Locate an Auto Repair Shop in Cold Spring, Minnesota

Cold Spring, MN Car Consumer Discussions

Re: Bebensee [bbebensee]

by arrie on Mon Sep 29 09:15:39 PDT 2008

Your rear vents not blowing hot can be cause by three things (not counting for obvious hose or other leaks in system). 1. The temperature control does not work, i.e. the gate that adjusts for temperature setting is stuck open on cold side. This could be electrical or mechanical problem. Unfortunately I have nothing to tell about this as I have not had electrical or mechanical problems with rear heaters on my '04 Tahoe. You can do a simple test though. While parked rev-up your engine to 3000-3500 rpm and see if with this engine speed you get hot air coming out from rear vents. If you do then you do not have electrical / mechanical problem with rear heating system air mixing. Your problem is that with normal engine running speed you do not have engine coolant circulating thru rear heating core. 2. I did have a problem with only cold air coming out from rear vents. This happened when I also had engine overheating problem. The problem was too low coolant level. I had some level in the expansion ganister under the hood but coolant was very low in the engine. You can easily check for this by opening the cap of the cooland expansion ganister after you drive and engine is hot (to do what the cap reads not to do). By opening I mean to loosening it just enough to let pressure out from the ganister. There is a spring loaded valve build in the cap, which will let pressure out much before the cap is actually opened and it all comes out safely thru the pressure relieve tube. At least this is how mine is built. Put a rag or towel over the ganister before you turn the cap. If your coolant level is too low you will hear and see a lot of steam come out from engine in the ganister and at the end of this the coolant level in the ganister will drop. Mine went totally empty and to fill it up I added almost 2 gallons of coolant! There are a lot of postings in this site about coolant leak and not finding the leak other than in cylinder head. I think I had this "porous cast" problem and it got fixed after adding some leak fix in the coolant. It is a mystery why the coolant level in the expansion ganister does not go down as coolant disappears from the system. It must get air locked or something? This is very dangerous situation for the engine as it really can overheat and burn as a result of low coolant level. Lost heat at heater is the first sign of coolant level being too low. 3. Your water pump could be going out, i.e. is worn out and does not give enough water flow to circulate coolant thru rear heater core. A worn pump would also give flow with elevated engine speed if you do the test that I mention in part 1 above, i.e. the test can indicate either low coolant level or worn out pump. Arrie

Re: SUV Pricing [oldfarmer50]

by graphicguy on Mon Sep 29 06:07:13 PDT 2008

percussionist.....my son has grown an emotional attachment to that Elantra. It's starting to show a bit of rust around the wheel wells. His back seat looks like he's lived in the car for the past 6 years. But, like many cars that we've owned for a long time, his Hyundai carries a lot of fond memories. Don't get me wrong, he wants that Honda. But, he knows the stipulations that go with it....graduation. He's not there yet. Besides, out of all the cars in the GG stable, the Hyundai is probably worth the least. It's been mechanically maintained well. It needs nothing outside of some cosmetics. It has a new timing belt. New tires. New clutch. New brakes. New tires last winter. Recently tuned up. Radiator was flushed and filled last winter. Doesn't leak or burn anything. Will put a new battery in it before the weather gets cold. It's really been a very good car. My son was meticulous about changing the oil every 5K miles, too. I'd like to shed the Tahoe. But, I won't let someone steal it from me. The Grand Marquis would be easiest to sell. So, that one will go first. Why relatives give me cars is beyond me, except that they know I'm a car hound. I don't need them, but am grateful they think enough of me to give me their sleds. The plan is, sell the GM, now. Wait until the snow flies, put a 4-sale sign in the Tahoe to see what it might bring. Then, parade it down by the boat docks next spring (if I get no bites this winter) to see if anyone down there needs a tow vehicle. Hopefully, by then, gas prices will have stabilized and all this furor has died down making it easier to move for anything remotely resembling a decent price. That will leave me with the Elantra to sell in the spring. I'll put a sign in it. First $3K takes it. Then, it'll be just the Honda in the stables. That'll go to my son when he graduates in the spring. By June, I hope to be totally car-less. Which means I'll be lurking around the car lots again, in search of the next vehicle for me to love, and just as easily discard when it doesn't please me anymore. Don't know what that might be at this juncture, however. oldfarmer....I'm far from being a tea-totaller. I'm all about having a couple of beers at a ball game, or after a hot day working in the yard. And, I'll never be one to point fingers at anyone for imbibing. But, I saw people at the TL rollout who were chugging cabernet like they'd just spent 3 days in the desert and found the only gatorade stand for miles. Then, they'd get into the cars for a test drive, when they couldn't pronounce their own names without slobbering on themselves. Maybe the dealership thought it was "OK" since a sales person went along for the test drive. Maybe they didn't want to offend any of the attendees by declining a test drive. But, if those were my cars, there'd be no way I'd allow some of those folks to drive them in the apparent condition I observed. Not for nothing....but some of the contractors start on my house, today.

