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Raluek posted:Okay, then how can it be that "iridium is cheaper and basically better"? Because it is. I can't talk about costs and such but suffice it to say that there is a huge disconnect between COST and PRICE. Also, you can't necessarily consider them a 1-to-1 comparison. For example, look at how big the center electrode of a platinum plug is compared to a similar iridium plug. Is it the same? But in the end, the PRICE that something is sold for is often very much disconnected from the COST of making that thing. Iridium plugs are cheaper than platinum plugs but that's for the manufacturer and the OEM, not necessarily the end user. totalnewbie fucked around with this message at 04:16 on Aug 22, 2016 |
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Aug 22, 2016 04:12
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Raluek posted:Okay, then how can it be that "iridium is cheaper and basically better"? I've never seen them cheaper. They also don't last as long.
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Aug 22, 2016 06:15
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totalnewbie posted:Because it is. I can't talk about costs and such but suffice it to say that there is a huge disconnect between COST and PRICE. Also, you can't necessarily consider them a 1-to-1 comparison. For example, look at how big the center electrode of a platinum plug is compared to a similar iridium plug. Is it the same? They're both 0.6mm projected tip. That's all NGK says about them, anyway.  I'm not sure what the moral of this story is.
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Aug 22, 2016 06:19
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This is an odd question, but a long while ago someone posted a car in either the awesome or awful threads with a green and tan leather interior. It was right on the border of great and tacky. All I can remember is that it screamed Jurassic Park, but it wasn't a ford explorer (I don't think). If I had to guess I'd say it was probably a subaru. Does anyone remember which car that was and why the interior was so green? e: on second thought I think this is the wrong thread. still a stupid question though. As Nero Danced fucked around with this message at 06:59 on Aug 22, 2016 |
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Aug 22, 2016 06:47
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I need help with my Keys. I have a 2003 Chevy Impala and well, I was mugged and beaten an had all of my ID stolen along with my phone and keys. The car is in my fathers name and he is two states away, Is there any chanch that a dealer or locksmith would make me a key without the tittle or ID? Assuming that they would do it, do I need to just give them the VIN or do I have to get it towed there?
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Aug 22, 2016 11:59
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Javid posted:Re: headliners. Where do you find the stuff to actually match your original headliner? Joann's has like, black, white, and tan. My car has tan, but a visibly much darker shade than they have. I used a VIN decoder to get the factory name of the fabric. Then when looking at fabric inventory, I'd search specifically for that name, and if that wasn't available, GIS the color and pull the tab onto the screen to eyeball the match. That's obviously the least exact you could possibly fathom, but it will be close enough (I think).
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Aug 22, 2016 12:10
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Raluek posted:They're both 0.6mm projected tip. That's all NGK says about them, anyway. Moral of the story is that price is sometimes a poor indication of cost. And also that there are many hidden drivers of cost. For example, you could make two different types of products, one with precious metal and one without. But let's say that doing so requires two different sets of equipment and you just happen to have tons of equipment to make the precious metal type but not a lot of the one without precious metal, and the cost to get the EQUIPMENT for the non-precious-metal type is much higher. So then your non-precious-metal type seems like it should be cheaper but it ends up being more expensive. But most importantly, in the aftermarket world, prices are basically set completely randomly.
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Aug 22, 2016 13:53
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Mr.Bob posted:I need help with my Keys. I have a 2003 Chevy Impala and well, I was mugged and beaten an had all of my ID stolen along with my phone and keys. The car is in my fathers name and he is two states away, Is there any chanch that a dealer or locksmith would make me a key without the tittle or ID? Assuming that they would do it, do I need to just give them the VIN or do I have to get it towed there? Locksmith may not care or dealer if you call in with vin number. That or dad call dealer, explain situation, and show your insurance card with vin is probably enough
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Aug 22, 2016 15:11
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Slavvy posted:Have they got any casting markings on them anywhere? Look carefully. To be fair I haven't looked that closely at the underside of them. Time to pull off the sump I guess! Cheers.
