|
c355n4 posted:How do you run out of gas? Be very distracted. It went fine to completely dead in a split second, there was no sputtering. At least the tow truck only took 10 minutes to get there and only set me back $70 (refundable through AAA). Apparently the Mercedes/Mopar smart key system will just crank the engine forever until you turn the key all the way to the left to cancel it, just in case anyone was wondering how digital keys/starters handled engine failure. Vanagoon posted:Edit, also why does the car need a tow for running out of fuel, does this damage the car in some way? I don't see why someone couldn't just turn up with a jerry can. Apparently they can't do that for vehicles stranded on the expressway in new york state.
|
#
?
Aug 22, 2011 04:43
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 13, 2024 18:43 |
|
|
All of you people running out of petrol - have fun replacing your fuel pump. Most of those are cooled internally by the petrol itself, and repeatedly running out will end their life prematurely. I had an 88 Delta that had the original fuel pump in it, never ran it out of gas and it was still going strong. Gave my sister a 94 Acclaim/Spirit and she runs it out every other weekend. In 8 months she's gone through two fuel pumps.
|
|
#
?
Aug 22, 2011 05:18
|
|
|
NOTinuyasha posted:Apparently the Mercedes/Mopar smart key system will just crank the engine forever until you turn the key all the way to the left to cancel it, just in case anyone was wondering how digital keys/starters handled engine failure. That sounds like a wonderful way to burn up a starter, maybe even set the battery cables on fire if they're not heavy enough for that kind of continuous load. The positive cable went up in flames when the ignition got stuck in "start" on my F-150, that was fun. And yeah, it's not terribly good for the fuel pump, but otherwise doesn't do any real harm to a gasoline engine. Diesel engines, on the other hand, are a bit of a bitch to get running again, aren't they?
|
|
#
?
Aug 22, 2011 07:44
|
|
|
One of the first longish trips I took I set off knowing I needed more fuel and then promptly rumbled past 2 petrol stations. Suddenly noticed the needle was on the stop 1/2 mile from the next, when I pulled hard left into the forecourt the engine died and I had to coast into a (thankfully empty) pump.
|
|
#
?
Aug 22, 2011 09:48
|
|
|
some texas redneck posted:I drove 60 miles after the low fuel light came on a few months ago. Took 14.8 gallons to fill it up after that. My low fuel light came on over the weekend and I filled up within ~5 miles city driving. Put 14.4 gallons in my 18 gallon tank (mazda6). 4 gallons of reserve.
|
|
#
?
Aug 22, 2011 13:03
|
|
|
I nearly ran out of fuel in my E36 last month. It was scary. I didn't fill up in the morning like I should have, because I had a quarter of a tank left it looked like. Maybe a little less. Well, I get off work at 4:30 and have to pick my kids up by 5:30, absolutely no later, on certain days (this was one of them of course). And they're exactly one hour away, so I didn't have time to get gas. A mile from their house I was down on power, and had to be very careful not to stall. After I picked them up I barely made it the half mile to a gas station. I was sputtering, incredibly down on power, and I could hear my fuel pump whining as it sucked in nothing but air. Thankfully it wasn't like that for long, and my car still seems fine, but I swear I used the last molecules of gas pulling up to the pump.
|
|
#
?
Aug 22, 2011 15:01
|
|
|
some texas redneck posted:And yeah, it's not terribly good for the fuel pump, but otherwise doesn't do any real harm to a gasoline engine. Diesel engines, on the other hand, are a bit of a bitch to get running again, aren't they? They can be, if you get a big enough air bubble in the high-pressure rail it will just compress when the high pressure pump engages, in which case it needs to be bled out. I drove a Passat TDI for a while with a completely broken gauge cluster and ran out of gas a few times but I could always get it to start again without bleeding.
|
|
#
?
Aug 22, 2011 15:14
|
|
|
Geirskogul posted:All of you people running out of petrol - have fun replacing your fuel pump. Most of those are cooled internally by the petrol itself, and repeatedly running out will end their life prematurely. European cars tend to have external pumps for whatever reason, but even in-tank fuel pumps tend to be a bit more hardy then you'd expect.
|
|
#
?
