Goodbye Q? It won't move.

[paranoidjack]

Also, the sweet coolant smell could have been drippings burning off. No matter how careful you were, a teaspoon of coolant on a non-piping hot surface will smell sweet for days.

[paranoidjack]

so, mopar, how's it going???

[Mopar]

Well I changed the MAF. besides making the car run better, I increased my gas by 1 mpg more plus the KS job i am getting close to 16-17 mpg city/hwy mixed.

BUT the white smoke wont go away. It's not constant, it mostly happens when I start it in the morning, and sometimes when I am stopped at the stop light.

Its emberrasing, and besides that, my car's losing coolant. How can i know whats wrong :/

[qship96]

unless you live in a cold state, you should not see white exhaust vapor in the warm/hot season. I would pay the 1 hour labor charge to have it professionally diagnosed as if it is losing coolant, and you do not see it leaking on the ground, it still may be leaking into the combustion chamber and burning through the exhaust causing the white smoke.

[Mopar]

I took it to a shop, he checked and said he didn't find any leaks.

[kevindanielk]

Have your mechanic do a pressure test on the cooling system. If there is a HG leak of coolant into the combustion chamber, the cooling system will not hold a constant pressure during the test. That's one way to test for a blown HG, the reason for lost coolant and the white smoke issue.

[Mopar]

Yes, I agree. However, I eliminated HG problem because I dont have oil anywhere or coolant... And it's not constant... But everything else is fine. Heater blows hot AC is ice cold. Car runs smooth...

[paranoidjack]

pressure test. UV dye. That's it. UV dye then oil change if nothing can be found with blacklight under hood.

It's going somewhere - the fact that you just removed and reinstalled a bunch of hoses isn't coincidence....

[Mopar]

Sorry for the late reply guys. I was going through finals at school so I was hitting the books... I have even worse news.

I kind of figured the leaking problem. Seemed like the radiator hose was loose. I tightenned it and all that. And after driving a day, the smoke went away. Great right???

Now the bad news. Upon parking yesterday, i threw her in reverse... Acted like its in neutral. Paniced threw it i neutral the car is driving as if its in drive. Wth??? I heard there's something called a shifter cable and it could have snapped?. Does anybody have any ideas?

I am seriously thinking not fixng it anymore. I just put 5 bills in it an this is how it thanked me. Honestly it makes me so sad to see her slowly go, it's like watching a slowly dieing patient in the ER room. I don't want it to go.

[Mopar]

I do not think my transmission is dead though. If it was it wouldn't even drive. But it drives fine... Problem is... It's in neutral!

[maxnix]

Sounds like your gear selector is awry. Should be a simple fix.

[Mopar]

How? What? When? Why? Where? Tell me...

[maxnix]

It's a gated lever arrangement to select gears. Maybe something has come loose so your selector is not aligned any more. I would inspect and repair it ASAP as you don't want to choose N on the highway nor R when going forward.

Get it on a lift and inspect.

[paranoidjack]

Mopar...relax.

Not sure why, but it does happen.

Max is right. The shift lever goes through the floor of the car with a metal rod. This metal rod is attached via a cotter pin to another metal rod that goes into the transmission and changes the gears. It is on the passenger side of the transmission.

You simply need to get under the car, jack it up a bit, and you'll "see" the shift rods and where they connect.

$500? Think what you would have spent if the mechanic did your KS. That has nothing to do with this problem...don't worry.

Oh, and if you do want to sell, I'll give you $100.

[Mopar]

What's the technical name of this? I amtrying to find this in the FSM AT section but can't.

[goody90q45]

Look at Manual Control Linkage Adjustment on page AT-197.

[paranoidjack]

This is one of those instances where you don't need to worry about the FSM (yet), this is very simple, just get under the car and inspect the connection between the two metal levers. Should be secured by a cotter pin.

[Mopar]

Hi guys,

Sorry for the delayed reply. I was busy with school work and doing my practicals at the hospital.

The Q has been parked ever since then, for a month now probably. I just move her around the corner for cleaning days to avoid a ticket. I want to get this fixed as I am tired of asking people to help me get around! I got mad and drove her to school today and everythings so smooth except I have no reverse.

I have NOT yet checked the cable you guys told me to check. Pops' mechanic friend came over and "looked" over the car and told me I need to replace transmission. But never gave me a reason as to why a perfectly fine trann would go so bad instantly...

I was quoted $800 for a replacement (transmission included) and $1200 for a rebuild (I thought a rebuild would be cheaper... No?)

I researched this issue and seems like all kinds of cars get this issue. Problem is no body updates their thread after getting it fixed so you would know how they fixed it (IF they did fix it).

I don't want to pull it into the drive way again since it's a B to push it out (driveway is at an angle).


Sooooo what would you guys suggest me do?