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I'm getting ready to get my car smogged and looking online a lot of websites bring up that constant short trips can cause you to fail because of build up on the cataclysmic converter since it isn't getting hot enough. Is that an actual thing? Since the beginning of the year I drive maybe 40 miles a month, barely a mile a day on the days I work and everything else is so close I'd drive maybe 4 miles at most if I wanted to go somewhere on the edge of town. This is for a 97 Civic
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Oct 14, 2015 00:32
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It's a thing. Go drive somewhere for an hour and heat it all up.
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Oct 14, 2015 00:33
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 Someone is asking about a learning project car and nobody has suggested a Miata yet? It's like I don't even know AI anymore.
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Oct 14, 2015 00:34
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Leal posted:I'm getting ready to get my car smogged and looking online a lot of websites bring up that constant short trips can cause you to fail because of build up on the cataclysmic converter since it isn't getting hot enough. Is that an actual thing? Since the beginning of the year I drive maybe 40 miles a month, barely a mile a day on the days I work and everything else is so close I'd drive maybe 4 miles at most if I wanted to go somewhere on the edge of town. This is for a 97 Civic  Geoj posted:
I'm of the opinion that miatas are crap cars to learn on because they're a convertible and too tiny. If I were American I'd definitely go for an older pickup truck because, as said, at the end you get a decent useful vehicle and you get to make your mistakes on something that doesn't really give a poo poo and has no intrinsic value.
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Oct 14, 2015 00:38
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Geoj posted:
Fuel injection and computers are scary
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Oct 14, 2015 00:38
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Sorry I didn't get back to you gusy, it'd be up to a foot I think and barely plowed. But if just having good tires and chains works then that's fine. Id perfer low 20s but will go up higher., I just don't know how to drive a standard.
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Oct 14, 2015 00:57
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tater_salad posted:Fuel injection and computers are scary They're too reliable. Maybe if you got one that had been horribly abused by some wannabe drifter...
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Oct 14, 2015 01:00
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uwaeve posted:We have a 2009 RAV4, and it seems like every time we pass a multiple of 15k OR it's been 3 months OR 3k since last oil change it throws a MAINT REQ light. Wife just gets it reset, but is this something we can have disabled? I feel like we've been turned away from at least one inspection station blindly without them even checking a code because the light is on. Yell at whomever is doing your oil changes to reset it whenever they change the oil. OR If you do your own changes: push trip button display to show trip A Turn key to off posistion. Hold down trip/reset button turn key to "On" position, (not start) watch as little line counts down across display, and maintenance light flashes when it flashes zeros, you're done! let go of buttan, turn key off, start car. some models its a little different, for example you may need to show the odo mileage not trip A but that's the basic procedure for almost every toyota ever.
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Oct 14, 2015 01:41
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Abu Dave posted:Sorry I didn't get back to you gusy, it'd be up to a foot I think and barely plowed. But if just having good tires and chains works then that's fine. Id perfer low 20s but will go up higher., I just don't know how to drive a standard. I live down a dead end dirt road in the middle of nowhere. It pretty much only gets plowed if I get my tractor out and plow it myself. The county might get to it three days or so after the storm. Last winter I had two cars, a Prius with snow tires and a Silverado HD with Michelin highway tires. The Silverado never got stuck, even in 12 inches of snow. The Prius did, quite a few times, even with the snow tires. Ground clearance makes a difference. You really need to stick to a full size pickup or SUV. 4x4 and locking differentials or a limited slip. Add a good set of tires and you won't need the chains, which are a huge pain in the rear end.
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Oct 14, 2015 01:49
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Makes sense but kinda sucks. I was looking at a Impresza but I need to be realistic. Currently I have a explorer and I love it and it's a beast, but it's slowly dieing. 
