Question for the car guys

[BigRichard]

I just bought an older truck to have for winter but I went to start it this morning and the battery was dead. Took the battery up to Autozone and they said it checked out fine but it was completely drained when I brought it in. I did not have the alternator tested yet but the dash gauge shows it is charging good. What else could it be or should I not trust the gauge on the truck? Could something be sucking the juice from the battery as it sits? If so how do I find it?

[Easy 6]

Originally Posted by Dayze

ball bearings is where its at these days. It's all ball bearings

[BigRichard]

So I figured out it was just the light in the glove box so thanks to everyone for the help. However the damn thing has a pinging I hear when driving it now. I took it to Aamco because I thought it was the transmission but they are telling me it is the engine. They are stating it needs to be replaced.

I really want a second opinion because I don't hear this noise if I am just sitting revving the engine. I only hear it when it is going down the road in gear. I could be wrong but I just don't see it being the engine. Anyone on here have a good, slightly inexpensive, mechanic out in West Omaha they know of? And I guess it doesn't necessarily need to be in West Omaha either. The closer to home just makes it easier to get and drop off.

[KCrockaholic]

My car isn't a fan of weather changes. Wednesday night it randomly started making a scraping type noise coming from the pulley area, maybe towards the crankshaft area. It's not extremely loud. But was loud enough to hear it with the windows up. I've been trying to get ahold of a auto shop, and my personal mechanic, but it seems everybody has taken the entire weekend off. Anybody have any idea what it might be?

[KC native]

Originally Posted by BigRichard

So I figured out it was just the light in the glove box so thanks to everyone for the help. However the damn thing has a pinging I hear when driving it now. I took it to Aamco because I thought it was the transmission but they are telling me it is the engine. They are stating it needs to be replaced.

I really want a second opinion because I don't hear this noise if I am just sitting revving the engine. I only hear it when it is going down the road in gear. I could be wrong but I just don't see it being the engine. Anyone on here have a good, slightly inexpensive, mechanic out in West Omaha they know of? And I guess it doesn't necessarily need to be in West Omaha either. The closer to home just makes it easier to get and drop off.

Never trust AAMCO. With my old caddy, the transmission solenoid was going out so it wouldn't shift sometimes. At the time, I was almost 100% sure that's what it was (and I didn't want to do it myself) so I had my wife take it to them just to verify the issue. Those ****s gave me a whole host of reasons why the tranny needed to be replaced. They even told me one of the codes that the car was throwing off was a "transmission slip code" which made me laugh and then get really pissed off at them. I had checked the codes (car had a self diagnostic mode which was awesome) before it went there so I knew exactly what codes it was throwing and what they meant.

Ended up buying a new car and had a mechanically inclined friend who thought he could make some loot off of putting a little bit of work into the caddy. He changed the solenoid like I recommended and banged on the catalytic converter for a few minutes and all of the codes dropped off. He ended up getting a grand for himself and paid me the 2 grand I wanted for the car.

tl;dr **** AAMCO. Never trust anything they say.

[KC native]

Originally Posted by KCrockaholic

My car isn't a fan of weather changes. Wednesday night it randomly started making a scraping type noise coming from the pulley area, maybe towards the crankshaft area. It's not extremely loud. But was loud enough to hear it with the windows up. I've been trying to get ahold of a auto shop, and my personal mechanic, but it seems everybody has taken the entire weekend off. Anybody have any idea what it might be?

It needs more antifreeze.

[Tombstone RJ]

Originally Posted by BigRichard

So I figured out it was just the light in the glove box so thanks to everyone for the help. However the damn thing has a pinging I hear when driving it now. I took it to Aamco because I thought it was the transmission but they are telling me it is the engine. They are stating it needs to be replaced.

I really want a second opinion because I don't hear this noise if I am just sitting revving the engine. I only hear it when it is going down the road in gear. I could be wrong but I just don't see it being the engine. Anyone on here have a good, slightly inexpensive, mechanic out in West Omaha they know of? And I guess it doesn't necessarily need to be in West Omaha either. The closer to home just makes it easier to get and drop off.

a pinging noise? definitely get a second opinion.

[Bugeater]

Originally Posted by BigRichard

So I figured out it was just the light in the glove box so thanks to everyone for the help. However the damn thing has a pinging I hear when driving it now. I took it to Aamco because I thought it was the transmission but they are telling me it is the engine. They are stating it needs to be replaced.

I really want a second opinion because I don't hear this noise if I am just sitting revving the engine. I only hear it when it is going down the road in gear. I could be wrong but I just don't see it being the engine. Anyone on here have a good, slightly inexpensive, mechanic out in West Omaha they know of? And I guess it doesn't necessarily need to be in West Omaha either. The closer to home just makes it easier to get and drop off.

I'd try some higher octane gas first. R & G Auto at 75th & Pacific or Auto Services of Omaha at 43rd & L are the only mechanics that I'd recommend to anyone in Omaha.

[Brock]

Originally Posted by BigRichard

So I figured out it was just the light in the glove box so thanks to everyone for the help. However the damn thing has a pinging I hear when driving it now. I took it to Aamco because I thought it was the transmission but they are telling me it is the engine. They are stating it needs to be replaced.

I really want a second opinion because I don't hear this noise if I am just sitting revving the engine. I only hear it when it is going down the road in gear. I could be wrong but I just don't see it being the engine. Anyone on here have a good, slightly inexpensive, mechanic out in West Omaha they know of? And I guess it doesn't necessarily need to be in West Omaha either. The closer to home just makes it easier to get and drop off.

A pinging noise sometimes indicate the spark timing is off. Get a code scan at az.

[SAUTO]

Its probably too old to just scan and find out the timing. Just have someone unhook the brown and black wire (iirc its a 93 Chevy pu) that's either under the glove box or in the harness going through the firewall, and then set the timing with a light.
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[Tombstone RJ]

Originally Posted by Bugeater

I'd try some higher octane gas first. R & G Auto at 75th & Pacific or Auto Services of Omaha at 43rd & L are the only mechanics that I'd recommend to anyone in Omaha.

this is a good idea too. Run some BK44 through it and clean the out the fuel injection system too (I'm assuming it's not so old that it's not fuel injected) and then run some quality high octane gas through it.

[hometeam]

Also hit with some lucas upper cylinder lubricant, make sure its not lifter ticking or something. Make sure the oil is full.

[BigRichard]

Well the pinging turned out to be a cracked head. I have been working on it this weekend and had another question. The intake gasket I have got doesn't have one of the ports cut out and neither did the one I pulled out. What would the reasoning be behind having a port that doesn't get any flow through it?

[Mr. Flopnuts]

Originally Posted by Ace Gunner

what? no c4 explosives for the white house? yer slippin' man

Let me know how many secret service show up at your door. I've always been curious just how many agents they send out to check threats like this.

[BigRichard]

Here is a picture of the gasket I was talking about. The one on the left you see has a port blocked at the top of the picture. Anyone know why they do this?

[SAUTO]

Originally Posted by BigRichard

Well the pinging turned out to be a cracked head. I have been working on it this weekend and had another question. The intake gasket I have got doesn't have one of the ports cut out and neither did the one I pulled out. What would the reasoning be behind having a port that doesn't get any flow through it?

if the original one was blocked it HAS to be blocked. otherwise the truck will always overheat