QuestionQUESTION: My 97 Lhs has127,000 miles when I bought it recently.the day I bought it I had to replace thermastat.I filled up wit coolant everything worked fine.then a week later my signals blew out.my car started over heating again.no leaks on ground.when I go to start car the a.c. automatically comes on I turn it off it comes back on.then my car won't start soon as I hook cables to jump it car starts.I was told my battery doesn't have enough cranking amps what could be problem.
ANSWER: Hi Art,
It sounds like you have several different problems that are unrelated: hard starting, overheating without coolant to ground, air conditioning activates by itself, signal (turn?) don't work. I prefer to work on problems one at a time.
Let us begin with the starting problem: how old is the battery (if you look on the top of it you may will likely find a label that by means of punched out holes may tell the month and year of its installation in the vehicle. It also may tell you the duration of the battery warranty. Compare the age of the battery with the warranty life and if you find that the battery are is similar to the warranty then there is a good chance that it is indeed not capable of storing and delivering electrical power to operate the starter motor/start the engine. If you haven't noticed the battery warning light or the voltage gauge on the dash to be warning you about a problem with the current/voltage coming from the alternator then there is a good chance you need to replace the battery. On the otherhand, if you have had indications about inadequate charging then an alternator test would be appropriate to do.
On the overheating but with no apparent loss of coolant, have you looked for the presence of white smoke coming from the tailpipe when you first start the engine from cold? That is another way that coolant is lost. Also there could be a slow leak in the radiator core or the radiator cap, or inside the engine such that the oil in the crankcase is clound, foamy or milky. Have you noticed white smoke from the tail pipe after starting the engine from cold, and how does the oil look on the dipstick? Do you have to add water/coolant to the overflow bottle regularly?
On the signals, does both the left and right turn sigals not look? Do the emergency flashers work?
On the AC, is yours a conventional control unit or does it have a digital temperature readout? When you say the AC comes on, do you mean the cabin blower, the compressor, or both?
Also which engine do you have: 3.3 or 3.5L?
Roland
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QUESTION: Thanks the battery has 5/07.I went to advance had them test it they said it was fine.I haven't noticed Amy white smoke,the car ran exceptional for a month or so.the a.c is digital.I just recently had to fill the reserve a lot.,both signals are out,and no hazzardz.both the compresser and cabin blower come on and when I go to start it just draggs as if somethings pulling power from the battery..I thinly its 3.5 engine I haVe no owners manual.and my factory radio went out I checked all fuses they were fine.
ANSWER: Hi Art,
How about the oil, is it clear or milky?
If you are loosing coolant with no sign of it leaking out to the ground, then it either has to be blown out the tailpipe as white smoke (particularly noticeable when starting it up after a long shutdown and the engine is 'cold') or it has to be contaminating the oil, or it could be leaking from the heater core and you would have wet rugs under the dash area. So look again at the tail pipe when starting a cold engine.
If the jump start will get it to start (do you mean that the starter motor works normally when you jump start it?) then I have to wonder if you have bad connections at the battery post clamps or if the wires on the - post clamp at their far ends are not cleanly/tightly connected to the chassis frame and the engine. So check those. It is also possible that the AC issue is impacted the ability of the battery to crank the engine.
You can take the AC out of the situation by removing its control panel from the dash and pulling the plugs on the back side, which should stop the blower and the compressor clutch from being activated; then see how the starting action goes under those conditions. To remove the control panel, remove the ash receiver, then gently pry out the bezel that surrounds the radio/ac control, then remove screws from ac control on either side, pull out control, disconnect the plugs at rear. It could be that the compressor clutch is activated when you try the starter and so the battery is trying to both crank the engine and the AC compressor at the same time, which will certainly be a drag on the battery. Or even simpler then removing the control would be to disconnect the single dark blue/black wire at the compressor, and also go under the dash on the right to find the blower motor (remove the pad on the right lower edge of the dash for better visibility) and follow its wire to a plug nearby and pull that plug to stop the blower. We'll deal with the compressor/blower later.
See if the battery will then start the engine more easily.
Roland
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QUESTION: Ok i replaced battery now car starts fine.still cant figure y my blinkers and hazzard wont work i replaced fuses,my radio also,seems like in fuse panel my top row of fuses dont work even with new fuses.when i replaced the hazzard fuse under trunk it blew instantly and a little smoke came from under dash driver side.
AnswerHi Art,
I don't understand which fuse blew ('under the trunk'??). I show that fuse O in the power box under the hood and fuse 9 in the box behind the dash are the ones that power that turn signal/hazard flasher system.
If neither the turn signal or the emergency flasher were activated when you put in a fuse, then either the wires from the fuses are shorted to ground or there is a short in the combination flasher unit. You find that unit by removing the underpanel silencer duct on the left side and you will find a black object, to the right of the rear side of the fuse block, behind the dash. It is removed by pulling rearward.
Which fuses (by number) appear not to work in the top row? The radio is powered by fuse 4 in that row. The wipers by fuse 5, the high beam headlamps by fuses 2 and 3, and the transmission control module, instrument cluster, data link connector (code reader socket) are powered by fuse 1. So if most of those work, it is not something related to all those top row fuses.
Roland
