[Erin]

For me it depends on how smooth the process went.
If there were only a couple minor set backs then yes there is a feeling of accomplishment when it is done and everything cleaned up.

BUT if there were serious set backs, it took way longer than expected, just one thing after another going wrong, at the end of such a job it is more a feeling of, “Well at least it is done but what is going to screw up next?”

Another factor is when we are doing a job at our leisure vs. being pressured to finish. Working on a hobby car and having problems is not a big deal but for those of us who own only ONE car, if it is down for repairs, we either have to finish before having to go to work or miss work. And God forbid something else screw up during the repair and we have to find a way to get to the parts store or junk yard.

When you mention how there is very little in life that gives you that kind of satisfaction – I think cause by our age we are jaded enough that we just don’t celebrate victory so quickly. Our first repairs would SEEM to go well but then fire it up and hear some God-awful noise and then get that “sinking” feeling.
Or like at our jobs we accomplish something only to be told to do it all over again or that it took too long.

So for me overall when finishing something other than leisure work, the feeling is, “Oh boy, hopefully nothing went wrong”.

[Erin]

It really is hard to say if that was expensive or cheap without knowing what kind of work was done.
If it was just changing out the pads and turning the rotors/drums, even on all four wheels, $350 does seem a bit, but not extremely, steep. I assume that for two hours it took, that is probably all that was needed.

But even with all that in mind, it is true that shops tend to overcharge for services. Plus they tend to look for other problems so they can make more money.

The best thing to save on auto repair is learning to work on things yourself. The work is sometimes pretty hard but parts are not usually real expensive.

On most vehicles, brakes are a relatively easy DIY project if you already have some tools and the time to mess with it.

[Erin]

There is always apprehension before a long journey. Always, “What if…?”
The good news is that highway driving is usually easier on a vehicle than city.

How many miles or kilometers are on this van?

So anyways, looking through some complaints on this vehicle, they seem to be spread over different systems, but nothing really centralized.
Some vehicles have VERY common failure or problem points but the Transit doesn’t seem to have any common problems. That is just from my very little research.

What you should do then is test it in as many conditions as possible.
Do you see any evidence of fluid leaks after it has sat overnight or at least a few hours?
How does it start and run when cold? Shift alright? How about city driving, highway driving? Try to spend a good 20 minutes in the city and highway.
How does it start and run when shut off for a few minutes? After a couple hours? In the morning?
Does the temp gauge hold steady once warm? Does the heat work well? No heat is often a sign of engine problems, specifically cooling system.

When they did the full service, did they check the condition of the fluids, vacuum hoses, suspension, etc?

So if it seems to be doing Ok after all those tests, it is probably road worthy. Anything CAN happen but like any other car, no way to really know if or when that will happen if there is no evidence of problems.

Do you know what the weather is suppose to be like during your trip? I don’t know the weather out there but if it will be cold or really hot, plan accordingly in case there is a break down.

About the 20 minutes of city and 20 of highway driving –
If there is a problem like bad handling, overheating, weird noises, etc… most likely they will surface after even that much driving.
If I were to gamble, I would say that if it passes those tests, you will probably be alright for your trip.

[Erin]

smoke is white and thicker than before.
Engine idles a little rough, really struggles when put in gear.
I did a vacuum test with no load – holds steady at 16. A chart I looked at said “incorrect ignition timing”. However, with a coil pack, cannot really adjust that.
Also says “holds steady but lower than normal” which says worn rings. Not sure what kind of vacuum it held before. Quick open and closing of throttle ranges vacuum from 0 to about 22.
I have not done a compression test yet. I am assuming there isn’t a vacuum leak since it holds steady, even if at 16.

Codes for engine were –
p0303 cylinder 3 misfire (wire was dirty at coil end, now cleaned, helped little)
p0404 EGR system range or performance problem
p1133 O2 sensor circuit
p1665 Evaporative emission (EVAP) canister vent valve – circuit malfunction

Is it possible it is doing an idle relearn or is that just wishful thinking?

Trying to figure out what I did wrong.

