P1151 performance code problem

This week we have Ron Ananian with his repair of the week. A P1151 performance problem and how he solved it. Listen to the clip below.

Problems associated with loss of power steering

Check Engine Light w/ EVAP Leak

This week Dale Donovan shows how a shop tests for a Evap. emissions leak in what is called a "smoke test".

Ode to Santa and the Economy

Ah it's Christmas time again, and it wouldn't be Christmas without a story about Santa. Enjoy.

Ode to Santa and the Economy Gonzo 2010

There goes Santa, running for his sleigh;
He’s gotta run fast to get away.

You see, the economy has struck the North Pole as well;
The elves are on strike, and his wife is giving him hell.

Now when Santa makes his appearance at the department stores;
It’s not just for all those little kids anymore.

He’s not going to make a whole lot of stops;
‘Cause look out Santa… here comes the cops.

So off he goes, in the middle of the night;
To find those gifts, and get out of sight.

There’s Santa, flying far into the night;
Carrying all those gifts, on his yearly flight.

With all the alarms blaring and the police giving chase;
Santa will be long gone, without leaving a trace.

He has to be quick to have it done by Christmas Eve;
So many gifts and so many places to be…

The presents will all be wrapped, and the tags will be off;
That’s because Old Santa is very careful, not to get caught.

So look for your present on Christmas day;
(Just keep hush-hush if it’s from Santa, OK.)

Now, I don’t know if Old Saint Nick will stop at your house, or not;
But if he does … … … … … THOSE GIFTS ARE HOT ! !

PEACE ON EARTH, GOOD WILL TO ALL
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! ! !

If you enjoy these stories, there's more. Go to www.gonzostoolbox.com
Looking for a great gift for your mechanic friend or for yourself? Pick up a copy of my best selling book,
"Hey Look, I Found the Loose Nut" @ amazon.com, gonzostoolbox.com, or most local book stores.

A very graphic discription of what happens during a crash!

This week Pat Goss talks about study that was done several years ago before air bags were standard. He explains what happens during each fraction of a second as a vehicle suddenly leaves the road and crashes into a tree. His description is very graphic, and above all remember it can happen to anyone, even you!

Breaker, Breaker...

Breaker, Breaker… GONZO 2010
Before cel. phones there was the CB... read this story and find out what happened to Joe.

