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Water pumps push coolant through a vehicles cooling system, using a fan belt or a timing belt. Water pumps can become faulty over time. There are usually signs that its going bad. If the problem is fixed in time, you can avoid costly repairs. You can check for a bad water pump in a few simple steps.

Instructions

Signs of a Bad Water Pump

1

Look for leaks from under the vehicle. When a water pump is going bad, one of the first signs is leaking coolant. Inspect the areas around the radiator and hoses for signs of leaking. If there is leaking, consult a mechanic immediately.

2

Determine if there is overheating. Overheating is a sign that the water pump is leaking and needs immediate attention. Check the temperature gauge on the dashboard to see if it has risen into the hot zone. Also check to see if steam is rising from the engine.

3

Look for pools of green fluid under your vehicle. This is another sign that the water pump is bad. After pulling out of a parking spot, check to see if a green fluid is on the ground underneath the vehicle.

4

Listen for unusual sounds coming from the vehicle while driving. If you hear a whining sound coming from the heating or cooling vents, that indicates that there is a problem with the water pump.

There are many reasons that a cars air conditioner can malfunction. The blower is a major part that commonly fails on a cars air conditioning unit. While its not always easy to tell if this is the problem, there are several tests a person can run to test the blower and see if that is the problem.

Instructions

1

Turn on the cars air conditioner to full blast while the engine is running. Feel for any type of a breeze. If no breeze hits your hand, theres a good chance that the cars A/C blower is to blame. No wind at all means the A/C blower is not working at all.

2

Hold your hand over the air conditioner vent while the air is on at full blast. After feeling the air, turn the vent down to half speed. If there is no change in fan speed, then this can mean that the A/C blower is the main problem.

3

Turn off the engine and open the hood to look at the engine. Have the picture of your cars specific air conditioning system on hand.

4

Check the connector to make sure its not loose. If the connector is loose, plug it in firmly and restart the car. Check the air conditioning vents to see if the same problems still exist.

5

Check the plastic tube from the blower motor next. Look for tears, wear or even if the tube is disconnected. This is normally located on the lower left hand side of the motor, and must be in perfect working condition. Any damage to this part of the blower engine will prevent the cars A/C from fully working.

As vehicles age, many components wear out, and struts are no exception to this rule. Each time that you drive your vehicle, the struts are moving up and down many times per second to absorb road vibrations. This constant movement, along with certain environmental factors, causes the struts to wear out. The most common symptom of bad struts is a noticeably rough ride, especially when going over bumps or uneven pavement. In addition to noticing the ride, there are other ways that you can detect bad struts in your vehicle.

Instructions

1

Test drive your vehicle on the side streets as well as the highway. Purposely drive over bumps, cracks, and uneven spots in the road and take note of the vehicles reaction to these irregularities. In a vehicle with bad struts, youll notice a harsh, jarring ride when going over the bad spots in the pavement. In a vehicle with good struts, the rebound will be smooth, controlled and feel tight, as opposed to sloppy, harsh, and loud.

2

Press down quickly on the vehicles bumper with two hands, and then let it up. The vehicle should lift back to its normal height without excessive rebound, or bouncing. If the vehicle bounces and reverberates, the struts are likely bad. This is because the struts are designed to minimize the rebound vibrations from the springs.

3

Look at the odometer and note the vehicles mileage. The performance of most vehicle struts greatly diminishes after about 60,000 miles. If youve got more mileage than that on your car and the struts are original, its a good time to replace them.

4

Inspect your tires for uneven wear. Faulty struts allow tires to wear unevenly, causing cupping. Cupping ers to the tires having intermittent, parallel worn spots across the tire, creating high and low spots on the tire.

5

Lift the vehicle with an automotive jack and then support it with jack stands. Place wheel chocks behind the opposing wheels. Shine a work light up under the wheel well and look at the strut cartridge or tube; it should be dry with no signs of fluid leakage. Most modern struts are gas charged and also contain hydraulic fluid. When struts age, their seals begin to leak this fluid. Once the fluid begins to leak, the strut is already ruined and its performance is dramatically decreased.

