Car Care and Car Trouble Tips: Round 2
If you are having some car trouble we have some expert help for you. We invited you to ask the mechanic and Dean Bailey of Kings Auto service of Raleigh is here live in our studios to answer all of your questions. Viewers have been emailing questions all morning.
First Question:
John from Durham county and he drives a GMC sierra 2005. He says the check engine lights keeps coming on; the code says random misfire the shop says he need to replace all this stuff and he replaced it lights on again two days later. I recommend that they have the fuel pressure tested on this vehicle. This particular one has a lot of problems with the fuel threshold being so close that it will cause misfire, so the fuel pump itself could be bad I ‘d have that tested.
Second Question:
Kevin from Granville County has a Dodge Ram 1997 when traveling at 50-55 mph the truck will start to sputter and jerk as if it is trying to cut off. I f you press the accelerator it will pick up speed and stop jerking. He has the spark plugs and wires replaced along with several other things, but the problem still exist. What do you think Kevin should do? He needs to have the computer scanned it could be a throttle position sensor or a map sensor these two control the amount of fuel mixture in the cylinders I’d take to a shop that has the ability to check that out.
Third Question:
Sue says that when her grandson was driving a 2003 Ford Ranger up hill he stepped on the gas black smoke came out and then it just died. Someone said it maybe the catalytic converter. What do you think and would this be an expensive fix? It could be I don’t think it’s the catalytic converter at this point. It sounds like maybe the ignition system failed on the vehicle so again it needs to be tested to see if it has spark at the spark plugs that sort of thing. The black fuel coming out which is unburned fuel out the tail pipe is indication that it lost ignition and it not thoroughly firing.
Fourth Question:
Johnette she says her 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee feels like it slips when she goes into second gear sometimes. It has been doing this for about a month now. She had the transmission fluid changed and it did not get any better it still feels like it stalls in second gear or at least hesitates sometimes. Sounds like it may have a clutch pack slipping internal in the transmission. A pressure test can be preformed on this vehicle to let the technician know that its got plenty of pressure engaged in the clutch, but the friction material could be burned so it might need an overhaul.
Final Question:
Dean really quick as we are heading into holiday season temperatures are dropping what are some of things we need to do to take care of our cars? Well certainly you want to be sure you have the protection of your antifreeze in there. If you’ve been adding water over the summer you want to have that checked. Be sure you check the air pressure in your tires make sure they good. The one tire that never gets checked is the spare tire. Be sure that is checked out.