Car Care and Car Trouble Tips: Round 3

Well if your car is having some trouble we have some expert help for you. We invited you ask a mechanic and Dean Bailey of King’s Auto Service in Raleigh is here to answer your questions.

First Question:

Tony in Nash County who drives 2005 Lincoln Navigator says the SUV doesn’t take gas like it should it hesitate when he applies the gas. What do you think could be the problem? There are a couple things I would want to look at one would be fuel pressure the fuel pump could not be working properly causing that. The other item that we see most often to create that problem is mass airflow sensor. That just calculates the airflow into the engine and helps the computer to decide how much fuel to put into the engine. They need to be tested.

Second Question:

From Halifax County Tom says his 2004 Toyota Tundra will not start unless he drives it at least every other day. He says he has replaced the battery three times and the cables seem to be all right. If he puts the charges on it for five minutes it cranks right up. What could be wrong? It sounds like you have a drain in the system like a light on in the glove box or sometimes the visor overhead that has the mirror and light they tend to break and stay. I would need to check it for a parasitic drain also the alternator might not be putting out what it needs to recharge as he is driving.

Third Question:

David from Chatham County installed a used FDF transmission from a Jetta into his 2002 Volkswagen Beetle that had a FDF in it. Now the cruise control won’t work and the RPMs are way to high. Couple of problems there when you changes one transmission to another type of vehicle the speed sensors are not always the same as in the other vehicle also he could have put one in that had a bad sensor so he may want to switch those over from the old transmission to the that one, so that may help.

Fourth Question:

Rhonda in Edgecombe County has a 2006 Suzuki Forenza she says the check engine light comes on and off the code was the throttle body. After about 150 miles the light came back on now says throttle pedal sensor. She says the car drives fine and other than a drop in the gas mileage no problems. Is this a part that needs to be replaced? Very well could be it would need to be tested. A scan tool would need to be hooked into the computer system so you could run test to see if it is the throttle body or accelerator pedal sensor itself not an easy thing to diagnose your self so you need to get it to a shop.

Fifth Question:

Toni in Wayne County has a 2002 Lincoln LS. The problem is the heat comes on for two minutes and then nothing but cold air after that the heating coil is not leaking inside the car and Toni said she has tried filling the radiator to capacity, and it does no good. What could be the problem? These temperature systems on the Cadillacs have an electric motor that controls the door that controls hot and cold, and may need a new one.