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IOwnCalculus posted:one of us Ok I guess that makes sense, it only has 48k miles on it so its not seen too much and its really only a means of transport never actually taken it on anything besides pavement. But it is possible to replace the arms without messing with the ball joints correct?
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Jul 26, 2017 04:38
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JewKiller 3000 posted:This is probably a really stupid question, but that's what the thread title says, so here we go! This also assumes a perfect combustion of all ingredients, which won't happen. Some unburnt fuel will escape the combustion chamber, particularly as you let off the gas after accelerating.
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Jul 26, 2017 04:41
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How hard is it to replace your own brakes on your car? 2005 Matrix, XR, disc brakes up front, drums rear.
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Jul 26, 2017 04:41
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Virginia Slams posted:Ok I guess that makes sense, it only has 48k miles on it so its not seen too much and its really only a means of transport never actually taken it on anything besides pavement. But it is possible to replace the arms without messing with the ball joints correct? Yes, on a Wrangler the two have nothing to do with each other. Even if you did them both at the same time, the only time savings comes from lifting the vehicle and taking the wheel off. iospace posted:How hard is it to replace your own brakes on your car? 2005 Matrix, XR, disc brakes up front, drums rear. Discs, especially front discs, are easy. Drums are a pain in the dick, but they might also not be that worn since rear brakes don't do much work.
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Jul 26, 2017 04:59
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There's almost certainly a video on youtube showing how to do it.
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Jul 26, 2017 05:09
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Would I need to get an air wrench then? Or is my spare tire kit's wrench good enough? I'm probably going to replace my fronts only at this juncture.
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Jul 26, 2017 06:08
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Do you mean for the purpose of taking the wheel off? The vehicle's wrench will work, but a better solution if you don't plan on doing this a lot is a breaker bar. Cheap and effective. For everything past that you'll need a set of sockets and/or wrenches, and probably a giant c clamp. Also, the jack that comes with the car is barely good enough to change a tire. If you don't have one yet, get an actual floor jack and good stands.
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Jul 26, 2017 06:29
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Anecdotally, my boss' truck came with a lovely screw jack that is physically too short to actually lift the thing enough to get an inflated tire onto the wheel. gently caress factory jacks entirely.
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Jul 26, 2017 06:34
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IOwnCalculus posted:Do you mean for the purpose of taking the wheel off? The vehicle's wrench will work, but a better solution if you don't plan on doing this a lot is a breaker bar. Cheap and effective. Yeah, for taking the wheel off. I have the jack and stands already though.
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Jul 26, 2017 13:15
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bennyfactor posted:Just wanted to report back that it was indeed the alternator, and this video helped greatly — the internal regulator was shot so it was putting out like 11v at idle and 16 at 1500 rpm, etc. Replacing it was easy as hell, too, especially with a new set of bolts. I could get used to doing heavy maintenance on my own cars. It's a great feeling when you solve a problem. 
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Jul 26, 2017 13:24
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iospace posted:Would I need to get an air wrench then? Or is my spare tire kit's wrench good enough? I'm probably going to replace my fronts only at this juncture. You can use the one that came with the vehicle, but I hate using them. If I'm not using an impact, I definitely prefer something like this. Much faster, better leverage. Dirt cheap. Smaller ones are cheaper, but you get more leverage with a bigger one like this.
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Jul 26, 2017 14:39
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spog posted:Yeah: bang it across a few places and listen for the beep. I can confirm that OE units have a big copper earth strap going from the starter to the transmission case, and that it gets all crud and rust covered pretty easily. It took me several seconds to realise mine was actually metal and not a big piece of leather or something with how gross it was.
