problems after distributor replacement

[ca95965]

I apologize to you all for putting this in the wrong forum first.

 

You guys were so helpful before that I am here again to get your impressions.

 

My distributor was replaced a few days ago. Since then I have noticed some things that are different and one of them is serious enough that I am afraid to drive it like this.

 

1) the "check engine" light comes on now and I do not notice that it happens with any predictability. It flashes on and off a lot on the dirt road here that is the first mile of my journey to anywhere. The way this happens I thought it must be some loose wire. It does the same on the paved road beyond that, just not as often. I told the mechanic about that one right away and he said that 9 times out of 10 that's smog stuff, and he said it like it isn't important. Ok, if that was the only thing, or maybe the only thing aside from:

 

2) when I first pressed the button on the dash to put my side mirrors back to my height there was a sound so distinctly like a duck quacking that I stopped the car and turned down the radio so I could hear it more clearly. I mean, I could have sworn it was a duck but I didn't know where one could be, and after all it had come from that button being pushed.

 

3) I noticed after the repair that it had a new putt putt sound, like a VW, coming from the engine area. I figured that since Subs. are so connected to VW's that that wasn't a problem necessarily, but on any other car I would have reported it as something that sounded like a hole in the exhaust symptom somewhere. Since I used to own and operate a taxi and my living depended on that being right I got pretty good at reporting things so that our maintenance mechanic would get a clue to what was wrong and fix it pronto. It was identical to sounds I had heard in other vehicle, sounds that were helpful to my mechanics then that turned out to be exhaust things (these were about the American cabs I had). It really does sound like that in my Suburu.

 

4) on the way to the grocery store in town last night I saw that the temp. gauge wasn't working at all, so I called the mechanic, my neighbor, and said I was coming back and that I needed this looked into and fixed before I could go anywhere, it was that serious to me.

 

My deceased partner was a master mechanic, and he told me that he got really fed up with fixing the cars of acquaintences and friends because regardless of the cause they would pester him with everything that went awry after that, even things that he knew were clearly not related. It put him in a very bad position, so he would help people on the side of the road but beyond that he did everything possible to stick to only working in his shop.

 

So I need to say here that I definitely do NOT suspect that these things were created by the mechanic, at least not out of any possible error he made, thoughI really hope that some inadvertent bump might have been responsible. I totally trust him and at the same time I need this rectified, for that 3-hour round trip to town to get food and also for a funeral that will require about a 300-mile round trip.

 

When the mechanic looked at things last night I very much assumed that he would find some dumb little thing, like wires loose or not connected (the check engine light had come on only once before, about 6 weeks ago coming out of my smog guy's repair lot, and he apologized as he reconnected two green wires with translucent green ends and said he'd neglected to reconnect the timing. I am 99% sure that that was what he did, but he did reconnect something and say that, and after that there was no light on.).

 

Then I hoped it was a fuse thing, since the cover to that compartment had been removed during the repair or diagnostic process, which I knew because it hadn't been replaced. He looked at those and said that nothing was wrong.

 

I looked at stuff today so I could report more accurately, and in the fuse compartment all had regular-looking clear middles except 3, which were yellow. These were translucent.

 

There were two that were recessed, one of which was yellow, and those were just to the left of a square thing, also yellow, but opaque and like the yellow of the happy face icon below. It had a place on top where it kind of looked like the female end of a phone cord, empty. It was square and larger than the regular fuses.

 

Anyway, he'd said that those were all good, so I expect that these empty and yellow fuses are like they should be????

 

I then asked him if it could be the thermostat, and he showed me a flap/lever-type thing, just to the left of a housing, where he said that the thermostat is. I guess that the impression I got was that it was a pretty big thing to check that, with much to remove. I'm willing if that's needed, but of course would like to check every simple thing first.

