Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!
Popular New Cars
Popular Used Sedans
Popular Used SUVs
Popular Used Pickup Trucks
Popular Used Hatchbacks
Popular Used Minivans
Popular Used Coupes
Popular Used Wagons
Comments
It seems to me that with the sensors (inside the wheels) transmitting a signal, warning lights will be activated and drivability problems may crop up without these readings. Can you explain if I can do this or not?
Greg
Anyone heard of this stuff and/or if it or any additive can quiet the pump?
alcan makes a very real and important point... you absolutely have to know WHICH wire in the car harness to fiddle with, or it's big trouble in a modern vehicle. big trouble at a half-stick of dynamite worth if you set off an airbag.
Now the key won't turn in the switch. Tried another key, same thing. Key works o.k. in door.
Dearler said check battery connection - it seems o.k..
What gives? Did the ignition switch just go bad by coincidence to my repairs?
With 70K miles you could have wear in the axle (CV) joints certainly, which could create the weird harmonics you describe.
I don't even know enough about cars to make me dangerous. But in my experience if a battery is going to have problems from the cold, it will be in the morning, not after it's already started and hasn't even cooled down completely. Any ideas about possible intermittent cold-related problems?
Thanks,
-lance
But, before you condemn the battery, have the battery terminals checked and the battery load tested.
Your symptoms lead me to believe you have a loose or dirty battery terminal or connection.
Generally when a battery goes bad from cold, it will continue to be a problem.
Another long shot--a starter motor armature or brushes that are wearing out.
TRY THIS---next time it happens, turn your headlights on and either you (in the dark) or a bystander in the daylight observe a) if the lights go on with the "dead" battery. If NO, battery or cables are bad. If YES,they do go on, turn the key to start and see if they go off. If YES, they do go off, it's a battery issue probably ---but if NO, they still burn bright, then it's a starter issue possibly or an ignition key or some such.
With more and more of these new vehicles using a starter relay, I have seen many of these have the relays fail.
when everything is dry, I would also pull each boot and put a film of dielectric insulating grease inside each one, to keep moisture out.
Thanks
Hopefully, they will continue to function. The best approach is preventive maintenance. Tow trucks drivers insist that most break-downs are from rather simple components failing, like hoses, belts, tires, tune-up, that sort of thing.
Some things seem absent from your list.
Was the brake fluid ever flushed out?
When was the timing belt last changed?
Also, I'd drop your maintenance intervals on the transmission to 30K and your oil to 5K
You might also have the water pump looked at. If there is excessive play or any sign of slight weepage, that's a good thing to swap out before it breaks. Perhaps this was done along with the timing belt at 120K? Swapping out water pumps and timing belts at the same time is a logical sequence.
How does the center diff attach to the T case and both driveshafts?
Whats the difference between a locking center diff and locking t case? Is one better than the other?
A full time 4WD system with center diff is often referred to as AWD.
There is no better or worse. It depends on vehicle type, driving conditions and the type of work you wish to do.
A viscous coupling can substitute as an inter-axle differential in some cars.
Turning circle and turning diameter are the same thing---the diameter of a circle made by a car in 360 degrees of locked steering. The radius of a circle is from the center point to its curved outer surface.
But the Hummer (H1) has a locking transfer case while the G has a locking center diff. I'm reall curious as to what the advantage/disadvantage of each is.
Also I really can't figure out how the center diff on the G attaches to the t case. Any ideas?
What are DRL and ALC? Any specific things I can look at, do, replace? Is test equipment required?
Daytime running lights got me started. On same page in owners manual is Automatic Lights Control or some such thing.
I have a headlight that is out. When I start the car during the day the Automatic Lights Control system must check for daytime running lights. One of mine is out, so it is telling me.
After dark the automatic light system is not working, is not looking for daytime running lights and does not chime or signal. I guess it is up to me to see that I am missing a head light at night. That's reasonable.
So the next time the temperature gets above 20 degrees I wil change the bulb.
Thanks for the help.
Thanks, Mark156
brake fluid in almost all systems (DOT3 or 4 based) is hygroscopic, absorbing water from the air, and wet brake fluid not only boils when you panic stop (causing brake fade) but gets rusty from corrosion at calipers, etc. and can plug orifices. a good idea to replace it every couple of years, otherwise, test by viewing at the bleeders and replace when corrosion becomes evident or color changes in the resivoir underhood.
tranny fluid (ATF in particular) generally has friction modifiers (fibers or micropills) as well as very high levels of detergent. it helps clutches seat as gears change, and also carries away little worn off chunks of crud. it is a good thing to regularly drain off the offal picked up from the system, replace the filter, and refill. overstressed fluid suffers burning, chemical modification, and that goo adds to the crud it can't move out of passages and valve bodies any more. another good idea to periodically change it.
if you wait too long on ATF changes, the shock of detergent action can kick chunks of crud loose that block shift changes inside, and can actually wear the tranny into failure.
so it's not just an evil empire plot to strip you of even more money. there are good mechanical reasons. "fluid is cheap" is not necessarily correct, due to the labor involved in changing some of them, but replacement engines and trannies are much more expensive.
there are european models that use different fluid bases than the domestics and most imports, so read your own manual. there are deteriorations and buildups of ugly that occur on all fluids used in cars.
http://www.troublecodes.net/articles/brkfld.shtml
Mark156
did a flush on the brake lines at about 36,000 as an excuse to get a MityVac, and there was some discoloration of the red variety at the calipers already.
had already changed out the PS fluid at 18,000 due to discoloration, and did it again at 42,000 due to the system developing a little bitty squeak, probably due to a tiny chunk of crud in the rack.
the radiator was still good to -35 when I flushed it.
it's a good excuse for a party afterwards, too