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Also do you have a mattress If anyone else has a Tent, Mattress and Cooler for sale I am very interested in buying them.
cjbrj@yahoo.com
We used to own a 2001 Aztek, and we loved it! Even with all of its crazy problems. It was still a great car, but in 2006 when the head gasket blew and we needed a new engine we could no longer hold on the car. We traded it in and have regretted it ever since.
That brings us to this past weekend, while going on a road trip we found a 2001 Aztek, fully loaded. We looked it over, seemed ok. Ran the carfax, found nothing major and on a good note the intake manifold gasktet was already replaced. Dealer stated he found nothing wrong with car and appeared to be in great shape. We bought the car on Tuesday for $2500 under KBB. Now, since we have already owned one we expected problems... But we weren't expecting them quite so soon!
I'll skip all the other piddly stuff that is wrong with it but I have two questions:
The fuel gauge is broke. I know we can get the treatment stuff at GM but what's the chances that it is going to fix the problem, anyone know?
My other question is today when we got in it the back seats had water on them. I was going to be out anyway so I ran it over to a body shop, they couldn't locate any apparent source of the water but found the entire rear end was wet. The only thing we really know is that the water is in the body, so we know its not just a window seal leak. The body shop wants to take it in and tear it apart to find the leak. Does anyone know where the leak may be coming from? Is there any cheap fix? We do have a roof rack. We also have rear audio so I am really afraid of the water damaging the wiring systems. Thanks for any guidance you may have.
I am just really hoping that we don't end up regretting our decision to buy another! :confuse:
Please help -
2. Drain the coolant until the level is below the thermostat (use the radiator petcock for that). If your troubles are the same a mine there will be no water in the hose coming from the thermostate and no draining is necessary.
3. Remove the radiator hose from the housing.
4. Remove the thermostat housing and gasket. I boiled the old one and the new one in a pan over high heat to see if they would open as they should and noted that the old one only opened about 1/32 if an inch and the new one opened all the way to about 1 inch. Da...problem solved for me. The thermostate bolts are a nightmare to get to, I think it's a number 12 or 13mm open end wrench. The bottom bolt can be just loosened a little and the thermostate housing will lift off freely, the houseing has a slot for this purpose. If you take this route you will need to remove the throttle body which would be another nightmare, if you do and are able to be sure to have a new gasket on hand. Estimate time 5 hour because of the vary tight area to work in, using the two hand technique one finger above and one finger from below, small turn many times to secure.
5. Remove the thermostat.
6. Clean the mating surfaces of the block and the thermostat housing.
Install
1. Install the thermostat into the engine block. Before installing the new thermostate I refered to the site listed below for a jiggle valve (drill small hole so air can automaticaly escape)
2. Install the thermostat housing and gasket. I purchased a 180 degree which is not recommeded, but my problem is resolved. Be sure to replace the gasket, it comes with the new thermostate.
Here is some useful information taken from this site:
http://www.aa1car.com/library/overheat.htm
When refilling the cooling system, air can become trapped under the thermostat. This will form a steam pocket that prevents the thermostat from opening and may cause the engine to overheat. Some cooling systems have one or more bleeder valves that can be opened to vent air from the system while refilling the system. If your cooling system does not have a bleeder valve, you can drill a small hole in the thermostat as shown. This will allow air to escape past the thermostat so it is not trapped inside the engine block. Some thermostats come with a similar feature called a "jiggle valve." There is a small hole in the thermostat with a pin that allows air to escape.
3. Install the thermostat housing bolts. Tighten bolts to 25 Nm (18 lb ft). This is critical as the housing is just made out of aluminum and you would not want to warp it and create a leak. I guessed these measurements because there is no room for the special wrench for this.
4. Install the radiator house to the thermostat housing.
5. Install the air cleaner assembly and duct. Now would be a great time to replace the air filter if you need to.
6. Fill the cooling system with dex-cool, per procedure in the Owner's Manual. After you have filled it, use the air bleeding procedure to remove the excess air from the system. You may have to readjust the level by adding coolant and re-bleed the system after a couple days of driving to burp the air out of the system.' good luck
My wife has a 2001 Aztek with just 66k miles. For the past 2 years the fuel & temp gauges take turns working - usually its the temp gauge that works. Just today the A/C blower just stopped working - one minute its fine, the next totally dead! I checked fuses and the a/c compressor spins and cold air weeps out of the vents - with no fan. The large relay/fuse does look slightly yellowed/burnt on the side - I pulled every HVAC fuse & fuse #28 (for BCM) - none were blown & still no blower fan.
Looking thru this forum I see potential causes as BCM, blower motor relay/harness, corroded wires under the front seat,...
Any chance of just a switch failing?
Separate failures, or related?
The wet wires is weakened as the temperature signal comes from the front of the car, not the rear & it is occasionally affected as well - in fact it was the first failure noted.
Are there any special steps to disconnect the seat electrical connections without setting off airbag in order to lift carpet. I also do not see any screws in door trim to allow lifting of carpet. I guess I'll just carefully "push" the door trim off.
The BCM replacement description is great - except that I can not get brightauto.com to register & Frugal Mechanic only lists ECM's. Where can I buy a BCM at discount today - if that is what I need? Of the related problems noted for BCM failure, I have only have remote unlocking issues - but the remote batteries are 8 years old - so is it batteries or BCM? The car battery is about 4 years old. I will trickle charge it tonight, as that is about the normal battery life here in Texas.
Obviously I could start replacing parts in a process of elimination - but that could get expensive quickly. Any focus that saves $ and mechanics time is greatly appreciated.
Still have the gauge issue with the fuel & temp. Will look under seat for rust/corrosion next. Hope that it is not an instrument cluster problem. Could BCM cause only a gauge problem?
jump up and fall into fender never to be found again.
battery
Ontop of this problem the key now is getting stuck in the ignition and will not come out. It is in park but will not come out unless you restart the car (which you have to jump and rev the engine to get started) Any ideas what the problem might be? We've had someone test our alternator and that is fine. Any help would be appreciated, thanks!
What am i hearing?? how can it be fixed??
pleaseee help!!
What am i hearing?? how can it be fixed??
pleaseee help!!
thanks, though, that gave me more ideas