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Jul 26, 2017 21:37
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Godholio posted:You can use the one that came with the vehicle, but I hate using them. If I'm not using an impact, I definitely prefer something like this. Much faster, better leverage. Dirt cheap. Smaller ones are cheaper, but you get more leverage with a bigger one like this. That would be fine if you didn't already own sockets, but if he's gonna be doing brake jobs he should get a socket set, and if he's got sockets, a single long bar is way better than four short bars. E.g., this: https://www.amazon.com/Neiko-00206A-Premium-Breaker-Length/dp/B001222378/ As an upgrade, you can get a torque wrench with a long handle, which has the added benefit of allowing you to properly torque your lug nuts to spec, rather than just guesstimating how much oomph to put on them.
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Jul 26, 2017 23:13
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Gonna chime in and say if you live in a rust prone area definitely get a breaker or an impact. Breaker will be cheaper as it doesn't necessarily require impact rated sockets. If you're flush and you want to work on cars an electric impact and impact socket set is a great investment.
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Jul 27, 2017 00:26
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Two questions: 1) 2016 Subaru Forester-I want to get a remote start installed. Does it matter if I go through a subaru OEM or aftermarket? It's still under warranty with only 10k on it, so I'm not sure if that plays a part. 2) wife's car, 2008 Saturn Vue. The rotors are looking rusted and wasted on their perimeter and it seems they need replaced, as well as the brake pads. What's a reasonable estimate to pay for 4 new disc rotors and pads?
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Jul 27, 2017 01:07
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If you have an activated carbon cabin filter, which side should the air flow into? I know it doesn't really matter, but conventional wisdom is the paper side catches incoming large debris and air gets filtered by the carbon side on the way out. However, this only makes sense if you have a multi-stage filter with spacing between the stages, neither of which applies to cabin filters. Furthermore, since the filtering isn't airtight, odors would be able to attach to the paper and disperse without being captured by the carbon. On the other hand, if the carbon side comes first, odors are adsorbed directly into it. Josh Lyman fucked around with this message at 07:27 on Jul 27, 2017 |
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Jul 27, 2017 05:39
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I'm having two unrelated issues with my 2003 cavalier. It's a 5 speed with 153k miles, it's like a cockroach that just refuses to be squished even after being rear-ended three times. Problem 1: The driver side headlight is dim, but only intermittently, so I'm driving around winking at everyone. Applies to low and high beams and DRLs. Checked the fuses, they are ok. Tried to turn my high beams off last night and it threw a service light at me and then the high beam dash light and service light we're illuminated, even when I cycled the high beam switch, until I turn the car off. Haven't been able to get that to repeat and when I plugged the code reader in before cutting it off when the problem happened it said there were no codes. Seems like it's might be a grounding issue but maybe the switch is crapping out? Problem 2: I replaced my CV axels and front wheel hubs/bearings about a month ago and have recently started to notice a "clunk" when putting the car in first gear. If I'm in neutral and press the clutch in and quickly go to put it in first it will make the sound and I can feel the clunk. There's no resistance getting into gear and no issues with shifting into any other gear while moving. If I push the clutch in and wait about 4-5 seconds before putting it in gear the sound doesn't happen. Clutch fluid is at the normal level and the transmission fluid was at the fill hole after I finished up the axel swap. Any suggestions would be appreciated even if it's the GM car everyone loves to hate it's been pretty good to me.
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Jul 27, 2017 19:41
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Ok, 05 Prius again, the AC seems to have started behaving and has worked fine the last week or so but now my Prius is throwing a P0016, Crank-Cam position correlation. Should I just replace the VVT sensor or have someone check the timing first? The car has 240k on it.
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Jul 28, 2017 00:00
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Cop Porn Popper posted:This also assumes a perfect combustion of all ingredients, which won't happen. Some unburnt fuel will escape the combustion chamber, particularly as you let off the gas after accelerating. Also particulate matter, NOx, metals, oils, etc. Not very appetizing.
