OT: Weird car electrical problem solved.

[Chuck H.]

I have a 2010 Toyota Corolla. At first, it would occassionally kick
out of cruise control. Later the VSC and ABS lights would come on
intermittently and sometimes when that happened, it wouldn't shift out
of Park. The brake lights always worked but the problem was eliminated
by replacing the brake light switch.

[Terry Schwartz]

Not so weird. All those systems use the brake light switch as an input.
Good troubleshooting.

[rickman]

You have to have your foot on the brake to move the shifter out of Park,
right? To me that would be the biggest clue.

--

Rick C

Viewed the eclipse at Wintercrest Farms,
on the centerline of totality since 1998

[jurb...@gmail.com]

I got you all beat on engine problems. Mazda B-2000 pickup.

Intermittently would sputter and gag, then fix itself.

Timing belt had been replaced, and apparently they lost the metric Woodrufff key. It eventually sheared but left deris in there between the crank and the flywheel. The crank would go off 180 degrees once in a while. Then righted itself and ran fine for a time.

Had a ton of mechanics (literally) stumped looking for an electrical problem.

Now an electrical problem, motor driven mechanical clock. It would stop when you hit the brakes. Problem was a fuse.

And don't forget the oil pressure sending unit when troubleshooting a no fuel problem.

We need a thread on weird car problems, not forgetting of course that there is an engine down there. (somewhere)

[Bob F]

My 93 Grand Voyager was misfiring. Sometimes it worked fine, then it
would start jerking badly. Throwing codes "Map sensor below minimum
input voltage", then later "peak primarly current not achieved with
maximum dwell ignition circuit "x".

Replaced the spark plug wires. All problems went away.

[et...@whidbey.com]

I had a Mazda GLC that would only run with the ignition advanced way
more than normal. Replaced the plugs, wires, rotor, distributer cap.
No help. It turned out that the original rotor had a hairline crack in
it that would allow the spark to travel through when the spark
resistance got too high. The replacement rotor had the same exact
problem. I finally diagnosed it with a timing light. With the light on
a spark plug wire it would flash until the timing was adjusted to
normal. Then the engine would die and the timing light would cease
flashing. But with the timing light pickup on the coil lead it would
flash when the engine was cranking even though the engine wouldn't
start. So I figured the car was losing spark in the distributer and
this was happening because at normal timing the charge in the cylinder
was more compressed and so the resistance was much higher than when
the timing was advanced and the cylinder pressure lower. It took me a
couple weeks to finally figure out what was going on. I bought another
rotor, a different brand, and it solved the problem.
Eric

[jurb...@gmail.com]

How about this one :1994 Chevy 3.4L rat engine.

Problem : engine would hunt for idle constantly, but otherwise ran fine.

Solution : battery had shorted cell.

Note : Car had history of bad alternators, wonder why.

[Terry Schwartz]

Should be a lesson learned. Check the basics first. A simple voltmeter check would have saved you time and alternators.

[jurb...@gmail.com]

They didn't call me, though honestly I would not have thought to check that for that symptom.

The adjusting the vertical size on a Sony should have learnt me better - the symptom sometimes has no apparent relation to the cure.

[M Philbrook]

In article <jhom3dtprq6pcni07...@4ax.com>,
ch...@dejanews.net says...

My son was using our spare car, a Lebaron 4 banger,, it started to
randomly stall at stop signs, more so when it was hotter out..

I didn't have time to bother with it so sent the car to three different
mechanics, none of them couldnt figure it out because it was random they
say!,.......

It got to a point that I was tired of hearing the hid complain about it
and told him to park the car and use the truck for a while, I was going
to put a sign on it AS IS,, best offer! But I desided to first look at
it. Had an electrical manual already for it... since it was now bad
enough to fish the problem out... after about 1 hour of poking around, I
went to the auto parts store and picked up a hall detector replacement
sensor for the rotor..

it solved the problem, the guy at the auto parts store said it a common
problem for many chrysler cars and starts to show its problem when heat
gets around it. Sure, it had issues due to heat and weaken it..

