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Thank you for the help and your Service to our Country. I found this video AFTER I spent money for the fruitless diagnosis. I was hasty.
The gentleman shows how to read the codes and even displays a list of the codes at the end of the video.
I’ll keep playing with it for now. Be well!
I was in the U.S. Navy Seabees 1972-1978 MCB-6 and MCB-20. Equipment Operator (EO) and Equipment Mechanic (EM) I carried 2-rates.I took the car to an independent MB specialist and he scanned the system for me. No codes were found for anything relating to my issue, just some old codes for low Freon and failed compressor which he cleared. He said not every component that could fail would throw a code. He said that the only true way to tell was to pull the entire heater box and ductwork to access all of the vacuum motors and electric blend door actuators for individual testing. He quoted 12-hours at $120 an hour and that is only for diagnosis. Parts would be extra. No estimate was given for parts since it is not known what is needed. He charge me 1-hour for the scanning, $120.00. Now here is the kicker, when it went in there was NO action from the default position of defrost and floor. I now have SOME change of airflow from defroster to center and side vents and back to defroster consistently. I’m just going to go with it for now and see what develops or fails again. I’ll post any changes/results as they occur.
Thank you for the direction. Not to be difficult, but I pulled the HVAC control from the dash and there are only two fairly populated electrical connecters that plug into it, no vacuum lines present, do you know if there is a vacuum manifold located somewhere that these electrics might control? I don’t have much MB experience here, just trying to help a senior friend. I may be over my head.
Thanks for the opportunity to vent a little bit about this. Planned Obsolescence exists in my opinion, if not from the design standpoint then absolutely from the maintenance schedule recommendations (100K miles for plugs, coolant etc.) as well as the diagnostic and parts costs to repair an older higher mileage vehicle. I have a hard time convincing people to spend $1K to $2K to repair a 10 year old car. They would rather take what they can get for it on a trade in and put the money towards a new/newer vehicle. What would you call that? Going on, FORD begins to class certain parts as “obsolete” at a models 5th year of age and at times the aftermarket has not produced these parts leaving you to a salvage yard for the item needed. Also it’s usually no fun trying to extract spark plugs from an aluminum head at 100K miles for the first time. Ever seen what a GM cooling system with DexCool looks like at 100K (if it does not fail before that). Remember too that Henry Ford’s factories were making bomber aircraft during the WW2 that had a very very short life expectancy! Did this give him some ideas about similar practices for his automobiles? If you can, read the book “Lee Iacocca” and you might come away with some different ideas about this topic. My feelings for now and the future is that the rolling server/databases still called automobiles will become so cost prohibitive to diagnose and repair that the only alternative will be to “replace it.”.
Just look at your own Fixing it Forward project. It is a VERY noble and wonderful program and it just shouts that if not for you and your efforts they would not likely spend the money it would take in the real repair world to fix their vehicles if they had the money!
I do my own share of Gratis work for worthy people too and all are faced with the same “it costs too much to go anywhere to get it fixed.”
Manufacturers know a LOT about how long something will last, they have a LOT of experience with it! They keep the best secrets!
So that is my 2-cents worth on the topic, just my opinions. Thank you again for a forum where like minded people can express themselves and share their experiences.
Check the run out of the front brake rotors; how free are the caliper slides/guides/boots/pins; is there any play in the front wheel bearings; are they torqued properly; check the condition of all the control arm bushings.
One last item, years ago I had a friend with a Mitsubishi Galant he bought used, had similar condition as you, replaced tires, did lots of front end work, lots of everything, turned out to be (4) bent steel wheels, flexed at the center where they mount to the hubs, they’d balance OK but on the road oh my! He replaced all 4 wheels with alloy aftermarket ones and the car was smooth as silk. Ya just never know!!!!Good luck with this!
Fleet of (4)- 1-2005 Lexus RX330, 1-1998 Toyota Camry XLE, 1-2000 Toyota Celica GTS and 1-2007 Chrysler Town and Country Van-Touring. They ALL need some love-some more than others but all of them are loved enough not to let me down point A to B! (so far!) They are all paid for, cheap to insure, easy enough on fuel and I can afford to have them. Praise God!
