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Hit a pheasant in my MX-5 at ~50mph.  I've never hit anything with a car before and wasn't really prepared for the noise, and as soon as I hit it I heard a new vibration on top of the symphony of rattles that is my commute. I was convinced it had gone straight in the mouth and cracked the bumper or hit the radiator and was checking the temp gauge the 2 miles to home. Somehow that pissant little bit of mesh Mazda put in there has saved my radiator, it's been smashed in where the pheasant hit but aside from that there's no other damage. It hasn't even left a mess aside from one single feather stuck down in there. I haven't dared take a look at the underside of the car yet.
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Mar 16, 2012 00:28
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Had a shop change the oil, since I have nowhere to change it and has something obscene like 6000 miles on it. My regular shop is booked solid for a few weeks, so welp, off to generic lube chain. You really need to get your transmission fluid flushed Oh? Yeah, it looks bad. Your power steering fluid looks really bad too, it's red! We can flush it in 10 minutes for $70! Go on. And your air filter is filthy, but we can change it for $20. So how do you plan to flush a manual transmission? The power steering fluid is supposed to be red. And the air filter is a month old. ... it's manual? I mean, uh, you're good to go sir. 
randomidiot fucked around with this message at 02:07 on Mar 16, 2012 |
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Mar 16, 2012 02:03
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you flush a manual transmission with a pump? I've done that a few times before with a few people who decided not to put MTF in their Honda transmissions. Also some Power steering fluids are clear or Brown, although red is perfectly acceptable. Perhaps he didn't know that?
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Mar 16, 2012 02:51
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Wal-Mart sells a $1.50 bottle of  power steering fluid that's thick milky white with a faint blue tinge, like 8 parts Bailey's and 1 part Blue Curacao.My favorite lube shop story was trying to get a job at Jiffy Lube (I needed something part-time and walking-distance local), standing in the waiting room and watching idly through the window as a guy dispensed fresh motor oil from the nozzle-on-a-reel into the engine. And the radiator. And the power steering reservoir. Then the guy in the other bay noticed, and the word "gently caress!" was suddenly the only thing anyone could say. I walked out; which was stupid in retrospect since I needed work and there was obviously an opening.
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Mar 16, 2012 04:08
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dissss posted:That's still a relatively modern, safe vehicle - there isn't any reason to believe its going to leave you stranded any time in the near future. Yeah, I'm over it. I can't bring myself to get a new(ish) car just to have the poo poo kicked out of it by the kids anyway. Scouting A3s in my area now.
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Mar 16, 2012 04:51
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Bought a small ammo box for a basic toolbox for the car. Sometimes I don't want to carry much and don't like them kicking around loose. Also have a mortar shell box on lay-by because it's nice and big and has a good rubber seal still.
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Mar 16, 2012 04:53
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IOwnCalculus posted:I couldn't justify the Moogs yet, compared to the cheap-as-poo poo option even the replacement balljoint only is more expensive than the whole arm. The number one goal of this Ranger is to be cheap, cheap, and cheap again, which so far it's done quite well. what the gently caress? I paid $45ish total for both my moog uppers and a can of brake spray. anyway, Sup ranger buddy? '00 2.5L 5 speed here. Let me know if you need anything. I've got lots of leftovers. How are you enjoying those 8 plugs+wires tuneups? In guy's defense, those grease caps are a pain in the rear end. GnarlyCharlie4u fucked around with this message at 16:44 on Mar 16, 2012 |
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Mar 16, 2012 16:39
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I haven't touched the plugs or wires yet No idea what the plugs look like, even. When I bought this thing I was planning on keeping it around for a year or two tops and just being as cheap as possible with it, but now it looks like it may end up as my daily driver for a while and it's a lot cheaper to fix the ignored maintenance than it is to buy something else. I only jacked it up to actually do anything other than an oil change for the first time in the year I've owned it about two weeks ago. I'd like to know where you got your Moog upper control arms for $45 total, though (unless yours is a torsion-beam front and not a coil-spring front) since that's a lot cheaper than anything I'm finding.
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Mar 16, 2012 18:27
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IOwnCalculus posted:I haven't touched the plugs or wires yet Advance Auto. They were cheap and I had coupons, but it was a while ago. You have to jack yours up to do an oil change? I don't even have to get all the way under the truck. Speaking of rangers, I swapped out the brakes and rotors and bedded in the pads just fine but now I've got a weird vibration when braking. There's no shudder or noise. It's not consistent and doesn't occur at lower speeds. the wheel doesn't wobble at all but the truck feels like the brakes are being tapped off/on really quickly and lightly. ALMOST like my ABS is in slow motion and constantly on. Only thing is I only have rear wheel ABS. I'm at a loss...
