Our brakes froze the first cold day this winter. My mechanic says that the brake booster valve filled with water and froze. Also, last winter our tiptronic just quit working. We never fixed it. Should we bother to fix it?
View 3 RepliesMy wife was driving my 93 Volvo 940 wagon yesterday, and the brakes suddenly lost power, and brake lights went out. I have heard no hissing from the booster, and I have checked the 10 amp fuse on the relay beneath the instrument panel. Hoping (and praying) it is just one of the relays. I have a meter, but not sure which pins to use to check the relays. Secondary issue: the used radiator I bought did not have the cooling fan sensor, so I have my fan on a toggle inside.
When my wife pulled over because of the brakes, she did not turn the fan on. Yup. Overheated. Now the radiator leaks from the rubber/plastic plug where the sensor goes. Any pliable sealants that could withstand the temps? Cash is in very short supply right now. That is my main issue right now, trying to drive with no brake lights. No ABS light, and no brake light coming on on the dash. Bulbs are good. ABS light does not come on at all with ignition, but bulb tests good. Just hard brakes, and no brake lights.
I have a 2002 Subaru Outback. The rear right brake light housing cracked, and filled up with water, shorting the bulbs. I thought I was clever in taking the light unit off, draining the water, changing the bulbs, and caulking the crack with silicon. This worked for a while, then the battery died. I couldn't really figure out why - it was a year old, and had no prior issues starting the car. I swapped out the battery for a brand new one, and that seemed to solve the issue for a week. Then the car refused to start all over again. I remembered the brake light, checked it - filled again. So I replaced the unit and the pig electric line, and charge the battery. This seemed to solve the problem, but then the car failed to start after about 3 weeks.
One additional detail is the dial light switch on the driving shaft. One is able to turn this to adjust light settings. Regardless of position, the lights turn off when I turn off the car. However, failure to start seems to be additionally related to the position of this switch; if it's switched all the way back towards the driver the car appears to start consistently for weeks on end, BUT the tail lights fail to turn on in this position (though the brake lights work). Alternatively, dialing the switch all the way away from the driver turns on the tail lights, but seems to be related to battery drain.
I've checked the health of the battery and the contacts - everything checks out. At this point I'm wondering if it's an electrical fault or the alternator.
The annoying buzzing from the brake booster check valve that comes from the left of the instrument panel when lighly braking (especially when parked or waiting at a traffic light) is a well-known problem, as it was the subject of a Lexus (and Toyota) TSB for 2004-2010 models(see link below to the clublexus link), and has been discussed on many forums for Lexus and other cars.
I just bought a new 2012 RX 350 last month, and within a week it started making this buzzing noise (left instrument panel upon light braking). I took the car to the dealer and without listening they said that they knew it was the brake booster valve (the noise is the rattling of a ball bearing when the valve is malfunctioning). They replaced the valve and the noise went away (the loaner RX they gave me made the noise even worse).
Well, 3 weeks later, the noise has returned!
I noticed that I was leaving a trail of water as pulled into the driveway. I thought it might be coolant, but it turns-out that an area under the hood had filled-up with water. It was the area right in front of the windshield, holding the battery. There was a pool of water there, as wide as the car, and about 6 inches deep! It came right up to the brake fluid reservoir. I assume that there's a drain hose from this area somewhere that's plugged?
View 3 RepliesWe got hit with some crazy rain about a month ago. My CCM was flooded and badly damaged, replaced it and it cranked a few times. had LOTS of frayed wires which I've cleaned up and replaced. unfortunately, I'm afraid that may have damaged the ecu.
Now I get a 17953 (throttle valve regulation malfunction) from vag-com. Would that problem keep the engine from turning over?
When I turn the key i get an obnoxious chime. I didn't get a response when i queried the immobilizer though i thought that might be the problem because when it was cranking, it would run less that 2 seconds then stop. Maybe still some bad wires, maybe a bad ecu, I'm not taking it to the dealer so it can just sit in the driveway and rot if it's not gonna run for me.
I'm taking out the brake booster and i need to know how to take off the booster from the brake pedal...
View 2 RepliesToday I noticed a wet carpet in my wagon(floor behind driver seat) and I know that my bro washed it for me last week, so how it got wet. He takes really good care of our cars and he's confused also. I just got back from a long trip. BTW it is water, and not coolant.
