I have a 1996 Buick Century Custom 3.1L V6 with about 93k miles. As background, I've done quite a bit of work to the car in the last month and a half - replaced the engine with a rebuilt, replaced the catalytic converter (that was damaged when the old engine misfired badly), replaced my ignition control module and two coils, and replaced my fuel injectors as a couple weren't firing well. In addition, I replaced my EGR valve to resolve a P1406 (EGR Valve Pintle Position Sensor) code that came up last month (the original EGR valve looked to have quite a bit of carbon buildup, and was likely original to the car from 1996).
That replacement was done about 9/25, and my check engine light came on again this week. Now it's showing a P1406 (EGR Valve Pintle Position Sensor) code, and occasionally (maybe every 2-3 starts) will also have a P0300 random intermittent misfire and P1406 code shown as pending. In terms of running/performance, if I leave the car in park and give it gas once I get the pedal to about 1/2 down, around about 1800 RPM, it sounds almost like it's coughing, and that's also the case if I leave the car running and go listen/feel at the tailpipe, the exhaust seems to pulse rather than being just a steady stream. Performance wise on the road I haven't noticed any major problems - the car seems to run alright, I haven't noticed any serious misfires or performance problems, seems to have good acceleration, etc.
The one thing I will mention is when the catalytic converter was replaced the shop mentioned that my O2 sensors may need to be replaced as well down the road, as it's possible that they were damaged when the old catalytic converter was. When I checked the live data on my scan tool I do see what seem to be good values from both O2 sensors.
My 2009 Kia Spectra won't start when the weather is extremely cold. I live in NH, right on the coast, and the car's parking spot affords it no protection from strong winds that we get here and therefore low temps. There was a cold spell with winds roughly a month ago and the following morning the car wouldn't start. the electronics inside still worked, but it didn't start. When it warmed up later that day it started up normally. the same series of events has been repeating itself over this last bit of cold weather, so I replaced the battery (upgrading from 550 CCA to 650 CCA). II went to start it this morning and once again, it won't start. I've had an oil change with all the fluids checked and replaced or filled just a couple days ago. The car will start in the morning with jumper cables. What might be going on here?
View 19 RepliesMy 2005 Ram 1500 makes a knocking noise (like a diesel) when i first start it up. The colder it is the louder it is. Once warm it is quite and i have no performance issues.
View 12 RepliesWhy doesn't my 98 Ford Crown Vic Police package turn over when it is hot outside and the car is hot? Winter time, I never have the issue. When the outside temp hits the upper 70s or more, and I drive for a little bit, turn the car off it will not start or even turn over. The lights come on like normal. I wait 15-30 minutes, it fires right up. I have replaced the starter/solenoid, battery, battery terminals, ignition relay.
98 crown vic police-4.6 liter Coil-on-plug,electronic timing,182,000 miles
'04 Honda Civic-1.7LFirst the car started overheating only it was sitting in idle. As soon as you would go or if you revved the engine the needle would immediately drop after a few seconds. Replaced the thermostat. It seemed fixed, but started doing it again, put in a new thermostat incase other one was faulty. Still having same problem.The system was pressure testing and everything was fine. Then had the system flushed and new thermostat put in. It worked for about 150 miles and started doing the same thing.Brought it in for the water pump, the old one was corroded and warped so it seemed like the problem.
After about 100 or so miles still overheating when idle.We had the radiator replaced, the old one was complete junk, thermostat replaced too. I drove it like normal in town for a day, the next day it started overheating, this time it was doing it while driving, got to about 3/4 up. Turned the car off for a bit, and it didn't do it anymore on the way home.Today I was driving and it was fine for 4 miles, I sat idling for 1 minute, after driving 1 more mile it started overheating, temp gauge got to halfway.
I parked it for a bit and started driving, there was no heat coming from the heater, I had it full blast, nothing but cold air. The car started overheating again, once again halfway. Parked for about 3 minutes and then turned it on, temp was fine and it was blowing full heat out, the car temp was fine the whole way home, no more overheating.
