Page 8 – Sparky's Answers

2007 Lincoln Town Car A/C Does Not Blow Out Vents

This 2007 Lincoln Town Car came in with the complaint that sometimes the a/c air would not blow out of the face vent. Instead the air would flow from the defrost and floor vents. Sometimes the air would start flowing from the face vents a few seconds after turning the ignition on but would soon move to the defroster and floor locations. Almost like the system was hunting for a signal that it could not find. Testing with a scan tool found no codes stored in the EATC system, Electronic Automatic Temperature Control system.

Manual testing was needed. The dash face trim panel has to be removed first. There are two screws with 7 mm heads along the upper edge of the instrument cluster panel as shown below.

Then the panel can be grasped on the edges around the vents so that it can be pulled free of the dash. I found it easier to start at this location and then work my way back across to the driver’s side of the panel. The steering column will need to be tilted fully down and the gear selector placed in the drive one position.

There are several switches that have to be disconnected once the panel is pulled far enough out. Again I found it easier to work from the far right side and come back to the driver’s side as more room is gained. All of the harness connectors have thumb latches securing them. The latches have to be depressed before trying to pull the harness connectors from the switches.

The headlights will come on a stay once the headlight switch is disconnected. Since that battery needs to stay connected to perform testing I found it best to unscrew the headlight switch from the dash trim panel and reconnect it to the harness. There are three 5.5 mm headed screws that hold it in place.

With the headlight switch reconnected and positioned out of the way the headlights turned back off.

There are four screws that hold the EATC control panel in place. They all have 7 mm heads.

Voltage testing can be done by backprobing the wiring harness connectors at the proper locations.

The smaller connector body is connector C228B and the larger connector body is connector C228A. The actuator motor control wires are located in connector C228A. The sensor five volt reference signal, ground and position circuits are located in connectors C228A and C228B.

The five volt reference for all five of the actuators is supplied from terminal 8, Red/Green wire of the C228B connector.

The return or ground signal is supplied from terminal 20, Red/White wire of the C228A connector.

The feedback or position signals are located in the following positions.

Panel/Defrost Mode Actuator terminal 15, Yellow/White wire connector C228B.
Floor Mode Actuator terminal 14, Pink/Light Green wire connector C228B.
Driver’s Temperature Blend Door Actuator terminal 4, Yellow/Light Green Wire connector C228B.
Passenger’s Temperature Blend Door Actuator terminal 5, Red wire connector C228B.
Fresh Air/Recirculation Door Actuator terminal 3, Yellow/Light Blue wire connector C228B.

The voltage signals for the actuator position signals are nominally as follows.

Panel/Defrost Mode Actuator 3.45 volts at full face or split face settings. 1.28 volts and any other setting.
Floor Mode Actuator 1.47 volts at defrost, 1.68 volts at vent, 2.17 volts at bi-level, 2.19 volts at defrost/floor and 2.61 volts at full floor position.
Driver’s Temperature Blend Door Actuator 4.26 volts at full cold and .825 volts at full hot.
Passenger’s Temperature Blend Door Actuator .27 volts at full cold and 3.58 volts at full hot.
Fresh Air/Recirculation Door Actuator 4.3 volts at fresh air position and 1.0 volts at full recirculation.

All voltage readings should have a smooth varying voltage as the actuator is commanded through it’s full range of travel. Chassis ground should be used for the ground lead of the voltmeter.
The actuator motor control circuits are located in the following positions in the C228A connector.

Panel/Defrost Mode Actuator terminal 24, Pink/Light Blue wire and terminal 25, Tan/Yellow wire.
Floor Mode Actuator terminal 22, Pink/Yellow wire and terminal 23, Black/Light Blue wire.
Driver’s Temperature Blend Door Actuator terminal 13, Violet wire and terminal 26, Brown/Light Green wire.
Passenger’s Temperature Blend Door Actuator terminal 11, White wire and terminal 12, Brown wire.
Fresh Air/Recirculation Door Actuator terminal 9, Orange/Light Blue wire and terminal 10, Yellow/Light Green wire.

