1997 Plymouth Breeze, 2.4l
The car idles rough but never stalls. Once out on the road car runs fine. Check engine light is not on. Its kind of loud while idling almost like an exhaust leak, but as far as I could check could not feel it. The car is new to me so I don't know much about past history. I did remove the plugs and the first and third plug from the left were oily. Car doesn't smoke and oil looks clean. Thanks for any advice and I love your radio show.
Thanks for listening to the show – you can tell we enjoy talking to everyone. Because the car is new to you I have a suggestion: first, do a Trip Inspection – this is what we do if “Mom” is going out on the road – this will help identify any obvious problems. Secondly, if the trip inspection does not reveal the extent of your complaint we will recommend whatever testing might be required to confirm the issue for you. This way you’ll have an overall view of the car so you can budget maintenance and repairs, and you will have a focused answer to your complaint. You can do the second step first if you wish or do them together; I like the Trip Inspection first as it will give you a lot of bang for the buck and might ID the problem anyway. Let any of us know how we can help
2000 Ford F-150, 351 V8
Hi, I just noticed a few days ago that the rear differential is leaking. I am not sure what it is leaking, but I do know it is leaving about a three inch diameter stain in the driveway each day, and it is not evaporating. The car does not drive or handle any different that normal. An ideas to the severity of this problem, and approximately how much it could cost to be fixed. Thank you
Most leaks at the differential are from the pinion seal where the driveshaft enters the differential. When the level drops too far, metal damage occurs to the gears or bearings, so it is an important matter. Be sure to keep it topped off until repaired
I am forwarding this to the gang at the shop so they can give you a rough estimate, but we’ll have to see it to be accurate. Can you bring it in?
1997 Honda Prelude
Just bought a 1997 Prelude from Infinity of Denver. It has 28000 miles, and the only mods I can see are a cold air intake, stabilizer bar, and some type of (crankshaft?) pulley. Looks and drives mint in every respect. Infinity said they went over it thoroughly in a 'certified' manner. Do I need to do any preventative maintenance since the age is unproportioned to the miles? Should I be worried about the timing belt being about to go, and that the dealer inspection wouldn't include this? I believe there are some 5 service recalls on this car from Honda, also Any advice, and if needed, could you do what's recommended?
Smart question; although the mileage is low, you’re correct about checking it over very closely. Low mileage might mean not being driven but once a week, or it may have been raced on weekends, or it may have driven daily only a mile to school and back.
The first option would be less difficult on the car than the other two; but we do know it is a performance car and it has add-ons, so we have to assume they were put on to gain high output. A lot of these racers do take exceptional care of their cars, so it is not a condemnation by any means. Age and heat affect the timing belt, so if it were mine, I would plan on replacing it, then once the engine cover is opened up if the timing belt looks perfect, you may choose to not replace it. At that point you would be smart to replace it unless it is brand new.
Oil passage and internal engine condition needs to be inspected and trans and diff fluids should be changed. Due to its age, I’d treat it like a 70,000 mile car
2000 Pontiac Montana Van
Just bought this van. The first day I drove the van it drove good. It was on empty so i filled up with 87 octane from shell. Then drove about 8 miles home. The 2nd day I started the van to move around back and the service engine light come on and stayed on. I didn't drive it so the 3rd day I drove the van the service light wasn't on. After 45 minutes driving , I took off from a stop and it started to shake and cut out. So i figured out to start out very slow and slowly increase and it would do fine but throughout the day it would do this going up steep hills too. what do you think could be the problem. thank you for your time.
The key here is the check engine light coupled with the symptoms…any performance related part or system can cause these, so the next step is engine light diagnostics – like a doctor’s office visit – to determine which way to proceed. The first test, decoding base information is free. That will tell us what system to begin testing or inspection, and that step has variable costs depending on the code we find. No work is performed without your okay; we communicate all steps as we go and what costs may be involved before we start them. Let us know if we can schedule that first step for you
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