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4968 messages, Last post on Dec 06, 2009 at 4:49 PM

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#4783 of 4968 strut repair question by richardstew Apr 13, 2009 (10:20 pm)
im planing on fixing my 2001 bmw 330i's front struts by replacing them the heinz repair manual is going to be my guide but i was told i would need some sort of clamp for removing and installing the struts is this true? or is following the manual the ok way of changing them. Replies to this message: kiawah (Apr 14, 2009 4:00 am)
#4784 of 4968 Re: strut repair question [richardstew] by kiawah Apr 14, 2009 (4:00 am)
Replying to: richardstew (Apr 13, 2009 10:20 pm) If you haven't done it before, I'd suggest just taking it somewhere to do. Lots of garages will do struts, even tire chains like National Tire Discount. I've done struts a number of times for my vehicles over the year, and just paid the last time. I don't know specifically about BMW, but I assume they're like any other strut, basically a compressed spring over top of a strengthed shock. The problem with doing it yourself, is even with the strut in a fully extended position (maximum length), the spring is compressed and is putting tension on the strut to extend it out to it's maximum length. If you just start unbolting things, at some point the parts and spring will break loose and send metal parts flying. You'll loose body parts you would rather have kept for a couple more years. The strut spring tool, allows you to apply compression pressure to the already compressed spring, so you then can unbolt it from the underlying shock. You put in the new shock, align everything properly, bolt the spring back on, and then slowly undo the spring tool. You can do it safely, but take care and make sure you get all the parts put back in exactly the same rotation that they came off in. A number of vehicles have had alignment problems and had to issue TSB's, when the strut was not assembled correctly at the factory. When I was at NTB getting tires and had the struts done, the guy had a tool bolted on the wall that held the whole strut, and with one movement of the large lever safely compressed the strut hold all the pieces in alignment, so that he could easily replace the shock. Very slick. You may want to investigate whether a shop would change the shock out of the strut for you at some minimal price, and then you mount the strut in the vehicle if you want to do that piece.
#4785 of 4968 Timimg Belt by oldfarmer50 Apr 14, 2009 (10:46 am)
Can anyone tell me when the timing belt should be changed on a Chrysler Cirrus with the Mitsubishi built 2.5L engine (6G73). Owners manual says nothing. Mitsu dealer says 60K on all their engines. Found an internet source that says 90K. Also, is that engine an interference type or not? Replies to this message: obyone (Apr 14, 2009 6:35 pm) bolivar (Apr 15, 2009 2:51 am)
#4786 of 4968 Re: Timimg Belt [oldfarmer50] by obyone Apr 14, 2009 (6:35 pm)
Replying to: oldfarmer50 (Apr 14, 2009 10:46 am) It is an interference motor. That being the case I'd opt for 60K on the timing belt and consider it cheap insurance.
#4787 of 4968 Re: Timimg Belt [oldfarmer50] by bolivar Apr 15, 2009 (2:51 am)
Replying to: oldfarmer50 (Apr 14, 2009 10:46 am) If the service part of the owner's manual does not specify it, then you possibly have a timing chain, not a belt. Chain usually do not have change intervals given, they are good for the life of the motor.
