Recently, my 1988 Isuzu Trooper began dying at high elevations (above 7,500 feet). I have had the car for ~7years and have never had this problem. That is, in the past, i've been able to drive it up to 9,300 feet with no problem. Could this be vapor lock? If so, why would vapor lock all of sudden start happening? If not vapor lock, what could it be?
View 5 RepliesI have a 1993 Isuzu Trooper. I put too much oil in the other day, about half a quart, and wanted to drain it out of the bottom. I loosened the drain plug like normal and it wouldn't come out at all, just spun in the same place. Tried retightening the plug and it wouldn't tighten either. It was tight when I started. It would get tight for a second and then get loose again, feeling like a stripped thread. Oil is leaking out from around the plug. I cannot twist the plug with my fingers, so its not super loose but it's loose enough to leak oil. Is this a easy fix for an oversized plug or will the entire oil pan have to be replaced?
View 2 RepliesKnow that squealing sound a belt makes when it's loose and needs to be replaced? Well what is it when you hear that sound, but you know it's not a belt? It happens intermittently, usually when the car is cold...and it's been happening more and more lately...like whatever the problem is, is getting worse
View 8 RepliesI have a 1998 isuzu trooper. it is over heating and there is air being put into the cooling system. there is a lost of fluid but only the same amount each each time and i dnt knw where too. i replaced water pump had radiator serviced and it flowing at the right flow for truck. it still over heated. i tried chemical called blue devil it worked for two days then failed it is freezing cold here and no garage but do have all tools.
View 9 RepliesThe problem I'm having is it starts fine in the morning but when I shut it off it it takes about an hour to start back up ..
View 8 RepliesI own a 2001 isuzi trooper, the water pipe has been broken a couple times, so the radiator has been leaking so my car overheats. But I fixed it a couple of months ago, yet after I fixed it the car kept going through the water/coolant extremely fast and was overheating unless i put water in it every other day.
Yet, a couple of days ago, I was driving home, and i heard a bubbling noise, ignoring it i kept driving only to have complete loss of my accelerator and had my car rolling along the highway unable to accelerate. (And the last time I put water in the radiator was 10 days ago) now my car won't even turn on, and it sounds like it is having a very difficult time when I try the ignition. plus when I do try to turn the engine on, coolant is coming out of my exhaust pipe.
Rebuilt engine, installed, started right up but had loud tic and started leaking oil. Pulled engine, fixed leak, inspected heads, re-installed, turns over but doesn't run. Weird thing is, first time I try to start it each evening it runs for about a second and then dies and then won't try to run again till the next day. This has happened 5 days in a row. I sprayed starter fluid in intake, no luck. I borrowed scan tool, no codes set just won't start.
View 3 RepliesMy old Trooper, which is painted like the Merry Prankster bus, has had a series of electrical/ignition problems. It began earlier this winter with an occasional engine miss and also occasional a failure to start. My mechanic has replaced the distributor, the coil and the ignition control module (twice). Each time it runs fine for a couple of days and then starts acting up again. It is currently sitting in my driveway with zero spark coming out of the coil. The year of my Trooper is 1990.
View 3 RepliesI have cleaned the fuel injectors, put in new spark plugs and new spark plug wires. What else I can do. The only time it starts easily is when it's very hot. If I leave it off for just 5 minutes, it will start up quickly. And a few times, when it is dead cold it will start on the first turn. All other times I have to crank it for what seems like minutes. I'm killing batteries and starters on a regular basis.
View 2 RepliesI have '88 Isuzu Trooper that has been sputtering lately. I'll be driving for a while then all of a sudden, it will start sputtering, lose all power and die. When I try to restart it, it will go immediately back to sputtering/dying mode. It's done it 3 times now. The first time, I waited about 20-30 minutes and was able to drive it for 5 minutes before the problem happened again. After waiting ~1 hour it started just fine and drove fine. The car drove fine for a few weeks then the same thing happened.... again, after waiting a few hours, it drove fine. I didn't have the problem again for a year and just happened again last night.
View 5 Replies Son was unable to fill his car's gas tank, 2002 Elantra (but happens to all cars sometimes).
The vapor lock on the pump kept shutting the gas flow off.
This was caused by the tanks vapor exhaust being unable to exit while filling, so the only place to go was back up through the gas fill hole.
The charcoal filter had sprung a leak so the zillions of tiny little charcoal pellets pour from the filter into the rubber hose clogging it.
The Filter is $150 at Hyundai. Not available at AutoZone or OReilys.
Very simple to replace a couple bolts a few hose clamps.
Strange problem, thats no one at work had encoutnered before. A few Hyundai mechanics had heard of it and worked it before.
Also could be Purge Valve or Vent Valve solenoids...search EAP system too if your having this issue of not being able to fill your tank with gas, without 500000 vapor locks shutting the pump off!
On my '88 Ranger, there is the key lock that needs to be pressed to remove the key. When I changed the ignition cylinder, I darn near went ahead and removed it. I though I better check here first, and see if I was going to disable some other function I don't know about.
View 1 RepliesMy Miata stalls out on the highway but not on residential streets. If I open the gas tank ,it starts up again. This has happened with a full tank, 1/2 tank and 1/4 tank. How can I fix this?
View 9 RepliesI have a rather peculiar problem with My 1994 Dodge Grand Caravan 3.3L. This has happened multiple times spread out over the last 10 years. Every couple of years after a rather long drive, then a stop, it spits, sputters, has very little to no power, and will ultimately die. It will usually start right back up, idle fine, but when you shift into gear, it acts up as described. If you let it set for about 15-20 minutes, it will usually start up and run fine without the symptoms as described.
