CAR DOCTOR Q&A
Q. I have a 2009 Dodge Grand Caravan in excellent condition. It was garage kept for its first 11 years. The driver side outside mirror seems to be glass, but the passenger side appears to be plastic. The problem is the passenger side mirror has terrible water spots. I’ve tried a few things but with no success and I am afraid of scratching the mirror. Any suggestions?
A. The mirror is convex glass, and the water spot etching could be due to acid rain, or cleaners and even very hard water. I would first try vinegar and dish soap and see if that help. IF you see some improvement, then you a good window cleaner (SprayWay is my car doctor’s wife’s favorite) and use a microfiber cloth for final cleaning. If this doesn’t work, there are custom fit replacement mirror glass that can be installed in minutes. You might want to check with a local glass shop about a replacement mirror.
Q. I’ve been trying to find out how to change my gearbox oil on my 2015 Volkswagen Jetta. I called several VW dealerships, the local car care center and have spoken to VW technicians as well as other transmission professionals, but they tell me that it is sealed transmission. The owner’s manual doesn’t say anything as well. I check the transmission myself, but it has no drain plug nor access plug. Have you heard of anything like this?
A. You are correct there is no drain plug on this transmission and there is no recommend maintenance interval to change the fluid. If you did want to “refresh” the fluid, you would need to such it out with a pump through the fill port. If you decide to go this route (personally I wouldn’t bother unless you are abusing the transmission due to excessive gear clash) only use
Volkswagen fluid.
Q. You may be aware of the infamous Hemi tick that the parent company FCA (now Stellantis) says is part of their engineering engine design for the 5.7-liter engine. Past history of this engineering flaw as I call it is still out there even in the 2022 models that I currently own. I love my V8 engines and although the high-performance Hell Cat engine will stop production after 2023, but the 5.7 L Hemi engine will continue production. The issue that I see is they are using the same camshaft design that can fail due to insufficient lubrication. If you are knowledgeable with any of this, please inform me of your thoughts about this 5.7-liter Hemi engine, is it reliable? Can it be considered a high mileage motor?
A. I have seen and heard the noise but never really got an answer about it. I have talked with owners who have driven these 5.7 Hemi engine 200,000 miles with no problems and others that fail at 100,000 miles. To say to ignore it or it is normal to me sounds odd and not really an answer. Although mechanical parts will make noise, I would want to know the source. The one area that I have seen in older models is the valve lifter rollers wear due to oil starvation. The stuck roller wears the camshaft. In engines that use synthetic oil and change it often there seems to be far less problems. Another common ticking noise is the exhaust manifolds will either crack or become loose.
Q. I have a 2013 Ford Edge. About three months ago while my wife was driving the brake pedal went down to the floor and she had trouble stopping the car. The next day the brake pedal came back up and everything seemed okay. Now three months later it happened again. We drove it to a repair shop and by the time we got there the pedal came back up. They checked it out and couldn’t find the problem. Any ideas of what the problem could be?
A. This is a classic example of a faulty brake master cylinder. The brake master cylinder the hydraulic device that converts the pressure from your foot to the other brake components. If the seals are worn the pedal can “slip or drop” under light pressure on the brake pedal. Additionally, this vehicle may also have recall on the brake power booster and updates to the antilock brake and traction control systems. Cars that don’t start are and inconvenience, cars that don’t stop are dangerous and something I would want to get to the bottom of immediately.
Q. I’m a pretty good DIY’er mechanic and do most of the maintenance on my family’s vehicles. I have a good set of hand tools, jack, ramps, and jack stands. I have a simple code reader which works oaky. Can you suggest a scanner that can do a little more, such as reset oil reminder lights and register batteries and read codes for ABS brakes and airbags? A. Recently I have been evaluating two scan tools from Innova, the 5610 which boarders on a truly profession scan tool and the model 5310 ($139-$179 online). The 5310 supports engine, ABS and SRS codes, oil/maintenance reminder reset and even alternator battery testing. What is nice about these scan tools is the connection to RepairSolutions2 App which can give you verified fixes, parts required for repair, maintenance schedules, technical service bulletins, recalls, and more. Sounds like it could put me out of a job.