Got a Quick, Technical Question?

kiawah

Excellent, glad you found the problem. Congrats!

fangio2

I lost the key-where is the code located in the car to have one made from?
Thanks

kiawah

Take your owners card, drivers license, and VIN number to the Mazda dealer. They'll cut you a new one.

burningkrome

Hey,

I’m trying to find a good way (online data?) to estimate the maintenance expenses of a 2003 Taurus ABOVE 75000 miles. Basically, I’m trying to decide if it is more cost effective to keep my current car and drive it till it drops…or trade it in on a newer, low-mileage used car with some warranty left on it.

The difficulty I’m running into is most sites offer an average maintenance calculator based on the overall life of the car (I.e. $0.59 per mile average for the life of the vehicle) but I need to try and estimate how much my maintenance expenses will go UP now that the car is getting up there in mileage.

Thanks!

rshore

I have a 2003 Buick Rendezvous that wouldn't start this morning. I jump started it with my other Buick and made sure I followed all the instructions in the manual. On the way to a garage, it stalled and I called AAA. The towing company jump started it again and the message light came on with "Security" in the display and would not go out. My garage guy said he didn't want to mess with it since it might be a computer pr :confuse: problem. I drove it home and probably will have to jump start it again tomorrow. What do I do?

edouble1

Thanks for the hot tip. Never would have thought of that. Took the belt off, and viola.....the noise was completely gone, and the engine sounded normal, which is very quiet. Both, the pully on the A/C and alternator seem to spin smooth and free, with no snags.

Now, the next step....how do I determine if it's the alternator or A/C pump(the only two things driven by that belt)? Like I said earlier, it sounds TERRIBLE when the A/C is turned on, but it cools good, and the battery charging system seems to be working fine. Any tips on determining that?

Thank you again for your help.

kiawah

Did you check any other pulleys as well. You should have one on the tensioner, and tensioner pulleys are known to go bad.

If a pulley bearing is bad, you should be able to feel it. It won't turn smoothly, can bind, or will be able to slide in and out on it's shaft. The a/c will be different, because unless the clutch is on you really aren't spinning the compressor.

I think I have to ask about your symptoms again. If there is NO noise with your engine running (and a/c off).....and then when you turn on the a/c the noise appears, then the a/c compressor is suspected to be bad.

If you have SOME noise with the engine running (and a/c off)....and then when you turn on the a/c the noise gets louder, then I would suspect some other pulley. When the a/c is turned on, it puts a lot of extra load on the belt. If there is a marginal pulley, it would be louder with extra pressure on it.

So with your belt back on, no a/c, do you get the noise?

ray80

My guess would be connection problem, most likely battery cable (corrosion perhaps). It might be easy to just say battery, but once running the alternater should keep enough power to prevent stalling (assuming its electrical problem). The security light could also be caused by power problem.

Mr_Shiftright

You can buy an inexpensive tool called a mechanic's stethoscope at an auto parts store and it will definitely tell you where the noise is. Of course, since you will be inserting a metal probe into a running engine, you had better remove your tie, your toupee and your silk scarf, and remember where your fingers are at all times. Be very careful. Approach all belts from the rear or side, not the front of the car, and do not stand directly in line with the fan's rotation or belt rotation.

edouble1

OK, here is the lowdown.

Engine cold:
squeaking is there, and gets real bad when the AC is turned on

Engine warm(normal temp):
No noise, with or without the AC. it sounds pretty much normal

Drive belt removed:
No noise at all

There isn't a tensioner pully for that belt. The tension is adjusted with a bolt system connected to the alternator. Only the AC, alternator, and crank pully for that belt.

NO.......NOT THE MAIN PULLY! As I said, when it's warm, most, if not all of the sounds disapear.

Thanks again

kiawah

With no tensioner, then you only have the two accessories. Because the a/c has a clutch on it, you can't tell about the compressor shaft itself (clutch isn't engaged)....so you'll have to make your whole determination based on your evaluation of the alternator. If the alternator is bad, replace it. If the laternator is good, replace the ac compressor. There is a third option I guess, which is to do nothing until the noise becomes more consistent.

There is one thing you should check is working correctly first, though. Make sure that the ac clutch is disengaging when the ac is off, and engaging when the ac is on. When the ac is on, it will most likely also cycle on and off (which is fine). I'm looking specifically for the clutch to be un-engaged when the ac is off.

