Newer Car Has More Get-Up-and-Go
Question: My car requires a considerable amount of cranking to start, especially in cooler weather. For what reason? What makes the difference between my car and newer, less expensive cars that start at the turn of the key? My car is a 1964 Ford Galaxie 500 with a 352-cubic-inch engine. The mileage is 134,000 and it had a ring job at 63,000 miles. The choke works. The spark plugs were replaced, though they were not fouled with oil.--L.R.
Answer: If you have ever watched a 2-year-old kid wake up in the morning, you know that a young body just seems to get going sooner than an old one. Cars are not much different.
The 1964 Ford was a great car, but yours is getting old now, and it’s bound to have a few problems. You should probably start checking it out with the most simple and inexpensive repairs, such as making sure the fuel filter is not clogged, the spark plugs are good and the ignition timing is correctly set. In the 1960s, carburetors still had adjustment screws, so you need to find a mechanic who can still remember how to adjust the carburetor.
Once you are past the normal tuneup items, then you have to start looking at the more drastic problems, such as lack of engine compression. When an engine wears out and loses the compression inside the cylinders, it can be quite difficult to start.
Because your engine already had a ring job, you know that overhauls can be costly. If you are not keeping the car as a classic investment, you may want to consider replacing it.
Q: My 1984 Camry was recently recalled to replace an ignition part. As it turned out, I had paid to have it replaced in 1985, and Toyota gave me a full refund for the repair. Could this have caused other problems in the electrical system? Shortly after, I had to replace the starter and timing belt.--E.D.
A: Motorists sometimes incorrectly assume that just because two things malfunction at the same time that one caused the other. In your case, the ignition part that was replaced is called an igniter, and it has no connection at all with the starter. As for the timing belt, it isn’t even part of the electrical system.
The starter motor problem is unusual, though, for such a new car. Toyota has found that some motorists were buying after-market ignition keys that were sticking in the ignition lock and causing the starter motor to stay engaged once the engine started. That would almost immediately ruin the starter motor, because it is designed to disengage once the engine starts. It probably pays to buy your keys from a locksmith rather than a discount store where a cashier operates the key-making machine.
Q: I own a 1986 AMC Eagle station wagon with four-wheel drive. It has a front-end shimmy, which occurs only at speeds above 40 miles per hour. The vehicle will steer, but the steering wheel will shake violently. I have checked the universal joints, replaced the front shocks and steering damper, rotated the wheels, aligned the front end and had the front rotors ground. It has not fixed the problem, and I would welcome any ideas you may have.--E.L.E.
A: If you have done all the repairs you listed and had the vehicle checked by a competent front end specialist, the problem may be inherent in the design of the vehicle. The symptom of violent shaking is not uncommon in four-wheel drive vehicles.
One possible solution may be to install heavy-duty steering dampers with at least 2-inch-diameter pistons, according to a front-end specialist at an engineering firm. That may subdue the shaking, though it will not eliminate the bad alignment or imbalance that is causing the shaking in the first place.
