The "Ask a Mechanic" Thread (merged)

[SpringfieldSkins]

I ended up taking mine to Ford. I couldn't even get the ****ing wires off. them

Never seen anything like it before. Seriously, pulling as hard as you can, the wire wouldn't even budge

I've certainly seen stuff like that before. Busted up my hands real nice getting wires off too. Sometimes wires will break when replacing the spark plugs as you pull the wires off.

[BayouBrave86]

OK, I'll pick right back up where I left off after logging off last night.




I'm assuming you mean the hood release cable, the cable you pull on to release the hood. That cable goes from the interior of the car to the hood latch and also includes the release handle. It's a common problem with Jeeps and in my area, $200 isn't too far off from what I would expect.

The labor is probably somewhere between 1 hour and 1.5 hours and the part is only like $20 or so. A huge pain in the ass if you have never replaced one before. If you you haven't, it would probably take you ever bit of 1 or 1 and 1/2 hours to replace it. If you know a trick or two, you can have it done in about 10 or 20 minutes. That's how mechanics make their money in this business.

As far as taking it to the dealer vs. the "local guy" doing it. It probably doesn't matter too much, the "local guy" will have to call the dealer to order the parts anyhow (I don't know of a company that makes aftermarket hood release cables). The only difference being, the part is either there on the shelf at the dealer, or a delivery away at the "local guy". "Local guys" are less expensive 99% of the time because of their labor rate, which is less. I work at a "local guy" shop, or as I'd like to call it a "privately owned shop" so my opinion here may be a bit skewed.

Appreciate it. Damn that sucks, I thought it would be around 100 at the most. Oh well. What if I wanted just an oil change, could they somehow find a way to get it open without charging me?

[SpringfieldSkins]

Appreciate it. Damn that sucks, I thought it would be around 100 at the most. Oh well. What if I wanted just an oil change, could they somehow find a way to get it open without charging me?

Is the handle for the hood release broken?

If that is the case, you can usually use a pair of pliers to pull the cable and release the hood. Doing that, you shouldn't have too much problems accessing the hood.

If there is some other problem with the cable, where you pull the release and the hood doesn't open at all, you'll probably have no other choice. It can be a huge pain in the neck to open the hood if the release in the interior isn't working. A little more than a light service technician can handle and certainly something that takes a deal of time.

Hope that helps you a little.

[BayouBrave86]

Yeah the cable isn't working so I do believe I have to take it in to get it completely fixed now.

[SpringfieldSkins]

Yeah the cable isn't working so I do believe I have to take it in to get it completely fixed now.

Most likely. Good luck too you.

[Koolblue13]

Well, 20 mpg on any full size truck is pretty damn good.

As far as your spark plug problem, it sure is a pain in the ass having to heli coil the head all of those times. Shouldn't you be using "anti sieze" on your plugs instead of "lock tite"? I would assume that the plugs are becoming siezed in the head and pulling out the threads somehow. I haven't seen this problem at all though, which leads me to believing you might be doing something wrong. Personally, I don't use the torque specs when tightening down spark plugs (which is usually just on my personal vehicles), instead I just use the old German "guten tight" adage.

As far as your coil problem. I see it all the time, nice Ford design to blame on that one. Usually if a customer has a bad coil, we recommend to replace all 8 (because of the coil-over-plug design, there are 8 individual ignition coils for each spark plug). We find that if we only replace one coil, others will fail soon afterwords. The customer comes back because they think we botched the repair (same symptom, same check engine light), and we have to explain that it's a another coil that fails. On Fords (and Mazda's too, which uses the Ford coil design), we will always recommend to replace all 8 (or 6 or 4) ignition coils because of the exact problem you have. It would probably be worthwile to try an aftermarket coil (we use Carquest and another local distributor) because they may have solved some of the problems that Ford's coil design has.

Boy do I feel like an ass. Not loc tight, anti seize. I wouldn't loc tight my plugs in.

I only had to do one Heli Coil and Snappy makes a tool for $600 that makes it a breeze. I then sold it to my old boss for $400 and can use it when needed.

I meant the plugs just loosen up on occasion. I hear tapping and then pop, plugs out. It happened on my old Ford as well.

As far as the advice on the coils. I knew it. That is what everybody says, I was just hoping there might be a way around it to prevent it from happening again.

I can't stand the new Fords.

[SpringfieldSkins]

Boy do I feel like an ass. Not loc tight, anti seize. I wouldn't loc tight my plugs in.

I kinda figured that's what you meant.

I only had to do one Heli Coil and Snappy makes a tool for $600 that makes it a breeze. I then sold it to my old boss for $400 and can use it when needed.

I meant the plugs just loosen up on occasion. I hear tapping and then pop, plugs out. It happened on my old Ford as well.

I've never seen this happen. I'll ask around up at work, but as I recall, I don't remember this ever happening. Has to be damn annoying though.

As far as the advice on the coils. I knew it. That is what everybody says, I was just hoping there might be a way around it to prevent it from happening again.

I can't stand the new Fords.

As I understand it, it's not the moisture that causes the coils to fail, it's the heat from the coils internally. That's why the coils always look a little bit burnt if you look at the silocone (or whatever that material is on the tops of them). I haven't had any problems when replacing them with aftermarket ones, so that would be my suggestion.

I can't stand new Fords either, but that goes for many makes of cars. They all have their problems, some makes are much more problematic than others though. Ford seems to be in that "much more problematic" category. As far as trucks go, I think GM is heads and shoulders above everyone else when it comes to quality of trucks.

[Koolblue13]

I agree with you on the Chevy thing.

I always carry a spare coil and the tools to fix it. All but 2 of them take less than 5 minutes and the other two are under the fuel rail.

