Ask GTP About Your Car Problems/General Questions

[Rotary Junkie]

How is it strange that I haven't ran across the problem yet? I put emphasis on yet because my work experience has been with with majority cars that have less than 20k on the odo. Me not seeing something on the field doesn't have squat to do with my education. Its the other way around. His situation and diagnosis seemed strange to me because the usual symptoms for a faulty CKP are:

• CEN light
• Engine cranks but won't start
• Engine runs bad/misfires
• Or a tach that doesn't work (most obvious)

He only stated that when he tries to crank, it doesn't crank, it sounds stuck... Do you now understand why that would be weird for the problem to be the CKP?

👍

No, I don't work on Toyota/Lexus "strictly". If you've worked for a dealer before you should know that every used car that comes on the lot has to be inspected, or may need to be written up for general service at least. Besides official business, I just recently replaced all four inner and outer front bearings and races on my Benz and did a water pump and timing job (replaced cam gears, chain, guides and gaskets) on a 2000 Grand Prix with 178k on the odo for a cute chick around the way...

1. Reread what you wrote. You said it was a strange issue you've never come across, not that what he thought it could be was likely not the issue.

2. PB does work for a dealer.

 

[Spec M]

You said it was a strange issue you've never come across, not that what he thought it could be was likely not the issue.

Because I've never heard of a faulty CKP preventing crank. Thanks for the commentary, but I think I know what I meant more than anyone else lol.

2. PB does work for a dealer.

? Alright, so I guess you were assuming I was asking him...

Moving on, before this gets anymore irrelevant, off topic and confusing,


Jetboy, regarding your problem, do you have a CEL?

 

[Jetboy.]

No (Well, very in-frequent. Maybe once every two months for maybe a 30 second clip), which is where I'm really confused. If it were a true fuel situation it would allight, I know. But.. I dunno where to turn? Coil, plugs?



Cheers,
Jetboy

 

[Spec M]

Hows your alternator? Do you have any dimming lights?

A bad alternator can cause stumbling, misfires and cutting out under power, though you would probably see a "BATT" light or "GEN" of some sort if that were the case.
I would still test it just to make sure though, with a DMM (you can find a cheap one for $20 at a hardware store) measure battery voltage at idle, it should be a 14.2v, if lower than 14v or higher than 14.4 theirs a problem. Then turn on your accessories and lights, then your batt. voltage should be at 13v, have someone rev it to 2000rpms and voltage should jump to 14 give or take and that indicates a healthy alt.

I'm still pondering what else the problem could be if not that. Its kinda hard when imagining the problem and diagnosing it lol.

 

[Jetboy.]

Fresh alt (litterally a week old), fresh (few months old) battery.

 

[Perfect Balance]

Because I've never heard of a faulty CKP preventing crank. Thanks for the commentary, but I think I know what I meant more than anyone else lol.

Then you should have said what you meant. You said:

Thats an odd problem

The problem being that his car wouldn't crank all of the time.

Which isn't so rare.

 

[Duke]

It's rare that failure to turn over is caused by the crank sensor.

But since the crank sensor was nothing but a WAG to begin with, it seems he should probably be looking for a less-rare cause.

 

[Perfect Balance]

It's rare that failure to turn over is caused by the crank sensor.

But since the crank sensor was nothing but a WAG to begin with, it seems he should probably be looking for a less-rare cause.

Yeah of course, I was just making the point that Sopranos post made it sound like the intermittent no crank was an odd problem, not Thatman's idea for a fix. It just needed better wording.

 

[Spec M]

Then you should have said what you meant.

Lol ok, I guess i'm sorry you didn't understand.

Which isn't so rare.

Apparently it is, and i'm not the only one that thinks so.

It's rare that failure to turn over is caused by the crank sensor.

@ Jetboy well that puts me back at square one
I'm still thinking though... I wish I could plug a scan tool into it and find out what that in-frequent light is about. Usually parts stores (well here atleast) like Auto Zone will scan for DTCs for free.

 

[Perfect Balance]

Lol ok, I guess i'm sorry you didn't understand.

Shall I quote exactly what you said once again? I can't read your mind over the internet, so next time post exactly what you mean.

Apparently it is, and i'm not the only one that thinks so.

Don't take my post out of context next time.

The problem being that his car wouldn't crank all of the time.

Which isn't so rare.

Now if it said "The problem being that his car wouldn't crank all of the time due to a fault CKP."

Then I would agree with you.

 

[Jetboy.]

