Auto Repair Advice

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Question:

Hello Kevin,

I have a problem with starting my car, which is an asuna sunfire 93. And today I was supposed to check out what was wrong with it, but it was snowing outside. But I asked my dad what was wrong with it, and he said something about the ignition coil. What is that, and how can I repair it?

Sincerely,

Rameses

Answer:

Rameses,

The ignition coil creates high voltage for the spark plugs to fire the fuel and air mixture. Depending on your car, you may have one coil or multiple coils. When you have starting problems, you need to check the three major components your engine needs to run… air, fuel and spark.

Air: Check air filter and throttle body for any obstructions. Also check for loose electrical connections on the throttle position sensor.

Fuel: Make sure fuel filter is not clogged. On a fuel injected car, it’s harder to check for fuel flow since the fuel is at high pressure. I would check spark and if that’s good, then suspect low fuel flow as your problem.

Spark: You can pull a spark plug, reattach the spark plug wire and rest the tip of the spark plug on a metal part of the engine. Have someone crank over the engine and you watch the spark plug to see if you are getting a spark. Don’t touch the spark plug while you are turning over the engine, as you will get a shock if it’s working. They do make a tester for this, so you don’t have to take out the spark plug. You could also using a timing light if you have one to test for current to the plugs, but it will not tell you how strong the spark is. While you are there, take a look at the spark plugs themselves. Are they black and sooty or white. Black and sooty means rich mixture (too much fuel) white mean lean (not enough fuel)

As with working on any car, a good repair manual is invaluable to helping track down issues. The Alldata online manuals have troubleshooting procedures in the book, and is what the professional mechanics use to fix cars in their shops.

Good Luck,

Kevin

P.S. You may have to use Isuzu Impulse as your make and model for your repair manuals, since I am not sure Alldata lists the Asuna

My Fiance got this forward the other day and asked me if it was real. Thought a few of you out there could have gotten this in your inbox and wondered the same thing…

Begin Email…

Subject: Fw: Good to know

Most of us drive a lot - so if you didn’t know this it would be important.Ina

Subject: Good to know

EVER KNEW THIS BEFORE…

I wonder how many people know about this? A 36 year old female had an
accident several weeks ago and Totaled her car. A resident of Kilgore ,
Texas she was traveling between Gladewater & Kilgore. It was raining,
though not excessively, when her car suddenly began to hydro-plane and
literally flew through the air. She was not seriously injured but very
stunned at the sudden occurrence!

When she explained to the highway patrolman what had happened he told
her something that every driver should know - NEVER DRIVE IN THE RAIN
WITH YOUR CRUISE CONTROL ON. She thought she was being cautious by
setting the cruise control and maintaining a safe consistent speed in
the rain.

But the highway patrolman told her that if the cruise control is on when
your car begins to hydro-plane and your tires lose contact with the
pavement, your car will accelerate to a higher rate of speed making you
take off like an airplane. She told the patrolman that was exactly what
had occurred.

The patrolman said this warning should be listed, on the driver’s seat
sun-visor - NEVER USE THE CRUISE CONTROL WHEN THE PAVEMENT IS WET OR
ICY, along with the airbag warning. We tell our teenagers to set the
cruise control and drive a safe speed - but we don’t tell them to use
the cruise control only when the pavement is dry.

The only person the accident victim found, who knew this (besides the
patrolman), was a man who had had a similar accident, totaled his car
and sustained severe injuries.

If you send this to 15 people and only one of them doesn’t know about
this, then it was all worth it. You might have saved a life.

NOTE: Some vehicles (like the Toyota Sienna Limited XLE) will not allow
you to set the cruise control when the windshield wipers are on.
End Email…

Let’s start with the mechanics of this claim. Hydroplaning is when water comes between the tire and the road, braking the friction bond. This can cause your vehicle to go out of control due to lack of traction. When you set your cruise contol, the computer reads the speed of your wheels turning and uses the revolutions per minute to calculate speed. If anyone has ever spun the tires in the snow, you will notice your speedometer increasing in speed as you push on the gas pedal. This is an important fact in this story… the cruise control reads the wheel speed, not the actual speed of the car. So when your tires loose contact with the road during a hydroplaning situation, the tires are still spinning so your cruise control thinks you are going the same speed. If anything you will slow down when hydroplaning since your tires will no longer be propelling the car forward.

