ETCG Answers Questions Live #73 (AMA) 9/7/2016

[EricTheCarGuy]

This live show will begin 7pm EST 9/7/2016 on YouTube Live. You can click the link on my YouTube channel to watch. https://www.youtube.com/user/EricTheCarGuy?spfreload=5

You can post your questions to this thread and I will answer them live on the show. Even if you’re not able to watch the show live, I will be posting the finished video here after the show concludes so you can see your answers.

This is the first time I’m doing things this way so we’ll see how things go. If this works out, this is how we’ll do it from here on out.

Topic

[Matt Franck]

My wife and I just bought a 2017 Acura RDX. What is your take on the cylinder deactivation on the Honda 3.5 and technology in new cars in general? I’m worried that the cyl deactivation adds a level of complexity, but I also like the gas mileage of a 4 cyl with the power of a 6. The RDX is packed with technology (parking sensors, rear camera, lane keep assist, touchscreen, heated/cooled seats etc). Complex systems mean complex fixes when there is a problem. Do you have experience with these types of systems failing in Honda’s and Acura’s?

Sumo

[Calum McQueen]

Hi Eric, thanks for your channel, great resource. I have a 2009 Fiat Panda with 46,000 miles on the clock, small petrol engine, manual gearbox. I do about 400 miles a week. A few weeks ago the engine light came on while driving but I noticed no change in the car or how it drove. The light went off again before I got home which involved a few stops and restarts so I pulled the code which was “P0352 ignition coil B primary circuit”. The car has run fine since then. My question is, do I do some more investigation/testing to find out the issue or do I just leave it as the light went out by itself?

Many thanks

Calum

[Benjamin]

Hey Eric! love your videos! I’m looking forward to the farimont being done! I have a 1997 Silverado with A 5.7 liter. I recently noticed that the service engine light does not come on at all not even when you just turn the key but not start it, there’s nothing ,the weird thing is all the other lights come on. Is it possible for the light to burn out? Or do you think the computer is in “dummy” mode? Any advice is appreciated. Thank you for what you do and stay dirty! P.s. My daughter watches your video in the fixing it forward series when you are repairing Barbara’s van where you say “thank you Chrysler I’ll take another one” over and over! For some reason she thinks it’s the funniest thing the world!

[Cameron Albea]

Hi Eric. My question has to do with orphan cars, that is, cars with limited production runs, one off engines and the like. I have a 323 GTX, which was a FIA homologation car that Mazda was required to sell 5000 of in order to compete in the world rally championship. It came with a turbocharged 1.6L 4 cylinder and an AWD transaxle. Because Mazda only sold 1243 of these in the states, finding parts to rebuild and restore has been a pain to say the least. What do you recommend to owners of these orphan cars to ease this pain? Do you keep searching for parts, get handy with a welder and modify other parts to fit, or something else entirely? Your videos have been a tremendous resource to me for the past 5 years and I can’t thank you enough for them.

Cameron A

Pic of car here

[shaquan]

how do you locate engine block grounds?

[Jeffrey Ryan]

Hi Eric, just became a premium member a few days ago and love it. I emailed you a few days ago as well. As I said on my email, I have had a few Hondas ever since I had my first car. Your videos, knowledge and advice you give us are great and gives me the confidence to tackle problems that might arise on my vehicles. I have a 2006 TSX, 1st generation TSX, it has 130k miles now and still runs great, I love this car so much. I have a few issues that I have not addressed yet on this vehicle. Around 80-90k , the power steering rack started to leak (small leak), this is a big job for me and do not have the confidence yet to tackle, so I just top off the PS reservoir every oil change, 2x a year that is. OEM PS rack assembly is around $900-$1000 btw. I have a slight play on my right front wheel, upon diagnosing more, I can see that the inner tie rod has the play and needs to be changed, I also can see the tie rod boot is wet and this is where the fluid is leaking to. Now there is a known issue on all generation TSX and TL’s , accords that has a wheel vibration on high speeds, around 65-78mph and it smooths out around 80mph and beyond. This is not a tire issue, I have a 17″ Continental DW summer tire ounted on OEM wheels for this car , did a road force wheel balance and I switch out to a 16″ steel wheel Blizzak winter tire when winter comes. Both sets of tires have this same vibration around the exact same speed. The inner axle joint has been found to be the culprit on these cars with the vibration. My question is, what do you think is contributing to this high speed wheel vibration I am experiencing? Is it the leaking PS rack? or could be the inner tie rod since it has a slight play, and lastly the inner axle joint, the Acura forums said to not change out the axle assembly but to just change the inner axle joint because of wear on this joint only. lastly, how hard of a job this is to change out the inner axle joint on one or both of the axles? Thank You!