I'm hoping it's not the coil-pak... That's serious money I don't want to spend.



Cheers,
Jetboy

 

[Spec M]

@ Jetboy Yeah, Accel sales them for about $65 on autopartwarehouse.com, (sorry don't know how to make the link) which is a decent price. But if you have a local commercial parts store I would check and see if they will scan for you just to make sure you're getting the right part and not wasting your cash and time.

@ PB Bro, who cares really, its not that serious, you win, just stop with the spam.., and let it go.

Edit: @ Jetboy, I over looked it seems, theirs another brand called Prenco that retails them for $50. I would also find out rather Duralast produces these coil packs, i've had experience with this brand and their warranty policies are really good/fair.

 

[mustangGT90210]

Soprano, his name is Jetboy



That's all, as I can't really add to this

 

[Spec M]

Soprano, his name is Jetboy



That's all, as I can't really add to this

ROFL I thought I fixed that before anyone noticed!!!

Sorry Jetbot.., I mean Jetboy

 

[mustangGT90210]

Almost

 

[McLaren]

Not a current issue, but anyone have any advice on how to keep some 245/40R/18 tires from rubbing on a 18x8.5" wheel? At first glance, it shouldn't rub, but others have been having some trouble, even with the fenders rolled.

Only option I've got is 235s, but looking for any others.

 

[Spencer]

what part of the fender is it rubbing? Inside or outside?

 

[Jetboy.]

@ Jetboy Yeah, Accel sales them for about $65 on autopartwarehouse.com, (sorry don't know how to make the link) which is a decent price. But if you have a local commercial parts store I would check and see if they will scan for you just to make sure you're getting the right part and not wasting your cash and time.

@ PB Bro, who cares really, its not that serious, you win, just stop with the spam.., and let it go.

Edit: @ Jetboy, I over looked it seems, theirs another brand called Prenco that retails them for $50. I would also find out rather Duralast produces these coil packs, i've had experience with this brand and their warranty policies are really good/fair.

Heh, wow, thanks for checking. Someone mentioned to me it would be $325 for the whole deal I'll look into it. It also turns out my plugs are gapped wrong, at least accrding to the manufacturer's handbook; currently they're .40 and they're supposed to be .35. I'm going to mess with that and see if it helps at all. Thanks for the help. 👍


Cheers,
Jetboy

 

[Perfect Balance]

Not a current issue, but anyone have any advice on how to keep some 245/40R/18 tires from rubbing on a 18x8.5" wheel? At first glance, it shouldn't rub, but others have been having some trouble, even with the fenders rolled.

Only option I've got is 235s, but looking for any others.

I'm not sure I get what kind of answer you're looking for here.


If it doesn't fit without body modification, then to keep it from rubbing, you would have to modify the body.

If rolling doesn't work, then you need to pull them...

The only thing I can think of is figuring out exactly what offset you need. Again though, if there isn't enough space, they're going to rub regardless of offset.

 

[niky]

+1. If you've got the proper offset and they still rub, the wheels are too wide for your fenders. Maybe the same tires on narrower rims will fit... but it's dubious.

 

[///M-Spec]

+2;

The only thing I have to add is that not all tires manufactures measure width the same way, so a 245 from Brand X could be a different width than a 245 from Brand Y. So if someone said, "yeah I got a 245 to fit without rubbing" it would help to know exactly what tire he was using.

But at this point the only choices you have is 1) narrower tires --regardless of how they are marked or , 2) a set of wheels with more offset (numerically higher) to push the wheel/tire in towards the car (providing there is enough clearance on the INSIDE against the strut/arms, inner liner or brake hardware, but that is a BIG if).


M

 

[Joey D]

Any advice on painting rims? My OEM wheel that was repaired is in rough shape and I would like to throw some paint on there before mounting my winter tires.

 

[McLaren]

what part of the fender is it rubbing? Inside or outside?

They've been rubbing the inside from what I understand.

+2;

But at this point the only choices you have is 1) narrower tires --regardless of how they are marked or , 2) a set of wheels with more offset (numerically higher) to push the wheel/tire in towards the car (providing there is enough clearance on the INSIDE against the strut/arms, inner liner or brake hardware, but that is a BIG if).

M

I think #1 will have to be the solution, then. 2 people with my ideal setup are running the same wheels, 1 with +32mm, & 1 with +37mm.

Thanks guys.

 

[Jetboy.]

