[Tech II]

I need serious help, I'm not too sure what else to do, I hope writing this may bring me some clarity. I inherited this car from my mother who passed two years ago, she was the only owner. Had minor issues. The car has been great for me, but always had electrical issues as long as I can remember (lights on saying "trunk open" "Door open" stuff like that). So, around a month ago the check engine light came on reading a "exhaust gas" code? Something like that, I was told, I could still drive it but eventually need to get it fixed.

That tells us nothing.....we need the exact code, in the form of PXXXX......

Two weeks ago the transmission started to shift hard on and off (if I drove 4 times that day, will shift hard 2 times out of the 4 small trips).

The car could be shifting hard because a PCM(computer) code is set....certain codes, will cause the PCM to command the tranny to run at FULL LINE PRESSURE....this will cause harsh shifts......You can go to places like Autozone, who will read codes for you for free......

Ok, so then my air was not blowing out hard at all and it gets very hot in NC so I changed my air filter, which had a lot of cotton on top of it (????) and a dirty filter, and blows out harder.

Ok, when you find "foreign" material like that on a filter, it's usually caused by a rodent building a nest....

The low coolant light popped on last night and I added coolant and then this morning, the air (changed filter last night) is blowing hot to cold and the low coolant light is on again. I added some more coolant. Does anyone know if these issues tie into each other?

The low coolant light coming on means, you have a possible leak...would help to know if you have a 3.8 or 3.4 engine.....If you have a small leak, adding coolant can keep you going for awhile, but it needs to be fixed before it gets much worse.....also, just adding coolant is not the answer.....when you have a low coolant condition, it creates an air pocket in the engine...adding coolant does not get rid of this air pocket and can lead to overheating....When the air out of your registers gets warm, check to see if your compressor is running....it's possible you are also getting low on freon(which has nothing to do with the low coolant situation, or with the air filter), or you may have a problem with your cooling fan in back of the radiator, if it's not running....

I absolutely cannot afford to take it to a shop and it is my only transportation. I am terrified it will leave my 4 year old son and I stranded somewhere or just stop working one day soon. Please help if anyone can shed any light at all on these issues, more and more problems just keep popping up on this car everyday. I am terrified. :/ Thank you for reading this, I hope it isn't too confusing! God Bless!!

There are a lot of people in your situation......however, if you just let problems add up on the vehicle, it could be more costly to fix down the road.....