I Hate When That Happens

Fuel prices are on the rise, kind of like a yo-yo, but more up than down. They say it is because oil is a world commodity, and we are all influenced by world events. Whatever the excuse, we all see it at the pump. In addition, it is worse if you drive a diesel. One reason that many items are more expensive is that a diesel-powered truck delivers most things. I know I pay fuel surcharges on many of my delivered or picked up items. When wholesale prices increase, retail prices follow suit. So what can we do?

Actually, there are a few things that we can control. Some have a cost and some are free. Let me start with the ones that have a cost associated with them. When was the last time you had a tune-up? Most vehicles these days require at least a spark plug change from 50,000 up to 100,000 miles. Worn spark plugs can cause an engine to not run efficiently. Check and replace your air filter when required. Consider replacing your oxygen sensors at the 100,000 mark. These sensors may become “lazy” over time, and they are one of the most important sensors that report to the engine computer on how efficiently the fuel system is working. Don’t ignore the check engine light. I hear people all the time that tell me that the light has been on for months, or even years. If that light is on, there is a problem. In addition, if the light is on and you ignore it, you will not know if a more serious problem does occur because the light is already on. Of course if the yellow check engine light would ever be flashing, it is not recommended that you even drive the vehicle, as the problem is most likely a serious issue that can cause expensive damage to the vehicle. If your vehicle is older, you may consider having your fuel injectors cleaned and the intake air system cleaned. Some vehicles also have cleanable mass air flow sensors. All these items, if dirty, can waste fuel.

Recently, we have seen a couple of vehicles where the engine temp was running too cool. The cooler the engine is running, the more fuel that it will require; this is generally pre-programmed into the software of the computer. This winter has been so mild that most people did not notice this situation when it occurred. Usually in a colder winter, people would complain of poor heat coming from their heater. In some cases, this condition will even turn on the check engine light. A misaligned vehicle can also waste fuel, as well as cause the tires to wear unevenly. The proper air pressure in the tires is also very important. Remember to get the proper air pressure setting off of the vehicle’s tire placard and not from the sidewall of the tire. Improper air pressure can also cause the tire pressure light on the dash to come on.

You can also reduce friction inside the engine by switching over to full synthetic oil. Not only can this aid in fuel economy, but you usually can go longer between changes. If you have a new car, many require the use of synthetic oils from the manufacture. GM has a new specification for their oil beginning in 2011 called Dexos. This is required oil, so please make sure you are using what you should be using and that it is designated with the Dexos spec. If you drive a 4-wheel drive vehicle, consider replacing the lube in the gear-boxes (transfer case and both differentials) with a full synthetic lube. Again, this will reduce drag and friction as well as provide improved protection against wear. Also, look in your owner’s manual for the type of fuel you should be using. Buying a more expensive grade of fuel may be a waste of money. Also, don’t forget to reduce the weight you are carrying around. Watch your speed, driving faster wastes more fuel. Fast starts and stops also wastes fuel and is hard on your brakes. Reduce you idling time. Combine trips, possibly try using a carpool. A little planning and patient can go a long way in saving fuel and saving your nerves. I Like When That Happens! (Can I say that?)

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It seems that the world of fixing cars and trucks can be a lot like being a detective. Lately, we have had a number of vehicles that have been a real puzzle to us. And at times, it is what you don’t know that can get you. I can think of four vehicles in the last month that fit this bill.

The first is a regular sedan, a daily driver, a going to work kind of car. The customer had brought in the vehicle with the complaint that it ran poorly, worse when they first started it in the morning. They also gave us a list of about 8 different parts that they had installed trying to get the car fixed. Some of the parts were purchased used, some were new. But none of their work had paid off. They said they had gone to a friend and got the codes read out of the computer. We were told that they had been on the internet, and armed with that information had been working to try to get the car running properly. They also told us that they still had the same codes as when they started and are totally frustrated with the vehicle. I certainly can understand that, vehicles can be frustrating.

Now we have the car and we put on our detective’s hat. When we begin, we take the info provided by the driver, as well as an initial test drive, to verify the symptoms. Then we start our testing. We need to pay attention to not only what codes are stored, but more importantly, to what the computer data is telling us. The first rule to remember is just because there is a code for a certain item, does not mean that particular item is the problem. Of course each vehicle year, make, and model can be different as far as computer programming is concerned. When a code is set, the yellow check engine light usually will come on (but not always). The codes that are set are important, but serve only as a guide as to what the computer is thinking is happening. In our case, there was an oxygen sensor lean code. Many people would go ahead and replace the oxygen sensor. This may or may not fix the problem. In most cases it does not. What this code is telling us is that the computer thinks that the car is running with not enough fuel, so the computer will provide enrichment until it cannot provide enough. The owner of our car replaced many components based on what he had learned and what seemed reasonable to him. It turned out that the problem was not that there was not enough fuel, but that there was too much air getting into the engine, as well as an engine misfire. This combination made the oxygen sensor think that there was a lean condition. What we found was a substantial vacuum leak, letting in too much air, as well a defective ignition coil on one of the cylinders. So a gasket set and coil took care of the situation.