Aug 22, 2011 16:27
|
|
|
They weren't interested in it. Taken on drive back from International Falls, MN. to St. Louis, MO. Figured it was worth driving 30miles out of the way to check the place out. It's pretty hard to find and fairly small, but I recommend stopping by if you are in the area. Also there:   
|
|
#
?
Aug 22, 2011 16:35
|
|
|
Well, not to my ride yet, but I bench tested the alarm I ordered last week. The price was so good I expected it to be a scam somehow, but I had protection on my debit card and found reviews saying they were legit and they had an A+ on the BBB. I got it today and every function on it works, and everything is brand new with legit serial numbers and everything. Here's the one I ordered. It regularly goes for like 3 times that retail (well, with installation), and it's even $100 cheaper than Amazon. He also includes free gifts so I got some sick fake carbon fiber stick-on vents to slap on the side of a Buick or something.
|
|
#
?
Aug 22, 2011 19:42
|
|
|
c355n4 posted:How do you run out of gas? I only ever ran out once, and it was a very Seinfeld-esque trip with a friend where I kept moving the goalposts of where I thought we could make it to in the Appalachian mountains. I ended up calling AAA to bring me some gas because I wasn't exactly sure how close we had gotten, but it ended up being less than 2 miles from the gas station I was shooting for.
|
|
#
?
Aug 22, 2011 22:44
|
|
|
FINALLY got the turbo-back exhaust installed on the Cobalt. What an ordeal. When it was on the ground, I couldn't get leverage to remove the nuts holding the downpipe to the turbo, and when it was on the lift, the bottom two studs pulled out and stripped. Luckily, the threads in the turbo itself were fine, and a quick jaunt to the auto parts store found me with new studs and nuts in hand, and the rest of the install went easily. Sounds great, looks great, and along with the intake and Trifecta tune, should put me at about 300whp.
|
|
#
?
Aug 23, 2011 01:18
|
|
|
Finished installing new struts in the '92 3000GT VR4, regreased all the zerks on the aftermarket rear camber arms, and wiped the dust off and filled it up with gas. On the way to the gas station, my ABS light came on, so I think I must have hosed up a wheel speed sensor while I was swapping the rear struts. Oh well, I drive it once a week or so, I'll just yank the ABS fuse and look at it later.
|
|
#
?
Aug 23, 2011 02:25
|
|
|
Sold it. Goodbye BMW 325i, I loving hated you.
|
|
#
?
Aug 23, 2011 03:06
|
|
|
Replaced the RTABs in my 2004 M3. Pretty easy job, just used a ball-joint tool instead of the couple hundred dollar BMW tool. The new bushings are an updated design, supposed to last longer. We'll see. Installed Vorschlag limiters while I was at it.  Guess all the talk about BMW jacking points failing is true!  Luckily no real damage, just a barely-there crease in the rocker panel. Luckily I was nowhere near under the car--still scared the poo poo out of me.
|
|
#
?
Aug 23, 2011 03:39
|
|
|
When I was getting my JCW flash at Inskip I bought an aero grill to put on. I'm at my friends place for a few days in NYC and I went out to put it on today while she is at work and the loving nuts refuse to come off without mangling the threads on the plastic posts that hold the grill in place. I got four off and broke two of them off before saying gently caress it I'll do it at home. I need self threading nuts for the new grill and I'm not venturing out all over looking for some Stupid one way nuts and cheap plastic 
|
|
#
?
Aug 23, 2011 20:41
|
|
|
 Terrible picture of terrible old tires  New sneaks, Wild Country Radial XTX, some cooper off-brand A/T  And I cleaned up the engine bay a little bit, needs more attention though.
|
|
#
?
Aug 24, 2011 02:13
|
|
|
Answered a Craigslist ad for a set of chrome mod/nugget rims that would fit my Tacoma (I love that so many cars of the past are 14 inch, 5 x 4.5 bolt pattern). I just needed one for my spare tire, because I already have a set of chrome mods on my truck that are 14 x 6, but the spare is a horribly shallow standard black stock 14 x 5. I figured for $20, why not just buy the whole set and have three extra matching rims for shits and giggles should I ever get curb rash or a bent rim? Dude had them sitting for awhile on a mid-70s Dodge, but they cleaned up like new with little effort. Now, I just need new shoes all around because my tires are pretty goddamn bald and the new old rims have dry-rotted tires, but it gives me an excuse to drive my Malibu in the meantime until I can scrounge up more money for new rubber. Not my picture, obviously, but everyone and their mother has seen these rims at one point or another. My truck sports these, and now the underside of my truck bed and my storage will sport them, too! 
|
|
#
?
