two issues with my 05 V6 LS

[Montana]

Hey guys, I have two issues and I would love to get to the bottom of them.. as my LS comes off as Janky with these two issues.. Bleh


Okay, so the first issue: I gave my car some gas the other day, and it bogged down, and the little wrench light came on along with the check engine light, I brought it to autozpne and they checked the code, said something about my ECM and throttle. When it first happened I couldn't give it gas because it would throw yhr wrench light on. However, a few days later, the wrench light never came on again, and I can put the pedal to the floor.. however, the check engine light remains on and it still doesn't accelerate right. Also, with this issue my car shakes horridly while idle. Never while moving, if I give it gas while sitting it stops the shake also.




Problem number 2: the other day, my exfriend (I cut him out of my life because of this ) hit a curb... really f*cking hard. Slammed the front left tire only into a curb. I though at first he just messed my alghiment up.. because it pulls incredibly hard to the right after he did that. I was driving on a road with some snow on it. And any time I got the right tire in snow but not the left, it jerked badly towards the right.. or any uneven parts of the road it jerks horridly towards the right. I went to drive it the other day.. and to my amazement it was normal again... steering wheel was straight to go straight, didn't pull... was just normal again.. I was enjoying my ride, until out of the blue it did it again... just all of a sudden snapped back to its old ways, jerking hard to the right. It keeps going back and forth between janky and normal... DaFaq?


Any help is greatly appreciated, lets hear the bad news. :/

 

[Montana]

Sorry for 2x post, on my phone can't edit. With problem #2 my left front tire also squeeks while driving... I feel like he knocked it loose or something. :|

 

[LS4me]

Hey guys, I have two issues and I would love to get to the bottom of them.. as my LS comes off as Janky with these two issues.. Bleh


Okay, so the first issue: I gave my car some gas the other day, and it bogged down, and the little wrench light came on along with the check engine light, I brought it to autozpne and they checked the code, said something about my ECM and throttle. When it first happened I couldn't give it gas because it would throw yhr wrench light on. However, a few days later, the wrench light never came on again, and I can put the pedal to the floor.. however, the check engine light remains on and it still doesn't accelerate right. Also, with this issue my car shakes horridly while idle. Never while moving, if I give it gas while sitting it stops the shake also.




Problem number 2: the other day, my exfriend (I cut him out of my life because of this ) hit a curb... really f*cking hard. Slammed the front left tire only into a curb. I though at first he just messed my alghiment up.. because it pulls incredibly hard to the right after he did that. I was driving on a road with some snow on it. And any time I got the right tire in snow but not the left, it jerked badly towards the right.. or any uneven parts of the road it jerks horridly towards the right. I went to drive it the other day.. and to my amazement it was normal again... steering wheel was straight to go straight, didn't pull... was just normal again.. I was enjoying my ride, until out of the blue it did it again... just all of a sudden snapped back to its old ways, jerking hard to the right. It keeps going back and forth between janky and normal... DaFaq?


Any help is greatly appreciated, lets hear the bad news. :/

First problem. Coils AND plugs. Failure of the #3 (in your case) confuses the PCM and it throws the ETC failure code.

Second problem. Your "friend" really screwed up your suspension and you'll need to go to a suspension shop to find out how much damage was done. Good luck getting your "friend" to pay for damages. I'll bet the cost will be pretty high. Aluminum parts ain't cheap!

 

[Montana]

First one doesn't seem to bad. $$ on that? And the 2nd one sounds a lot worse

 

[DANRS112]

First problem. Coils AND plugs. Failure of the #3 (in your case) confuses the PCM and it throws the ETC failure code.

Second problem. Your "friend" really screwed up your suspension and you'll need to go to a suspension shop to find out how much damage was done. Good luck getting your "friend" to pay for damages. I'll bet the cost will be pretty high. Aluminum parts ain't cheap!