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Jul 28, 2017 00:08
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SpaceBanditos posted:I'm having two unrelated issues with my 2003 cavalier. It's a 5 speed with 153k miles, it's like a cockroach that just refuses to be squished even after being rear-ended three times. #1 is either a broken or loose ground at that headlight, or the bulb is failing internally. I've had them fail in a way where the filaments would touch each other, giving the exact same results you're getting. Swap the bulbs side to side, if the problem follows the bulb (or that bulb no longer lights up at all), it's the bulb. Problem still exists on the same side? Check the ground and the socket itself. I'm guessing it was the service vehicle soon light, and not the service engine soon light, correct? Your average scanner won't pull body (service vehicle soon) codes, only PCM (service engine soon). The SVS light comes on when the body control module is unhappy about something (like your high beam circuit being backfed by either a bad ground or a filament shorted inside the bulb). #2 is normal on a manual with synchronized gears. The guts are still spinning, the clunk is the synchros basically stopping everything so you can shift into gear without a grind. Give it a second or two before going into gear to let things spin down on their own if you can before putting it into 1st, that'll reduce wear on the 1st gear synchro. Also so long as you keep oil in it and don't ignore a rattling timing chain, the Ecotec 2.2 is very much a cockroach (earlier ones in particular are prone to timing chain tensioner issues and oil leaks though). The Getrag F23 gearbox you have is also pretty durable, and is (was?) the gearbox of choice to bolt up to a LS4 when dropping a V8 w/manual into a FWD GM (tl;dr it can handle tons more abuse than your 140 hp 2.2 can throw at it). randomidiot fucked around with this message at 07:01 on Jul 28, 2017 |
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Jul 28, 2017 06:52
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Thanks for the info, I'll dig into the headlight thing a bit more, it was behaving normally this morning, intermittent problems are everyone's favorite. It was the service light, not the CEL so I'm with you on why I didn't see any codes. As for the transmission clunk, if the guts are still spinning when I'm sitting still in neutral (a loving lot when you commute in Northern VA) that means my clutch has to be dragging doesn't it? I'm ok with operating it with some mechanical sympathy, after all it is the original clutch and it's fairly well used with 153k miles of NoVA traffic. Really want to get the car to 200k and then retire it, assuming someone else doesn't retire it for me between now and then. At the rate I'm going it will probably be another 4-5 years to get there so I've gotta walk the line between dump a bunch of money into it and give it the poo poo it needs to keep going and be reliable.
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Jul 28, 2017 11:24
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I'm trying to find some way of getting proof of sales tax for my dad's old truck. He bought it in 2001 and paid it off 2003, so those loan documents are long gone. NJ Department of Revenue referred us to a title search form and said that would have the sales tax info on there, but after two weeks of waiting, turns out it doesn't. Dealership probably isn't going to have a 16-year old copy of a sale. Am I boned here? I really would like to avoid shelling out a couple hundred dollars for a tax that's already been paid on this truck.
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Jul 28, 2017 16:09
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IronDoge posted:I'm trying to find some way of getting proof of sales tax for my dad's old truck. He bought it in 2001 and paid it off 2003, so those loan documents are long gone. NJ Department of Revenue referred us to a title search form and said that would have the sales tax info on there, but after two weeks of waiting, turns out it doesn't. Dealership probably isn't going to have a 16-year old copy of a sale. Am I boned here? I really would like to avoid shelling out a couple hundred dollars for a tax that's already been paid on this truck. There has to be more to this story. There's millions of old cars floating around, and nobody ever demands proof of sales tax payment - it's part of the sales contract. Why are you being singled out to show proof when no one else has to? If you're trying to claim it as your own, there has to be a transfer of title. Most states base the tax on the current market value unless you can produce a bill of sale for a lower price, and provide specific exemptions for gifts to family members.
