This is a list of material that I want to add to the web site. Most of this is replies to emails that I receive, but some are things that I just want to add. Some of the info here is lacking context and may not be easy to understand. I just toss stuff in this file so I have it handy when I go to edit the web page. ---------- Steering wheel controls The switches on the steering wheel aren't the best. It seems that the contacts get oxidized and don't make good contact. To disassemble and clean the contacts you will need a philips head screw driver, tweezers and a pencil eraser. First you will need to remove the trim cover off the back side of the switch assembly. It sort of snaps on and off. That should give you access to the philips head screw that secures the switch assembly. Remove that screw. Next slide the switch assembly off in the same direction that the screw was removed. Now you will have to take a close look how the switch assembly snaps together. You need to disassemble it far enough to get access to the sort of disk shaped contacts. You can use the tweezers to remove and replace the contacts, rather than fully disassemble the switches. The "disks" are under a rubber cover. -- brake noise However, there are two things that are supposed to help in this situation. The first is to use caliper slide grease (or silicone dielectric grease) in the appropriate areas when changing the brakes and the second is to use OEM brake pads. The noise you mention is the result of one of the brake pads making light contact with the rotor which causes it to vibrate and make noise. When you apply the brakes this tightens things up and keeps the pad from vibrating in this manner. If you want to tackle this yourself you will need to get some caliper slide grease or the dielectric grease. This should be available in most autoparts stores. Do not use any other type of grease. These greases are the only types that are safe for the rubber caliper slide bushings and because of their ability to stay in place when things get hot or wet. The grease is applied to the backing plate of the brake pad only or the appropriate areas on the caliper. Apply the grease to the caliper slide pins, to the places where the brake pad backing plate makes contact with the caliper, and to the edges of the brake pad backing plate where it comes in contact with the caliper bracket. The grease is supposed to help with the noise problem, but I have yet to confirm how effective this is. Three weeks ago I did the brakes on one of my cars doing what I mentioned above. It is too early to tell how well this works, but I shall wait and see. The noise on this car was different than what I have with my van though. It only made the noise when the brakes were applied. Add description of how the squealers work. Squealer noise vs. brake noise. The pads are a piece of cake. Get yourself some caliper slide grease and T40 size torx bit. If you can't get that, get silicone dielectric grease. Petroleum based greases cannot be used for this. When reinstalling the pads apply the grease to backing plate of the pad where it makes contact with the caliper piston and the caliper itself. If you have ever used anti-squeal compound, the grease is applied in the same place as the compound used to go. In other words, use the grease in place of anti squeal compound. Also, apply the grease to the edges of the brake pad backing plate where it makes contact with the caliper and to the caliper slide pins. I prefer to use OEM replacement pads because they tend to do better in terms of noise and I know their braking performance. -- Runs like crap when warms up takes at approx 10 minutes before it occurs. The result of a dirty optical pickup in the distributor. > 95 Villager starts and runs fine until gets warmed up then acts as if > wants to flood or choke out. We have replaced: Fuel filter, > distributor, plugs & wires, catalatic convertor, muffler, changed oil > and filter. We have done and replaced almost everything the manual > said it could be?????? It is possible that the optical pickup in the distributor has become dirty. What you have described is the usual symptoms when this occurs. It is inside the distributor. You will need to remove the distributor cap and inside the distibutor is a metal cover. The optical pickup is under that cover. Try cleaning it with a spray solvent that is safe for electrical items. Check the warnings in the can. You might be able to use air intake cleaner that is available in autoparts stores. -- Rear brake shoe change For the rear shoes do one side at a time so that when you go to reassemble the brakes you will have an example on the other side showing where everything goes. I haven't done the rears on my van yet, so I can't comment about any of the particulars. I