I bought my '91 Eddie Bauer in June this year and have already had a few problems with it. Most are just little cosmetic things, but after driving it for about a month the AC started acting weird. I was driving around on a hot day with my brother when he noticed the AC was blowing hot air. During the first month, the AC was very cold and the temperature seemed fine. When my brother noticed the hot air blowing, I took it to a mechanic and he said that my clutch fan needed to be replaced. He replaced it with a "heavy duty clutch fan" that cost me $160. While I was there, I also replaced my rusted muffler. I left the mechanic, and the temperature gauge stayed in the N-O area on normal (where it had been almost in the red before). The AC worked fine, but the fan was very loud. I can't stand the whine it makes. It's almost embarrassing. I took the car back to the mechanic and asked him why it was so loud. He claimed it was because the fan was "heavy duty" and took me for a ride in my car to hear the noise himself. He said it was normal. It's very loud. However, it seemed like it worked. A few weeks later, here I sit with the same AC problems I had before. I can hardly ever get it to blow cold air, and the temperature gauge is at the L or above at all times. It has been pretty hot around here in Georgia, sometimes in the 90's, but it seems to me like the AC should still be working. The clutch fan is working, because it's very loud still. It cuts off at a certain point when I drive and usually won't turn on again until I put it in park and back into drive, or until I turn off the car and turn it back on.
What can be done about this? I mentioned "maybe it's a cracked fan blade" and the mechanic just kind of shrugged it off. I haven't gone back to talk to them about the engine running hot again. I don't see any smoke.
Other problems: The "CHECK OIL" light was on religiously for a little while, and I bought some Oil and poured about half the bottle in and the light was still on. I poured the rest in and the light turned off. It has been off for maybe 2 weeks, but the other day it came on when I started the car. It has not come on since then. Maybe that was a fluke.
The power steering pump has a leak somewhere. I don't know where it is, but it has lost its fluid twice now. I keep a bottle in the back of the car. The stuff says it has "Leak-Stop" in it, but it's obviously not working. I guess the next step is to try some of that heavy-duty leak-stopping fluid I've seen mentioned on this group. I'll go pick some of that up today.
Could anyone please shine some light on these problems? The car is a
91 explorer, Eddie Bauer edition. Has everything but 4x4.Thanks a lot.
-C