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Aug 22, 2016 15:37
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My stupid question: should I attempt to replace the brake pads and rotors for my 2010 RAV4 myself? I am not mechanically incompetent but I do not own my own garage with lift either. For reference the most complicated thing I have done myself is change my own oil, which I do not find difficult at all. Don't mind buying the right tools to do the job correctly. Thoughts? I actually have to change my oil soon anyway so I could do them all at the same time...
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Aug 22, 2016 16:54
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Kommienzuspadt posted:My stupid question: should I attempt to replace the brake pads and rotors for my 2010 RAV4 myself? I am not mechanically incompetent but I do not own my own garage with lift either. For reference the most complicated thing I have done myself is change my own oil, which I do not find difficult at all. Don't mind buying the right tools to do the job correctly. Thoughts? I actually have to change my oil soon anyway so I could do them all at the same time... (Disc brakes are easy - like, literally two - four bolts holding them on after the wheel is off. Drum brakes are a weird connection of springs and screws and oh by the way you didn't set the tension on that correctly so go ahead and pull that back off and NOW IT'S STUCK. They're not by any means impossible, but they require more finesse.) Do it if it's discs all around. Maybe do it if you feel like it if it's drums in the back.
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Aug 22, 2016 17:10
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Kommienzuspadt posted:My stupid question: should I attempt to replace the brake pads and rotors for my 2010 RAV4 myself? I am not mechanically incompetent but I do not own my own garage with lift either. For reference the most complicated thing I have done myself is change my own oil, which I do not find difficult at all. Don't mind buying the right tools to do the job correctly. Thoughts? I actually have to change my oil soon anyway so I could do them all at the same time... Brake jobs are very easy to do with just a jack and basic tools. Watch some of ericthecarguy's videos about replacing brakes and rotors.
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Aug 22, 2016 17:10
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Fair chance there's actually a youtube video showing how to do it on your model. It should be the same for several years on either side of 2010, so if you find a video of an 09 that's probably fine.
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Aug 22, 2016 17:15
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Alright, awesome. I'll order the pads and rotors online. Is there any reason I can't do the front brakes now and the rear brakes later? I am positive the front brakes are disk brakes, and I think this is the case for the rears too, but not sure. also do i have to worry at all about brake fluid? like will i get air in there by accident and have to bleed it or something Kommienzuspadt fucked around with this message at 19:34 on Aug 22, 2016 |
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Aug 22, 2016 19:23
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Kommienzuspadt posted:Alright, awesome. I'll order the pads and rotors online. Unless you do something very very wrong, you shouldn't have to do any bleeding. Something to be aware of, however, is that you'll need to push the pistons back into the calipers to get the new pads to fit. You can do this with a C clamp and one of the old pads. You may need to crack the master cylinder reservoir cap to allow room to push the piston back in, but maybe not.
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Aug 22, 2016 20:04
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If you live in a rusty area, make sure the front brakes don't require you to unbolt the caliper bracket before you can swap the rotor out, or something. If it does, you can still do it, it just involves slightly more risk (the two bolts holding the caliper bracket can be rusted so badly the head won't fit the socket, or they can break off, both have happened to me) and you may need to buy spare bolts and/or caliper brackets or slide pins ahead of time just in case yours are bad enough to not be reusable. I've not worked on a 2010 Rav4 so I can't tell you for sure.
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Aug 22, 2016 20:15
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kastein posted:If you live in a rusty area, make sure the front brakes don't require you to unbolt the caliper bracket before you can swap the rotor out, or something. If it does, you can still do it, it just involves slightly more risk (the two bolts holding the caliper bracket can be rusted so badly the head won't fit the socket, or they can break off, both have happened to me) and you may need to buy spare bolts and/or caliper brackets or slide pins ahead of time just in case yours are bad enough to not be reusable. I've not worked on a 2010 Rav4 so I can't tell you for sure. Seconding this. If you live in a rust prone area the job is still straightforward, but can become much more frustrating. Make sure you have some PB Blaster or kroil or equivalent.