So whey in the hell didn't the mechanics with their public service
centers know this?

Jamie

[et...@whidbey.com]

Back in 1980 my wife had a Pontiac with the electronic ignition. The
module inside the distributer failed a couple times and it was heat
related too. When I went to the auto parts store to ask them if they
had any ideas the parts guy knew exactly what the problem was. Alas,
that parts store is no longer in business. They had the best counter
folks.. Gear heads all.

Eric

[Ralph Mowery]

In article <gnot3dheuadl4gsn9...@4ax.com>,
et...@whidbey.com says...

>
>
> > So whey in the hell didn't the mechanics with their public service
> >centers know this?
> >
> >Jamie
> Back in 1980 my wife had a Pontiac with the electronic ignition. The
> module inside the distributer failed a couple times and it was heat
> related too. When I went to the auto parts store to ask them if they
> had any ideas the parts guy knew exactly what the problem was. Alas,
> that parts store is no longer in business. They had the best counter
> folks.. Gear heads all.
>
>

Some places have good people and some don't.

Around 1982 I wanted to change the spark plugs in a Datsun. That was
the first car I owned that was not made in the US. I went to a Autozone
or similar chain store to get the plugs. I asked the counter man if I
needed a metric socket to change them as all my tools at the time were
the inch type. He did not know so we went to the wrench area and took
some wrenches out and found a close match. As I did not see any sockets
that seemed to be special for metric spark plugs I decided to check the
US type. Sure enough the US type fit just fine and I had several of
those at home.

One would think the counter man would have known that as many plugs as
they probably sell.

[jurb...@gmail.com]

>"it solved the problem, the guy at the auto parts store said it a common
problem for many chrysler cars and starts to show its problem when heat
gets around it. Sure, it had issues due to heat and weaken it.. "

Had that with a crank sensor on a 3.8L Olds/Buick. I knew not to even bother taking it in and hung a scope probe on it. The pulses were disappearing.

[jurb...@gmail.com]

>"They had the best counter
folks.. Gear heads all. "

A friend, a GOOD mechanic, applied for a job at an auto parts store with demonstrated ability. They said that is not what we want, they sell fewer parts.

Last thing I heard him working on was a diesel in a small ATV that actually started in reverse to go backward. Simplified the gearbox I guess, if any.

[rickman]

I have no idea why you would expect them to know things like that. They see
a part number in the book and find that box on the shelf. What part of that
should indicate the socket size to change it with? Now that someone asked
(and I'm surprised he took the time to figure it out with you) he might
remember for the next time, but to exactly which plugs will that apply?

[Terry Schwartz]

Lots of snowmobiles work that way - 2 strokes. Adjust the timing and they are happy to run either direction.

[Ron D.]

Plymouth hall pick-up. Been there done that.

1968 Chrysler. Would not go up a really steep hill. Temporary solution. Go around. real problem - Check valve popped out of fuel pump.

1982 Toyota. car warmed up. Turn off car for about 20 minutes (quick bite to eat). Really low idle when re-started. Had to cool for an extended time to work properly again. Rinse repeat. It constantly did this.

To prevent dieseling, a vacuum advance port was opened to the atmosphere (severe vacuum leak). The solenoid valve was mounted on top of the valve cover with limited cooling. It stuck every once and a while. Me Finding the problem was really tough.

Car ate clutches and/or throwout bearings. Professionally replaced (dealer) until I finally did it myself. A HUGE diameter bolt (~3/4 diameter metric style) was missing on the bell housing. It used two big bolts and multiple smaller ones (4-6).

Care stereo amplifier stolen and replaced lb for lb by lentils.

Muffler and pipe replaced professionally. Got home and it did not sound right. Found it on backwards. When to shop and they agreed, before I left, I started the car and it still did not sound right. Looked - still on backwards. Technician told boss that it fit better that way. Replacement pipe was bent improperly.

Mechanical fuel pump replacement off an interstate in a random development. Fuel pump push rod kept falling out when replacing the pump UNLESS you put grease on it first.

Headlights start blinking - on/off period about every 30 seconds. Lamp filament shorted - High to low beam.

