Truck Maintenance

[QuarterMillionMan]

More D-Con bait $9.99, emptied entire bag in crevice, Tomcat attractant $7.37 added to the Victor traps with Cheetos tied down with bread ties, will use the Tomcat aerosol repellant $12.97 as a last resort with a plyboard 1" x 3" x 24" with the wood screws to close off the crevice. First, I want to either catch the mice/rats in the traps (I have glue traps as well) or kill them with the various baits. Upping my game. No more Mr Nice Guy.

[myrdale]

I made the mistake of re-reading my original posts in the thread and I think I am having an anxiety attack from reading about how much I spent. I don't regret it but two years later, and it still hurts.

The whole concept of a Check Engine light is a misnomer. In reality itt is a Check The Government Mandated Emissions Systems light.

As for the rat issue, I'd suggest going to war against them. I do not like poison. Yes it kills them, but no they don't go searching for water outside of the house, they die under the stove or in the wall and reek and the poison may go up the food chain (cat or hawk) . I am not a fan of the glue traps either as they don't kill the mouse. It is stuck there to starve to death. A regular trap is instant. Put out half a dozen traps with peanut butter. Also look at what is attracting them to the house. If you have fruit trees in the yard keep it cleaned up at the base. There are bucket traps (5 gal pail with a roller across the top or a trap door that are extremely effective (with or with out water).

[QuarterMillionMan]

Problem solved. Engine light gone. For all gear-heads here use this information with a grain of salt. Most people are of the mindset to take the car to a mechanic as a first resort. Or any service for that matter (ie, manicure/pedicure, hair cuts, computer repairs, etc). I'm of the mindset of taking the car to a mechanic as a last resort. DIY is my first resort. And this is where self-confidence comes into play. I hate being the damsel in distress. An unscrupulous mechanic could have taken me to the cleaners saying I might need a new $2000 catalytic converter replacement when the two loose 10 mm bolts just needed to be tightened. Some shops work off commissions and will look at ways to rack up the charges. I know because I worked at a full service gas station and we got commissions on everything from tires to batteries to wiper blades, etc. I never stooped to selling unnecessary parts but I could see how others would. At any rate it was the Ebay new O2 sensors which are non-OEM and not genuine Mopar sensors which gave off the 3 problem codes and was messing with the system. Haven't had the chance to drive the car long distance due to work from home, which is a good problem to have until today where I drove 300 miles RT from Los Angeles to Tijuana and back. Gone is the engine light. Lesson learned to buy genuine OEM Mopar parts from now and not Ebay. The new O2 sensors from Ebay had the exact same wire connectors and easily snapped into place but the sensors itself were a little different looking from the OEM Mopar sensors. It's a gratifying feeling of getting that problem fixed and now I can focus on eradicating the rat infestation which had many close calls but none yet. One Victor spring loaded trap did snap half of a rats body but the rat managed to crawl into the crevice with the trap stuck in the crevice. I used a broom handle to push down on the trap to try to extricate the rat but the rat slipped out of the trap and made it to safety. I should have used the broom handle to hook out the rat from the crevice with the trap still attached and kill it outside of the crevice. It's war time against them and I'm smarter than them, I think, lol.

[QuarterMillionMan]

The old sensors are reinstalled. If it comes back, I'm done. Next stop is an ASC certified mechanic. I tried but this is complicated.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Ua_guy, I'll check if mine's has more sensors but I only saw the 2. As for a stuck thermostat I would leave that for the pros (I can DIY but no can drain or capture the coolant in my apartment.) Engine light came back on so will go back to the old sensors. And it's 2 am in Los Angeles, dang rats/mice woke me up chewing open food bags (ie, Anthony's spaghetti, graham crackers, potato chips, etc.). It's getting expensive having to discard the open bags of food but more of a nuisances. I've been busy so haven't set more traps & bait but I need to get to it. Some prices for the Savingadvice website, Tomcat $15.99 for 16 baits, Permatex $6.99, Liquid nails $5.99, etc. Will need to make another drop of rat poison and go to war with these rats/mice. I just placed a small mouse glue trap with Cheetos and it almost got one but the trap was moved by the mouse about 12" away.

[ua_guy]

Taking too long to enter closed-loop mode can be a cooling system problem, like a thermostat that's stuck open and continuously cooling the engine and not allowing it to reach operating temperature. That would cause your P1128 among other things. Your P0138 and P0132 are the bank 1 sensors 1 and 2 confirming that the engine isn't combusting as it should. Sometimes there are multiple temperature sensors, one for the gauge and one that sends information to the computer/ECM.

If the temp gauge isn't reading normal when it should be, or if you can get a borrowed OBD reader that will let you view the live data, you can see your coolant temperature (as sensed) and other parameters. Might be worth a shot in the auto parts store parking lot before throwing your checkbook at a shop to diagnose it.

[QuarterMillionMan]

I appreciate the suggestions but in the past I've tried changing the gas cap 5x's but it never worked for me. Maybe this might be the 1x that it does work but I decided to explore and came across two 10 mm bolts that were all the way loose and about to fall out so I tightened them. BTW, that's the new O2 sensors. But now 3 new codes came up, P1128, PO132, PO138. The first two have to do with "closed loop fuel not achieved," and the last deals with oxygen sensor high voltage. I cleared the codes to see if they'll come back. If it does return, I might put back the old sensors. I wish it was an easy gas cap fix.

[crazyliblady]

It always annoys me that such a simple thing causes so many problems.

My gas cap only clicks once, though. That's it. That's fully tightened. It doesn't keep turning or clicking so one click is all you get.

I didn't know that yours only clicks once. I guess that's a new thing. I had this exact problem in about 2003. I had lost my gas cap at a gas station and was going to replace it, but before I could do that, my engine light came on. I took my car to the dealership, because I thought the car had a mechanical problem. So, $118 later, I found out that it was because of the missing gas cap. My boss had the same problem while on a business trip. When I asked her about it, she thought it sounded weird and even called her dealership, and that phone call her saved her some money. Yes, it is annoying, but after my experience, I resolved to not second guess myself and always investigate the simple possibilities before paying hundreds to a mechanic.

[disneysteve]

Did you tighten the gas cap at least 3 clicks since you last gassed up? Having a loose gas cap will cause the engine light to come on.

It always annoys me that such a simple thing causes so many problems.

My gas cap only clicks once, though. That's it. That's fully tightened. It doesn't keep turning or clicking so one click is all you get.

[crazyliblady]

Did you tighten the gas cap at least 3 clicks since you last gassed up? Having a loose gas cap will cause the engine light to come on.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Bummer the engine light came back on after only 5 minutes of driving to fill up gas at my neighborhood gas station. If the catalytic converter needs replacing it will be a $2000 repair which sucks. I will have to take it to Pepboys to diagnose.

[crazyliblady]

that's too much for a truck worth less than that. Couldn't you get a pickup for $4500 or am i so way off base? I mean a newer truck with less miles but still old. I would not sink money into a truck like that. Then again I didn't sink that much in cash into a car that was 11 years old and 100k miles and worth $2500 is what we sold it for.

The least expensive truck I have seen advertised was $9,500 and it had nearly 200K miles. As for the car you had and sold, you should know that trucks generally sell for much more, even old ones.

[QuarterMillionMan]

On a side note ua_guy now I see why it needed anti-seize compound, it gets mighty hot and the extreme heat would make it impossible to remove if needed. Good call.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Complete, erased the code, now I wait and hope the engine light stays off but knowing my luck it will return. All this done while working from home, love it.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Oh I better get some then.