I have a 2008 VW Jetta 2.5S with 50k miles. The user manual says to change spark plugs at 40k miles. Since the dealer quoted 350$, i haven't changed yet. The car is running fine. Should i be changing the spark plugs ? If not will it led to other problems?
View 6 RepliesMy 2.0L Jetta had an intermittent misfire, only at idle. I took it in to the shop, and they fixed a vacuum leak and replaced the plugs. The car drove home fine, but the next morning it was misfiring at all speeds. When it got back to the shop, they said that the coil pack was bad. I wonder if they might have done something to cause the pack to fail, since it seemed to be working fine before I took it in. Their explanation was that the coil had become accustomed to sparking at an adjusted (more powerful) setting to account for the vacuum leak, and when it tried to go back to the factory setting, it quit working. Also, all of the stress from running at a higher output wore it out.
View 4 RepliesI think I forgot to reset the oil life indicator at my last oil change, however I am not 100% positive.
Is the oil change indicator purely based on time/miles driven, or does it have any sort of sensors that actually detect issues with the oil?
I've heard some vehicles do actually do basic checks rather than purely being time/mileage based.
Anyway, I am no where near the miles or time interval from the previous oil change so if there aren't any magical sensors I'll just reset the life.
I have a whistle noise which I can hear since a month, it comes only when : - I drove more than 20 miles ( related to warming up of a piece of the car ? ) - I drive at least at 30 mph - Same noise If I switch to "neutral" position - Same noise if I'm braking or not, just related to the current speed - The noise is coming from the outside, but the high pitch makes it hard to locate...
View 4 RepliesThe VW Owners Manual for my 2009 VW TDI Jetta indicates that the automatic transmission fluid and filter should be changed every 40,000 miles. However my independent mechanic's "after market" maintenance manuals say that the DSG should not be touched for the life of the car. I am perplexed
View 10 RepliesI brought my 2004 VW Touareg V6(83k miles) to the dealer for a recall on the ignition call and much to my surprise, was presented with a diagnosis of a $6,000 problem! The dealer told me that the computer read some codes which say that the timing chain is stretched and needs to be replaced. They said it will take 4-5 days and should be done asap so it doesn't "go out", because if it does, it's an even more expensive problem. I took the car to another VW repair shop and they asked me if I heard any noised when I start it cold (like pebbles in a bucket). I have not had any problems like that at all, so they said I shouldn't worry until I start getting symptoms. They also said there is no recommended point (like 90,000 miles) when VW recommends the change, so it really shouldn't be a common problem. I want to do the right thing, but I don't want to rush into an expensive repair if it isn't necessary.
View 1 RepliesDetails. I was driving my car yesterday. It stop as i gave it fuel to go around a corner.Its a 95 mitsubishi mirage s manufacture october 94 in japan. Its a manual turned the key. Nothing but cranking and flooding. My friend came to take a look at it. no spark.I smelled fuel and have still almost half a tank which mean its pumping but no spark came from the ignition wire.I have replaced the rotor and am waiting on new ignition wires and distro cap. When i took off the distro cap I didn't see any visible cracks.
View 9 RepliesMy Van has a slight stumble when I am going along between 25 and 55 mph and just barely touch the gas. Little more than touch the gas and it stops, full acceleration and it runs great...
View 5 RepliesI have a 99 5.4 f-150 stepside 2x4 and I was driving the other day when the engine threw a sparkplug. It stripped the threads inside the head and I had to re-thread it and put a new plug in.
A friend told me it shot out because of the aluminum heads? That it reacted with the steel of the sparkplug. Is this true? Or is it just because the engine is old? (I have 256,000 miles on it)
After filling the gas tank yesterday, as I was on my way to work, the check engine light came on. For the last couple of days the temperatures outside have reached 118 degrees. I have checked the oil and coolant and have resealed the gas cap as well, yet the light still remains. The research I have done leads me to believe the problem may be the catalytic converter, but I'm wondering if there is any further troubleshooting I can do without heading to a mechanic.
View 7 RepliesOne of my accessory plugs has gone dead. The manual said to check a fuse, and it was bad, so I replaced it. Now all under hood fuses test good using an ohm meter. Still dead at the plug. There is one acc. plug mounted in the console below the radio, and one in the console storage area -- the one under the radio is dead. All that plastic looks difficult to disassemble - how to troubleshoot such a thing. My guess is there is a fusible link along the harness to the upper console plug, but where, and what does it look like?
I know the devices are good, they work in the lower socket. ONE socket is good, the other dead.
