Having a free lunch today - Auto Fix

[StevieC]

It's Friday and I have a free lunch!

I came into the office to catch up on work I couldn't do being locked out of my computer the last couple of days and the receptionist asked me if I knew anything about cars...

I explained that my dad was a mechanic for 50 years and I know a thing or two. She proceeded to tell me her car's check engine light was on and that it just didn't seem to have a lot of power getting on the highway.
I asked her if it would be OK to scan the vehicle using the scanner I keep in the car. She said ok. I pulled the codes and it was storing P0171 - System too lean.

I had a look around for vacuum leaks and found the airbox tubing going to the engine had a crack in it just below the one of the ridges. Sure enough I poked my finger in here to open it up and the engine started stumbling.

I looked up the part number on Rock Auto and sent her off to the local GM dealership to get a replacement and we fixed it in the parking lot in 10 minutes.
Needless to say she is happy and felt the need to buy me lunch in a few hours... It's a great friday and I look like a bit of a hero having saved her a diagnoses fee and mechanics time to replace the part.

GM Part #94537633 in case someone has a Chevrolet Sonic with the same problem. Rock Auto also carries the part for about $70 CDN (-35% or so for USD)
It must be a common problem because even Amazon carries it up here... Also because they put a lot of stress on the tubing the way it's angled from the air box to the throttle body it looks like.

 

[Uphill_Both_Ways]

Originally Posted by StevieC
I came into the office to catch up on work I couldn't do being locked out of my computer the last couple of days. . . .
I hope an extortionist didn't encrypt the drive.

 

[StevieC]

No they rolled out a Sophos update and it locked us all out of our computers because they are using secure profiles in that suite, so while it would take the Windows domain password it wouldn't take the secondary password that it prompts us for after that and so they had to remote connect to hundreds of us all over North America to fix the problem.

Problem is they didn't realize the problem until the following day when we powered on and it wouldn't let any of us in.

I have a Bit locker password, Windows password, Sophos secure profile password, and then VPN password and various software passwords. All have to be different, can never be used twice or contain similar parts over again and they all are changed every 30 days. Not all at the same time. What this forces us to do is walk around with a book of passwords because no one can remember them because there is so many and they are so complicated. That's really secure.

It's government regulations from Canada and the U.S. though because of things I can't go into detail about here as to why we need this level of security but it has to do with some of our machine information used for nefarious purposes.

 

[E150GT]

Its nice that it was an easy fix. I helped a lady coworker once. She told me her CEL was on so I scanned it. It came back a large EVAP leak. First thing I checked was her has cap. It was loose. I tightened it up and reset the light and it never came back. I didnt get lunch from her though. or anything else. I was happy to help though.

 

[oil_film_movies]

Great story. Very clever of you to suspect more air entering downstream of the MAF. With a little knowledge, those OBDII codes are awesome. I remember in the '90's when not everything had OBDII.

 

[StevieC]

Originally Posted by E150GT
Its nice that it was an easy fix. I helped a lady coworker once. She told me her CEL was on so I scanned it. It came back a large EVAP leak. First thing I checked was her has cap. It was loose. I tightened it up and reset the light and it never came back. I didnt get lunch from her though. or anything else. I was happy to help though.

First thing I thought of when I scanned her Sonic was loose gas cap or bad gas cap and it's pulling in air into the system because she said the light would come and go but now has been staying on. I have seen more times than not this generate all sorts of codes like system too lean to evap codes.

The reason I started looking at the engine was the L/T Fuel trims didn't make sense so I new I was dealing with a lot more air than just what it could pull from the EVAP (typically) assuming it wasn't a giant leak in the EVAP.

 

[dave123]

This is your 48hr fast cycle last night you finished your 48 feed cycle correct NO lunch for you!

 

[StevieC]

Originally Posted by oil_film_movies
Great story. Very clever of you to suspect more air entering downstream of the MAF. With a little knowledge, those OBDII codes are awesome. I remember in the '90's when not everything had OBDII.

Or when they wouldn't store codes... You had to duplicate the problem and then scan it before shutting the car off.

 

[StevieC]

Originally Posted by dave123
This is your 48hr fast cycle last night you finished your 48 feed cycle correct NO lunch for you!

You never pass up a free lunch. I can fast extra later.

 

[CT8]

Nice and nice !!

 

[Vikas]

What? No Duct Tape around??

 

[dave123]

Originally Posted by StevieC
Originally Posted by dave123
This is your 48hr fast cycle last night you finished your 48 feed cycle correct NO lunch for you!

You never pass up a free lunch. I can fast extra later.

This is what I been thinking all along we're just all being duped all along on this 48hr B.S.

 

[StevieC]

Originally Posted by Vikas
What? No Duct Tape around??




Uh no... See the holes on either end how big it is? And what kind of a son would I be to my dad (mechanic) if I didn't fix it right?

 

[KrisZ]

Nicely doneðŸ‘

 

[StevieC]

Originally Posted by dave123
Originally Posted by StevieC
Originally Posted by dave123
This is your 48hr fast cycle last night you finished your 48 feed cycle correct NO lunch for you!

You never pass up a free lunch. I can fast extra later.

This is what I been thinking all along we're just all being duped all along on this 48hr B.S.

B.S? No I'm doing 48 hour fasts. If you want I can take a snap-shot of the scale reading before and after to prove no food consumption. I typically loose 3-4lbs in this time.

 

[StevieC]

Originally Posted by KrisZ
Nicely doneðŸ‘

Thanks... I didn't do it for the free lunch, she offered and there is a Mexican restaurant up the street that has some not nice words in it's name so I can't post it here, but they make wicked carb free bowls I can eat on Keto and being Friday of a long weekend (Monday is family day) I thought why not.

 

[JMJNet]

I fixed the same problem in a friend's 2000 Camry with almost 400K.
I had to clean the throttle valve also since that accordion hose goes from the airbox to the throttle body in a camry.

 

[14Accent]

I believe there's a TSB from GM regarding the intake tube. I think they revised the part, but I'm not positive.

 

[KrisZ]

Originally Posted by StevieC
Originally Posted by KrisZ
Nicely doneðŸ‘

Thanks... I didn't do it for the free lunch, she offered and there is a Mexican restaurant up the street that has some not nice words in it's name so I can't post it here, but they make wicked carb free bowls I can eat on Keto and being Friday of a long weekend (Monday is family day) I thought why not.


I don't expect anything in return either and actually was never offered anything. Your co-worker is obviously very appreciative of what you have done.

One time I boosted a co-workers Nissan 350z, it was summer, and then he proceeded to tell me how he keeps the under hood if his cars clean. Mine was quite dirty from the rustproofing oil. I just rolled my eyes, packed my booster cables and went on my way.

 

[WyrTwister]

Very common problem with the AVEO and latter the Sonic . That & thermostat housings .

What year model of Sonic , was it ?

Our Sonic is a 2015 model . I am hoping GM fixed the issue by 2015 . So far , we have had no problem with the air box / throttle body hose .

I think GM finally relented and started covering it under warranty . When they announced it , the price of internet replacement hoses dropped dramatically . I ordered one for around $ 25 , I think . Just in case .