I was playing around with my Prius the other day and discovered something disturbing...
Do the following:
Get in the car
Start it
Take the keys out and put them inside
get in the car
drive away.
I did this yesterday and drove away without the keys and the car never turned off.
Noticed after long trips of a couple hours, the Prius rattles and creaks even when cruising in a parking lot at 5mph. I think it's kinda funny. That is, unless it doesn't happen to anyone else and there's actually something wrong with my car.
View 5 RepliesHave had the following happen 3 times to me during longer (1-2 hrs) drives where I'm driving straight through, no stops, highway driving.
Running along fine when out of the blue, the A/C temp remains strong and cold, but the airflow drops dramatically to the equivalent of 1 or 2 bars on the fan dial. However, the fan dial remains at 5,6 or higher. Upping the fan dial does little to increase the speed of airflow. Adjusting the air source intake buttons changes nothing.
Only thing to correct this is to stop the car and let it sit, off, for about 20-30 minutes, or more. Re-start the car and it's all back to normal.
Searched the forums and can't find anything on Elantra, altho some Tuscon's seem to have had similar issue on older models, although their descriptions were more dramatic, w/the A/C going out w/in 20-30 minutes.
I have a 1994 saturn SW2 120k miles. On drives more than 20miles, car overheats. Already replaced radiator, thermostat, fan, radiator hoses, water pump, coolant reservoir and cap. Coolant is clear, not milky. Checked for exhaust gases in coolant with Block Check kit...all ok. Still overheats on longer drives. Coolant boils out of reservoir thru cap. Temp runs at about 1/2 between hot and cold on short trips.
View 4 RepliesI have a Toyota 4 runner model year 2007 that stalls after it hasn't been used for a few days. I live in the city, so i'm doing short drives. The first time it happen i hadn't used the car in 3 days, and today was the second time, i hadn't used the car in about a week. I brought it to the dealership, after the first time, but they couldn't find anything wrong with the car.
View 1 RepliesMy car (93 Integra) overheats (not fully, just to 50-60% of the gauge) on longer freeway drives and stop-and-go traffic after a while. Turning the heater on negate the problem but not fully.
Here's what I know:
-Water pump and thermostat were replaced ~20k miles ago
-Fluids are full
-Fans don't turn on (but that doesn't explain freeway overheating)
-When sitting in stop-and-go traffic I can rev the engine in neutral and the temp gauge will go back to normal
I have a base model 2009 Corolla and I find that on long drives (anything over an hour) the seats become incredibly uncomfortable. I have developed back pain I did not have before I bought the car. My wife drives an 05 corolla and I have no problems with it (even on 5 hour drives) so I can only assume that Toyota cheap out on the newer generation's seats. I have tried many different cushions, lumbar supports, and seat heaters, but none of them work all that well. Adjusting the seating position does not work either. I installed cruise control and while that worked a bit, it was no solution.
View 14 RepliesI did wheel balance and alignment on my car and it still drives rough at around 105 km 110 and the mechanic said my rear left shaft needs to be replaced. I feel it in the floors like the car shaking a little about around that km.
View 3 RepliesI have a 1997 Toyota Rav4. 2nd owner. No accidents. Regularly maintained at a mechanic. No issues until this one. I searched the forums looking for an answer, seen similar but not exactly my issue. The car has an intermittent starting problem. This never happens in the morning. It only happens when the car is driven a short distance. When the key is turned to start the car, the engine does not crank. All the electrical comes on. We had the starter rebuilt. I have had it towed to my mechanic five times. Each time, when it is unloaded from the tow truck, it starts right up. We have left it there overnight and all day. They cannot replicate the problem. I drove the car to a friend's house 1 mile from mine and it would not start for 24 hours so I had it towed to the mechanic. Again once it was unloaded it started right up. A couple months ago we did a major service with a timing chain/belt. It did not happen for a couple months. Now twice in a week it has happened. My mechanic will not do anything more until it fails completely.
View 2 Replies1990 Toyota Camry.4cyl Starts normally drives about 50 or so miles and dies. It will not immediately restart. Turn off the ignition key for a few minutes and it starts back up and may travel 1 mile or 10 miles before it dies again. It appears after the first failure the interval between stalls gets shorter and shorter until the car is left alone over night. the next day i get 40-50 miles and it stalls. I loosened the fuel line at the filter under the hood and during the period it wont start there doesn't appear to be any fuel pressure. Is there a more acurate way to test if the fuel pump is failing or the sensors that control it are?
View 4 RepliesI have a 1999 chevy silverado 5.3 4wd w/ tow package. I bough it with 30,000 mi. It has always had a hard shifting/clunk after long drives or sometimes short ones that involve a lot of elevation. Oddly, if I stop and shut the car off for a minute or two the hard shifting stops, but eventually starts again. The truck now has 160,000...still with the shifting issue. What is this and with this many miles is it serious?
View 4 RepliesOver the winter the car starts right up and you can actually see the STEAM from exhaust, no shake. when the weather gets warmer it drives weaker, shakes more with black smokes at times especially at low RPM ~600-700. I put the car on neutral at stop so or I press on the gas paddle a bit to get less shaking. On cylinder 1 there is always a small pool of diesel at the injector nozzle. I have also turn the idle adjustment pin 2 or 3 times so the car won't idle at 3-400rpm and shuts off when there is strain on the car. 1995 Mercedes S350D....
