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David Corbett posted:Fair enough, then. The money stays in the wallet. It's about time to replace my pads and rotors anyway - I guess I could always consider more aggressive pads instead? Or, honestly, given the way I drive, just go with stock and move on. A "performance" upgrade you don't actually need or use is just rice. Stick with stock pads until you know you need something better.
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Sep 4, 2017 19:05
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Yeah or pull your old ones and clean and paint them. The fancy slots an drilled rotors probably make pad life worse. Jury is out on dimples and grooves and whether they do that too so its something to think about. If you go lighter it should improve braking to some extent, lighter wheels would do the same and thats probably a better investment. Anything you do to get the weight of your wheels down will make a much more noticeable difference. The power it takes to spin and stop your wheels is not insignificant so shedding weight goes a long way. E: i should probably mention lighter than stock wheels may be stupid expensive, stock wheels are pretty drat light usually. DogonCrook fucked around with this message at 19:14 on Sep 4, 2017 |
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Sep 4, 2017 19:09
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I threw in an edit about rotors on the last page after discussion had moved on, so I'll just repost it here. DogonCrook posted:Custom rotors are cheap if you want it to look good or have corrosion issues. Thats as far as id ever go on a car that isnt tracked or have oversized rims throwing off your unsprung weight. When i say cheap though its like 300-500 instead of 1500 and it still not gonna give you a noticeable benefit it would just be for looks. That and cleaning up and maybe painting the stock calipers can look real good. I had heard that cross-drilled rotors were counterproductive (reduction in thermal mass, creation of stress concentration) now that we don't tend to use asbestos in pads, and that slotted rotors were of fairly marginal benefit, at best - though I honestly do prefer the look of slotted to cross-drilled, at least. Centric doesn't make 125-series (higher-carbon G4000 vs. G3000) rotors for my application, so it's looking like I might as well just see if my rotors need to be and can be machined or, barring that, replace them with the stock parts, too. Are there any aftermarket rotor providers that've been generally recognized for making a superior product, or at the end of the day is a hunk of iron just a hunk of iron? Within reason, of course - I'd rather go with coated rotors than whatever the cheapest rotors I can find on the Internet is, because after all they're safety equipment. Unfortunately it's hard to find parts up here in Canada, because the GS350 was a pretty niche model to begin with and even more so up here. DogonCrook posted:Yeah or pull your old ones and clean and paint them. The fancy slots an drilled rotors probably make pad life worse. Jury is out on dimples and grooves and whether they do that too so its something to think about. If you go lighter it should improve braking to some extent, lighter wheels would do the same and thats probably a better investment. Anything you do to get the weight of your wheels down will make a much more noticeable difference. The power it takes to spin and stop your wheels is not insignificant so shedding weight goes a long way. I'm surprised to hear that last bit - I had been under the impression that stock wheels tended towards the heavyweight side. This makes more sense to me; I need a second set of wheels for my winter tires anyway, so I could just relegate the stock wheels to that job. The PO rashed them anyway. What's generally considered good mid-priced light wheels? I mean something silly like Volks TE37s are probably out of my price range, but the OZ Superturismos look good and some of the Enkei Racings might work out as well.
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Sep 4, 2017 19:18
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Alloy wheels are pretty light. I cant give much advice there but if its alloy and not overbuilt it may be hard to find something cheap thats lighter my rx8 was like that. For rotors yeah i think pretty much anything other than flat rotors has no real effect even when it comes to dissapating heat. There are good off the shelf options but there are a lot of shops that will build them custom cheaper. Id shop around but most of these shops if good will explain that all that poo poo is a gimmick outside of edge cases, they will still do it if you want the look but will tell you its unnecessary and possibly worse performing. As for coating i dont know much about that or what to look for. Basically id find out what all these peices weigh stock and make sure nothing you swap is heavier or you will be going backwards. E: rx8's had bad corrosion issues with the stock rotors so a lot of people used these guys. I never did so icant say whether they were any good or not. http://www.rotorpros.net DogonCrook fucked around with this message at 19:46 on Sep 4, 2017 |
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Sep 4, 2017 19:41
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Why does every new Toyota look like a Romulan warbird?