The second part of the story is about the car flying into the air… this is totally 100% false. For you to have enough wind resistance to flip a car over, you would need to be traveling way over the speed limit (over 100mph). This part of the story is a very typical exaggeration found in most urban legends.

With all that said, it’s still not recommended to use your cruise control in severe ice, snow and very heavy rain because of your delayed reaction since your foot is not on the pedals of the vehicle.

Take Care,

Kevin Schappell

P.S. To check out any potential urban legend I always check out Snopes before I reply or forward to anyone.

Question:
I have a 5.7L (350 cid) V8 in a 1982 corvette.  I believe it is an L83.
What does it take to replace the rear main seal?  I have heard it minght be
possible to do so without removing the transmission.  Any advice?

Thanks,

David

Answer:

I believe the rear main seal is a two piece design, so yes, it’s possible to change without pulling the transmission.  You will have to remove the oil pan and the rear main cap.  You can then remove the old seal and replace it.  The seal is a rope style seal and you will have to use a small piece of string or wire to pull the new seal into place.

Kevin

Question:

Just purchased (July) 2000 Toyota Camry from Toyota dealer.  The 3 mo.
warranty doesn’t cover valve seals.  Car has 130,000 miles, runs well, very happy with it otherwise.  When it starts there is some smoke, doesn’t do it once car has run a minute even with start stops for errands.  Smoke is white to perhaps slightly blue.
Doesn’t appear to be using oil and no drips under car.  I won’t put enough
mileage on the car to get to 200,000 by the time I retire in 5 years and
buy a new car but I do want to take care of it.

AAA said 1,500 to replace seals.  Toyota dealer said 1,100 to replace
seals.  The used car dealership consultant said there is no big problem and
not to worry about it that I’d be spending money needlessly as long as there
is no big oil consumption going on I’m okay.  He said he’s sure no oil will
have to be added between changes.

What is your opinion?  Should I have repair done or just watch how much oil
it uses?

Thanks!
Miranda

Answer:

I would keep checking the oil level, and live with it.  You may wear out your spark plugs a little sooner, but not a real big deal.  Besides the annoying smoke at cold startup, you are not doing any real damage to your car.  You may want to look at your owners manual and change your oil to the highest viscosity recommend.  So if your car manual says the range is 5W-30 to 10W-30 I would make sure the next time you get an oil change they put in 10W-30.  The higher the number, the lower the viscosity (thicker oil)  Running a thicker oil in the engine will allow less oil to seep down past the valve seals.  I would stay away from oil treatments which advertise to reduce oil consumption, they never seem to do any good, and sometimes do bad things to your engine.

Kevin

Question:

I have a problem. - 86 Celebrity 2.5L

Car will crank but not start.  While swapping battery and connecting
positive cable first I heard a popping sound by the right firewall. I
finished hooking up the battery and tried to start the car:

1. Car would crank but won’t start
2.  Checked for spark wth timing light - no start
3. tried to pull codes (with paper clip) old fashion type - light would not
flash
4. radio fuse blew, all others ok
5. Could it be the computer? If not what could it be?
6. Is there a way out can check the computer - or just buy one from a junk
yard”

Answer:

It could be the computer, or a fusible link in the wiring harness.  A fusible link is basically an inline fuse, that is not replacable.  You would have to find the link in the harnas and replace it.  Sometimes there are fuses/relays in the engine compartment also, but that is more common on foreign cars.  To really diagnose the issue, you need a multi-meter, and a good repair manual with wiring schematics.  You need to see if the computer is getting power, and test some of the outputs to see if it’s working.

You can buy computers out of a junkyard, and this may be an easy way to diagnose your problem without spending too much time or money. (depending on the cost of the computer)  I would think you should be able to get the computer from a junkyard for less than $150.  Check out www.car-part.com to search junkyard inventories.

Kevin

Kevin,
Question:

First off, you have a great blog. Very informative and useful.

