Got a Quick, Technical Question?

srs_49

Curious - why two sending units?

For reliability, or is one for the fuel gauge and the other for the low fuel indicator light?

Mr_Shiftright

One is called a "sub sender" but I really don't know why the engineers did it that way. The diagram shows two floats and two access doors and a float marked A and one marked B, so it must be so....

oochfactor

hello all,

I have a 2005 chevy colorado and recently I have an issue that when i drive, the doors will automatically lock on there own and the door chime will sound. Also, the word "doors" displays on the dic. It only happens when I am in drive and actually driving at speed. It does not happen when I am stopped or if the truck is in park. It started out as an intermitten problem but now it is occuring almost constantly as I am driving. I am to the point where I have disconnected my drivers speaker because the constant chiming is driving me absolutely insane.

I have replaced the driver side door/window switch/module and it did not fix the problem. I have also disconnected the battery cables overnite and that did not fix the problem either.

Any ideas on what the cause is? I am at my wits end with this..thanks in advance!

Jason

stickguy

you might have a loose connection. The door ajar (and auto locking) must work on a sensor that breaks contact. Maybe the door is not closing tight enough, or a connection in those wires is loose?

I had the same problem with my 1995 Voyager with the sliding doors. It was not latching tight enough, so the auto locks and warnings kept going on and off. Like driving a pinball machine. The fix was to adjust the door so it closed tighter, and the connection stayed solid.

4rlane

Ford Crown Victoria 2004 LX 4dr 14,187 miles
2nd owner, no problems in recent years
2 fuel pumps in several months, 2nd one after 22 miles
car won't start
What to fix?

bolivar

Battery

euphonium

the H2O pump and serpentine belt was R&R'd on our '95 TB, 4.6 & AOD. 130,000 miles.
4,800 miles on recent tranny flush & oil change.

As soon as the car left the shop & started up a slight incline, the transmission shuddered.

Two different techs advise that since the computer was reset, due to battery disconnent, the car will have to be driven several hundred miles before it "relearns" our driving habits.

Is this is true & how long will it take before the shuddering stops?

kendall25

Hi there Jason,
were you ever able to figure out what the problem was with your truck? Mine is doing the same thing.
tyvm, Kendall

only1bigdaddyo

2000 Lincoln Continental starts then about thirty minutes later, won't start. I've checked fused and relays. Suspect fuel pump or relay?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

manohar

2007 Hyundai Azera 3.8 litre V6; auto xmission, 122K miles Problem: started car this morning and it made noisy, heavy valve tappett sound. sound subsided and the car idled normally. When I went to put the car in motion, the gas pedal wasn't fully functional and the rpms would only go up to 1500 in neutral. Any ideas on cause and fix?

airbunnie

I have a 04 Pontiac Aztek, with 132000 miles. I bought this in March and had nothing but problems with it ever since buying it. I first started with the draining battery problem and replaced 3 batteries. After the last one, which was a high dollar Interstate one, things seemed ok for about 2 weeks. Then it drained again. I took it to a local mechanic who said to replace the BCM, so I did...After spending a good chunk of change at the Pontiac Dealer, it fixed NOTHING!! I woke up Monday to a dead battery, key got stuck in the ignition, and the instrument needles for the speedometer went nuts. The only way to get the needles to quit going up and down was to disconnect the battery. I have now disconnected the battery, and finally was able to get the key out by popping off the little cover under the steering column and pushing the little button in there to release the key back to the beginning position. After having it towed to a local shop again on Monday night, I am BEYOND frustrated with this vehicle. :confuse:

obyone

I'd be frustrated too if I had mechanics throwing expensive parts at your vehicle. Hit or miss kind of thing something like darts.

Did you try and get a refund from the local mechanic who said BCM and fixed nothing?

airbunnie

They will not refund a dime, only tell me that, "that is what they thought was wrong, and we would have to go from there and explore more...." Which in another words means, MORE Dang $$$$ ...If I were making payments on this, I would have had the tow truck driver deliver it to the finance company and told them to stick it!! This vehicle is a HUGE MISTAKE FOR PONTIAC!!!

pinksurvivor1

i have a 1997 olds 88 and its a 6cyl. auto and the oil pressure light comes on when the car is stopped and goes off when the car is moving.

bolivar

This usually means the main crank bearings are very worn. At idle, the oil passes around the worn bearings and the pressure drops below 5psi, which is usually when the oil pressure light come on.