In my many years of repairing cars I’ve helped out a lot of other shops with their electrical problems. Some shops I see a few times a month, and others only once in awhile. Back in the mid 80’s and 90’s I had one shop that I talked to almost every day until his eventual retirement. His name was Joe; he had a small repair shop along with a couple of tow trucks. His main business was the tow company, and the repair shop was there just to fill in the gaps on those slow days.
One afternoon I got a call from Joe about a car his crew had given up on. They had changed several parts, but couldn’t get this car to come back to life. Joe was busy with tows, and didn’t want to spend any more time on it. So he put it on one of his tow trucks, and dropped it off at my shop for me to look at.
“I’ll be on the road all day busy with tows. If you get it going, could ya take it back to my shop for me,” Joe said, as he made a dash for his tow truck.
“No problem Joe, I’ll get right on it,” I said, just as he drove off.
The car was a late 80’s GM. I could see all kinds of shiny new components under the hood, and could tell they put a lot of effort into swapping parts to find out what was going on. With a flip of the key it would immediately start, but die just as quickly. Every time I tried it, it would act the same way without fail.
The parts they changed were all predictable. They tried tune-up parts, an IAC, TPS, MAP etc… etc… all of which might, could, should’ve, probably, maybe… fixed it. But didn’t. I wasn’t going to go that route. I thought it best to start with the basics- fuel, fire, and air.
Spark was good, timing looked good, injector pulse was there, and the intake had a good air pull. Well, what now? I gave it a shot of carb. cleaner… vroom, vroom, vroom. As long as I kept spraying… it kept running. Ok, check the fuel pressure… it had pressure. Hmmm, now what to do? The next obvious thing (to me) was to check fuel volume.
I disconnected a fuel line and gave the key a flick into start… the fuel ran out… and then trickled to a stop. I did it a second time. Not as much fuel made it out… but there was some, although it didn’t last as long as it did the first time. Maybe I should look at that gas gauge. Wouldn’t ya know it… the friggin thing was out of gas. It had just enough in the tank to pressurize the fuel lines but not enough to keep it going.
Might as well grab a gas can, and put some in the tank. I’ll try it again… vroom, vroom, vroom, alright! It’s running great! Looks to me, like it was out of gas. However, with all the new parts they installed, I couldn’t be sure if this was the only problem or an after affect of having the car in the shop while trying to solve a different problem. It could have been that one of the components they changed really did need to be changed. I couldn’t tell; they’re all new… and all working perfectly.
Later that day I drove the car back to Joe’s shop. He wasn’t there, but his dispatcher was in the office sorting out tow tickets and monitoring the CB with the volume up full blast. In the background you could hear the CB was busy with all the area’s tow companies’ chatter.
About then I heard Joe’s voice over the CB, “Did Gonzo call yet? Need to check in on him, we need to get that car back to the owner.”
“He just walked in Joe,” the dispatcher told him.
“So what was wrong with it,” Joe asked between the squelch of the CB radio and all the other chatter from the other tow companies.
The dispatcher turned to me and asked what I found wrong with it. I told him. The dispatcher, with a stunned look on his face said, “I can’t tell him that. He is going to be so pissed.”
“I don’t think you should tell him till he gets back,” I said, while breaking into an ear to ear smile.
The CB comes to life with Joe’s voice; “So what did he find out? Geez, I’m busy… come on give me the news,” Joe barks out thru the CB speaker. He sounded pretty demanding and frustrated. I don’t know whether it was the way his day was going or it could have been over this car… either way, he’s not going to like this answer.
“Go ahead… tell him,” I said, “He wants the answer, so tell him.”
“Alright,” said the dispatcher grabbing the mike to the CB, “Joe, are ya ready for this? It was out of gas.”
A dead silence came over the CB. No chatter, nothing, not a sound. It was if someone had turned it off. A few seconds went by, then, all hell broke loose. Tow drivers from all over the city were razing poor Joe. The CB was full of laughter and goof ball comments, but not a word from Joe. Poor Joe, you asked for it, and now you’re getting it.
I got up from the desk, and dropped the keys off with the dispatcher, “Tell Joe to stop by the shop, he can settle up with me then,” I said while trying to hold back the laughter.
As I walked out the door I could still hear the CB chatter all the way out to the parking lot, and the comments were still flying. It was one of the funniest moments I’ve ever had for doing nothing more than putting a couple of gallons of gas in a car.
When Joe came up to pay the bill I told him I had a little something for him. I handed him a little tiny gas can to keep on his desk, as a reminder to always check the basics.
After all these years I’m sure he hasn’t forgotten about it, and I’ll bet he doesn’t tell too many people what that little gas can sitting on his desk is all about… especially over the CB.

How magnetos and ignition coils work

Dave Rock is here again with another video on how collapsing magnetic fields can generate a lot of voltage and how the electricity is created . An explanation of electronic ignition and points and condensor systems.

It is rather long about 14 minutes. As always your comments are welcomed by posting to the mailing list.

Diagnostic Tech: Thar She Blows!

I suppose pursuing a short doesn't have much in common with pursuing the great whale but it still can sometimes be time consuming. '05 Silverado, 5.3B engine. Blows 15 amp inj1 fuse intermittently. The first trip here the truck was in for a misfire complaint. One of my techs found misfires on 1,3,5 and 7 (bank 1). It isn't that unusual for this make to have a full bank misfiring. I've seen O2 and/or computer problems cause that occasionally. I suggested testing for power to the coils and injectors on that bank. Each bank feeds from a different fuse (inj1 and inj2).

Fuse inj1 was blown. Replacing the fuse got all cylinders firing again. The tech went over the harness and didn't find a short. Drove several trips on a rough road, pulled on the harness. Finally let the truck go with the warning that we did not find the cause of the fuse problem.

Three months later, the truck returns with the same problem. Replacing the blown inj1 fuse got it running again. This time I looked over the harness. The wiring goes from the underhood fuse box to the bank 1 coils and injectors. I didn't notice a problem. Pulling on the harness didn't cause a short and a scope display of injector and coil current ramps looked normal. I decided to look online for any similar problems found by others. Alldata, iATN and identifix had no silver bullet. D-tips had mention of a short found in the harness near the upper control arm. Now that tip didn't really help because when I looked everything over this particular truck had no harness in the area mentioned that could blow an inj1 fuse. BUT it did lead to me finding the short. It was like this.... after looking under, over and around the control arm area and coming up empty I was standing in front of the truck and leaning over the front grill. I thought well I'll try the harness flexing again. When I grabbed the main harness from that angle and pulled toward the front of the truck, the fuse popped and the misfires started. Looking very closely at the harness there was a small hole rubbed into the casing of the harness. Opening that harness I found that the hole was also rubbed into the pink wire from the inj1 fuse. Right in front of my face all along.

Kenneth Hayes

aka Deranger