It did take some serious evaluation to pinpoint this problem, because many of the items that had been previously replaced also could have been the problem. What was missing for the driver, was the ability to test the components electrically, to be able to alter the fuel/air ratio, and monitor the results. A recent commercial vehicle came in with some strange symptoms. The horn would randomly sound, the clock/radio display would randomly change, and the cigarette lighter was inoperative. The vehicle would stall and would not restart without waiting for about 20 minutes. The power windows would sometime operate at about half speed. Things seemed so random. We found no communication with the scan tool; a fuse fixed that and the cigarette lighter. Once we had communication, we found 6 codes stored in the computer for various things. After testing and checking various systems and circuits, we discovered that the battery had been replaced and the negative cable was extremely loose. We cleaned and tighten the connections and the problem was solved. Sometimes it’s the simple basics that can mask as a very strange and complex problem. I Hate When That Happens!

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I have worked on a lot of different things over the years. I am a mechanical kind of guy, so I figure that I should be able to fix anything, especially with the help of the internet, right? Well, sometimes. I had a hot tub a few years ago. It worked great and I really enjoyed it, especially after a long, hard day. So anyway, I came home from work one Friday night and I wanted to jump in. I went out and found that the water was cool. That was not good. Especially because it was December, it was very cold outside, and the water temperature in my hot tub was falling fast. I quickly pulled off the front panel to inspect inside. I checked a couple of things I knew and determined that, for whatever reason, the heater was not coming on. I also found out that a couple of the hoses had already partially frozen, which was a problem. I called a friend who worked on hot tubs and spa’s and asked him what I should do. He patiently guided me though a few steps to find out the root cause of my problems. However, since the temperature was dropping and I already had ice forming in the exterior hose, he said that I need to get a very small heater inside the outer panel and get the hoses thawed out and keep more from freezing. I knew I did not have a small heater so I called our local hardware store and talked to one of the owners. He said that he had one. I asked how long he was open, he replied that they had just closed, but if I hurried over he would wait for me (thanks Rich!). Anyway, to make a long story short, I did get everything thawed out, I ended up replacing a couple of parts – I am not sure if I replaced more than I needed or not – and got it going. Thankfully it all worked out. In this case, it was the things I did not know that made the situation very difficult.

We have people who call our shop frequently to ask a question about something that they are working on, and we try to help as much as we can. Since we cannot see what they are doing, we may sometime give the wrong advice based on the lack of information available to us. Cars and trucks have become so complex that one of the biggest challenges to a repair is tracking down a problems root cause, just like my hot tub. Of course, having many years of experience is our biggest asset. Proper tools, scanners, and special equipment come in second. hen there are all the technical resources that we rely upon these days. Sometimes we may spend two to three hours in testing only to find a short in a wire. The repair may only take ten minutes, but the challenge is to get to the root cause. Sometimes there is more than one problem that can cause the same condition.

There is no magic to this process. One must take each problem, find its cause, and move on to the next problem. Of course, the worst cases are when a problem is intermittent. We recently had to drive a van over 70 miles to get the problem to act up. We had a very good idea what the root cause was, but we needed to experience it for ourselves with the proper equipment hooked up. Otherwise it was only a guess. When the problem occurred, we were able to positively verify it and condemn the expected part. The customer opted not to fix it, but we knew we had found the root cause. So whether you’re working on a hot tub or a vehicle, sometimes it is what you do not know that can get you. I Hate When That Happens!

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Have you ever wondered if one of your tires is low on air? Sometimes it can be hard to tell. Depending on how new your vehicle is, your vehicle may be able to tell you. In in the year 2000, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration enacted legislation to phase in tire pressure monitoring for vehicles. This phase in was to be completed in the model year 2007. This piece of legislation is referred to as the TREAD Act of 2000. What this means is that all vehicles are now required to have a system that can monitor the tire pressure of each tire, and report to the driver if a tire is low, some systems even monitor the spare tire. Most vehicle manufactures now have some kind of wireless sensor mounted in the rim that sends a signal to a computer inside the vehicle. If a low tire is found, a light or a message will be illuminated on the dashboard. The sensor on most vehicles is actually in the valve stem (the thing that you put air into). Some vehicles have the sensor in the middle of the rim, held in by a metal band. Some sensors are made of aluminum and some are made of rubber and look exactly like the old style valve stem. This can be very confusing. Many of the older vehicles have a passive system that actually uses the anti-lock brake sensor to calculate the tire pressure based on the circumference of the tire.