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Oct 14, 2015 01:58
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Godholio posted:It's a thing. Go drive somewhere for an hour and heat it all up. Well that'll give me an excuse to check out the nearest city, its an hour drive one way. The joys of living in a city in the middle of loving nowhere 
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Oct 14, 2015 02:21
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spog posted:Happy to help you avoid making a mistake. And you too boss, sorry to leave you and anyone else out. I did end up winning two things though, a 2-ton engine hoist in good shape and a like-new 2.5 ton floor jack for $88.50 out the door. (They were up for bid before the Land Rover so I got what I thought I might need). Plus I talked to the town government today and a small 10x20 garage like I see at some of these lumberyards prebuilt for 2-3k would only cost $75 for the permit. So now I just need a project to 
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Oct 14, 2015 03:02
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Update on the 91 suburban, got the jeep intermediate shaft installed and the steering is quite a bit stiffer and has about half the slop as before so that was worth it I think. Thng is now there is a massive deadzone where you can feel the steering shift from one side of the deadzone to the other when going straight down the road, I'm guessing the original shaft was dampening the shifting so you couldn't feel it. I suspect it's either in the steering box (which is about a year old and has been replaced a few times) or something right past it, judging on the complete lack of resistance in the middle of the wheel. Anyone have any suggestions for tracking the deadzone down/further reducing slop? Note I don't have a jack capable of lifting this truck due to it's height and weight. This is the truck for anyone curious.  Edit: New picture. Autoexec.bat fucked around with this message at 13:54 on Oct 14, 2015 |
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Oct 14, 2015 03:19
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One of the HIDs in my Saabaru frequently goes out when I go over a speed bump (signal and parking light on that side work fine). It generally fixes itself when I turn the car off and back on. Would this suggest it's not a loose connection, but maybe something with the HID or ballast? It's tightly packaged in there so I haven't gotten a good look at it, although I was able to disconnect and reconnect the bulb, which didn't help.
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Oct 14, 2015 07:03
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Familiar Foreigner posted:Update on the 91 suburban, got the jeep intermediate shaft installed and the steering is quite a bit stiffer and has about half the slop as before so that was worth it I think. Thng is now there is a massive deadzone where you can feel the steering shift from one side of the deadzone to the other when going straight down the road, I'm guessing the original shaft was dampening the shifting so you couldn't feel it. I suspect it's either in the steering box (which is about a year old and has been replaced a few times) or something right past it, judging on the complete lack of resistance in the middle of the wheel. Anyone have any suggestions for tracking the deadzone down/further reducing slop? Note I don't have a jack capable of lifting this truck due to it's height and weight. If that's a saginaw box, there is an adjustment on the top or side of the box somewhere. Maybe the gears wore in and you should tighten up the adjustment somewhat. Just be careful to not over-tighten it; if you do it can bind and that's obviously no good when talking about steering. Best way to test it out is with the front end off the ground, though, so you can easily crank it from lock to lock to feel out the engagement.
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Oct 14, 2015 07:13
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blk posted:One of the HIDs in my Saabaru frequently goes out when I go over a speed bump (signal and parking light on that side work fine). It generally fixes itself when I turn the car off and back on. Would this suggest it's not a loose connection, but maybe something with the HID or ballast? It's tightly packaged in there so I haven't gotten a good look at it, although I was able to disconnect and reconnect the bulb, which didn't help. My first thought would be ballast, or connections to the ballast. That said, if it doesn't come back on until you restart, it could be that the bulb is just on its last legs, and a bump is knocking a connection loose enough that the bulb can't restrike the arc on its own while it's hot. How old are the bulbs? Leal posted:I'm getting ready to get my car smogged and looking online a lot of websites bring up that constant short trips can cause you to fail because of build up on the cataclysmic converter since it isn't getting hot enough. Is that an actual thing? Since the beginning of the year I drive maybe 40 miles a month, barely a mile a day on the days I work and everything else is so close I'd drive maybe 4 miles at most if I wanted to go somewhere on the edge of town. This is for a 97 Civic How long has it been since your battery was disconnected? The majority of states that do emissions inspections usually just scan the ECU for codes + check to see if the battery has been disconnected recently. If it's been a long while since your battery ran down or got disconnected, you're probably fine. If it hasn't been a long while, take it up on the highway with a bit over half tank of gas, and drive long enough that it gets a bit below half a tank (that should complete the EVAP tests). It still wouldn't hurt to just get it on the highway for awhile and stomp on it occasionally. Cars really do need to be driven to stay in shape, much like your own body.