View 6 RepliesMy friend has a 1994 Mazda MX-6 and she tells me that it is making a chugging noise when she drives slow and it screeches when its idling. She must have had mentioned its her timing belt maybe but my brother things those don't slip really until they snap. What is wrong with this car?
View 1 RepliesI have a 2000 Toyota Echo. Symptoms are, the car drives fine until warmed up. Once warmed up, about 10 min or so, there is surging, an inability to maintain idle, periodic loss of brake assist, all consistent with my p1349 code. This happened about two months after I changed my oil (the old oil was in there for an embarrassingly long time). I ran motor flush and again changed the oil; symptoms persist. I have removed the OCV and OCV screen; both look fairly clean. Here's the question: what checks can be done on the OCV itself before I call a bad OCV and replace it? The service manual was of only marginal quality in explaining any checks.
View 2 RepliesI recently purchase a 1991 Honda Accord. When I test drove it the sports light was not on. However when I did the final drive home the sports light was on and would not go off with the switch button. I was reading online and from several responses this seems to be a TCU concern and not the transmission. I gather some info from the internet and it explains how to change the resistor and capacitor in the TCU for under $5 bucks. I did not do this but I did unhook the battery and the sports light was off and came on and off with the button. This only lasted a week. Now the sports light come on and off intermittently and shift drives automatically while driving. Is this a electrical or transmission issue??????. Should I just get brave and refer to the under $5 bucks TCU repair and do it myself or take it to a mechanic.
View 1 RepliesThis is one of the strangest things I have ever encountered. when i start my car the climate control system works perfectly and it never has any issues driving around town. however for the past year or so every time i take a long drive over an hour and a half the force of the air coming out of the vents starts to diminish to the point where the only circulation i am getting is from the outside vent.
The strange thing is i can hear the fan blowing behind the dashboard and when i hold my hand to the vent the air coming out if very cold / hot depending on where i set the dial so it doesn't appear to be an issue with the AC or heater core .
I am thinking there might be some type of obstruction but that doesn't explain why the symptoms occur like clockwork on long drives.
So, I don't know if any of these problems are related but a few months ago, I accidentally put diesel fuel in my car. We got it flushed out (used some fuel injector cleaner and filled the tank up to dilute what fuel was left after i siphoned it) and my car was doing fine. Then my car started running really shitty, just taking forever to accelerate, revving really hard when I gassed, but not going fast at all, so we changed the spark plugs, oil, and transmission fluid and now it drives forward just fine, but will not reverse. all it does is move forward a bit then stop. It will drive in neutral up to 20-25 mph. What might be wrong??
View 3 RepliesI have a 1999 F450 Diesel dump truck. Automatic. The problem that I have is that the truck will drive VERY SLOWLY while the rps go up.
You can hear the engine revving up, and a strong air sound when doing so (do not know if intake or exhaust, but its like a strong wind sound. And not like a hiss, so I do not think its a vacuum leak).
The transmission goes through gears fine, but it does the rev up thing through every gear. So I am wondering if something like the torque converter might be broken or slipping.
For example, if you go with the loaded truck up a hill, you have to really push it to keep any type of speed. Or when you get off a red light.
When I bought it used, I thought that it might have a really short final gear. But that would not explain the high RPM and no push.....
No codes at all.
1999 f150 5.4 it's been over 3 months since It happened I hit a pretty big mud hole and right after it starts bogging and running rough and won't drive I made it home and second and I've been driving it around town in second gear since. I've been trying different things since it happened, It runs rough in drive, reverse, neutral, and first (towing gear) but revs up just fine in second (towing gear).
So far I've
- Checked all fuses
- Changed plugs checks coil packs
- Dropped pan changed tranny fluid and filter
I broke a heater core line so I replaced the intake manifold and got a good look at everything and cleaned it out
- Cleaned throttle body
- Checked all connections
- Checked all vacuum hoses
- Replaced maf sensor
- Pulled the codes but I don't have them handy.
I purchased the truck used last summer and this is the second time I've put it in 4wd. The first time was over the summer, and I had a hard time getting it into 4wd, and it made a "clunk" sound initially but drove fine, then went back into 2wd just fine and had driven fine ever since. Today I put it into 4wd, no clunk or any other noises, very smooth, but it drove very rough, almost as if the wheels were out of sync or something. It seemed almost like the wheels were breaking on and off on their own, very weird. When I put it back into 2wd, it did that for a few seconds until it went away. I only drove it in 4wd in my parking garage as I didn't want to risk any more damage to it on the road.
View 14 RepliesOn Tuesday morning I was watching an auction on my computer and saw a 2003 Ford F350 Super Duty Crew Cab Fx4 with 200K on it. It had an inspection report which is *supposed* to note every cosmetic and mechanical issue. It had nothing listed wrong with it for mechanical. I "won" and for my prize I get a rough-running 6.0 diesel delivered.
I just got off the phone with the transporter who picked it up today and he said there are no check engine lights but it is running rough with no power. So I am having him drop it off at a diesel repair shop.
Hopefully it is just something with the wiring harness but I have a feeling it's got at least a few bad injectors so I am probably screwed.