I am having an engine temp issue when climbing steep hills. The gauge goes from normal to the red line but not into the red. The VDC OFF light is on but the CEL is not one. Once I reach the top of the hill the engine begins to cool off and returns to normal. Yesterday I had the radiator flushed and the thermostat changed. Am I looking at a water pump or head gaskets?
View 5 RepliesI have a 2002 Nissan Frontier with a non supercharged 3.3L v6. The truck is a crew cab, long bed and 4x4. I have had this truck since I bought it used in 2004 with 26k miles. The truck now has 196k miles and I have done a little modifying to make it a bit more off road capable.
I have done all the work to the truck myself, until last fall when I finally broke down and took it to a dealer, who was not able to find my problem, but I will get to that...First of all, the truck has steel bumpers, a winch, a tool box, onboard air system and large tires, all of which make the little 3.3L work hard. However, for three years since I quit making modifications, the truck ran perfectly cool and the temp needle never once went above the normal operating position, even through thick sand at the beach, mountain trails and towing heavy trailers, until last summer.
Late last summer, on 90+ degree days, I noticed the temp needle would start riding above normal when I had the AC on. It didnt matter if I was on the highway, the city streets or idling in the driveway. When I turned off the AC the needle went back to normal. This started happening occasionally at first (once every 2 weeks) then towards fall it started happening more frequently, almost every 90 degree day. Soon after I noticed the problem, it would happen even with the AC off, but not get quite so hot.
After a few weeks of this, I started chasing the problem. I replaced the radiator cap, the thermostat (tested the old one and tested the new one before installing,) I took the radiator to a rad shop and had it boiled and flow tested, I replaced both coolant temp sensors, and then finally the water pump. When none of those repairs made a difference I built new radiator fan shrouds and that made no difference. At this point I was starting to get discouraged so I borrowed a scan tool from a friend and drove around for a few weeks with it plugged in. I was reading live temperature readings of the coolant and verified that the gauge was working correctly.
The truck ran about 200 degrees with the AC off most of the time, then, when I turned the AC on, no matter if I was sitting in park or driving on the highway, the temp would steadily climb until it got to 222 degrees and I would shut off the truck, at that point the needle was near the danger zone and according to several nissan dealership, the highest normal operating temp is 204, but it should stay around 195. At 205 degrees, the needle would start to move above the normal position, so the gauge seems to be fine. As summer turned into fall, the truck started running cooler as the days began to drop into the 70's. I finally got fed up with chasing my tail and took the truck to a dealer with my main concern being a blown head gasket or cracked head.
The dealership inspected the head and tested the coolant for hydrocarbons and said that the head and gasket are not the issue. They advised that the only other thing it could be is my fan clutch. After that dealership visit, the days were cool so I drove the truck all winter without changing the fan clutch. Then, 2 weeks ago, on a 70 degree day, I hooked up my truck to an empty trailer (maybe 1000lbs) and towed it 15 miles. When towing up hill with the AC on, the temp needle started moving. I immediately went to napa and replaced my fan clutch. Confident that was the issue, I drove the truck to the mountains for a camping trip last weekend. While climbing the hills at 40mph and about 2500 rpm, the temp needle climbed to the near danger zone.
Over the last several months, the frequency with which my 2007 Subaru Outback is "shuddering" when I accelerate from a stop has been increasing. It feels like driving over a cattle grate -- a vibration that lasts for just a few seconds, and occurs in the 35-45 mph range. Now is happening on a daily basis, a couple of times per day. Based on some internet searchers, I concluded this might be a torque converter problem. Took it to the mechanic today and, of course, couldn't reproduce the problem with them present. They replaced the transmission fluid with a synthetic fluid and replaced the transmission filter.
View 8 RepliesOur 2002 Hyundai Elantra is having issues. It shifts fine, no need to double-clutch. It stays in gear. Doesn't grind or anything crazy like that. It does seem like it isn't getting power to the drivetrain, and is having trouble climbing hills. This all came on very suddenly. Hubby thinks it's the clutch -- I think it may be the bushings. Though now, I'm wondering if it's something else? Since it's not having trouble shifting, should we be looking at the fuel system? Sensors? Engine seals?
View 10 RepliesMy 2004 Subaru Outback has had the head gasket replaced, the O2 sensor replaced, spark plugs replaced. Still I cannot go up big hills anywhere near the speed limit. I think it may be the catalytic converter is bad from driving it with a leaky head gasket.
