to fix what's wrong.
if it's not working, you need an EPA-licensed professional.
I'd look - in all of my GM cases, no matter what the primary series of complaints, it seems every GM vehicle from 1996 on loses their blower motor resistors! Of course, it may be the blower motor itself.
they're just made crummily in the greater east asia economic sphere now. you can measure for continuity if you want, or just replace the cheap part and see what happens.
Thanks you guys. That is exactly what I was thinking the problem was too. I figure I will pull the tank off and replace the pump, sender and float while I have the thing out. I live in California so I doubt anyone will do it for me for free, so I will do it myself.
I have a 98 Sienna van with 117,000 kms. Whenever the van is moving between 2nd and 3rd gear, and I press down on the gas pedal so that the engine reaches 2700 to 2800 rpm, I can feel the gas pedal vibrate slightly. The vibration goes away if I reach 3000+ rpm or let go on the gas pedal. Is this a normal occurrance? What can I do to get rid of it? Any thoughts would be appreciated.
The gasket on my '96 Corolla needed replacement. Mechanic said the front pipe and manifold had to be replaced as well. 60 day warranty. After 5 weeks, gasket again needed replacing. Warranty covered. Mechanic claimed it must have been rust on the replacement manifold (used). Also said if it happens again it may be "blowback" from the exhaust. Claims it could be more serious. Well, now the gasket seems to be leaking again, and the warranty will run out in a few weeks. Could anyone hazard a reason why the gasket keeps leaking after a few thousand kilometres? Have owned it for 100,000 kms. and didn't happen before.
I have a 1999 Honda Prelude, with a factory alarm system. Lately, it's been going off in the middle of the night. It goes off once every other day for the last 3 weeks. I heard that when your alarm starts going off by itself, it's because your battery is close to being dead, but I just replaced my battery. Is there a sensitivity switch or something I can do to fix it. I'm losing lots of sleep and annoying my neighbors. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!
Ok, I'll take a stab at this because I once had the same problem with my 86 Honda Prelude. I also had to get up in the middle of the night and switch the alarm off at 3am in the morning on numerous occasions.
So I got up one morning just before 3am and waited beside the car. A van drove slowly by and parked 3 houses down from where I stayed. But before he had parked the alarm went off. It transpired that the driver was a shift worker coming off shift and talking on his CB radio! His CB was triggering the car alarm.
So check on that before you blame your alarm. It could also be police 2 way radios or something similar.
If it is rf interference,get a radio ham (they know about these things) to decouple the alarm wiring with decoupling capacitors to ground.
Did this "mechanic" think to check and see if the cat was partially plugged?
Mechanic claimed it must have been rust on the replacement manifold (used). So why didn't he clean it????!!! Man, that just burns me up. If there was rust on the new/used manifold, then it should have been cleaned off before it was installed. That is a sign of a poor job. (My opinion)
I have seen tons of vehicles have exhaust manifold gaskets replaced over and over, to find that the cat was partially plugged and putting enough back pressure on the exhaust to blow the gaskets.
Is it better to let the service department diagnose a problem by telling the techs the symptoms, or is it ok to tell them that you have an issue that's covered by a TSB; provide a copy and ask them to check that?
Comments
Also, check the obvious, which is low tire pressure and a transmission that isn't shifting into 4th gear.
Normally I'd say that your mileage will improve as the engine builds up miles, but the fact that you are observing a constant decrease in mileage indicates to me that something is definitely wrong.
Last of all, we don't know your driving habits/conditions, so that's a factor as well. If you are often in traffic and use the AC a lot, that'll gobble up gas mighty quick.
You might use our "search" feature to the left of this page to find other discussions about your particular car, and query other owners of identical cars on how they are doing with fuel mileage. If you are all within 5-10% of each other, then that's your answer.
A number of web sites recommend that, in cars with a manual transmission, we should use engine braking as much as possible during break-in (running-in) of the car.
What is the reason for this? Surely this causes unburnt fuel to be drawn into the cylinders, thus diluting the effect of the oil and washing the piston walls with petrol and risking more wear than desirable? I imagine it would be worse when the engine is cold.
