I have a 2001 f250 sd 4x4. For the past year it will blow cold air unless I'm in stop and go traffic then it blows warm air. Engin temp thermostat and water pump are fine. Yesterday it quit blowing all together and it really wouldn't bother me but where I live the morning temps and rainy days are causing the windshield to fog up and my defroster not even working. Where can I start to get this fixed.
View 7 RepliesMy AC is working intermittently, best under acceleration, horrible in stop & go traffic. The dealership told me I need a new compressor clutch but the written estimate was to replace the whole compressor assembly. Replacing just the clutch isn't too bad, is it? I'm pretty handy and do a lot of my own work but I typically avoid the AC system. Replacing just the clutch doesn't involve draining the coolant or anything, right?
View 1 RepliesLast week I noticed an erratic temperature gauge while I was in stop-and-go traffic. It would go from just below halfway to nearly the red in about 7 seconds, bob around, go down a bit, then up, back down to halfway and sit for a while, etc. etc. etc. I stopped, added a little water to the reservoir and car was fine for about 20 minutes but then it started up again.
Went I got home I checked oil and it was low. I added a quart. After this the car has been fine.
Until today. It did go into the red a couple of times and sat there for a few seconds. I was surprised there were no lights or warnings of overheating! I opened the hood when I got home and didn't get the impression that the engine was particularly hot (though the upper radiator hose was hot).
I read this might be caused by air pockets in the cooling system and I need to "burp" it by taking off the radiator cap, starting the car, running the heater, and then topping up the radiator when I see the coolant level go down.
With summer heating up so is the engine. Temp stays normal at freeway speeds but as soon as I hit stop and go traffic it shoots up. Water pump is two years old. I flushed the radiator and didn't get much gunk out. Both fans are running when the AC is on. If I shut the car off but leave the key on the fans do not run when the car is not. I can't remember if they used to or not.
2001 Pontiac Grand Prix 3.1
I've been noticing an odd noise in the brake pedal in our '03 Santa Fe. I don't hear it all the time (almost never on the highway), but especially hear it in stop-and-go traffic. It's sort of a whirr, a "RRrrr". I've googled and watched YT videos and it's definitely not a hissing sound or a grinding sound, nor do I notice any difference in the brakes' responsiveness.
I'm apprehensive of taking it to the dealer for service because I only plan to have this vehicle for at most three more weeks. Have only held onto it this long because we couldn't afford to replace it until we sold our house-- which we've just done, and are about to move to a city about an hour away on 7/5. We'll trade in the car within a couple of weeks of moving.
The noise is definitely from the pedal and isn't anything like squeaking brake pads (I currently live in the DC metro area, so squeaky brakes become very familiar with all the stop-start traffic!). The videos I've found that point to a booster problem have a decided hiss, and it's not that either. Don't want to be unsafe in the time we've got left, but also don't want to throw another thousand bucks (every time something breaks in that darn thing, it always seems like it's about $800) into a car we won't have in a month's time.
This weekend was a nice high 80's low 90's. My AC is usually ice cold. However now that the weather hit that high, when we are in stop-and-go traffic, the AC starts blowing warm humid air. I do see the temperature need creep a bit higher than the normal range.
Once we start driving, after a few minutes, the climbs back down and the cold AC returns. Turning the fan speed down, or turning the compressor off, then on again, seems to work.
What could be causing this? A friend said he has this issue with his car claiming the engine is the issue, not being powerful enough to keep the compressor running right, is that possible?
I was driving my trusty 2002 152K miles, and came into a very long and very slow traffic jam on the side of a mountain. After about two hours of mostly stop and very little go, my CEL light came on. I am also seeing the "general fault" symbol, but it should be noted that my PS symbol has been showing for about a year because my PS died and I just didn't fix it.
View 11 RepliesHesitation while driving mostly in city traffic.....
View 5 RepliesMy 2000 Ford Ranger over heats when I stop at traffic lights. I took it to Tire Kingdom and hey suggested a new thermostat and a radiator flush. I did both and it continues. What is the issue?
View 6 RepliesOK, 05 v8 4.6l
I am having very random overheating for last few weeks. Started randomly one day in stop n go traffic. Thought maybe struck tstat so replaced it. Same thing...replaced water pump, fan clutch, serpentine belt, coolant reservoir cap since then. During all those replacement I flushed system with garden hose. Burped system to best of my knowledge. Still overheats randomly. Seems to happen every day now at hot times (100*). I drive around all day for work so been watching it closely. Temp gun runs 190* on tstat housing at operating temp. When it was rising up in temp I pulled over and temp gun read 200 ish.... it is in fact getting hot. Any freaking clues? Oh and have pressure tested good....combustion test good...