View 5 RepliesFor no apparent reason, my 2001.5's 1.8T, with less than 67,000 mi on it, suddenly began "hesitating" when power was called for. I first noticed this while the car was climbing steeply one side of the (very tall) Newport Bridge. I could feel the occasional deceleration as I tried to maintain constant vehicle speed (with and without using cruise control), but could see no change in vehicle speed or engine rmp on either the speedometer or tachometer. It felt as if fuel flow to the engine had decreased a bit for a second or two and then returned. This occurs consistently and is most noticeable when accelerating from a dead stop as I'm climbing through the gears (manual transmission). Also, there's no apparent turbo boost. Are these classic symptoms of a failed turbocharger (or something else)?
View 11 RepliesI've been driving my 99 ranger 2.5 now for 2 weeks now. Overall I am very impressed and happy with it. Everything seems to be near perfect and in top shape on this truck and I feel like it'll have no problem paying me back.
I've recently noticed, however, that whenever I start up a hill with the climate control on, it shifts from whatever I set it to, to the defrost vents. It returns to the vents I set it to after I crest the hill, and doesn't change vents if I don't drive over hills. I live in a hilly area so that's not convenient. And with summer around the corner, I want this solved.
03 supercrew 5.4. I've been having problems climbing hills. I'm on a trip and the truck surged fron do then to drive and stopped. Let it sit for 30 mins or so and it was good. Drove another 500 miles ans started again going up some hills. The first time it was 110 out and the 2nd it was 90. I'm pretty sure it's a cop but of course no cel. It does not seem to of over heated either. Can the cops overheat? Do you recommend a diagnostic, will this show up if no cel has show?
View 5 RepliesOk...not sure were to go with this or how to explain it, while climbing a steep paved hill at 5-10 mph I get a rumbling vibration and noise. If I were to guess almost like axle wrap is causing the U Joints to bind or something. Runs and drives fine other then that. If I put it in 4x4 it does not happen, only seems to happen when wheels cant slip while climbing hills at LOW speed.
Don't notice it if climbing a dirt hill. There is a hill at the kids baseball fields that is steep and paved that its really bad on, way to busy right now to play on it to see what's happening. Tranny was looked at and oil changed.
New BDS 4" lift - had same issue prior to lift, though stock springs were worn.
Searched the form but really didn't come up with anything at this low of speed. While in Wisconsin the resort we were at the paved hills were so steep it felt like something was going to break. Put it in 4x4 and it was fine. This was with stock leafs.
In ordinary cars, the cruise control (CC) only has control of the throttle. That is to say, when the car encounters a hill, the CC system increases the throttle. Coming down a hill, the CC unit will reduce throttle. If the speed increases too much, the CC unit can not reduce the speed of the car. On especially steep hills, the speed may well become too high.
In contrast in my Prius v, I find that the CC holds the speed study even on steep downgrades. This is possible due to the hybrid system which regenerates power. Even on steep grades, the CC system holds the speed rock steady at the set point.
Have a 2000 subaru outback 2.5l, automatic, with about 245k, I replaced the thermostat,water pump, the radiator and the car is still overheating. both fans are working. no leaking coolant. Maybe this is related- over heats mostly when driving on the highway. But if a shift the gear to neutral and coast for a minute the shift back to drive the temperature gauge goes down. Whats wrong, running out money fixing the car, but love it driving it in the snow.
View 2 RepliesMy Outback gets the DTs in the steering wheel. 2003 with 300K highway miles. New tie-rods, brakes, brake master cylinder, alignment & balance (all from great shop with great rep) have failed to eliminate the problem. It comes on suddenly at highway speeds, usually in cold weather (below 20); but not necessarily in snowy conditions. Slowing down to 30/20 mph does not stop the shudder (though it slows and reveals itself as a fierce twitch to the right). Eventually the shudder is accompanied by a rhythmic scraping sound somewhere in the left front wheel well, which maybe is there all along but inaudible at higher speeds.
View 5 Replies1997 Hyundai Lantra LS 1.8 5-speed. I live in a really flat area, but we're surrounded by hills and mountains. Whenever I have to go into the mountains I start to get blue smoke from the exhaust after a few minutes of climbing. The longer or steeper the hill, the more smoke I get. Obviously I'm burning oil, but I'm not sure what would cause the problem only when the engine is being taxed.
