I have a 4×4 2000 ford explorer. When I put it in 4 wheel drive and turn a corner it whines really bad . I took it to 2 mechanics and they said they think it is ok. So I called the ford dealership and they said the same . What is you oppinion

The first thing that comes to mind is the outter u-joints on the front axle. There is also an inner u-joint on the right side.  Have these checked out.  They freeze up from rust and cause pressure on the front drive axle parts which can cause a whinning noise.  This is common to all 4×4s’ that use u-joints no matter what make of vehicle.

Comment:
can anyone tell me if i have a bad alternater belt can that cause my reverse gear not to work as well. 

Selica: I am not an expert on transmissions but I don’t think it has any thing to do with your alternator belt.

Comment:
i have a 1979 Jeep Cherokee .i just recently changed my alternator due to falty bearings, i checked the voltage before i changed the alternator and it was reading 14.35,i replaced the belts before i went out to buy one. and it still was squealling so i replaced the alternator  with a rebuilt one. and it only charged at 12.25 and it squealls very loudly. the battery was charged over night on a trickel charge and tested good, i adjusted the belts, but the tightest was the 12.25 reading. i took the ground wire off the battery and the squealling stoped but the reading from the alternator was 16.45. this is the second time i replaced it in two days with the same problem. my old alternator charged good but squealled, my two new alternators squeall and charged bad. could it just be two bad alternators? or a grounded wire?
    If this happens to you, check to see if you have an external voltage regulator. The new alternator could have over loaded the old one and caused it to malfunction. I have run into a situation where I replaced a rebuilt electrical part twice and both were bad but that would be rare. Also check to see if the wires were connected correctly and that you don’t have any bare wires touching.

Name: Craig Wilson | E-mail: autofix@aapt.net.au | URI: http://www.autofix.com.au | IP: 59.100.23.38

Hi,
First let me introduce myself, my name is Craig Wilson and I operate Autofix.com.au. As my experience has only been on Australian cars and most of my traffic comes from the U.S. I’m on the lookout for someone I can refer my visitors to if I can’t answer their questions. Would this interest you? I feel the benefits would be mutual as I can help people find a solution, whether on my site or not and you will see a good traffic increase. If you are interested please email me, if not I understand and all the best to you.
Regards
Craig Wilson

Craig: I recently had to give up on being a mechanic due to health reasons but I haven’t given up on cars as of yet. I have a son that is an ASE certified auto mechanic who keeps me up on what is changing in cars.I would enjoy linking up with you. It might take a couple of days if I don’t get it right on firdt try as I am new to all this blog stuff. I have an internet savy son who can help me later this week. Look forward to hearing from you.

How does a cars thermostat work?
 
     A car has an engine that creates a lot of heat that has to be gotten rid of and at the same time regulated so that the engine will perform efficiently and cause the least amount of air pollution. To accomplish this the car has to have a cooling system that will not only get rid of the heat, but maintain a reasonably constant temperature. In addition, the cooling system has to provide heat to the interior of the car to keep it warm in the winter.                                                                                                                                                                                                         The cooling of the engine and heating of the car is done by using a liquid that can carry the heat from the engine to a radiator where the heat can be dissipated into the air and to a heater core that transfers heat to the inside of the car. This liquid is carried from the engine to the radiator and heater core through hoses and inside one of the hoses is a device called a thermostat. The thermostat controls the flow of the liquid by opening and closing depending on the temperature of the liquid running through it. The thermostat creates a temporary blockage in the hoses that carry the liquid. Doing this causes the liquid to rise in temperature so that the engine will run more efficiently (an engine runs most efficiently at about 200 degrees Fahrenheit) and your heater will be warm enough to heat your car.

       A cars thermostat is a round metal device that has the center of it attached to a metal coil that expands or contracts depending on the temperature of the liquid around it. It is located in the engine and when the temperature of the liquid in the engine reaches approximately 200 degrees Fahrenheit the metal coil expands and opens the center section of the thermostat to allow the heated liquid to flow to the radiator or heater core where the liquid is cooled. As the liquid in the engine becomes cooler the metal coil contracts and slows the flow of the liquid which in turn raises the temperature of the liquid. The metal coil is designed to open the thermostat just enough to keep the engine at about 200 degrees Fahrenheit.

       If you have ever driven your car and the engine has over heated, the most probable cause is the thermostat has stuck closed. Or if you have driven around on a cold winters day and you heater just won’t heat up, then your thermostat is probably stuck open. 

