[Zorm]

Hello all. Your help and advise greatly appreciated. kinda long sorry.

1. "Check engine light" always on now for about a month. I am well aware that 1000 things can make this come on. I took the truck to AZ to see if they could get the code and it came up, Massive Vac Leak. So I got a can of carb cleaner and shot it at every vac line I could see, nothing. Shot it around the intake, nothing, even bought a new gas cap, light still on.

So, thoughts on what else might cause the "massive vac leak" code come up. Also, is there another way to get the codes from the truck with out a code reader? Like "turn the key on and off 4 times within 3 seconds" type of thing and watch the engine lamp flash?

2. ABS light came on last week, I'll read through the owners manual and see if that tells me anything. The brake fluid was just above the MIN line, I topped it off, no diff. Wife did say that twice now, it felt like the brakes did not "catch" quick enough. What else would cause the ABS light to come on?

2.5 This might be related to question 2. When we turn left, I get a metallic squeaking from the left drivers side wheel but not always. This past weekend, I did an oil change, tire rotation and brake pad check. All pads have plenty of meat on them. I did notice that the drivers front side, the rotor had scratches / gouges on the outside edge. It look like and lines up with the spring metal pieces keeping tension on the pads. I moved the caliper a little and they cleared the rotor. Put everything back together, test drove, no squeak, till I turned left while applying the brakes, sound came back. Could I have a bad or sticking caliper? I thought that maybe the wheel came loose and caused the rotor to shift a little. I made sure all wheels were butted up tight against the rotors before I lowered the tire and hit them with the torque wrench.

3. How the heck do I check or can I check my auto tranny fluid? Since we had this truck for 8 years, I have never done anything with the tranny fluid and I feel it at least need to be changed along with the filter, what or how do I go about doing that?

Again, thanks for any help.

 

[LUBECAKES]

Getting your brakes bled out with new fluid would be wise on anything over 5 years old. That will keep the system from getting rusty and may improve pedal feel.

Your abs light is likely caused by a broken e brake shoe or a bad front wheel bearing.

Tranny fluid is easy. Drain it and replace whatever amount comes out, usually about 4 quarts. No filter to worry about. Be sure to use the right stuff!

To retrieve the code try this:
Turn ignition to run, wait 3 seconds.
Floor the accelerator 5 times in 5 seconds or less, then wait 7-8 seconds.
Floor the accelerator and hold it down for 10 seconds, then release it.
Watch your check engine light, it will begin flashing out numbers.
You have to pay attention, it will be flashing rapidly when giving the numbers.

Clearing the code is simply a matter of flooring it again for 10 seconds.

 

[dubyam]

Your vacuum leak code will likely be a P0171 or P0174 code, if I recall correctly. This indicates a lean condition on one bank of cylinders or the other. It could be a vacuum leak, but it could be a mksfire, a dirty/stuck injector, or a bad O2 sensor, among other things. Easy start is to gently pull and check you coil on plug packs to see if any of the boots are cracked or broken and arcing. Beyond that, you'll need to figure out how to test the O2 sensors or have a shop do it. Same with the injectors.