July 3rd, 2009
Question: I recently changed the battery on my 2003 dodge dakota with the 3.9L engine. Upon starting the vehicle, the speedo and tach needles both jumped all the way up. the tach needle came back down and is working fine, but the speedo needle stayed stuck at the 120mph mark. Do i have to reset something? or did I do something wrong?
Answer: With the ignition turned off, simply press and hold the trip button at the bottom of the speedometer for 10 seconds. You will see some
numbers flash on the odometer as the system resets. The needle should
go back to normal after that. I have heard of some mechanics charging a lot of money to press a little button, since most people are clueless about this reset trick.
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Posted in Electrical | No Comments »
July 3rd, 2009
Question: My 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 5.9 gas engine stumbles and backfires when cold. After short warm up seems ok. Any suggestions? 180,000 KM.
Answer: Two possibilities come to mind…
1. Faulty coolant temperature sensor could be causing the ECU to
think the engine is warmer than it is, thus not enriching the air/fuel
mixture. This usually trips a check engine light though.
2. Dirty throttle body could cause issues like this as well. You can
clean with throttle body cleaner, making sure to get the IAC (Idle Air
Contoller)
Since its easier to tackle, go to your local auto parts store and get
a can of throttle body cleaner. Take off the air intake hose, and
spray everything inside. You may also want to check out
http://dodgeforum.com/forum/dodge-ram-van/68174-diy-how-to-clean-the-iac.html
for free instructions.
If cleaning the throttle body does not help, I would then check out
the temperature sensor by hooking the ECU up to a scan tool and see
what the temperature reading is at start up, to see if its accurate.
Most auto parts stores will allow you to borrow a scan tool, but if
you cant find one, you may have to go to a mechanic to have this step
done.
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June 17th, 2009
Fox News has broken the story… read more.
If you have not received a call from these guys, consider yourself lucky. I have personally gotten 3 calls within the last few months on my cell phone to extend a warranty for a vehicle I no longer owned. Most of the time, it was a recording or simply a hang-up which I traced online to the warranty company.
Remember, Always be wary when someone calls you. If you want to get a quote, check out reputation online with the BBB and go with recommendations from friends and family. The most trustworthy option would be to buy a warranty from the dealer who sold the car when new, but you can shop online and get better pricing from our trusted partner… Warranty Direct They have an excellent BBB rating and are one of the “good guys” in the aftermarket warranty market.
Take Care,
Kevin Schappell
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May 11th, 2009
Introduction
Turtle Wax held their first automotive bloggers summit on April 21-22, 2009 at their headquarters in Willowbrook, IL, a suburb of Chicago. Nine bloggers attended and were treated to a tour of their Shine Center product development laboratory and 1-bay product testing area. Turtle Wax’s purpose for the summit was two-fold I believe:
1. Show the automotive bloggers what Turtle Wax is up to and hopefully get some free press with a review or two of their products for people to read, and
2. Gather feed-back from readers and writers on their products and their marketing approaches with their new ICE product line.
I think they accomplished both objectives with the product samples, tour and product demonstrations and Q&A session on the 22nd. They used an outside PR firm, Zeno Group, to set-up and conduct the summit as well as follow-up with attendees after the summit. It was a very well run event with no snags as far as I could see. When my flight was delayed out of Philly, they called to assure me that the limo driver would wait for me and then get me to the restaurant as soon as I arrived at the hotel.
Company Background
This is a preview of
Turtle Wax’s First Automotive Bloggers Summit
.
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April 20th, 2009
Autoeducation.com is off to visit the Turtle Wax facility in Chicago, IL. We have been invited for a tour of their labs and test center to see their latest and greatest products. We will report when we get back and I am sure we will have some great information to keep your car or truck looking like new.
Kevin
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