NSR: Echando Mecánica. The official car repair/maintenance/modification thread

I just finished fixing my car, so I thought, lets start a thread about our cars, what we are doing to them, and also to ask questions about problems we are having.

Anyways, the distributor went out on my Trans Am. it was a pain to fix, its underneath the water pump, but since everything is so tight I had to take off the throttle body, the electric fans, the AIR pump, and the crankshaft balancer.

But I figured since I was in there I might do some detailing.

Before:


After:

Yea that tune up sucks. Right now I am having a hell of a time with a 98 ML320 and an abs light. I think I am very close, one problem I had though was my scan tool which has german software would not scan this bitch. totally worth 3500 buck, thanks snap-on

you are getting the CES light? for an ABS problem?? weird.

Have you checked your wheel speed sensors? after a while those have a tendency to go out since they are by the wheel and usually get crud on them. i would try that.

Also most autoparts stores now can scan a car. OBD2 is OBD2 no matter what country is the producer

My AC is starting to fail...

Its a ABS and ETS lights, code c1401. I was able to scan with my friends launch scan tool, I hate snap-on scan tools. The problem is now most of these cars, especially the euros, are not OBD 2 they are CAN and therefor your generic scan tool will not work. The code is for the ABS pump. I changed it but now when i reset the codes they come back right away. I think I may know what it is now though, brake switch under dash, hopefully.

edit: parts stores in Cal can not scan your car its illegal here i belive. Liability reasons maybe?

Most of the time it is one of your A/C hoses leaking. You can go and pick up a small can of freon and try to fill the system. In sometimess it is cheaper to just fill the system every summer, than to actually do the repair.

freakin cali...

that is interesting. does your abs pump have sensors? could they possible have gone bad? I know my ABS pump has 2or3 electrical components

never heard of CAN system.

+1

also lots of car repair places do an A/C "tuneup" and will fill your car with R134a that has dye and you go back after a week, and they will see where your leak is at. from there is just a matter of replacing the leaking component

To all the mechanics... pop duke's car left him stranded. He took it somewhere, they told him it was his alternator. He told them to fix it, they charged him about $300.00 (for alternator change and a couple of other misc. repairs). He went and picked up the car, and it left him stranded again on the same day. He took it back, they tried to tell him it was the starter. He knows a little about cars, enough to know it wasn't the starter. He's sure it has something to do with the battery because the automatic windows won't go up or down. The starter works just fine. The battery is new though, he just bought it like 3 months ago. Any ideas?

I was thinking it might be the distributor. I forget what it's called in Spanish... I think "bobilla" or "bombilla" or something like that.

fuel pump is bombilla

its possible

what kind of car is it?

if its driving fine then dying it could be his alternator, the car doesnt really need the battery once it is running, the battery and starter are just there to start the engine

he can get a fuel pressure gauge and plug it into the test port on the fuel injection, it should look like the air valve on the tire

and just look to see if the fuel pressure is high enough, and if its not then it could be the fuel pump system, could be the relay also.

if the pressure is good, then I would check the ignition coil to see if they are sparking

also is the check engine light coming on?

The distributor cap. That would explain the stalling but it would not affect the automatic windows. If it was the battery or the starter it would not start at all.
In those old cars, there an electrical component that was very fail prone. I think it is called starting module or ignition module. Maybe that failed.

You know, it isn't shutting off on him all of the sudden. Once he turns it on, it'll get him until where he needs to go. The problem is turning the car on. He's been able to get it on by charging the battery.

He's having a problem with his Ford Freestar Minivan. I think it's an 04 or 05.

I'll find out if the check engine light is coming on still. I know that the other day, all of the little alert lights were coming on for no reason, check engine, oil, seat belts, etc...

I'm going to suggest to him that he check the fuel pressure. I know a lot of Fords have problems with that.

Shit, I was thinking a lot older than 05 when you said Duke's car. Ignore my previous post.

Turned out I got a bum new abs pump. got a new one and all lights are gone man that was a pain.

Thanks, fellas... will do this.

So when pops go to la carniceria its fine. when he get out and tries to start the start the car it doesn't crank, until he lets it sit for a while or puts a charge to it, sound about right? If that is the case it is probably the starter solenoid, with is a part of the starter.

edit: all of the lights come on when you start a car, they usually will stay on till the car turns on or it has been a few min. If those lights are on when the car is running than there is a code in the ECU, that you can pull out to give you an idea whats going on.

well if its not wanting to start, that is a different story

is it sluggish to crank, like is the engine turning slow?

could be the starter motor, or a bad battery or low charge battery (caused by bad alternator), or a bad cable or loose cable.

its its just cranking and cranking, i would rule out the starting system and move on to the fuel injection or ignition, could be a bad coil

those tend to act up when they are hot, like after sitting a while with the car turned off.

some autoparts stores will test the alternator, starter, and battery for free

nice

sounds good

could be loose battery cable like El Mariachi said...or something can be draining the battery.

check for parasitic draw on the battery. if its high, start removing fuses and relays one by one to narrow it down.

Subs....used to do almost all the work on my cars but nowadays I do almost none of it...great thread though.

working on cars is my stress relief at the end of the week, if not I would go loco

I definitely would get satisfaction out of working on my own stuff....my body just started rebelling a bit..

Nice. Thanks for the advice. I'm going to relay this to pops today.

NP guy.