I own a 1982 Corvette with a 5.7L(350 cu) V8. Is this an interference
Engine?

My timing chain broke, and I’m wondering if there will be valve or cylinder
damage.

Thank you very much,

David

Answer:

From my knowledge the stock 350 is not an interference engine, so you should be ok. If you were at very high rpms or have an aftermarket cam shaft, then all bets are off. A higher lift cam could cause the valves to hit the pistons. Also if you have a set of high compression pistons in the car, same outcome.
The good news is that it’s fairly easy to change the timing chain on the SBC and you should be able to do it in a day and fire it up to see if there was any damage. This will save you the hassle of taking the intake and heads off to inspect for valve/piston damage.

Good Luck,

Kevin

Update…

Kevin,

Thanks for your answer to my last question. I have another question.

My car is a 1982 corvette with a 5.7L V8. My car started with a timing
problem. It would idle, but stall when I tried to drive it. I replaced
the fuel filters and retimed the distributor. Everything was fine for 2
days, but suddenly it refuesed to start. It won’t even turnover. It just
cranks.

I have replaced the ignition coil and module in the distributor. The car
is getting plenty of fuel. Also, the spark looks “weak.” It just has a
small orange spark. I have been told that a HEI should have a good strong
spark.

The only idea i have left is the timing chain, but to change that I am
supposed to remove the oil pain, steering linkage, water pump, etc.

Do you have any ideas what might be my problem?

David

———————————————-

Take the distributor cap off, and crank the engine… see if the rotor is spinning, if it’s not then the timing chain is the problem. More than likely the chain skipped a tooth, and when you readjusted the timing, it ran for a little bit until it skipped again.

If the rotor is turning, then I would recheck the timing. The engine won’t fire, but you can still spin it over with the started and get a reading. If it’s off again, I would still suspect the timing chain, it just has not fully snapped. If the timing is ok, then I would check spark again, check the power wire to the coil for loose connections. If nothing shows up with those checks, then it’s time to check vacuum leaks, fuel issues (fuel pump, float level, or sensors) I can’t remember if the 82 had a carb or had that goofy crossfire fuel injection !

Good Luck,

Kevin

———————————————-

Kevin,

I haven’t seen you post this on your blog, but I thought I’d let you know what I found out.  The timing chain did slip.

And the 1982 corvette had the crossfire fuel injection.  However, MY 1982 ‘vette has a holley 4 barrel and an edelbrock intake manifold.  I bought the car as a project car, and I”m having a lot of fun.

You’re blog is awesome and you do great work.  Keep it up!

David

It’s every guys dream to have his car, truck or SUV go faster than the next. The problem is, there are no real good roadmaps for every car, and a lot of money can be wasted chasing a few extra horsepower.

Let’s look at a few common upgrades that can gain you some horsepower and earn you some respect on the road. The first upgrade that can make the most difference and make your car sound awesome is the exhaust system. Many aftermarket manufacturers are producing bolt-on exhaust systems, which can help free up 5 – 20 HP depending on how restrictive your factory exhaust is. Most systems replace the pipes and mufflers from the catalytic converter back. These are commonly called Cat-Back Systems and can be had for a price of $250 - $750 depending on materials used. Stainless steel pipes will cost you more, but will last a lot longer than plain steel. If you plan on keeping your car more than 50,000 miles or live in a state that uses salt on the roads during the winter, I would suggest stainless steel. I personally like the sound of Flowmaster Mufflers as well as Borla… your taste may vary.

The next most common way to free up some horsepower is a performance air filter. By helping your engine breath better, the air filter will help you get more air and fuel into the cylinder and thus make more power. Be aware that most aftermarket filters will require some kind of cleaning and maintenance to work properly. K&N is my favorite brand and has been around the scene for a long time.

Related to the air cleaner, a cold air intake relocates the air filter so your engine is breathing cool outside air instead of hot under hood air. Not all cars can benefit from this modification, as it’s sometimes hard to get the air filter in a position to scoop up that cooler outside air. Check at your local parts store to see if they have a cold air intake for your specific vehicle.