I don't understand why he would have to bring it to a suspension shop. As far as DIY it has to be one of the easier things to do on these cars.

 

[Montana]

If its the suspension, why does it only do it sometimes? When its working... it works great, handles the sloppy roads like nothing.. when it's not working hitting a lady bug will throw my car off the right side of the road.

 

[LS4me]

I don't understand why he would have to bring it to a suspension shop. As far as DIY it has to be one of the easier things to do on these cars.

Because a professional needs to access the damage. The alignment is certainly out.

 

[DANRS112]

Because a professional needs to access the damage. The alignment is certainly out.

I guess....but really I don't see why he couldn't take the wheels off and check the control arms, ball joints, tie rod ends etc on his own. There's a ton of room to work and only so many parts.

Wouldn't worry about an alignment until after the repairs have been made.


....as far as why your car would only do it sometimes...I can only say that alignment/suspension/steering problems can do funny things.

 

[msgtusmc]

Based on symptoms inspection of tie-rods, sway bar links, upper & lower ball joints and asemblies. Remove tire from rim inspect for cracked rim. All require jacking car up or putting on lift, probably inside, being in Montana with snow now. You can look it over maybe see something obviously bent or broken. Alignment/suspension shop can define what part or parts are bad. You could then determine if you want to replace parts or them. Then get an alignment.

 

[oddball]

I don't understand why he would have to bring it to a suspension shop. As far as DIY it has to be one of the easier things to do on these cars.

If there's something as obvious as a problem as this, yet they're asking on an internet forum, then they should probably hand it over to a shop. If the thread had added something like "I already jacked it up and looked around, and it looks like XYZ is loose..." then it'd be a different story.

 

[DANRS112]

If there's something as obvious as a problem as this, yet they're asking on an internet forum, then they should probably hand it over to a shop. If the thread had added something like "I already jacked it up and looked around, and it looks like XYZ is loose..." then it'd be a different story.

This isn't just an internet forum. This is an internet forum with a lot of very knowledgeable members, who own the same car and have already typed up detailed instructions on how to fix/replace many of the parts.

We're working on too many assumptions...My whole point is there is nothing about the job that is so difficult you have to assume a professional does it first. Even if this guy was a beginner, there really isn't a lot he could screw up and this would be an excellent chance to learn to work on his own car. I don't want to scare him away from trying it on his own first....if that's what he wants to do.

Otherwise he could end up being a pissed off former LS owner because he was charged $1,000 to replace a lower ball joint and outer tie rod. Having not tried it on his own and done it for $100....or even known that you don't have to replace the whole lower control arm.

 

[Montana]

I am definitely not a gearhead, that's why I asked. However, my grandfather is a master mechanic and has been working in this field for over 45 years, and my father is mechanically inclined as well. Im sure we could do it ourselves, however, I was just posting here before I show up at their door. Just curious what I am getting into. So, in a nutshell, its fairly impossible to narrow down what it is based on what I've said? Because one person says something, then the next Guy comes up and says something to go against him. Lord.

 

[joegr]

I am definitely not a gearhead, that's why I asked. However, my grandfather is a master mechanic and has been working in this field for over 45 years, and my father is mechanically inclined as well. Im sure we could do it ourselves, however, I was just posting here before I show up at their door. Just curious what I am getting into. So, in a nutshell, its fairly impossible to narrow down what it is based on what I've said? Because one person says something, then the next Guy comes up and says something to go against him. Lord.

There's not enough info from this distance to give a good guess on it. Be warned that aluminum can't be bent back into place. If must be replaced if bent. (You can bend it back, but it will break when you least want it to later.)

 

[Montana]

Joegr, thank you for the input. Would you suggest I Jack it up and take a look at it with my grandfather for obvious things?

 

[Montana]

Nevermind, of course that is the obvious thing to do. If I can't see anything. Is a suspension shop the place to go and pay for the inspection and go from there? Or?

