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6 Posts
First time posting, need some advice. We have a 2002 lx with 126k miles. Got it from my parents and it has been well maintained by the original dealer. I'll give all the history I can as concise as possible.
1) - Noticed a black residue on the rear of the van (dry black powdery, like charcoal) accompanied with the check engine light coming on. Local shop replaced O2 sensors and gave it a tune-up. (NOV. 2010)
2) - Immediately after service developed a new problem: Mostly on cold starts within 1 block of driveway, the engine stalls(?), loss of power, only temporarily for 4-7 seconds. Reminds me of an old jeep when you pull the manual choke. Sounds like the engine is going to die, van decelarates, then comes back and accelerates (late response) and then continues normally. Happens about 80% of the time, cold starts only.
3) - Took it back to local shop, no error codes present. Did notice a front broken engine mount. No "soft" codes either.
4) - Contacted dealership about problem becoming more frequent and sent it in. They could not re-create problem #2, but replaced the engine mount and did a timing/drive belt service. (DEC 2011)
5) - Got van back and problem still occuring but noticed a significant drop in gas mileage. Lowest was 13.5 mpg, highest since is 15.8 mpg.
6) - Drove it for two tanks worth and sent it back to the dealership. This time problem #2 occured with them while it was reversing. (We've never had it happen in reverse) The technician said he thinks it is the beginning of a transmission going out. No error codes at all, not even "soft" ones. Also said that didn't think it would affect gas mileage that much... Warned us to get ready to replace the transmission. They also put some fuel treatment in the tank and it helped a little. Attributed the the gas mileage problems to winter anti-freeze additives in the fuel supply ... Sounded like guesswork to me though.
So, that is where we are. I have some theories but curious to what others may think. I see on this forum some folks replacing tranmissions with less miles than this. The thing is it doesn't shift hard, or clunk at speeds. I will say that problem #2 usually occurs at the top end of 1st gear, after backing out of the driveway and accelerating on the street.
We have no problems out of it until last fall, been a great vehicle. Lately it's been getting expensive to drive though.
Thanks for any advice you can give, I'll check back soon.
Greg
1) - Noticed a black residue on the rear of the van (dry black powdery, like charcoal) accompanied with the check engine light coming on. Local shop replaced O2 sensors and gave it a tune-up. (NOV. 2010)
2) - Immediately after service developed a new problem: Mostly on cold starts within 1 block of driveway, the engine stalls(?), loss of power, only temporarily for 4-7 seconds. Reminds me of an old jeep when you pull the manual choke. Sounds like the engine is going to die, van decelarates, then comes back and accelerates (late response) and then continues normally. Happens about 80% of the time, cold starts only.
3) - Took it back to local shop, no error codes present. Did notice a front broken engine mount. No "soft" codes either.
4) - Contacted dealership about problem becoming more frequent and sent it in. They could not re-create problem #2, but replaced the engine mount and did a timing/drive belt service. (DEC 2011)
5) - Got van back and problem still occuring but noticed a significant drop in gas mileage. Lowest was 13.5 mpg, highest since is 15.8 mpg.
6) - Drove it for two tanks worth and sent it back to the dealership. This time problem #2 occured with them while it was reversing. (We've never had it happen in reverse) The technician said he thinks it is the beginning of a transmission going out. No error codes at all, not even "soft" ones. Also said that didn't think it would affect gas mileage that much... Warned us to get ready to replace the transmission. They also put some fuel treatment in the tank and it helped a little. Attributed the the gas mileage problems to winter anti-freeze additives in the fuel supply ... Sounded like guesswork to me though.
So, that is where we are. I have some theories but curious to what others may think. I see on this forum some folks replacing tranmissions with less miles than this. The thing is it doesn't shift hard, or clunk at speeds. I will say that problem #2 usually occurs at the top end of 1st gear, after backing out of the driveway and accelerating on the street.
We have no problems out of it until last fall, been a great vehicle. Lately it's been getting expensive to drive though.
Thanks for any advice you can give, I'll check back soon.
Greg