View 10 RepliesI just replaced a burnt out tail/brake lightbulb and found that I had sockets for 5 lights yet only 3 were filled....two were empty. How could this have happened and shouldnt they all be filled? I replaced the blown one but I feel like I should get 2 more per side to make it a full housing. I also am not certain what kind I need . The turn signal bulbs are fine....it's just the tail/brake light bulbs. Why were they not filled? 2002 V6 Passat.
View 7 RepliesI have 2002 1.8T Wagon GLS with a manual climatic (with 3 big dial buttons). The weather is now getting cold and yesterday I started to realize there is no air coming from the bottom vents (both passenger and driver side) when the air flow dial button is set to bottom vents. All other positions (windshield and front vents) are all working. The air flow dial button appears to be mechanically controlled.
View 1 RepliesOk so I have a 2002 f-150 4.2. I was replacing the PCV elbow that always crack and I figured while I'm down here, I might as well replace the PCV valve as well. I have the PCV valve that has 3 connections, 1 to the crankcase and then 2 "vacuum" type connections connected to the water pump and is full of coolant of course. What am I missing here, I though sometimes these things were connected to a vacuum line, is this some kind of heater for the PCV?
View 12 RepliesI have a 2001 ex. 4x4 6.8 v10. I have been having vacuum issues and brake issues lately. My front brakes seem to be sticking, some times they drag some times the don't squeeze when I step on the brake causing uneven wear and pulling when I stop. Also feels like I have no power assist. I also have a vacuum issue with the auto setting on the hubs, they don't engage I have to manually lock them and sometimes my a/c stays on defrost. And my cruise control doesn't work, the light comes on and love done the self check but it doesn't show anything is wrong. Could I have a bad brake booster?
View 5 RepliesI am considering purchasing a 2010 as an upgrade from my current 2008, I have been reading recently as these last 3 days of constant rain made me check my current one for leaks and like normally the battery tray was filled with water.
View 3 RepliesMy passenger side blinker on the quarter panel has become filled with water and moisture. What is the easiest way to access the cover and to remove it? can it be done from the outside and just popped off?
View 1 RepliesSoooooo I woke up this morning to a passenger footwell filled with a couple inches of water after it pissed rain last night (and continues to). It looks like it's dripping in right to the left of the doorjamb next to the passenger door speaker, under the kick panel. Is this common??
View 3 RepliesI live near Buffalo NY and we get a lot of thick hard ice on our windshields. My Town & Country minivan has a huge windshield and takes a long time to warm up. I have been using a pail of hot water to take the ice off my windshield. Everyone I have told about this is appalled, they insist it will crack the windshield. I have been doing this for quite a while with no cracks.
View 19 RepliesEvery time it rains the back hatch of my 95 Honda Odyssey fills with water. I can drain most of it through the key latch, but there are several gallons of water in there. What do I need to do? What is the entire back hatch has to be replaced.
View 3 RepliesJust noticed the passenger side floor has water frozen on carpet. There is no evidence of water on the sides or from the dash area. I reached under the car and I can see 2 holes, one of them is plugged with a rubber grommet/plug and the other I can stick my finger way up into it. My wife has been driving this in the rain a couple days last week.
Is that a possible source for the water getting in? Can I order a replacement plug if it fell out?
I just did read something about a "sealing cover" and I matched against the driver side and it does appear to be missing. Seems to be a round 40mm plug. I measured the driver side and plug is 40mm and the hole is more like 25mm. Is this the right part?
After replacing the engine, clutch and pressure plate. Where the brake booster hooks up to create a vacuum, as I now have a very hard to push brake pedal, if indeed that is my problem. The pedal will not go down more than one half inch.
View 5 RepliesHow do you remove the brake booster rod from the brake pedal? The damn rod won't separate from that plastic housing. I've tried wedging a flathead in there but it's hard to see. I've been fighting with it all evening and finally gave up before I end up breaking it.
Found a DIY that just cut the rod to pull the brake pedal to remove it. I rather not do that as I will be reusing the one I have.
My 97 F-150 (4.6 L) has developed what sounds like a vacuum leak under the driver's side dash somewhere above the pedals. I can't see anything obvious. It changes sound with various positions of the brake pedal, and I can make it stop with hard acceleration for a few seconds. The brake pedal feels the same. I'm assuming the problem is probably my brake booster, right? Or should I be looking elsewhere? If so, how hard is it to replace?
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