weird new car thing

[RICH MUISE]

This has nothing to do with '57's but we also drive newer cars too so I thought I'd post this really weird thing that happened to us last month. My wife brought her '06 Scion Xb to Sears for tires, brakes and an alignment. On the way home, 4 of her dash lights lit up..check engine,vsc(vehicle speed control),maint. req'd, abs.
She called me and confirmed her car seemed to be running fine, and that there were no idiot lights on, so I told her to just drive it home, it sounded like a bad speed sensor. when she got it home, I took it to auto zone to take advantage of their free engine code service. I told the guy we had just had all the work done, and he agreed they may have damaged a sensor or wire while it was being serviced. They next night I brought it back to sears and they put it on the lift and had a few guys checking it out. The service guy told me they couldn't find anything wrong, but if anything damaged was found when I brought it to my mechanic to let them know and they would "take care of it".This is where it gets weird...
One of the younger guys that was checking it out came out to the sales counter and asked me "if I knew if she had spun the tires 'cause that messes things up sometimes". I thought that was really stupid, but I replied that with the roads being as icy as they were, I would be surprised if she hadn't spun the tires. I didn't give it any more thought..just passed it off as a dumb question. The next day I brought it to my mechanic who hadn't worked on Scions very much. He confimed the engine code was saying the engine computer was bad (big bucks time), but where they weren't familiar with the vehicle, he wanted to check with his tech service to find out how to verify the code.. They told him to reset the computer codes and to drive it to see if the lights came back on. They told him It's a common problem with some cars, that when tires spin too much it will mess up the computer so the computer thinks it's putting out bad info and assumes the computer is faulty. The lights never came back on, my mechanic never charged me a dime...again...(I sent the shop pizzas for lunch the next day).
So... the young kid at Sears actually knew what he was talking about..and Iit leaves me wondering if I had brought it to the Toyota/Scion dealer to have it checked out, if they would have shown me the code print out saying the computer was bad, and how much we would have ended up paying the dealer for a new computer.  Rich

[Jerrys Kars]

Good for you to find problem at no cost. Cost me over $600. to find a $30 crank sensor on an 87 Jeep Laredo. Car would not start. Tow bill to dealer. Changed brand new spark plugs. Drove 2 blocks. Would not start. Back to dealer. Bad computer. Replaced myself with $150 rebuilt instead of $600 dealer. Drove 2 blocks. Would not start. Went to two other mechanics. Replaced various $50 parts. Still intermittent start. Finally young Jeep trained mechanic said crank sensor.  Problem fixed after a lot of profanity and quite a few mechanics on my S-list.

[Frankenstein57]

I recently traded my daughters 92 sable and a 1000$ for a 02 taurus limited 3.0  Nice car that was diagnosed by Goodyear to need a head gasket. I had my doubts as the 3.0 has steel heads,not aluminum. So as I'm removing the intake plenum and fuel rail, coolant is running out the front of the engine in that area.It was coming from the timing cover gasket/between the block and cover. I think someone put a water pump on at one point, which then only holds the timing cover on at the bottom. This area gets hot as the cat converter is 3" away, I believe this tore the gasket. So I put new gaskets, water pump, rocker cover and oil pan gaskets, timing chain, fluids,thermostat, about 300$ later she has a nice car. Oh I also replaced the heater core, someone plugged that up with block sealer. The girl she got it from had quotes of 1500$-2000$ to do a head gasket, do you think they would have down sold to the correct fix?  Mark

[RICH MUISE]

I'm really fortunate to have found a great shop that is not only good but HONEST. They really go out of there way to get my cars done right as cheaply as posible. Scotty knows I do alot of my own repair work when I can and often when I bring my Grand Cherokee in they'll find out what's wrong and call me to see if I want them to fix it or if I want to fix it myself. In the 3 or 4 years I've been using them, they've never misdiagnosed a problem.
Jerry: a while back I did a product review on online tech services, which I'm guessing would have helped in your tracking down the culprit for your jeep not starting. I first used it when I installed a '97 mustang steering wheel assembly, and wiper motor, and all corresponding electricals into my '57, and needed all the factory wiring diagrams and troubleshooting guides for the Mustang. After I downloaded what I needed I switched the annual service to the '94 mark viii I'm using for the engine and tranny, computer, ect. (you can switch vehicles once free).The online service I use is designed for home mechanics. After you identify and locate your problem, you can pull up detailed trobleshooting guides, repair guides, part costs, diagrams, component location guides...all kinds of good stuff. also ties in to all factory service bulletins on the particular vehicle.
I sure wish they had them available for our '57's.  Rich

[Jerrys Kars]

Thanks Rich. The 87 Jeep thing was in the distant past. But my son now owns the other 87 Jeep that I bought new. He also has a 90s Cherokee that he had the same problem with. Mechanic didn't want to do anything with it when it started again. Son said please just put a new crank sensor in. Problem solved. Son is up on the problems with these cars since he has owned four of them. Usually does his own repair unless is too busy with work but reviews all the on line info. The info that is gained on these forums is priceless. Thanks for everyone being involved.