CVNW October 2012

We have a 1996 Honda Accord and the defrost doesn't blow at the window. I am told the repair manuals don't cover that. Any ideas on what it might be and how to fix it?

1996 Honda Accord, I did some quick research and looked at the system. There are doors that operate the different air flow directions they are most commonly operated by a direct manual cable or a vacuum servo or an electric motor. This particular system appears to be an electrical motor. If you can find the motor on the heater A/C case under the dash there should be some external linkage that you can see, make sure it is hooked up and that it all moves when you change modes from the dash controls. If the linkage all seem to move as you change modes there may be a more serious internal door problem. If any of linkage does not move there is possibly a problem with the motor inputs. Good luck...

I have a 2002 Neon / 5 Speed Manual / Up until this problem the car was working fine. No loud noises or steering problems. I was accelerating from a stop and turning left. The front wheels spun on some ice then caught on pavement, but only a little, nothing extreme. After moving forward approx 6 feet the front wheels lost power, almost like it popped out of gear. I depressed the clutch and and coasted to the side of the road. I put it into 1st gear and carefully let out the clutch. There was still no power to the front wheels. The tachometer worked like normal. The speedometer moved up a little, approx 10-20kmh. I did hear a very very faint rattling/grinding noise from the direction of the front driver side tire when it was in gear and the clutch was out. With the clutch depressed the noise was not there. With the clutch in I moved the gear shift through all the gears, including reverse, and there was no noise nor unusual feel. A friend told me this might be the CV joint?!

Neon front drive. Your friend may be correct, The drive axles in this car are made with an inner tripod joint and an outer CV style joints the quick explanation of these style joints is the CV is a constant velocity joint in the outer position mostly to allow smooth operation while turning and accelerating the inner tripod is able to slide in and out to allow for the axle to move in and out as the suspension moves up and down. If I were you I would jack the car up put safety stands to hold the car with the tires off the ground look at the axles make sure everything is in place axle supports ect. Look to see if the axle is all the way into the trans-axle. Next I would put the trans in gear and try spinning the front wheels when you spin the tire on one side the other side should turn in the opposite direction. If the tire spins on the other side you can lower one side to the ground and try to possibly isolate the problem side. It is most likely an axle problem. A hint if there is fluid leaking at the trans-axle look closely at that side.

BMW 525i window motor / Is it possible to replace worn out window motors on front windows using functioning window motors from the rear windows? Are these parts interchangeable? Also, if window motors will move the window up and down when assisted with the help of pressure applied by hand does this mean that window motors are still working, and problem can be fixed without having to completely replace window motors?

I do not know if the motors are interchangeable. Even if they were it is a considerable amount of work to disassemble both doors. If you can assist the window and get it up and down you might try cleaning and lubricating the channels. It has been my experience that if you can do the labor new or remanufactured parts is a time saver and I can never get enough time. Motors that work slow may have wiring issues be sure to check all the connections and if the motors still run slow they may be worn out.

Rick McDonald is an ASE Master Certified Auto Mechanic Rick is certified in, well, everything, the top 5% of Certified Mechanics in the US.