Assuming that is correct, then follow this logic:
- With the ac off, what is spinning is the main crankshaft pulley, the alternator, and the clutch piece of the ac. The internals of the ac compressor shaft isn't spinning.
- With the ac on, what is spinning is the main crankshaft pulley, the alternator, and the internal ac compressor shaft. The clutch isn't spinning because it's locked up.
- Your crankshaft pulley isn't the problem, because it doesn't make noise without the belt on.
- Since you have a squeak whether the ac is on or off, then most likely it has to be the alternator. In one case the ac compressor shaft is spinning, in the other case the ac clutch is spinning. It's unlikely that you'd have both the clutch AND the compressor shaft go at the same time.

Assuming that the clutch is engaging and un-engaging correctly, then your noise symptoms occuring with ac on or off would point you to the alternator.

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it!

rshore

Thanks ray80- bit the bullet and took car to the buick megadealor this morning- $200 later = new battery and battery cables.

qbrozen

This problem sounds so darned familiar to me, but I am drawing a blank.

Early '90s suburban with the 5.7. Service Engine Soon light flickers on when idling and warmed up, then goes off when you hit the gas. Thoughts? This is different than a CEL, correct?

0patience

Check the charging system. Sounds like the alternator or regulator may be giving it fits.

vdumb

Hi all,

I have been having a problem with my car that has been on and off. The dealer seems to be dumb founded when it comes to fixing the problem. The problem is this. The cars ASR light and soon after check engine light come on after driving the car for about 5-10 minutes. The code reader says that the car is running lean. I have since replaced the MAF sensor, which seemed to fix the problem for a few (summer) months. Now the surrounding temperature is going down and the problem is back again. I do not want to bring the car back to the dealer because they can not fix the problem and they are not cheap for wrong answers. Please help. If i can not solve this problem, i will be trading this car that i like into the dealer.

Thank You,

A V-Dumb owner

qbrozen

maybe someone can correct me, but aren't these cars notorious for coil packs going bad?

edouble1

Re-addressed the problem. Now I understand what you mean by the AC cycle. When the car is warm, and the AC is on, the squeaking appears, then disappears when the AC cycles, so in my mind, I seem to at least have it narrowed down to the AC.

The other question I have is; How do I determine if the AC clutch is, or is not engaged, when the AC is off, as you questioned earlier? Visually? How it sounds? How it spins? What is the best(or only for that matter) way to determine this?

Thanks again for all your help.

kiawah

If you look at the clutch closely (but carefully!) you will see the outer part which has the belt turning it...spinning all the time. The inner part will spin only when the clutch engages. The clutch engaging, basically locks the outside pulley to the inside shaft.

So what you are saying now, if I read your last post correctly, is.....

- When the AC is turned off completely, you hear no squeaking.
- When the AC is turned on, and the clutch is picked...you hear squeaking,
- When the AC is still turned on, but the clutch disengages....the squeaking stops.

If that is your scenario, your compressor is bad.
When the AC clutch is disengaged and just freewheel spinning, then the noise disappears. But when the clutch pic

Mr_Shiftright

It's still tricky because with AC on, the compressor is putting a "pull" on the entire belt system, that is basically tightening it. So if another component is faulty and runs on the same belt as the AC, it might very well respond at the same time as when the AC engages. The stethoscope is still a sure-fire way to tell.

Bad AC clutches often "chatter" when engaged, like a sharp "chirping" sound that is irregular. I've never heard an AC compressor make a steady high pitched whine, but I guess it is certainly possible.

knselby

CAN ANYONE Help!!

I have a 2000 Chevrolet Venture LS van with 120k miles on it. It has recently started making a horrible popping noise under the front end (i call it firecrackers as this is what it sounds like).

I 1st noticed it while idle at stop sign 1 day. I had to look around for kids....thinking someone had lit a box of firecrackers and thrown them under my vehicle. It stopped, only to return lasting longer and louder.

Thanks in advance for your comments & suggestions!

kiawah

So is this a consistent and steady popping, in concert with the speed of the engine.....or random popping? Speed up the engine, and the popping speeds up?

Is it really loud, like an exhaust manifold/pipe problem?

rburkhart

My van has a fanbelt that goes around the alternator, the crankshaft pulley, and a third pulley which began smoking, making screeching noises, and all the water drained out of. Is that the water pump pulley? (I don't see any housing for it) If it is, can I replace it myself and do I need a puller to do it? Hope there's some old VW mech's out there.

mpokeo

I had a fuel mixture fault on bank 1 exhaust manifold that made check engine light stay on.I replaced the sensor and now i get an intermitent fault that says fuel mixture catylist low specification bank 1. The sensor was purchased from toyota. What could problem be now?

sc00bs

I have a 1993 Geo Tracker with 165,000 miles on it. It has a 4 cylinder engine, manual transmission.