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Mar 16, 2012 19:08
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Yeah, AAP (I don't have any locally so I didn't check them) wants $83 for the balljoint alone and you still need to have already replaced the control arm with one that can have the joint replaced, rather than the OEMs where it's one big rear end piece. I will say I was pleasantly surprised with the <$10 lower balljoints from Rockauto, they actually come with greasable zerk fittings unlike the OEM parts! Try bedding your pads in again? I've heard that sometimes really unequal lug torque could do it but I don't buy that idea personally.
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Mar 16, 2012 20:24
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IOwnCalculus posted:Yeah, AAP (I don't have any locally so I didn't check them) wants $83 for the balljoint alone and you still need to have already replaced the control arm with one that can have the joint replaced, rather than the OEMs where it's one big rear end piece. Well it's definitely not unequal lug torque. I have a wrench dedicated to that sole purpose, I carry it everywhere, and I check my lugs after every (almost)full tank of gas. So about 300mi between inspections.
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Mar 16, 2012 21:02
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Phone posted:I think you'll see the differences more clearly if you do a back-to-back test drive with other cars in the segment: Fiat 500, Versa, Fit, the Kia one. Fiesta? Did you try one before hand? Kinda curious how the torsion beam compares to the IRS of the Fiesta.
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Mar 16, 2012 22:05
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Zuiko-Digital posted:Went from: Went and put LEDs directly behind each needle. Now I am finally happy with my cluster.  
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Mar 16, 2012 22:32
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Bought this: $700 but it overheats, has new radiator and maybe thermostat not sure on that. Runs great otherwise, everything works, good tires, 198,000 miles, no rust and straight body. Now I haven't quite bought it yet, the seller couldn't find the title. I'm a little worried the head gasket is blown, but no peanut butter found anywhere and no white smoke. Any other way to test this? Edit: more pics.   trouser chili fucked around with this message at 04:05 on Mar 17, 2012 |
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Mar 17, 2012 03:56
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trouser chili posted:I'm a little worried the head gasket is blown, but no peanut butter found anywhere and no white smoke. Any other way to test this? Combustion leak detector.
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Mar 17, 2012 04:23
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Duplicolor trim black is sweet! Nasty 33 year old water pump fell off my 300cd with a 2x4 and a hammer thwack. The original steel screws in aluminum threads didn't give any trouble either.  And a valve adjustment to so I can keep making five hunnert torquepower on pump diesel.  
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Mar 17, 2012 21:12
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Started the first baby steps towards my engine swap. Exhaust out.  Started disconnecting everything. All I have left is some coolant lines, the fuel lines and the motor mounts.  You should be going in within a few weeks. Also fixed a MASSIVE oil leak in my beater MR2, but thats boring. I'm getting excited. 
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Mar 17, 2012 21:40
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Three years ago, shortly after I bought it... How it looks as of Tuesday... 
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Mar 17, 2012 22:16
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trouser chili posted:Bought this: If the thermostat is actually good, and the head gasket isn't blown, I'll put  on the water pump taking a poo poo.But a B18A1 or B18B1 is dirt cheap anyway. The B1 adds 10 hp and if memory serves correctly, is a direct swap. B20 from a CRV will also fit and bolt up to the transaxle, but I believe needs some wiring fuckery. Nice find for $700. When I had my 91 I was pretty active on the g2ic.com forums, they had a lot of good info back then.
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Mar 17, 2012 22:29
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GazChap posted:Holy poo poo yes. I love this car and always chose it in Sega Rally.
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Mar 18, 2012 00:50
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 New wheels on. Like them a lot more than the old stock ones. Lowering springs and suspension going on tomorrow or next weekend, depending on the weather.
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Mar 18, 2012 01:21
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Comrade Flynn posted:
Parked HARD.
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Mar 18, 2012 16:10
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Finally took a razor and Windex to my windows to get the rest of the tint glue off. Tedious pain in the rear end, but I needed to do it before it got too hot and it started melting.
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Mar 18, 2012 18:34
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meatpimp posted:Parked HARD. Maybe the guy next to him parked even HARDER and he didn't have a choice?
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Mar 18, 2012 20:46
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GazChap posted:Three years ago, shortly after I bought it... Holy poo poo! That's awesome!
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Mar 18, 2012 20:48
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Comrade Flynn posted:
What's up with that rear offset? Those look like they stick out pretty far, but it may be my eyes fooling me. Love the improvement though.
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Mar 18, 2012 22:23
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I have a 200 Ford Focus station wagon with almost 158,000 miles. Just yesterday, I had the fuel injectors cleaned, which made it idle much more smoothly. The mechanic suggested changing the spark plug wires on account of its age. Does anyone know if that would normally be part of routine maintenance? It may be time for new plugs, but I haven't had any problems with the wires.