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Aug 22, 2016 20:33
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Kommienzuspadt posted:Is there any reason I can't do the front brakes now and the rear brakes later? How many miles on the vehicle? Unless you're nearing/at 100,000 or do a lot of towing or other heavy-duty driving I'd be shocked if the rear brakes need servicing regardless of if they're drum or disc. The front brakes do the overwhelming majority of the work in slowing the car down and are typically the first to go. You'll still want to check the rears - basically (in the case of discs) as long as the rotor is more or less evenly shiny and smooth (some minor grooving is acceptable) and there's a decent amount of pad material left on the pads you're OK, for drums you'll need to pull the drum off to visually inspect the shoes but same principle applies - check the shoes for a reasonable amount of friction material between the shoe and the drum. Boaz MacPhereson posted:Unless you do something very very wrong, you shouldn't have to do any bleeding. Something to be aware of, however, is that you'll need to push the pistons back into the calipers to get the new pads to fit. You can do this with a C clamp and one of the old pads. You may need to crack the master cylinder reservoir cap to allow room to push the piston back in, but maybe not. While you can get away with forcing the fluid back up into the lines/master cylinder at the bare minimum you should crack the bleeders when driving the pistons back in so the old fluid in the calipers gets forced out rather than back up into the brake lines. As long as you're careful there isn't much risk of getting air in the lines as long as you don't push the pedal while the bleeder is open. Then top off the MC reservoir with fresh brake fluid, if necessary.
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Aug 22, 2016 20:58
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Geoj posted:How many miles on the vehicle? Unless you're nearing/at 100,000 I think I am running up on 53k just about, but I do a lot of driving in the mountains. kastein posted:If you live in a rusty area, make sure the front brakes don't require you to unbolt the caliper bracket before you can swap the rotor out, or something. If it does, you can still do it, it just involves slightly more risk (the two bolts holding the caliper bracket can be rusted so badly the head won't fit the socket, or they can break off, both have happened to me) and you may need to buy spare bolts and/or caliper brackets or slide pins ahead of time just in case yours are bad enough to not be reusable. I've not worked on a 2010 Rav4 so I can't tell you for sure. I lived in MN with this car for 2 years which was pretty rusty - had a big rust patch under my center exhaust that got fixed when I ended up needing to get that replaced anyway as part of an auto insurance claim. I live in CO now where it's pretty dry though we do use road salt in the winter. I'll keep that in mind. Kommienzuspadt fucked around with this message at 22:08 on Aug 22, 2016 |
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Aug 22, 2016 22:05
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Agreed, but if you do that, start out by making sure the MC is full. If you gravity bleed until you are gravity draining it instead by accident by starting with too little reserve or waiting too long to close the bleeder, you get to pull the master cylinder and bench bleed it and possibly even bring the vehicle to the dealer to have the ABS HCU bled. That usually isn't needed but once in a while it is.
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Aug 22, 2016 22:06
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Cross post from the Subaru thread. My 09 wrx seems to have an issue with pedal/throttle communication. The throttle does not react to small pedal inputs. On Jamal's advice, I used torque and found that the pedal position sensor is very responsive to any pressure, but the throttle is not responding till the pedal has moved a bit over 1/2". Any thoughts on how to fix this?
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Aug 23, 2016 02:08
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Is there a detailing thread? Or other such resources you guys recommend? Now that I have a car that's less than 20 years old, I'm ready to actually give a gently caress about maintenance and keeping it looking pretty.
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Aug 23, 2016 03:19
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Spray the throttle position sensor connector with contact cleaner and see if it improves.
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Aug 23, 2016 03:21
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If the computer's seeing a voltage response the sensor circuit's fine. I'd check the connector on the actuator, or maybe even look at the voltage on that PID if you can access it with Torque.
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Aug 23, 2016 03:23
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Funddevi posted:Is there a detailing thread? Or other such resources you guys recommend? Now that I have a car that's less than 20 years old, I'm ready to actually give a gently caress about maintenance and keeping it looking pretty. http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3474488
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Aug 23, 2016 03:26
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Slavvy posted:a blowtorch, penetrating fluid and a great deal of violence tend to work pretty well for that. 