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Sep 4, 2017 19:43
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David Corbett posted:at the end of the day is a hunk of iron just a hunk of iron? Pretty much this - at the base level brakes operate by turning kinetic energy into thermal energy through friction. Without any other concerns like appearance the cheapest plain rotor will do its job better than whatever cross-drilled/dimpled/slotted or "advanced alloy" rotor you can find. Unfortunately finding a plated rotor without cross drilling, etc. can be a massive pain.
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Sep 4, 2017 20:44
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So my beater car was in an accident, I don't have collision, damage, if I were to fix it, would exceed how much the car is worth (if I didn't fix the body damage at all, it would still come to at least $1100 on a car I bought for $1500). Because I drove it away from the accident, and I didn't make a claim (they are paying for the other guy's damage though), what is the status of my title? Not trying to trick anyone, I just want to know what to say about it when I sell it for parts/salvage on craigslist.
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Sep 4, 2017 23:34
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Elysium posted:So my beater car was in an accident, I don't have collision, damage, if I were to fix it, would exceed how much the car is worth. Because I drove it away from the accident, and I didn't make a claim (they are paying for the other guy's damage though), what is the status of my title? Not trying to trick anyone, I just want to know what to say about it when I sell it for parts/salvage on craigslist. Your title is still clean. A car is only totaled if it is surrendered to the insurance company in exchange for payment, in lieu of repair.
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Sep 4, 2017 23:37
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David Corbett posted:I threw in an edit about rotors on the last page after discussion had moved on, so I'll just repost it here. I just got a set of rear rotors from Rock Auto. They are plated, or coated or whatever. Not cross drilled, slotted or whatever. You *should* be able to find coated rotors from somewhere local. Just looking at the napa canada website, they sell them shits there. Probably elsewhere too. https://www.napaonline.com/en/searc...pplication=true
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Sep 5, 2017 00:37
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My 2012 Outback is having an A/C problem. It started blowing roughly the same temperature as the outside air when the A/C is on. Refrigerant pressure read at the bottom of the normal range according to the gauge on the refrigerant refill I bought, so I bumped it up to the middle of normal but the air temp didn't change. The compressor seems to run but the two cooling fans ( I think that's what they're called -- they're right up against the radiator) only turn on intermittantly. I had my brother-in-law run his Outback with the hood open and the same two fans ran the whole time the car was on. Are these fans my problem / related to my problem? I've never really wrenched on a car besides dumb poo poo like changing fuses / bulbs but I'm willing to try if my problem could be something simple like a plug or fuse that could be changed out. Is it likely that this could be worth my time to learn how to investigate and fix? I really really would like to not pay labor costs for something that might be a simple solution but if it's going to be a massive headache or if I need too much in the way of specialized tools I probably won't bother.
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Sep 5, 2017 01:31
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Are you sure the compressor is engaging? The fans on a modern car are generally controlled by the engine computer, which also generally handles cycling the compressor on/off (and in almost every case, when the compressor is engaged, the fans are commanded "on" as well). You should probably get a set of actual gauges, instead of the kind I think you have (just hooks up to the low side, comes with a can of refrigerant). We also have an a/c thread.
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Sep 5, 2017 01:51
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how i shop for battery? I left my 2014 Mazda 3 in the airport parking lot for 36 hours and when I returned the battery was nearly dead, the remote locks were about the only thing that worked. Is it even worth trying to get it tested or should I just replace it, and where's the best place to go for a new battery? I've never had to replace one in a car I gave a poo poo about.