[Erin]

I assume the trans is an auto? Count on a shop quoting between $2,000 and $3,000. But that is not what you asked…

So about getting one out of a junk yard –
There are three things that will typically land a car in a junk yard –
1) Car is wrecked. In that case, the engine/trans might still be good. 2) Bad engine 3) Bad trans.

So at the junkyard, if a car is not wrecked, rest assured the engine or trans crapped out big time. Putting in a used trans that only MIGHT work is going to be a lot of hassle.

[Erin]

Big chains tend to back up their work better but are also more expensive. Plus, they are trying to make sales, which is why you take it in for something small and they say you need a ton of other work. Big chains are owned by greedy corporate bosses who are constantly telling the shop owners to bring in more money. So you get to deal with some smooth talking salesman who talks over your head even if you KNOW the inner workings of a car.

They say –
“After a diagnostic test, we dicovered the knooter valve is bad… What this knooter valve does is… and over time when it wears out… so what can end up happening is… it is a labor-intensive job… It normally costs $5,000 to replace but we can probably get it done today for $4999 and offer a full 5 minute warranty.
Sound familiar?

Ultimately when you are deciding if you want a shop to do the work, see how the repair shop itself looks. If it is a dump, run away. If it is clean and seems organized, they probably care more about their work.

In my case if I HAD to go to a repair shop, I would probably seek out a good locally owned place. It may be harder to get in but they are not as likely to want to replace everything except the oil filler cap.

Oh get this – my room mate took her car to Meineke for a small occasional engine knock. They said, I swear to God –
“We could put a used engine in it for $3200 and give a few month warranty”.
$3200 for some used engine and a few month warranty? No, we decided to take our chances.

[Erin]

The paper method works too.
If you do not have the owner’s manuals (which often contain maintenance schedules) you could rummage the junk yards. Sadly, the junk yards is a long shot. People leave all kinds of BS in their cars EXCEPT silly things like the owner’s manual.

Ebay just might have them also.
Of course you would have to re-calcualte mileages since the owners manual starts at 3000 miles (for first oil change)

[Erin]

Good to know.
NOW when my room mate’s 99 SE has that same problem, I can know where to start. Her car is nice looking but nothing but headaches.

[Erin]

Bad tires or even ONE bad tire can cause all kinds of weird and stupid handling problems. “Shakes ONLY when turning left at 25 MPH when the moon is a waning crescent and it is 78 degrees on a cloudy day and Adele crapped another annoying song” type stupid.
Like Jeeze WTF is happening?

No need to buy new tires if you can find some good used ones at a shop.

Sometimes tires can LOOK good but have problems. 40,000 isn’t exactly new. Much abuse, bumps, highway speeds, turns, temperature changes…

I had some Cougar with a bad front tire even though it looked good. When I jacked it up and put the car in gear, the wheel looked out of round when rotating. Thing is when driving, the car would vibrate only during a certain speed range.

So the point is – Though Adele’s annoying music IS responsible for most of today’s problems, your TL probably just needs a fresh set of tires.

[Erin]

No compression on one of the cylinders?
Bent valve would be my first guess. HOW it got bent, who knows. Could be a timing belt problem.
It sounds like something where you are going to need to pull the head to inspect the insides.

What you could do before removing the head is remove the valve cover, rotate the engine manually (using a large breaker and socket on the crankshaft pulley bolt) and watch the valves from atop. This is an overhead cam engine yes? Bent valves will not want to come all the way back up.

I doubt you messed anything up by doing a compression check. At this point, there isn’t much you can do to make things worse anyways.
It is also possible that the timing belt tensioner is messed up. Maybe rotate the camshaft at the bolt back and forth to see if there is considerable “play”. I mean don’t force it like you are trying to rotate the engine but just an easy back and forth rotation.

If everything else fails and you decide it is more work than you can or want to get into, you can scrap it for close to $300 so not like you would be out much. However, if you see that as an option, might as well take things apart to see if it is something you can fix.

[Erin]

You could create a spreadsheet for each vehicle you want to maintain on a strict schedule.
There are several options for this, depending on what you have for a computer.