When commanded to move the motor wires for an individual actuator motor will have a nominal 10 volt reading across both the the selected terminals. The polarity will reverse as the actuator is commanded in the opposite direction. It may be of interest to know that a 9 volt transistor style battery with leads attached to it can be used to drive the motors with the control head disconnected.

On this vehicle there were very erratic readings on both of the mode actuators position sensor signal wires. The reading of the Panel/Defrost actuator would go open at times. Time to man up and pull this dash.

The next step will be to remove the steering column from the car.

2007 Lincoln Town Car Removing The Steering Column

2007 Lincoln Town Car Removing The Steering Column

I recently had to remove the dash assembly from a 2007 Lincoln Town Car in order to replace several a/c actuators. I divided the repair into several articles due to the length of material and quantity of images. This part is dedicated to removing the steering column. The battery has already been disconnected.

Removing the dash face trim panel allows more room to work around the steering column. There are two 7 mm headed screws that have to be removed along the upper edge.

Grasping the panel as shown below allows the panel to be pulled loose from the dash. Care should be taken not to break anything. Then work back across to the left of the panel. Loosening as you go.

There are several switches that will need to be disconnected before the panel can be removed. I found it easier to start on the passenger’s side and work back to the driver’s side of the panel.

There is a 7 mm headed screw that has to be removed from the parking brake handle assembly.

Once the screw is removed the handle slides towards the front of the vehicle and then drops down. The screw holds the handle in place and secures the lower left corner of the under dash trim panel.

There is a push pin that holds the lower right comer of the same panel.

The panel can then be pulled towards the seat and rocked around in order to release the three spring style retaining clips along the upper edge of the panel.

There are several screws with 8 mm heads securing the metal panel to the driver’s knee area of the dash.

The metal knee bolster removed from under the steering column area of the dash.

There are three 5.5 mm headed screws that secure the lower steering column cover to the steering column.

Care has to be taken to separate the two halves of the steering column cover. For me it seemed to work best to pull up above the turn signal handle. Then work my way around the entire seam until it was separated. The lower cover has to be slid over the tilt handle.

The shift indicator cable needs to be removed from the steering column. One 5.5 headed screw holds it in place. Once the screw is removed the brown/tan plastic bracket needs to be moved towards the radio area then it needs to be rocked up and lifted off of the mounting perch.

With the cable assembly loose the actual cable end loop needs to be lifted up and rolled off of the securing point.

The focus can now be shifted to all of the harness end connectors being removed from the various switches and other electrical components.

They all have thumb or lever latches that secure them to their component.

The push pin retainers holding the harness assembly to the lower portion of the steering column also have to be detached.

A 13 mm socket and 3/8 ratchet are needed to remove the steering column coupling bolt.

The removed bolt.

The white vacuum lines need to be disconnected at the splice point under the righ and left sides of the steering column.

The shifter cable has to be pried off the the attaching pivot point. Use only enough force to dislodge the end from the pin. Excessive force could damage the cable.

The white plastic attaching bracket has two detent pins at the top and bottom of the bracket. Once the detents have been lifted clear the white plastic can be pried out of the metal bracket.

I use a wire tie slid through the coupler and around the main bracket to prevent the steering column shaft from turning once it is free of the vehicle. This prevents the airbag clock spring assembly from being damaged.

Thee are four 13 mm hex nuts that secure the steering column to the vehicle.

A better view of how a wire tie is used to secure the steering column shaft from turning.

The steering column removed. Of course in this picture the dash is also out of the vehicle.

This metal bar/brace attaches to the left forward steering column mounting stud.

2000 Honda Civic Battery Goes Dead

This 2000 Honda Civic came in with the complaint that the battery would go dead. There was a slight language barrier between myself and the customer so I performed the usual tests to find out what was going on. I checked for a battery drain condition while the battery was being recharged with my battery charger. There was no drain present. After the battery was fully recharged I load tested the battery and it was okay. I checked the charging system and the alternator was not charging. I noticed when I turned the ignition on that the battery light did not come on during the self test so I proceeded to check for blown fuses. Sure enough fuse number 15 in the underdash fuse box was blown.