#4788 of 4968 Cooling fans run for no reason. by cricketcan Apr 15, 2009 (4:19 am)
2000/Buick/Century/3.1lt engine/Automatic trans/145,000 miles My cooling fans come on for no reason. The engine is cold and the the fans will come on and run the battery down. I've check the resistance on the cooling sensor. It was about 40 degrees outside and the ohms of res. was about 2500, about 140 degree's after running the engine for 10 to 15 minutes, it was 600 to 650 ohms. That is about right (Right)!!!! I pulled the plug to both fans and I have have 12.5 volts on the light blue wire on that harness. Is that part of the AC system. I can't find ant wire on the high side of the drier that is that color. Replies to this message: kiawah (Apr 15, 2009 4:43 am) cricketcan (Apr 15, 2009 5:42 am) obyone (Apr 17, 2009 12:10 pm)
#4789 of 4968 Re: Cooling fans run for no reason. [cricketcan] by kiawah Apr 15, 2009 (4:43 am)
Replying to: cricketcan (Apr 15, 2009 4:19 am) I can't speak to the specifics of your vehicle, I don't have the electrical schematics. The cooling circuitry for most vehicles has three parts, the control circuitry that determines when to turn on, a set of relays or even an integrated circuit, and the fan motors themselves. Your fan motors are turning, so they obviously have power and the motors aren't 'frozen' so those appear okay from your description. The relays are to there, because of the high current draw of the fan motors. Their contacts(points) are capable of handling the higher current draw and arching that can occur when you turn motors on and off. Usually when a relay is bad, it either never turns the fan on, or the fans are always on and never turn off. It is not abnormal for a relay to go bad. I'm not exactly sure of your symptom, because you say they "come on for no reason". If 'come on for no reason' means that they are off, and then they turn on, then your relay is probably okay. If 'come on for no reason' means that the fans are always running (or always running when the ignition is in ON position), then I would suspect the relays. If your fans are sometimes off and sometimes on, then I suspect that the relays might be okay. They are switching back and forth between on and off. You don't know for sure until you meter them out. But the typical relay failure is either 'never turns on', or 'never turns off'. For the control circuitry, in older vehicles it used to be that the thermostat controlled the relay. Then they wired in circuitry that when the A/C was turned on, it also turned on the relays to the fans no matter what the temperature. In newer cars the control circuitry is typically the engine computer, monitoring vehicle speed, a/c load, electrical voltage, engine rpm, engine temperature, ambient air temperatures, etc. If your relays aren't your problem, then you will need to get a set of electrical schematics for your vehicle which detail out what are the 'inputs' to the computer that are being monitored to turn on the relay and fans. You could have one of the 'inputs' bad (always calling for the relay/fans to be on), or your computer itself could be bad (misinterpretting the inputs, and turning the relay/fans on when not needed). Good luck. Replies to this message: cricketcan (Apr 15, 2009 5:42 am) obyone (Apr 17, 2009 12:10 pm)
#4790 of 4968 Re: Cooling fans run for no reason. [kiawah] by cricketcan Apr 15, 2009 (5:42 am)
Replying to: kiawah (Apr 15, 2009 4:43 am) The part about the PMC could be true. One night I went out and the fans where running for no apparent reason. I couldn't get them to shut off and it was late so I unplugged them. Later the next day I went out to check them out and plugged the fans back to the harness and they didn't start runnning again. Strange!! Started the car and took it around the back of the house to the garage to diagnois and shut the car off. they were running again. Engine still cold. Only ran 3 min. tops. With the ign key in the off position Thought of the defrosters and shut everything down inside the car, fans still running with key in off position. Hoping cost of fix was not PMC. Thanks Replies to this message: obyone (Apr 17, 2009 12:10 pm)
#4791 of 4968 Re: Cooling fans run for no reason. [cricketcan] by obyone Apr 17, 2009 (12:10 pm)
Replying to: cricketcan (Apr 15, 2009 5:42 am) GM has a service bulletin addressing this issue. It first appeared on the then newly designed Regal back in 1997. You would think that four years after its introduction they would've worked the redesign into the newer models. Then again the more I think about it GM had an intermediate steering shaft issue with their GMT 800 trucks that took 8 years to resolve. If you haven't found the solution by now, post here and I'll try and look up the final resolution.
#4792 of 4968 Pinging by cptlocksley Apr 19, 2009 (6:50 am)
I have a 92 ford ranger with the 4.0l that makes a pinging noise under load. What are the possible problems? I have heard that is normal for that engine but I would like to fix it anyway. Replies to this message: Mr_Shiftright (Apr 19, 2009 7:27 am) cptlocksley (Apr 19, 2009 7:58 am) kiawah (Apr 19, 2009 8:26 am) Mr_Shiftright (Apr 19, 2009 8:56 am) bolivar (Apr 19, 2009 10:52 pm)