 

The trip to get food is also very important because there have been a weird number of deaths lately, and one is my father's sister-in-law, and I have to get down for that funeral and to also take food. I also have to get food for a local pastor here, who has been so inundated with other people's needs due to a fatal crash here of an 18-year-old that he's not getting what he and his family need, due to his own lack of resources and death of his cousin, another minister, in an accident on that same night.

 

Worst of all, I had already told people I would bring things, and I sure don't want to not do that. I'm committed.

 

I would greatly appreciated any help with this.

 

Mary

[ca95965]

I can put in a digital phote here if anyone needs me to take a shot of something I described or perhaps suggests a problem in my car. I'm fairly desperate and SOL if I can't figure this out and FAST.

 

Mary

[mcbrat]

I just replaced a disty, and it was one tooth off. it ran, but pinged a lot, and didn't have it's normal power.

[thealleyboy]

Whew, That was a mouth full!!

Let me take a stab:

I apologize to you all for putting this in the wrong forum first.

 

You guys were so helpful before that I am here again to get your impressions.

 

My distributor was replaced a few days ago. Since then I have noticed some things that are different and one of them is serious enough that I am afraid to drive it like this.

 

1) the "check engine" light comes on now and I do not notice that it happens with any predictability. It flashes on and off a lot on the dirt road here that is the first mile of my journey to anywhere. The way this happens I thought it must be some loose wire. It does the same on the paved road beyond that, just not as often. I told the mechanic about that one right away and he said that 9 times out of 10 that's smog stuff, and he said it like it isn't important. Ok, if that was the only thing, or maybe the only thing aside from:

 

Not sure which model you are driving, but your mechanic should be able to pull fault codes that will help you nail down your check "engine condition". I wouldn't assume a distributer problem based on what you've said so far. He's probably correct that it's emissions related

 

2) when I first pressed the button on the dash to put my side mirrors back to my height there was a sound so distinctly like a duck quacking that I stopped the car and turned down the radio so I could hear it more clearly. I mean, I could have sworn it was a duck but I didn't know where one could be, and after all it had come from that button being pushed.

 

My guess is that something was binding against the housing inside of your power mirror unit (like rubber stripping). If it continues to do this, you may have to replace your mirror.

 

3) I noticed after the repair that it had a new putt putt sound, like a VW, coming from the engine area. I figured that since Subs. are so connected to VW's that that wasn't a problem necessarily, but on any other car I would have reported it as something that sounded like a hole in the exhaust symptom somewhere. Since I used to own and operate a taxi and my living depended on that being right I got pretty good at reporting things so that our maintenance mechanic would get a clue to what was wrong and fix it pronto. It was identical to sounds I had heard in other vehicle, sounds that were helpful to my mechanics then that turned out to be exhaust things (these were about the American cabs I had). It really does sound like that in my Suburu.

 

Sounds exhaust related. May be something minor like tightening up the exhaust manifold bolts. These cars do sound nasty when there is an exhaust leak, but it doesn't necessarily mean you have a serious problem. Very true, they sound just like the old Vee Dubs.

 

4) on the way to the grocery store in town last night I saw that the temp. gauge wasn't working at all, so I called the mechanic, my neighbor, and said I was coming back and that I needed this looked into and fixed before I could go anywhere, it was that serious to me.

 

Probably an easy fix. Sounds like a defective temp sensor or loose wire. Your mechanic should be able to trace this down very quickly. And you should take care of this immediately so you can monitor the temp.

 

My deceased partner was a master mechanic, and he told me that he got really fed up with fixing the cars of acquaintences and friends because regardless of the cause they would pester him with everything that went awry after that, even things that he knew were clearly not related. It put him in a very bad position, so he would help people on the side of the road but beyond that he did everything possible to stick to only working in his shop.

 

So I need to say here that I definitely do NOT suspect that these things were created by the mechanic, at least not out of any possible error he made, thoughI really hope that some inadvertent bump might have been responsible. I totally trust him and at the same time I need this rectified, for that 3-hour round trip to town to get food and also for a funeral that will require about a 300-mile round trip.

