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Post by freespiritcruising on Oct 8, 2007 15:43:45 GMT -5
we are 300 miles away from home and an hour ago our fog lamps turned themselves on without our intervention and we can't get them off. Any idea for a fix? We are getting ready to pull fuse 21 which of course is not under the dash. We think the problem is in the signal light switch on signal arm and don't really want to take our out of state car to a local dealership.
2004 LIMITED WITH TURBO WITH ABOUT 90,000 MILES.
Lennell and Edward
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Post by ncptcruiser on Oct 8, 2007 18:51:49 GMT -5
Sounds like your multi-function stalk (signal arm) has gone bad...there's LOTS of posts about these things going bad over at the PTE forum...replacing it with a new one will solve your problem.
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Post by tomcruz on Oct 9, 2007 13:19:52 GMT -5
Agree with Tim.
Multi-Function Switch in steering column needs to be replaced.
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Post by ROCKYMAN24 on Oct 9, 2007 13:26:46 GMT -5
have issue with head lights not coming on until I turn on high beams then off and then everythings fine for awhile. most likely same thing the MFS
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Post by freespiritcruising on Oct 9, 2007 22:55:13 GMT -5
Thanks Everyone,
You were right on. Had a local dealer replace the multifunction switch. He kept apologizing for the price of the part. Actually it was much less expensive than I thought ($77 for part, total of $229). And by the way that fuse was nowhere to be found).
Well all is well that ends well.
Lennell
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Post by JamesP on Oct 10, 2007 6:17:13 GMT -5
Glad to hear you got it fixed Lennell and back on the road.
James
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Post by electricbluegt on Oct 10, 2007 15:26:50 GMT -5
Thanks Everyone, You were right on. Had a local dealer replace the multifunction switch. He kept apologizing for the price of the part. Actually it was much less expensive than I thought ($77 for part, total of $229). And by the way that fuse was nowhere to be found). Well all is well that ends well. Lennell $150 for the install? Geez, that sounds high. Can't be more than a 30min job... |
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Post by PT4U2C on Oct 11, 2007 18:20:29 GMT -5
Lennell:
I wish you could have come to tool time. We have done several of these. It's less than 30 minutes (close Brian) and we could have fixed it Sunday.
PT4U2C/1KICKNPT
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Post by freespiritcruising on Oct 11, 2007 21:43:19 GMT -5
Believe me we considered coming to tool time for this, but due to family and medical obligations that would have involved round trips from our place in VA to NC 3 days in a row.
Again thanks for all of the advice ad information.
Lennell
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Post by Carrol Amerson on Oct 12, 2007 6:21:52 GMT -5
Lennell,
After 3 new batteries on Marcye's Woodie, we had the switch for the lights replaced and it corrected the problem. We did not know that the running lights were coming on by themselves and running the battery down. It was over $200.00 for the stupid switch with labor. I didn't know that you had the same problem.
Carrol
P.S. Marcye had to walk to the hospital from home one morning to get to work by 7:00 AM. Can you see her "hoofing it" down the road?? ;D She was not a happy camper that day.
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Post by freespiritcruising on Oct 12, 2007 23:56:33 GMT -5
Carrol,
Our problem came on suddenly. Fortunately my eagle eyes noticed that the fog lights were on for no reason. Never had a problem with battery until then since we couldn't remove the fuse. Edward will have to tell you about the gyrations and weird things we did until we got to the dealer. Anyway with our mileage, we are planning to do some serious preventive maintenance after the first of the year, when it'll turn over 100,000.
We're starting home tomorrow with several stops on the way. Need to check on Mom.
Lennell
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Post by WA2COOL on Dec 2, 2007 12:31:13 GMT -5
Unfortunately when you take your car to a dealer they charge you by the flat rate manual, not by how long it actually takes to do it. So if the manual says it takes 90 minutes to do, thats what you get charged, 90 minutes labor. Now if you're a tech and have done a lot of a certain type of fix you eventually learn shortcuts and faster ways to do things which is how,as a tech, you make more money. I worked at Pontiac as a new car service technician in the mid-70's and I could install a factory cruise control in about 45 minutes and the book said 90 minutes, so if I knocked out 2 cruise controls in 90 minutes I got paid for 3 hours and did the jobs in 90. Thats why some top notch mechanics make the big bucks and can get paid for 12 hours worth of labor and only work 8 hours.
The best thing you can do if you're mechanically inclined is to purchase a service manual for your car which is the same thing the technicians use at the dealer. $75 bucks for a manual seems high but when you see that labor rates at most dealers are $75 and up it is worth the money if you make your own repairs.
I had my steering wheel replaced on my PT just before it went out of the extended warranty because the leather was peeling off of it. Just last summer I noticed that every time I got in the car and grabbed the steering wheel it seemed to be rocking a little and a few good tugs and side to side movements confirmed that the wheel was loose. If I hadn't had the manual it would have been a trip to the dealer, instead I fixed it myself and it cost me zero dollars. Plus I discovered that the tech that replaced the wheel must have forgotten to torque the wheel nut down because it was just slightly tighter than finger tight.
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guess who