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Sep 5, 2017 04:11
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Of the major auto parts chains, NAPA had the best price/warranty for my car when I needed a new one a few months back. Prorated warranties are becoming a thing of the past...if you can find one, I'd get it. Otherwise, cost vs months of warranty. But there are only 3 or 4 plants making these things...each store just slaps their own sticker on it. Also, you don't need an AGM or other weird poo poo. Just get a normal lead-acid box. Edit: You can browse online and get smart on what the different stores offer. I would test it...I've never had a battery fail after only 3 years. Shortest one I've had was 5. But if you've got $120 burning a hole in your pocket, who cares.
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Sep 5, 2017 04:33
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FBS posted:how i shop for battery? Batteries are largely the same. You're really shopping based on warranty and customer service. And no, in your shoes I wouldn't waste any time testing it, it's old enough to be very dead. I like Costco because their customer service is top notch. The only place I've ever bought batteries from where it has been literally zero hassle on warranty returns. Bring in the old one, walk out with a new one. Godholio: the way I understand it, Costco still resets the warranty term on every exchange. I haven't owned one long enough to swap it twice yet.
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Sep 5, 2017 04:34
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I went over a bigass pothole on the highway and there was a small bulge left in my tire. I called AAA and the guy who came over said he could change it for me but with the damage I was better off just leaving it than driving on the doughnut. Well, alright, I made it home, so I guess that was fine. But he also told me he wouldn't bother replacing it at all because the bulge was so small, but it seems kind of questionable to just ignore sidewall damage to me. Does that make any sense? e: Also I only have 4K miles on my car and it's front-wheel drive; if I do need a new tire how many do I need? RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS fucked around with this message at 04:43 on Sep 5, 2017 |
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Sep 5, 2017 04:40
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RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS posted:I went over a bigass pothole on the highway and there was a small bulge left in my tire. I called AAA and the guy who came over said he could change it for me but with the damage I was better off just leaving it than driving on the doughnut. Well, alright, I made it home, so I guess that was fine. But he also told me he wouldn't bother replacing it at all because the bulge was so small, but it seems kind of questionable to just ignore sidewall damage to me. Does that make any sense? This is one that's purely up to you. There's no exact science for when to replace a tire with certain kinds of damage. For example, the PO on my car curb rashed the wheel and a bit of the tire, took off a couple mms of rubber. I'm leaving it on. Most car folks advise replacing a tire as soon as it bubbles. That being said, you're going to see a lot of Joe Average cars on the road with small sidewall bubbles. There is a chance it may burst, but it probably won't.
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Sep 5, 2017 04:43
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Michael Scott posted:This is one that's purely up to you. There's no exact science for when to replace a tire with certain kinds of damage. For example, the PO on my car curb rashed the wheel and a bit of the tire, took off a couple mms of rubber. I'm leaving it on. Yeah, I guess I'm having a hard time squaring "yeah you're probably fine; I'd just leave it" with tons of dire warnings about how you are taking your life into your hands driving even one mile with any sidewall damage.
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Sep 5, 2017 04:58
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Post a photo of the damage.
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Sep 5, 2017 05:09
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That car is new enough that the tires shouldn't have any real wear. I'd personally replace it if the sidewall is bulging, but I'd want to replace it with the same tire (brand/model/etc) to keep the handling the same.
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Sep 5, 2017 05:13
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Yu-Gi-Ho! posted:That car is new enough that the tires shouldn't have any real wear. I'd personally replace it if the sidewall is bulging, but I'd want to replace it with the same tire (brand/model/etc) to keep the handling the same. So does that mean I can probably just replace the one tire?
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Sep 5, 2017 05:20
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RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS posted:So does that mean I can probably just replace the one tire? If those tires have 4k on them yes, there won't be discernible wear. Go to https://www.tirerack.com and price out the identical model, Tire Rack is dope. What car is it btw? Michael Scott fucked around with this message at 05:27 on Sep 5, 2017 |
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Sep 5, 2017 05:24
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Well my '14 Chev Cruze just got back from the local mechanic for the second time without being fixed for the P0449 Code. He replaced the solenoid the first time and the charcoal canister the second time. He recommended taking it into the dealer because he doesn't know what else to do- not looking forward to paying dealer mechanic prices.
