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Do you have a fuel-filter located outside the fuel-tank? If so, that’s probably the easiest thing to check — I’d start with that. If it’s clogged, then that could easily cause the problem.
If there’s no external fuel-filter, then get the fuel-pressure gauge hooked up and give that a test, like the other guys recommended.
Good luck!
Do you have a fuel-filter located outside the fuel-tank? If so, that’s probably the easiest thing to check — I’d start with that. If it’s clogged, then that could easily cause the problem.
If there’s no external fuel-filter, then get the fuel-pressure gauge hooked up and give that a test, like the other guys recommended.
Good luck!
[quote=”stiv625″ post=85584]Messing with the airbag system can be a headache on newer cars. The resistor trick works fine on older cars but I’d be scared to tamper with new systems.[/quote]
Yeah, I’ve heard that from more than one source — that the modern SRS computers can’t be fooled with just a resistor… But then others tell me that the resistor *will* work. I honestly don’t think anyone knows for sure — or the people that *do* know aren’t saying, because they don’t want that info to get out. Either way, I’m having a brand-new set of controls professionally installed on Wednesday the 22nd. (It’s just easier that way, especially since the Ford Mobility program will chip in $1,000 if I do it that way.)
But I’m seriously thinking about taking the whole thing apart after the pro’s install the new hand-controls, just to see how they dealt with fooling the computer into thinking the airbag is still in there and connected. Maybe it’ll just be a resistor that plugs into the connector that the airbag normally plugs into, or maybe it’s more sophisticated than that — I’m curious to see for myself when it’s done. I’ll be taking plenty of pics and posting them here, if I do decide to take it all apart and find out how it works.
[quote=”stiv625″ post=85584]Messing with the airbag system can be a headache on newer cars. The resistor trick works fine on older cars but I’d be scared to tamper with new systems.[/quote]
Yeah, I’ve heard that from more than one source — that the modern SRS computers can’t be fooled with just a resistor… But then others tell me that the resistor *will* work. I honestly don’t think anyone knows for sure — or the people that *do* know aren’t saying, because they don’t want that info to get out. Either way, I’m having a brand-new set of controls professionally installed on Wednesday the 22nd. (It’s just easier that way, especially since the Ford Mobility program will chip in $1,000 if I do it that way.)
But I’m seriously thinking about taking the whole thing apart after the pro’s install the new hand-controls, just to see how they dealt with fooling the computer into thinking the airbag is still in there and connected. Maybe it’ll just be a resistor that plugs into the connector that the airbag normally plugs into, or maybe it’s more sophisticated than that — I’m curious to see for myself when it’s done. I’ll be taking plenty of pics and posting them here, if I do decide to take it all apart and find out how it works.
[quote=”Raistian77″ post=85357]Guys, his hand controls pass within a few inches of the knee bolster.
You REALLY don’t want an airbag going off with shrapnel right in front of it.
BTW, I think his are the permanently designed units (the pic above is a portable unit) and they are setup really close to the bolster, if an airbag goes off right there it could drive the controls into him or jam up the accelerator.
edit
this is probably more like what he is getting installed[/quote]
Thanks for those pictures, Raistian77 — I think with the ability to see what we’re talking about, more people will understand why I have to disable the knee airbag.
The first pic there is fairly close to the portable controls I have in my car right now — minus the strap that’s holding the pictured controls to the steering column. My portable controls more-or-less sit in your lap — far enough away from the knee airbag that I’m not worried about it. But the permanent ones will definitely be an inch or less from the area where the airbag deploys, and that’s definitely not a good thing.
I will take pics of the dashboard before-and-after the install of the permanent controls. I might also take it all apart after the professional install, just to see what they did — if I do that, I’ll definitely take lots of pics of that too. Maybe even a video. I’ll post a reply to this thread next week sometime, after all the work is done.
Thanks for all the replies.
[quote=”Raistian77″ post=85357]Guys, his hand controls pass within a few inches of the knee bolster.
You REALLY don’t want an airbag going off with shrapnel right in front of it.
BTW, I think his are the permanently designed units (the pic above is a portable unit) and they are setup really close to the bolster, if an airbag goes off right there it could drive the controls into him or jam up the accelerator.
edit
this is probably more like what he is getting installed[/quote]
Thanks for those pictures, Raistian77 — I think with the ability to see what we’re talking about, more people will understand why I have to disable the knee airbag.
The first pic there is fairly close to the portable controls I have in my car right now — minus the strap that’s holding the pictured controls to the steering column. My portable controls more-or-less sit in your lap — far enough away from the knee airbag that I’m not worried about it. But the permanent ones will definitely be an inch or less from the area where the airbag deploys, and that’s definitely not a good thing.