Question: I’m not sure if this the correct place to ask the mechanic a question. I have a 2001 solara. It makes a loud squealing noise, when the car is cold is really bad. I had the water pump changed. It noise doesn’t change when i turn the wheel, but does stop some when i put it in gear. Once the car is warm(2 minutes or so) the noise stops. Could it be my power steering pump? please help. Thanks. 

Answer: Sounds like you have a loose alternator belt. When you first start a car it uses power from the battery and the alternator initally has to work a little harder to charge the battery back up. If the alternator belt is loose it will squeal until the battery charges up.  Could be who ever changed the water pump didn’t tighten up the belt or the belt tensioner is weak. u

Question:
I let my 96 blazer run out of gas and now i cant get it started back any ideas

Answer:
Michael: Make sure that you have 4 or 5 gallons of gas in the tank. Raise the hood and find the fuel check valve on the fuel rail. It looks like an oversized tire valve. Have someone try and start the vehicle while you press in on the valve. Keep your face out of the line of fire in case gas sprays out. If no gas comes out then try banging on the fuel tank with a heavy object. If you use a hammer, hit the tank with the flat side of it to keep from denting the tank. You might have to hit it several times. What you are trying to do is wake up the fuel pump. Try it and see what happens. Get back to me if that doesn’t work. Good luck.

If you are having trouble with your tires wearing uneven then you either have worn suspension or steering parts or the front end or rear end is out of align. An easy way to detect this is to look at your tires. If the tread on the tires looks scrubbed or feathered  or just plain showing less tread on the inside or outside of your tires then you need work. The amount of work dollar wise can be vary greatly.I suggest taking it to a shop that can do any work required and also do the alignment. An unfortunate part of the auto repair industry is that too many people know too little about cars and a lot of auto mechanics use that to their advantage. I have heard the most outragious explanations for a car needing repairs. The only way around this is to find an honost shop or ask someone who knows something about cars. This web sight can help with knowing about cars.

I know you have heard that groan or creak when opening a car door, especially in the winter time. Usually the best thing to do if to get a good spray lubracant and hose it down (I’ve found that P B Blaster is about the best). But! If you get caught without it like I did recently and it is your wife’s car door that is making the noise and you just can’t find the time to get to the store here is a hint on how to solve the problem. Open the hood. Pull out the dip stick(hopefully you have oil in your motor) and quickly take it to the door hinge that is causeing the problem and wipe the oil off on the hinge. In my case it was the part that holds the door open that caused the noise. It took a few trips back to the motor but it got the job done. 

Have you ever been in a car that went “click, click, click, click, click, click, click…” every time you turned the steering wheel to go around a corner? More often than not, that sound is a drive shaft calling out to the car owner “Notice me! Love me! I’m in desperate need of repair.” A word of advice: listen to it.

Front Wheel Diagnosis

Let me just start by saying that if the clicking sound has already started on your car you could have detected the problem much earlier. The next time you take your car into the shop for tire work ask the shop to have someone check the CV boots to see if they are torn. The shop should then have someone check to see whether grease is splattered on the suspension or the back side of the tires. When a CV boot tears, grease is slung out of the boot and onto the car’s suspension or back side of the tire. You can also check for CV boot tears yourself by turning your car’s wheels all the way in one direction. Then get out of the car and look behind the wheel with the exposed back side. If you see grease on the suspension or the tire, you need to replace the boot as soon as possible. Next, turn the wheels all the way in the other direction and check behind the other wheel. If you let it go to long you will start hearing the clicking noise described above.

When the car starts making that clicking noise it is telling you that there is no longer any substantive amount of grease in the CV boot and that now the boot have to be REPLACED instead of repaired. In fact, once the clicking starts you are better off having the whole axle replaced with a new one.

Rear Wheel Diagnosis

Instead of the “clicking” sound, rear wheel drive vehicles will start making a “squeeking” noise when the car is put in gear to drive. This is because rear wheel drive vehicles have U-Joints that no longer have grease in them. The joint should be replaced when the “squeeking” sound begins. If you don’t replace the U-Joint when it starts to squeek, you will next hear a “clunking” sound when you shift the vehicle from park or neutral into forward or reverse. Not changing the u-joint at this time could result in serious damage to the drive shaft and other parts of the drive train.

I know this post sounds like a song from the Sound of Music, “Ray a drop of golden sun…Soh, a needle pulling thread…click, a CV boot slinging grease…” but it is very important that you listen to your vehicle for possible problems. The earlier you catch them the more likely you are to save yourself major repair bills down the road.