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Sep 5, 2017 18:22
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Michael Scott posted:If those tires have 4k on them yes, there won't be discernible wear. Go to https://www.tirerack.com and price out the identical model, Tire Rack is dope. What car is it btw? 17 Volkswagen GTI. Anyway I gave in and bought the stupid tire because I think the anxiety would have driven me nuts.
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Sep 5, 2017 20:08
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My girlfriend has a 2006 VW Jetta, she bought it for 3 grand (bought in Toronto, Canada) a few years ago and it's time sell it. All of the electronics on the drivers door don't work - I've read that this is a common problem on VWs and requires replacing the wire harness. Is this worth doing or should we sell it as is?
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Sep 5, 2017 21:29
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Professor Shark posted:Well my '14 Chev Cruze just got back from the local mechanic for the second time without being fixed for the P0449 Code. He replaced the solenoid the first time and the charcoal canister the second time. He recommended taking it into the dealer because he doesn't know what else to do- not looking forward to paying dealer mechanic prices. On GMs, that code is specific to an electrical issue for the vent solenoid. So he was on the right track with trying a new solenoid first, but should have been chasing wiring issues when that didn't fix it. On my own car (06 Saturn), that code was caused by corrosion in the plug to the solenoid, not the solenoid itself, though a similar code for a different evap solenoid (evap purge solenoid) was caused by the solenoid itself.
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Sep 5, 2017 21:43
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So here's a follow-up question. How do I learn to be a "better driver"? I don't mean that I'm a bad driver, per se; fifteen years of driving and no collisions or moving violations suggests that I'm not an idiot, and I'm pretty good at manoeuvres into and out of tight spots. Certainly I drive courteously, maintain my car in strict accordance with all maintenance schedules, replace faulty parts immediately, use winter tires in the winter and all-seasons the rest of the time, use all my lights and signals correctly (I won't even use my fog lights unless the weather is inclement, and took great pains to check my headlight alignment when the dealer refused to),, insure myself to the hilt, and don't impede the flow of traffic, handily beat EPA efficiency estimates, and generally sell my cars on in at least as good a shape as I got them in, etc. etc. What I do mean is that I would be utterly hopeless at any sort of high-performance driving, rallying, autocross, whatever. I sincerely doubt that I could do anything that involves driving particularly fast. My skills are entirely in the daily driver and commuting realm. I'm a bit on the other side of 30, though. Am I too old to learn this kind of stuff? I've always wanted to have it as a hobby.
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Sep 6, 2017 01:51
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Pympede posted:My girlfriend has a 2006 VW Jetta, she bought it for 3 grand (bought in Toronto, Canada) a few years ago and it's time sell it. Get a feel for what the market is in your area by going over the classifieds. Can you get a safety with the issue present? If you can then I would sell it as is, unless they're so over valued that you'd still make a profit after buying the required parts and installing them.
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Sep 6, 2017 02:30
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Welp, Ive got a self-inflicted problem. I removed all 4 calipers on my 2016 Fiesta ST to clean and paint them. In the process, I hosed up and let the MC drain too low. After reassembling everything, I attempted to bleed all 4 corners and had no pedal at all. Pedal just whacked to its stop. I ordered a Motive bleeder and used that, and was able to get a solid feeling pedal and no air bubbles at all from any corner. However, after a couple times of pressing the pedal down, it firms up to hard and all 4 calipers are totally locked. The car won't move. I re-bled it again with the power bleeder, same result. The only way to unlock the calipers is to bleed the calipers a bit to relieve pressure. My assumption is I got air into the MC that won't come out, or maybe the ABS module. Any ideas? I think the ABS requires a Ford scan tool to open for bleeding. PaintVagrant fucked around with this message at 04:13 on Sep 6, 2017 |
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Sep 6, 2017 04:08
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David Corbett posted:
JFC, 30 isn't too old to learn new things (except music, everything released after I turned 30 has been garbage). You should do a school in whatever discipline seems like the most fun. Go on a nice weekend trip to do it if you must. Schools are fun. Or if you have terrible judgment like me you should just buy a train wreck of a project and start from zero in the deep end.
