ETCG Answers Questions Live #81 (AMA) 2/1/2017

[EricTheCarGuy]

The show will go live at 7pm EST. This will be another AMA style show, but the main focus is on answering your automotive questions. I’ll answer as many questions as I can during the hour. Once the hour is up, I’ll post the finished video to this thread and lock it until the next show which will be in 2 weeks, Feb 15, 2017.

Hope to see you there!

Topic

[Girts]

Hi,

I have BMW 1996 e36 with 2.0L engine(M52B20) automatic. I have an issue, where after some driving, when I stop at traffic light and leave it in Drive, the oil pressure light start to flicker, if i rev the engine a little the light goes away. If i put in Neutral the light doesn’t come on.
First time that happened I stopped the car, checked the oil level, it was about half the level, I topped it off, started the car and it was all okey.
Then for about month no problems, changed the oil and filter. Put in 10W40, previous it was 5W40. Drove for a while and it was okey.
Then recently the problem presented itself again. I stopped the car, after a while checked the oil level, it was okey. Started the car, drove and all was good.

Might this be due to faulty oil pressure sensor? Or what should I check?
There is no conditions when this happens, it just happens and then goes away.
BTW the engine has about 260k km on it.

Thanks in advance. 🙂

[Guillaune Feral]

Hi Eric,

Quick question: Do you have any vague project for the Mustang? The body seems to be in acceptable shape, maybe a budget build, naturally aspirated, or supercharged (but then it wouldn’t be a budget build anymore), since you’ve already got the turbo covered with the Fairmont? Or something crazy like an electric car… they seem to be all the rage, it would be fun to experiment and see what you could come up with, while going a bit outside of your usual area of expertise. I don’t know, I’d hate to see it stay the parts car forever.
Whatever the case, thanks for the knowledge you spread. I have absolutely no formal mechanical back ground, learnt what little I know from getting my hands dirty because my dreams are bigger than my bank account, but ever since I discovered your channel, I’ve learnt tons of practical and theoretical stuff that helped me dealing with many mechanical issues, projects, and saved me a lot of money. Keep up the great work. 🙂

[Jerry]

Hi Eric, Gerald here,

I’ve got an 07 f150 with the 9.75″ diff. It is starting to leak and was wondering weather or not using a gasket instead of RTV was a good idea, I tend to lay things on thick, Also what do in need to torque the bolts down to?

Also at around 40-50mph if I slightly give it gas it feels like the transmittion jerks a bit. It’s not something that happens frequently but more like speratically, i could go all week without it happenening, should i start looking for a new transmission or would a fluid change fix it? Thanks for the reply and keep the videos comming.

[Erik Hagen]

Good Evening Eric

In my manual Audi, I’m experiencing that the shifter is binding a bit as I’m changing gears. Sometimes I just fail completely to put it in gear and the grinding noise happens. I’ve checked the gear linkage/mechanism from the shifter to the transmission and it looks fine (nice and stiff).
So if the shifter is being stubborn, could there be a problem with the selector mechanism inside the transmission or could it be that the clutch is bad (If the gear linkage mechanism is fine that is)?

I guess this stuff happens to pretty much all old manual vehicles. Mine is a 98 model that has around 110k miles on it.

Anyway it makes quick acceleration much more difficult than it would if it was pristine.
Your thoughts?

Many thanks!

[Ryan Goburdhone]

Hi Eric, loving the #FairmontProject and wish you all the success to finish it from the UK, You really have helped me loads as an aspiring vehicle technician at 17 years old and I really hope you see this, but anyway I have a 2012 VW polo and basically anytime I use power in the car like using the electric windows, the AC, and especially when I turn the steering wheel the headlights dim and by quite a bit, my first thoughts were obviously altenator failing, and battery but instead I took it to a trusted garage and they said it was my power steering pump that had broken and a new one would cost me nearly £600 as you can tell I didnt do that, they also said that the battery the person who previously owned car was the wrong one and even though they put the right one in it made no difference. Recently i have noticed the steering has gone a bit heavier and on one occasion it sort of jammed, but once again im not too sure, I was wondering if you had ever experienced this on a car? and what do you think the problem could be? Once again thank you so much for your awesome videos 🙂

[Jason Guiry]

Hi Eric,

What would cause violent shuddering when accelerating more than 15% pedal travel? We’re talking space shuttle launch type shuddering. Never fails to start, never stalls, no codes. Fuel pressure indicates fine at idle and revving from a stop. Not checked while driving. New OEM fuel filter installed. Could this still be a fuel issue when the engine is under sudden load, or ignition leads/module breaking down? Thanks for your help as always.

