Worst Technical Gremlin you ever had?

[shadams]

Originally Posted by 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?

We had a rendevous that the drain tube/elbow for the evaporator came off, the water would roll under the spout and back into the car, soaked the carpet underneath and ran all the way to the back where it drained out a pass-through into a connector and corroded some terminals setting a ses light. Talk about a pain in the arse, check the evaporator drain elbow.

[Buicktech]

Originally Posted by shadams

We had a rendevous that the drain tube/elbow for the evaporator came off, the water would roll under the spout and back into the car, soaked the carpet underneath and ran all the way to the back where it drained out a pass-through into a connector and corroded some terminals setting a ses light. Talk about a pain in the arse, check the evaporator drain elbow.

Thanks Shadams!
I checked that though, as well as if it were plugged. He hasn't been back yet though, but I lie awake at night some times worrying about stuff like this, "Will he come back, was the issue fixed, did I cover all the bases?". I just can't think of what else it could be.

[shadams]

Originally Posted by Buicktech

Thanks Shadams!
I checked that though, as well as if it were plugged. He hasn't been back yet though, but I lie awake at night some times worrying about stuff like this, "Will he come back, was the issue fixed, did I cover all the bases?". I just can't think of what else it could be.

I hear you, we have a trouble Grand Am right now that the customer swears it cranks but wont start, been in 5-6 times and never found anything wrong. Come to find out the car has the pcm starting feature, so the guy flicks the key (instead of holding it till it starts) so that the spring tension in the lock cylinder/ignition switch causes the key to go back past run into acc and crank but wont start, when I watched him do it I called him on it and he said, "Well thats a design flaw!" I didnt think about it all weekend and last night just as my eyes closed..........Ahhhh please dont let him call back please dont call back please....................

[1988 K3500 7.4L]

Originally Posted by 327

have you checked the thermostat?

sure have. everything has been checked or replaced over and over...
only thing missing that was original equipment is the catalytic converter.
would the cat need to be in place to provide enough exhaust system backpressure to make all other systems function properly? (hate to re-install it, due to high operating temperature, on my farm/off-road truck...but I can
light dry grass or hay on fire on at the very end of the exhaust system, the twin pipes coming out behind the back tire as it is...it's true! been there, done that!)

[Wreathandcrest]

I had a 1977 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. It had what we called Tail light-its. step on the brake, and half the left light went dark ! it seemed like every cutlass from 75 -77 had it !

[Wreathandcrest]

...also it seems that EVERY GM pickup truck and SUV of the 800 series (except cadillac) I have seen on the road has one of the front daytime marker lights out !

[DuSpinnst]

1997 Pontiac Grand Am SE, the car had an overheating problem. The only solution to keep it from boiling over (until you got home and shut it off at which point the super cool down would cause a boil over) was to keep the windows down and turn the heat on full blast. ANNOYING ON 90 DEGREE DAYS!

[shadams]

Originally Posted by Wreathandcrest

...also it seems that EVERY GM pickup truck and SUV of the 800 series (except cadillac) I have seen on the road has one of the front daytime marker lights out !

Yeah, the drl's are on all the time, and they get hot which burns up the sockets. Doesnt seem to be so common on the newer ones now though.

[shadams]

Originally Posted by DuSpinnst

1997 Pontiac Grand Am SE, the car had an overheating problem. The only solution to keep it from boiling over (until you got home and shut it off at which point the super cool down would cause a boil over) was to keep the windows down and turn the heat on full blast. ANNOYING ON 90 DEGREE DAYS!

Man that brings back memories. I had a 86 Mazda B-2000 that I put a 5.0 in, during the day if it was warm out it would overheat unless I took of the hood and rolled down the windows with the heater on full blast. Didnt bother me but whenever my wife was with me or friends gf's they would whine. Finally a bigger radiator and a hood scoop later all was good.

[Z71RoadKing]

Next to my crappy 95 mustang cobra which nothing worked correctly, my worst experience was with an 85 Nissan Sentra. It would sometimes just stop running while driving like it was running out of gas. One time I was driving over a bridge in Florida, a big bridge, and it stalled out 3/4 of the way up. I had to coast backwards down the bridge to get it to safety. So many cars were screeching to a halt to not hit me, it was the worst experience in my life. I drove backwards all the way down with my shoulders shrugged waiting to get hit.

I had gone to junkyards every day after school and picked off modules, sensors and everything I could find and swapped them in an out to find the problem. Took it to a garage and they couldn't find the problem. Finally my moms new boyfriend took it to nissan and they found the problem. I would have done this myself but I was very poor.

Turned out to be some tube near the battery that controlled the distributor.

[1988 K3500 7.4L]

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...

I am still looking for an answer to this gremlin. This summer, pulling a heavy fertilizer tank, the temp reached 255. Thanks to Mobil 1, the engine still lives. Once it gets this hot, it will not cool down (very much)
even with reduced load and engine revving. Yes, the radiator is clean and it has a new fan clutch, which is engaged. The only way to cool it down
is to dump cold water over the front of the radiator...temp will drop to 210. This is a less than conveninet solution.

[GMCSonoma]

Originally Posted by 1988 K3500 7.4L

I am still looking for an answer to this gremlin. This summer, pulling a heavy fertilizer tank, the temp reached 255. Thanks to Mobil 1, the engine still lives. Once it gets this hot, it will not cool down (very much)
even with reduced load and engine revving. Yes, the radiator is clean and it has a new fan clutch, which is engaged. The only way to cool it down
is to dump cold water over the front of the radiator...temp will drop to 210. This is a less than conveninet solution.

How big is the radiator??? How about an auxilary cooling fan??

[1988 K3500 7.4L]

Originally Posted by GMCSonoma

How big is the radiator??? How about an auxilary cooling fan??

the radiator is the taller version used in '97 and later pickups. It has the
integral engine oil cooler. It required different top-mounting brackets and
a different shroud, which were used in the installation. The original auxillary cooling fan is in place and works.

Just recently, a friend of mine had a '93 K3500 7.4L manifest with an overheating problem. It always ran cool before, but began hitting 240+.
So far, a new radiator, thermostat, fan clutch and cooling system flush
have not cooled it off one bit. These later trucks (i.e. NOT '88 or '89)
with TBI did run cooler, but something has gone awry here. Only trouble code set is for rich fuel indicaton. Any ideas on this one, as well as
my '88?

[bouda]

Rich on fuel should make it run cooler, right? I would try an auxilery cooling fan. Is thr rad dirty, do you have ac? Is condeser dirty? How about in between the rad and condeser?

[rearden82]

1998 Ford Thunderbird Turbo Coupe

Intermittent rough idle, stumbling, missing, hesitation. Seemed to happen more with the A/C on, but it would act up other times too.

It had a Check Engine light, with codes stored for the distributor pickup and TFI module. Both of which were replaced 2 months ago. I replaced the spark plug wires, no dice. Replaced the rest of the ignition components. Just when I'd think it was fixed, it'd act up again.

I was at my wit's end. Finally one day I was at a stoplight when electrical smoke started billowing out from under the hood. The cooling fan motor had burned up.

Apparently it had been sparking inside and giving off electrical interference which confused the ignition system. That's why my problem seemed random yet connected to the A/C being turned on! I replaced the motor and it never acted up again.

That would definitely have to be the weirdest problem caused by the most seemingly unrelated thing that I've encountered so far.