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Sep 6, 2017 04:51
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Boys who love boys
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monsterzero posted:JFC, 30 isn't too old to learn new things (except music, everything released after I turned 30 has been garbage). You should do a school in whatever discipline seems like the most fun. Go on a nice weekend trip to do it if you must. Schools are fun. No kidding, I got my Dad to go to the BMW driving school with me, and he was stressing that he would be the oldest one there. Instead, I was close to the youngest, and he wasn't the oldest. We had a great time, and learned a lot about how our cars could drive. It was a great sales pitch too, I ended up with a turbo BMW within a year! :P And I want he and I to go back, or do other driving schools. I also feel that doing the motorcycle safety school previously did a lot for my situational awareness.
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Sep 6, 2017 05:02
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Alarbus posted:I also feel that doing the motorcycle safety school previously did a lot for my situational awareness. Good point. Corbett, if you want to up your DD game take a MSF class and commute on a 300cc for a couple of years.
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Sep 6, 2017 05:09
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monsterzero posted:JFC, 30 isn't too old to learn new things (except music, everything released after I turned 30 has been garbage). You should do a school in whatever discipline seems like the most fun. Go on a nice weekend trip to do it if you must. Schools are fun. Whoops, I guess I was unclear there. I was just worried that it was one of those things where you have to have been go-karting since the age of six in order to be any good at. Suppose not. That's good news. Cool, I'll see what I can do. I saw today that a conformation rally was being put on by a local sports car club; maybe some of them would know. (This was partially brought on my internal consideration that my most likely result in such a competition would be a DNF after I skidded off of a gravel road into a tree like a total moron or something like that.) monsterzero posted:Good point. Corbett, if you want to up your DD game take a MSF class and commute on a 300cc for a couple of years. I do find that nice cars can be a bit isolating. I had a Mazda3 once where I could practically shoulder check by ear, since I'd inevitably hear it whenever another car was near me.
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Sep 6, 2017 05:33
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David Corbett posted:So here's a follow-up question. How do I learn to be a "better driver"? http://lmgtfy.com/?q=evasive+driving+course also, get your rear end in just about every different kind of seat you can. Drive all sorts of different cars/trucks/tractors/whatever and get used to them. Maybe try doing some offroading? Sand dunes or rock crawls? GnarlyCharlie4u fucked around with this message at 16:03 on Sep 6, 2017 |
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Sep 6, 2017 15:59
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David Corbett posted:Whoops, I guess I was unclear there. I was just worried that it was one of those things where you have to have been go-karting since the age of six in order to be any good at. Suppose not. That's good news. Yeah, the ship on you making the jump to F1 had probably sailed but who gives a gently caress? One of the best changes in my life came when I realized I don't have to be good at activities to enjoy them. I don't care if I'm the slowest one in a group anymore as long as the beer is still cold when it's over and the BBQ isn't gone before I arrive. If you want to try racing, check out those clubs. Hopefully you can find one with good vibes and folks who appreciate the camaraderie and aren't just there for small-pond bragging rights. David Corbett posted:I do find that nice cars can be a bit isolating. I had a Mazda3 once where I could practically shoulder check by ear, since I'd inevitably hear it whenever another car was near me. Man, you don't even know. Riding a motorcycle (consistently, safely) is like getting bit by a radioactive defensive driver.
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Sep 6, 2017 17:29
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My fiancee has a 2005 Prius and it had the red triangle of death appear along with the VSC, check engine, and low tire pressure last night. I was unable to get the code, but I cleared it and drove it around for about 10 minutes with no issues last night. Oil was just changed and is fine, coolant temp is normal, and the engine doesn't sound different. From reading this could be the battery on it's last legs. Any way I can test or check for that? I'm going for another drive in it tomorrow to see if I can trip the alarm once the rain is gone.