View 10 RepliesOur 07 Mazda5 (80k) once in a while will start and run very roughly, and pressing the gas to the floor only gets it to 3,000 rpms.It has diminished power for climbing hills when this occurs. Everytime this happens if we shut the car off and let it sit (between 10 minutes - a couple hours) it starts and runs like a top. We have added drygas 2 of the times, but the last time it happened was on the same tank of gas that we added the drygas to. Check engine light comes on, but will go off after a day or so.
View 5 RepliesWas climbing a steep hill at 35 mph just before truck down shifted to 2nd, I was hearing a pinging sound. Sounded like only I cylinder was doing so. What it could be. I am currently running a 1/4 tank of Fppf fuel injector cleaner. Is this a injector noise. No knocking just a slight pinging.
View 1 RepliesI have a 2008 Nissan Sentra with 90-something thousand miles on it. Last summer I moved from Texas to Oregon, so it went through 125° Arizona heat (during which overdrive stopped working for a while) and mountains for the first time. Ever since then, if starting from a parked position, I can't go over hills or bumps or even curbs. I can IF I was already driving on a flat surface. But if I stop on an incline and then try to drive forward (or reverse up it), I can't. The RPMs don't go above ~1.5k until I'm back on a flat surface.
The check engine light is on, and has been on since last summer, but the code it spits out is something dealership specific. People have told me it "might be something with the transmission". The problem hasn't gotten better or worse since last summer, so I just ignored it and got really good at not stopping before steep inclines or hitting curbs or anything (lol). But if I ever need to, I'll be in huge trouble. I can't even drive over medium sized rocks if I park too close to them.
The first time I found out about this was when I pulled into a friend's downhill driveway last summer, and then couldn't reverse out of it. He had to push it back up.
Note: from a stop, it will go up GRADUAL hills and over SMALL bumps just fine, but anything that takes more than 1.5k RPMs to overcome isn't happening. It will go up steeper hills and larger bumps (and curbs) only if I was already driving, but it still can't tackle the steepest mountain road inclines like other cars can.
The 1.5k RPM problem goes away when it's on a flat surface (or if I started driving on a flat surface before encountering a hill), and it accelerates normally again. However... It also takes a couple of seconds to rev beyond 1.5k RPMs after stopping at a red light.
I have a 2000 Ford Explorer with 188,000 miles on it. I bought it used with 110K miles and put a new tranny in at that time. Now, I am having problems. I don't know if it's the tranny or the engine. It looses power when climbing hills. It takes off really slow with no power and finally gets up to speed it switches gears the whole time smoothly but the engine just can't take a load.
The check engine light came on and put out 10 codes:
P1451 EVAP Control System Canister Vent
P1747 Electronic Solenoid A-Short Circuit
P0743-Torque Converter Clutch Circuit Electrical
P0750-Shift Solenoid "A"
P0755-Shift Solenoid "B"
P0760-Shift Solenoid "C"
P0765-Shift Solenoid "D"
P0135-O2 Sensor Heater Circuit
P0155-O2 Sensor Heater Circuit
P1409-EGR Vacuum Regulator Circuit Malfunction
Those are the codes and I don't know how one has anything to do with the other. I checked the dip stick on the tranny and it's clean. Juicy red and not shavings.
I own a 2002 Outback. It is overheating. We have replaced hoses, thermostat, water pump, the temp sensor, had the radiator tested. Nothing has changed our problem. My husband is at a loss and the mechanic who has is now has no clue as to what else it could be. The mechanic is referring to it as a ghost problem.
View 19 RepliesI have a 2002 Legacy Outback 6Cyl with VDC. Over the weekend my dash lights for both the ABS and the VDC will not go out after the normal starting of the car. Does this mean I have a brake problem?
View 4 RepliesI have a 2002 Subaru Outback and can't get gas in the tank. The tank acts like it is already full. Any solutions?
View 1 RepliesI have a 2012 Crew cab Silverado 5.3 V8 with the towing package. When I pull my travel trailer (approx. 5000 lbs), the water temp stays 1/2 guage and the tranny temp is 170-190, however, on steep hills the water temp guage goes 2/3 to 3/4 guage for a short time and the tranny temp reaches 200-210 degrees. Is the elevated water and tranny temps okay or should I try to reduce them back to the normal range. What is the max temp I should keep the tranny at?
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