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| photo source: green starsmog.com |
My '97 XJ6 enters the ring. But wait, there's more! It's always something.
The smog check will have to wait.
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You may have read one of my earlier postings about the haunted Explorer. I did a work around that was kind of Mickey Mouse but was satisfactory for a time. A couple of days ago I was coming home from the store when the car locks went totally crazy. They cycled continually until I feared that there might actually be a melt down. They just wouldn't stop. I drove the few miles to my house and parked. Disgusted. I could always just drive my truck, right?
Well...
I was driving My F150 and the "door ajar" icon kept lighting up and buzzing. I checked both doors, slamming them shut. Eventually even this didn't work. This persisted for another day. Why was my truck turning on me?
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| photo source: ebay Ah, simpler times. |
Older cars used to have a simple plunger switch to activate the dome lights. Even my plain specification model truck has a more complex set up. The "door ajar" icon, the dome light time delay and the digital odometer read out screen, are all controlled by some kind of hidden switch. I looked all over the door jam and couldn't find anything resembling that. Oh well, I could always go look something up on the Internet.
I found a video concerning a somewhat older Ford Expedition with a similar problem. The takeaway was that the "door ajar" icon and dome light were controlled by a switch that was located within the door, attached to the actual latching mechanism. This switch can get gummed up and stuck, resulting in the icon being activated. The car doesn't know that the door is actually closed. The guy in the video said the fix was to spray each lock assembly with a spray lubricant. That Expedition had a total of six locks, four doors and two at the rear. The lift up glass panel and the actual hatch. Any of these locks could be the source of the problem. He sprayed them all, then worked the assemblies a few times. This freed the switches which solved the problem.
I applied this concept to the F150 spraying the lock assemblies with WD40. This solved my problem after a few false alarms.
This got me to thinking. The Explorer like the Expedition in the video, has six locking points. Maybe one or more of the locking sensors is sticking. One could be stuck in the open phase while another could be stuck in the closed phase. I imagined that this could easily confuse the logic of the system. It could lock the doors and one sensor would be stuck, indicating that it was still open. So the system would try to activate the locking system again, but would open some of them again! I could imagine a very confused system operating off of very bad information, clicking on and off not knowing what was what!
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| Always have a can on hand. It works wonders. |
So out comes the can of WD40 and all the latches were sprayed, heavily. WD40 is a solvent and a lubricant, and it may have just done the job. I drove the Explorer to the store and the doors did not cycle off and on. A hopeful sign. I locked it with the switch and entered the store. Usually I would return to find it unlocked. But it was still locked.
After unloading the groceries I parked it at the curb, locking it with the switch. My Daughter had a problem with her car and I gave her a ride to work. The Explorer was still locked! There wasn't any cycling activity with the system during my two trips. Tonight I parked it at the curb, but I still used the battery disconnect switch. I'm going to keep an eye on it for a while. It has to earn my trust!
Okay, now to get on with the XJ6. But of course something else has come up.
My Daughter had been planning to drive off last night, but she came inside and said those always wonderful words. "Dad, there's something wrong with the car. It making a high pitched whirring sound that I've never heard before." This was a good catch and I told her so. I gave her a ride to work. I'd look into the problem the next day.
Sure enough there was a weird whirring noise. I listened at different areas then started looking for obvious problems. It kind of sounded like a belt or idler noise. What could cause the belt to slip? Some kind of liquid dripping on the belt. The hoses looked okay but right at the thermostat housing I noticed a big puddle of liquid. That would do it!
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| That seepage could drip on the belt. Coolant is slippery. |
I dried the area off then started the motor, sure enough there was fluid seeping out of the thermostat hose housing. I had replaced this several years back when I discovered a small crack in the housing. Could it be cracked again? After dealing with the intake manifold of my 4.6 V8 twice, I didn't doubt the fallibility of Ford design plastics.
I removed the hose connection and removed the thermostat housing. I cleaned the unit looking for cracks or splits. It looked okay. I looked and felt around the housing seating rim and didn't see any faults. The only thing sealing this junction was an o ring. I had wiggled the hose and detected a very slight movement in the connection. Maybe this had worn down the o ring enough to result in a leak. Of course I also considered the possibility that the housing had warped enough to result in a leak. So I considered pulling the entire housing.
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| Kind of dirty, but okay. |
But maybe it was just the o ring. I decided to replace the ring and see it that would solve the problem. If it was still leaking than I would replace the entire housing. Always try the simplest solution first! Off to Winchester Auto.
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| The housing and thermostat look a bit dirty. |
The o ring cost me three bucks, but I also bought a couple of gallons of coolant. I had topped up the coolant tank with plain water when I was looking for the leak. I installed the o ring, ran the engine and the leak was cured. Feeling buoyed by my success I decide to remove and clean the coolant tank, it was pretty dirty. I washed that out, and reinstalled it. I didn't know if the radiator had a drain plug so I just jacked up the car and pulled the lower radiator hose. A somewhat messy but quick way to drain the system. I buttoned everything back up and refilled the system with new coolant. No leaks. (For now!)
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| I got it as clean as I could. |
I was reminded that it was time to replace the radiator and heater hoses and the drive belt. That will have to go on the back burner for now. The steering rack needs to be replaced soon. A big buck repair.
Now, can I get back to playing with my Jaguar?
I hooked up the OBD reader and found three stored codes. I wasn't sure if these were the right codes but I wrote them down anyway. I started fooling around with the reader buttons and it asked if I wanted to erase the codes. Of course I did! I pushed the buttons some more and it read that the codes were cleared. Wow! Even the CEL was out! I thought that I was flying high. With the CEL off I thought that I could just take the car to the shop for the smog test. Wrong! That's what I get for thinking.
Why isn't anything easy?
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