DENNIS O’SULLIVAN
A reader’s fondness for a used car brand raised a question about the marquee’s reliability. Follow a proper maintenance regime and there are no bad cars out there, Dennis suggests.
QUESTION
I had the power steering pump replaced on my 2008 Enclave in December (very expensive). The Enclave seems to be leaking power steering fluid again.
I checked the colour of what was leaking and compared it to the power steering fluid that I had and the level was low when I checked it.
I plan to take the Enclave in to get checked but fear another huge bill. What to you think about trying power steering fluid stop leak first? Am I wasting my time? Thanks Dom
ANSWER
I would not use any kind of leak preventer until I have the leak checked out to see where the power steering oil is leaking. It may be nothing more than a loose line. Once you find out where the leak is, that is the time to decide whether or not you want to try the stop leak method.
QUESTION
Thank you for your weekly column. We enjoy it very much and your answers are great! We are not sure if we have a problem or not but would like your advice.
We just bought a 2008 Dodge Charger with 124,000 kms. at a local car lot. It seems in good condition but we bought the extended one-year warranty anyhow. It has the 2.7 engine and we didn't think that was a problem but checking on the Internet shows a lot of troubles with this engine with sludge, leaking water pumps and early failure.
Is there a potential problem and is there anything that we should be doing to prevent it? Is this really a bad engine? We have driven Chrysler products for over forty years with good results. Your opinion would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
John from Beamsville
ANSWER
It is unfortunate that far too often, statistics are used in print that condemn a particular car or part of a particular car when the service record of that complainant’s vehicle is never or very seldom known. When I worked at CAA for example, I would at times do a survey of owners’ vehicles to see which car manufacturers had the best service records. I would occasionally follow up on a very negative report that was sent in to us by the owner of a vehicle. I found that many times it was the lack of proper maintenance by the owner that caused the failure of their vehicle and not the result of a poorly manufactured vehicle.
Premature failure can happen to the most expensive cars so no one can tell what the future holds but I can tell you that there are thousands of these cars on the road today that are properly maintained and are giving the owners years of low-maintenance expenses.
QUESTION
Love your column! Best part of the paper! I have a 1992 Ford F150 8-cylinder pickup. Lately, it has given me problems starting. It is always in the garage, which is heated in the winter to about 12-13 degrees C. When it is started with booster cables, it stalls when put into gear. Once it keeps going for about 15 minutes, it works and drives fine.
A few weeks ago, we had it towed to a local garage where it sat overnight. The next day, when it was three degrees overnight, it started fine! The mechanic thought that the cables to the battery seemed a bit loose.
I don’t use the truck daily but it happened again last week. We contacted our regular garage, which is about 20 kms from home and they suggested bringing it on the weekend and they would look at it on Monday. I took it in Saturday and they said it started fine on Monday!
The mechanic (whom I trust totally) is baffled and does not know what the problem is. It is not a “cold” start problem but a “12-degree” start problem. Would you have any idea what that could be?
Looking forward to your reply. Gerry from Brant County
ANSWER
I would first try leaving the truck with the garage for a few days rather than one day so that the garage can get the same type of starting problems that you are experiencing after the truck sits for a few days. It sounds to me like a fuel delivery problem which I would look into first.
Start by asking the garage to do a pressure test of the fuel pump to make sure it has the right pressure and maintains that pressure.
The second thing that you would have to look for is a vacuum leak, which creates havoc when the engine is first started.
I have also seen a similar situation where a torque converter was locking up causing a vehicle to stall until the engine warmed up.
We will see if our technical friends have any other ideas and I will let you know.
SHARON FROM MT. FOREST ASKS:
“What does a women’s weight have to do with the type of car that she buys?”
ANSWER
It seems that I should have explained in more detail just why I told Betty from Binbrook, “There are so many aspects of knowing or deciding what to buy when purchasing a vehicle that it is impossible for me to advise you on what you should purchase. One would have to know what your needs are, your health, weight and mobility before I can make any type of a recommendation.”
Maybe I should have just used the word mobility and not the word weight but here is why it is important to know the person before you recommend to someone what type of vehicle that they should purchase. You would not want to recommend to an overweight person to purchase a small sports car because of the difficulty in getting in and out of the car. You would not want to put them in a sport-utility vehicle because of the height of the vehicle and again, getting in and out would be difficult. You would not want to recommend a midsize car because of the restricted driver space.
The best type of car for anyone overweight would be to purchase a fullsize vehicle with tilt and telescopic steering and a power driver’s seat. For these reasons, I still recommend that “When you find a vehicle that you visually like, that is the time to address any of your needs with the salesperson and hopefully he or she will find the necessary options for the vehicle that suits you.”