Sunday, December 31, 2006

No HEAT in truck cab for 2000 Durango: No Codes







Question:

I have driven this 2000 Dodge Durango truck since new and starting last week, my passenger side carpet under the dash is wet with coolant fluid. When I drove the truck, a foggy smoke came out of the dash vents. Reading your ATS course, I suspect my heater core is toast and needs replacement. Is this a job I can do?

ATS Advisor:

I believe this truck has an AC and if you do, the heater core is embeded inside the evaporator housing which is located in the front passenger side under the dash. To remove, the evaporator housing must be drained first of freon and then you can remove the housing. Attached is an example of the truck cab showing the passenger side. Make sure to mark and label all the parts that you remove and always compare the heater core housing that you will buy.

Once installed, you can put back the freon that you remove or have a garage evacuate the AC systen for you to prevent introduction of moisture to your AC. If you ca do this, you should be able to save money in the replacement of your heater.

Saturday, December 30, 2006

No Start on 2000 Dodge Intrepid with 2.7L engine: No codes

ATS Question:

My wife's car suddenly quit on her while she stopped for groceries. She had it towed to our garage so I can check it. I found the engine with no spark but I could not test the injectors because there is no room for it. Electronically, I tested the asd relay and the ignition coil and both seemed to have good power and ground. I am now at a loss on how to proceed to check the problem. Do you have any suggestion?

ATS Advisor:

You are very lucky because this problem is very common on 1999-2000 models. All you do is unplug the camshaft sensor and try starting again. You might have to be patient because it requires long cranking but it should start. When it does, observe these: if it starts without making a noise in the engine, the culprit is usually the camshaft sensor. If it starts but making a lot of engine noise, the timing chain is usually the problem which requires the opening of the front timing cover.

Tip:

To get the exact location of all the above components, contact ATS if you are a member.

Monday, December 11, 2006

No spark for 1992 Olds ninety Eight with 3.8L engine: No Codes




Question:

My car quit on me yesterday and following ATS course, I found it has no spark. As per your lesson, this problem is caused by crank sensor and ignition module. I first replaced the crank sensor and found still no spark. Went and got a new ignition module and same thing happened. But after spending all these money for parts, I still have no spark? What am I doing wrong? Is my engine computer buggered up too?

ATS Adviser:

First of all, although ATS fixes tells you to suspect both crank sensor and ignition module, there are a few tests involved before replacing those parts. Examples:

Did you check if the crank sensor has proper ground and power supplies? If you requested the ignition wiring diagram, you can see the ground and power supply wires. Always go to the basic: Ground wires should read 0.250 volt or less with key on engine off. Power wires always give you around 12 volts with key on engine off.

These simple tests will tell you if there is a problem with the sensor or ignition coil. The same is true if the wirings connected to them. Those parts might be OK but if the wires are shorted because the insulation is bare, your new parts will not work still.

Finally, a lot of local parts stores can test those parts for you and they can tell if the parts are OK or not. If they say the parts are tested OK, then it gives you a red flag to test the wires or the ecm (engine computer). Again to test the ecm, all you do is test what? The ground and power supply readings at the terminal of the ecm with key on engine off PLUS, the reference voltages. This is the most basic tests of ATS troubleshooting and if you use this method, you will solve about 90% to 95% of engine electronics problem.

ATS Tip:

When testing your wires, use wiggle tests and wiring diagram to trace the shorted wire.

Friday, December 01, 2006

Boosting your battery cables can be deadly...shuts down whole systems: No Codes




This is just a reminder for everybody during this cold weather

When boosting your vehicle battery, remember these:

Connect cables colored RED to RED or red cable to red post at battery (positive)
Connect cables colored black to black or black cable to black post at battery (negative)

Always connect the positive cable first and negative cable last

Always disconnect the black cable first and red cable last.

Shown in the picture is a 2005 Altima with a blown cable terminal fuse after the cables were connected wrong. Problem? Fuse comes integral with the positive cable. now you have to buy the positive cable assembly. What a waste of time and money! Finally, here is another drawback in this Altima...the whole engine shuts down and cannot be re-started until you changed the fuse/positive battery cable (available ONLY from the dealer of course).