Topic: What did you do to your car today?

[EV Dan]

Ah, the good old days of transmission dipsticks 
I heard an opinion that mfg's have given up on dipsticks because ppl would over or under-fill the trannies and then claim issues while they were under warranty. So they went with sealed ones and "lifetime" fluid to avoid a human error, perhaps among both, DIYers and the service techs, as a good number of them couldn't follow the instructions. Now Youtube is full of "pros" showing how to drain, measure and refill, even though if one owns a service bay, the level set procedure is not all that complicated, you just gotta keep the fluid temp in mind...

Ford is going the other way, putting fill plugs back into AWD PTU's to make fluid changes reasonably easy. Likely good news for Maverick buyers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNs7va19a-8

133 lb*ft must be a typo    A good mechanic like this guy will have a sense what various things should be torqued to. Maybe 33 in this case, why would you do more on a fill plug?

My entire PSD transmission has a similar fluid (WS) change procedure. Just two plugs. Same I think for the rear motor/diff.

[EV Dan]

Haynes have a yotube channel. Who knew!
https://www.youtube.com/c/HaynesManuals/videos
There are hundreds of video service guides in there. I looked up Toyota and there is just about anything on 2013-2018 RAV4.

[Great_Big_Abyss]

Man, my Mazda3 does NOT like the cold. 

Whenever it drops below -20C (which this winter is ALL the freaking time), the left turn signal stops working intermittantly.  As in, you push it down to indicate a left turn, and the signal just doesn't signal.  Luckily, the '3-flash lane change' function still works (most of the time) so I can get around the issue by just holding the turn signal stalk in the partial down position to keep the 3-flash lane change going.  There has been the odd time that even that doesn't function - that's awkward when I'm trying to make a left turn at a busy intersection.  And yet, it truly is intermittent.  For example, today, -33C, and the turn signals all work just fine. 

BUT, I encountered another issue for the first time - the engine went into limp mode.  So I'm trying to merge onto my local arterial hwy (80km/h speed limit) to get back to work after dropping my kid off at school.  I'm accelerating in the merge lane, and then all of a sudden I lose all power - the car won't go above 30km/h - and the check engine light starts flashing.  I immediately pull over, turn off the car wait a few seconds, then restart it again.  The car starts up just fine, and behaves completely normal. 

I know a lot of problems like this can be caused by a weak battery - but the battery was tested by my mechanic last time the car was in for an oil change, so I doubt that's the issue.  At this point, I'm just going to chalk it up to extreme cold weather, and see if it does it again.

[EV Dan]

^^^ That's weird and scary. Take it to a mechanic and scan for codes, at least you will know where the trouble may be coming from...

[Firm]

^^^ That's weird and scary. Take it to a mechanic and scan for codes, at least you will know where the trouble may be coming from...

Yeah, should be some stored codes for the engine light, would be good to know what codes got thrown.

[Great_Big_Abyss]

Yeah, check engine light didn't actually come on and stay on - other than flashing while it was in limp mode.  Mind you I didn't have far to drive after restarting the car, so there is still time for the CEL to come on.

I DID call my mechanic about it, and he said that sometimes throttle bodies can cause the issue if there is excess moisture and extreme cold.  He was curious about codes, too.  I'll keep an eye on it, and if the check engine light comes on, then I'll take it in to get scanned.

If the light stays off, I'll take the car in for another oil change in April/May before we go on our big BC roadtrip, and get them to check for any codes at that time.

[blur911]

Yeah, check engine light didn't actually come on and stay on - other than flashing while it was in limp mode.  Mind you I didn't have far to drive after restarting the car, so there is still time for the CEL to come on.

I DID call my mechanic about it, and he said that sometimes throttle bodies can cause the issue if there is excess moisture and extreme cold.  He was curious about codes, too.  I'll keep an eye on it, and if the check engine light comes on, then I'll take it in to get scanned.

If the light stays off, I'll take the car in for another oil change in April/May before we go on our big BC roadtrip, and get them to check for any codes at that time.

It will store the codes, the check engine light doesn't have to be on.
You don't have a scanner??

[Great_Big_Abyss]

Yeah, check engine light didn't actually come on and stay on - other than flashing while it was in limp mode.  Mind you I didn't have far to drive after restarting the car, so there is still time for the CEL to come on.

I DID call my mechanic about it, and he said that sometimes throttle bodies can cause the issue if there is excess moisture and extreme cold.  He was curious about codes, too.  I'll keep an eye on it, and if the check engine light comes on, then I'll take it in to get scanned.

If the light stays off, I'll take the car in for another oil change in April/May before we go on our big BC roadtrip, and get them to check for any codes at that time.

It will store the codes, the check engine light doesn't have to be on.
You don't have a scanner??

I don't.  Maybe I'll pick up a BT OBDII scanner.

