Author Archive: austin1

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By October 26, 2006 1 Comments Read More →

1998 Chevy 2500 4X4 Pick Up Brakes and Steering Lock Up

I have a 98 Chevy 2500 pick-up, 4×4, 7.4l With the abs fuse out and the plow on or a trailer in tow, the steering has been locking up when I come to a stop and the brakes give a little like they dont want to stop. With the abs fuse in and the plow on or off the steering doesnt lock up but when coming to a stop the brakes loosen up at the last part of the stop, but still stop. I have recently replaced both front and back brakes, bled and rebled, replace hydro-boost unit, and replaced two bad brake lines one regular and one from the abs unit. I am comtemplating changing the powersteering pump because sometimes the steering is hard when it hasn’t warmed up enough, and the pulley has been whining even though the belt is good and tight. The abs fuse hasn’t been in for about a year cause the previous owner said he took it out cause it was better to plow with it out….but I recently put it back in cause of the steering locking up when braking….sidenote…even though I changed all the brakes, and lines, and bled, and bled, and replaced the bleeder screws it still didn’t seem like the brakes were strong enough. PLEASE any information or opinions you may have will be greatly appreciated…Thanx..JR

Posted in: Brakes
By October 23, 2006 1 Comments Read More →

Honda Civic Blows Taillight Fuse After CD player Installation

ok this may be a dumb question.. but i just installed a new pioneer cd player by myself in a 1991 Honda Civic LX, which i have about 2 years of experience doing, but my tail light fuse keeps blowing the second I put a new fuse in.. any ideas?

Posted in: Online Auto Repair Manuals
By October 23, 2006 0 Comments Read More →

Can I install a Carburetor on a 1983 Mercury Grand Marquis?

My question is: I own a 1983 Mercury Grand Marquis. It came all flubbed up, as the previous owner tried to eliminate the Emissions system thinking it would make it more powerful, etc. He eliminated the cats, and bypassed some of the vaccum system. The computer system didn’t like that, and read that the car needed to be run extra rich which made the car basically dump gas in the system. The owner got fed up with having to spend so much money on gas and every 4 months or so removing the spark plugs to clean them due to being fouled by fuel.

Posted in: Reader Questions
By October 23, 2006 0 Comments Read More →

1997 Renault Megane Won’t Start Sometimes After it Sits Awhile

I have a Renault Megane (1997), I realise you will not be familiar with this particular make in the US but I am hoping you might recognise the problem. I have problems starting the car every now and then, more frequently when the weather is cold and wet or sometimes after a long journey or when I have not driven it for longer than a few days. Sometimes even when it does start it can take as long as 10 seconds to kick in, and then if it doent start i have flooded the engine and have to wait half an hour before i can try again it will generally start the second time round. When it wont start it sounds as though the engine is trying to kick in but there is no spark (although i have had the spark plugs tested). My car has been into a garage but they were not able to find anything wrong with it, unfortunately this was made harder for them because while the car was in the garage it started fist time every time – typical!

Posted in: Won't Start Issues
By October 23, 2006 0 Comments Read More →

Brake Vibration On 1994 Chevy Silverado 4X4 Pick Up Truck

First I want to start off that I am ase certified tech that has been in the biz for about 20 years, but I am semi-retired now.(I just work out of my home garage now). My problem is with my own truck that i have owned since its been almost new. Its a 1994 Chevy Silverado 4×4. It has about 160,000 very reliable miles on it. The problem started about 2 years ago and I have sort of been putting off the problem with it since its not my daily driver anymore I only use it to tow my trailer with atv’s now. It had a horrible vibration when braking that I would normally associate with bad brake rotors. If I got over 50mph or so and hit the brakes it would shake and vibrate just like any other vehicle would with warped rotors.

Posted in: Brakes
By October 20, 2006 0 Comments Read More →

Dodge Neon Automatic Transmission Slipping While Driving

I recently had a leaking rear main seal, that I got repaired for about $1000. About three days after the mechanic fixed this, I was driving on the highway and my engine started over revving, and not moving everywhere. I don’t know anything about cars really, but that seems to me like they screwed up pretty bad putting the transmission and the engine back together. The mechanic gave me a 20,000 mile warranty for the rear main seal. So my question is should I be paying at all for this new repair? Keep in mind I have never before had a transmission problem, and I don’t see how it could be anything other than a mistake on their part.

Posted in: Transmission Issues
By October 19, 2006 0 Comments Read More →

1992 Lincoln Town Car Automatic Transmission Shutters When it Shifts

Hello – I have a 1992 Lincoln Town Car Executive with well over 200,000 miles on it. Transmission was rebuilt about 6 years ago. About 11 months ago started having troubles. Took it back to the shop that rebuilt the transmission to be checked. They couldn’t find anything wrong by doing a test drive. Basically said it was just shifting. Took it to my Lincoln dealer repair guy – he said it was the torque converter. We replaced the fluid with Mercron as recommended. Seemed to fix the problem, but it is still doing it. I don’t think he replaced the transmission filter. I put some stuff in the transmission called Transmedic from PepBoys – that fixed it immediately but now it has returned. I never replaced the transmission fluid after the rebuild – they didn’t tell me to. What do you think the problem might be? Would replacing the filter help? Sometimes it feels as if the car is shuddering” as I excelerate.

Posted in: Transmission Issues
By October 19, 2006 0 Comments Read More →

2000 Buick Regal A/C Blower Does Not Blow Sometimes

I have a 2000 Buick Regal with 113,000 miles on it. Sometimes when I start the engine (with the heater/ac switch set to the on position) the heat/ac will not blow. If I turn off the engine and restart it (5 or 6 times) the heat / air might blow. Sometimes when the heat/ac does not blow, I have hit a hard bump while driving and the heat/ac will suddenly come on. I believe I have some type of electrical problem that is tied in to the ignition switch. Are these the symptoms that the blower motor resister needs replacing? Have you heard about other GM cars having this problem?

Posted in: A/C and Heating
By October 19, 2006 0 Comments Read More →

1989 Toyota Corolla Won’t Start Sometimes But Just Clicks

I have problem here away from usa. I have Toyota Corolla 1989 well maintained, I try to turn the key to start the engine i hear a click keep on doing no start. i turn the key off and change the gear then put in parking or neutral and engine starts. is there any electrical connection with gear. Please advise.

Posted in: Won't Start Issues
By October 19, 2006 2 Comments Read More →

2001 VW Passat Driver Side Headlight Has High Beam Only

I have a 2001 VW Passat that left headlight is not working on low beam. The left high beam does work. I have changed bulbs, and fuses but the left low beam still does not work. The right side headlight does work on low/high beam.I have also tried switching the left headlight bulb with the working right headlight bulb. When the right side bulb is placed on the left side it will not work on low beam. The old left headlight bulb (non-working low beam when in left) does work high/low beam on the right side.

Posted in: Reader Questions
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