My car often backfires on downshifts. It happens as I?m decelerating in gear, and then blip the throttle to match the higher rpm of the lower gear. The car runs well and is well maintained. The spark plugs, MAF sensor, O2 sensors, and cat are all in good order. I?m confident the air/fuel mixture is working as intended by Mazda (at least under normal driving), so I?m not looking for a mechanical culprit. I?m sure it?s my style and frequency of downshift/rev matching which causes the backfires.
It happens anywhere from 1-2 times a week to 1-2 times a day depending on my driving, or on something like 2-5% of all downshifts. Personally, I rather like excitement of the backfires and the exhaust burble which accompanies them, it makes me feel like I'm in a race car. My question is whether frequent backfiring is going to drastically reduce the life of my catalytic converter and O2 sensors.
I don't mind replacing the cat 5 years from now instead of say 10, but I don?t want to have to replace it within the next 10,000 miles or less. My Miata is a 1999 model with 130,000 miles on it. The exhaust system uses stock manifold and muffler but with an AEM performance intake and monsterflow catalytic converter.
I've got a 1996 BMW 328i manual. It has 175k miles. I purchased the car about a year ago. Several weeks ago, I began hearing a screeching noise when shifting when the car is cold. The screeching happens when you let the clutch out when going into gear. It happens much more frequently when very little throttle is used. If you shift it harder, it is less likely to make the noise. If it starts making the noise, you have to shift several times for it to go away. It'll still make the noise while in gear at that point. When the car is driven for about 10 minutes, it never makes the noise afterward, until the car cools down completely overnight. The clutch does not appear to be slipping at all, and once a gear is engaged, it does not have any issues staying in gear. What is my car's issue?
View 1 RepliesThis morning I went to start my car and while the engine was warming up (it's carbureted, not fuel injected) I heard a strange sound that I can only describe as sort of a "gulp" or something. As I was driving to the doctor, at one point I was going up a slight hill so I went to accelerate and the RPMs reved up but I didn't go any faster than I was going, which was about 30-35mph. What's going on here? 1987 Honda Accord LX....
View 4 RepliesI have a 2001 Toyota celica GT auto. It has 120k miles. I seem to have an issue that really is not causing a problem except for annoyance. After coming to a stop the car seems to exhibit the signs of stalling (car idles rough, shakes a bit) however the car never stalls. Once I start driving all is well. Now I took it to the dealer and they replaced the Idle Air Control Valve which is under the throttle body. They said it was getting stuck and due to the higher mileage possible. It was replaced and the problem is still there. The funny thing is even though the car exhibits these stalling symptoms the idle does not drop below 500 rpm (both dealer and I have verified this).
View 3 Replies1992 Fod Explorer XLT: When I attempt to turn over the engine, the flywheel spins, but the engine doesn't. This is a very gently driven vehicle. I drove home hone day, backed into the driveway and unloaded the groceries. The next morning, when I tried to start it, the engine will not turn over. I dropped the starter and tested it--all good. While I had the starter off, I found I could spin the flywheel freely--appears to not be attached to the engine. It's tight with no play whatsoever. Last year I had a new flywheel installed--something I would do myself, but decided I'm at the age, I'm just not up for it. It's been running great for 18 months with no problems. There was never a noise. This just happened one morning. I thought the crank may be broken, but that seems unlikely since it was driving great until the next morning.
View 13 RepliesMy daughter has a 2004 Toyota Corolla and the "service engine" light came on. The diagnosis was that the water pump needed to be replaced.
View 1 RepliesAll of the lights that show up when starting the car are coming on when I am driving. After about 5 minutes of driving, it is hard to accelerate and the car seems to stall (like I am trying to change gears - it is automatic). The first time it happened, I took the car to a repair shop and they told me I had a leaking hose and needed a new alternator. I had them change the hose and took the car to my usual mechanic. After two days of driving my car, he could not reproduce the problem and said he didn't think the alternator needed to be changed. I started driving the car today and it happened again. When I got home and turned the car off, it would not restart.
View 6 RepliesIt drove fine for about 3 weeks, and then one day when I went to start the car, it acted like the battery was going bad. This didn't make any sense to me, because the battery had just been replaced a few months before I bought it. It was a weekend, and the car seemed fine otherwise, so I figured I'd just take it to a mechanic on Monday.The next day I drove it to the grocery store, and when I went to start it nothing happened. The electronics came on, but it wouldn't start. No cranking, no clicking, nothing. I finally got it to start by pumping the gas while turning the key. However, even after I got it to start, everything electronic in the car would shut off and then come back on again randomly, and the car would try to stall out every time I came to a stop if the electricity happened to be off. After getting it home, I couldn't get it to start again at all. I didn't sell my trusty old '97 Toyota Tercel. I have driven it across the country and back four times, it has 281,000 miles on it, and it has never given me any problems. That's what I've been driving since all of this started.
And I got the Civic to replace the Tercel. Now I'm thinking I might just get rid of the new car and keep the old one! Haha!I couldn't afford to have the Civic towed to a mechanic, so I had my mechanic friend come and look at it several weeks later. The first thing he thought it could be was the battery, so we went and had the battery tested. Sure enough, the battery was bad, so we took it to wal-mart (where the battery came from) and they replaced it with a new one.Fast forward to three weeks later: all of a sudden I'm having the same problem I had before. Slow to start this morning, and then this afternoon I'm driving down the highway and BOOM everything electronic SHUTS OFF, all gauges drop down to zero, and I feel the car lose a little power. It still drove because it was running on the alternator, but the electronics kept shutting off and coming back on again. It got to a point where about every other second it would blink on and then off again. When I got the car home, I shut it off, switched cars and continued about my business (all of this happened while I was taking a car full of kids to their parents). When I went to start the Civic after getting home, all of the lights came on but the car would not start.I don't know what to do.
So my honda 95 civic 1.5 engine is stalling out I think that it is my transmission so Im going to check that out in the morning my question is how much do I put in I watched a video on how to do it, do I need to put 3 quarts of the fluid in it or can I sneak by with just 2 quarts.
View 2 RepliesDriving on a trip, the check engine light comes on. The oil pressure is normal and the temp gauge is normal, the gas cap is properly sealed, is it ok to continue driving 2 to 3 hundred miles...
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