If you have an older computer, you might have Micorsoft works already installed. I think it is just called “spreadsheet”.
If you have MS Office, use “Excel”.
If you want a free one, you can try Apache Open Office “Calc”.
The problem is that info is not always compatible, so something created in Calc may not open in Excel or if it does, it will be a mess, unlegible.
I do not know much about openoffice except it is free

You would need to look up the specific schedules for each vehicle even though most vehicles will pretty much have the same schedules anyways.
For that reason, maybe create a universal one then add, subtract, or edit entries as needed. Like if something just does not apply to a certain vehicle, such as changing coolant on an old VW Bug.

Just of course name each sheet after the car it pertains to.

Here is one schedule just pulled off google –
http://www.macdonaldsauto.com/files/service_guide.jpg

Some things to add perhaps –
Tie rod checks, ball joint checks, Brake/fuel line condition, CV boot check, filler neck condition (mostly for rust) Suspension checks (shocks/struts, trailing arms, mounting hardware, especially bushings,)
Those items should be checked maybe twice a year.

[Erin]

Do they have junk yards in the UK in your town where you could maybe find some in better shape? I mean like identical ones to the wheels you have.

The wheels you have could probably be restored but it would likely cost a fortune (whether a shop did it or you bought the tools to do it) based on how you describe the condition.

Also, if the salt was bad enough to ruin the wheels to that point, what kind of rust damage does the rest of the car have, especially around the wheel wells?

Cam0888 had a good suggestion. Just keep in mind that restoring the wheels for a home mechanic can turn out to be a very time consuming process if you want to do it right.

[Erin]

I think the main benefit of getting parts at the junk yard is if you are just a home mechanic like me –
You can learn to properly pull the part (if you don’t know how already) I mean if you mess up at the junk yard, not a huge deal.

For my Toyota, one thing it needed a while back was a hood release cable. Pulling one at the junkyard taught me exactly how. Though it was still a real headache to replace on my OWN car, at least I knew how it was routed.

Gmule – thank you for the reminder. I need to harvest some extra fuses and clips for my car next time I am at the junkyard.
I can happily say that my car just doesn’t really need anything right now but next time I am there….

Of course my room mate’s Grand Am needs, well, more stuff than a third world nation…

[Erin]

carcomplaints.com didn’t seem to have many complaints listed for the 2004 Vibe. The 2003 had a lot of transmission problems but the 04 had only a few problems reported here and there. ALL cars have SOME issues
If you have already bought it, you probably did alright.
For towing, no need for that, When you buy it, just put it on your insurance before you drive it home. Even if you get pulled over, I think all states have a grace period to register vehicles so not like you would get ticketed. Check your own state’s laws of course.

As far as “Whatever you do, don’t get a…”
Ok then here is one –
Whatever you do, don’t get a chrysler with a 2.7 engine. Anti-freeze leaks into the oil and causes the engine to “go to a better place where it no longer suffers”

So if you bought it, what do you think so far?

[Erin]

Depends on how quick it loses fluid to say if just topping it off would be practical. I mean sure you CAN do that but how much would you be going through?
I had PS leaks on a couple cars and just topped off as needed. The pump should still work OK. I once had a 94 Grand Prix that was losing fluid real bad, went dry all the time but still worked upon refill.

If it leaks PS fluid onto the exhaust, that could be a fire hazard. Try to take note to what is getting messy from the PS leak. Can you tell WHERE it is losing fluid? From the pump itself?

If you wanted to replace the PS pump yourself, you could get one from a junk yard. Here are some instructions on how that goes.
http://www.justanswer.com/ford/1ziot-change-power-steering-pump-1997-ford-es.html
If you get one from a junk yard, Ones that will fit, according to rockauto’s site –
Ford Escort 1997 – 2002 and Mercury Tracer 1997-1999 Make SURE you get one from the same size engine, I do not know if different years of those cars had different engine options but it looks like 2.0 is the only one for the 97 Tracer.

If you DO get one from the junk yard, do not bother removing the pulleys from the junkyard unit or your own. Even if you have to pay a few bucks extra if the pulley is attached, it is a pain the the ass you do not need trying to remove and install pullies. Just use the whole pump/pulley assembly. You know the junk yard is probably where some repair shops are gonna get a pump anyways.

It doesn’t look like replacing a PS unit is all that bad a job on this engine.

[Author]

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