Category Archives: Engine Sensors

When Rats Attack

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Repairs related to Rats or field Mice.

I have many cars come in every year with rat or field mice damage. The little critters chew up wires and hoses, damaging your car or worse causing a health hazard by getting into the A/C system. If you have a car that sits for the season, the little critters can cause hundreds of dollars of damage in just a couple of weeks.

On many cars, critters can get up into the small spaces and start building nests. The video above is showcasing what I did to stop field mouse from nesting in a Lexus A/C system air intake passage. The client had replaced the cabin air filter 6 times in 4 months. I had to make a repair inside the A/C case related to the damage so this is what I did to keep the critter out of the inlet passage.

Rats and field mice can damage a wire harness in hours. One way to combat them is to use an ultra sonic pest repel unit, if your car is parked for storage this works the best. Local hardware stores have them and you can find them on Amazon. You have to plug them into a 110 volt power outlet, but if you can use this product, it is effective.

Wire and hose repairs we do at the shop, are wrapped up with rat tape. Rat tape has a spicy kick to it. It has a hot pepper additive in the tape that makes the rat think twice about chewing on it. Rat tape works about 90% of the time.

It’s all good under the hood. Anthony Xavier ASE Master Technician

copyright: All rights reserved @ HeyAnthonyAZ.com 2013

 

Engine Ping or Rattle

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Pre-Ignition or Ping, it’s a rattle sound.

Summer time is here. Summer heat will place extra load on your engine. During the hot summer months it is advised to use top-tier gasoline. (91 octane) The engine systems in modern cars today do a great job to control timing, but sometimes it will still ping. Top tier gasoline most of the time will quiet the ping or rattle sound.

The engine knock sensor pictured above was causing a nasty ping on a Nissan Pathfinder. The sensor is located under the intake manifold, not easy to change. The one on the left is the new knock sensor. The sensor on the right was still working, but not correctly due to the broken outer plastic shell.

If you hear the ping sound, do not ignore it. Something could be wrong. An engine will also ping if it is over heating. If your car is 3 years old or older, inspecting your cooling system regularly is very important. Stop in at the shop if you have a ping or rattle condition. A prolonged ping condition can damage internal engine parts.

It’s all good under the hood. Anthony Xavier ASE Master Technician

copyright: All rights reserved @ HeyAnthonyAZ.com 2013

 

Chevy Truck Repairs, My engine runs rough.

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1997 Chevrolet truck with a 4.3 engine runs rough.

The owner has maintained the truck very well, but with 300,000+ miles on the clock you would think it would be all worn out, but it’s not. This is why maintenance is critical to the long life of your car or truck. This truck looks and drives great because the owner loves his ride. The rough running condition was not setting any codes.

(This was a No Code, Driveablity Condition) 

It was not related to the ignition system or engine compression. It was caused by a faulty fuel pressure regulator on the fuel injection unit. The only way to spot an issue like this is to know fuel delivery basics.

The failure was not computer related.

Some engine parts go bad slowly over time. The client did not know that anything was wrong. The client only said it felt rough at an idle and to check it out. This little monster below is the fuel injection unit from under the intake manifold. It is hidden from sight. So when it has a leak, you do not smell it or see it, but your fuel economy will drop when it is going bad.

The client may have noticed that the engine was using more fuel, but he does not check the fuel mileage regularly. The easy way to check fuel usage is to zero out your trip meter when you fill up the gas tank. Then at the next fill up, divide the miles traveled by the fuel used to re-fill the tank. Presto, you just found out what your fuel MPG is. Now, do this at every fill up and if you notice your mileage drop over 20% suddenly, you may need repairs or lighter feet.

It’s all good under the hood. Anthony Xavier ASE Master Technician

copyright: All rights reserved @ HeyAnthonyAZ.com 2013