Bored Mechanic - Got any car questions?

Supgee3

Well-Known Member
Rucca sometimes when I turn my heater fan on... like the turn dial for the speed of the fan to FULL it makes a high pitch whistle... sup with that? It only happens when its cranked to full, and only happens sometimes... Not a problem just kinda annoying.
 

rucca

Active Member
Rucca sometimes when I turn my heater fan on... like the turn dial for the speed of the fan to FULL it makes a high pitch whistle... sup with that? It only happens when its cranked to full, and only happens sometimes... Not a problem just kinda annoying.
Well the fan itself is not controlled by vacuum but the vents are - I imagine the noise changes when you switch from floor, to face, to defrost (or, you are maybe stuck with just defrost and cannot actuate the vents..) That indicates a bad vacuum line somewhere in the car - why the noise is louder with the fan turned up? Possibly, increased electrical load raises your idle to keep the alternator producing the proper voltage, thus creating stronger vacuum and making the noise louder... just a guess...

Or, you have something actually in your fan like a leaf... but it doesn't sound like this is the case. (Imagine the sound of a leaf in a fan... not a whistling, more of a rustling)

The other possibility is that the seal around the blower motor itself is leaking a bit, thus the blower motor is forcing some air out past this bad seal and maybe just pushing it out just right to make a whistle. You should be able to stick your hand under the blower motor (under the glove box) and feel for air, or use a piece of hose as a stethoscope to "hear" around for the noise.

Or, if it is more of an "electrical" whine or bad bearing type whine, I would suspect your blower motor is failing.
 

Supgee3

Well-Known Member
Thanks, I was thinking maybe there was a bad seal around the blower motor... I was googling around and thats the conclusion I came to... It's basically like this..

Regardless if I have it on hot / cold if I turn the fan speed dial to full it whistles like... exactly like a human whistle almost... heh...
So where exactly is the blower motor located?

edit: I forgot to mention but this JUST started happening.
 

Supgee3

Well-Known Member
And one more thing if you don't mind Rucca.... my car's antennae is located in the back... and it is supposd to pop out when you start the car and retract when you stop the motor... However it doesn't pop out or retract... but when I start the vehicle I hear the little motor in the back working to open it... and I also hear the motor working to retract the antennae when I shut the vehicle off however nothing actually happens.... and radio reception is unaffected.... Any input?
 

bigslama912

Well-Known Member
98 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo 4.0L 6cyl...

Oil pressure reads 0... NO LEAKS, CRACKS, ENGINE RUNNING PERFECT...

faulty oil pressure sensor? I was thinking it was the little black piece screwed into a part of the engine block underneath the distributor? Yay? Nay?
 

fitch303

Well-Known Member
I'm about to buy a 1994 Saab 900s 2.3 liter non turbo, automatic for $600, how reliable are the engines/trannys and is there anything specific I should look out for?
 

rucca

Active Member
Thanks, I was thinking maybe there was a bad seal around the blower motor... I was googling around and thats the conclusion I came to... It's basically like this..

Regardless if I have it on hot / cold if I turn the fan speed dial to full it whistles like... exactly like a human whistle almost... heh...
So where exactly is the blower motor located?

edit: I forgot to mention but this JUST started happening.
The blower motor is located underneath the glove box. It may be covered by a plastic panel that should basically rip out of there (might be a screw or two). It looks like... a black metal circle.... hold on...
http://z.about.com/d/autorepair/1/0/z/G/56538502.gif56538502.gif

And one more thing if you don't mind Rucca.... my car's antennae is located in the back... and it is supposd to pop out when you start the car and retract when you stop the motor... However it doesn't pop out or retract... but when I start the vehicle I hear the little motor in the back working to open it... and I also hear the motor working to retract the antennae when I shut the vehicle off however nothing actually happens.... and radio reception is unaffected.... Any input?
Yeah, they have a toothed plastic thing that retracts them and puts them up, it always breaks. Needs to be replaced, prolly costs like 50-100 for one

98 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo 4.0L 6cyl...

Oil pressure reads 0... NO LEAKS, CRACKS, ENGINE RUNNING PERFECT...

faulty oil pressure sensor? I was thinking it was the little black piece screwed into a part of the engine block underneath the distributor? Yay? Nay?
Yeah most likely - they are common failures on the 4.0L and yes it is the black thing screwed into the dist, or near the dist or oil filter... can't quite picture in my head... It's 1 wire I believe, maybe 2 though... Though, my buddy did just buy a jeep that had very low oil pressure (like 0-5psi), it was not the oil pressure sending unit, it was bearings.... Thing has like 2psi oil pressure, and has been running quietly for like 8 months now... The fact that you have no pressure though, and the gauge never moves, means its probably the sender - they are like $15 and you are supposed to use an oil sending unit socket but you can use other things
 

bengrowin

Well-Known Member
have a 92 subaru loyale. The brakes are dragging front right and back left was wondering if you are fimilar with the hill holder? Just heard about it today Think that might be the problem? Or might they rub if the pads are low? thanks
 

rucca

Active Member
I'm about to buy a 1994 Saab 900s 2.3 liter non turbo, automatic for $600, how reliable are the engines/trannys and is there anything specific I should look out for?
The old Saabs are pretty legit evidently, but I honestly don't have much experience with them. My neighbor has a 91 turbo though that he has had, I dunno, 20 years.... I'd take it to a mechanic and have it looked over, costs like $50 but they should be able to spot any safety issues easily... For $600, who cares... it can die next year and you got your moneys worth!

have a 92 subaru loyale. The brakes are dragging front right and back left was wondering if you are fimilar with the hill holder? Just heard about it today Think that might be the problem? Or might they rub if the pads are low? thanks
Well that was my first car! I was so happy to have that feature being a new driver with a 5spd... Loved her so much lol... no real repair experience with hill holder clutches though so let me research them real quick and see....

