Popular questions

A scanner has to be applied to look at long and short term fuel trim, the waveform output of the oxygen sensors and other key engine operating parameters. Hesitation is definitely due to a fuel or ignition system fault and...

Hi and thanks for contacting YourMechanic. When the Check Engine Light flashes, it means that there is an intermittent problem making the light flash on and off. When the light flashes, it is best to pull off the road and...

Hello, thank you for writing in. There are so many different reasons why the vehicle would stall, it is impossible to say what the issue is without an inspection. If you have not scanned the vehicle for diagnostic codes, you...

Hi Kenney. Thanks for writing in to YourMechanic.com tonight. Usually the type of noise you are describing is caused by wheel bearings that are wearing out. The rear brakes are hardly used on your Corolla, but it is possible that...

Hello there, many common faults will cause your 2002 Nissan Maxima to crank but not start. The most likely fault is the battery, it must be load tested and ruled out before diagnosis can proceed. Other possible faults are the...

There are a number of reasons why your car may be overheating. number one is a possible coolant leak. If a hose or a radiator or other part of the cooling system is leaking, and the coolant is not replenished,...

Engine misfires can be caused by many different problems and are generally caused by either a spark or fuel issue or in some cases, a combination of both. Spark related problems generally will result from things like ignition coils, crankshaft...

Diagnostic Trouble Code P0303 means that Cylinder No. 3 is misfiring but the causes of that misfiring can be very varied. The other Code that you probably saw, namely P0304, just refers to the same misfiring but it is occurring...

Hi There, As you may know, there are a few things that can go wrong with your charging system with one of those being the alternator. In addition to the alternator not properly charging the battery, in some cases this...

Hello there. Thanks for writing in about your 2001 Mercedes CLK430. There are a few potential causes for this. Most common would be a fuel pump, battery, battery cable, starter, or ignition switch. Any of those parts could be intermittently...

Hi there thanks for writing in about your 2006 Lincoln Zephyr. This sounds like a failing idle air control valve issue. If this is confirmed, and the valve is replaced, there is also a 'relearning" process for the engine management...

Hello. It sounds like you have a voltage problem. It may be a bad connection at the battery or at one of the ground connections. Both will commonly occur. Any loss of voltage will cause some serious module communication issues....

Hi there. We have a few mobile mechanics in the Frisco area, so if you'd like to see if one of them could come to your location to complete an oil / filter change and top off fluids on your...

Hi there. It seems that your vehicle has multiple malfunctions that are happening at the same time. The idle air control valve has a fault, evaporative emission system has a large leak, the gear ratio is incorrect, and knock sensor...

You will need to see if you have lost spark to the spark plugs after the engine dies. If it did then you most likely have a bad distributor assembly behind the water pump. Make sure you replace the spark...

It sounds like your battery is no longer strong enough to accept a full charge. When the engine is running and the alternator is charging, if the battery does not receive this charge it will have the same state of...

It doesn't sound good. Loud noises associated with a power loss could be pointing to serious engine damage. You should stop driving the car now and get somebody to look at this thing to make sure things don't go from...

Hi there. On a Hybrid vehicle, The Battery Saver Active message can appear on your driver information center (DIC) from time to time. In most cases, when the DIC displays this alert, that means that your battery has a low...

Check with the dealer to be sure the vehicle ECM has the latest software calibration from Toyota. Check for any stored trouble codes. If the problem is intermittent (and not resolved by any applicable software updates), typically that means there...

This may be a sign of a dirty or failing mass air flow sensor or a faulty throttle position sensor. The mass air flow sensor is a unit in the intake system that monitors air intake as it is mixed...

If they all stopped working at the same time, that raises the possibility of a "common" failure such as a circuit opening relay, fuse, fusible link, common ground, and so forth. Note though that if a "fuse" blows, it's not...

Once the car engine is completely cool, I would check the coolant level in the radiator and the reserve tank. If the level is low, you may have had a sudden leak of coolant. In that scenario, the white smoke...

Hi there. This generally needs to be completed by a professional mechanic that can complete a reset and clear the existing codes with a digital scanner. You can request an estimate to have one of our mechanics come to your...

It sounds like you may have a dirty or failing idle air control valve. The idle air control valve monitors the air intake as it is mixed with fuel prior to being injected into the engine at low speeds and...