Service slants

Motor, May 2000 by Juran, Ken

Another cause could be a poor connection at power distribution box X10202. This sets the EWS fault code 13 (power supply problem) and DME 204. In this case, disconnect the battery, pull the passenger seat and fold back the carpet to access the box. Then make sure all the connection nuts are tight.

GM

Evaporator odor. GM now has a twopronged approach to killing musty microbial a/c odors in all 1993-99 cars (except Geo) and all 1993-99 light-duty trucks (except Tracker). First, apply evaporator core Cooling Coil Coating (Part No. 1237 79.51, ACDelco No. 15102, 6-ounce aerosol can). The second step involves installing an Electronic Evaporator Dryer (Part No. 12346371, ACDelco No. 12346.378). According to GM, this dt,er goes to work when the ambient temperature near the HVAC case is more than 60F when the car is started. About 30 minutes after shutdown, the blower will kick in for 10 seconds every 10 minutes for hvo hours unless the vehicle is restarted. If it is restarted, die dryer system simply resets itstelf. GM claims this on/ofF cycling dries out the evaporator core and reduces the chances of flat musty odor coming back. The dyer is self fused and has batteryrundown protection that shuts things down if system voltage drops below 12.5.

Cadillac

Fuel odor, MIL on. The lines connecting to the evap canister may be too short on some 1997 Caddy DeVilles, Eldorados and Sevilles. This could lead to a fuel odor wafting into the car and the MIL honing on because of a leak. If you ever get one of these vehicles in, head straight for the canister and check the fit of the purge/vent/fresh air lines. If you find that they're indeed too short and you can't do anything simple to make a better connection, replace the rubber couplers on the nylon lines with reinforced fuel- and oil-resistant tubing. Spring-clamp each piece of tubing to its respective line. Then spring-clamp each piece of tubing to its respective canister nipple, except the one labeled "Tank." Make sure to use a conventional worm-drive clamp to properly seal this connection.

You'll need two pieces of 5/16-inch tubing for the Purge and Tank lines, one piece of 3/8-inch tubing for the Air line, two 3/8-inch spring clamps, three 5/16-inch spring clamps and the one worm-drive clamp for 5/16-inch tubing.

Chrysler

Refrigerant loss. Chrysler has came up with a revised (coated) ground strap that connects the engine to the right frame rail/engine cradle on 1995-97 Chrysler Concordes, LHSs and New Yorkers, Dodge Intrepids and Eagle Visions. The reason is that the old strap can casually rub against the a/c suction line, eventually causing it to fail. If you ever get one of these in with a total loss of refrigerant or one that's just about to blow, install this new right ground strap (Part No. 04760874AA) pronto.

Ford

Transmission DTCs stored in memory. A number of 1997-98 Ford, Mercury and Lincoln cars and nearly all Ford and Mercury trucks (full vehicle list below) may show up in your shop with DTCs stored in memory that indicate a problem with the manual lever position. These same four codesP0705, P0708, P1704 and P1705-can set whether the vehicle has the 4R44E, 4R55E, 4R 70W, 5R55E, AX4N, AX4S or E40D automatic. Ford says the cause may be the PCM itself, a glitch in the main wiring harness or connectors or the Digital Transmission Range Sensor (DTRS). So you're going to have to do a thorough scan and diagnosis and wiggle and tap tests of the affected circuits using a DTRS diagnostic chart.