Any advice on painting rims? My OEM wheel that was repaired is in rough shape and I would like to throw some paint on there before mounting my winter tires.

You can go one of two directions here. You can get them properly powdercoated by someone who does it professionally. Or you use caliper paint, since it won't flake/chip/bubble with heat, like conventional paint. Depending how well you can "paint" with the Caliper paint, it can turn out really well.


Cheers,
Jetboy

 

[LSX]

Joey, they will be very easy to paint. I've painted a lot of rims, always ending up in good results. Dupli-color rim paint works very well, however the colors are limited, or at least in my area, it's hard to find many colors other than bronze, gunmetal, black and aluminum. However, you can use VHT or Dupli-color high heat engine enamel and have good results. Just be sure to degrease the rims before sanding, the last time I did rims I used 320 grit soft sanding blocks to knock down the finish, then used 600 to make sure everything was nice and smooth. (I think those are the two different grit papers I used, I may be wrong, but that should be close.) degrease one more time (Purple Power/Formula 88, there are a bunch of different kinds...) then mask off the tires. You can do this by using 3-4 inch strips of green painters tape, slid in between the rim and tire all the way around, then tape newspaper around the rest of the tire to finish masking, so not to waste a bunch of tape.

I spray a coat of self etching primer on the rim, let it dry, if need be you can sand it with a fine grit paper, but I've never had to. I just use dupli-color or mar-hyde self etching primer in the spray can, whatever is the least expensive. Then, once that's taken care of, spray the inside of the rim, then move to the face, just make sure you make light even coats, I think about four light coats does it most of the time.

I bet the caliper paint would work well as posted above, I've never used it for anything but calipers, but it works great, check that out too, it just may be more expensive.

I think the last time I sprayed rims, it was 35 dollars. 1 can of primer, 2 cans of gunmetal gray rim paint, 1 roll of green auto tape, 2 soft sanding pads, and a bottle of degreaser.


This is the last set of rims I painted, no the color does not match well, but I didn't choose the color either. It is however better than factory faded silver with curb rash.

That car had been through a car wash once a week, the kind with the high pressure wheel sprayers and wheel brushes. Other cars I've done have held up just fine as well. I don't know if you go through those kind of washes, but wait at least 1 week before doing that after painting, otherwise the paint can be blasted off in some places.

Hope that helps. I can post a few pictures if you'd like. The best part of painting rims, they are very easy to repair if they scratch or chip. If they do chip though, that is likely due to the prep work before painting. I rarely have a problem with that happening. BTW, I've never had a problem with flaking or chipping from heat, only from curbs, and high pressure car washes too soon.

 

[Joey D]

Wow thanks for the advice guys 👍! I appreciate it. I might give this a try on my OEM rims. The good news is there aren't tires on them right now so I don't have to worry about that. Thanks again!

 

[LSX]

Well that cuts out lot's of the annoying steps then. 👍

Be sure and give it a few days before you get tires mounted, I had a friend get new tires two days after I had sprayed his rims, needless to say the installers were not careful with them. Perhaps the paint is just soft for a few days, or maybe it was just the mid July humid Florida weather keeping it from hardening quickly. Just a heads up.

 

[-ultraflow-]

Tree resin in my car paint!!!

My car is black, a few days ago I notice that I have resin on my paint (roof, bonnet), the resin is now very dry and hard and it dont come out with washing jet.

Any home made suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[Spec M]

Tree resin in my car paint!!!

My car is black, a few days ago I notice that I have resin on my paint (roof, bonnet), the resin is now very dry and hard and it dont come out with washing jet.

Any home made suggestions?

Thanks!

If nothing else works I would use a very fine, low grit sand paper to rub it out, then buff it back to a shine with a cream wax, and a very soft cloth. Meguiars cleaner wax is good for this because you can polish to a shine and it also is a cleaner, protects, is clear-coat safe and is non-abrasive. Also a tub only cost 5-$6 dollars and pays for itself with a rewarding show car shine .

 

[Duke]

Tree resin in my car paint!!!

My car is black, a few days ago I notice that I have resin on my paint (roof, bonnet), the resin is now very dry and hard and it dont come out with washing jet.

Before you go nuclear as suggested above, try using a clay bar on the car. I've found that the detailing spray used with the claybar will take resin off. I used to get all kinds of spots all over from the tree over my driveway.

If you use sandpaper on the paint it will take a LOT more than a combination cleaner wax to bring it back to shiny. At a minimum you'd need red compund followed by white compound followed by a glaze.