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Mar 19, 2012 00:53
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Cockmaster posted:I have a 200 Ford Focus station wagon with almost 158,000 miles. Just yesterday, I had the fuel injectors cleaned, which made it idle much more smoothly. Well I mean if it's 1800 years old, then yeah you probably want to replace those. 
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Mar 19, 2012 02:17
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Cockmaster posted:I have a 200 Ford Focus station wagon with almost 158,000 miles. Just yesterday, I had the fuel injectors cleaned, which made it idle much more smoothly. Better safe than sorry.
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Mar 19, 2012 02:27
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wav3form posted:Maybe the guy next to him parked even HARDER and he didn't have a choice? It's our parking spots for our condo, I took up two to have room to work on the car. New Konis and Steeda springs on! Drop is about 1.25" in front, 1.5" in back:   Thanks to Revelations and Nija! We also got a bonus of seeing a Fiat break down right in front of us on the freeway.
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Mar 19, 2012 02:30
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GazChap posted:How it looks as of Tuesday... Comrade Flynn posted:Oh sweet, two sweet 4x4s in a row Comrade Flynn posted:New Konis and Steeda springs on! Drop is about 1.25" in front, 1.5" in back: Looks much better. 
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Mar 19, 2012 06:52
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I aligned my drivers side door correctly, so now you don't have to lift it up a little to shut it smoothly. Unfrotunately, you've still got to use some force, I think the rubber bits at the top of the door are to blame because it just wants to bounce right back at me. Also, I should really see about getting my dinged rear quarter panel fixed, or do a home paint job with some matched stray paint. Guards Red brake calipers anyone?  .
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Mar 19, 2012 09:22
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GazChap posted:This might just be my favorite post of all time.
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Mar 19, 2012 14:55
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Polish + Wax + Tires mounted/balanced I <3 spring! edit: Went to change wheels and sheared a stud QQ djfooboo fucked around with this message at 17:20 on Mar 19, 2012 |
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Mar 19, 2012 16:12
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djfooboo posted:edit: Went to change wheels and sheared a stud QQ Ha. I did that when I put my winter wheels on, Canadian tire got understandably pissed when I bought the stud and proceeded to change it out in their parking lot, as I lack a driveway to actually do any work in. Really hoping I don't have to do that again when I switch back to summer wheels.
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Mar 19, 2012 23:50
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Well, it was yesterday, and I didn't exactly do anything to it, but I got something for it. It still has a good seal so I was considering external mounting somewhere. I don't know. I also had another go at getting an oil pressure sender (not idiot light switch). Sonofabitch will cost me $70+. Does anyone have access to them cheaper and with specific resistance ranges?
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Mar 20, 2012 23:38
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A couple of days behind, but I put springs on my CR-Z this weekend. To be honest, I didn't really consider coilovers due to the cost (it would have cost at least 6x as much as these springs, which I got a crazy deal on. Swift Sport Springs. Besides, I'm looking for a new job at this point and will be moving in about a month. Once a new job and residence have been found, I'm planning on getting something that I can take apart over the winter. I have a few things in mind, but odds are it'll be some sort of wagon. So gay for anything with a hatch. Anyway, here are some pictures: Stock ride height:  Current ride height (about 1.5" drop) :      Feels awesome low. And they went on easy, once I went someplace with an air compressor (my apartment doesn't have one). I took some heat from a couple of friends for not getting coilovers, but I'm getting excited for opportunities that might be coming up in 5-6 months so I'm trying to keep this car on a budget (and I'm not putting any "performance" parts on it - it's still a hybrid). Out of pocket costs from stock have been under about $350, plus the trade for the stock set of wheels. salt the fries! fucked around with this message at 02:39 on Mar 21, 2012 |
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Mar 21, 2012 02:37
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salt the fries! posted:A couple of days behind, but I put springs on my CR-Z this weekend. To be honest, I didn't really consider coilovers due to the cost (it would have cost at least 6x as much as these springs, which I got a crazy deal on. Swift Sport Springs. I'm not sure if its the shadow or what but that looks a little TOO low.
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Mar 21, 2012 02:43
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Belldandy posted:I'm not sure if its the shadow or what but that looks a little TOO low. It's the shadow on that side shot. Here's the front:  Here's the rear:  Please Excuse My Dirty-rear end Sidewall. e: and still need to find black ball-seat lug nuts or have the stock ones powdercoated. The stock ones I have were powdercoated the same color as the outer lip, much lighter than the ones on there.
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Mar 21, 2012 02:50
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Ah, that makes sense. Looks good!
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Mar 21, 2012 03:04
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