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Jul 28, 2017 16:15
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Well either every single title transfer place I go to is trying to scam me of $500, or they're just following the rules: http://www.dot.state.pa.us/Public/DVSPubsForms/BMV/BMV%20Forms/mv-13st.pdf quote:NOTE: This exemption may be used for vehicles currently titled in Pennsylvania and for vehicles given I need some form of paperwork for Pennsylvania showing sales tax was paid at some point. Can't transfer the title until I pay the piper or show that's he's been paid already. IronDoge fucked around with this message at 16:27 on Jul 28, 2017 |
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Jul 28, 2017 16:23
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IronDoge posted:Well either every single title transfer place I go to is trying to scam me of $500, or they're just following the rules: Perhaps a way around it may be to have your dad "sell" it to you for a nominal fee rather than gifting it to you outright.
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Jul 28, 2017 16:53
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The state has caught on to the "nominal fee" bullshit unfortunately and the Dept of Revenue would send me a nice letter asking for the money plus a fine a few months down the road.
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Jul 28, 2017 16:55
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IronDoge posted:The state has caught on to the "nominal fee" bullshit unfortunately and the Dept of Revenue would send me a nice letter asking for the money plus a fine a few months down the road. Can you do it in two steps? Do the title transfer to you in NJ and then retitle it in PA?
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Jul 28, 2017 17:06
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That'd require me having an NJ address. I think the best course of action at this point is to forgo trying to get it as a gift and make up a sale price for it. The drat thing wasn't running when I got it, so it's definitely not going to have a $500 goddamn tax on it.
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Jul 28, 2017 19:39
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nwiniwn posted:Two questions: It doesn't matter if you go aftermarket, it won't affect your warranty* * A dealer would have to prove X fault was caused by the aftermarket system to dodge the warranty claim. Won't affect unrelated systems like the engine or brakes or whatever. Brakes are replaced when they are worn beyond spec. Both the pads and the rotors have wear measurements. Don't replace them unless they're worn or they have some other issue like pulsing or squishy pedal or something. They may look ugly but it doesn't really matter.
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Jul 29, 2017 00:15
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SpaceBanditos posted:Thanks for the info, I'll dig into the headlight thing a bit more, it was behaving normally this morning, intermittent problems are everyone's favorite. It was the service light, not the CEL so I'm with you on why I didn't see any codes. If you're sitting still in neutral without your foot on the clutch, the transmission internals are still spinning at the same speed as the engine - you just aren't in a gear - that clunk is everything slamming to a stop (and you'll probably feel the car jerk slightly). If you've been sitting on the clutch for, say, 5-10 seconds, and still get the same clunk (and I assume you feel a slight forward jerk at the same time), then yes, the clutch may be dragging a bit. But it sounded like the former, with the way you described it. If it is the latter.. gently caress it man, it's a 2003 Cavalier, and the clutch slave cylinder is a bitch to get to (have to drop the trans, may as well do the clutch while you're in there). FWIW, I have the same engine (Ecotec 2.2L L61) and transmission (Getrag F23) in my car (2006 Saturn Ion), with 180k. Also on the original clutch. I have the same clunk if I try to jam it into gear immediately after stepping on the clutch from a stop, and it's been that way since I bought the car 5 years ago (with 60k). Additionally, I've owned plenty of other manual cars (mostly Honda, with a Nissan thrown in), and they all did the exact same thing. The Hondas had an added bonus of not having a synchro on reverse (except for my 01 Accord), so if you didn't shift into 1st before going into reverse, you got one hell of a grind unless you stood on the clutch for at least 5 seconds. It's not GM's best engine, but it's far from their worst. The weakest point is the timing chain tensioner (listen for a 2-5 second metallic slapping sound on a cold start), followed by the PCV system clogging up. There's no (replaceable) PCV valve on it, but the breather gets clogged, which will cause it to spew oil out of every gasket (if you keep up on oil changes and do plenty of highway driving, it's not usually an issue). Keep oil in it, and if you hear the timing chain rattling on a cold start, take care of it (the tensioner screws into the firewall side of the engine, don't have to pull the timing cover), and it'll run for 300k+. I have a coworker with 350k on an Ecotec, engine's never been opened up, though it's on its 5th starter and 3rd transmission. My 180k mile example doesn't leak oil, and I've never changed a gasket on it. Full disclosure: I used to hate GM (my family owned several GM dealers when I was growing up, and I saw how much they broke, but that was the 80s), then turned into somewhat of a GM apologetic once I got the Ionry.