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Aug 23, 2016 03:43
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Hi. I bought a low mileage diesel F250, model year 1989. 4WD, manual transmission. I've never owned a diesel before; this truck isn't going to be a daily driver, it's mostly to take me and my friends up into the Rockies(I live in the Boulder area). I'm used to doing most routine maintenance on cars myself(oil changes, spark plugs, other fluids, basic front yard poo poo). Just hoping y'all can point me to a good list of maintenance advice for a truck like this.
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Aug 23, 2016 06:32
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My small gas engine instructions say not to add stabilizer to gas unless it is brand new basically. Is that right or is it OK to add it to 3 month old gascan gas (and use that gas next season) for a mower and weedwacker?
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Aug 23, 2016 19:30
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Sten Freak posted:My small gas engine instructions say not to add stabilizer to gas unless it is brand new basically. Is that right or is it OK to add it to 3 month old gascan gas (and use that gas next season) for a mower and weedwacker? Pour it in your car/truck maybe a gallon at a time when the tank is >1/2 full and just buy new gas next year. Edit: that's what I'd do and have done in the same situation at least. Mercury Ballistic fucked around with this message at 19:54 on Aug 23, 2016 |
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Aug 23, 2016 19:51
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I pretty much exclusively use old gas in my mowers... and I've never had a problem. When I worked at the motorcycle shop, I'd bring home more bad gas than I could ever burn in a lawn mower. I wound up tossing about 13 gallons into a bonfire over the course of a handle of rum. What were we talking about? ...anyway I think the point is, I don't always give the best advice.
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Aug 23, 2016 20:09
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Has anyone had experience buying through COPART as a regular joe and using a broker?
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Aug 23, 2016 20:53
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Javid posted:Re: headliners. Where do you find the stuff to actually match your original headliner? Joann's has like, black, white, and tan. My car has tan, but a visibly much darker shade than they have. I wanted to cheaply replace the felt headliner in my old jeep, and wasn't having much luck at all the craft stores (color or fabric width). Lo and behold, WalMart had exactly the shade of dark tan I needed in 6ft width. The 3M adhesive spray was just halfway across the store too. Whole thing cost me about $30. It came out great for a 28year old beater Jeep, but your standards may be higher than mine. If I'm remembering they had a bunch of vinyl too.
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Aug 24, 2016 06:39
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Javid posted:Re: headliners. Where do you find the stuff to actually match your original headliner? Joann's has like, black, white, and tan. My car has tan, but a visibly much darker shade than they have. Yeah, the selection is pretty limited. If you want OEM colors you typically have to go to some skeevy online auto upholstery supply place that sells pieces, because that poo poo is sold by the bolt and you only need a few yards. I think this is the one I've bought from before: http://www.automotiveinteriors.com/headliner_material.htm Edit: The Wonder Weapon posted:I saw there there was "headliner fabric," but I haven't noticed a difference in sounds levels pre and post-headliner in the car. Then I managed to find some end-of-roll ultrasuede for a great price so I grabbed that with the intention of using a separate layer of foam if necessary. That would help with the sound, though I guess it doesn't address the potential glue-gushing issue. I'm sure it can be done that way successfully, but if I were you I'd be experimenting on scraps with different types of contact glue, application methods, etc. Some of the contact spray adhesives I've seen pretty much only stick to themselves after spraying, so theoretically if you let them flash off/dry long enough after spraying on each side (without spraying too much so it soaks through) you could get away with carefully rolling the whole thing together without glue gushing through. Motronic fucked around with this message at 16:17 on Aug 24, 2016 |
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Aug 24, 2016 16:12
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Krakkles posted:Pads and rotors are probably the next easiest job after oil filter. If it has rear drums, though ... ugh. OK, bringing this up again - what is the best place for me to order these parts from? Need 2 front brake rotors and 2 front brake pads. Here are the specific parts: 275mm rotor OD 25mm rotor thickness (Centric p/n 120.44147) 275mm rotor OD brake pad D-plate #1210 thanks!
