Industry Experts

"To find out if your electrical system is up to code then..."

"To find out if your house electrical is up to code you must..."

Powered by

Q. Help! bought used car/ been in shop 6 times in 6 months?

ok heres my situation. feb 7 i bought a 01 lexus is300 with a carfax from a westgate chevy and cadillac/used lot. so it wasnt a local owned lot. yes we did buy it as is but they offered us extended warranty (vehicle one) for three years. the vehicle had 70965 miles. a week after, we notice the bettery light was coming on, about a day later after the light came on and we went across town and the cars electric went out. we had only put 70 miles on the vehicle and the alternator went out. luckily insurance covered the towing, parts and labor all we paid was the 100 deductible. a month after that the check engine light came on. we turned in the vehicle and they found a vaccum leak and repaired it. a week after that the check engine light came back on. we had been sending the vehicle to the chevy house for repairs and diagnosing amd chevy couldnt find anything wrong so they referred the vehicle to the toyota house becuase we do not have a lexus house. the tech at toyota still could not figure out what was setting off the light but he had found a oil leak in the one of the seals so that was fixed and covered by waranty just the deductible we paid and he reset the cel and told us to bring it back if it came back on. not even two days later the cel came back on. so once again we took it back to toyota and he repalce a vacuum switch valve.warranty would not cover this becuase in the contract anything that dealt with emission system was not covered. a week after that was replaced cel came on again. by then i was tired of the run around and nothing was getting fixed. this was around the beginning of may when this happend. so we just drove the vehicle with the cel and it ran fine until aug 3 a day before we were going to travel. this time the vehicles cel came on the trac light was flashing and when i press the gas it wasnt moving like it was it was like laggin out. we stopped at the place we were going and i went to start the vehicle when we were bout to leave and the vehicle would start but die immidiatly. we got the vehicle towed to toyota and hope now they could find out what had been going on. toyota is saying that there have been some wires spliced in the engine wiring harness causing the problem to short. the contract says they cover engine and transmission harness. the harness is $900 not including labor and since the cost was high the insurance sent out an adjuster to approve it. well apparently when the adjuster showed up the vehicle ran fine, he said he tugged wires he shook them around and could not get the vehicle to die. the adjuster said he is not denying our claim but since in how toyota could not prove what was defecting the vehicle he could not approve it either. so now toyota is telling us the vehilce is still stalling out and to get it repaired, that we have to pay it all out of pocket. to me if they cant prove it to the adjuster they are going to have to prove it to me if its going to come out of my pocket. the vehicle was sold to us with these splice wires and the lot we bought the car promises that their vehicles have been inspected by highly trained mechanics for their reliabilty. what i need help with is if i have any rights against the dealerships or either the insurance with the vehicle. right now it is hard to come up with this money and we pay for warranty expecting to help us out but we get screwed in the end. i am tired of the vehicle always in the shop. we do not want to get rid of the vehicle becuase my wife is really comfortable with it. we have only put 4000 miles on the vehicle in these 6 months. the only thing that we did notice is the vehicle sometimes had trouble starting in high heat and when we would fill up the vehicle. everytime we turned in the vehicle we let them know this. when i got the code pulled up from autozone everytime it came up with a purged valve/vacuum leak. any info would help thank you for reading.

Powered by

Q. Bmw overheating problem?

do not bother answering if you do not work in the trade! 1997 bmw 528i vehicle overheating at idle (takes about 30 mins to climb into the red) codes came up - coolant temp sensor and the overflow bottle (excess pressure build up) changed temp sensor and over flow bottle as well as the thermostat, bleed system, made sure that there isn't an air lock and i flushed the system out. same problem... water pump was done 2000 kilometers ago and this model doesn't have the electric auxiliary water pump (checked that with bmw) found out the auxiliary electric fan isn't coming on but it will when a/c is engaged. can not get proper wiring diagrams through shopkey5. found the relays for the fan, tested them and they all work... all i can do is make the fan run constantly.. and suggestions? remember if you're not in the trade, don't bother answering. do not answer if you have no idea what you're talking about! i just said i can make the fan come on.. if there was a break in the wiring, the fan wouldn't work at all.. i have had the glove compartment out, and have looked at the wiring harness, no blown fuses or broken wires...

Powered by

Q. Am i going to get in trouble?

i always search for promo codes online when booking hotels, etc. well i found a corporate code for general electric and when i plugged it in i received a discount. i am nervous to book for 2 reasons... 1) i don't want hilton to ask for proof or a card or something... 2) i dont want ge to look me up in their system and see that i am not an employee. my boyfriend says i am being a wuss. and i think i might be too! shoudl i just go for it?! i don't think i'll get arrested or anything :)

"And tell them you work for ge and can get a discount..."