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 | Source: Motor Age Ford Probe service is harder than some techs thinkApril 1, 2009A driver brought his Probe into the shop with an inoperative A/C and a dead charging system, and both concerns had happened simultaneously. When they opened the hood, they saw that the 2.5L had tossed its outboard serpentine belt (the one that drives the compressor and the alternator) but the inboard belt (which drives the water pump and power steering) was still in place. There were other surprises that appeared after the belts were replaced and the driver tried to leave the shop.
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Source: Motor AgeMotor Age Garage: Broken door locks an issue on Dodge CaravanMarch 1, 2009Vehicles sitting on car lots can experience a lot of problems because they sit for long periods of time. Batteries aren't unhooked, and can drain. On this Dodge Caravan, the driver door lock was malfunctioning.
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 | Source: Motor AgeMotor Age Garage: Disarming a BagFebruary 1, 2009Warning indicators can be our best friends if we interpret them properly. But what if somebody doesn't know what a particular warning lamp means? Those of us who are old enough remember those green or blue COLD lights on some Chryslers and Fords in the 1960s that seemed so totally worthless, especially when our teeth were chattering and we already knew it was cold.
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 | Source: Motor AgeMotor Age Garage: Hiding in Plain SightJanuary 1, 2009This van is kicking me around, Donnie told me. I had been out of the field for a few years, having traded my toolbox for a grade book, an office and classroom, laser pointer and a lab full of automotive students. My old friend and fellow drivability tech was working on a high mileage 1990 model Ford van that had eaten his lunch and his supper for several days running.
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 | Source: Motor AgeMotor Age Garage: It Can Be DoneDecember 1, 2008Valve stem seal problems are as old as overhead valves. Those puffy brown rock-hard deposits (that can look kind of like brown ice cream) on the spark plugs aren't always so noticeable on some engine platforms with leaking stem seals, but they blatantly tell the tale on others. Visible symptoms range from a puff of oil smoke from the tailpipe when starting the engine after a soak to a full blown bug-truck mist that hangs in the air for minutes after a vehicle passes. Some engines seem to give more valve stem seal trouble than others.
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 | Source: Motor AgeMotor Age Garage: Sound InvestigationNovember 1, 2008The road to learning has some pretty sharp curves.
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