 

When the mechanic looked at things last night I very much assumed that he would find some dumb little thing, like wires loose or not connected (the check engine light had come on only once before, about 6 weeks ago coming out of my smog guy's repair lot, and he apologized as he reconnected two green wires with translucent green ends and said he'd neglected to reconnect the timing. I am 99% sure that that was what he did, but he did reconnect something and say that, and after that there was no light on.).

 

He may have not done anything intentionally, but it doesn't sound like he knows Subes very well. The connectors you are referring to could make your car run poorly if they are switched around accidentally. Do you mean that the "check engine" went away after he disconnected the plugs?

 

Then I hoped it was a fuse thing, since the cover to that compartment had been removed during the repair or diagnostic process, which I knew because it hadn't been replaced. He looked at those and said that nothing was wrong.

 

I don't think fuses would affect any of the problems you've described.

 

I looked at stuff today so I could report more accurately, and in the fuse compartment all had regular-looking clear middles except 3, which were yellow. These were translucent.

 

There were two that were recessed, one of which was yellow, and those were just to the left of a square thing, also yellow, but opaque and like the yellow of the happy face icon below. It had a place on top where it kind of looked like the female end of a phone cord, empty. It was square and larger than the regular fuses.

 

Anyway, he'd said that those were all good, so I expect that these empty and yellow fuses are like they should be????

 

Never hurts to swap in new fuses if any are suspect.

 

I then asked him if it could be the thermostat, and he showed me a flap/lever-type thing, just to the left of a housing, where he said that the thermostat is. I guess that the impression I got was that it was a pretty big thing to check that, with much to remove. I'm willing if that's needed, but of course would like to check every simple thing first.

 

Unless your car is overheating, you don't need to worry about the theromstat. A bad thermostat will not cause your guage to stop working

 

The trip to get food is also very important because there have been a weird number of deaths lately, and one is my father's sister-in-law, and I have to get down for that funeral and to also take food. I also have to get food for a local pastor here, who has been so inundated with other people's needs due to a fatal crash here of an 18-year-old that he's not getting what he and his family need, due to his own lack of resources and death of his cousin, another minister, in an accident on that same night.

 

Worst of all, I had already told people I would bring things, and I sure don't want to not do that. I'm committed.

 

I would greatly appreciated any help with this.

 

It doesn't sound like any of your problems are serious enough to prevent you from driving the car. Most of these things are just annoyances. The most serious potentially, is the exhaust issue, but even that is relatively minor.

I would continue to work with your mechanic, and have him go thru these systems meticulously, until he gets it right.

It sounds like you are getting frustrated and overwhelmed. But don't read too much into those "problems". Just try to ignore them until you can get them fixed.

 

good luck, John

 

Mary

[ca95965]

Yes, sorry, it was a mouthful. I think that it might always be for a Virgo with ADD. I spend a great deal of my life apologizing for this. It's why I live in the woods.

 

It's a GL, a 4x4 wagon, '87.

 

Thank you so much for all your helpful input. I did neglect one potentially important aspect - the radiator water, when I checked it today, was full. We didn't want to pull that cap off when hot. But, I forgot to put the cap back on that water resevore... how the heck to you spell that?? thing right next to the battery recently when filling it, and have left a plastic bag in to plug the hole. The bag was totally intact and that thing was not full, the water level is way down. Unless that's for winshield fluid it could matter.

 

Darnit, as usual I am having problems here. This time I am unable to bring up your letter to refer to it. I see why you commented as you did, aside from the obvious. Now I can't remember all the stuff, so I will submit this in case it has something important in it then will go back to your letter. I do remember you said something about pulling codes, and I know my guy has access to total repair manuals online, but in case that's extraordinarily unlikely to find do you have the info or a link to it on this site?

 

I'm going to send him your post and tell him there might be more forthcoming. You were really great, thanks for taking the time!

Mary