Auto Repair Articles

I have a 4.9L motor in a 1992 Ford F-150 4.9 pickup the engine is looping and i can smell gass in the exhaust. I think it is a sensor becouse it just started out of the blue when i parked it. Already Tried: checked plugs and wires and changed

Answer:

The first thing to do would be to Extract the codes which can be done without a scan tool.

I have a 2001 Pontiac Sunfire that keeps getting hot, we have taken the thermostat out but we have no water flow thru the car, could the water pump be out? Already Tried:
Taken the thermostat out and filled with anti freeze.

Answer:

Now adays with new cars, removing the tstat does not work. We need to get the stat back in. Once back in, follow these directions to bleed air from system. Fill radiator with coolant. leave cap off if possible. Rund car till warm then turn off and let sit. The water level should drop. When cool, top off coolant and repeat steps above. What we are doing is bleeding the system. Do this 2-3 times. Also look for a small screw head located on top of tstat housing. If there, it is a bleed screw. Do NOT remove but simply loosen . Run car till water trickles out of the screw head in smooth way.This is also bleeding air out. It was not common in tis car or year for the water pump fins to be bad. What was common is air pockets not allowing circulation. We need to get the air out. I am not ruling out bad t stat but the above steps MUST be done first. If after the bleed and still runing hot, feel the upper radiator hose,then feel bottom one. If the bottom one is near cold and upper one hot, then … you have a bad tstat. replace stat and re bleed again. You have to get the air out. i think you will find this fixes your problem. yes, another odd problem could exisit but lets get through the basics.

Engine Overheating Diagnostics

Question:

I just bought a 2008 Chevy Silverado 4.8 with a 4 speed transmission. When I come to a complete stop I feel a slight bump about 1 second after the stop. Also when I shift from reverse to drive I get a clanking noise. The dealer said I had to run it for 1-2k miles for everything to mesh. Sounds like bs to me. Is this normal on a 2 wheel drive pick up? 

Answer:

I bought a New Z71 and it did the same thing for me. Also if you have the tow package (locker rear end) it can sometimes be severe to where you think something is smacking the back end with a sledge hammer. This unfortunately is normal. I now have 13K on my truck and it still does this.

I have a 2005 Toyota Matrix XR, 2 wheel drive automatic, with the ZZFE motor. I replaced my battery a couple of months ago when it failed to start. Everything was fine until last night when it started a rapid clicking sound when turning the key in the ignition. The new battery seems to be okay–the lights and radio all seem to work. We finally got it started by putting it into neutral and rolling it, then starting. Does this sound like a bad starter?

Answer:

Before we condem the starter motor there is a few things we need to checkthe rapid mechanical clicking you describe could quite probably be the starter solenoid shuttling back and forth this is because for some reason it is not getting enough power.there is enough to activate it but not enough to hold it on and start the car so it releasesthis happens very quickly many times as you turn the key hence the rapid clicking.So the fist thing is to check the battery is fully charged & that when the vehicle is running the alternator is charging okthen check both the battery terminals are both tight and good electrical connectionsthe other connections which are often missed with this type of problemis the engine earth connection from the battery this may look a solid connection but the corrosion between the cable joint and the motor is electrically no good so remove this clean it up with a wire brush or some abrasive paper and reconnect

The othe reconnection to check is the main power terminal to the solenoid for security and a good electrical connection

I have a 93 Camaro. For the past week when I’ve taken it around 75 it loses engine power for about a second. The lights and gages stay on. Today, I took it off the freeway and all of a sudden it was like it ran out of gas . . . gages and such still working. It took about 10 seconds and got up and went.

Answer:

This sounds like a failing fuel pump. Have a fuel pressure test performed on the vehicle. When i test these myself, i like to Duct Tape the gauge to the wind shield and drive it so i can see the loss of fuel pressure when the issue occurs.

Question:

i got a g reg 7 series and got play in stearing and been told i can tighten up the stearing box and it will take the play out is this correct and how do i do it. replaced track rod ends as were worn and eas told that might be the prob

Answer:

Yes you can adjust the steering box if it has play in the box. Or the steering box could be worn out. Gears inside could be worn. To adjust usually on top of box you will find a nut with a adjuster in the middle usually a flat head screw driver would fit. loosen lock nut and then tighten middle till it gets tight then back off about 1/2 to 3/4 turn then retighten lock nut and reck for play or if the steering is too tight. If too tight redo adjustment turn middle adjuster out little more..

Question:

bout to buy a 91 acura legend it has 120,000 mi autochecked it and the report came back good. the present owner has had the car for 3wks she wants a smaller car. What type of tune up should I get and should I go through the dealer or local and if local who would you recommend? She also explained that the ac gets un cold after awhile could it be low on freon or is the compressor going bad it is after all a 17yr old car. I’m bout to buy a 17yr old car$2100 120,ooo mi owner has told me that it rides good ac doesn’t work efficiently after awhile is this a costly thing and what type of diagnostics should I get done to the car to keep it running for another 20yrs haha well maybe not that long but you know what I mean. Basically is it worth my time I’ve only seen pics of the car(looks good) the auto check summary of the car checks out good with 3 owners.Has passed inspect with no prob.an emission failure in 2005 but nothing after that. What’s your take with the info I’ve provided.

Answer:

these are probably one of the best cars Acura ever built as far as longevity. BUT there are 2 things that go wrong the a/c compressors and the head gaskets both go out once .so I would have the car checked by someone familiar with acura’s if these things are ok then go for it.if not they are both expensive repairs. parts for this car cost more from acura for some reason. but I have customers with 250,000 to 400,000 miles on these cars still going strong.