The First time it happened I was lucky enough to be within a mile of the dealer, who diagnosed a bad fuel pump before it was ever on the lift. He showed me what he said was the culprit, which was a fuel filter that was full of black particles and soot. He replaced both the pump and filter and it ran fine for a couple of years and it started doing the same thing. Another new fuel pump and filter and we're running again (all under warranty).
About three years ago it did it again and this time we went to a different dealer and since we were no longer under warranty, we wanted to know what was actually going wrong. Nothing was ever found, no codes, pressure was good, everything looked fine. No problems until today when it started again, no dash or check engine lights, it just wouldn't run. We let it sit for 20-30 minutes and started it right up and drove it home without incident.
Are these vehicles known for vapor locking? It sure acts like that is what it was doing. The temp wasn't that hot and was ruled out as a factor.
I am planning to put a new fuel filter in it?
I have a 2002 VW Eurovan, 2.8L V6 Winnebago Vista 21B, 130k miles, my check engine light is on but having a hard time trying to figure out what's causing it and what direction to head without spending a fortune. It started while traveling across country two years ago, several days into the trip, after driving several hours at freeway speeds on a cool rainy day, I stopped for gas and when I turned it back on it sputtered and coughed and ran REALLY rough, I slowly moved the vehicle out of the way, about 50 ft, turned it off and when I turned it back on it was fine, except the check engine light came on. I took it into VW and they ran the test... the codes were: P0118 Coolant Temperature Sensor 1 3 Cylinder Misfires P0305, P0300, P0303 P1151 Bank 1, mixture adaptation, range 1, Lean limit not reached, static
They said it wasn't going to destroy the vehicle, to continue on my trip and I'd need to do some sleuthing to find the culprit. The light came on and off throughout the trip but didn't have the sputtering again ( although I didn't push it as hard when driving it either, kept it around 65 - 70).Got back to Montana and a local shop replaced the ignition coil. That didn't fix the check engine light, which is on continuously now (that's been 2 years with mild use of about 8k miles).
Until now, it hasn't sputtered again so I didn't really worry about it, but it happened in Oregon last week when it was again cool and rainy, I'd been driving hwy speeds for a few hours, I stopped for gas and when I restarted it sputtered, coughed and rumbled like it did 2 years ago. I turned it off for 30 secs, restarted and it was fine.In talking this over with a variety of folk, we're thinking the issue could be a fuel filter, fuel pump, coolant sensor or catalytic converter sensor... I have a fuel pressure test scheduled in a couple of weeks.
The key to the trunk lock on my 1988 Celica won't turn. I don't have the original key. Could be that I have the valet key. All other locks (ignition, door and dash door work. I will probably get a replacement from the junkyard if I can find a car with a lock and key. Other trunk locks are interchangeable with the celica???
View 6 RepliesSince changing to ELC a couple years ago, my truck will leak a small amount of coolant when I stay over night at the beach house. I haven't noticed any coolant leaks at any other times. I was down there Saturday night and it leaked about two or three tablespoons of coolant over night. I drove home Sunday, and my truck has been parked in the same place for almost 72 hours without a leak. This has happened a couple dozen times over the last two years. The elevation of the driveway at the beach house is 6' above sea level. "Home" (around Houston) is anywhere from 35' to 80' above sea level. Is there any way that the lower elevation is causing this leak? I'm pretty sure it's coming from the thermostat housing, but because I replaced the upper hose, I can't tell if the dried ELC around the housing is new or old.
View 12 RepliesI was recently given my first Volvo. Its an 88 240dl. While driving my temp gauge climbs up to the red and sometimes hovers inside of it. It normally climbs up at stop signs and comes down on straight always then climbs right back up close to red. When the gauge was in the red i stopped the car and popped the hood open to see that the engine was not actually overly hot.
first i replaced coolant. nothing
then i replaced the thermostat. nothing
flushed radiator. nothing
Today i finally had enough and decided to switch out the water pump with a new one hoping that it would solve the problem seeing as it still had the factory one on. It did nothing. the gauge continues to climb up. I did replace one of the two senders in hope that it would fix the gauge reading but nothing.
Unknowingly bought a salvaged 2007 Honda Fit about a year ago that has run fine but recently begun to emit a vapor smell of what my mechanic ids as benzene. His cleaning did not work and a reputable detail outfit passed on the problem, saying if a cleaning didn't do it their methods won't either. The scent is not strong - being a geezer I can't even register it. But it's my son's car and he has a 1-year old who I don't think needs to be inhaling it. Cleaner spray by rebuilders? A fuel system problem?
View 19 Replieshow can you tell if your vapor recovery system is faulty? I cannot fill my gas tank unless I very slowly put gas in. It takes forever to even put in a few gallons. I think the vent is plugged or I overfilled the tank and got gas in the canister.
View 3 RepliesThe fuel filler vent line rotted off so I had the gas tank and fuel pump replaced in September. Drove the car for 2 months without a problem until last week.The car lost power then stalled. I smelled gas and found that there was a large amount of gas pouring out of the bottom of the vapor canister.I bought a new one (very expensive for a plastic can) and put it on. Drove the car a couple days and then it happened again. Someone told me not to over fill the tank but I never did. In fact, this doesn't happen right after I get gas. Its a couple days after I get gas that it happens. I had two different auto mechanics look at it and neither one of them could figure it out.
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