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Jul 29, 2017 12:34
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It also depends what state the gearbox and oil are in. I've had a gearbox where it would almost pretend it was a hydrostatic drive in neutral on a cold winter morning. Car gearboxes work in what's called "constant mesh" - each pair of gears is always engaged with each other, and what you're doing when you select a gear is engage them onto the imput/output shafts for drive. You can get enough drag to cause the input shaft to turn stuff a bit even though it's nominally "disengaged".
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Jul 29, 2017 13:04
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While we're talking about gearboxes/syncros: My Starlet doesn't like being shifted into first while rolling. What I read when Googling is that this is normal on most manuals and is supposed to help prevent money shifts (with people saying you generally don't shift down to 1st while moving anyways). Is this true? I didn't really get a proper education for driving manual cars so I've got a few blind spots. It actually comes up semi-often, as I live in a pretty hilly city and find it a real PITA when I'm coming up to an uphill intersection where I have to slow down for a potential stop, and trying to proceed forward in second would cause a stall. Obviously, if a car is coming I stop and do a hill start, but if I could downshift to first easily it'd be trivial to roll through it if it was clear. I've got to do it twice on my way out of work  As far as I know my clutch is fine, so I don't think it's that. Ethics_Gradient fucked around with this message at 14:48 on Jul 29, 2017 |
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Jul 29, 2017 14:42
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Depress clutch. Move shifter from 2nd to neutral Release clutch Blip throttle to slightly higher than where you'd think you'd bee in 1st at those speeds (or higher) Depress clutch, shift into 1st. Apply right foot as necessary. tl;dr just rev match before trying to go into 1st and it'll be a lot easier, remember that the clutch must be fully engaged (foot off entirely) for much of this sort of traffic.
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Jul 29, 2017 15:23
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Most transmissions leave 1st gear unsynchronized specifically to make it difficult to shift into while you're moving, as you mentioned. The solution is double-clutching, which Yu-Gi-Ho! describes. With a bit of practice it will become fast and instinctive.
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Jul 29, 2017 15:29
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Does anyone have a good trick to find slow coolant leaks?
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Jul 29, 2017 16:17
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spankmeister posted:Does anyone have a good trick to find slow coolant leaks? Try a black light. Coolants have fluorescent dyes in them specifically for that purpose. Follow the trail to the highest point.
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Jul 29, 2017 16:19
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My mom Mitsu Outlander Sport needs some brake work, and I'm thinking it would be a good idea to bleed the brakes too. I plan on using my MityVac, as it's worked pretty good so far. Do I need to worry about anything with the ABS system? What about the order I bleed them in? Also, any recommendations for a repair manual for the Outlander Sport? Chilton's, AllData, et cetera don't seem to have anything. Only eBay does, are they any good?
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Jul 29, 2017 19:46
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I'm looking at brz / ft86 / frs etc as a new or possibly used car. They don't seem to have any massive issues from a quick google search, have I missed anything?
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Jul 29, 2017 22:32
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nitsuga posted:My mom Mitsu Outlander Sport needs some brake work, and I'm thinking it would be a good idea to bleed the brakes too. I plan on using my MityVac, as it's worked pretty good so far. Do I need to worry about anything with the ABS system? What about the order I bleed them in? You shouldn't have to worry about anything with the ABS, but do NOT let that reservoir run dry. That will turn your day lovely in a hurry. As far as order, start with the wheel that's furthest away and work your way back to the master cylinder.
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Jul 29, 2017 23:14
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Deteriorata posted:Most transmissions leave 1st gear unsynchronized specifically to make it difficult to shift into while you're moving, as you mentioned. Yu-Gi-Ho! posted:Depress clutch. Thanks, will practice this!
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Jul 29, 2017 23:26
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