Worst Technical Gremlin you ever had?

[GSEREP1]

I have a 90 Oldsmobile Regency with 3800 engine. Car runs great as long as it is cold, but stutters and wants to die when the engine gets warm (over 210 degrees).

Sometimes the engine starts as though the timing is advanced, and other times it starts normally. Changed the starter, and the strange start is still there.

I suspect a crank sensor. Any replies?

[1988 K3500 7.4L]

1988 and 1989 K3500 pickups with 7.4L engines run too hot. My '88 is all new from radiator thru engine, computer and all exhaust components. Engine temps run 240+. GM dealer is stumped. We have tried high flow water pump, aftermarket ECM chip, aftermarket fuel pressure regulator...exhaust manifolds
glow bright red when coming in off the highway, even in 30 to 40 degree weather. Still looking for a solution...

[GMCSonoma]

Originally Posted by 1988 K3500 7.4L

1988 and 1989 K3500 pickups with 7.4L engines run too hot. My '88 is all new from radiator thru engine, computer and all exhaust components. Engine temps run 240+. GM dealer is stumped. We have tried high flow water pump, aftermarket ECM chip, aftermarket fuel pressure regulator...exhaust manifolds
glow bright red when coming in off the highway, even in 30 to 40 degree weather. Still looking for a solution...

Fan clutch? Head gaskets? Cracked cylinder head?

[Hudson]

My MG Midget...the whole car.

First there's the short in the electrical lead to the fuel gauge that makes it read full all the time unless you grab the wire and pull on it, and then it will read accurately (as long as you're holding it).

Then there's the starter which seems to have dead spots. If you try to start it, the starter motor won't move...but only sometimes.

Most of the rest of the electrical system has been replaced so most of the rest of the "Lucas features" have been eliminated.

[kool_zx3]

The tempo id have to say the power mirrors and remote start. The mirrors havn't worked in awhile and still havn't found the problem. It might be the switch.... It's getting power though and all that, just won't work.

The remote start one day just stopped working and me and my dad have worked at it a bunch of times and still havn't found the solution so i think we will end up just shipping it off the a shop and have them fix it.

[shadams]

On my 98 Sonoma, I have this weird wooooooo noise that first started at
high rpm on hard accel, around 4500 or so. I could never get it to do it with
any of the techs in the car, but it bothered me because it sounded like it was coming out of the trans, maybe throwout bearing. After about 1 yr of this it started doing it more often and at lower rpm and finally got someone besides me to hear it. Anyway after jacking around for another six months we decided to pinch off the heater hoses on advice from my service manager who remembered a similar problem years back and sure enough, it stopped.
Repositioned some sort of restrictor and noise went away for about a year but is back again, I just tell people its my turbo charger.

[Buicktech]

Currently trying to find a water leak on a 03 Montana (we are the third dealership this guy has been to, plus one window place). I've sealed everything, cowl, wheel well seams, firewall, (window was just replaced, though leak occured prior to this) any suggestions from the veterns for the rookie?

[1988 K3500 7.4L]

Originally Posted by GMCSonoma

Fan clutch? Head gaskets? Cracked cylinder head?

None of the above. On third engine since I have owned it (6 years)...all act the same. Know of several others in the area with same problem...most not driven in Summer, only Winter.

[Aerodynamix]

My Daytona's turn signals have always flashed fast. I've replaced the bulbs and fuse and while they all blink, they blink fast unless I turn on the hazard button. Like I said, all the bulbs blink so I'm in no rush to fix it.

[tom3]

Timing circuit on an early Vortec S10. Traced the wires, and again, replaced the igntion module, ECM, another module, another ECM. Run fine for a couple days then fall apart. Long story short, finally soldered the wires to the ignition module direct to the pins on the module. Problem solved now for three years. Whew! Who'd a thought those connectors would do this?

[2005 Equinox LS]

Originally Posted by LGRpup

I had a 1994 Olds Bravada with 65,000 miles which I miss, but thats another story, that had only two major bugs. One was my EGR valve, which made the thing run horrible. So I took it to the dealer to have the engine looked at. It was purchased used so it had the typical 3mos 3k warranty. The dealer called and told me the EGR valve was to blame and they had to clean it out. I guess to clean it out they let the egine run with the valve opened, seemed kinda cheesey to me but hey I am not the tech. The fix worked for about a month and then I was back, they wanted to "clean it" again but after some discussion they put a new one on... problem solved. Untill the digital dash started going out. After getting a price from the dealer to have it repaired and not finding a single one at the junk yard I got me a rubber mallet. Everytime the speedo would go out I would hit the top of the dash with the mallet... problem solved. The kick in the pants was about a year after I sold the thing I found a couple websites that repaired auotmotive digital clusters, and they did it for less than half the dealers price ARGH!

Likely it was bad solder joints causing the digital dash problem. If a person knew how to get it out and be able to resolder the circuit board or boards whatever the case may be I bet a lot of these things could be made to work again. I know somebody who has a 1985 Buick Riviera with this problem.

[bouda]

My neon. If you turn off the car, and pull the keys out and wait about 15 seconds the fuel gauge moves up to about the half-full mark. Not really a problem but odd. The pcm under the hood always makes an annoying sound, like a fuel pump but not as loud. For about a minute after I shut it off, again not really a problem but odd.

[01cavalier]

Water leaks can be extremely tough to locate sometimes. I've had several customers where the problems went on for months. The worst one was this one lady's car would have water on the floor in the back seat, not a lot, but enough to definitely notice it. No leaks anywhere that could be found, but the problem only happened when she parked the car facing uphill. Eventually the problem was found after several months, it was coming from somewhere in the front end of the car. This was a couple years ago, so I don't remember exactly what the problem was. Even though it was fixed, she got rid of the car.

[moman]

My Firenza would suddenly lose power at highway speeds and stall. Would not restart either. Had it towed home and started right up. The second time this happened I checked all the connections and sure enough the coil wire had worked lose. Tightened it up and never happened again.

My Blazer had a habit of blowing the accessory fuse and the dash lights and dome light wouldn't work. I finally got pissed one day and put a 30 AMP fuse in there (supposed to be 15) and that worked for a few minutes until I smelled a burning smell and the lights blew again at night. Being royally pissed I figured I burned out the wires. Nope, put another 15 amp fuse in there and everything worked great the next 4 years.

[327]

Originally Posted by 1988 K3500 7.4L

None of the above. On third engine since I have owned it (6 years)...all act the same. Know of several others in the area with same problem...most not driven in Summer, only Winter.

have you checked the thermostat?