nlk10010

OK. Just spoke to my "service advisor" at the dealer. Tells me my

1. Check Engine light;
2. Ticking time bomb noise when cold at idle
3. AT bucking
4. Dull finish
5. Inability to publish anything

were all due to this valve thingie "drawing too much power". Does anyone know what it does or have any experience with it? Or is this another "integrated framistan", if you know what I mean?

Thanks. (Besides, just in case anyone else runs into similar problems)

=NLK=

mprsev

I do hear a "ticking" sound when cold idle. What is AT bucking?
Did you get it fixed?

nlk10010

AT is Automatic Transmission. There were several instance, when just hitting the gas off idle with the car cold (i.e. accelerating in first gear), the car would literally "buck" like a bronco. The ticking time-bomb sound when cold, at idle, was just that. A loud tick which was engine related. At and just off idle it would be most pronounced.

As to whether I got it fixed, it appears so. Certainly these two symptoms are much less severe: there is a SLIGHT tick at idle when cold (which again goes away when the engine warms) but much less than there used to be. Again, the AT seems much better behaved (not great, mind you, but much improved). And of course the "Check Engine" light is now extinguished.

So we'll see. It certainly COULD be that this valve was pumping out air at too high a pressure, I don't know, but I'm satisfied for now. I just don't know why a brand new car should develop this problem; I realize it's mechanical and components fail but with today's QC methods it seems that failures, especially right after the component has presumably been tested at the factory, should be extremely rare.

=NLK=