Locate an Auto Repair Shop in Seven Springs, North Carolina

Seven Springs, NC Car Consumer Discussions

boaz

by michaell on Sat Oct 18 12:01:33 PDT 2008

Not sure how you're heading home from Colorado, but gas in Utah is more expensive than it is in Colorado. ' Hope you saw Garden of the Gods and Seven Veils Falls while you were in the Springs. You sure picked a good time of year to come visit!

Mystery of the rough idle on the Chrysler 3.5 V5 solved!

by tuscanskipper on Fri Sep 05 19:50:38 PDT 2008

I posted this on Bat auto technical, and a Sr member Danica gave me the first sensible and correct advice on this common problem with the Chrysler 3.5 V6. Here are the relevant parts of the thread. I posed the same question as above. Danica: - Since its an LHS I'll assume its got the 3.5 engine, which has a common problem with lower intake manifold gaskets. This engine has a large upper plenum, and a small intake manifold nestled between the heads. Close to where the upper rad hose fastens to the motor, there is a small area opening to the underside of the intake manifold. Spray carb cleaner in that opening with the engine idling. If it smooths out, you've found your leak. Tuscanskipper: - Thanks Danica! That is just the sort of information I'm looking for. The car is away from here currently. I will have it back next week. I will do exactly what you say, and post back. If that is it, I will get the gaskets. I bet access won't be brilliant. However when I get the plenum off I might be surprised. Hope Springs eternal! I have the service manual so I will look at the procedure for changing the gaskets. By the way it is the 3. 5. If you have solved this, your brilliant! I know this is a common problem, and it is all over the net, but no solutions. I have suspected an intake leak all along, but not been able to find it. So to me your reply makes sense. Tuscanskipper; _ I sprayed in the carb cleaner just as you instructed. The engine smoothed right out consistently with multiple sprays. I have a an intake manifold gasket replacement coming up! I will be off to the local parts store tomorrow. Danica, yours was the first correct answer to this problem I have seen on the net. Should I silicone the gasket, in a addition to the water channel, to prevent further problems? Once again, thanks for your help. Good job! Danica;- Only use silicone sealer on any surfaces that are pitted. Use caution with the fuel lines and coolant outlet at the rear of the engine. Tuscanskipper: - I finished the intake manifold gasket replacement first thing this morning. Since I have some physical limitations I did the repair over 3 days. I put in three hours two days ago, three hours yesterday, and an hour this morning. So that is seven hours, including radiator refill, warm up air bleeding and testing. I'm glad to report the engine started right away, with no leaks, check engine lights or fault codes. Best of all the engine idles so smoothly you have to check the rev counter to be certain the engine is running. There are no driving problems at all. Thanks once again Danica, that was the first sensible advice I received since this problem started. Since this problem seems prevalent, with no solutions generally offered, I hope this post will pop up in search engines. Since this seems a significant problem for this engine, I will go into aspects where I had to deviate from the Haines manual. The most significant difficulty was the fuel rails. The manual says to pinch the connectors to supply and return, but no way would they release. I figured if I removed the thermostat housing I could move them out of the way. I went to the parts store to get the housing gasket. They sold me a tool to uncouple the rails. However there was an older well seasoned mechanic in the store, and he cautioned me that theses tools often break the coupling, and advised if possible to do the repair without uncoupling the fuel rails. This proved easily possible, once the thermostat housing was removed. The other issue is the heater hoses on the back of the manifold. The Haines manual mentions only one heater hose. However there are two, and one goes straight down, and I could not get to the hose clamp, as the hose was short and would not pull up. I removed the metal hose connector from the manifold, by removing the two securing bolts. I was able to preserve the gasket, and used blue RTV sealant when I put it back. Otherwise the repair was as per Haines. Now as to cause. This gasket is brittle plastic. I never saw anything like it. It has finger cracks all over the place. It would soon have caused leak of coolant into the cylinders. It was dreadful to get the remnants off the head and manifold. It is impervious to gasket solvent. I got most off with a razor blade without scraping. For the rest I used the small scotch brite pad on a small air right angle grinder. This got all surfaces clean and shiny. I used form a gasket to hold the manifold gasket, fuel rail gaskets and plenum gaskets in place. A bead of blue RTV sealant was place round all water channel openings. The NAPA replacement gasket looked to be of excellent quality, by the way, and I doubt this problem will recur. One other issue, I found a mouse nest on the cylinder block, under the inlet manifold! I'm really glad to have tracked this problem down. These are great engines. I find it strange, that the cause of this common problem with these engines is not widely known. As far as I know this is the only correct answer on the net. Two dealers and multiple experienced mechanics gave me nonsensical answers. I'm glad I left the engine alone, until I was certain what the problem was.