I will take pics of the dashboard before-and-after the install of the permanent controls. I might also take it all apart after the professional install, just to see what they did — if I do that, I’ll definitely take lots of pics of that too. Maybe even a video. I’ll post a reply to this thread next week sometime, after all the work is done.
Thanks for all the replies.
[quote=”wysetech” post=85079]I really don’t think the air bag has enough force to damage your hand controls. After all they aren’t filled with explosive gases. They don’t want them to break your knees.[/quote]
The problem is where the hand-controls are attached to the car, vs. where your knees would be before the bag deploys.
The hand-controls need to attach to the car right where the knee airbag is currently located. Even if I could figure out a way to attach them to the car without removing the knee airbag, they’d be located less than an inch from the place where the airbag deploys — that’s where airbags exert the most force, within the first two inches or so of their opening. It’s more than enough force to kill a person, were they that close — it’ll be more than enough force to break these aluminum hand-controls. Or at least bend them to the point where they might “floor” the accelerator pedal, which would be a very bad thing.
[quote=”wysetech” post=85079]I really don’t think the air bag has enough force to damage your hand controls. After all they aren’t filled with explosive gases. They don’t want them to break your knees.[/quote]
The problem is where the hand-controls are attached to the car, vs. where your knees would be before the bag deploys.
The hand-controls need to attach to the car right where the knee airbag is currently located. Even if I could figure out a way to attach them to the car without removing the knee airbag, they’d be located less than an inch from the place where the airbag deploys — that’s where airbags exert the most force, within the first two inches or so of their opening. It’s more than enough force to kill a person, were they that close — it’ll be more than enough force to break these aluminum hand-controls. Or at least bend them to the point where they might “floor” the accelerator pedal, which would be a very bad thing.
Well, apparently if I want to do it myself, I have to jump through about 3 dozen legal hurdles — including getting lawyers involved — in order to relieve the dealer and manufacturer of the liability they’d incur by simply telling me how to do it. (Ridiculous!).
The dealership service department won’t touch it — they won’t even TALK to me about it — until we get the dealership’s legal counsel involved. And contacting the manufacturer directly has resulted in a “you need to talk to your dealership” reply, which is pretty much what I expected anyway.
I can go pay a professional hand-control installation shop to install a brand-new set of hand controls — apparently they’re licensed by the Feds to legally modify any airbag system that will interfere with the hand-controls. The dealership and manufacturer won’t even be involved at all, so they have no issues with me choosing this route — in fact, it’s what they’ve been recommending all along. But it’s going to cost me $1,548.74 at the professional shop, which I’d rather not have to spend (obviously).
The hand-control-installation shop won’t install the controls I already own (which would save me about $1,200!), because of their liability concerns — they won’t install controls they didn’t sell, because their insurance company won’t let them. Imagine if an old hand-control breaks, and I can’t stop the car, and the resulting accident kills someone else or myself — they’d be taking on that liability, and their insurance company won”t allow that.
Ford has a program called Ford Mobility Motoring, and they will reimburse me $1,000 of the $1,548.74, thus bringing my total cost down to $548.74…
So, my choice now is months of legal wrangling (and probably a bunch of lawyer fees), or $548.74 and it’s done. I’m choosing the $548.74. They’ll be doing the install next Wednesday (the 22nd). I’ll post some pics on Thursday the 23rd, if anyone is interested.
Thanks for all the replies.
Well, apparently if I want to do it myself, I have to jump through about 3 dozen legal hurdles — including getting lawyers involved — in order to relieve the dealer and manufacturer of the liability they’d incur by simply telling me how to do it. (Ridiculous!).
The dealership service department won’t touch it — they won’t even TALK to me about it — until we get the dealership’s legal counsel involved. And contacting the manufacturer directly has resulted in a “you need to talk to your dealership” reply, which is pretty much what I expected anyway.
I can go pay a professional hand-control installation shop to install a brand-new set of hand controls — apparently they’re licensed by the Feds to legally modify any airbag system that will interfere with the hand-controls. The dealership and manufacturer won’t even be involved at all, so they have no issues with me choosing this route — in fact, it’s what they’ve been recommending all along. But it’s going to cost me $1,548.74 at the professional shop, which I’d rather not have to spend (obviously).
The hand-control-installation shop won’t install the controls I already own (which would save me about $1,200!), because of their liability concerns — they won’t install controls they didn’t sell, because their insurance company won’t let them. Imagine if an old hand-control breaks, and I can’t stop the car, and the resulting accident kills someone else or myself — they’d be taking on that liability, and their insurance company won”t allow that.
Ford has a program called Ford Mobility Motoring, and they will reimburse me $1,000 of the $1,548.74, thus bringing my total cost down to $548.74…
So, my choice now is months of legal wrangling (and probably a bunch of lawyer fees), or $548.74 and it’s done. I’m choosing the $548.74. They’ll be doing the install next Wednesday (the 22nd). I’ll post some pics on Thursday the 23rd, if anyone is interested.