Alright, I think you are correct in stating the hill holder is the problem... Applying the clutch does not apply the brakes, but it does retain brake pressure to the right front and left rear wheels if you had your foot on the brake. Unfortunately I lack info on this so pictures and such aren't at my disposal, but, there should be a cable that actuates the hill holder function. I imagine one of the pivot points here is frozen, you may be able to work it free and lube it up, but the other option is to cut the cable to the hill holder mechanism. This will disable the hill holder though but who cares, just use your ebrake

Some info on it
http://www.subaruforester.org/vbulletin/f89/hill-hold-feature-1611/
 

bengrowin

Well-Known Member
yea thanks thats what i thought too but i wasn't sure if the hill holder was sticking somewhere if i cut the cable i thought maybe it would still hold pressure on the lines. but doing brakes tonite so we will c. thanks!
 

rucca

Active Member
yea thanks thats what i thought too but i wasn't sure if the hill holder was sticking somewhere if i cut the cable i thought maybe it would still hold pressure on the lines. but doing brakes tonite so we will c. thanks!
It will if it is frozen like that... but I imagine instead of being permanently frozen, it just releases pressure very slowly.
 

Supgee3

Well-Known Member
Rucca just wanted to post that you were double correct about the blower motor seals being the problem, and about the little tooth gear thingy for my antennae..
Got the blower motor seals fixed for just under $40 bucks and I got the antennae gear reinstalled for $75 bucks..... thanks dude!!

Maybe riddle me this.... sometimes if I turn left at low speed I get a squeaking sound coming from my power steering.... I'm thinking that one of the bearings on the steering rack is causing the problem.. or something all together with the power steering.... Fluid levels are correct... which is making me believe its a bearing..

edit: I still have full power steering, and I can steer the car with very little effort... It just worries me that maybe my power steering pump is on the fritz... and everyone knows how dangerous it could be to drive a car you *think* has power steering and then suddenly it doesnt.
Thanks for your expertise dude
 

rucca

Active Member
Rucca just wanted to post that you were double correct about the blower motor seals being the problem, and about the little tooth gear thingy for my antennae..
Got the blower motor seals fixed for just under $40 bucks and I got the antennae gear reinstalled for $75 bucks..... thanks dude!!

Maybe riddle me this.... sometimes if I turn left at low speed I get a squeaking sound coming from my power steering.... I'm thinking that one of the bearings on the steering rack is causing the problem.. or something all together with the power steering.... Fluid levels are correct... which is making me believe its a bearing..

edit: I still have full power steering, and I can steer the car with very little effort... It just worries me that maybe my power steering pump is on the fritz... and everyone knows how dangerous it could be to drive a car you *think* has power steering and then suddenly it doesnt.
Thanks for your expertise dude
Awesome, glad I could help!
Sounds like you have a belt that is going, kinda like a squeaking/chirping maybe even squeal? Worse most likely when cold/wet out. The power steering uses the most effort when you are stopped or going slowly so it puts extra strain on the pump and belt running the pump. You can just look at the belt with a flashlight, it is probably cracked or has shiny glazed spots on it, or maybe just needs to be tightened.
Probably if you dump water on the belt while the car is running it will duplicate the noise.

How hard is it to fix my fuse holder? It's on a 89 Jeep wrangler. They won't stay plugged in.
Well it should unbolt and then unplug but I'm not 100% sure (I don't see why it wouldn't though). The Quadratec catalog probably sells the part you need and has a good part explosion to see how it goes together... But, I imagine you could ghetto fix it too =) First I'd try bending the tabs that hold the fuses to make them tighter, if that doesn't work, you can jam like a paper clip or some type of thin metal in with the fuse.
 

mrgreengrower

Well-Known Member
Yeah, every car with a dipstick for the trans is always check fluid with car running on a level surface in park or nuetral. -dtcs-pre-98-a.html[/URL]
Sorry but not all cars with a dip stick for the tranny is checked with car running honda is one of Thoughts
 

Slojo69

Well-Known Member
Sorry but not all cars with a dip stick for the tranny is checked with car running honda is one of Thoughts
lol what? you ALWAYS check tranny fluid while its running, if you don't your going to think it's full and actually be running low on tranny fluid = no good.


Side note: got a 94 trooper and it seems that all my electrical shit is going out on the inside. Power windows sometimes work sometimes doesnt, my fan/heater sometimes blows and sometimes doesn't, lotta lights are out, it has automatice locks that lock/unlock when i turn the key, but only works on the front 2 when all 4 doors are suppose to work. Few other things. Just wondering how i should begin. Is there a wire harness kit for rewiring the inside? I know ill prolly need to get new motors for the windows and possibly a new fan/heater so i figured if everithing is going to be torn apart might as well replace the wiring.
 
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