Thanks for the tips SS.

[SpringfieldSkins]

I agree with you on the Chevy thing.

I always carry a spare coil and the tools to fix it. All but 2 of them take less than 5 minutes and the other two are under the fuel rail.

Thanks for the tips SS.

You're welcome.

I find it histerically funny that you carry a spare coil and the tools to replace it, with you at all times. You know what it truly means to be a Ford owner.

[zoony]

There is nothing wrong with the new Fords guys.

Now your opinion might not be high of them, but don't pretend like they're inferior quality.

I've said it before on the boards, and feel free to take it with a grain of salt, but my Father in law manages a large automation consulting firm - they basically design the equipment that makes things. Most of their business is within the automotive industry. Nobody in the company will touch a GM, fwiw. Of course, most of them drive imports, including my father in law

I drive a GM for my company car. Quite frankly, it's a big piece of ****. It doesn't even have 60k on it yet and I can't wait to get rid of it. So opinions are like *******s, we all have them

...

[zoony]

I think GM is heads and shoulders above everyone else when it comes to quality of trucks.

My GM truck is a flaming piece of ****. The interior was designed by Playskool. The center console is loose. Sometimes it doesn't start. The sound system blows. Ergonomically it is awkward. It is a 2006 with 55k on it.

The drivetrain is noisy, and the ride is sub-par. I will give props to the transmission, but that's really the extent of it.

I believe in buying American, but in now way would I touch any GM truck product with a 10 foot pole.

Funny how perspective shapes our opinions, isn't it

How do you define quality? The Germans have known for years, "quality" is in the eye of the beholder. That explains how they can export pieces of **** that American consumers fawn over because they're stylish and the fit and finish is nice... and they handle well and have great drivetrains. Only a German Car owner will rant and rave about how great their car is even though it is constantly in the shop.

"Quality" is a relative term that the American Auto industry has yet to really figure out. I think Ford is on the right track with some of their newer vehicles like the Edge and Fusion and the new F150 coming out later this year.

[Koolblue13]

How do you define quality? The Germans have known for years, "quality" is in the eye of the beholder. That explains how they can export pieces of **** that American consumers fawn over because they're stylish and the fit and finish is nice... and they handle well and have great drivetrains. Only a German Car owner will rant and rave about how great their car is even though it is constantly in the shop.

"Quality" is a relative term that the American Auto industry has yet to really figure out. I think Ford is on the right track with some of their newer vehicles like the Edge and Fusion and the new F150 coming out later this year.

I will never for the life of me understand how people think German cars are reliable. Fun to drive, sure, but reliable (or cheap and easy to fix) is beyond me.

One thing I think anybody with a tiny bit of automotive knowlege can agree on is, how in the hell is Saab still a company? That is the mark for "what in the hell were you thinking" design.

[SpringfieldSkins]

There is nothing wrong with the new Fords guys.

Now your opinion might not be high of them, but don't pretend like they're inferior quality.

I've said it before on the boards, and feel free to take it with a grain of salt, but my Father in law manages a large automation consulting firm - they basically design the equipment that makes things. Most of their business is within the automotive industry. Nobody in the company will touch a GM, fwiw. Of course, most of them drive imports, including my father in law

I drive a GM for my company car. Quite frankly, it's a big piece of ****. It doesn't even have 60k on it yet and I can't wait to get rid of it. So opinions are like *******s, we all have them

...

There is certainly something wrong with Fords. There is also something wrong with GM, Chrysler, Toyota and every other brand of car ever made. Every car has it's problems. From my prespective, Ford has a fairly high failure rate when compaired with other manufacturers. I see my fair share of failures on GM's, Hondas and Toyotas as well but I think Ford ekes them out slightly.

As far as GM, their cars (and by that I mean just that, "cars") are junk. They are about as good of quality as a Ford car or Chrysler car. Their trucks are very well made though, and by trucks I mean full size pickup trucks. I hold a Chevy pickup truck in much higher regard than a Ford or a Dodge.

In reality though, cars are only as reliable as the people who drive and maintain them. That's the god honest truth. You can get a Kia to last to 200K if you take care of it properly and you can run down a Honda in under 100K if you treat it like your red-headed step child.

And that, my friend is my *******... I mean opinion.


Also, your father in law is a good man. I drive a Honda myself. Sorry I don't support the US economy with my choice in car. If the US automakers could produce what, in my *******, is a good car, then I would feel compelled to stimulate the US economy. I've owned 2 Chevys and a Dodge so far in my lifetime, those were enough for me to say Japanese is the way to go.



But alas, this is a digression of the intended purpose of this thread. I shouldn't be here to give opinions, just the facts.

[SpringfieldSkins]

How do you define quality? The Germans have known for years, "quality" is in the eye of the beholder. That explains how they can export pieces of **** that American consumers fawn over because they're stylish and the fit and finish is nice... and they handle well and have great drivetrains. Only a German Car owner will rant and rave about how great their car is even though it is constantly in the shop.

Now that is something I can agree with.

[zoony]

I will never for the life of me understand how people think German cars are reliable. Fun to drive, sure, but reliable (or cheap and easy to fix) is beyond me.

One thing I think anybody with a tiny bit of automotive knowlege can agree on is, how in the hell is Saab still a company? That is the mark for "what in the hell were you thinking" design.

I've owned and been around German cars my entire life. My father has owned 4 Audis and 3 Porsches within the past 5 years. I've owned 3 (mine were used however) They are AWESOME cars... but big pieces of **** at the same time.

I could bore you with a list of service and warranty repairs done on them, but why bother

Funny thing is, my father LOVES them. Just like most German car owners do. Actually, I love them too, but I make no mistake about their reliability/quality.