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Sep 6, 2017 18:50
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Spazz posted:My fiancee has a 2005 Prius and it had the red triangle of death appear along with the VSC, check engine, and low tire pressure last night. I was unable to get the code, but I cleared it and drove it around for about 10 minutes with no issues last night. If the codes were cleared, its going to take a little while for the battery monitoring to log the performance of the batteries. There's ways to view individual cell voltage with a scan tool, but I'd just wait for the triangle to come back and start there. (you could also go inside the battery and test cells individually, but this requires much insanity) Keep in mind - the Gen2 prius is a very common car. Don't think you have to buy a new pack for thousands. You can get reman HV batteries with warranties from Dorman at a car parts store, and you can get salvage yard HV batteries- they'll have all kinds of different mileage. If your code scanner refuses to pull the code because it's in the Hybrid module and not the engine module, try getting a free scan somewhere else, autozone, firestone, sears, etc. Only the fancier scan tools can access those codes. I worked at Advance back when they still scanned codes. We used an Actron CP9185. A woman came in with a really high mileage gen2 prius and the red triangle on. It was the battery dead P0A80 code. She said she'd fix it NO MATTER WHAT. I asked why and she started going on about that it was HEATH LEDGER'S PRIUS and the more she went on about it the more I wanted to slowly back away.
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Sep 6, 2017 19:42
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PaintVagrant posted:Welp, Ive got a self-inflicted problem. I removed all 4 calipers on my 2016 Fiesta ST to clean and paint them. In the process, I hosed up and let the MC drain too low. After reassembling everything, I attempted to bleed all 4 corners and had no pedal at all. Pedal just whacked to its stop. I ordered a Motive bleeder and used that, and was able to get a solid feeling pedal and no air bubbles at all from any corner. Yeah it sounds like the mc is getting stuck and not returning or there was something in the line that clogged those ports. Heres a good link to get an idea and then figure out if you want to open it up or swap it. http://www.freeasestudyguides.com/brake-master-replenishing-port.html
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Sep 6, 2017 19:53
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My mechanic should be able to do the detailed scan -- they do it for free if you get them to fix it, or I'll toss them some cash if I want to do it on my own. I followed some instructions and got the dash into aux mode and was able to run some tests. I drove it for a bit to get the battery charged up on the performance dash and here's what I found: - 12.5V - Just aux mode (Power button, hold info and click headlights 3x) - 11.3V - Pressed power (without foot on brake) - 10.8V - With headlights + rear/front defrost on. From reading it looks like it's time to swap. The car is at 160k miles and she puts it to work driving into Philadelphia and back every day. 0toShifty, can you confirm I am interpreting this right? Edit: I also believe this would be the part to order. Spazz fucked around with this message at 20:16 on Sep 6, 2017 |
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Sep 6, 2017 19:55
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Spazz posted:My fiancee has a 2005 Prius and it had the red triangle of death appear along with the VSC, check engine, and low tire pressure last night. I was unable to get the code, but I cleared it and drove it around for about 10 minutes with no issues last night. My 05 did that exact same thing when I first got it, it turned out to be a weak 12v battery causing the ECU to freak out. So I'd get that checked before looking at the big battery too much. For reference mine has 245k on it. Edit: Looks like you're already on it. That is the exact battery I put in mine and it works great. Autoexec.bat fucked around with this message at 22:15 on Sep 6, 2017 |
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Sep 6, 2017 22:11
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What is the difference, or where can I find the specs to find the difference, between an EGR 1814 and EGR 4332? Background: 2008 Ford Explorer Sport Trac 4.0L V6 Had a P0401 code late last week, took it to my usual mechanic and they replaced the EGR valve - part number on my invoice is listed as EGR 1814. Drove it about 120 miles (highway driving, if it matters) and check engine light came back on, this time it was a P0405 code. Boyfriend took it back in today, so the remainder of this is second hand: shop cleared the code and said to drive it around and see if it comes back on. If it does, they'll have to put a different valve on it. Secondary question: am I getting screwed by my mechanic?
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Sep 6, 2017 22:29
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