The new Chevy Volt

This week Pat Goss has an engineer on to talk about the new Chevy Volt for 2011. This is the vehicle with the on board gasoline engine that allows you to drive the car beyond its 40 miles battery-supplied power. (up to about 300 miles!)

Audio clip below.

Driveway2driveway & Chevy Volt

This week Pat Goss has a guest in the studio to talk about a new way of selling your used car, "Driveway2Driveway"and John Davis calls in to talk about the 2011 Chevy Volt.

Automotive certainties

This week Pat Goss talks about what you need to know about your car battery. Listen to the clip below.

Rocky Mountain Oysters Working on a Cowboy's Cadillac

Rocky Mountain Oysters Gonzo Jan 2011
At my shop I tend to do more electrical repairs than anything else. It’s what I’m known for, and sometimes I get my share of odd ball electrical problems. Sometimes it’s a factory defect where a harness has rubbed into a bracket behind the dash and shorted things out. But, a lot of the time it’s some add-on that causes the problems. Usually some sort of flashy-testosterone filled bling that the owner is using to show off his macho self to all who pass by. Seldom do I see these “manly” things on a girl’s car… it’s mostly the guy’s… sorry dudes… it’s true. You guys can’t leave them alone. Ya gotta show your manhood somewhere on that Detroit steel.
I had this cowboy’s truck in the shop; it’s a late 80’s Chevy pickup, jacked up to the sky and loud. His only problem for the day was that his parking lights would blow a fuse. My usual first question is, “When did ya put in the stereo?” Over the years I would say it’s probably the no#1 problem I find in the park light systems on these GM cars and trucks of that era. It never fails; some goof ball is going to use the gray wire as the radio ground. I can usually tell these types of guys because they’ll “always” tell me how they used an ohm meter to check the wiring. Ah, dude, it will show continuity to ground because the gray wire is the dash lights and you’ll pick up a ground signal thru a bulb filament back to another dash bulb. However when you turn the park lights on (which they won’t check till the next time they drive at night) the fuse to the park lights will blow.
But in this case this hombre was safe… it wasn’t the radio. Now I have to look elsewhere. One of my many “tricks” to test a short circuit on these older trucks is with 2 fuses. First stick one in the fuse box and turn on the park lights. (It came in blown, and I doubt you’re going to make it any worse) … Keep your eye on the fuse, did it blow quickly? … Or did it take a bit? When I say a bit… I don’t mean like… a second….I mean not immediately, let’s just call it a quick blink. If the fuse takes a bit to blow that tells me the short is farther away from the fuse box than closer. (Learning the difference may take some practice.)
In this case this saddle sore owner’s problem was not immediate, but an ever slight delay. I’m going to look around the outside of the vehicle and see if it reveals any clues. It could be in the back or the front of this herd chasing cattleman’s Cadillac. I climbed out of the cab and headed to the south end of this northbound rig to check for any trailer wiring. It’s my 2nd usual place to look for faulty wiring on this type of truck. Any time you get the handy-dandy farmhand with his fence pliers working his magic on the horse trailer wiring, you’re going to have problems.
Well, how about that… it was professionally done… and in fact the wiring looked great! But there was this other foreign object dangling on the receiver hitch. Oh man … is this necessary? Bull testicles? There’s a pair of fake plastic bovine manhood rocking back and forth with every sway of this pasture cavorting vehicle. Now, I don’t know who this cowboy is trying to impress… ‘cause if I was a cow… I’d think there something wrong with this bull. And, if I was some gal in a car behind this boot wearin’, skoal chewin’, cattle jockey… I don’t think I’d be impressed… at all.
But then something else caught my eye… and it wasn’t the swinging genitals. There’s a small wire connected to them, and the wire is connected to the brown wire of the trailer connector… which, is the park light wiring. OMG… no way…these rocky mountain oysters light up and glow with the evening sky. I don’t remember animal husbandry being a part of my job requirements. And I don’t think glow in the dark dangling beef ta-tas was covered in any of my training classes.
You mean to tell me, if I disconnect the wire from this cowboy’s dangling plastic bull parts the park lights might work? This is nuts! I can’t believe this … … this is definitely not going well today. Well, I’ve gotta try, it could be the end of my search of why the park lights are blowing the fuse … here goes… … with one hand, I grabbed this pasture-prowlers-artificial-cattle-creators and held on with an almighty firm grip. With the other hand, I took steady aim with my trusty cutters--- “Snip” ---the deed is done.
Back to the fuse box and change the fuse, and then flip on the park lights. Well what do ya know, we have lights! Tell all the Angus and Holsteins on the farm – the park lights are working perfectly! ! Whoo Hoo!
I’ll have to admit, it’s the first time I have ever had to castrate a truck to get the park lights to work… Well, there’s a first time for everything… might as well start up a new career… You’ll find me on one of those late night infomercials and in the business yellow pages under; --- “Bull Castrator/Mechanic”--- .