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Oct 14, 2015 09:28
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some texas redneck posted:How long has it been since your battery was disconnected? Since I've had it mid 2013 I haven't personally disconnected the battery (and if it happened during a check up, that would be around september 2014.) quote:It still wouldn't hurt to just get it on the highway for awhile and stomp on it occasionally. Cars really do need to be driven to stay in shape, much like your own body. I guess I should occasionally drive circles around town every now and then.
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Oct 14, 2015 10:00
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Raluek posted:If that's a saginaw box, there is an adjustment on the top or side of the box somewhere. Maybe the gears wore in and you should tighten up the adjustment somewhat. Just be careful to not over-tighten it; if you do it can bind and that's obviously no good when talking about steering. Best way to test it out is with the front end off the ground, though, so you can easily crank it from lock to lock to feel out the engagement. This is the box that is in there, there is an adjustment at the top but I was told not to adjust the box because it'd void the warranty. http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/d...02840&ppt=C0203 I'll see if I can get it off the ground to check the rest though. Edit: Did a quick lookover and it looks like the slop is indeed mostly in the steering box, so does adjustment void the warranty or should I take it out and see about swapping it for yet another? Autoexec.bat fucked around with this message at 15:14 on Oct 14, 2015 |
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Oct 14, 2015 13:51
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The rebuilds at most parts chains are very hit and miss. I seem to have gotten a nice tight one in my C10, but I've heard a lot of horror stories. I'd pull it and swap it.
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Oct 14, 2015 17:17
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blk posted:One of the HIDs in my Saabaru frequently goes out when I go over a speed bump (signal and parking light on that side work fine). It generally fixes itself when I turn the car off and back on. Would this suggest it's not a loose connection, but maybe something with the HID or ballast? It's tightly packaged in there so I haven't gotten a good look at it, although I was able to disconnect and reconnect the bulb, which didn't help. If (as STR suggested) that bulb is on its last leg it should be a wildly different color than the normally working bulb. HID bulbs slowly color shift throughout their life, but it accelerates dramatically just before the bulb dies. If both bulbs are relatively the same color I'd check the harness running into the headlight. In my experience with OEM HIDs there are usually two ground wires run to the housing - one for the ballast, and one for everything else. Your situation reminds me of a problem I had years ago where the HID ground contact in the harness had just enough corrosion to cause the HID to periodically turn itself off. After I cleaned it up (and put some dielectric gel over the harness contacts) it cleared up and never resumed. Can you turn the headlights off and back on to get it to turn back on, or does it require removing the key from the ignition?
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Oct 15, 2015 00:49
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Once again: dielectric grease is not a conductor, it's an insulator. It's to keep moisture out, not improve connections between contacts.
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Oct 15, 2015 04:38
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Godholio posted:Once again: dielectric grease is not a conductor, it's an insulator. It's to keep moisture out, not improve connections between contacts. When did I say otherwise? Geoj posted:...reminds me of a problem I had years ago where the HID ground contact in the harness had just enough corrosion to cause the HID to periodically turn itself off. After I cleaned it up (and put some dielectric gel over the harness contacts) it cleared up and never resumed. Read the bolded part. If you have a contact that's getting corroded in a harness connector, wouldn't you want to keep moisture away from it?
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Oct 15, 2015 04:50
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Gear down, turbo, that wasn't directly addressing you. Most people don't know that and fill their loving spark plug boots with the poo poo before trying to connect them.
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Oct 15, 2015 05:47
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IOwnCalculus posted:They're too reliable. Maybe if you got one that had been horribly abused by some wannabe drifter... Older straight six BMWs make the best project car. The engine and transmission are reliable enough that it'll always be a runner, but there's enough strange German engineering that there will always be something broken to fix.
