Esmeralda Pigram: Additional Details: Yes the battery is being drained overnight, that unfortunately is what started this whole process. I will try your guys tips!
Sunshine Holets: good answer mike. the hard part is finding a good honest shop.
Angelyn Ducas: ok belts you can see them start to get torn up. brakes have a medal flap in them so when you hit the brakes and there low it makes a screching sound.
Clark Lachowski: They have a class now on community college,you dont have to be mechanic.That will help you a lot of time,its just like throwing your trash every night.But it will saves like 8,000 and keep your car for a long time plus when you buy another brand new time its all the same,plus if you do it ok,you can go anywhere with it.its like you do labor for you.
Ollie Hamiel: 1
Marvel Mcaulay: ok first car maintenance is what keeps it on the road you typ einto search boxcar maintenancehow to do car maintenancesee what is listed that ! should be donethen with each thing or problem yopu can type how to name of what needs an d learn how to do it yourselfsuch as how to check brake padshow to replace brake padshow to remove brake rotorshow to bleed brakesmy wife does her own brake jobs at homethere is many things one can do at home with a little know howyou can learn how to check many things your self or know when they need checking there is how to's and video'stypehow to check brake padshow to check belts and hoseseasy righthow to check a used carhow to checkhow to repairhow to replacehow to removehow to installname of partadd videohow to check brake pads videoadd model namehow to check brake pad dodge videoyou can find alot of info and videos real easy really there hundreds of thing youcan do with a littl eknow howhow to replace spark plugshow to change motor oilhow to install a car radioknowing you cars needs type into search boxhow to maintain a carwil give you alot of things many of which you can do ! or learn how to check or kno wwhen it needs and thats what kee! ps you car on the road longer and that saves money...Show more
Coleman Senn: Instead of a chain store (Pep Boys, Big O Tire, Etc) ask around and see if you can find a reputable independent mechanic. Then explain to him that you want him to look over your car for preventative maintenance that you could do. If your car is approaching 100,000 miles, a timing belt is a good thing to think about. These are expensive but can catch you off guard if they are not changed before they break. Also, depending on your engine, it could cause engine damage if left to break. Find out what your dealer recommends for changing your belts and hoses and get them done at the mileage recommended. Also, do not forget about your transmission. Many transmission problems can be avoided and you can extend the life of it with regular fluid and filter changes on an automatic. Make sure they change the filter as many places will simply replace the fluid through the dipstick of the transmissi! on and forget the filter. I personally would do this every 60,000-80,000 miles. If most people would do what you are thinking of doing, their cars would give them many trouble free years....Show more
David Boehler: Alternators can draw a battery down if one of the 3 diodes is bad. On cars newer than 1996 which have multiple computers or "modules" you need to let the vehicle sit for 30 minutes after turning the key off for the computer and modules to "go to sleep" or you will still have the test light lit even though there is no draw. If you've had the battery go dead overnight I would be inclined to disconnect all the wires and connectors from the alternator and put electrical tape on the main hot wire. Leave the fuse in and see if the battery is ok in the morning when it would usually be dead. When a diode is bad in the alternator you won't get 13.7 or more volts at the battery terminals with the motor running and at 2,500 rpm. If you have 12.2ish volts at 2,500 rp! m I'd replace the alternator....Show more
Carmelina Enoch: First ! of all, if the light only barely and faintly glowed, that may be normal.The radio, alarm, clock, and emission controls stay on all the time, and will always draw a tiny bit of current.It is only if the light is bright that you have to worry about draining the battery over night.Second, is that if your battery is not running down over night, ignore it.Third is that a quick solution is to just cut the main wire to the fuse block, and run it to a heavy duty kill switch under the dash. That not only solves the dying battery problem, but makes it much harder for someone to steal your vehicle.But forth, what you then need to do in order to track it down is to separate the individual wires hooked up to that fuse, and one by one trace it down to a single item that is drawing too much.Often is it is insulation cut from a body panel or something. An alternator can blow a diode and become a short, so you can try disconnecting that as well....Show more
Lillie Yarde: hahahaha, w! hen your preforming that type of test, you need to make sure that there is no hood light, because the hood is open, and the doors are completely closed, hence door light, or dome, etc. etc. your on the right track, but your alt. always has power from the batt. (batt. fuse 50 amp.) put that back in,,,check all above, then run test again ...report back here immediately!!