Stay awesome.

[Ian]

Hi Eric,
I have a 98 c1500 with the vortec 350.
I have an issue with my front tires wearing on the outermost edge. When I turn the wheels hard over, the front of the truck kind of hops from side-to-side. I don’t see any obviously broken suspension parts, and I have had it aligned, but it made no difference. I have replaced all tie rods and ball joints previously. It seems like there is too much camber while turning, but I could be wrong.
Good luck with Oliver, and stay dirty!

[Sam]

I just wanted to say thanks for the help with my 95 ford f150 and I would like to know what would be your favorite car you saw at the auction? Thanks for all the great videos they have helped alot and saved me hundreds of dollars. Keep up the great work.

[Kendell]

Hi Eric,

I have a 92 Chevy 305 that doesn’t heat up. The temperature gauge only goes up to about 135-140 degrees and the heat coming from the air vents is lukewarm. The water pump and t-stat were replaced a couple years ago and I thought that could be the reason I wasn’t getting any heat. I removed the 195 degree T-stat and checked it in a pot of water and it worked just fine. Reinstalled it and bled the cooling system as per your instructions, but I didn’t get any better results. I’m very perplexed as to where the engine heat is going, and am wondering what to do next.

Thank you for your videos, I’ve learned a lot from them!

[Nidish]

Hi Eric,

I have a 2003 Mitsubishi Lancer and I hear a slight noise sort of a tack-tack when I first start the vehicle but after I drive i, the sound goes away. It only happens during first startup in the morning. Any idea to what it might be?

Thanks

[Joseph Imbriale]

Hey Eric!

Love your channel and your videos! I’m currently a mechanical engineering student and always watch your videos to learn more about cars and to learn how to repair my own!

I own a 2004 Acura TL and know they have issues with transmissions. I was looking into buying a transmission cooler for it to try and extend the life of the trans. What do you think about that? Would it help?? The car has 107k miless on it and so far so good with the trans. I anyways stay on top of the fluid as well. Let me know what you think! I was also told Hinda built in a cooling/heating unit for the fluid at the factory… it looks like a hockey puck. Know anything about that?

Keep up the good work!! Thanks again,

Joe

[Tommy]

Hey Eric,

Long time viewer/follower – FIRST TIME poster!!

I have a 1990 Mustang 5.0 that I’ve been fixing up. I did the fuel sender, pump, and filter the weekend before you posted the how to video on that! (dammit) haha

I’ve now been working on fixing some vacuum leaks that seem to be causing the car to run super rich. I’ve got some smoke from the exhaust, and a strong fuel smell from the exhaust as well. She stumbles at WOT as well and spits fuel smelling smoke. I have a few codes that are showing the thermactor system is disconnected. Would that cause it to run rich?

Video of the car running attached. Doesn’t seem to be blue (oil) smoke

Thanks!
Tommy (Modmotor70)

[Jukka Kivimäki]

Hi,

I have a Olds 307 V8 engine in my project Chevy and I’m about to place the intake manifold back on with a new gasket.
What is your opinion on should I use silicone along with the new gasket or rely just the metal gasket to seal it properly?

Second question: I have an old Chevy pickup with this huge 6.5 litre N/A diesel V8 engine. Is there anyway to check timing chain slack without taking the timing cover off? I know you have a video for this but that method only works for gasoline engines.

Just want to thank you for your work. You motivate me to work on my project car and to learn and study more about cars and correct methods to work on them! BTW the Finland episode is very cool and fun to watch because I’m from Finland and the places in the video are familiar.

[Dave Beukers]

Hi Eric, Cleaning the engine bay, I want to clean the engine bay in my Holden Statesman but not sure how the best way to go about it, without drowning things. ive seen many people use degreasers then power washers to sppray the engine bay and seems to go ok. what are your thoughts and or tips? Love the truck and that little thing behind you called Oliver.

Dave

[Ian Newhall]

Hey Eric, love your videos! I have a 2005 Chevy Malibu with a 3.5 V6. It has ran good ever since i bought it two years ago, but occasionally when I go to start it, it either doesn’t start or sputters and dies. There are no codes that my reader picked up but there is a heavy gas smell when this occurs. Any ideas what could be going on?

[Author]

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