 

[DANRS112]

Nevermind, of course that is the obvious thing to do. If I can't see anything. Is a suspension shop the place to go and pay for the inspection and go from there? Or?

Yes....or any repair shop really. Keep in mind they charge a diagnostics fee...usually waved if they do the repairs.

Though your grandpa should know how to tell what is wrong.

 

[Montana]

Yes....or any repair shop really. Keep in mind they charge a diagnostics fee...usually waved if they do the repairs.

Though your grandpa should know how to tell what is wrong.

I was aware of the fee, around $70-140 ish So I've heard, he is a Mechanic at Cummins however, so he isn't a daily driver gearhead. Although, surely we'd be able to figure it out, I'd think..


I'll drive it down to him next weekend and we'll jack it up, and see what there is to see. I just checked out my tires, need new tires too. Off to tire 101 I go!

 

[DANRS112]

I was aware of the fee, around $70-140 ish So I've heard, he is a Mechanic at Cummins however, so he isn't a daily driver gearhead. Although, surely we'd be able to figure it out, I'd think..


I'll drive it down to him next weekend and we'll jack it up, and see what there is to see. I just checked out my tires, need new tires too. Off to tire 101 I go!

Just google how to tell if tie rods are bad....do the same for ball joints. Before you start working on it.

 

[Montana]

Just google how to tell if tie rods are bad....do the same for ball joints. Before you start working on it.

Now that is some helpful information, thank you. I will do that tomorrow, off to bed work at 4am. Bleh, thank you.

 

[Montana]

Update: I found out my steering goes whack when I break hard. What's with that?

video! Because I know everyone on forums love videos! Even though its a bad video.. hah. I tried pulling over and restarting my car because sometimes when I do it my steering is normal again, weird.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jnwEDfmmY8k

I jacked the ol' LS up today, and nothing is visably cracked or bent.



Oh! And my check engine light is on because of my ECM x[ throtttlleeeeee. Boo

 

[DANRS112]

Update: I found out my steering goes whack when I break hard. What's with that?

video! Because I know everyone on forums love videos! Even though its a bad video.. hah. I tried pulling over and restarting my car because sometimes when I do it my steering is normal again, weird.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jnwEDfmmY8k

I jacked the ol' LS up today, and nothing is visably cracked or bent.



Oh! And my check engine light is on because of my ECM x[ throtttlleeeeee. Boo

Bad brakes will cause that but so can bad suspension/steering components.

Bad suspension steering components won't typically be cracked or bent.(unless struck which did happen to you but still not the only outcome)

So for tie rods see here
Tie Rods

Ball Joints see here
Ball Joints


Now you need to also check your brakes too. Check the fluid, it may need to be flushed in addition to pads, rotors and calipers that may need to be replaced.

 

[1LoudLS]

you'll need to go to a suspension shop to find out how much damage was done.

this 1000%.



while doing your own suspension work may be easy for somebody that actually knows what they are doing, and not too hard for people that kinda know what they are doing. this reticular car was involved in an accident, and unless you know exactly what you are looking for, you may miss something very important while trying to figure out what has been damaged by hitting that curb "really f*cking hard" while watching youtube videos may help you check out certian parts, you may miss the fact that you have a almost broken bolt or piece of suspension.


the last thing you want to do is replace a few parts that were obviously broke, have the car aligned, and then total it out a little bit later because of another bad part failed that you didn't catch and the wheel breaks off going down the highway all because you slept at a Holiday Inn Express last night

 

[1LoudLS]

as far as why it could be fine sometimes and not others, you could have either something broke or looses that is allowing something to move, turning the wheel back and forth or using the brakes could be what is causing some parts to slide a little and why it is only out of wack part of the time. what was that metal ping @ 1:49? only time i heard that noise was right when the car went from being messed up to being straight.



for future videos, most of us are watching from wide screen monitors, if your going to record video for people to watch back, hold the phone sideways.