[anthony]

Hello eric, i have a 2000 kia sephia 4 cylinder 1.8 liter engine that has a very very slight idle and hesitation. I have changed spark plugs, spark wires, coils, injectors, mass air flow sensor, throttle position sensor. Did a smoke test and has no vaccuum leaks. It mostly happens when i amslowing down at a stop light. But i can also notice hesitation when i step on the gas. There is no check engine light. I have been stumped on this for over a year. Please help. Also i took it into the dealership for them to look over and they said it was spark plugs even though i just replaced those less than a year ago.i had them replace them and still the problem persists. Please help thanks

[Marcus David Barth]

Hey, Eric!

I’m a long time viewer first time question asker! My question is this:

I have 2000 Toyota echo with roughly 280k miles. This is my daily and I really want to get this fixed since it has a hard time starting in the cold weather. I have a p0171 code, I have already replaced the intake and throttle body gaskets( they were definitely old and cracked due to age) cleaned the MAF and verified it still works. I cleared the code and it still came back after it did computer did it’s cycles. I rechecked my work on gaskets and they were still good. I inspected all vacuum hoses coming from the intake manifold and cannot find any leaks with a spray bottle and water. When I put water on the manifold, I thought I saw it run rougher but I’m not sure anymore. I can definitely hear hissing coming from the intake. I do have an exhaust leak before the catalyst (not a big leak but still a leak where the exhaust manifold meets the cat). Would that also cause a p0171? What would be your next step? New intake manifold? BTW, this is a plastic intake manifold.

P.S. I’m trying to convince my wife to go with me to next year’s meet up since I’m a such a fan of your work! I couldn’t go this year due to other obligations. Hope to see you next year and the next meet up! Thank you for all you do with your amazing content!
Good luck on Oliver!

-Marcus

[Ryan Schweter]

Hey Eric! this is my first time using a forum, so I hope I’m doing it right. I love the show, and am really enjoying the Fairmont project, and am looking forward to When you build the Mustang. I’ve got a 1961 series 2 Land Rover, and a few questions. The spare tire I have is definitely tube type (as it is on a bolt type split rim) , but I don’t know if the tires on the vehicle are or not. All the tires are around 20 or so years old, and use the old rim size based size system. The tires are all stamped 7.50 – 16 c, which is the wheel dimension and load rating, but the overall diameter is not printed. The wheels on the vehicle all have 30″ tires, however the spare is a 32″ which is what the vehicle was designed for. The problem I’m running into is trying to figure out what the tire size is in the modern notation; I’ve called Land Rover, and they have no information going back that far, and I stumped a Goodyear representative who I spoke to. Also the few conversion charts I’ve been able to find online don’t go up to tires as big as mine. Do you have any information on how to convert the sizing systems?

My friend had a 2003 ford taurus which he was sending to the junk yard, so i pulled a myriad of parts off of it to possibly install on my Landy. The trunk carpet makes a good bed liner, and fits like it was made for it! I also took the battery, alternator, head unit, radio, electric radiator fans etc. My plan is to eventually wire in the alternator from the Ford alongside the existing dynamo, to power a separate accessories circuit, and to have a redundant power source in case of dynamo failure. The alternator is PCM controlled, and I haven’t been able to find a pinout to figure out which wire is signal. My main question for this is what type of signal is it, is it PWM or voltage controlled?

My final Question is about my transmission. When I depress the clutch pedal, occasionally it makes a really loud squealing noise. I’ve found it happens most when I’m in low range and have forgotten to take off the parking brake (the torque from the low gearing makes it so I hardly notice when it’s still on) . and before you say throughout bearing, it doesn’t sound like any bad throughout bearing I’ve ever heard. It’s extremely loud, and it’s a lower pitch vibration-sounding noise that sounds almost like a starter motor when turning over a big V8, or drag out a wooden chair. It goes away completely when I release the clutch, and while it’s making the noise It seems to grind the gears more when I shift into gear, however that could be me trying to shift too hastily as first and second are unsynchronized. Since I’ve been getting better at driving it, the noise seems to be happening less and less, driving flawlessly the rest of the time. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Another problem I’ve run into is when removing the rear wheels to get to the brakes, so i can rebuild the cylinders. When I was taking the lug nuts off, Out of the 10 lug nuts on the rear two wheels, I managed to unscrew 3 lug nuts off the studs, and 7 studs out of the hub. After I separate the studs that came out from their lug nut, can I reuse the studs or should I replace them?

Also, the back brake drums where stuck on the brake pads, and I was able to improvise a puller from a ratchet strap and a piece of PVC pipe to go on the hub. Worked pretty well, and I think would be a useful tip for people without an actual puller.

Thanks again for all the help you’ve given to the people who want to do things themselves.

Ryan

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[Isiah Amon]

My name is Isiah – like Isiah Thomas the basketball player, I currently drive a 2013 Mazda 3 2.0l hatchback as my daily driver and sometimes use it for autocross. I used to own a 94 Integra GS-R about 3.5 years ago but sold it and have regretted ever since. Watching your videos about your recently acquired GS-R has created an itch in finding another honda to have fun with especially at autocross. GS-R’s are hard to come by here in Vancouver especially ones that have a clean title and have not been beat up by a previous owner. The good ones I have found, the owners know what they are worth and are asking for that much. With your experience with honda’s do you think my itch would be satisfied by buying a lower trim 94-01 integra non-vtec or possibly a civic/acura EL 92-00 with or without VTec? Civic SI-R with the 160hp engine is going for about $6k here so that is out of the question already.