Timing Belt Replacement

by toyotatoys on Thu Sep 04 20:32:25 PDT 2008

I have an 01 Sequoia with 109K miles. Still hums and purrs like it did when I bought it seven years ago. I am aware that the owner's manual recommends changing the timing belts (and other parts associated with it) at around 90K. I wonder if my fellow oldtimers have replaced their timing belts already and share their experiences. Is this something that the dealer HAS to perform or any able mechanic can do? Any helpful tips will be appreciated.

My Compressor Went Out

by nospammailever on Tue Aug 19 16:47:48 PDT 2008

My compressor went out three weeks ago. I went to my mechanic who told me that he could replace it for $900.00. I went online to see if I could buy a compressor OEM and lo and behold the Edmunds forum was right there for me to read. After reading it I contacted Honda and opened a case number. I was told to bring the car to the dealer for a diagnostic check which cost me $100.00. The Asst. service manager told me that it was an electrical problem. I told him it was the compressor and he held the car over for another day for more "diagnostics". The next day I was told that it was indeed the compressor. I own 2 Accords (both 2000) both needed transmission work which Honda paid for since they had a recall, 1 Civic(2004) and the CRV(2003). Plus two friends of mine bought an Accord(2007) and Element(2003) on my reccomendation. Honda called me and told me that they would cover the parts and I would pay for the labor ($400.00) Since I was in the middle of getting married I didn't put up a fight and agreed to it. My car was in the shop for two days and the A/C is now working. For how long I don't know. My plan is to keep it for the winter and trade it in for a Hyundai in the spring. Honda called me back and I told them that I shouldn't have had to pay anything since it was a manufacturers defect. The guy told me that since it was out of warranty it wouldn't be fair to those who bought an extended warranty for Honda to eat all of the cost. I told him no matter if I had an extended warranty or not this part would have failed since it was defective to begin with. I did get him to give me few vouchers for services to make up for the $100.00 that I spent on the diagnostic. I'm sorry to say that my Honda days are over. Many of my friends have Hyundai's and they like the price of the vehicle plus the extras they throw in. The seven year 100,000 mile warranty would have saved me grief and money as well. Honda, if you are reading this remember brand loyalty is a two way street. There are other well built cost effective cars on the market. In this case you guys are Penny wise Pound foolish.

The "Fantasy" of. . .

by cdnpinhead on Fri Aug 08 06:35:40 PDT 2008

the open road exists in living color for me several times a year, and I wouldn't be surprised if others on here enjoy it regularly as well. I drove to Alaska last year and took a spin around the Sierra this past spring. I regularly fly to New England on business, then drive to suppliers in Maine, Montreal, CT and VT. On every trip there are opportunities to get off the interstate and enjoy an uncrowded drive on a beautiful road of one sort or another. Doing it in my own diesel car with a manual transmission is something I've sought for the past seven years or so, since I was introduced to the modern turbodiesel in Germany on several business trips. Fantasy, indeed. I guess I am living the dream, though it's much less frequent than I'd prefer. I feel that I'm making fairly good use of the seconds I have left -- tick-tock right back at you.

We may not know how to vote but.........

by lilbluewgn02 on Thu Sep 09 05:49:12 PDT 2004

Dog Wiggles Paw Free to Shoot Florida Man   September 9, 2004 07:07 AM EDT   PENSACOLA, Fla. - A man who tried to shoot seven puppies was shot himself when one of the dogs put its paw on the revolver's trigger. Jerry Allen Bradford, 37, was charged with felony animal cruelty, the Escambia County Sheriff's Office said Wednesday. He was being treated at a hospital for a gunshot wound to his wrist. Bradford said he decided to shoot the 3-month-old shepherd-mix dogs in the head because he couldn't find them a home, according to the sheriff's office. On Monday, Bradford was holding two puppies - one in his arms and another in his left hand - when the dog in his hand wiggled and put its paw on the trigger of the .38-caliber revolver. The gun then discharged, the sheriff's report said. Deputies found three of the puppies in a shallow grave outside Bradford's home, said sheriff's Sgt. Ted Roy. The other four appeared to be in good health and were taken by Escambia County Animal Control, which planned to make them available for adoption. Our dawgs are sur smart>>> Patti, no replacement tree...the one that we lost completely was REALLY ugly! and near our bedroom window; I'm just going to pull out the stump and cover over with grass (what you folks up north call weeds!). One of the first things Michael said when he got back from camp..."I want to move to New Jersey!"