In July I had my oil changed. I always have put 10W30 Quaker State oil in it since brand new every 3,000 miles per the dealership(I drive 98% city), however my car with the increased mileage has been burning oil (about a quart every 1500 miles). I asked the technican about it and he indicated that since it was summer and my car had high mileage that putting 10W40 in it might help the problem. He indicated that as the weather got colder I should switch back to the 10W30 (he went into a long explanation) So I agreed to the switch. With the 10W40 my oil burning decreased to a little less than a quart every 3000 miles, I got fantastic gas mileage (25mpg city, which is all I drive). My engine was really quiet and ran fantastic.

Now since my last oil change I switched back to the 10W30. I am once again burning a quart of oil every 1500 miles. My gas mileage has decreased as well. My engine has started to have a slight ping noise. The engine just runs rough.

Now at the same time our gas stations switched back to the 10% Ethanol mixture. While I can't attribute the oil burning to that, I am wondering if the cars newest ping/rough running and significant decrease in mileage (25mpg city down to 21mpg city) is due to the oil change, colder weather or the gas???? Can I run my car with the 10W40 to prevent oil burn during the colder months or is that a no no????

burdawg

I would say it's a combination, but I doubt changing from 10W40 to 10W30 is a big contributor. Most likely it's the ethanol blend, and that along with the colder weather and the age of the engine is most likely the explanation for the drop in gas mileage and the pinging/roughness. Out of the three major fuels (gas, diesel, ethanol), ethanol has the lowest output per gallon, diesel the highest.
You may want to run a compression test and see what the internal condition of the engine is. You may be coming to the end of it's economical life. 165K is a lot of miles for a four banger, which has to work hard to keep up.

sc00bs

"You may be coming to the end of it's economical life. 165K is a lot of miles for a four banger, which has to work hard to keep up."

That wasn't what I wanted to hear, lol!!!!! I was just reading that the average passenger cars life is 9.2 years. I guess mine beat that average so I shouldn't complain. I'll just drive the stupid thing until it blows up, lol (but I think a compression test would be worth while).

burdawg

It could be just fine. There's many possible explanations for your symptoms. Dirty fuel injectors, low fuel pressure, etc, etc.

okko1

ethanol blends are sold around here as premium fuel and in many of the high milage general motors fleet vehicles that i have maintained i have seen the same problems. we have instructed all operator not to use this kind of fuel.

Mr_Shiftright

Well 9.2 years X 12,500 miles per year = do the math.

Your car engine can burn oil for a long, long time as long as you keep adding it. Oil burning isn't the Death Sentence by any means, unless it gets really drastic. Once you start gobbling 1 quart in less than 1,000 miles, it's probably time to start shopping.

I'm kind of surprised your oil consumption changes so drastically just by changing viscosity of the oil. It's not like it changes to mud. This makes me suspect your valve guides or valve stem seals, because these relate to oil as it acts under gravity, as opposed to leaking past the piston rings entirely, where the oil is under pressure and less likely to respond to changing viscosities.

user777

Possible PCV valve issue?

Mr_Shiftright

dunno...seems like if the PCV was that clogged up, he'd have oil spewing out everywhere.

C13

95 Civic EX coupe, 180k mi, Mobil 1, good maint. record, pretty conservatively used.

My driving recently to VERY short trips - it often doesn't get fully warmed up (I know, I know - that constitutes abuse.) But the mileage stayed the same for awhile and only recently took a major dip (from low 30's to low 20's). It's like there's a hole in the tank (there isn't).

My mechanic, who seems pretty sharp, can find no problems. Tires are fully inflated (and more).

I've been accused (by yourself actually) of under-revving it. I never lug it, but I usually use it pretty gently, in an effort (misguided perhaps?) to make it last. Then again, sometimers I need to acelerate, and I utilize almost all the revs, like to 6000, 6500. I've redlined it only a few times in all these years.

C13

I meant to say that my driving style had recently changed. In any case, the fuel economy change occurred some time later.

Mr_Shiftright

And it performs the same otherwise? No loss of power, hill climbing ability, etc?

C13

Otherwise perfect. It's an amazingly good bargain, that little machine.