I knew that on some Honda Civics they were bad about having a wiring harness on the underside of the intake assembly short out on a bracket. I looked at this one and it looked like the design has changed a little and is no longer a problem. Here is a link to an article that I did about that problem on a 1996 model Honda Civic.

While I was under the vehicle i looked around at some other things that are on that same fuse circuit and here is what I found. The heat shield at the bank one sensor two oxygen sensor was bent and rubbing on the wiring.

I straightened out the heat shield and pulled back the protective cloth loom.

One of the black wires was rubbed through to bare metal wiring.

No power on it with the ignition on and the fuse removed/blown.

Power present with the ignition on and a good fuse installed.

Now when the ignition is turned on the battery light comes on as it should. A secondary issue that the customer did not mention was that the speedometer did not work either.

It does now that the short has been located and repaired.

1994 Lexus LS400 Battery Goes Dead

This 1994 Lexus LS400 came in with the complaint that the battery would go dead while the vehicle sat. The method in which I connect my multimeter has evolved over recent years into what you see below. I start by connecting a battery jump box to the battery positive terminal and a good chassis or engine ground. The next couple of pictures do not show the switch turned on but it has to be on during the process of disconnecting the negative battery cable from the battery and installing a multimeter in series in between the two. The multimeter also has to be setup to read amps.

Once the meter is properly connected the battery jump box must be turned off and disconnected from the system.

Now the actual battery drain can be seen displayed on the multimeter.

I had already removed the underhood fuse box cover in anticipation of beginning my testing for a drain at those fuses.

A common simple test that I perform under these circumstances is to just touch the components to see if anything is warm. Heat is a byproduct of electrons flowing. There was an obvious problem felt at the lower of the two relays that I am touching.

One hundred and twelve degrees fahrenheit is pretty warm for a relay that in theory has not been on for several hours. The highest temperature that I was able to see was 116° F.

The relay in question was listed as the EFI or Electronic Fuel injection relay.

The new relay installed slightly right of center in the following picture and an acceptable drain reading of .04 amps. It actually went down to .02 amps after waiting for modules to go to sleep.

In case you are wondering the industry accepted standby drain amount is .05 amps.

Fitting a small wire to a large terminal.

Sometimes in the world of automotive electrical repair you just don’t have the right sized terminal for a particular application. Here is one of my work arounds when I run into a heavy ring terminal that had a small wire attached to it.

The terminal on the left fits the wire and the terminal on the right has enough material in the ring portion to be properly tightened without collapsing.

The solution is to strip twice the amount of the insulation from the wire that would normally be needed.

Fold the exposed bare wire over in order to double the mass of the wire to be crimped.

You can see the wire fills the crimping barrel of the terminal.

A good solid crimp on the terminal.

I like to seal the exposed end of the crimp area with solder.

The remainder of the terminal and wire assembly gets sealed with heat shrink tubing.

2007 GMC Yukon Multiple Misfires-Codes-P0300-P0352-P0354-P0356-P0358

This 2007 GMC Yukon came in with multiple complaints among which were the engine seemed to have no power, the Service Engine Soon, ABS and Traction lights were on and there was a stability message displayed in the Driver’s Information Center (DIC). The customer also stated that the vehicle ran fine sometimes but as soon as the warning lights and messages came on it would just barely run. The condition had been getting worse and now they were afraid to drive the vehicle. They had recently purchased this vehicle as is and had no history to go with the vehicle. They had only been able to drive this Yukon about 300 miles since they purchased it.

Although they had stated that no one had been able to retrieve any fault codes, I had no problem retrieving these. This vehicle’s codes were P0300, P0352, P0354, P0356 and P0358 it could have just as easily have been codes P0300, P0351, P0353, P0355 and P0357. You will see why later in this article.