Your car came from the factory built for long life and easy maintenance. The engineers at the factory have programmed your engine computer to err on the safe side at the sacrifice of more power. Aftermarket companies now produce computer chips, which will alter your engine computer and help it run at peak efficiency. For a little more than $150 you can pick up 10 – 30 HP by just changing your engine computer chip. Not bad for about an hours worth of work.

The old saying, nothing beats cubic inches is still true today, but unfortunately the new cars available today no longer come with 426 Hemi engines under the hood. Most of today’s cars do not have the room for bigger engines, so what is a car guy to do? Turbo charging or super charging is the answer for today’s cubic inch challenged engines.

Normally aspirated engines use outside air to fill the combustion chamber. To maintain the proper air/fuel ratio to support combustion, the engine can only burn so much fuel dictated by the size of the cylinders. This is why a larger displacement engine can produce more power, since the cylinders are larger, they can burn more fuel. In a turbo or super charged engine, the air coming into the cylinder is compressed and thus contains more oxygen, therefore requiring more fuel to completely burn. This gives you an increase in power, without adding more size to the cylinders. If you can cram twice the air and fuel into the same cylinder, you have just doubled the displacement and power of your engine.

This is a very simple overview of how a turbo charger or supercharger works, and there are some downsides to both systems, but you can now see why this method of making horsepower is used commonly on today’s street machines. If you are interested in adding a turbo or super charger to your vehicle, check around and see what kits are readily available for your vehicle. Start at your local parts store, or on the Internet to do your research. It won’t come cheap, but you can add 50 – 150 HP in about a weekend’s time and have the fastest car on the block.

Question:

I am looking to buy a new car and have narrowed it down to 3. The Mazda3s Grand Touring, the GTI 2.0t, and the Honda Civic si. My last two car’s were tried and true Corolla’s. Both lasted longer than I would have expected (about 300,000) - but I want a change.

I’ve always steered clear of Turbo’d engines thinking that they either burn out over time, or burn the engine up just by their nature. But in all honesty all I know is the concept, and not the actual detail. With the high miles that I intend to put on a car in a short amount of time, should I discount the GTI due to the inevitable failure, or extra maintenance that may be involved in keeping it going?

–Jordan

Answer:

I think you have a valid concern about turbo charged engines, especially if you are looking to put on 300,000 miles. I would discount the GTI unless the extra performance outweighs the additional maintenance, that would be a personal decision.

If you do decide to go with the GTI, here are a few things to help it last longer… The bearings of the turbo charger are typically cooled with engine oil, so changing your oil at recommended intervals is very important, also letting the engine cool down before shutting it off, will allow the oil to cool some and not break down in the turbo and turn to sludge. I would also use synthetic oil in any engine, but especially in a turbo charged one.

There are turbo timers on the market which will keep the engine running for a set interval after you remove the key. I used one on my twin turbo Stealth with good luck, you just have to be careful where you park and use the emergency brake. Since you have to leave the car in neutral (if it’s a manual transmission) you are only relying on the emergency brake. If I had to park on a big hill, I would not leave the turbo timer on and rely on just the emergency brake to hold the car.

If you are looking to get 300,000 miles, I would also resist the urge to modify the engine in anyway to get more performance. A high flow filter or exhaust would be ok, but turning up the boost with a chip would not help the life of the turbo.

Also your driving style will dictate to some extent how long your turbo engine lasts. If you are putting on a lot of highway miles with a steady foot, you won’t be using the turbo that much and the life will be extended. If you are racing stoplight to stoplight, then I would be a little more concerned.

Good Luck in your decision,

Kevin

Question:
It’s a lovely site and easy to understand for people who are not mechanically inclined. My garageman said one of the pistons is cracked and therefore he must change all the pistons. Is that true? Why not just change the one that’s cracked?

Thank you,
Mrs. A

Answer:
It is general practice to change all the pistons at once. If one piston is cracked, there is a good chance the others will crack in short time. When replacing the piston, the cylinder walls sometime need to be remachined, and at least honed, to allow the new rings to seat. It is important for the rings to seat properly or your engine will not have good compression and may burn oil. The labor to replace one piston or all of them is not much more, and the pistons are generally purchased in sets, so his advice to replace all pistons is good.

Kevin