[tabb...@gmail.com]

On Wednesday, 27 December 2017 21:38:53 UTC, Ron D. wrote:

> Care stereo amplifier stolen and replaced lb for lb by lentils.

bizarre! I once had a car stereo I got for 30p, quite a good one and worked fine but the front was very cosmeticly damaged. Some idiot broke in and stole it. I doubt he got more than £1 for it.


NT

[Sofa Slug]

Back in the 70s, I had someone steal one of those cheap Krako FM
converters (for an AM radio) out of my Volkswagen bus. Whoever stole it
left a dollar bill in it's place.

[tabb...@gmail.com]

On Thursday, 28 December 2017 15:53:34 UTC, Sofa Slug wrote:

> On 12/27/2017 2:52 PM, tabbypurr wrote:
> > On Wednesday, 27 December 2017 21:38:53 UTC, Ron D. wrote:

> >> Care stereo amplifier stolen and replaced lb for lb by lentils.
> >
> > bizarre! I once had a car stereo I got for 30p, quite a good one and worked fine but the front was very cosmeticly damaged. Some idiot broke in and stole it. I doubt he got more than £1 for it.

> Back in the 70s, I had someone steal one of those cheap Krako FM
> converters (for an AM radio) out of my Volkswagen bus. Whoever stole it
> left a dollar bill in it's place.

maybe they were krackers


NT

[Michael A Terrell]

Sofa Slug wrote:
>
> Back in the 70s, I had someone steal one of those cheap Krako FM
> converters (for an AM radio) out of my Volkswagen bus. Whoever stole
> it left a dollar bill in it's place.

Did they ever come back for their change? ;-)

[Sofa Slug]

Ha Ha ...no, but later while in college, I had a 4 track car stereo that
I hated. it didn't sound very good and was always eating tapes - a real
POS. Instead of throwing it away, I took it out of the dash and left it
on the passenger seat in a box with all the tapes.

When I returned from class later that day, the box was gone.

[Michael A Terrell]

That's almost as good as wrapping up a box of dog crap, and leaving
it out as a trap. :)

[M Philbrook]

In article <p2341o$jdb$1...@dont-email.me>, sofa...@invalid.invalid
says...

You most likely made money on the deal!

Years ago I had one of my cars broken into it had a CB, nice SWR meter.
Wasn't worth much to me but I did report it, cops come over and took a
look inside of my car. comes out with a wallet in his hands, "This
yours" ? Nope not mine.. The crook must of got his paints caught on the
seat and it slit just under the seat a little. I never noticed it
because I wasn't looking there.

it turned out to be my neighbor !

Jamie

[pf...@aol.com]

On Friday, December 29, 2017 at 8:18:38 PM UTC-5, Michael Terrell wrote:

> That's almost as good as wrapping up a box of dog crap, and leaving
> it out as a trap. :)

True story: The last place we lived in before leaving NYC was on 190th Street not far from the Cloisters. Our neighbor had a very elderly German Shepherd, and she was quite elderly herself. One sad day, her dog died, and the only place she could take it (in Manhattan) was down towards Battery Park. So, she bundled the dog into a large suitcase - as people were wont to own back in the 1960s. Getting into the subway at 190th Street (A-line) is not so hard as there is an elevator from the street to the platform (well before ADA). However, at South Ferry, not so much. She faced these steps with an 80 pound dog. What should happen, but a "Nice Young Man" offered to carry it up the steps for her. And, promptly ran off with it.

There is justice in this world.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

[Ron D.]

Around here, When a dog poops and the neighbor doesn't clean it up, it winds up on their front step. No bag. Problem solved.

[Sofa Slug]

Great Story!

That reminds of something a friend of mine did with an old water heater
at his father's suburban Fresno, Ca. home. He and his dad had previously
replaced the unit, as it leaked from a small hole near the bottom on one
side.

They both dragged this thing out onto the lawn near the street and
carefully positioned it so the hole wasn't obvious. My friend then
placed a sign on it reading "$50". When he checked later that afternoon,
the water heater was gone.