Tory Clapper: The big 50 Amps fuse that you pulled, it'll supply the Battery voltage to several circuits in the vehicle so it was not the right one.. You have to narrow it down to ONE circuit.. This is how: Please read and watch the video. You'll find the draw. But first thing you'll need is a wiring diagram for the vehicle: Free download at:http://documentbuzz.com/wiring-diagram/1997-gmc-sa...The vehicle has a parasitic draw on the battery. Here is how to check and locate the draw:What is parasitic draw? All vehicles draw some power from the batteries when the car is shut off. Certain accessories such ! as clocks, radios remote door openers and alarms always need power. The! normal power used is called parasitic draw. It is always a very low draw so it doesn't run the battery down. If you install accessories like big Amps, or plug things like charging I phone or Laptop and portable refrigerators into the accessory socket and operate them too long without the engine running you can drain your batteries to the point where the engine won't start.If there is an electrical short in the vehicle or a malfunctioning accessory it could be drawing much more than its normal load causing a drain on the batteries. If you leave your door open and the inside lights stay on all night you could drain the battery down till the car won't start. My 2008 draws 3.5 amps with the front door open. Usually what happens is the truck is dead when you first go to start it.The first thing to do is a test for a major short. Remove the positive and negative cables from the batteries. Put an Ohm-meter across the positive and negative cable. If your reading is close to 0 Ohms! then you have a direct short. I read 150 ohms on my stock 98 Mustang. You need to trace the short before you can perform the following tests.A Digital Volt Ohm Meter (DVOM) is needed in order to check for parasitic draw, you need to be careful so you don't ruin your meter. At the risk of sounding like an elementary teacher, here's what you need to do:If you don't already have one, get a digital meter capable of reading up to 10 amps DC. Sears or Radio Shacks sells them for less than $50 - I bought one on sale for $14.99 that I leave in my truck.Your battery must have a reasonable charge for this test - it won't work if your battery is dead. Quick proof If your dome light operates normally, you're fine. My truck wouldn't start and the batteries were down to 5.5 volts so I put a charger on the batteries overnight. They are now 12.2 V. When I started the truck the voltage went to 14.3 V so the alternator is working.Check to make sure ALL loads are turned off. Unplug anything ! you may have plugged into the cigarette lighter. Remove your keys from ! the ignition. Close all doors so the dome lights are off.Disconnect the thick positive (Red) cable that goes down to the starter. To start make sure your meter is set to the 10 amp DC range. Some meters have a special connector for the red probe when you are reading current. The meter pictured on the left has one jack for high amps and one for low amps. If yours does, make sure the meter end of the probe is in the right connector. You can either do this next step by just holding the meter probes to their respective contact points (you won't get a shock from 12 volts) or you can use probes with alligator clips to snap them in place so your hands are free to do something else.Connect the positive probe to the battery - either battery is fine, electrically speaking, since they are connected together by the negative (Black) wires. Polarity on digital meters doesn't matter because they are auto sensing.Connect the negative probe to the red cable that is still connected to the ve! hicle. Make sure this cable and your probe do not touch ground. If there is a severe current draw (more than 10 amps) it will either pop a fuse in your meter or destroy it outright. That's why you need to test for a short, otherwise, your meter should now be reading the current drain on your battery.If your vehicle has an alarm system or remote locks, the current draw may be around 2-3 amps for a few minutes after you last close the door. This is normal. If you're not sure, wait at least 20 minutes after you last open or close a door before you take a reading.If everything is normal, you will read less than 50 milliamps, or .050 amps. If the current drain is higher than that, you need to find out what is draining your batteries: You can start by pulling fuses until the load goes away. If that doesn't reduce the draw, you need to look for a wire that is corroded or frayed.Good luck and this is a video how to check :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdIKNnwEjIs
Rolanda Mer! ritt: I drive a 99 Honda Civic EX and my passenger side fender wont ali! gn with my hood. I think it is messed up somehow but it looks perfect. I don't want 2 spend the money 2 buy a new 1 so I asked a few people if there was anything I could do about it and they said I could get a little rubber boot that will go into a hole near the top of my hood underneath or something like that. I was just wondering where I would find something like this or maybe there is another way i could do this. I'm getting ready to sell my car so I need to get it looking perfect. Thank you...Show more
Alisia Sutphen: If you don't know anything about cars the service book is your best friend - assuming it's been properly kept from the beginning. Belts and fluid changes are usually listed in distance and/or time intervals, which is a very good place to start. Brake pads etc are more driver dependent and can't really be changed after a fixed interval, they need inspection. If you intend to keep the car, and if it's in decent condition but haven't got a service book ! you might want to splurge on a more thorough service to sort of "reset" the maintenance schedule. After that you can, with some confidence, continue with the scheduled maintenance as suggested by the manufacturer. AAA or a similar organisation can usually offer provide an impartial evaluation of your car for a fee....Show more
Virgilio Echter: I have a 99 bravada, can you tell me what side is bank 2 and which sensor is number 1
