i understand where your coming from Richard , the cars i have are all 4.6L and mine is a 4.0l . I think i have another ecu in the shed that might be a 4.0l , will have a look . i have done some cross checking and have found that Subaru's have the same type off o2 sensors but i dont know if they are interchangeable thou. has anyone else looked at different replacements for the o2 sensors.

simple question , can you bypass the O2 sensor system. i have 3 wrecks and none of them have O2 sensors , so can i bypass the O2 system on a 97 gems.

to pull the fuse takes the power out of the system , lifting the sensor only disables the system , everything still has power so if it's still a problem it should be easier to find as it's not supposed to work, maybe.
the alarm should read ABS Fault on the dash ,nothing else.

dumb question , but have you lifted just one sensor and see if you get ABS fault on the dash , this disables abs and traction control so it should just have standard brakes . if you still have troubles lift them all and eliminate the sensors . so if it's something else you can look elsewhere.

dose it rattle when the window is fully up and fully down when you close it , dose it still rattle if you push on the glass to shut it .

if you want to check your suspension you will need another person to move the steering wheel (eg wife) while you physically put your hand on every joint possible looking for movement , also grab hold of the wheel and rattle the crap out of it (from the top and the side) whilst feeling the upper and lower ball joints in both direct and on full lock position. the vehicle needs to be on the ground in the running position , you only move the steering wheel about an inch either way .
PS check your shocks rubbers they can cause clucks and bangs to

just knock of the lumppy bits and use whats left to help put the skin back on

Harv wrote:

We used to have those around here too, but not in 20+ years. I suspected not enough people worked on their own cars anymore to make such a place pay for itself.

the trouble Harv is there is nothing on today's cars to fix , disposable like every other thing now days.

another thing to check if you haven't already looked is the strip on the roof , just lift it up and look for a hole or missing mastic on the seal under it .

that looks more like condensation more than a leak , i would wipe it up dry and leave it in the weather to see where the moisture is coming from before you do anything destructive.

it's been a while but i finally got around to doing my A/C, went and got it recharged (200$) , also took a tiranny switch with me , but i didn't need it but if i didn't i would have needed it of coarse . put some dye in it for prosperity , just in case it desides to disappear on me .
PS my daughter is getting married on the weekend and didn't want her make up to run in the heat so i sort of had to fix it .

some of us are from Australia to , welcome to the pub.

thanks for the comment Harv , straight to the problem, blown fuse under the bonnet . i am refreshing an old rover for my daughter's wedding soon, have been cleaning it up for registration . lets hope the fuse didn't blow for a reason , thanks.

hi Harv just gave it a run , didn't work , every thing else worked but it will not communicate with the air bag system . just comes up with, unable to communicate with ecm.

as it states the nano will not connect to the ecm but it will connect to the becm. this is a friend's car he has asked to fix air bag issue but i cannot connect to read the fault . where is the best place to start .

it sounds like a vacuum issue , in other words there is an air leak. the rise and fall of rpm is generally the engine leaning out due to too much air and not enough fuel. use a spray bottle with water and spray everything that could be an air inlet , eg throttle body shaft , injector seals around manifold and any think that is under vacuum. you are listening for a whistle as it sucks in the water or it stops reving up. also check all rubber hoses for cracks.

when you say erratic idle do you mean it revs up and then comes back or dose it miss and fart about and tries to recover it self.

if you think its burning oil just stand around the back of the car , if the fumes start to make your eyes sting , its possibly burning oil . as for the h2o disappearance when you drive somewhere just lift the bonnet and feel around for the hole under the water pump for a leak , they can be very discrete until its obvious.

i would go with the baffle as it's a known problem, try and find a hand held temp thermometer and check the temps around the radiator.

don't the diesels have a rubber block as a universal with three bolts in it . it sounds like a tail shaft problem thou.