[AT] Slightly off topic/ tow truck related

[charlie hill]

Thanks Grant that's a good idea.  In this particular case I don't think it's 
a ground problem but your advice is sound.  I chased a problem for over a 
year on my pickup a few years ago that was exactly that.
To begin with it ran rough but ONLY when the cruise control was on.  If 
finally got to the point I just stopped trying to use cruise control.  Then 
in time it started running rough all the time and eventually got to be 
undriveable.  I'll spare you the details but it wound up being a  ground 
wire in the cruise control module that grounded to a stud in the thermostat 
housing.  The double nuts on the stud were tight on the ground but the stud 
was about a quarter turn slack in the intake.  Anti-freeze had seeped into 
the connection.

Several mechanics couldn't find it.  I couldn't find it with the data from 
any of the aftermarket manuals.  I finally took it to a small GM dealer who 
would let me go into the shop and talk to the mechanic.
He listened to me but still insisted on going back over everything I had 
already tried.  He even put on a few parts like an ignition module.  When 
none of that worked I asked him to look in his manuals for grounding specs 
on the cruise control.  He did.  Then he checked the ground with his 
multimeter, nodded his head and tightened the stud.  Problem solved.  I had 
tightened the nuts myself but never thought to check to see if the stud was 
tight enough in the aluminum intake.

He was nice enough to take the new electronic parts off and put them back in 
the parts room...no charge.  If I hadn't been there I'm not sure he would 
have been that nice but I appreciated it anyway.

Steve Williams contacted me off list about the problem I'm having now and 
with some more background information that I haven't posted on the list I 
think he nailed it.  I haven't checked yet but I'm pretty sure  he will be 
right.    ....... Air leak in fuel return line from the emissions cansiter.

Thanks to everyone for their help.  As usual you can count on the memebers 
of this list to come through.

Charlie

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Grant Brians" <gbrians at hollinet.com>
To: "Antique tractor email discussion group" <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Thursday, December 15, 2005 12:49 AM
Subject: Re: [AT] Slightly off topic/ tow truck related


>I had exactly the same thing happen to me (check engine light comes on, 
>stays on for a while and then goes away) on my '99 Ford Taurus. Just about 
>drove me crazy (or to spend money I did not have. I figured out the cause 
>though recently. The battery connections were getting slightly corroded and 
>so the voltage was below the specifications the computers expected and so 
>they set to check engine, but without a code. It might be worth a 
>check.....
>        Grant Brians
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "charlie hill" <chill8 at cox.net>
> To: "Antique tractor email discussion group" 
> <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
> Sent: Sunday, December 11, 2005 8:27 AM
> Subject: [AT] Slightly off topic/ tow truck related
>
>
>> Does anyone know of an economically priced OBD II reader/scanner set up 
>> to interface with a PC?
>>
>> I'm chasing an occasional bug that turns on the check engine light but 
>> does not set a code.  I'd like to have my own equipment so I can hook up 
>> to a laptop and try to catch the bug in action but I don't want to pay 
>> big bucks for it.
>>
>> I saw one set up for about $100 but don't know anything about the 
>> company.
>>
>> http://www.myscantool.com/index.html
>>
>> If anyone has experience with these folks or has another alternative let 
>> me know please.
>>
>> Charlie
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> AT mailing list
>> Remembering Our Friend Cecil Monson 11-4-2005
>> http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> AT mailing list
> Remembering Our Friend Cecil Monson 11-4-2005
> http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at
>
>
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