Dave.
Drive the vehicle normally, you want to load the engine occaisionally, so some long hills would be a good idea. You don't want to hammer on it, but you don't want to keep the rpms at one level too long. Vary the rpms if you can safely do so.
As for engine braking, well......
I guess if it makes you feel better. ; )
If this was the case, I would have blown up every motor in every vehicle I've owned - this borders on the dramatic over-reaction, I'm thinking.
Remember, your engine's rev-limited does not work on an improper downshift. Twisting a fresh BMW engine up to 7,500 rpm by downshifting into 2nd instead of 4th can't be too good for it.
Aside from long downhills, I'm not a big fan of using the transmission to slow a car down, unless you are also using the brake simultaneously.
As a final caveat, extreme downshifting can cause compression braking and vehicle instability, but this doesn't relate to break-in periods.
Any suggestions?
Anyone know how to get to the strap inside the seat?
What I know: if the battery ever goes out, I will have to reinput the code.
What I don't know: how?
And also: the security light for the antitheft system blinks whenever I turn the car off. Is it supposed to blink all the time like that?
Yes I also think the blinking light is normal, at least it is on my own car.
If your coolant isn't hot enough, these fans won't normally work, so you really need to know what temp they normally kick in at.
Thanks,
Jeff
If the problem were random and not related to fuel level, I'd be more suspicious of the dash gauge or its related systems.
one other possibility.. some fuel refined by the shell affiliated refineries in southeastern states was badly done, left plug-full of sulfur, and that rotted a lot of gauge sender contacts late spring and early summer from louisiana to (especially) florida. if you live in that area, they are replacing senders for free. the fool who thought it didn't matter was summarily fired, and they have fixed their processes.
The fans should turn on when the cooling water heats up. To see if this happens, drive the car a while then let the car idle, maybe in your garage, while watching the temperature gauge. If it gets to the edge of hot and the fans haven't turned on to cool down the alternate method has failed. There probably is a relay that's not functioning if neither of these turns on the fans. If the air conditioning turns them on but they don't turn on when the water heats up, then you have a sensor that's not right or a wiring problem.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Does anybody have any suggestions as to what kind I should use? Thanks, everybody!
Would that affect how the car behaves when floored at 30 or 40 mph and make it seem to give less power than when floored from a dead stop?
Does this apply to the Northstar engines?
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Problem: Random, single (one at a time) knocking sound from lower right side of engine ONLY when engine is cold. Sounds like person periodically hitting block with 2-lb sledge, just once in a while. Noise IS related to engine heat (stops when car warms up), but NOT related to engine revs or load.
Diagnosis thus far: Took a long screwdriver to listen to location of noise. No noise or vibration of the knock was felt on engine block or water pump or timing case cover. When screwdriver is placed on idler pulley for fan belt, or on AC brackets, definite vibration felt each time knock occurred. You can even feel it a bit in the fender when it knocks. This is a sharp, deep knock, seemingly random in interval.
Mystery: The knock occurs with AC off, which seems to eliminate the compressor, right, or ??? Can a faulty AC clutch make such a deep knocking noise. I though they only kind of chattered like an upset parrot. Idler pulley when cold can be forced to and fro, and has play in it, but can a pulley knock like that?
Engine seems to be ruled out as noise disappears completely when engine is warm or when revved up or loaded up. You can drive all day at top RPM or high load without a peep.
What it really sounds like, but really isn't, is when a crank pulley is loose on its keyway. The reason I say "isn't" is because a crank pulley would not stop making noise if the keyway was loose.
Any ideas guys?