This motor might not have much life left in it. Or, it might run for years more. A 'shade tree mechanic' help would be to use higher weight motor oil in the engine, attempting to maintain a higher oil pressure.

bolivar

Many mechanics can work on 'mechanical' problems, but do not have a clue which end of a multimeter to grab to find electrical problems.

And electrical problems are tough in many cases to find.

If the vehicle has ANY after market electrical items on it, this is what I would first suspect. Non-stock radio. After market security system. A remote start system. Even a trailer wiring package. Anything at all where someone has cut into the vehicle wiring.

You have a current drain. Something is shorting to ground, or something has failed and draws current when it should not. An amp meter that can handle several amps is needed. Pull the battery cable off and put the amp meter in the circuit, in series. You should see a significant current draw, with everything turned off and shut down. Doors closed and if there is an underhood light, shut it down. Then, start pulling fuses. If nothing changes, put the fuse back. Then pull another. When the current draw stops, you now at least know the general circuit that has the drain. After that it gets even tougher. You probably will need a factory service manual with the wiring schemetics to see what items are on that circuit and then start disconnecting them until you find the problem.

I owned a 1995 Deville that would kill a battery in 2 days. Dealer did find the problem. They replaced the AM/FM/CD radio. The battery killing stopped.

cob

Another thing you can check if that vehicle has a rear window wiper it maybe the culprit. I had a Durango that was doing the same thing, the battery would drain after a day of not driving. Turned out that the wiper moter was drawing constant power even when the vehicle was turned off so I unpluged the wire harness and the problem was solved. I have seen this issue with many different models of SUVs from Ford, GM and Chrysler.

airbunnie

Well, today I had them take off my remote starter module so that it no longer is an option for my vehicle to have any drain there. I am going to see if this helps with the battery drainage, but am still left to wonder what would make the gauge needles to go nuts??..If nothing else, I would just like to be able to go out and start my Aztek and not be left to wonder if it will start at all... :confuse: I appreciate any and all help on these issues, and perhaps it will also help someone else who is having the same one's..

cob

The needles go nuts when there is low voltage from the battery. It is one of the signals to let you know the battery needs replacement. If you are still running the original battery it maybe time to upgrade after 7 years.

airbunnie

After the first time that the battery went dead, I replaced it. It then went dead again, so I replaced the battery again thinking it might be a dead cell in it. I then went to an auto shop where they put in an Interstate Battery. It has since then went dead again, hence the parasetic draw somewhere. I am happy to report, that since taking out the module for the remote starter, my Aztek has started every morning so far. I can only hope that the remote starter was the issue and will not wake up to a dead car again... :lemon:

bolivar

The 'after market' items I mentioned in a previous post; radios, remote start, alarm system; are all invitations for later electrical problems. I've even seen a trailer wiring package short out and blow fuses.

airbunnie

Well I am happy to say that so far, "crossing my fingers" I have not had a problem with my Aztek starting. I did however find an oil leak which I had checked out and now have a front main seal going bad. So, now I plan on pulling the entire motor and transmission and having all the gaskets replaced under the hood. Good thing my dad is a mechanic lol or this would cost me the price of a new vehicle. :lemon:

arnold92

I have a 2000 Grand am and when driving home last night I hit something not sure what but once I stopped the front end locked up on me. I am trying to figure what to do to get the front end unlocked and the car running again. I need to get it fixed before christmas as I have alot of travelling to do that day to go see family members. Can anyone please help me out with this?

maxeybilly

Sorry to hear about your trouble. Can you be more descriptive? Will the engine start? Did the steering lock up when you hit something or after you stopped? Is the steering actually "locked" or just hard to steer like if you broke a belt and lost the power assist. Have you looked under the hood to check for anything that appears obviously not right? Need more information.

srs_49

I thought he was talking about the brakes being locked up.

Agreed - need more info.

julie393

I am having a terrible engine pinging noise. Has been going on for months. My mechanic says I should take it to Infiniti as they will put it on the computer, etc. When I went there, of course, it didn't make the noise. Car runs great other than this noise.
On my own, I have upgraded my gas to 89 and have switched gas stations. This car always was given Sunoco 89 octane. I'm now trying B.P.
Any ideas on what this pinging could be?

Mr_Shiftright

Are you quite sure it's pinging? Can you describe exactly when it happens--what speed, what gear...and is it worse uphill?

itsnachos

In need of some help, the hose going into the power steering pump is basically just sitting in there, no clamp no nothing, it has caused the fluid just to basically drain out at will. There is also no O'RING in it. I for the life of me can not figure out how the metal piece attaches to the power steering pump. I got under the car to troubleshoot and I just pulled it off, nothing was holding it in or anything. It just sat inside the hole and when I pulled it out the rest of the fluid that hadn't leaked out just poured all over the ground, here are some pictures. Any help would be great, I can't find any pictures of a clamp online and my local auto store had no idea. Thank you.

bolivar

Just some wild guesses....
This is probably the return line? If the high pressure line, it would instantly blow all the fluid out.