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Oct 15, 2015 06:39
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I am dumb and I have a dumb question about tires. First time buying new ones, I tried to do some research before coming to you guys. Car: 2011 Ford Fiesta SES 4-Door Hatchback. Issue: Tires have about 2mm tread left and Winter is Coming. Even though I live in Vancouver I'd rather get new tires now and not have to panic if it snows (once). I wanted ones that can handle slush and colder weather but aren't winter tires (just not worth it in our climate, I don't go drifting through snow on a regular basis). I narrowed it down to two but could use some help picking one over the other. Right now I have the Hancook Optima H426 195/50R-16 84H. These are the tires that came with my car when I bought it four years ago and they were a year old then, so they got me 80,000km. I can get these exact tires if I want them again. I quite liked them? Never had any problems I can recall. The other tire is the Goodyear Eagle Sport All Season 205/50r16 87V. On paper looks fantastic. Slightly bigger than what I have now (which was explained to me by the retailer). I can get one tire for free until this weekend so it's actually cheaper than the Hancooks, but only in this size, and only for that time frame. My question is, is it worth it to go up on the Goodyear? What adverse effects would increasing the diameter do (if any)? Is this something I'm just going to have to test on my car before I give the final go ahead? Any ideas would help. (If you don't want to clog the thread up I have PMs.) Thanks AI goons. Chicken Doodle fucked around with this message at 07:00 on Oct 15, 2015 |
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Oct 15, 2015 06:51
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Can't comment on the tires themselves, but your speedometer will read slightly (very slightly) lower with the Goodyears. They're a bit wider though, so I'd be more concerned with them rubbing at full lock (steering wheel turned as far as it can go) more than anything else. And generally, if you plan to drive on slushy roads or in snow, you want a narrower tire, not wider, so the Goodyears, in that size, may not be such a good option.
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Oct 15, 2015 07:00
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Leal posted:I'm getting ready to get my car smogged and looking online a lot of websites bring up that constant short trips can cause you to fail because of build up on the cataclysmic converter since it isn't getting hot enough. Is that an actual thing? Since the beginning of the year I drive maybe 40 miles a month, barely a mile a day on the days I work and everything else is so close I'd drive maybe 4 miles at most if I wanted to go somewhere on the edge of town. This is for a 97 Civic Give it the ol italian tune up. Drive it hard for an hour, a few slightly(SLIGHTLY) sustained redlines plus the upped temps should be good. Rigged Death Trap fucked around with this message at 13:49 on Oct 15, 2015 |
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Oct 15, 2015 13:46
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Yeah, that's the only way we could get our suburban to pass emissions, running it up and down the highway until the cat was red hot, then immediately running it through emissions, barely passed every year, and since it's now exempt from emissions in my state we don't care anymore. Also I learned a lot about working on cars from our 2000 Camry, it has 330k miles on it and the last owner deferred maintenance bad, but the engine/transmission seem solid and parts are pretty easy to change, and the codes helped greatly with early diagnostic (The entire emissions system was shot). I didn't want to touch our suburban until I had done some work on that since everything on that old truck is huge and heavy. Something generally reliable but in poor condition should get your confidence up enough to get into replacing bigger and more complicated parts.
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Oct 15, 2015 14:14
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Chicken Doodle posted:My question is, is it worth it to go up on the Goodyear? What adverse effects would increasing the diameter do (if any)? Is this something I'm just going to have to test on my car before I give the final go ahead? Any ideas would help. (If you don't want to clog the thread up I have PMs.) This is a pretty handy calculator for comparing tire sizes and the effect it'll have. The difference in those two sizes is negligible from a standpoint of the error in your speedometer and odometer. At 60 mph your vehicle will think you're going 61. The difference in width is 10mm. I doubt that'll be a significant factor in your snow handling, but technically thinner tires are better in snow, they cut through it easier. But you're looking at all-seasons, and wider tires are better in other situations, so I wouldn't sweat the size difference at all. As far as which tires, I'm a big fan of the review section on tirerack.