Since the P0352, P0354, P0356 & P0358 codes have to deal with the coil control circuits for all of the bank two ignition coils, I started by checking the basic power and ground supplies to the bank two ignition coils. There was no problem with the voltage signal on the red wires at the harness terminal position “A”. Checking the ground circuit on the black wire at the harness terminal position “D” yielded a varying voltage reading of between .120 and 6 volts depending on how well or how poorly the engine was running. When the ground signal was relatively okay at .120 volts the engine would run okay. As the voltage on this wire rose the engine would start running worse. As a quick confirmation test, I piggybacked a good ground into this circuit to prove that repairing the faulty ground would indeed fix the customer’s complaint.

After looking at a wiring diagram I noted that the ground wires for the bank one and bank two ignition coils terminated at the ground position G200 located at the lower left front side of the engine block. I opened the harness loom just behind the alternator assembly and looked for the two black wires. It turns out that there are quite a few black wires located in this harness. Most were very small (18-22 gauge), two were 16 gauge and there was one 10-12 gauge wire. I surmised that the two 16 gauge wires were likely the ground wires for the bank one and bank two ignition coils. Testing found a good ground signal on one and the same faulty signal on the other.

The problem has to be closer to the ground point G200. The ground point G200 is located at the lower front side of the engine block on the driver’s side of the engine. It is located behind the gray plastic harness retainer that attaches to the stud.

The exterior surfaces of the stud were heavily rusted.

The mating/contact surface was clean.

Moving the wires around found a broken wire at the ring terminal that has two wires attached to it.

I had to disconnect more of the wiring harness going back to the rear of the engine so that I could bring the harness out far enough to make proper repairs.

In the end I would wind up having to cut back quite a bit of wiring to find good clean wire. I replaced the wiring for both of the terminals that attach to the G200 location.

The heat shrink tubing I use has a meltable liner but I chose to use some extra sealant where the two wires go into the splicing terminal. Note how I place the sealer approximately where the heat shrink tubing will end. I use a sensor safe rtv sealer/gasket maker that I have tested and have not found a problem with it reacting to copper wire.

The heat shrink tubing slid up and over both the crimped splicing terminal and the sealant.

Shrinking the tubing in place forces some of the sealant out which is what I wanted.

Now it is just a matter of laying the harness back in place and tightening everything back down.

2012 Ford Fusion Low Beam Headlight Does Not Work

This 2012 Ford Fusion came in with the complaint that the driver’s side low beam headlight id not work. The customer stated that she had the bulb changed a few days earlier but it has failed again. The area is a little confined but the headlamp assembly does not need to be removed in order to perform this repair. Looking behind the driver’s side headlight and past the air filter housing the black rubber cap can be seen. It is very important that this round cover not be lost or forgotten about. It seals out dirt and water.

Placing my arm behind the headlamp and in front of the air filter housing was the most effective way for me to get to the bulb.

The round rubber cap that seals the rear of the headlamp assembly.

Disconnecting the harness from the bulb while it was still installed was too difficult given the size of my hands and forearms.

So I removed and installed the bulb with the harness connected to it. You just have to be very careful to not touch anything to the glass portion of the bulb. Including fingers.

Disconnecting the harness from the bulb revealed the real problem. The terminal in the harness has overheated and was no longer making sufficient contact with the matching terminal in the bulb.

Cut the old one out and spliced in a new harness. Another brand new bulb was also installed after replacing the harness connector. The old bulb already had signs of arc damage on the terminals and that would have adversely affected the new harness. ALWAYS install a new electrical component when a harness is replaced for heat damage. If not you will be doing it again.

And the headlight is back working.

A Yellow Day in The South!

This really has nothing to do with vehicle repairs and more about the environment in which I work and live. This is less than one day’s pine pollen accumulation. I had vacuumed the shop out the afternoon before. Depending on the rain, we get this much pollen every day for about two weeks in the spring.

The forests with a lot of pine trees look like they are full of yellow smoke when the wind blows.

I also know it is nothing compared to real weather events but I thought some of you might find it interesting.