Aug 24, 2011 04:53
|
|
|
Replaced bent front hub and balljoint, new struts all around, lower rear control arms, and Tein S Tech lowering springs on my 98 VR-4. Old struts were totally blown out, and one piston was on the verge of sliding out of the strut when i turned it upside down. Unfortunately, my left rear toe adjustment is completely frozen, and front left camber/caster is maxed and is not quite in spec  .
|
|
#
?
Aug 24, 2011 06:46
|
|
|
Installed an electronic ignition conversion into my distributor. Also replaced the cap, rotor, and all the spark plug cables. Also replaced the valve cover gasket. It runs better than it ever has!  Then the starter died. Oh hey! Project for next weekend! 
|
|
#
?
Aug 24, 2011 07:05
|
|
|
McMadCow posted:Installed an electronic ignition conversion into my distributor. Also replaced the cap, rotor, and all the spark plug cables. Also replaced the valve cover gasket. Exactly the same thing happened to me when I went with electronic ignition too, funnily enough. Is yours just a kit that replaces the condensor so the points are switching just tiny amounts of current or does it replace the points as well?
|
|
#
?
Aug 24, 2011 10:20
|
|
|
Just hit the MAF with some MAF cleaner. Hopefully it'll help with the sputtering/hesitation issue - don't have to drive for another 2 hours, so it should be plenty dry by then.
|
|
#
?
Aug 24, 2011 10:56
|
|
|
Clutch and brake pedal pads are pretty worn out after 26 years and 177,000 miles so I found some replacements on Rockauto: $10 and 5 minutes later:  With that sorted, I moved on to the daily driver which needed the radiator replaced after the plastic top cracked. Surprisingly cheap, only $62 shipped to my door from Rockauto. Old and busted:  Shiny new KOYORAD!: 
|
|
#
?
Aug 25, 2011 05:38
|
|
|
lowered the fiat, didn't even have to take off the tires to do the rear.
|
|
#
?
Aug 25, 2011 06:12
|
|
|
I HATE CARS posted:Exactly the same thing happened to me when I went with electronic ignition too, funnily enough. Is yours just a kit that replaces the condensor so the points are switching just tiny amounts of current or does it replace the points as well? Mine replaces the condensor and the contact. Is that what you mean? The rotor and the cap are still there. It works great- never ran better. But yeah, parked on a hill until Sunday. EDIT: It's this one: http://www.hot-spark.com/1-3BOS4C2.htm
|
|
#
?
Aug 25, 2011 06:20
|
|
|
Changed the LHM on my Citroen Xantia. The old LHM looked like used motor oil. It's supposed to be bright green.  And I need to redo it someday, as I couldn't do it the proper way; just pumped out the old LHM from the reservoir and poured in the new stuff, which only changes half of the oil. It did improve the way the suspension works quite a bit, and it seems to create pressure more quickly now. [Edit] Goddamnit! The Vehicle inspection/MOT is coming up soon, so there's a laundry list of stuff to check/fix on my car, and I've just been offered a nice looking Volvo for cheap, but I'm financially in a tight spot right now: enough money to keep the current car running, but not enough to swap to a newer one. (Or at least not enough to get a car I'd like )
JointHorse fucked around with this message at 20:34 on Aug 25, 2011 |
|
#
?
Aug 25, 2011 20:18
|
|
|
Got some shoes fitted. RE002s. Let's see how the are compared to my old RE01s when they weren't old and poo poo,
|
|
#
?
Aug 25, 2011 20:37
|
|
|
Brought her home. Sup dere finger? To not worry about :
If I can still find a 5 speed kit, I may transform it. Otherwise, I think it'll be a superficial fix-n-flip.
|
|
#
?