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Oct 15, 2015 15:26
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What would cause my right front brake to brake harder than the left side? My car will pull to the right slightly when braking, and when changing the pads earlier this summer the right side was more worn than the left. Do I just buy a new caliper and hope that fixes it? Ill checked for crimped brake lines too. If its the caliper do I have to replace them in pairs or am I ok to replace just the one side? Cage fucked around with this message at 16:06 on Oct 15, 2015 |
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Oct 15, 2015 15:56
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Cage posted:What would cause my right front brake to brake harder than the left side? My car will pull to the right slightly when braking, and when changing the pads earlier this summer the right side was more worn than the left. Do I just buy a new caliper and hope that fixes it? Ill checked for crimped brake lines too. Yes, you can replace just one, but make sure the other side isn't on the way out too. There is a much lower possibility that the flex hose is damaged internally and either blocked or acting as a one-way valve, or that the ABS is doing some kind of  routine.
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Oct 15, 2015 17:03
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Most places don't sell Single sides worth of pads.. if you got em change em (both sides) it'll add another 30 min to your time then you aren't dicking around replacing 1/2 pad sets for eternity.
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Oct 15, 2015 17:09
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InitialDave posted:Most likely a caliper stuck. Depending on the design, it can be the caliper stuck on the carrier, even though the pistons move freely. If things seem a little corroded, but not absolutely horrible, you have a good chance of being able to clean it up and fix the problem either for free, or for the cost of a seal kit.  I'm about to put it away for the winter so Ill just keep an eye out for a good deal. tater_salad posted:Most places don't sell Single sides worth of pads.. if you got em change em (both sides) it'll add another 30 min to your time then you aren't dicking around replacing 1/2 pad sets for eternity.
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Oct 15, 2015 17:16
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No, calipers are usually sold as singles, and often they're mirrored left/right so that the bleed screw is in the right orientation.
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Oct 15, 2015 17:25
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Thanks for the tire advice guys. I was leaning towards "get what I know" and I think I'm going to get the same brand in the right size. Call me boring but I don't think it's worth getting the better deal if it's not the perfect fit.  I appreciate the links too!
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Oct 15, 2015 18:09
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so my lovely little 87 2wd nissan hardbody isnt charging the battery. I have been having starting and charging problems with this loving thing since i got it, the po was retarded and i am still finding little surprises. I just replaced the alt thinking that was the issue and that didnt do poo poo. checked the fusable links off the battery and checked all the fuses and am getting around 12 volts from the fully charged battery and am getting the same reading on the alt. i am pulling my hair out with this poo poo heap. any suggestions are welcome.
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Oct 16, 2015 02:35
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Have you checked the grounding straps?
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Oct 16, 2015 15:49
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My car's spark plugs are swimming in oil. However, the valve cover gasket was clean, with no visible leaks. Does this mean the head gasket must be leaking oil? Opel Omega 1995, 2.0L, 100 kW, DOHC 4I.
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Oct 16, 2015 15:54
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EssOEss posted:My car's spark plugs are swimming in oil. However, the valve cover gasket was clean, with no visible leaks. Does this mean the head gasket must be leaking oil? Which part of the plugs is oiled?
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Oct 16, 2015 16:00
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rdb posted:Have you checked the grounding straps? checked all grounds and grounding straps. I started poking around under the dash after looking online and seeing that the alt "turn on" wire runs through the battery light somehow and pulled out this cluster gently caress of 90's no name alarm system wiring.  after pulling out all that poo poo the wiring seems very stock and intact and i still cant find any issues. The battery light is suppose to light up when the ignition is on and go out when the truck is running but the light only intermittently comes on when the ignition is on and flickers while the truck is running because the alt isnt charging. I am going to have 1 of the alts tested at a shop today to rule that out but i find it hard to believe both are bad although stranger things have happened.
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Oct 16, 2015 19:29
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