0patience

Did your mechanic replace the fuel filter?
Did he check the fuel pressure? (Fuel pressure regulator may not be working properly)

Did he check exhaust flow? (A partially blocked catalytic converter can cause those symptoms)

Just some thoughts to throw out there.

C13

He hooks it up to a computer and measures a lot of parameters but now that you mention it, I wonder if he's been measuring as many parameters as I'd been thinking?

The cat is fairly old. I'll look it up in the records. That sounds like an interesting line of inquiry. I'll ask him if he checked the fuel pressure regulator and fuel filter.

Thanks.

suvshopper4

Did the stations recently start using Ethanol in the fuel in your area?
Or some other changeover to "winter gas?"
Could this be the culprit?

C13

I'm in Florida, and it started during our 10-month summer season.

I appreciate everybody's help. It's a strange quirk.

I'm going to check with my guy and ask exactly what he is and isn't testing. Maybe let the local dealer conduct a diagnosis too.

I should probably also post my problem in a Civic-specific discussion in case there might be others who have experienced this.

lrobby

My 1999 Camaro has been well cared for and runs/looks great with 111k, but twice in about 6 months I've found the coolant low. I mean enough coolant missing(especially the first time) to ask where you ask did all that coolant go??
No leaks and not a whisp of tailpipe smoke. This car has the spunky 3.8L
all it needs is some RPMs and it moves okay. Isn't coolant loss usually a very undesirable sign?

kiawah

Yes, loosing coolant is a problem. You need to find out where it is going. With a '99 your car is about 8 years old, and hoses could be old and easily leak, the water pump could be leaking, your expansion tank could have a crack in it and loose the extra coolant, your heater core inside the car could have developed a leak, radiator could have developed a leak, you could have a blow head gasket, etc, etc

They can do a pressurized radiator test to see if you have a leak somewhere, can also do a cylinder pressure test to check for headgasket problems.

Hopefully you can get out of this with just hoses and clamps, flush, and refill....but I'd definitely be watching it closely to see if I can find the leak.

.

sc00bs

Yeah, I wish I could find somewhere that didn't sell it but im stuck with it until the summer months come around again

burdawg

You got good advice already form kiawah. Let me add that if your on the original radiator, inspect it carefully. Look closely, or as close as you can, at the seals between the aluminum tank and the plastic ends. If they're moist, then most likely one or the other or both are seeping. This can also explain a slow loss of coolant without it being easily noticed. If left this way to long, then usually a major radiator failure follows.
If this is the case you can't repair the radiator, it has to be replaced.

kiawah

One thing you might try, if it is a really small leak, is a product called "Bars-Leak", which you could find in autoparts store. I've found it over the years to be the best of the leak stoppers. It's got little black pellets in it, which you pour into the radiator filler when hot.

I believe you should find and fix the problem, as opposed to putting foreign leak fixers in it...but there are some situations where you might not have any other choice.

dandan1

replacing a power steering pump. also fiding the right fuse to front cigarette lighter so that it can be replaced.

stchris

1999 lincoln continental 4.6 liter eng auto 187000 miles what tool do i need to remove the tensioner assembly so i can replace a bad pulley

0patience

kiawah,
Check into a product called irontite Ceramic Motor seal.
http://www.irontite.com/adds.htm

It is fairly widely used in the diesel field.
Seems to work very well, at least in the applications I have used it in.
Mostly heavy truck and marine.

bialas

How do I adjust the headlights in a 2001 Saturn L200 so I can see something besides the 10 feet of road in front of me?

esommer

My apologies - I also posted this in a Volvo forum and the TSB forum but I believe it should be posted here instead...

This car is a 1996 Volvo 850R sedan, automatic trans with 5 cylinder 2.4L turbo engine / + or - 96,000 miles.

Over the weekend it developed a very noticeable tapping sound that appears to be internal to the engine. I can't tell if it's coming from the top or bottom of the engine... The problem occurred while accelerating to enter the interstate while the turbo was producing about 15PSI. The tapping sound is consistent with increase and decrease in RPM's. Other than the tapping sound, the engine appears to be operating as normal - no misfiring , hesitation, knocking etc.

The car has been maintained very well. The current oil is Penzoil full synthetic 10W30.

Can anybody offer suggestion as to where to begin? Is this a known problem with this engine? Could it be just a valve adjustment or something broken? Any info will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!!

johnny_rotten

Does it only make this tapping sound while the car is moving, or does it do it at idle too?