Aug 26, 2011 02:13
|
|
|
Installed the accessory armrest in my Mazda 2. The pieces: Console out. It's held in with one bolt and a couple clips. Then the bracket above is bolted to an existing bracket and holes lining up with the bracket and armrest base are drilled into the console.  Finished product which is placed nicely for the resting of arm. 
|
|
#
?
Aug 26, 2011 05:45
|
|
|
hedge posted:Installed the accessory armrest in my Mazda 2.
|
|
#
?
Aug 26, 2011 06:12
|
|
|
Installed this Shifts are nice and tight, got rid of the common 'notchy' second gear in my genesis coupe
|
|
#
?
Aug 26, 2011 06:24
|
|
|
hedge posted:Installed the accessory armrest in my Mazda 2. The pieces: I recently did this on my Cobalt SS. It could have been less of a pain to line up the brackets, but overall for such an easy job, it's a big payout in terms of comfort.
|
|
#
?
Aug 26, 2011 13:28
|
|
|
Drove through Hurricane Irene. Just now. With the top down. I admit, I saw the outer edge coming, but I thought I could just skirt it and make it the 3 miles home. The rain drove in so hard I needed swimming goggles. It was hard just keeping my eyes open. Stopping under an overpass did not seem like a good idea. This is just the first outer band, but hurricanes spawn tornadoes. Within a minute my head and arm are hanging outside the car, knuckles almost dragging the road, the windshield is completely obscured by sideways rain from inside and outside with huge wind gusts. I'm trying to go fast but not too fast because the car slides so easy (1650 pounds including me) and I can't see a thing except someone's blurry tail lights. On the plus side I caught no red lights. Sitting in pounding rain at a red light is the worst. I did my best to be a complete and scary lunatic just for everyone's benefit, but then one last quite frightening right turn completely blind from the windshield, done only by feel (having turned there for decades) and home. I had a huge grin when I wasn't yelling. My hair is still wet.  The car is not. ChromeCrank fucked around with this message at 17:29 on Aug 26, 2011 |
|
#
?
Aug 26, 2011 17:26
|
|
|
ChromeCrank posted:Drove through Hurricane Irene. Just now. With the top down. I've been caught in summer thunderstorms on I37 before with the top down on my RX7. It's truly an insane feeling to step on it harder to stay dry, but it worked each time. Looks like you weren't going fast enough 
|
|
#
?
Aug 26, 2011 21:02
|
|
|
Cleaned up the previous owner's botched CB radio wiring fiasco. My clock and 4-ways now work! 
|
|
#
?
Aug 26, 2011 23:28
|
|
|
Prepared for Irene. Extra water? Nope Extra food? Nope Extra batteries? Nope Extra car in the garage? gently caress yeah  The idea came into my head when it was going to give us hurricane force winds, the forecast moved it far east from here but I still needed to see if it could be done.
|
|
#
?
Aug 27, 2011 01:17
|
|
|
Lowclock posted:I hate that this an option on even the cheapest of cars. Every time I drive a car without good armrests I look like I have restless arm syndrome or something. I didn't even know this was a thing.. I mean using an arm rest to drive. 
|
|
#
?
Aug 27, 2011 01:50
|
|
|
Mr.Peabody posted:I didn't even know this was a thing.. I mean using an arm rest to drive.
|
|
#
?
Aug 27, 2011 01:59
|
|
|
Picked up some LEDs for my dash, and... holy poo poo it looked horrible. Hot spots, dark spots, you name it. Granted the LEDs were super cheap, but... Wandered through Pep Boys and noticed some hyperwhite 194 bulbs. Not the painted ones, but the ones with dyed glass. Cheapish, and as it turns out, the dash looks pretty decent with them. Not overly blue, not too bright. 
|
|
#
?
Aug 27, 2011 03:35
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 13, 2024 18:43 |
|
|
Finally changed the washer nozzles on my Astra, something I've been threatening to do for about 8 months now, it's not even a big job, only problem was getting the windscreen wipers off. Still makes a hell of a lot of difference with the new "mist" nozzles on they don't obscure your view at all when in use. Next is the new horn to go in it, the original one is piss poor as with most Vauxhalls/Opels.
|
|
#
?
Aug 27, 2011 15:16
|
|