Free Auto advice from a certified mechanic !

[Charlie]

Ok , looking at a labor guide it calls for 4 and a half hours to remove that actuator. It is listed as a floor/defrost door actuator. That time does reflect instrument panel removal.

Thanks for your info and assistance, Tex. I'm not going to remove any dash from a vehicle (I've done a simpler one many years ago and that was enough!). My thoughts now are to try to see where the under-dash vent doors (that are obviously closed) are and try to manually open them. I wouldn't be opposed to having them in an open position 100% of the time. Thanks again and I'll keep you updated.

 

[ZX9RCAM]

Just curious, do you get heat from other vents?

 

[Charlie]

The dash vents and defroster vents work just fine. Can't really answer why. I just assumed that whatever servo operates the vents for floor/under-dash are not opening.

 

[Bozz10mm]

Here's a new one. Today, I pulled the spark plug wires on wife's 98 Honda CRV. The spark plug wells where full of motor oil. Not a little, a lot. Up to the top of the plugs. I got most of it out with a bunch of paper towels. I'm surprised it even runs, but it doesn't even have a miss. What would cause it, bad valve cover gasket maybe?

 

[Savage20]

Yes that is definitely the valve cover gasket. You're lucky you caught it now. Eventually it would have killed your wires from a misfire and potentially left you stranded. I recommend replacing the valve cover gasket, the spark plugs, and wires. When you pull the plug, try to soak up as much oil as you can so it does not drain into the cylinder. If you get too much oil into the cylinder, I recommend letting the motor sit for awhile to let the oil drain past the rings. Oil does not compress and it can break things if there's too much oil on top of the piston. Or, with the plugs removed, you can crank it and it'll spit all the oil out of the spark plug hole. Just make sure you have something to catch the spray.

You will undoubtedly get some oil in the cylinder though. When you fire it up, it will smoke out the exhaust. It's not a big deal, it's just that oil getting burned up. It will go away in a few minutes. Just a heads up so you don't freak out lol

Sent from my LGLS991 using Tapatalk

 

[TexMex247]

Not all that big of a deal bozz and pretty common as vehicles age. Technically those are your spark plug tube seals but back then they are probably all part of a one piece gasket. If not, they should still be included in a valve cover set as a packet of 4 oval or circle shaped gaskets. I don't think I would replace wires based on oil contamination unless they have started to swell. Usually silicone plug boots do well to resist oil.

Savage summed it up well enough. As far as the gasket itself, make sure you remove every bit of that hardened old gasket and clean the groove with rubbing alcohol or brake parts cleaner. A clean surface seals much better. I would also clean the engine side and remove any carbon or old gasket material. You also may notice some gray blotches in the corners where the gasket meets the camshaft end caps. That area should be cleaned well and have some silicone applied again before the gasket is torqued down. They leak from those corners easily if you dont put some RTV sealant there.

 

[TexMex247]

Also Charlie... you do have separate actuators for the other vent functions. That's why every else works fine. In order to manually set the door open you will first have to remove the actuator itself. It will be the only way to manipulate the door. If you are lucky it will simply fall open when the actuator is removed.

The actuator itself will look like a black knobby box about the size of a cigarette pack and a bit more square in shape. If you can't easily manipulate the door with the actuator removed, the door itself may be stuck or blocked from other broken parts. That's less common but also possible. Look for that actuator from the driver side floorboard facing up and toward the middle of the dash. If you're lucky, there may be a youtube video floating around out there on the interweb.

 

[outdare]

OK,

Looking at a wiring diagram, the blower relay is supplied by fuse 23 in the Power distibution center. That fuse is hot at all times, however, the signal to close the relay should not be present with the key off. That may indicate a stuck closed relay that is powering up that circuit of the AC at all times. Or possibly a defective ignition switch.

As far as your airbag light. The module does have self diagnostic capability and may be flashing an active fault code. They are 2 digit codes represented by 1/2 second flashes with a 2 second pause between digits. So basically four quick flashes broken up by 2 secs then 2 more rapid flashes would represent a code 42 which would repeat itself broken up by 5 second pauses. Although that may not be your exact problem.

Knowing it has an active airbag issue, I would recommend disabling the system since a light on indicates that it wont work anyways. The easiest way to do so is to remove fuses 22 and 19 from your left side under dash fuse box and fuse 2 in your power distribution center under the hood(should be a 10 amp fuse). Removing all of these will eliminate the light and possibly electrical draws from that system.

A common issue many vehicles develop is degradation of the "clockspring" which bridges the horn and airbag wiring to the rest of the system. Symptoms include intermittent horn engagement as well as airbag issue. A clockspring problem may also render the horn inoperative. Sometimes these problems are duplicated by simply turning the steering wheel lock to lock while running. The clockspring is not a cheap or easy fix but can be worked around if you need to enable your horn for inspection,etc.

Your brake booster is a mechanical component by design and should not ever effect wiring but the pushrod that engages it could be rubbing some wires under the dash.

Finally, electrical draws are measured in amps or milliamps. The voltage drop you mentioned is typical for a 12v battery that is being actively charged by an alternator then checked again after being shutoff. The voltage will drop to around 12.8V pretty quickly when shutoff and even more as the parasitic draw takes effect.

Texmex,

So I removed the fuses from the airbag system as you suggested. The audible clicking has stopped. I am not seeing a amp draw across the bat cables when disconnected. I'm not sure if this did the trick. The truck is old, but well maintained. On one last note about the ignition switch, I did have to pull the door chime wire. It would chime while the door was closed. I did that about 4 years ago and this is the first issue I have had since electrically. Thanks.