So what do you need to know? First when the light comes on, don’t ignore it. The new systems are very accurate. If this light is on, the air pressure in the tires should be checked. One issue that we face here in the cold country is the fact that when the temperature goes down, so does the air pressure in our tires. So on the first cold days we see numerous people in with their tire pressure lights on. In many cases, this is normal and the light may go off when the tire warms up after driving a while. Installing nitrogen instead of regular air in your tires can help eliminate this problem. Nitrogen is more stable when the ambient temperature changes. However, if the light is on, the tire pressure should always be tested. If all the tires are equally a few pounds low, this may be the result of cold temperatures.

Tire pressure, of course, is a safety issue, but also can affect fuel economy, vehicle handling, and the longevity of your tires, so a tire light on should not be ignored. If you do have a tire that needs repair or if the tires are rotated, the TPMS system may need to be reset to tell the computer that it is ready to go. Each vehicle manufacturer may have its own way of resetting the system. Some will automatically reset after driving a short distance, some vehicles have a unique procedure to do the reset, and some will need a special piece of equipment to reset the system. Of course, occasionally a tire pressure sensor may leak air, break off, corrode, or fail for some reason; this will also turn the light on. If a sensor fails, a new sensor will need to be installed. Once the new sensor is installed, some sort of procedure or reprogramming will need to be done to activate the new sensor and have it communicate properly with the vehicles computer. This is the only way to get the light off and the system working again. Each year, make, and model of vehicle requires a unique sensor. There is no universal sensor that fit every vehicle at this point. This system can be very frustrating, but it also can save you from ruining a tire or from having a blow-out due to running on a low tire. So if the light is on, check it out. I Hate When That Happens!

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As the summer winds down, we have people at the beginning stages of getting ready for winter. Last week we put on our first set of “Winter Tires”. We used to call them snow tires, but these new winter tires are nothing like the old snow tires. As vehicle design evolves, so do the wheels and tires. Tires are getting wider and have a lower profile look to them. People ask why are they doing that. Some of the answer is style, and some is vehicle handling. In any case, it can offer us Minnesotans some challenges.

Generally speaking, the wider the tire the poorer the snow and ice traction will be. Many newer vehicles have traction control that senses wheel slip and helps the driver to get going, but there are many vehicles do not have this option. To compensate, tire manufactures have developed a special winter tire that is especially made for vehicles with a wider tire. They are a very unique design, usually with a directional tread. This means that the tire is design to rotate in only one direction to give maximum traction, stability, and stopping performance. The tread compound is also unique to a winter tire; the compound is made in a way that the tire will not get become so hard in cold temperatures. One of the biggest advantages to the tread design are the thousands of “sipes” that are in the tread. Sipes are the small cuts that are in the tread of a tire. They are evenly placed over the entire tire’s tread face and some manufactures have some that actually go down the sidewall a bit. These sipes are what really grips the ice. As the tire rolls along and the tread reaches the road surface, the sipes open up and grip like you would not believe. I have personally run winter tires on my own vehicles for many years and now would not go without them.

The biggest hassle is that they need to be changed over in the spring to your regular tires. This may be a bit of a hassle and expense, but the traction, handling, and reduced stopping distance make it more that worthwhile during the winter. Again, some people think I am crazy saying, “Why put winter tires on, I have all-season tires?” All I can say is once you try them, you probably won’t go back to a regular tire in the winter. Most manufactures have these tires available. The biggest thing is, if you want them, order them early. Most tire warehouses order their winter tires in the fall. They have one order, and when they are gone, they are gone. We have had a few times, like last year, when people get tired of slipping around. They come in sometime in December and, many times, there are no winter tires available. Even if they are available, they have to be ordered, taking a few days or even a week, and of course, they usually are more expensive.

There are a couple other items you should remember concerning tires and winter. If you are going to put on winter tires, always put on 4, do not mix them with regular tires. Also, if you are replacing just two tires on a front wheel drive vehicle, always insist that they go on the rear of the vehicle. Again, I am not crazy. There have been numerous studies done, and numerous law suits filed, regarding this issue. You should always put new tires on the rear because, if they go on the front, you will have too much traction in the front compared to the rear. This will increase the likelihood that the rear of the vehicle will spin out in a heavy rain or snowy and icy condition. If the new tires are on the rear and the half worn ones are on the front, you will have a better feel of the road and are more likely to notice the loss of traction in the steering wheel. You can look this up online and find a detailed description if you would like. Here is a great video with a driving demonstration produced by Michelin North America about where to place the new tires when you’re only replacing two tires.

Of course, always replace your tires when they are worn. They may save you from a disaster. I Hate When That Happens!

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