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Dealing with a weather stripping issue in an older car
John Paul, AAA Northeast's Car Doctor, answers a question about rubber weather stripping.
Q. In snowy, freezing weather, the rubber around the door frame of my 1989 Toyota Corolla station wagon sticks to the metal. When I try to open the door, I hear a ripping or tearing sound and the rubber ends up dangling down on the upper half of the window. I need to go to a mechanic to put it back in place. He just runs a key along the door frame to snap the rubber back in place. Another mechanic who gave me road service suggested rubbing silicone grease on the rubber. I commented that I sprayed it with WD-40, and it did not completely solve the problem. He replied that WD-40 is an oil so it will not solve my problem and only grease could help.
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A. Usually, silicone spray liberally applied a few times over the winter does the trick. Spray the rubber and wipe it off with a cloth. The silicone spray will displace any moisture and will keep the rubber weather strip from sticking to the metal of the car. Using grease could work, but it is messy and will likely get on your clothes.
Q. I have a 2012 Honda CR-V with 70,000 miles. My question is would you change the spark plugs? The car runs great, but they have never been replaced.
A. Although Honda recommends spark plug changes at 100,000 miles, I like to convert each year of time to 10,000 miles. In my opinion since your car is 13 years old it has the equivalent of 130,000 miles. Some would argue it is not necessary but to me it is money well spent.
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Q. I have a 2014 Honda Accord with 60,000 miles on it and it seems to be doing well mechanically. I did notice some wear around the steering wheel area where I would make the radio music louder or change the station. I was wondering if there is anything I could do to make it look better.
A. There is not an easy fix. About all you can do is have someone install new control buttons. The switch assembly is $50 online then you would need to get it installed. If you have a steady hand you could go to a hobby store and buy a tiny artist brush and some flat black paint and try touching up the worn area.
Q. My Ford Focus’s transmission is poor. It shakes off the stop. Ford extended the warranty to 100,000 miles but you have to pay $160 for Ford to test the car. This does not seem fair and sounds like a rip-off.
A. The dealer is likely charging one hour of diagnostic time to see what is wrong with the car. It has been my experience that if the problem is covered by the warranty, that diagnostic time is charged back to Ford. If the problem is related to something other than the transmission, you would be required to pay the diagnostic fee.
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Q. I own a 2010 Toyota RAV4 with 109,000 miles. I maintain it regularly and it runs just fine. Lately, I have noticed squeaking coming from the back. It is not always there, and I cannot reproduce it. I opened the rear hatch and sat and bounced up and down, trying to reproduce the squeak, with no success. It does not seem to be related to the frame, because if I hit rough spots in the road, I do not hear anything squeaky at all. Yet, if I am driving on a side road with irregular pavement, and I do not have to be driving quickly at all, there it is. I called my local Toyota dealership, and of course they said it would cost $175 to diagnose whatever the problem is, which would then be applied to the fix. Seems like a lot of money to me if it just needs a little greasing done.
A. The dealer is charging an hour labor/shop time which is pretty normal. I would not put any grease on the door seals. If the noise goes away in the rain, it could be a seal. Very common is the rear hatch latch — the combination of latch wear and the body bracket wear can cause a noise. Try as a temporary fix wrapping some electrical or narrow duct tape around the loop body bracket where the door latches. If the noise goes away, you have found your problem.
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Q. I own a 2002 Toyota Avalon with 127,000 miles. I have been experiencing hesitation and bucking when hitting the gas to pass or to enter the highway, when exceeding 3,000 rpm. There is no check engine light but upon checking there was a pending code P0305 indicating cylinder five misfire. I replaced the ignition coil and spark plug on cylinder five but still have the same issue.
A. The top four reasons that you could see a misfire code for this engine are: spark plugs, ignition coil, variable valve timing (VVT) solenoid, and the fuel injectors. Generally, the VVT issue will generate additional codes. I suspect you may have an injector issue. If you are a serious DIY’er you could try swapping fuel injectors. If the misfire moves, you have found the problem.
John Paul is AAA Northeast’s Car Doctor. He has over 40 years of experience in the automotive business and is an ASE-certified master technician. E-mail your Car Doctor question to [email protected]. Listen to the Car Doctor podcast at johnfpaul.podbean.com.
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