New grade of motor oil called “Dexos”

General Motors is introducing a new grade of
motor oil called “Dexos” because of the many
engine problems being created by substandard
motor oils that are being sold today. Unfortunately,
the motor oil industry has been cheating consumers
by selling motor oils that don’t meet the standards
listed on the label. The term “synthetic” is
meaningless and is nothing more than a ploy to
lure consumers into buying products that have no
corresponding benefits but only inflate oil company

profits. In order to meet GM’s Dexos standards, the
oil company will be licensed by GM and their motor
oils will be tested by GM and not by the oil company’s testing lab. The
GM “Dexos 1” approval will offer the type of quality expected of a true
synthetic oil offering both longer drain intervals and fuel efficiency combined
with high temperature and high sheer qualities to provide superior
engine protection. GM will start requiring Dexos 1 in gas engines and
Dexos 2 in diesel engines in the 2011 models.

Diagnostic Tech: EVAP Mishap

2000 Pontiac Montana, 3.4

There were two complaints. A stored P0440 engine code and the customer had a difficult time filling the fuel tank. I thought it would be best to check the P0440 problem first. EVAP faults can cause refueling problems. When the EVAP monitor begins on this system the engine control module opens the purge control valve. With the valve open the engine intake manifold vacuum can draw vapor or air from the canister. The ECM expects to see a change in short term fuel trim. If there is no change the weak vacuum test will be run. The vent valve will be commanded closed and the purge control valve pulsed open. The ECM is looking at the fuel pressure sensor for an indication of vacuum in the tank since the system should now be closed to the outside atmosphere. If this does not happen after two attempts a P0440 code sets.

A leak in the system could cause this problem and it would certainly not be unusual to find an EVAP leak. The most common leak points are at fuel caps or near connections of rubber hose to either metal pipe or plastic tubing. Usually on this particular make and model the leaks are at the canister hose. I gave the system a pretty good look and there were no obvious leaks. Not seeing an obvious leak certainly does not mean there are no leaks but before getting too involved with leak checks it would be a good idea to see that the purge valve actually has vacuum to it, that it does open when commanded and that the vacuum can get to the canister. I did a test of the vent valve that it did close when commanded before I lowered the car.

There was a pretty obvious problem at the purge valve. The vacuum hose at the valve had been replaced and the replacement hose was kinked shut. No engine vacuum was actually reaching the valve.

After replacing the hose, I let the initial EVAP load test run just so I could let you see what the ECM is looking for at that time. It wants the short term fuel term to give an indication that the system is working.

I said there were two complaints. I had not found anything to cause the tank to be difficult to fill. After checking for venting problems or restrictions and even dropping the tank for better access, we found nothing. I tried to fuel up at the station normally used by the customer and I could only add fuel slowly or it would kick the pump off. I went to two other stations and had no problem even at full flow. The fix for the hard fueling problem? It's like the old joke. Doctor it hurts when I do this. Well don't do that.