Fixing a catalytic converter is a complicated process because of the laws that govern virtually every aspect of installing, maintaining and replacing catalytic converters. The Environmental Protection Agency issued regulations in 1986 that make it illegal to tamper with your vehicles catalytic converter in any way, shape or form. Any repairs made to a vehicles catalytic converter have to be performed and properly documented by a certified mechanic.

Instructions

1

Take your Tundra to an emissions testing facility or exhaust repair shop and have your catalytic converter tested. You have to be able to document that your Tundras converter has stopped working before you are legally allowed to have it replaced.

2

Make sure that your Toyota is no longer covered by the federal emissions warranty. If your 2000 Toyota Tundra does not have 80,000 miles on it yet, then Toyota is required to replace the converter at no cost to you. If your Tundra is still under warranty, take it to your nearest Toyota dealership for repairs.

3

Take the Tundra to the dealership or exhaust repair shop (if it is not already there) and provide them with documentation that the converter is bad. Legally, they are only allowed to replace your converter with a catalytic converter that is the same as the one currently installed on your Toyota. Have the shop replace the catalytic converter. Make sure the shop fills out and submits the warranty card for the new converter, as it is legally required by federal law.

4

Save all documentation relating to the converter swap. If your Tundra has a problem with the catalytic converter or fails an emissions test in the future, you may need this information to get repairs performed and avoid possible fines.

Wheel bearings allow the wheels on your car to rotate with minimal friction and support your cars weight. Most rear wheel bearings are engineered to last about 150,000 miles but sometimes they fail prematurely thanks to poor adjustment, contamination or loss of grease. If you want to keep your car running properly, youll need to keep your rear wheel bearings in near-perfect condition.

Make Noise

The first symptom of bad rear wheel bearings is usually noise. You might hear rumbling, growling or chirping coming from the vicinity of your rear wheels. Once you hear this noise, you need to take your car in to have it serviced immediately. Expect the amount of noise your rear wheel bearings are making to be proportional to the speed you are driving, whether you are accelerating, coasting or decelerating. The noise might sound different while you are making turns or disappear at some speeds entirely. Most bad rear wheel bearings are identified when drivers complain about this noise.

Play

Bad rear wheel bearings may also result in play. Play can allow steering wander. This means that although you are holding your steering wheel still, your car drifts to the left or right as you drive. Play can be dangerous for drivers, especially on highways. Play reduces the amount of control you have over your vehicle. If your rear wheel bearings are sealed and they play, that is a sure sign that they need to be replaced. If the rear wheel bearings are adjustable, you or your mechanic may be able to adjust the bearings after removing, cleaning and inspecting them. Play is usually a sign that your rear wheel bearings are worn, but it could also mean that the hub nut backed off or the bearings were not properly adjusted.

Turn Your ABS Light On

If your anti-lock brake system light is on and you cant for the life of you figure out why, check your rear wheel bearings. If your car is equipped with anti-lock brakes and sealed hub assemblies with an integral anti-lock brake sensor or tone ring, the ABS light will come on if a wheel speed sensor is reading erratically or has no signal. The anti-lock brake system will set a fault code corresponding to the sensor location and disable the anti-lock brake system until the fault is fixed. The only way to fix this is to replace your hub assembly. You cant repair a sealed hub assembly and must replace the entire unit.

Cause Your Car to Lose Its Wheels

In the most extreme of cases, ignoring your bad rear wheel bearing can cause your car to lose a wheel. One of the rear wheels on your vehicle may fly right off while you are cruising down a highway, placing everyone in its path in danger. Losing a wheel on a freeway while traveling at high speeds could result in a deadly accident. Thus, if you have any reason to believe that your rear wheel bearings are bad, you must immediately take your car to a mechanic to have them examined.