 

[peeps]

2010 Dodge Nitro - pos edition

Soooo the heater core we replaced a little more than a month ago blew up. Started a huge leak inside under the dash and dripping outside...took it to another mechanic, and yaay more problems. Apparently they saw more issues with the original job as they found bolts missing from the dash and a broken transmission shifter cable housing. It seems during the first job, it was broken and then taped up with electrical tape (see pic). Ready to fail at any time...aaand, to top that off, something in the brake pedal was damaged as well. They didn't even show me that they just replaced it free of charge.

Pissed and cheated!

 

[TexMex247]

Damn peeps, sorry to hear about your misfortune. If it weren't about to get cold around here again, I would recommend bypassing the heater core. Which basically entails forming a continuous loop with the hoses instead of hooking them up. It will clear up your leak right away but render your heater inoperative. As far as the cable, plastic stuff sometime breaks even when you are using the right tool or technique but the classy move would have been to tell you regardless and address it then.

I would be a bit concerned about the ruptured heater core. It takes a great deal of pressure to make them pop and your radiator cap should be venting well before that much pressure develops. I would make sure someone verifies proper fan operation and performs a chemical block test to make sure you don't already have a blown headgasket. I would hate to see you put good money after bad. Every once and a while a shop will recommend fixing the obvious leak first to put money in their pocket but I would bypass that core and run a block test just to avoid anymore headaches or throw any more money at it.

 

[99taws6]

Here's one:

2007 GMC Yukon. Been having check engine light intermittent for a few days. Had code pulled and it's my upstream O2 sensor on the driver side. I was just about to order a new one from the Internet as its like half the price of local when the light goes away and hasn't come back on in over a week.

Am I good or do you think it'll just come back in a few? I'm thinking it might have been fouled from some bad gas and some good aggressive driving might have cleaned it off? Thoughts?


Thanks in advance


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[TexMex247]

99taws6,

I would like to know which specific code it was generating. Codes for the oxygen sensor heater circuit are pretty harmless. Others, like "oxygen sensor inactivity" or "oxygen sensor shorted" can really hurt your gas mileage and possibly damage your converter. It is true though that if the cars computer turns the light off on it's own, the problem is not current. Which means it has not seen the problem repeat in several drive cycles.

If you can get the code scanned, follow up and we can determine how urgent your problem might be. There should be a P0XXX type code stored even if the light is off in the computer history.

 

[Charlie]

TexMex247

Thanks for all your wonderful help! I haven't resolved my under-dash heater issue (yet!) but you have helped me and others a great deal! Are you going to Hicksville in April? I'd like to shake your hand!

 

[99taws6]

99taws6,

I would like to know which specific code it was generating. Codes for the oxygen sensor heater circuit are pretty harmless. Others, like "oxygen sensor inactivity" or "oxygen sensor shorted" can really hurt your gas mileage and possibly damage your converter. It is true though that if the cars computer turns the light off on it's own, the problem is not current. Which means it has not seen the problem repeat in several drive cycles.

If you can get the code scanned, follow up and we can determine how urgent your problem might be. There should be a P0XXX type code stored even if the light is off in the computer history.

P0135 and P0053 were the codes


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[TexMex247]

Thanks Charlie,

I do hope to attend the hicksville meet this year.

99taws6,

Those codes are good news for you. Essentially your cars computer is sensing excessive resistance through an oxygen sensor "warm up" circuit. By the time your engine has run for 5 or 10 minutes, the heater function is no longer a factor. The idea behind pre-heating the sensors is to get the car to run off of live data sooner known as closed loop, instead of a base fuel map that tends to run rich. Both of those codes correspond to the same sensor which is a good indicator that the heater circuit is burnt out. Picture a light bulb with a burned out filament. That is basically what the oxygen sensor heater has become.

The good thing is, it is still reading and performing as it should when it warms up. So, unless you need to pass state inspection in an emissions county, you can continue to drive it with minimal repercussion. The only real downer is that a light can illuminate once even if there are 10 different problems. If you don't address the known problem, another unrelated one can pop up and you would be none the wiser.

If your Yukon has the 5.3L motor, then it is correct that the sensor is located upstream of the converter or closer to the engine, usually close to the manifold on the drivers side.

 

[cajunautoxer]

Anyone know how can a car key get stuck in ignition? I can turn car off and on but can't remove it

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk

 

[TexMex247]

You are probably looking at a broken ignition tumbler. I'm guessing this is about an older vehicle, that's not a common problem on late model cars. The good thing is, most older generation cars require the key to be inserted to remove an old tumbler.

 

[deemus]

Went to get my Tahoe inspected, and they said it won't pass due to the emergency brake not holding up to 1K RPMs.

Is there any easy adjustments?

 

[rsayloriii]

Went to get my Tahoe inspected, and they said it won't pass due to the emergency brake not holding up to 1K RPMs.

Is there any easy adjustments?

Drums or discs?

Drums, there should be a plug on the backing plate. Pull that and you should be able to get a screwdriver in to turn a star wheel that adjusts how close the shoes sit to the drum.

Discs, probably a broken or frozen cable.

 

[Charlie]

Anyone know how can a car key get stuck in ignition? I can turn car off and on but can't remove it

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk

Vice grips? Kidding, of course!