I solved a high speed vibration for a clients 2011 Odyssey by replacing the front pads and rotors after an all wheel balance and tire check. The run out on the old rotors was not enough to cause a pulsing sensation in the brake pedal and the pads were 70% good. The mileage at the time was 50K, original rotors, 2nd set of pads since car was new. With new (non-Honda) rotors and pads and at speeds 70MPH+ just plain smooth!
Good luck!
No worries-it’s all good. I did not take your comments as rude. We’ll never see everything in this lifetime that can go wrong with vehicles. For me that is what keeps it interesting. I’ve always tried to work for the customers benefit. I’ve never known an honest mechanic without a following and a backlog of work. I’ve never gone hungry or been without work to do…….. Be well!
I’m glad to hear that the problem is likely resolved! It was not my intent to lead down a bad road. I did not read anywhere about these switches being a Saturn problem, my suggestion comes from early Nissan experience where these switches were problematic and caused a variety of unusual behaviors. Good job thisisbuod!
The clutch switch I’m referring to could be a combination switch, one that prevents the starter from working unless the clutch is depressed as well as disengaging the cruise control (when activated) if the clutch pedal is depressed. There is also a cruise control disengagement switch tied to the brake pedal that disengages the cruise control (when activated) when the brake pedal is applied. Checking those out is pretty easy and might eliminate electrical problems so you could turn to live data and system cleaning as mentioned in other replies.
Hello Gardakan, no sure fix to give you but here are my thoughts. The vehicle MIGHT have a switch tied to the clutch that prevents starting the car with the clutch engaged. If your car has cruise control that same switch (or another) would tell the cruise control to disengage when you depress the clutch pedal. I’d start by learning about those switches, how and when they operate and go from there. I know that does not address the cold/warm engine factor you speak of, but again it is where I would start. Good luck!
Thank you ToyotaKarl! I’ll give it a try and reply back, won’t get to it until next week sometime. Be well!
I think that the caliper pistons are hanging up in their travel. I’m assuming the pins have been freed up at this latest photo shoot. IF everything was working as it should the rust pattern visible would not be there. The brakes may feel fine but I’d guess that the rear brakes are doing more work than they should be doing. Have you checked the rear brakes yet? What is the condition of the brake fluid i.e. color, water content. If it is not the calipers then possibly an ABS system problem related to pressure. It is involved, but a pressure test of the front brake lines can be conducted. Toyota MIGHT be able to provide a spec for that, when I’ve done it I usually look for even pressures side to side. I use that test to confirm/deny internal flexible brake hose failure. That condition usually presents with a sharp pull to one side or the other and a snap back feeling during brake application and release during a road test, but I’ve found a few occasions where there was internal hose failure (both sides) that did not present any pulling.
I think that the caliper pistons are hanging up in their travel. I’m assuming the pins have been freed up at this latest photo shoot. IF everything was working as it should the rust pattern visible would not be there. The brakes may feel fine but I’d guess that the rear brakes are doing more work than they should be doing. Have you checked the rear brakes yet? What is the condition of the brake fluid i.e. color, water content. If it is not the calipers then possibly an ABS system problem related to pressure. It is involved, but a pressure test of the front brake lines can be conducted. Toyota MIGHT be able to provide a spec for that, when I’ve done it I usually look for even pressures side to side. I use that test to confirm/deny internal flexible brake hose failure. That condition usually presents with a sharp pull to one side or the other and a snap back feeling during brake application and release during a road test, but I’ve found a few occasions where there was internal hose failure (both sides) that did not present any pulling.
Sunset here again-apologies-I failed to see there were 2 more pages of posts when I sent my first reply. Looking at the photos of the spark plugs there is absolutely something in the cylinder(s) that caused this damage. Not getting any loose metal out of the cylinders with a magnet is not conclusive. I’d bet that the pieces (probably of the valve faces are embedded in the tops of the pistons. See if you can borrow or rent a digital bore scope and go back in and look around the cylinders again. I strongly believe something broken is inside the cylinders.