do recommend you have a brake spring tool for removing and installing the springs. The tool is approximately $10 at Sears. It is well worth it in my opinion because it will make the job go faster because the tool makes it easy to remove and replace the springs. -- Towing First important thing about towing is whether or not you have an owners manual. If you do that should be your first stop because it mentions the towing capacity of the van. A lot depends upon what you are towing. What you are towing determines the minimum acceptable hitch type, whether or not you should add a transmission cooler, and perhaps adding a rear sway bar if your van does not already have one. Here is a list of items: Trailer wiring - If your van is not already equipped with the factory towing package you will need an adapter since the van has separate turn signals while most if not all trailers use the stop/turn signal combo. The adapter that uses a separate power feed is preferred so that a failure like a short in the trailer wiring does not take out the lights on the van. Hitch - There are different classes of hitches for different towing capacities. Get a hitch that can meet the capacity of what you plan on towing. Hitches can be purchased at your local U-Haul, RV retailers, Truck cap retailers or online at www.etrailer.com or www.jcwhitney.com. Trailer brakes - If you are towing a particularly heavy trailer. You need to consider the items required for adding trailer brakes. Rear sway bar - If your van shipped with either the towing package or the handling package it should have this. Since you said you have the Quest I might guess that the GXE may ship with the handling package, but I am not sure. Transmission cooler - The vans with the towing package have a radiator with a larger side tank and transmission fluid heat exchanger. Whether ot not your van has this it may be worth while adding one of these for the added protection. Transmission repairs are expensive. Driving - Give yourself that extra margin of protection. Braking is consiiderably impacted when towing, so you should allow for longer stopping distances. Depending on the load and terrain you should consider disabling the overdrive as necessary. The goal is to keep the torque converter locked. Whenever the torque cinverter unlocks it heats up the transmission fluid. You want to avoid "cooking" the transmission fluid. It is advisable to disable the overdrive when towing up grades which also applies to strong head winds. If you go to a local retailer ask their advice on towing for you particular situation. You may get more information from a direct one on one conversation. My suggestion is to clip one of the lighter gauge wires on the door lock actuator inside the door. There are four wires going to it. They heavy gauge wires go to the motor that actuates the door lock and the two smaller gauge wires go to a switch that tells the "smart entry" controller whether the door is locked or unlocked. When the smart entry controller detects that the door went from unlocked to locked it locks the rest of the doors. The switch is closed for unlocked and open for locked. The problem is that the vibration seems to cause the switch to momentarily break contact making the smart entry controller think that the door went from unlocked to lock and then locking the rest of the doors. Clipping the wire mentioned make the controller think that the door is always locked. You can still lock all the doors with the door lock switch but not the lock near the latch release if you clip the wire. Who uses that thing when you have the switch. trailer wiring Tail light wire colors: Park = pink/white Stop = yellow Left Turn = red/green or black Right Turn = red/white or green/white For the parking light there is two pink wires in the harness. Go for the heavier gauge wire since it is better suited for the additional load. For the turn signals you will be probably use the red wires, the colors switch at one of the connectors in the harness. As always check first. -- EXHAUST MANIFOLD STUD PROBLEM ON THESE MODELS, THE STUDS BREAK AND ARE EASILY REMOVED IF YOU FOLLOW THESE PROCEDURE: BACK: -JACK UP THE VAN AND PLACE SUPPORTING JACKS -REMOVE THE EXHAUST PIPE OUT OF THE WAY AND THE POWER STEERING PUMP (LET IT HANG) -REMOVE THE BACK MANIFOLD -NOW THAT YOU HAVE ROOM, WITH A SMALL DRILL, DRILL A PROPER SIZE HOLE TO TAKE A #2 EXTRACTOR. BE CAREFULL TO DRILL IN THE CENTER OF THE STUD. -REMOVE ALL OF THE STUDS EVEN IF NOT BROKEN (IT IS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE THEY DO) AND REPLACE WITH NEW -SINCE THE MANIFOLD IS WARPED BECAUSE OF BROKEN STUD, HAVE THE MANIFOLD RESURFACE (ABOUT $30) -REPLACE THE GASKET AND MOUNT THE MANIFOLD (TORK THE STUDS TO SPECS). -REPLACE THE REMAINING COMPONENTS --