Re: not good cold [first_truck]

by dustyk on Sun Sep 28 18:17:23 PDT 2008

A binding or loose Throttle Position Cable can cause this, or a weak or missing Throttle Return Spring. I highly recommend that you get that Lucas stuff out of there. Mopar automatics use a special ATF (ATF+4) that can be easily destabilized by incorrect or incompatible fluids. Regards, Dusty

Re: Defective Brand New 2008 G6 HTC [absmith53]

by twosmgs on Thu Sep 11 10:06:08 PDT 2008

Two days after delivery of my 2008 G6 HTC in 1/08, I noticed that there was some water in the wheel well. (It was built in 9/07, and had been sitting in a distant dealer lot in wet/cold/snowy weather in the interim.) Upon return to my excellent, long-time local dealer, body shop did a water test and found that 2 seams around trunk gutter were either not sealed correctly at the factory, or had cracked. They were immediately repaired satisfactorily, and the repair was invisible due to the perfect color match (black). A review of past posts will show that others have had similar trunk leaks, so perhaps there is / was a quality problem at the factory. Maybe your leak came from the trunk gutter rather than from an area around a rear window? I can't comment about your door misalignment since my doors, windows, & trunk lid were aligned perfectly. On a related subject, suggest to all that spring-loaded door alignment pins be lubricated with a light coat of silicone grease, to prevent future rattles, especially if you live in cold climates. {Note: a high quality brand is Super Lube, which is commonly used by swimming pool owners on gaskets and O-rings. Has always worked well on my prior convertibles.} Per my previous post of 3 months ago, I also owned a 1994 Olds Cutlass convertible for 11 enjoyable years. Only leak I experienced was at the middle of the header in the final year of ownership due to the expected deterioration of the rubber gasket. (Sun exposure and ozone ultimately ruin butyl rubber seals and gaskets, no matter how well they're conditioned over the years with silicone spray or oil.) Sorry to hear about your frustrations with your new car. Although rain totals have been higher than average this summer, my family and I really enjoyed our top-down time. If your dealer is as good as mine, and your GM regional manager is customer-focused, you're likely to ultimately be satisfied with your purchase, even if it means that you receive a replacement car under the terms of your state's lemon law. (I once had a new "dog" Dodge, which was in the repair shop more often than it was on the road - a classic lemon. The dealership's owner OFFERED to take it back for a $0.15/mi depreciation penalty, as long as I purchased another new car at a similar, deeply-discounted price, from his mega-brand dealership. He was a good, smart businessman, and thereby retained my loyalty. I purchased a different model, and was completely satisfied. This happened more than 5 years before lemon laws were enacted in any state.)

warantee

by larry175 on Mon Sep 08 04:43:53 PDT 2008

I believe that some times, depending on the dealer, you can get away with it. But personally I am intimadated. So I won't even put a K&N filter on the car. Also I ordered a 2009 335xi with everything except the pakge with the different sized front and rear tires. (pita changing to winter tires and back in spring) barbera red with black int/grey poplar trim, tip, prem, sport, cold weather, comfort access, sat. radio, hd radio, whatever that is, heated steering wheel, navigation, rear backup whatamacall it. and what ever else who remembers., Build is scheduled for end of Sept. I should get it by end of October. Yea, I know, even with rft"s.

Still Too High

by bearcrkrd on Wed Sep 03 14:32:13 PDT 2008

I buy a new car every couple years. I buy thinking it will be forever, but always get bored. I hope I got it out of my system this time, and so does my wallet and a few relatives. ;) At the end of May I traded a 20 month-old 2006 Sienna van with 36,000 miles for an '08 Honda Civic LX Sedan. The Sienna got really good mileage for a van. Really good. But, at $4.45 or so for premium the third week of May, I couldn't take it. I don't have a family, get three days off a week, and like to go for drives. Long, frequent drives. It was the third week in a row I was going to stay home and watch tv or whatever. After a particulary long winter - cold Spring in Seattle. That van ran best on premium. I had switched to mid grade a couple weeks earlier, then went to regular, then gave up. Got killed on the trade. I have been gone almost every week since buying the Civic. The Sienna was twice the vehicle, but 27-29 mpg on Interstate cruises doesn't compare to 40-45 mpg in the Civic using the same driving style. Anyway, that's what $4 + a gallon gas did to (for?) me. PS - posted without doing much reading in this Forum, sorry if this doesn't answer or continue what's been said lately.