Toyota Corolla S 2009 Automatic 4 Door
Saturday I changed the starter because the old one was going out and I didnt want it to die so it was preventaive. Went to put in the sparkplugs but the dealer gave me the wrong ones, drove to the dealer and they pulled out one I had to check it and put it back in. (I had 9/16 long plugs, which is rare for my engine apparently.) I went to leave, and when I turned it over, nothing happened. I pulled the Key out, waited 5 seconds, started up. Went home, put in the sparkplugs and drove about 300 miles since Saturday and no problem.
Today I went to leave and the car turned over multiple times, after the 4th, it acted like it was starting but shut off and kept turning over.
First, I checked all the wires on the plugs and around them, even pulled all the plugs and put in the old ones. Same problem.
I unplugged the battery and hoped if it was a computer glitch that it would have fixed it. Same problem.
When I turn it over, the started keeps going and it will pretend to turn on for half a second and then keep turning over. I also smell raw gas when I get out of the car for a few seconds before it goes away.
The last time it did throw codes, but I have no reader. I have to wait for the neighbor to pull them. Is there anything I can test or check out? Everything as far as the wires and fuses look good. I am at a loss for where to go.
2000 Mazda Protege 1.6l Just replaced timing belt, tensioner, idler, water pump, plugs and coil packs
I have checked the timing about 10 times before puting everything back together by rotating the engin clockwise. No stiff point and marks lining up perfectly every time.
Though when I turn the key in the ignition, the engine cranks but doesn't start.
Can't really check the sparks cause I am on my own, but seems like the spark plugs in 1 and 3 are wet with fuel and 2 and 4 are dry.
I have a 2008 Kia Rio, 4 Cyl 1.6L, and recently the check engine light came on and the car started running real rough after getting the timing belt replaced at firestone. I took it back to Firestone and they said that 2 of the cylinders where misfiring and i need to replace the ignition coils and the corresponding spark plugs, but that i also want to get a catalytic converter cleaning or flush or something like that because of the unburnt gas that was running into the converter. Is this true? They want to charge me another 100.00 for the cleaning on top of the 300.00 to replace the 2 ignition coils and spark plugs, should i get this done or can i clean it out myself?
View 6 RepliesI had a spark plug break on me and it caused a misfire. I took it in and the mechanic replaced all spark plugs and wires. After getting the car back, I experience an occasional engine hiccup here and there. Took it back to the mechanic and told me that he cleaned off the valves of carbon build up. This did not alleviate the current symptoms. It is more noticeable while I am idling. It feels like a jolt. It appears to be worse after a cold start. I do not have a check engine light or do I notice the RPM needle go wild. What is the mechanic missing? What could still be wrong with the engine? Vehicle is a 2001 Ford Windstar Sports SE, 6cyl, 3.8L ....
View 5 Replies1990 Mazda Protege with a 1.8L DOHC, manual 5-spd transmission, ~173K miles on it. On my way home the other day, the car ABRUPTLY started to run very rough - with what I would call repetitive and incessant stuttering when accelerating (though I am by no means technical with respect to cars). I shut the car down, hoped the problem would go away, but when I started it up later that day, the problem was still there - the car BOTH idles rough and doesn't accelerate very smoothy. When I come to a stop, the car feels as if it's going to stall but stays running. This afternoon, I took it out on the road for ~3 mile drive (up to ~ 50 mph) and the problem is the same - but I did also notice, when driving, that the car gave off a smell reminiscent of firecrackers - perhaps a sulfur-ish smell. I googled the issues I was having and I got a whole array of problems - ranging from simply bad spark plug wires (which have been replaced in the past 1.5 years) to a stuck EGR valve .
Here's some additional info on my car: -Was just in the shop 2wks ago for overheating - found the thermostat to be bad - they replaced it and I no longer have the overheating issue. While there, they also replaced the belts for the alternator and water pump (Which had been squealing for quite some time) -Spark plug wires and distributor cap were both replaced in the last 1.5 years -Last oil change was > 6 months (but less than 3000 miles) ago - all the fluid levels seem to be fine -Though I think it is unrelated, the car is also making a high pitched squeaking noise emanating from the R front of the car while driving - I suspect this is the suspension-related as the shop informed me that I have one front stablizer link broken while the other is loose (and when I push down on the R-front side of car while it is not running it yields a similar squeaking noise.
2001 F150, about 3 weeks ago I drove through standing water that was probably about 2 feet deep, as soon as I did that the truck started jumping real bad and almost died. I drove it around for a little while and it started to run better. After that it started to feel like it was misfiring badly. Between 40 -50 mph on the highway just giving it gas a little the jumping was pretty bad.
