Category Archives: Auto Mechanic Information Articles
Electric Power Steering – Problems And Repairs
Many more of new cars and trucks today are using a new kind of power steering system. This system is all electric. That is, there is no hydraulic power steering pump that is driven by the engine drive belt. No fluid to build pressure to operate the rack and pinion. No power assist of any kind from fluid. There is not fluid reservoir to check…
Reduced Engine Power Warning And Check Engine Light
The reduced engine power warning message can come on your car or truck. Today’s vehicles are for the most part completely electronically controlled. From every button and switch on the dash down to the ‘fly-by-wire’ throttle control system. Back in the day, before these electronically controlled throttles, everything was cable actuated. You press the gas pedal, and a cable opens the carburetor or throttle body.…
How to Get Replacement Car Keys
Today’s newer GM vehicles utilize a PassKey theft deterrent system. Also sometimes called ‘plus key’ because of the little ‘plus’ symbol that is engraved on each key blank. Most times, an owner has two sets of keys that work in the doors and ignition of their car or truck. These would be considered ‘Master Keys’. The theft deterrent system knows these keys and corresponding password…
Chevrolet Volt Review From a Dealer Mechanic
So, a day or two ago we got our first Chevrolet Volt electric car at the dealership. With it, came much attention from everyone at the dealership, as well as some enthusiastic customers. This Volt was basically a demo car, which was not to be sold, but rather used as a vehicle for test drives and to show off to interested buyers. The past two…
Car Repairs For a Bad Customer
I had to write this article due to the recent repair I had on a customer vehicle…..that almost wasn’t! This all started last Saturday, when a Monte Carlo got towed into the shop. It was a no-start with a dead battery. I jumped the battery and it fired right up, and I drove it into my bay in the shop. I noticed after turning the…
Oil and Coolant Mixing In Engine- Pictures
I had the pleasure recently, or displeasure rather, of getting a customer’s vehicle that was overheating and running very poorly. Once I got in and started it up, I knew it was going to be pretty messed up. The engine was knocking, misfiring, and almost immediately going into the red on the temperature gauge! I pulled it in and the first thing I did was…
Fuel Leak Recall On Chevrolet Cobalt And Saturn Ion
Lately at the dealership we have seen another rash of problems on the Chevorlet Cobalt and Saturn Ion vehicles. These are basically the same car, just different nameplates. What the customers are complaining about is a fuel leak at the fuel tank area, or a strong smell of gasoline coming from under the car. The problem they are experiencing is a common issue on some…
Body Shop Repairs Cause More Car Problems
So, the other day I had this Chevrolet Impala come in the shop. It was dropped off by a local body shop who had repaired the front end of the car from an accident. It had been pretty severely damaged, with a hard hit to the left front fender/hood area. After repairs from the body shop, the Airbag Light was still on inside the car,…
Brake Fluid Contamination Causing Problems
This article is about a car I’ve been waiting to work on. The problem with this particular vehicle is that it came in the shop with a very odd problem, as described by the customer. She would say that her vehicle would just come to a stop and die out after driving it a short while. This seemed very strange, and I’ve never really heard…
Chevrolet Malibu Air Bag Light And Codes
Today’s cars and trucks are very safety oriented. With the addition of many accident prevention items, there has also been a lot of new airbag technology lately. Everything from side airbags, which protect in a side impact, to the latest head curtain airbags which help in a rollover accident and also provide more safety on side impacts as well if so equipped. With all this…
Passlock Theft System Problems On GM Cars
Ok, today at work I had the unfortunate pleasure of a customer that was a complete moron and complainer! She had a Passlock Problem on her car. This happens all too often in the auto repair field, and I’m getting extremely tired of people that have no idea what they are talking about trying to tell me my job! It all started out as a…
Chevrolet Traverse And GMC Timing Chains Replacement
A big thing we’ve seen a lot of over the past year or so, has been timing chain problems on the Chevy Traverse, Saturn Outlook, GMC Acadia, and Buick Enclave. All of these SUV’s have the 3.6 liter V6 engine with dual overhead cams. What is happening on these vehicles is that the timing chains are stretching which leads to correlation errors with the cam…
2011 Chevy Equinox Engine Light Recall
Lately at the shop we’ve seen quite a few newer Chevrolet Equinox’s having some cold start up noise, which is usually accompanied by a hesitation upon acceleration. The new style 4-cylinder engine has two camshaft actuator solenoids that have been having problems. These solenoids are located in the valve cover and go down the intake and exhaust camshafts. They help control timing and phasing of…
My Gas Gauge Reads Empty When It Is Full Of Fuel
One thing I see and hear quite a bit of from customers is that they complain that their fuel gauge is inaccurate or acts very erratically. I’ve been dealing with these type of problems since I got into the business almost two decades ago. The one common factor in most of these complaints is the fuel level sensor. Late model fuel injected cars and trucks…