Greetings,

I have three points of concern that I would greatly appreciate any assistance and/or guidance;

(1) Is there anyone in the South Eastern MI (Oakland, Macomb, Washtenaw, Wayne, Monroe, Gennessee, or St. Clair counties) area that has the plug in diagnostic tool that can tell me what the problem could be that the trucks system could be reporting what problem there may be?

(2) I will be buying a new battery soon. What (if any) presets will I lose when I disconnect the battery and does anyone have the process for reinitializing them.

(3) I own a 1980 Chevy Malibu Classic that I will be towing with a tow bar that connects to the front steering area. I have never towed anything and I am in need of advice on towing techniques and general do's and don't's. The tow will only be about 30 miles.

Thanks.
1999 Expy EB 5.4L 87K Non-LLS

 

1. Sorry, I'm too far away to be of any assistance. Head over to Autozone and they'll diagnose for free.

2. I've disconnected my battery several times to reset the PCM and had a new battery installed six or eight months ago. If I remember correctly, the only thing that I lost was associated with my radio/clock.

3. Just take it easy and use common sense. Towing is very simple, although backing might be a little tricky at first. The worst thing you might do is jack-knife the towed vehicle if you try to turn too sharply while backing.

Good Luck.

 

Autozone sells an OBD-II code reader for about $150.

If you plan on keeping this vehicle, it is a usefull tool to have.

The shops charge about $50-75 just to read codes (at the dealer at least) and I have used mine at least 3 times, so I feel I am ahead of the game at this point. The reader works with any vehicle from 1996-on.