Thank you for all the hard work, good information and entertainment you provide to your viewership.

Thanks,

Isiah

[Fred]

Hey Eric!! I have a 04 Suzuki Aerio, i changed the front brake pads and rotors, as well as the hardware and slide pins, and the pads were completely worn within 4 months. The pads were bendix titianium metallic II and the were worn evenly. I replaced the pads again, and after driving the car for a bit there was a burnt metal smell and the rear drums were very hot. The parking brake was not engaged, but it seems like the rear shoes were pressing against the drums. Could this be a bad master cylinder or proportioning valve??

Thanks for your help!

[Erdenebat]

Hi Eric, Love your vids and your webpage is my favorite resource to look in first.
OK here is my question:

I have Mitsubishi Mirage, LS 2000. It’s right hand, rear tire has been worn dramatically due to its excessive (5-10 degree I think) camber, I think. According to my inspection, I would say there is no play in the wheel/tire, when I was wiggling. I have been owning this car for last 6 years and haven’t done anything to its suspensions. So what would be the good starting point to look at? What should I look for? Can it be fixed by just adjusting camber bolt? This vehicle’s rear suspension is trailing arm type multi link suspension. It has Toe-in and Camber adjusting bolts.

My second question is that the vehicle has excessive tilting/rolling when the car is turning, and steering wheel has gotten heavier. Let’s say the dampers and coil spring maybe bad, how do I say is this really my dampers, spring or other suspension parts such as control arm, bushings and lower arms? is there any way to differentiate worn spring and damper from other worn suspension parts.

Thanks for the show, Good luck.

[Ross]

Hello Eric!

I was “Ross W” according to google, but now that I can choose my name I’m going by The Evenger, but you may remember I was selling my 06 Hyundai Tiburon for another with a manual transmission. I now have a 07 Tiburon SE (v6 6-speed manual) and was wondering about something I’ve noticed while driving.

When I’m in a low gear, 1st or 2nd, and I either go from coasting to gas or vice versa the gear stick moves somewhere 1-3 16ths of an inch and I’m not sure if I should be concerned about it.

Also, I’ve ran into a hydro-locking issue with the most recent storm + my CAI, it never had a full lock, but I nearly couldn’t get it home. The previous owner also removed a piece of trim that would otherwise significantly reduce the amount of water going into intake, which I just received today. It’s positioned behind the fog light in front of the wheel well and was thinking about either cutting it shorter to have the filter inside the engine bay or putting a stock intake on instead and would like your opinion on the matter if possible.

Thanks for your help and all the repair videos! It’s because of your videos that I was able to change my timing belt and save $500 doing so!
Stay Dirty

[Will]

Heyo Eric! long time subscriber, first time question
-I have a 2003 Ford f-150 XL V8 5.4L (Tritan i believe) automatic with 140k
Has a slightly rough idle but starts up first time and runs great other than that.

I am having an issue getting it to pass emissions here in CA. Every time I take it in, the inspector tells me the computer is not ready and that I need to drive it on the highway for 50 or 60 miles and come back. Well I have driven it for over a thousand miles at this point and it’s the same story every time and we have tried 3 different shops. I bought a scan tool and hooked it up to see for myself and it gives me code “P1000: OBD readiness test not complete”. I check every day and it has only completed 3 of the 10 or so checks (MIS, FUEL, CCM) these were the only ones it was able to do since the beginning so there has been no progress whatsoever for weeks at this point.

I have taken it on both long and short distance drives and the service engine light flashes intermittently, maybe 3 or 4 times in a couple seconds and then goes away for about 10 to 15 minutes. Also the battery has not been disconnected any time recently and I have not reset any codes at any time.

I am sure that it needs a tune up, but I don’t understand why it’s taking so long for the system to “ready” itself. I would like to get an idea of what else it may need from the computer so I can do all of it at once but it seems to be stuck. This is the first vehicle I’ve owned with OBD2, and I am really starting to regret my “modern” investment. My old 95 civics never had anything like this go on.
What do you think? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks for all you do, you have saved me tons of money and I can’t wait to see how the Fairmont turns out!

[Jason Whipple]

Hey eric got a 2002 hyundai elantra when i put the wipers on delay it doesnt work well it does but sometime it take a really long time for them to come on the wipers work fine on low and hi speed i did check the electrical system everything check out ok besides a worn out battery i have replaced that but still having the delay issue any idea thanks. also been meaning to update i did ask you about a intake runner code last year on my 08 dodge avenger never got to the problem the car was totalled out not to longer after you answered my question 🙁

[Author]

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