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Aug 24, 2016 17:10
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Kommienzuspadt posted:OK, bringing this up again - what is the best place for me to order these parts from? Need 2 front brake rotors and 2 front brake pads. Here are the specific parts: Rockauto.com is generally fine. Always worth a double check on Amazon via part numbers if you have prime though.
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Aug 24, 2016 17:11
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Sten Freak posted:My small gas engine instructions say not to add stabilizer to gas unless it is brand new basically. Is that right or is it OK to add it to 3 month old gascan gas (and use that gas next season) for a mower and weedwacker? I would just put stabilizer in it and run it next season, then get frustrated and buy electric. But I also have found if its ethanol gas, stabilizer won't do anything. If you store your stuff outside, like me, the fuel will gel and you will have to rebuild the carb. I have been getting 94 ethanol free and stabilizing that, but still have had to clean the jet out in the spring. I think new carbs just have too small of holes, and they get plugged up no matter what they do. So if you can't afford electric, but the gas in your car, and buy fresh stuff in the spring.
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Aug 24, 2016 17:45
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What the hell is the deal with the Corvair? How the gently caress did an American, 1960's rear engine, air cooled, sporty compact fly under the radar? My grandfather used to talk endlessly about his cars, he had a pretty much every economy class GM car at some point and at least half a dozen Beetles, but I have never seen, let alone heard of the Corvair
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Aug 24, 2016 18:59
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The passenger turn signal/brake light is out (and all the others are fast-blinking) on my daughter's 2006 Chevy Malibu due to a blown brake light socket. I got a replacement socket (well, sort of... it's just a generic socket but the parts store said it should work with the bulb), but it has 3 wires whereas the original blown socket has 5 wire leads. The replacement has 3 white wires, labelled A,B,C and the original has 4 black wires, one green and I can barely make out A,B,C on the socket itself. Is there any creative splicing I can do to get the new socket working? The replacement socket cost 1/3 less than an entire assembly for all 3 sockets, and it would take 4 days for the parts store to get the entire assembly. I don't want her driving around that long without everything working.
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Aug 24, 2016 19:28
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The Corvair got a bad reputation (partly deserved, but not nearly as bad as it got). When the tires weren't inflated properly (Chevy factory recommendation was something nuts like 18F/30R; the front spec was well below the tire maker's tolerances for the weight on them), the first gen had a tendency to spin out very badly going around corners due to the rear engine and the swing axle suspension; when the rear lifted under braking and the suspension drooped, the wheels, which were fixed perpendicular to the 1-U-joint axles, would be riding on their corners instead of the full tread width, and the cars would lose traction, whereupon the rear-mounted engine's weight would tend to keep the car spinning. Then Ralph Nader wrote a book called Unsafe at Any Speed about Detroit's resistance to adopting safety features, and the Corvair was the star character in it. (VWs, Porsches, etc also used swing axles and had the same issues to a lesser extent, but GM was the biggest target to go after.) It was a bestseller, and the Corvair's reputation was destroyed forever. There were dealer-installed and aftermarket sway bar kits that helped, and the second gen that debuted 1965 (the same year the book came out) switched to a full, modern-style independent rear suspension that cured the issue entirely, but the damage was done. Sales dropped off a cliff, they dropped it from brochures in 67 and killed it altogether in 69. In isolation it was a cool car, but having one technological outlier among standard body-on-frame, solid-axle, etc cars that sold in the hundreds of thousands each made the Corvair way more expensive to produce. Reputation aside, it just couldn't compete on a cost basis with the Mustang, so it was replaced with the Camaro.
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Aug 24, 2016 19:29
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Enourmo posted:The Corvair got a bad reputation (partly deserved, but not nearly as bad as it got). So it's not an overheating piece of poo poo with awful handling? My dad brought up the Nader thing when I asked him, but he also said they were prone to huge mechanical failures. According to Wikipedia, almost 1.8 million of these things were produced, so did people just collectively decide to not acknowledge them anymore?
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Aug 24, 2016 20:11
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