Kenneth Hayes

aka Deranger

Joe Friday Diagnostics --- Sgt. Friday trades in his badge for a new career

Joe Friday Diagnostics Gonzo Jan - 2011
How would Sgt. Friday explain auto repair and diagnostics… que the music:
The story you’re about to read is true; the names have been changed to protect the innocent.
Monday morning, it was cold that day. I was working day shift out of the repair division. There’s a suspicious vehicle at the front of the shop. A customer walks in the door. I’ll take it from here. I’m a mechanic, the name’s Friday.
It was a 2003 Ford, 5.4 liter, fully loaded and sounded like it was running rough. The lady came to the counter.
“Good Morning ma’am, what can I do for you,” I said to the complainant.
“Yes, I’m here about my car,” she answered.
“There’s a problem with the car, I see. What can you tell me about it?” I asked, in my usual non-threatening, but confident monotone voice.
“I was on my way to deliver my recyclables to the east side collection area, because I’m a concerned citizen you know, when my car started to make a coughing and clattering sound. I thought I would bring it in to have it checked out,” the owner answered.
“Coughing and clattering, hmm, not a problem. I’ll get it investigated, I can interrogate the pursuant this morning, especially for a concerned citizen such as yourself,” I answered while maintaining my professionalism.
“Well, do you need any other information from me?” she asked.
“Just the facts ma’am, just the facts,” I said.
“The check engine light came on,” she reported.
“This could be of some help. Sounds like a possible 0300 (engine misfire). But I’ll check it out first, I’ll need to finish my investigation in order to give you any proper results,” I said to her, while my pen was busy jotting down the facts onto the always present handy notepad.
She left the car with me for further interrogations. Using the scanner made the results easy to locate. It wasn’t long before I got an answer. It was a P0302 in progress… misfire on no#2 cylinder… normally an open and shut case.
09:30 Am, working on the assumption that the perpetrator was somewhere near the 2nd cylinder; I went in for further investigations. I checked the usual suspects. Pulling the plug didn’t yield any new clues. The plug was good and answered all the standard questions. The coil was a more likely suspect; a simple test could answer the problem.
I’ll set up a little sting operation by using a decoy. Taking the nearest coil and replacing it with the suspected faulty coil, and put the known good coil on the other plug. I was hoping to see the miss move to the other cylinder. It didn’t. In fact it was gone.
10:05 Am. Now the challenge was on. I’ll have to go back over my facts and check the crime scene again. There’s something I must have overlooked that might be the key to this investigation. Two things come up as good possibles; the connection or terminals at the coil, or the spark plug boot attached to the coil. The plug boot had a good alibi… it had just been changed, in fact so was the spark plug. That left the coil connection.
A more in-depth interrogation of the connector is needed. My years of technical diagnostics work told me to look closer at the wire and the connector. The guilty party in this case appears to be one of the wires at the connector. It was barely hanging onto the housing. Only the plastic sheath was still connected, and the wire itself was not answering to any of the standard questioning or interrogative tactics.
Under the intense glow of the high powered shop light the investigation continued. Resorting to some strong arm tactics I pulled on the wire while using a few choice investigative words, the plastic sheathing kept getting longer and longer. Soon, it snapped under the pressure to expose the desperado for the perpetrator it really was.
11:45 Am. The repair was completed, and tested to verify the repairs were effective. The car in question was back with its rightful owner by the end of the day. I now can close the file on this one, another job well done.
In conclusion: With the P0302 in question deleted from the computer history, the coil connector was then convicted of failure to cooperate. With her car back on the road she could once again be a productive concerned citizen of this great metropolis.
Case closed and now, back to the front desk waiting for that next problem to come through the door. This city is full of broken, non-maintained, and poorly running cars. As a concerned citizen I’ll be on the lookout for these suspicious misfires and other infractions of the auto world. Then again, it’s my job. I’m a mechanic.