I decided to change out the plugs, thought maybe water got onto them and this was causing the issue, this was my first time changing the plugs in the truck and it was not nearly as bad as it could have been! I was able to do all of the plugs except number 7. The fuel injection line is right on top of that plug and I did not want to remove it!
After changing the 7 plugs the truck is running better now, I have not yet felt the jumping that was happening, my problem is that on the 4 plugs on the passenger side all 4 looked to be covered in oil. My question is does this mean my head gasket is blown and how long do I have before I am going to have to put alot of money into this truck to fix this issue?
I had my transmission fluid changed because it was leaking from the pan. I did the job myself but called VW to confirm how much fluid I needed. They told me the wrong amount but we realized that after we did the job.. they did the repair for a huge discount and I only paid $200 bucks for the work for them to "fix" what they messed up. Volkswagen did it and I got the car serviced at the end of April basically. now its the first week of July and under 90 days since the car was service and now it is shifting hard between 2nd and 3rd gear or 35 miles to 45 miles per hour. The car isn't throwing a transmission code I have a vag com and there is no code coming up on that.
View 1 RepliesHow many miles can be driven after the computer tells you have zero miles left to empty? Or rather how many gallons do you think is left in the tank after the computer says you're empty?
View 19 RepliesMy 2006 GS300 has oil burning issue after 80k miles now my odo is at 110k miles. I have changed my oil every 5000 miles, keep burning about 1 quart every 1k miles average. Literally burnt about 20 quarts of an oil with premium fuel. At 105k miles, I had replaced my bank 2 sensor 2 after the check engine light and vsc light came on, reset the code those lights came right back on.
Check the code again, found out bad cat converter between passenger side sensors. The recalls has been done at 65k miles at dealer. My questions are :
-What would be the cause of burning that much of an oil? No leaking on floor or bad smell.
-Is burnt oil causing the failure of cat converter?
-If I replace the cat, will it go bad again?
1090 Lumina Sedan 3.1 ... First time it had starting issues Recently. About 2 months ago my lumina's engine would die when i pushed down on the gas pedal. After 2 days of trying to fix the issue it wouldn't start at all, i replaced:
TPS
MAP/MAT Sensor
Fuel Filter
None of these worked so i sent it to a shop, they replaced:
ECM
Multi Port Injection (All 6 Injectors)
TPS (even though i had just installed a new one)
Serpentine Belt (it broke when they were test driving it after the Repairs were done)
The car would not start even after they replaced the first 3 parts on the list, so the tech looked further at the engine and found frayed and open wires, on the bottom near the front side passenger door, he repaired these wires and the car started and ran.
The only issues i had after their repair was a rough idle while braking and/or when i was at a full stop, the rough idle went away after a few days of driving.
((Current No Start Issues))A week ago i had what i am guessing is a few electrical issues: Speedometer Twitching and then dropping to nothing while driving, temp and oil light popping on and then off, when the engine was at a good temp and the oil was fine when i had checked the day before.
I went out a few days ago to run some errands and on my way home i turned a corner and when i put my foot down on the gas pedal the car just went "Put-put Put-put" every time i pushed the pedal more than a 1/4 of the way down. i reach a stop sign and being i was in the middle of nowhere and no one was coming down the road for miles i braked slightly and went past the stop sign halfway through my turn the engine died and i coasted to the side of the road, i got out and checked the engine, i had coolant not a whole lot but enough, then i checked the oil and it as far as i could tell it was at the add line even though it had been fine a few days before,(there has been no indication of an oil leak).
I rechecked the coolant and it looked like there was more in there than there was a few minutes before but i couldn't be sure, i was able to get the car restarted and headed towards home (about 2 miles away).at this point i was able to get the car going at around 25-45mph on the next sharp corner i turned the engine died again so i restarted and kept going, it died once more right before i reached the driveway but i was able to coast the rest of the way, once i parked the car i turned the engine off and tried to restart it a minute later and it started again so i left it be and called someone to bring me some oil, when they got to me with the oil i put some in and and it would not start at all.
- I checked one of the spark plug wires and it is not getting any spark.
- The ground terminal on the battery seems to be stripped
- The battery / altenator / starter---- All read to be between 12.15 and 12.36 volts
- The head lights, instrument panel and such still turn on properly.
I'm at a loss here, it was just in the shop 20 days ago and now it isn't working again. I would prefer to not have to put it back in the shop, if it might be something i could repair from home.