This 1998 Pontiac Grand Am Gt with a 3.1 Liter V6 came in with a surging idle and service engine soon light on. I checked codes and found a code P0171 stored for Fuel Trim System Lean. Sounds like a vacuum leak to me. I tested with propane and found that by adding fuel near … Continue reading “1998 Pontiac Grand AM GT, P0171”
This 2005 Chevrolet Impala came in due to a battery drain condition. I checked and sure enough the was a 2.25 amp drain on the system at all times. In researching I found something interesting about the Tech 2 and monitoring sleep and wake modes. I hooked the Tech 2 up and went into the … Continue reading “2005 Chevrolet Impala Battery Goes Dead”
The customer came in with this 2001 Saturn SL and a couple of bulbs she wanted replaced in the instrument cluster. One for the DRL indicator (daytime running lights) and the other for the odometer. The first step was to remove the covers from the steering column. There were five screws with 5.5 mm hex … Continue reading “2001 Saturn SL Blown Bulbs In Instrument Cluster”
This 2003 Toyota Highlander came in with the complaint that the a/c only puts out hot air. I confirmed the complaint and removed the glove box to access the air mix actuator assembly. I had to push the hinge pins out to remove the glove box. I then had to remove the screw and bracket … Continue reading “2003 Toyota Highlander, A/C Stuck On Heat, Part 1”
This 2000 Ford Expedition was towed in due to a no run condition. I checked for codes and found that I had no communication to the Powertrain Control Module or the Instrument Panel Cluster. I also noted that the odometer was displaying dashes. I decided to start checking power at the PCM relay. It is … Continue reading “2000 Ford Expedition No Run Condition”
This 2002 Honda Accord came in with the complaint that the blower worked but nothing else on the a/c control assembly worked or would even light up. I started by checking the #3 fuse in the driver’s side interior fuse box (7.5 amp) and the #13 fuse in the passenger side interior fuse box (7.5 … Continue reading “2002 Honda Accord A/C Controls Inop”
2002 Chevrolet Astro Van was referred to me by two different shops because the battery would go dead quickly and at one of the shops the battery got very hot and the sub harness from the brake proportioning valve switch caught on fire. The battery had been replaced, the master cylinder was replaced and unfortunately … Continue reading “2002 Chevrolet Astro Van, Battery Went Dead”
The customer complaint on this 2001 Ford Explorer was that the lower stoplights did not work. The CHMSL (center high mounted stop light) did work so that indicated that the stoplight fuse and the stoplight switch were both okay. I tilted the steering wheel up and down while depressing the brake pedal and the lower … Continue reading “2001 Ford Explorer No Stoplights”
This 1996 Jeep Cherokee Classic came in with a complain of no blower operation. I asked if the the power windows were inop as part of my diagnostic routine but the customer informed me that this Jeep had manual windows. I then looked at the bottom of the steering column cover and saw a melted … Continue reading “1996 Jeep Cherokee Blower Inop”
This 1996 Honda Civic came in with a complaint of the battery going dead. I checked and sure enough it was not charging and based on experience I checked to see if the speedometer was working. It was not. Knowing that this is a common fault with Civics, I checked to see if fuse #15 … Continue reading “1996 Honda Civic #15 Fuse Blown”