Gonzo’s Toolbox: I Smell a ‘Rat’
A 2002 Lexus LS430 came in the shop earlier this year. It was stumbling and sounded rough. It had a slight misfire but, overall, the owner said he couldn’t feel it vibrate. The check engine light was on and it didn’t seem to have the power it used to have. There were two codes, P1310 (misfire on #3 cylinder) and P0330 (knock sensor code). I figured I better start with the misfire code and see where it leads. It could be that the knock code was a result of the misfire.
Tech Feature: Courage Under Misfire
Generally, when a customer brings a vehicle into a shop that has a misfire concern, they will describe it as bucking, jerking or loss of power. They also may describe it, depending on the cause, as a jerking when they take off from a start, but smoothes out once the vehicle gets moving. They may tell you the check engine light has been flashing.
Tech Feature: Winter Starting and Charging System Maintenance
Mid-winter is usually the coldest time of the year and, although modern vehicle technology has reduced many of the cold-weather starting problems that we faced just a short decade ago, it’s still important to keep your customers’ import vehicles in top shape for winter starting.
Tech Feature: Sports Compacts – Performing in a ‘Maturing’ Market
What started out in the 1990s as an affordable way for kids to bang around with cars that were often handed down from their parents or siblings, later grew into a fledgling market all its own.
Diagnostic Solutions: Conducting Non-Intrusive Cooling System Inspections
Perhaps the best way to begin when we get a cooling system overheating complaint in our service bay is by using a series of quick, non-intrusive cooling system tests that establish the basics without removing major parts.
Mitch Schneider: How to Pass the ‘Reasonable Man’ Test
We’ve been doing a fair amount of restoration work lately. Certainly, more than we’ve done in a very long time: a 1962 red Corvette convertible (Like there is another color…), a number of vintage ’50s and ’60s Cadillac Coupes and Sedan De Villes, a few early ’50s Roadmasters, a couple of classic ’60s Mustangs, a 1931 Oldsmobile (I know…How did that one sneak in there?) and more.
Tech Feature: Eliminating the Con-‘Fusion’ of Servicing Ford’s Mid-Size Vehicles
Nestled into the marketing space between the Focus and the Taurus/Five Hundred is the Ford Fusion. The Fusion came with a choice of four-cylinder and six-cylinder Duratec powerplants. The inline four-cylinder Duratec 23 is a 2.3L 16-valve DOHC engine.
Tech Feature: Boosting Performance – Nitrous, Superchargers and Turbochargers
Today’s new cars offer so much performance directly from the factory that there’s no reason anyone could need any more, right?
Internal Engine Repairs: Uncovering the Culprits That Cause Head Gaskets To Fail
The first symptoms of a failing head gasket are usually a slow loss of coolant with no visible leaks, engine overheating and/or a check engine light with cylinder misfire codes. Uncover the culprits and prevent comebacks by following repair procedures to the letter.
Tech Feature: Cooler ‘Heads’ Prevail – Pouring Over GM’s LT1 Engine and Reverse-Flow Technology
The LT1 engine was used in a variety of General Motors models, including 1992-’96 Corvette (Y-body), 1993-’97 Camaro and Firebird (F-body), and 1994-’96 Chevy Caprice and Impala (B-body), Buick Roadmaster and Cadillac Fleetwood (D-body).