On the second picture, is that possibly a 'crimp' that once made enough contact to hold this thing together, with a nice, snug O ring?

Looks like a connection that justifies all the bad things I've heard about VW's.

Trying to 'rig' something, could you get a jip-tie around that collar and hold it on?

Mr_Shiftright

I think that "L" piece was part of the pump at one time. Yeah, it's a suction line, not a pressure line.

byrn

Hello. This is a two-part question. We own a preowned 1986 Mazda B2000. This is a light pickup truck which has had continual problems with the breaking of timing belts. I just had the third one installed at a cost of hundreds of dollars. The previous belt lasted 3 1/2 years and the one before that maybe a year and a half. After this latest belt break I went through the glove box and discovered a receipt from a previous owner with yet another timing belt replacement. The truck has a little over 200,000 miles. I myself probably put no more than 5,000 miles a year on it. Most of these belts have been replaced at different shops (with the exception of two at the same shop separated by maybe 10 years). Is there a known issue with this vehicle and the breaking of timing belts? Or are they just making timing belts for this vehicle cheap to keep us buying?

The second part of my question has to do with the mileage. After this latest replacement I noticed that the gas mileage has dropped considerably from about 21 mph to about 15 mph. Is there something in the replacing of timing belts that can so alter the mphs?

Thanks in advance.

byrn

Sorry, on the second part of my question I didn't mean mphs (miles per hour) I meant mpgs (miles per gallon).

Mr_Shiftright

My suspicion is that the parts suppliers are confused because Mazda made various modifications to many of the parts making up the timing belts and its fasteners, pulleys, etc.

so it's very possible that people will use pulley A and belt B when they are not strictly compatible (for instance, some belts have oval lugs to grip the pulley gears and some have square lugs--also the belts vary in width). So the parts suppliers may only be listing one belt, and it may not actually be the right one for the engine you have. It'll fit, and it'll work, but it's not right.

It's a rather complicated table of modifications and if you can't find it elsewhere, it is listed in the Mazda 2000 section when you subscribe to www.alldatadiy.com, which is a good deal for $26 bucks a year, as it allows you access to just about any repair job instructions and diagrams for your truck.

byrn

Thanks Mr Shiftright. That could be it. The belt that was just removed was pretty torn up. Well it's too late for me to do anything about it now I guess, though I've thrown a lot of money away.

Any idea why the miles per gallon would suddenly drop so much after the repair?

Plus the next two days after the repair I had a heck of a time starting it in the morning. But that's probably because it got really cold (8 degrees F). Maybe related to a head gasket leak it has too,

qbrozen

Sounds like it may not have been set correctly. How is it running otherwise? Any difference in power that you notice? Any smoke after warmed up?

byrn

Sorry it took awhile to get back.

To answer your questions, on those two really cold days immediately after the repair it had a really hard time starting, but on the days above freezing since it starts normally. It runs good. No smoke except at startup (maybe just steam coming out the tailpipe) The power's average.

I took it back to the mechanic today who was a bit bent out of shape that I was questioning his work. But what the hey, I can't afford to pay an extra $100 - $125 a month on gas for nothing.

Anyway he undid a bolt holding the distributor and rotated it a bit. He said it was too far advanced when I first brought it in and that he had set it correctly but now would set it back to where it was before. He did it with the engine off and without using any instruments, seemed to be making a guess as to where it was before since I didn't see any alignment marks. After that on the way home I noticed that it's running a little rougher.

We seem to have bad luck as far as auto mechanics are concerned.

Mr_Shiftright

I'm not a big fan of bumping the timing by "ear". Keep an ear out for "pinging" and if you hear that, then either use premium gas or reset the distributor. But sure, it could be a timing issue.

The carburetors on those Mazda 2000s are devils to fix. That might be part of the problem.

srs_49

If the timing belt was off by a notch, couldn't that also explain what he's been seeing? Poor gas mileage; hard to start; and having to fool around with the ignition timing?

qbrozen

Yes, which is why I mentioned it being off.

But you would typically see other symptoms. At least I would think so.