The next step we will take is to replace the head gasket and/or heater core. Is there anything else that this could be? Literally the same week the overheating started, the rear lights were having issues and one time there was no power to the windows. Then the door locks would stop and then work again intermittently. The door locks no longer work at all. Not sure if it is just a coincidence, maybe everything is breaking at once. But there has been no loss of coolant and the oil and coolant consistency have been normal too.
I thought I'd be free of problems having bought a new Toyota Rav4 in Jan. In June, with less than 3K miles, my husband had a (BIG) fender bender (turns out his meds made him blank out, he was driving at 10-15 mph) (and he is going on 80). Repairs cost over 3K, but I was able to drive it to the dealer. Soon after I got it back a month later, I started hearing a brief grinding noise under the accelerator, at speeds of 20-30 mph. Mostly after I took my foot off the accelerator, once or twice after I took my foot off the brake. This noise sounds like brakes grinding, appears very sporadically and briefly. I took it to the dealer and of course they could find nothing wrong, said everything checks out. They said to bring it back when it's doing the noise. Which it does maybe once a week, for a second or two. sheesh.What to do? I actually want to start all over, I do not want to drive with my ear to the gas pedal. (My husband now only drives in town!)
View 5 RepliesI flushed out my cooling system through the radiator with distilled water four times. It's a 3 gallon system, but I could only drain/fill a bit more than a gallon each time.
I figured that by the end of it, it's mostly distilled water so I only added antifreeze concentrate at the end. How long should I let the system circulate before I considered it well mixed and ready to test the concentration?
I have a 2000 Outback, 80K, and I've been having brake issues. The first thing I noticed was a burning brake smell. I pulled over and found that my two front wheels were very hot. I pumped the brakes a few times and let them cool down and drove on. Pulled over in a bit to check them and they were fine. Took the car to the dealer who said, "We can't really find anything wrong with the fronts, but the backs are sticking a bit and we fixed that." So, off I went. Of course, it happened again. Left front seemed the hottest, but this time I noticed that the rear wheels were warm as well. Took it in again. Again, "We don't know." "Could it be the calipers or the lines or the ABS chip," I asked? "Well, yeah, maybe the front calipers." So they replaced the front calipers.
Picked it up and noticed two things of interest on the print out: "Rear brakes hanging up," and the front pads are a 8mm and the rear at 3mm! Hm... Seemed fishy to me. I had all the pads replaced a year and half ago. The last set lasted 75K, so this is odd, as is the discrepancy between back and front. I had the dealer pull the service record. In May the rear were at 5mm. Two weeks ago they were at 3.5mm. Yesterday they were a 3mm. I asked, "What would cause that?" They said, "Well, probably whoever did your brake job didn't clean the brakes up well so they are getting stuck and wearing down." I took the car and drove 60 miles, mostly on the highway. Fronts wheels were cool. Rear wheels were warm to hot.
I have a 1994 checy silverado 2500 with 3 year old battery, alternator, and starter. I left the car for a week and came back and the battery was dead and needed a jump start. Charged up and sat for 3 days and dead again. I check for lights on and nothing.
View 1 RepliesA couple of months ago my Yaris was hit just behind the driver side door by a Ford F150, luckily traveling at a low speed. Other than body damage, my car seemed to be fine. After driving the car around for 2 weeks with the damage then taking it in for its 10 day repair, I brought home my wonderful little car. I live in Florida and even though it's winter, we had a rather warm day, just a couple days after bringing my car back home. I turned on the AC and ...nothing came out. So I tried it on higher settings and ...still nothing came out until I got to the highest blower setting. Suddenly it sounded like someone had turned a blender on inside my car but some air was making its way out of my blowers.
I called the shop that did my repairs and they said "well, you probably just blew a fuse. It's not accident related so we can't take care of it without charging you." My understanding was that I would not be able to get my blower to work at all if a fuse was blown, and my air certainly worked following the accident and prior to getting repairs done. If a fuse was blown, I'm willing to bet a lot of money that the shop was responsible. ...the fact that they also broke my glove compartment, got paint all over my seat, and made my car smell like a paint store also make me weary of using them again, but my insurance company swears by them. First of all, what is wrong with my car? Second of all, how do I fix it?