My personal car  recently developed a randum missfire when I turned on the A/C.  Since I had recently replaced the plugs, cap and wires I figuered it must have something to do with the fuel system.  I went to my local parts house and got a bottle of fuel injection cleaner and it has taken care of the missfire. If you have a vehicle with 100,000 miles or more, you might consider adding a bottle of fuel injection cleaner.

k 92 camery v6, car overheated cranks does not start. buddy said timming belt slipped replaced belt still does same thing. cylinder 1,4,6 has no psi # 2 has 60 psi can not reach 3,or 5. invested $500 in parts already. other freind said pore mavel oil in sparkplug thill it looses up and keep starting. SOS or SOL

 George:

I’m  afraid it is SOL.  From what you described you have a blown head gasket.  To be sure it would help if you could get psi readings on the other two cylinders.

 My rear transmission seal is leaking. How can I fix this myself?

All you need to do to change the rear trans seal in a rear wheel drive car is to remove the drive shaft and get something to pry the seal out.  A large screw driver will do.  On front wheel drive vechiles it is some what more complicated.  It would help to know what kind of vehicle you are driving.

 My rear transmission seal is leaking. How can I fix this myself?

All you need to do to change the rear trans seal in a rear wheel drive car is to remove the drive shaft and get something to pry the seal out.  A large screw driver will do.  On front wheel drive vechiles it is some what more complicated.  It would help to know what kind of vehicle you are driving.

 My rear transmission seal is leaking. How can I fix this myself?

All you need to do to change the rear trans seal in a rear wheel drive car is to remove the drive shaft and get something to pry the seal out.  A large screw driver will do.  On front wheel drive vechiles it is some what more complicated.  It would help to know what kind of vehicle you are driving.

I had a writer ask about the problem with oil slugg building up in Toyota’s V-6s.  My son is a Toyota Master Mechanic and he said that the problem is from lack of service and not a problem with the engine.  He said that if you service a Toyota V-6 as recommended you will not have any problems.

I got a neat e-mail from a blogger who had a clogged radiator.  He said that he blocked off the hose connections to the radiator and put a bottle of “The Works” bathroom toilet bowel cleaner in it and let it stand overnight.  Said it contains hydrocloric acid.  Said it cured his overheating problems.

I learned something new from one of my blogers.  If you go to autozone.com you can find the serpintine belt routing diagrams of several common vehicles.  They also have other good fix it yourself information.

Now, I have a question: I just bought a 1989 Mercury Tracer Sta. Wgn. It is overheating. On the open highway, it does not so much. But in town it slowly reaches boiling point.

A new water pump was put it just two years ago, so I doubt that this is the problem. The fans are all functioning properly. I just put a brand new thermostat in it–still kept overheating. It has a brand new, correct radiator cap. Coolant is at the right mixture. A shop just installed a new timing belt last year, so I don’t think it is jump timing.) I just got through retiming it, placing the timing at the manufacturers recommended mark, degree. (Seems the engine idles faster at this correct mark though.) I read the work order for the timing belt and the mechanic who replaced the timing belt suggested that the radiator may need rodded out. But it was left undone, I suppose because the previous owner did not want to sink more money into it. I did flush it out well, but still over heats. (The way I self tested to see if perhaps the radiator fins were clogged was this: 1. I drained the radiator 2. then I left the bottom drain valve wide open 3. I placed our garden hose in the radiator cap snout and turned it on full blast. A good pressurised stream of water issued from the wide open drain cock below, so I assume that the radiator fins are open and clear. But, perhaps not all of them are? If there are some open, then the pressurized hose water could possibly be diverted into the open rather than the shut ones? Does it sound like the radiator may be clogged? I would sure appreciate mutual help as diagnosing a car is the hardest part, the repairs being the easiest part.

 When the car has warmed up touch the radiator at different spots. If it is not uniformally warm and some areas are cooler than others then you could have a cloged radiator.

MY CAR STOPPED ON ME TODAY. WHEN I LOOKED UNDER THE HOOD THE TOW TRUCK GUY TOLD ME MY ALTERNATOR BELT BROKE. I HAVE A 1992 VOLVO 940 TURBO. I BOUGHT A NEW BELT BUT NO ONE I KNOW KNOWS HOW TO PUT IT ON TO FIX IT. CAN YOU PLEASE TELL ME HOW TO PUT IT ON STEP BY STEP AND WHAT KIND OF TOOLS DO I NEED.

THANK YOU SO MUCH,
LaTanya C.

The best thing to do is go to a local shop that has experience with your type of car and get them to give you an estimate on how much it will cost you to have the belt replaced. If I knew where you lived I could direct you to a shop.  You could also go to the library and see if they have a repair manual for your car.  Let me know what you do and if I can be of more help.