Q: My son was borrowing my ’95 Dodge Caravan (2.5-liter four-cylinder engine) for the past semester while he was away at college. Now that he’s back home, I went to use it and noticed a couple of problems. First, the brake pedal feels very hard and seems to require much more force to depress than before. Secondly, the engine doesn’t seem to be running properly and it hesitates on acceleration. I asked my son what happened, and he said it’s been that way for a while, but he’d gotten used to it. I don’t feel that it’s safe to drive in its current state, and I’m wondering if it’s worth fixing. What do you think? -- J.E., Chicago

A: J.E., that depends on what the overall condition of the van is in. I’m thinking that the two problems you mentioned might be related. It’s possible that the large rubber vacuum hose going from the engine’s throttle body assembly to the brake booster may have broken. If the vacuum hose is broken the brake booster won’t provide any additional force to help the driver apply the brakes. Also, the broken vacuum hose would affect engine performance. If that’s the only thing wrong with the van, then you’ll probably want to keep it. For peace of mind, you may want to have the van thoroughly inspected. Once you have an estimate of repairs needed, then you can sit down and figure out whether it makes sense to repair it, or get something else.

Q: The back-up lamps stopped working on my 2000 Ford Ranger pickup. I tried replacing the bulbs and the fuse and the lamps still fail to come on when placing the transmission in reverse. What else could be wrong? -- A.Y., Evergreen Park

A: A.Y., it could be a wiring problem or a faulty back-up lamp switch. The switch is located on the outside of the transmission. If your truck has an automatic transmission, the back-up lamp switch is part of the transmission range sensor. Through testing, a technician will be able to determine if the switch is the cause, or if there’s a problem with the wiring.

Q: I own a 2003 Mitsubishi Galant with the V-6 engine. The problem is that when cruising around 40 – 45 mph, I feel the car surging. I’ve brought my car to several repair facilities and none have been able to find the cause. The last shop I went to said that it might be a transmission problem and not an engine problem. What should I do? -- P.W., Tinley Park

A: P.W., the surging could be the result of and engine misfire or transmission trouble. If it was an engine misfire, though, you’d likely see the check engine light on and there would likely be diagnostic trouble codes stored. I’m assuming that the technicians who looked at the car hooked up a scan tool to see if any codes were stored. I’m leaning towards the transmission as the culprit. In fact, Mitsubishi issued a TSB (#03-23-006) that mentions the importance of the correct fluid being used in the transmission. According to the bulletin, using the wrong fluid could cause the vehicle to surge when the lock-up torque converter begins to engage. If the wrong fluid has been added to your vehicle, you’ll want to have the entire transmission flushed.

AutoAdviser: Ira Siegel is an Automotive Instructor and ASE Certified Master Auto Technician. If you have auto-related questions for Ira Siegel you can call and leave your questions at the Auto Adviser Hotline at 708-633-6839 or e-mail a question to Autoadvisr@aol.com.