Buster Exline: You must have about 60,000 miles on your car, when is the next recommended service? There are recommended service lists in your manual. There is probably a big one somewhere around 60,000 to 80,000 miles. I am a big fan of taking the car to the dealer for some of the serious work. That would be the service where the timing belt is checked and replaced if necessary. The dealer sees more of your type of cars than a general mechanic, and also knows the more frequent problems that could leave you stranded. Things they have fo! und on my car that needed replacing were torn axle boots that keep dirt! out of joints, oxygen sensors that keep the fuel/air mixture correct so gas doesn't go down the tailpipe, wrecking the catalytic converter, and exhaust leaks that could leak bad stuff into the cabin. Don't hesitate to fix those.There are other things they will see on the car's memory that may warn of a need to change spark plugs or clean the fuel system. Also, like you mentioned, brakes get measured. On my car the thickness starts out around 12 milimeters, and is gradually worn down until at about two milimeters, they recommend not only new pads, but new rotors too. Those are the tough calls where they get a serious expression on their face that they practice in the mirror at home and tell you they really recommend doing it. Key word there is recommmend. If there are other expensive repairs, I sometimes let them go. Brake pads often have a warning level where a metal tab squeels on the rotors. That is the real time to change them out.If the engine starts to miss - stumble! a little when it starts, or during acceleration, it might be time for a tuneup, or depending on your engine, an additive to clean the small openings the gas is sprayed through.A 2003 car with a computer should catch that and turn on the check engine light. It is always good to have the computer memory read if the check engine light comes on. The several times mine has come on, it was usually something like the misfire code, and I discovered that buying Chevron gas keeps that from happening. One time though, it was water in my electronics and I let it go until the bill was about $1,500 for a new PC board.Other things will go out without warning, and the dealer would not see it even in the last hundred miles before it happens. Like fuel pump failure. That is when having AAA pays off and you get towed in quickly.I look at the few infrequent $500-800 service visits as payments to keep the car running well past 100,000 miles. I know how hard it is choosing not to do some thing! s they want to charge you more for. I know my car pretty well, and stil! l have trouble turning down suggested changes. Go in with a healthy skepticism, but be willing to invest in things that keep the car running longer.If there are odd things you hear, or feel, or just suspect, ask questions here. There are several people who know a lot about those things and may have heard them in their car too. Good luck, I would love to hear what you choose to do....Show more
Luke Gacusan: that,s when you jack it up, pull the wheels and look at the brakes. usually the pads has a squealer on them telling you it,s time for new pads and the back, if you have drum brakes it depends if they are bonded or riveted. bonded will read closer then riveted.
Hai Biggart: bank 2 sensor one on a v block should be on the passenger side on the manifold itself.
Patrick Bitsui: I found some great car maintenance and repair how-to videos that can really help you:http://www.sutree.com/videos/Maintenance_and_Repai...I know its stupid...but they thought me how t! o change a flat tire and much more.Hope they help you like they've helped me :) Good luck
Tyler Burkman: Best answer is a good bodyman for you. It will take him about a half hour and the money you save will be worth it. Plus they have supplies you normally would take a day to look for. good luck
Hal Rouse: Ask your friends and neighbors for recommendations on a mechanic. You want to be able to find a mechanic who does great work and doesn't make up issues in order to get more money out of your pocket.I used to have a mechanic like that were I lived. But then, I also needed one because the car I had was almost junk....Show more
Anibal Katayama: I have a 1997 GMC Safari, a short test that was recommended to me was to disconnect the negative wire from the negative terminal of the battery and after making sure everything was turned off to connect the test light to the negative terminal of the battery and also to the negative end of the wire basically linking t! hem back up with the test light being the middle man. If there is light! in the bulb than we have short. Which there was.I proceeded to take a fuse out one by one until the light went off. The fuse that was taking out which caused the light to turn off was the BATT (50A) fuse. So there is a short in the battery circuit.My question is simply this... what could be causing it. The alternator? The wires themselves? The fuse box? I can't find any noticeable wires that are exposed or damaged and touching any metal. I have the manual for my car but the wiring diagram are a little hard to read. I don't know how to pin it down any further. Please help....Show more
Toshiko Reimers: Brake wear inspection is as simple as removing a wheel. There is an inspection hole in the center of the brake calipers where brake pad thickness can be checked. The condition of the serpentine belt is easy also. You or the inspector looks at the driven side (surface that turns the pulleys) and looks for cracks and check marks.Brakes can be easily checked free of charge ! every time the tires are rotated. I imagine your car is quite new so it has only one belt which can be inspected every time the oil is changed. Usually a serpentine belt will last 40,- 50,000 miles. Brake wear however depends on car use. If more local town driving is done, brakes wear faster than mostly over the highway use. I can't give you the positive mileage your car may need brakes as it depends on the year make and model of the car and the type of brake pads that are on it at the present time.Any other recommended service work can be looked-up in your glove compartment service schedule handbook. A registered dealer or private mechanic is the place to go for any type of service work. Fast oil change, muffler and chain tire shops should be avoided. Too many terrible mistakes. Dealers are the first to receive factory recalls and up to date adjustment changes....Show more
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