I have heard that AC will knock like this when air-bound.
seriously, injectors are NOT going to save any fuel for you. they are spray nozzles attached to on/off solenoid switches. if the car runs and has power on all cylinders, the injectors are OK. if you have cylinders not firing because of gas starvation, one or more injectors need replacement.
there is no injector maker that has a magic voodoo injector that will save you any gas.. it's a function of whether the computer says it's time to spray gas, the fuel rail pressure, and whether you also have air and spark at the right time in that cylinder. physics and chemistry says that if you need a certain amount of power in a cylinder explosion to provide a certain amount of power at the flywheel, to get that power, you have to have X amount of vaporized gasoline with Y amount of air in the top of the cylinder before you spark it off. any other options will result in less power. ANY other options, because if oyu pack in more gas, there is less room for air, and vice versa.
you can get more power with a turbine compressor and a longer fuel spray time, but that's it. won't help with economy.
whomever told you injectors will get you more miles per gallon is just running a scam on you. the car will run like a lawnmower if the injectors are a problem, and you might have black smoke. otherwise, don't waste over a thousand bucks on injectors that won't change a thing.
he finally saw somebody's welding arc from the parking lot of another dead and abandoned machine shop, and went over. turns out he had a warp in the alternator bracket, and a 6-inch through bolt had worked forward an inch when a nut fell off. under exactly the right circumstances, moon in venus and the fireflies going counter-clockwise, etc... this bolt was far enough forward so one blade on the fan came by and tapped it. there was a very small scrape on the edge of the fan blade.
you might have one of these someplace. hope it's in the open where you can see it ....
When I first heard the noise, I freaked. It sounded SO MUCH like a rod bearing you wouldn't have believed it. Fortunately my few seconds of panic receded when I realized that rod knocks are rarely random and spontaneous. Like a hatchet in your head, you know when you have one.
Anyway, I just bought one of those neato mechanics' listening devices that you thread together into a long probe and plug into your ears.
I'm suited up and I'm going in...cover me!
Bolt that adjusts the AC compressor backed out of its bracket and bolt head just barely touching the inner fender well.
Now why would this noise go away when the engine was warm?
Well, because this engine runs smoother when warm! It was THAT close. I could like slightly drag a business card between the bolt and the fender...so maybe there was .001-.002" clearance.
These mechanic's stethoscopes are very cool items.
I saw a "Interdynamics r12/r134a conversion kit" on ebay for $80. I did a google search and saw some people posting about how great this worked, and that they bought it for $25 at Kmart or Pep Boys. But these were old postings from the early 90's.
I looked at Pep Boys, Advance Auto Parts, and Autozone websites but could not find this item for sale anywhere.
Is this kit no longer for sale? Do you know where I can find a similar kit for a decent price?
This "Interdynamics kit" came with everything needed to convert from r12 to r134.
The oil was in with each can of refridgerant, and the guage tells you when you reach 85% (recommended) of capacity. It says you don't have to worry about changing parts or oil because their oil "flows with" the r12 oil, so all I have to do is put about 2 1/2 cans in.
I don't plan on taking it to a shop to "properly" dispose of any remaining r12 first, since I assume there is none left to dispose of anyway.
Am I right on this?
What's the deal on this kit? Is this company still in business? Does it work and do you know where I can find a retailer that sells it?
I really appreciate all your help. Thanks.
if you are out of gas, the system will need to be pumped down and checked to insure it holds a vacuum before you go further.. if it won't hold a vacuum, you need to fix what's wrong.
if it's not working, you need an EPA-licensed professional.
What is the best way to investigate this?
I'm guessing that cleaning the contacts on the connectors would be a good first step.
My question involves how to open the box without breaking or tearing something. It's so tight that I'm concerned about destroying the headliner.
Has anyone else experienced this problem who has suggestions?
So I got up one morning just before 3am and waited beside the car. A van drove slowly by and parked 3 houses down from where I stayed. But before he had parked the alarm went off. It transpired that the driver was a shift worker coming off shift and talking on his CB radio! His CB was triggering the car alarm.
So check on that before you blame your alarm. It could also be police 2 way radios or something similar.
If it is rf interference,get a radio ham (they know about these things) to decouple the alarm wiring with decoupling capacitors to ground.
Mechanic claimed it must have been rust on the replacement manifold (used).
So why didn't he clean it????!!!
Man, that just burns me up. If there was rust on the new/used manifold, then it should have been cleaned off before it was installed. That is a sign of a poor job. (My opinion)
I have seen tons of vehicles have exhaust manifold gaskets replaced over and over, to find that the cat was partially plugged and putting enough back pressure on the exhaust to blow the gaskets.
Steve, Host