Hi all, first post, and have a little problem, maybe?

I have a 2001 Expy EB 4x4 with the 5.4l. Recently, I was leaving a parking lot when I looked down and noticed that both the oil pressure and the temp gauges where dead, not reading at all, and the Check Gauges light was on. I immediately stopped and shut it down, checked the oil and restarted it. Still nothing. Shut it down again, checked and wiggled the battery cables and the wire packs that go into what appears to be the ECM under the hood, got in started it, and all was well. It ran fine, and hasn't done it since.

Has anyone experienced this issue?

Also, my wife decided to redecorate my Camry mirror with the fender of her Expy. Does anyone know if the fender flare comes painted in the tan metallic accent color from the dealer, or do I have to have the new part painted?

TIA for any info you can provide.

Mike

 

Hey Mike.

This might be a long shot, but the gauges do some weird things when the battery starts to go. If it is an original battery, you should have it checked out. Hopefully one of our more knowledgeable members will happen by with other suggestions.

I have no idea about the flares, but I'd suspect they come unpainted.

Good Luck.

 

It's still on the original battery, and it doesn't seem to be to showing any signs of weakening, but I will have it checked.

This problem actually occurred a couple of months ago, during a cold, rainy day, which I thought may have something to do with it. But since then, we have had an uncommon amount of rain, and it hasn't happened again. (it is considerably warmer now though. ;-) )

The truck does have two other odd little quirks, first, it takes a noticable amount of cranking to get the engine to fire, enough so that if you aren't used to it, you would normally let off the key too soon. Second, is that twice now the truck has surged forward while trying to brake to a stop. This only lasted maybe 2 or 3 seconds, and then returned to normal, but it was enough to shake you up a bit. Both problems were looked at by the dealer while under warranty, with nothing found to be wrong.

I really love the truck, and other than a few quirky things, it has been trouble free. It's currently at 63,000 miles, and I am hoping to trade my Camry to get my wife a new car, and taking over the Expy as my DD. (I will miss the 30mpg of the Camry though) You know how it goes, the wife always gets the new vehicle. ;-) I'm looking forward to performing some maintenance duties on it soon to try to keep it in good running condition.

Thanks,
Mike