I have a 2003 Taurus that runs fine until I stop at a traffic light and then has a misfire about every 5-10 seconds. This diminishes greatly if I put the car in neutral or park while I wait. I have had the spark plugs changed twice. It seems to be more severe in hotter weather. When I was visiting LA, I noticed my cab driver who was driving a 2003 Taurus always put his car into neutral at stop lights as well and when I asked him it turned out that he and all of the other 2003s in their fleet had the same problem. What is wrong?
View 2 RepliesI have a 2001 Econoline and the turn signals work in the morning but when the vehicle warms up they stop working. I have replaced the bulbs and the fuses. What I could try next.
View 4 RepliesOkay, admittedly my car isn't top of the line. But I'd rather keep it. It all started one day getting stuck in traffic. Some kid claims something broke, causing him to serve in front of a bus bus and sending the bus into a creek. Luckily, all the kids had been dropped off, and the driver wasn't hurt. In my angrier moments, I figure the kid was texting but have no proof. I was stuck in traffic for 90 minutes, and within sight of getting out of the traffic mess, there was a loud bang and it overheats. Off to the side of the road, call the wife, she picks me up. Take it to the local shop, which replaces the Radiator and the Thermostat.
From then on, if I get stuck in slow traffic or at stop lights, it heats up quick. The dash temperature gauge has the word "NORMAL" spelled vertically. After a few traffic lights, the pointer is at the O or even the N. Before the next incident (below), running too hot would cause difficulty starting unless I pumped the gas pedal, or let it cool down for awhile.
Another incident: a rather sudden loss of power driving. The mechanic claims that the catalytic converters are clogged (the car has two). He opens up one of them, "unclogs" it. This didn't solve the problem. It did seem to clear up the starting problem. There's plenty of coolant in the reservoir.
My car has an exhaust smell coming into the car; seems to be from in front of the passenger side of the engine. Mechanic said it was from leaking valve cover gaskets, which have been replaced about a month ago. The smell is coming back and getting stronger. When I am in stop/go traffic, I have to open the windows. What else could this be caused by?
View 6 RepliesOn a 1998 F150 2 wheel drive 4.6 250k, the front brakes will drag under a specific set of circumstances; only in prolonged stop and go traffic with hot ambient temps. Rotors, calipers, rear shoes, drums, fluid, bearings, seals have all been replaced. This occurs only a couple of times a year, otherwise the brakes work perfectly. It starts out as a slight shimmy that worsens until you can smell the pads cooking and the wheels are hotter than hell. The truck will hardly move at times. The rears are normal. After the truck cools for hours, no symptoms.
View 7 RepliesWell I believe my small fan has stopped working because if I run my ac in stop and go traffic my big fan runs harder than I've ever heard and when examining under hood small fan doesn't move. I have been told by local vw dealer and local euro tech and both say big fan could be bad if small one is and I may have to replace both. Vw quoted 800 for both and local eurotech is around 650. I was considering just purchasing the aftermarket one from ecs tuning for 190 and try to swap it out myself w some ramps. Just checked eBay and found this. Should it be comparable? Just checking before I order.
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Ever since I became a driving instructor I have paying a lot more attention to traffic and how everyone acts. I have always been told that when driving on the freeway you should never use your brakes. After observing traffic and trying this out for the last year or so, I have noticed that if you look farther ahead on the road and simply notice traffic starting to slow really early you actually can make an entire trip on the freeway (even during rush hour) without ever using your brakes. The idea is that if you lift off the gas early enough you can coast up to the traffic and not have to stop before traffic starts moving again.
I have also noticed that while I am able to just cost up to the stopped traffic, everyone else around me wants to race up and slam on their brakes. Why do so many people do this? Do they think it is faster? Cause I can tell you that it isn't.
2.0 crdi santa fe stopped and engine management came on took it to dealer and they said no code to read ..got second opinion and the guy read the code and came up with 001 ..p1181 int.air var ctl.sol ..he also said that he thinks it an injector problem rather than this ...the car will start with a tow and drive a short distance and stop again.
View 2 RepliesI have been driving my new 2011 prius for a week now and have noticed that in stop and go traffic I occasionally get down to three bars before the engine kicks in. Is this normal?
Also today I was in a traffic jam for a half hour and got to 2 bars a few times(lots of stop and go). Is this normal also? When driving on the freeway the bars are always 6-8. There are no colors on the bars, just white.
Had a problem with squealing brakes? My brakes squeal awfully when I am in stop and go traffic (in dry weather). Taken it to the dealer 2x and they've told me it will just do due to the pad having metal in it. I just have a hard time believing that my just over 1 year old car squeals like a dump truck..
View 9 RepliesI’m concerned about stop and go traffic here in Phoenix, where the highway traffic literally stops for minutes at a time. Then we get to move for 50-100 feet and then completely stop again. This process may continue for 30-45 minutes. How is this affecting my Prius, am I slowly killing my new car?
View 19 Replies