Mr_Shiftright

Yeah but he says it starts fine sometimes. You now, with these carburetor engines, it could even be a choke issue. Those Japanese carbs can be tricky little devils because there are all kinds of tiny little parts and pieces and passages and levers and springs and......(I'm reliving an old nightmare, forgive me---LOL!).

Well let's get a timing light on it and at least ascertain that the IGNITION timing is okay. Then we can worry about the ENGINE timing.

Also I'd check to see that the choke is operating correctly---closed when cold, fully open when warm.

And of course, that old bugaboo---vacuum leaks.

qbrozen

What's a "timing light"?

That's a joke... but, seriously, you'd think that's voodoo these days. These old school methods are very quickly disappearing from auto shops.

Mr_Shiftright

true but you need a timing light for cars that are timed with a timing light. :P

this is an old truck.

qbrozen

Its probably going to be real tough real soon (if not already) to even find someone that knows how to use one. They'll be looking for the OBDII port and scratching their head.

Mr_Shiftright

You just have to find a shop that works on old cars.

i think I still have my timing light somewhere in the Shiftright Museum attic.

byrn

Thanks all. It'll have to wait until I can find a timing light at a store and figure out how to do it. Maybe online. I don't want to spend another $100 to have someone "diagnose" it for me, and I'm not taking it back to that mechanic.

imaddicted2u

Just bought a 2001, Millenia S with 155,000kms
It has a few probs but I got it for a good price.
It has a rattle in the driver side front suspension of rough roads but handles well. Looks like it had some work done in an attempt to resolve the issue . It has new tires, ball joints, sway bar, sway bar links sway bar bushings and struts, springs look new too. I can feel a bit of play in the lateral link so I will be replacing it to see if it fixes the problem.

My big concern it the transmission. Around town I get 18-19 mpg and the tranny shifts well and feels strong.

The first time I took it on the highway I was surprised to find that the engine revs at 5000 rpm at 100 km/hr, so it seems it is not shifting to 4th gear. When I back off the throttle, the revs drop to idle but I don't feel any engine braking, if I press the hold button I can suddenly feel a gear change. If I release the hold button and accelerate the tach suddenly jumps to about 3500 rpm before I feel acceleration again. I hope this is a sensor issue and not a failing transmission.
The check engine light is not on and the hold indicator is not flashing. There are no codes shown by my code reader either.
I was told that there are a few things that can cause the computer to inhibit the transmission from upshifting to 4th gear:
1. Throttle position sensor and Throttle closed switch ON
2. Range sensor thinks you are not in D
3. Coolant (<60C) or ATF temp (<20C) sensors (4th gear inhibition signal) 4. Brake switch on 5. Cruise control input into the TCM Have any other Mazda Millenia S owners experienced this problem, if so what was the fix.

stickguy

can't help you on the debugging, but pretty sure I can tell you why it was for sale.

I learned the hard way once to always take a used car up to highway speeds before buying. Some things just don't show up around town.

targa1

Hi, I recently replace my alternator with a Leece-nevile 90 amp alt. My question is: now the ammeter is being pegged on a -60 - +60 ammeter towards the + end (at least it's positive and not negative) I have checked the factory wiring recomendations made certain of grounds and B+ connections. What could possibly be causing so much amperage? The batteries appear to be OK. Befuddled

bolivar

Apparently, you bought a defective alternator. Take it back.

P.S. What kind of a car has an ampmeter it in? I haven't seen a car with an ampmeter since the mid-1970's. Or, are you taking a measurement with an outside ampmeter? If this is what is happening, just after starting, with a somewhat discharged battery, an alternator 'might' be throwing as much as 60 amps to recharge the battery. It should start to taper down to much less, unless the battery is highly discharged. Or you are running a lot of power sucking accessories on the car.

imaddicted2u

Agreed, lesson learned.
At least it has new struts, sway bar, sway bar links, sway bar bushings, ball joints and new tires.
I think I have the transmission problem figured out.
Turns out what I thought was a 2 to 3 shift was the torque converter locking up.

This it the Problem: Transmission shifts 1st to 2nd but no 3rd or 4th.

Solenoids test ok, They click when 12 volts is applied.

Solenoid A has 12 volts until shift to second, then it goes low.
Solenoid B has 12 volts until supposed to shift to 3rd, then it goes low. Transmission stays in second.
This proves the TCM is asking for 3rd gear, so TCM is ok.

The transmission manual shows this symptom as solenoid B always on or stuck on in the valve body. For a reasonable price, I can either rebuild or replace the valve body and without taking the transmission out of the car, so that's a bonus. I think I'll come out ok in the end.
I'll look closer next time though.