Thanks for all the replies.
BlipThrottle:
Just a shot in the dark here, but have you recently replaced the tires? I once had symptoms like this in a car where new tires were put on, but they were wider than the stock tires — the edges of the tires were rubbing on the edges of the inner fender-well when I made turns, causing a vibrating/shuddering just like you’re describing.
Just my $0.02 worth — it’s most likely something else, but if you have had the wheels and/or tires replaced recently, check their size and make sure they’re exactly the stock size.
Best of luck to you.
BlipThrottle:
Just a shot in the dark here, but have you recently replaced the tires? I once had symptoms like this in a car where new tires were put on, but they were wider than the stock tires — the edges of the tires were rubbing on the edges of the inner fender-well when I made turns, causing a vibrating/shuddering just like you’re describing.
Just my $0.02 worth — it’s most likely something else, but if you have had the wheels and/or tires replaced recently, check their size and make sure they’re exactly the stock size.
Best of luck to you.
My opinion? Replace the compressor, the dryer, and both expansion valves.
Flush out the system, of course — but remove the expansion valves *before* you flush everything out, because if there is debris in the system it will get stuck in those expansion valves. Yes that makes flushing the system harder — you’d have to flush each evaporator core separately (I’m assuming there are two evaporator cores, since there are two expansion valves), and the condenser separately. But I don’t see a need to replace the condenser unless it’s been damaged somehow. It’s no more likely to have been damaged than either of the evaporator cores, and I don’t see a need to replace it or the two evaporator cores, unless they’ve been damaged — a flush should remove any debris from them, if it’s in there.
But I’m not a professional A/C tech — so maybe there’s a pro A/C guy on here who has a better opinion than I do.
Best of luck to you.
[quote=”Boothe” post=84937]Ive got a 01’Sequoia that has an AC compressor making a slight growling noise when the clutch engages. I was thinking its the compressor so I took it to a Firestone shop and their opinion was the same. the quote of almost $1400 about blew me away. So Iam more than willing to take this on. Iam planning on doing everything except evac and recharge. I was planning on putting on new compressor, dryer, front expansion valve and orings. My question is should I replace the condenser and rear expansion valve also.Or should I wait to see how clean the system is when I flush it. The ac is cooling fine so I think I may have caught it early enough to not have replace the extra parts. Iam going to flush with ac flush and compressor air but in reading I should not run it through the expansion valves, dryer, condenser or compressor. Firestone quoted about $800 for parts. I have priced parts out for myself to be under $300 for all new Denso brand parts. If I wait until I flush it and I see any metal would I be well advised to replace it all.
Thanks for any help[/quote]My opinion? Replace the compressor, the dryer, and both expansion valves.
Flush out the system, of course — but remove the expansion valves *before* you flush everything out, because if there is debris in the system it will get stuck in those expansion valves. Yes that makes flushing the system harder — you’d have to flush each evaporator core separately (I’m assuming there are two evaporator cores, since there are two expansion valves), and the condenser separately. But I don’t see a need to replace the condenser unless it’s been damaged somehow. It’s no more likely to have been damaged than either of the evaporator cores, and I don’t see a need to replace it or the two evaporator cores, unless they’ve been damaged — a flush should remove any debris from them, if it’s in there.
But I’m not a professional A/C tech — so maybe there’s a pro A/C guy on here who has a better opinion than I do.
Best of luck to you.
[quote=”Boothe” post=84937]Ive got a 01’Sequoia that has an AC compressor making a slight growling noise when the clutch engages. I was thinking its the compressor so I took it to a Firestone shop and their opinion was the same. the quote of almost $1400 about blew me away. So Iam more than willing to take this on. Iam planning on doing everything except evac and recharge. I was planning on putting on new compressor, dryer, front expansion valve and orings. My question is should I replace the condenser and rear expansion valve also.Or should I wait to see how clean the system is when I flush it. The ac is cooling fine so I think I may have caught it early enough to not have replace the extra parts. Iam going to flush with ac flush and compressor air but in reading I should not run it through the expansion valves, dryer, condenser or compressor. Firestone quoted about $800 for parts. I have priced parts out for myself to be under $300 for all new Denso brand parts. If I wait until I flush it and I see any metal would I be well advised to replace it all.
Thanks for any help[/quote]Valde:
Thanks for your reply. I did think about chancing it with my digital VOM — but it still scares the heck out of me thinking of sticking those leads up in there. 🙂
I also thought about just buying a large pack of various-sized resistors and trying multiple values until the airbag light didn’t come on…
But like you and Rastian77 both have said — going through the dealer is probably my best bet for the sake of liability and legality.
Thanks.