for questions about determining the nature of a problem and finding possible solutions.
For questions about determining the nature of a problem and finding possible solutions.
Questions tagged [troubleshooting]
576 questions
18
votes
2 answers
What is a leak down tester and what can I do with it?
Background
There are quite a few head gasket related questions on the site. Coolant or water in the oil, oil in the coolant or water in a radiator, etc. I'm thinking that some instruction on howto use a leak down tester is in order. With that, I…
DucatiKiller
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16
votes
1 answer
Park/marker lamps won't turn off
A few days ago, my Starcraft Allstar minibus, built on a 2012 Ford E-350 cutaway, started having a problem that the park/marker lamps never turn off. I was originally informed of the issue by another driver on Thursday (March 31), but when I came to…
Moshe Katz
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16
votes
3 answers
How To Get Organized Without a Garage Workspace?
People I've seen who have garages have it made. They have a clean, dry workspace with all of their tools within arms reach. In the most organized garages, a mixture of rolling Snap-on Roll Cab with Drawers and pegboards helps create an…
jmort253
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16
votes
3 answers
Multimeter - Basic Functionality and Howto
Multimeters
I'm looking for some responses regarding multimeter basics for the site tag-wiki to point OP's at when we want them to use one.
The question is;
What are the basic functions of a multimeter?
How would I troubleshoot a headlamp failure…
DucatiKiller
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16
votes
3 answers
What to know before buying and OBD-II reader
I read the features to look for in an OBD-II reader, but I am curious if getting one is the right move. I'm just planning to get a cheap one, which is proving to be interesting shopping local. What I expect to happen is I will read the code, go to…
Jim McKeeth
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14
votes
2 answers
How do I troubleshoot the source of oil in my coolant?
I would like to know the step by step troubleshooting procedure for discovering the source of oil appearing in coolant. There are several different points of failure that can be the root cause for oil in coolant.
What are the various points in an…
DucatiKiller
- 32,976
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13
votes
1 answer
1987 Dodge D150 High Idle and Dieseling
Truck is the high altitude/California emissions model, 318.
Carburetor has been replaced with a 4 barrel Holley 4160 I believe, although it might be a 4150, intake manifold was replaced to fit the new carb, nothing fancy though.
Truck was tuned and…
E-Rock
- 131
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13
votes
4 answers
How to troubleshoot excessive timing retard?
I've seen numerous cars that for one reason or another, retard timing excessively at wide open throttle - getting worse over time. Seat of the pants impression is that power drops off steeply as RPMs approach redline. OBD2 datalogging verifies…
NoCarrier
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13
votes
5 answers
What is a good car to start with if I want to learn auto repair?
A couple of other "getting started" questions have been closed (as redundant with these questions), so I hope that my question is different and specific enough.
I'm interested in learning to repair my own cars. Am I likely to have more success if I…
kmm
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12
votes
6 answers
Car imitates dead battery but comes back to life ~30 minutes later and lets me start it
The car: 2006 Subaru Legacy Touring Wagon 2.0 GT (Japanese model) - recently purchased; warranty does not cover this
The situation: Something happens with the 12v supply and once the car is stopped (switched off) dash lights won't come on, central…
ProgrammingLlama
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12
votes
2 answers
Can (possible) exhaust system damage cause random misfires?
2001 Honda Prelude SH.
About three weeks ago while travelling 10-15 mph I pulled off the side of a dirt road to park and it turns out there was a row of a few railroad ties laying in the grass there. The ties ran just inside the right tires, with…
Jason C
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12
votes
5 answers
How can a fuse drain a car battery?
My car battery drained itself after a week of not being used. I was researching how to identify the cause, and saw a comment under this article saying:
What if I am not detecting a reading but the battery still drains?
You could have a fuse that is…
user56reinstatemonica8
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12
votes
6 answers
Why does my RPM drop when sitting idle at traffic lights?
While I'm sitting idle at traffic lights I put the car into neutral. The engine stays idling at about 1000 RPM. However every now and then it drops down to about 500 RPM and then quickly back up to about 1200 then goes slowly down to 1000 and stays…
Aequitas
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11
votes
3 answers
What do these compression figures mean
This is a follow up question to What are the causes of fluctuating intake manifold vacuum
I have a 2005 Honda CBR600 F4i which suffers from occasional hesitation at low rpm when accelerating.
After a compression test on a hot engine I got the…
Ian Oakes
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11
votes
5 answers
Why would there be transmission fluid in the water overflow reservoir?
The car is a '98 Buick Lesabre with the 3800 engine and about 170k miles. It appears as though some oil was in the radiator, but I haven't seen any signs of coolant in the oil. The water pump recently went bad, so I'm not sure how much oil was in…
wickedpissah
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