Q. Lonnie, I have a 1994 Ford Crown Victoria and when I am driving at freeway speeds the car will start to jerk. I was getting a shudder before, but then I had my transmission serviced, now that is gone. It seems to get worse when I have the speed control on and I am going up a hill. The jerking usually starts when I get to about 50 MPH and the transmission shifts into overdrive. Do you think that my torque converter went out in my transmission? Terry
A. Terry, I would need to drive your car to see if it is a transmission problem or an ignition problem. You said the transmission shudder is gone so I don’t think that the problem is with the torque converter. What I think is wrong is you are getting an engine misfire. You might have a bad spark plug or a bad plug wire. I would suggest you take it into a shop and have them check the ignition system first to see if it a misfire. Thanks for the question, Lonnie
Q. Lonnie, I have a 1997 Explorer with 250,000 miles on it. I replaced the thermostat and it still doesn't warm up. Put in another one and it's a little warmer but doesn't warm up. Any ideas? Ken
A. Ken, You probably have a heater core that is plugged. With the engine fully warmed up, your temperature gauge should be in the normal position, telling you that the engine is at proper operating temperature. Then you can grab each heater hose and they should both be hot. If one hose is hot and the other is luke warm, your heater core is plugged. The only way to fix that properly is to replace the heater core. If both heater hoses are hot, you might have a problem inside your heater case where the temperature blend door is not closing all the way. It might
be broken or something might have fallen inside your heater case not allowing the door to go all the way to the hot position. If the problem is with the heater case the only way to fix it is to remove the heater case and repair the heater door. Thanks for the question!! Lonnie
Q. Lonnie, I have a 2006 Ford Explorer and I am having transmission problems. When I slow down for a stop and get below 10 MPH, I will feel a bump like somebody hit me in the rear. I had it into your dealership over a year ago and it was fixed for a while but it is starting to do it again. Last time you did something with the computer and that worked for a long time. Can I bring it in to have it looked at? I can take you for a ride and show you what my vehicle is doing. Thanks for your help, Rich
A. Rich, Ford has come out with a new program for your computer. We have performed this repair on a few Explorers and it has been taking care of the problem. Give us a call to set up an appointment and we can take care of that for you. It will take about 1 hour to fix. Thanks for the question, Lonnie
Q. Lonnie, I have a 2001 F-150 and I am getting a clunking noise from the front end when going over bumps. It doesn’t have to be a very big bump, even the cracks in the road will make it clunk. I had the ball joints replaced before and they did an alignment at that time. What do you think could be causing my noise and when can I get it into your shop to have it looked at? Steve F.
A. Steve, it sounds like you might have a bad sway bar link. We should be able to get you in for repair just about anytime you would like. Give us a call about 1 day in advance and we will be able to schedule you in for repair. When you come in I can go for a ride with you to hear what noise you are talking about. Thanks for the question,
Lonnie
Q. Lonnie, I have a 2005 Ford F150 with a 5.4L and recently it started whistling. I'm not sure if it's because of the cold, but it is very annoying. It happens when I accelerate and decelerate. If you have any clue, I would greatly appreciate any advice! Thanks for your time! Brennan
A. In response to your question, if it starts to make noise at about 1800 to 2000 rpm's and only when it gets really cold outside, the noise could be coming from the alternator. The fix would be to replace the alternator. Thanks for the question!!
Lonnie
Q: Lonnie, I have a 2006 Ford F-150 and if I leave my vehicle parked for about 3 days it wont start. It wont crank over at all. I have to put a battery charger on it for a while then it will start. What do you suggest I should do? Eric
A: Eric, do you have anything plugged into your cigarette lighter, like a radar detector or GPS? If you havesomething plugged in, that could be draining your battery in a few days. If you don't have anything plugged in you might have a dead battery. You could bring your vehicle in and we can test the battery for you. If you have less than 36,000 miles on the truck, it would still be covered under warranty. Thanks for the question!!!
Lonnie
Q: Lonnie, I have a 2001 F-150 and when I lock it into 4X4 the vehicle will pull real bad to the right. When I try to take it out of 4X4 it doesn't seem to want to come out for a long time. I recently put tires on my truck and they said everything looked good in the front end and my 4X4 was working normal. What do you think is wrong with my truck? Thanks, Jim
A: Jim, I think you have the wrong size tires on your truck or I should say, one or two of the tires is different than the others. When you are in 4X4 the front end is trying to go a different speed than the rear end causing it to pull and that will also cause it not to come out of 4X4. Check to make sure that all the tires are the same size and also the same brand. Thanks for the question,
Lonnie
Q. Lonnie, I have a 2001 F-250 with the 7.3L diesel motor and I have been getting a clunking noise from the front end and also a vibration. The clunking noise happens when I go over any size bumps, big or small. The vibration occurs mainly around 70-75 mph. I've checked my U-joints and I don't think they are the cause of the vibration. One mechanic told me it might be due to the fact that I put LT285's on rather than the stock 265's. If you have any ideas I would greatly appreciate them. Kris
A. Kris, the clunk noise could be from the sway bar links being loose or it might be the sway bar bushings are worn out. The vibration at 70 mph could be one of the tires out of balance or they might need to be road force balanced to see if there is a bad tire.
Thanks for the question,
Lonnie
Q. Lonnie, I have a 2007 Mustang and when I get in the car the driver's window will go down, like it is supposed to, but it will not go back up. The passenger window works fine. Is this something I can do myself to get the window to go back to the top position? Thanks,Josh
A. Josh, You will need to do a window motor initialization. What you have to do is start with the window all the way down and then run the window all the way up to the top and hold the window button in the up position for 2 seconds. Then run the window all the way down to the stop position and hold the button down for 2 seconds. Your window should work fine after that procedure. If you are still having trouble, stop by and we can do it for you.
Thanks for the question!!
Lonnie