[EV Dan]

^^^ Yep. There should be code(s) stored. I once had a solid CEL come on and then turn off at the next restart and the dealer was still able to read it afterwards. A flashing CEL is more serious from what I heard, so it's very likely to be recorded.

[tortoise]

At least you can pretend you're driving a BMW and not bother with using the turn signal.

The loss of power is a weird one though. I'd definitely see if you can pull any codes.

[blur911]

Yeah, check engine light didn't actually come on and stay on - other than flashing while it was in limp mode.  Mind you I didn't have far to drive after restarting the car, so there is still time for the CEL to come on.

I DID call my mechanic about it, and he said that sometimes throttle bodies can cause the issue if there is excess moisture and extreme cold.  He was curious about codes, too.  I'll keep an eye on it, and if the check engine light comes on, then I'll take it in to get scanned.

If the light stays off, I'll take the car in for another oil change in April/May before we go on our big BC roadtrip, and get them to check for any codes at that time.

It will store the codes, the check engine light doesn't have to be on.
You don't have a scanner??

I don't.  Maybe I'll pick up a BT OBDII scanner.

Oddly, my cheapo BT scanner and Torque only work on my old phone, can't get it working on my newer Motorola. YMMV

[KD]

Not a good situation when car goes into limp mode on the highway.  Happened in my 2003 Lincoln LS-V8 when I was the first car to pass a long line of slower traffic after a construction zone.  Car went into limp mode mid way through passing with a long line of really impatient traffic behind me and a line of transport trucks in the slow lane.  Not a good scenario. 

It was related to oil fouling the coil packs, which was a known design issue with that engine.  Took the car in for the factory mod next day and got rid of the car when it happed again soon after the mod.   

GBA, I suggest getting that looked at asap. 

[JG20]

Had the brake pads replaced along with the oil change. Damn, that's cutting it close 

[Great_Big_Abyss]

Not a good situation when car goes into limp mode on the highway.  Happened in my 2003 Lincoln LS-V8 when I was the first car to pass a long line of slower traffic after a construction zone.  Car went into limp mode mid way through passing with a long line of really impatient traffic behind me and a line of transport trucks in the slow lane.  Not a good scenario. 

It was related to oil fouling the coil packs, which was a known design issue with that engine.  Took the car in for the factory mod next day and got rid of the car when it happed again soon after the mod.   

GBA, I suggest getting that looked at asap.

I'm swinging by the place we bought the car from after work.  They have a scan tool and will scan it for me.  Here's hoping it's just a malfunctioning sensor due to the cold.  Cold weather can do funky things to cars!

[draghon]

Had the brake pads replaced along with the oil change. Damn, that's cutting it close 

You sure got your money's worth out of those pads!!

[rrocket]

Yeah, check engine light didn't actually come on and stay on - other than flashing while it was in limp mode.  Mind you I didn't have far to drive after restarting the car, so there is still time for the CEL to come on.

I DID call my mechanic about it, and he said that sometimes throttle bodies can cause the issue if there is excess moisture and extreme cold.  He was curious about codes, too.  I'll keep an eye on it, and if the check engine light comes on, then I'll take it in to get scanned.

If the light stays off, I'll take the car in for another oil change in April/May before we go on our big BC roadtrip, and get them to check for any codes at that time.

It will store the codes, the check engine light doesn't have to be on.
You don't have a scanner??

I don't.  Maybe I'll pick up a BT OBDII scanner.

Yep..buy a Bluetooth bod weaker and use one of the many apps.
I use Torque Pro.

[JG20]

Had the brake pads replaced along with the oil change. Damn, that's cutting it close 

You sure got your money's worth out of those pads!!

Original pads with approx 56k (about 5.5 years) on them.

[Seafoam]

 A flashing CEL means you shouldn't drive the vehicle.Non flashing you can still drive. Could be getting  a misfire of some sort. This can be bad as raw fuel could make it's way to the Cat ,destroying it. Since you shut it off you should be okay. I don't think this generation had defective coil packs ?

[Great_Big_Abyss]

A flashing CEL means you shouldn't drive the vehicle.Non flashing you can still drive. Could be getting  a misfire of some sort. This can be bad as raw fuel could make it's way to the Cat ,destroying it. Since you shut it off you should be okay. I don't think this generation had defective coil packs ?

I guess I'll find out shortly if there are any stored codes.  I certainly know about the flashing CEL being bad, and pulled over as soon as I noticed the car was down on power and the CEL was flashing. 

[Great_Big_Abyss]

PCM Error.  I forget what the exact code was.  I think it's due to the extreme cold weather we're having. 

We wiped all the codes.  If it happens again, then further diagnosis will be required.  If it doesn't happen again, I'll ask my mechanic to scan codes next time the car goes for an oil change, just in case something turns up that doesn't turn on the CEL.