Dave’s Free Car Repair Advice

Jenny tells me:  I have a V6 96 Mercury Mystique. It has been knocking for a couple of months now. The sticker says the oil isn’t supposed to be changed for another 100 miles or so but when I checked the oil there was barely any in there so I put some in.

Kay notes:  my Honda Accord is cranking but not starting. The fuel pump is working, spark plugs good, I think it could be my battery. Or would it not start due to no oil in the car? I checked the oil, and there is nothing on the stick.

Kay, if the battery is cranking the engine over it surely has enough juice to power the ignition. Now to get to the problem.

I wonder how long the oil has been that low. There could be serious damage to the engine without oil. Not only are the hydraulic lifters not going to function but EVERYTHING else inside the engine could be trashed.

Subject:  1997 Dodge Grand Caravan 3.3L

Dale asks:  My van will start and idle fine in Park or Neutral, however, once I engage it in gear it immediately dies. I’m sure it’s a sensor but I am unable to retrieve a “check engine code.” Any advice?

Dale, I hope your idle speed is up to par when in park, if not set it up a bit higher. It also sounds like your fuel mixture may not be sufficient at the idle speed.

Take a look at a couple of spark plugs and check the gap and condition.

Stu writes:

I have a 1998 Ford Escort with a reconditioned engine with 75000 miles. The actual car mileage is 165000. I recently replaced my battery, idle sensor and the fuel pump.

My problem is that after driving my car for approximately 5-6 hours each day, my car suddenly loses power to the point that when I press down on the gas pedal, I get no response and the car frequently dies. The car immediately restarts goes slowly and slowly regains power.

Subject:  95 Chevy

Michael says:  I have a 95 Chevy and it will not accelerate and busting out at about 3000 rpm

Michael it sounds to me like your engine timing is not correct and you may have some trouble codes. Even if your check engine light is not on, the bulb may have burned out with a vehicle of this age. Have a diagnostic analyzer hooked up to check this out and then check the ignition timing.

Drive Safe…

Dave

Subject:  engine light

Sandy tells me:  I have a 93 ford Taurus on Sun. the check engine light came on. Well today it came on again and then it started going off and on as the light would go off and on. I did not think I would get home and the exhaust really has a strong smell to it. I checked all fluids and all is good the power steering was a little low.

Sandy, the reason your exhaust smells strange is because the combustion in the engine is not complete for reasons only known to a diagnostic analyzer. In other words you need to have the trouble code traced and have the problem repaired.