2007 Dodge Durango Turn Signals Erratic

This 2007 Dodge Durango came in with the complaint that sometimes when the left turn signal is applied the right turn signal is the one that lights up. The issue is happening more frequently now. The problem will usually be inside the turn signal combination switch and testing has to be done at the wiring for the multifunction switch. To access the switch the steering column covers need to be removed starting with the tilt lever handle. It had to be grasped firmly and pulled towards the back of the steering wheel.

Next a T15 torx driver will be needed to remove the lower attaching screws. One as shown below and two on the opposite side of the lower cover.

The upper cover will lift up and off of the steering column.

There, the harness connector for the multifunction switch can be found as shown below. Voltage testing will be done on the white/dark blue wire. There should be a change in voltage as the left and right turn signals are selected. There should also be a change when the hazard lights are turned on. The violet/brown wire is the ground return signal. The voltage and ground return signals are outputs of the instrument cluster. I could not find the voltage specifications and did not have time for more testing as the customer needed her car back. This is a very common problem and if the basic signals are present from the IPC then the switch is faulty.

The red lock has to be slid towards the instrument cluster. Then the tab can be depressed so that the harness connector can be pulled loose of the multifunction switch.

There are two phillip’s headed screws that hold the switch to the mounting bracket. Once the screws are removed the mounting bracket need to be lifted slightly away from the switch.

It has to be lifted so that the locking detent tab can be cleared. The actions are better shown in the next picture.

Once the detent is cleared the multifunction switch can be slid out of the mounting bracket.

The replacement switch came with a bracket that I found no need for and therefore could not justify the time or expense involved in removing the steering wheel in order to replace that bracket.

2009 Dodge Journey Blower Motor Does Not Work

This 2009 Dodge Journey came in with the complaint that the blower motor does not work. The customer stated that the blower motor and blower resistor had been replaced and the other shop told them it must be an electrical problem. Imagine that!

The blower is located under the passenger side of the dash and of course the hush panel needs to be removed in order to access it. There are two push pin retainers that hold the leading edge of the panel to the dash.

The business side of the push pin retainer.

I checked for power on the dark blue wire with the ignition on. No power. I looked at the wiring diagrams and found that the power for the blower motor comes directly from the underhood fuse block. No specific fuses were listed for it so jst to be safe I checked all of them. No problem was found. Since this vehicle has 260,000 miles on it and the customer was in a hurry, he asked if I could just run switched power to the motor.

I looked under the driver’s side of the dash to see if there were any practical ways to run power through the fire wall area when I saw something a little out of place. There was a large dark blue wire at a multi pin connector that had some discoloration on the insulation.

Turning the connector around I could definitely see a problem.

Looking at the near side of the connector body I could only see a large black wire. It seemed to correspond to the same location as the blue wire at the back of the connector body.

I opened the harness up by removing some of the tape. It is kind of strange how the wire turned color. To the left of my thumb the wire is dark blue in color. Directly above my thumb the wire is light blue and to the right it is black.

Although not entirely necessary, I found it a little easier to work by removing the knee panel….

…. and the steel panel behind it. All held in place by screws with 10 mm heads. There were also a few spring clips around the edges of the plastic panel.

Being able to see through that opening allowed me to complete the repair without having to get twisted up under the dash.

Cut the old wire out and spliced in a new piece of 12 gauge wire.

I sealed and protected the splices with heat shrink tubing. Note that I ran the wire around the harness connector. Trying to disconnect that harness connector could result in more damage to the plastic body. I wanted to avoid more problems.

I was going to just trim the old wire off close to the plastic connector body and found that the wire and terminal would pull out fairly easy. I repeated removing the wire from the other half.

Although there was plastic clip that was holding the connector to a metal bracket, it was not very secure and it was leaning down very close to the carpet edge. I could see wear at the upper edge of the carpet where the driver’s foot tends to rest. I secured it with a wire tie strap and advised the customer to try and keep his left foot from resting in that location.

Power was now present on the blue wire at the blower motor harness connector with the ignition on.

Both halves of the burnt wire that was removed and bypassed.