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punk rebel ecks posted:Should this really be happening to my car though? There was a time in living memory when you’d be on your second or third engine by 90k miles, and that was considered completely normal and acceptable. One of the most valuable lessons about cars that you can learn isn’t technical; It’s that cars are machines, and machines break. All the time. The fact that you got to 90k miles before the first major non-routine maintenance item isn’t a failure, it’s a loving triumph. 
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Jun 20, 2018 15:11
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1970 Volvo 164 needs new tires. It's an old car so the tires are quite narrow. I just drive it around town, so I don't put a ton of miles on it; doesn't really make sense to drop $500 on a new set of fancy tires. Should I try to find cheap new tires, or am I better off looking for a set of used tires at the many used tire shops around Albuquerque? edit: currently has 165R15 tires on it Pham Nuwen fucked around with this message at 17:56 on Jun 20, 2018 |
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Jun 20, 2018 17:48
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Pham Nuwen posted:1970 Volvo 164 needs new tires. It's an old car so the tires are quite narrow. I just drive it around town, so I don't put a ton of miles on it; doesn't really make sense to drop $500 on a new set of fancy tires. Should I try to find cheap new tires, or am I better off looking for a set of used tires at the many used tire shops around Albuquerque? Never cheap out on tires. They're the only part of your car that actually contacts the road. You obviously don't need high-performance tires, but you can get some decent tires for not much if you do a bit of shopping. Several places have 165R15 tires for about $80 each.
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Jun 20, 2018 17:58
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Tires are the only thing that can actually stop you too, even for just around town driving. By new decent tires. You might be surprised at how much nicer the car will ride with new rubber too.
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Jun 20, 2018 18:06
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Deteriorata posted:Never cheap out on tires. They're the only part of your car that actually contacts the road. You obviously don't need high-performance tires, but you can get some decent tires for not much if you do a bit of shopping. They also have Discount Tire in Albuquerque. I'm not sure why you'd go anywhere else.
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Jun 20, 2018 18:09
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Van plan for today: Relocate the regulator to the body somewhere, not directly on the engine/alt (it was pointed out elsewhere that its current location subjects it to a shitload of vibration and heat that may not be the current problem but is no bueno anyway) Rewire the entire circuit with new wire and no relay HOPEFULLY at that point I have juice to the regulator, at which point I can determine if the reg itself is toast as a result of whatever else Once all that's figured out, then I deal with the relay situation The diagram says this is all 16ga wire, but the 16ga I can buy at ace is way thinner - the actual WIRE is the same but the stuff in the van has much fatter insulation. Do I need like specific automotive wire for this?
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Jun 20, 2018 19:32
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Shifty Pony posted:They also have Discount Tire in Albuquerque. I'm not sure why you'd go anywhere else. I checked in at Discount Tire and a good local shop. Discount suggested 195/65R15 tires, with the following out the door prices for a set of 4 tires:
The local shop suggested Nexen SB802 165/80R15 tires at $409 out the door. I'm considering the local shop because I've actually heard of Nexen, unlike Sentury and Ohtsu, and $400 seems acceptable for a cheap old car.
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Jun 20, 2018 19:52
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A hundred bucks a corner is a pretty good guess for generic passenger car tires.
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Jun 20, 2018 19:55
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2006 Dodge Durango SLT 4.7L v8 My truck just started stalling occasionally at coasting, or low low speed when my foot is off the accelerator. I put in a new fuel pump about 6 months ago, and a new alternator in about 5 months ago. The truck has been driving fine since these, and this is a new problem out of nowhere. I tried just running it at idle to see whats going on. It starts and turns over fine, and it seems to start at 900rpm, then slowly lowers and sits at 600rpm. No hesitations, just gradual. I left it running for 3 minutes in idle without the truck dying. The dome lights *may have been flickering slightly, or I could be just seeing things. But this is the third time this has happened in the last week. I will be coasting with my foot off the accelerator, say for instance coming up to a red light from farther away. Once the truck gets to its lowest speed just coasting with my foot off the pedal, the truck will die. The electronics stay on when this happens; but the power steering goes out. I don't *think* its a battery/alternator issue, but I don't know what I'm looking at here. Or even what to look for. What could be causing my truck to stall out like this at low speeds with my foot off the pedal? The truck seems to sit at idle without stalling, and the electronics stay on, so I don't know wtf is going on here. Please help!? Dennis McClaren fucked around with this message at 21:23 on Jun 20, 2018 |
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Jun 20, 2018 21:04
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What can I do to prevent my Prius from having anymore hiccups as much as possible?
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Jun 20, 2018 21:14
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Not much. I will say the likelihood of your $2500 brake accumulator going out before you hit 150k miles is pretty high.
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Jun 20, 2018 21:20
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Goober Peas posted:Not much. I will say the likelihood of your $2500 brake accumulator going out before you hit 150k miles is pretty high. Why do you say that? Does anyone else agree with that statement? punk rebel ecks fucked around with this message at 22:00 on Jun 20, 2018 |
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Jun 20, 2018 21:33
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I haven’t really been paying attention to all of this van alternator chat, nor have I read the diagrams, but I have a question. Doesn’t an alternator need an exciter voltage before it generates current? Like in the olden days, if the blub in the dash for the alternator burned out it wouldn’t see that voltage and wouldn’t be able to generate current. So if everything in the van checks out, maybe check to see if it’s getting the voltage it needs to be excited.
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Jun 21, 2018 00:04
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rdb posted:I haven’t really been paying attention to all of this van alternator chat, nor have I read the diagrams, but I have a question. Doesn’t an alternator need an exciter voltage before it generates current? Like in the olden days, if the blub in the dash for the alternator burned out it wouldn’t see that voltage and wouldn’t be able to generate current. So if everything in the van checks out, maybe check to see if it’s getting the voltage it needs to be excited. Yea the last diagram showed how it should be hooked up with the regulator to the field coil.
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Jun 21, 2018 00:08
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2006 Jeep Wrangler 4.0L, auto trans, 50k miles. So a few days ago I noticed what I think may be transmission slipping, but I'm not entirely sure. Basically going from 1st to 2nd gear I'm getting a super brief lag (where I lose acceleration for just a second) then it shifts into 2. The thing is, it really only does that the first time it shifts from 1 to 2, and then it's fine after that (after every stop-acceleration after the first shift it's smooth and fine). I'd looked around a bit and saw that some other jeepers had that problem, and it had gone away with a full flush and filter change. So I took mine into the dealership and specifically asked them for a tranny flush and tranny filter change. They did, and..... when leaving it did it again. Now because it only happens the first time I shift into gear, I'm hoping it's not a severe tranny problem, but I honestly don't know. I have a p1607 code on a CEL, which has been there (off and on) for a little while now. I was kind of under the impression that it was just a bad temp sensor, and was going to replace that soon. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
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Jun 21, 2018 00:16
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punk rebel ecks posted:Why do you say that? The brake accumulator is the most common failure on the Prius - so much so that they recalled all of the 2010 models to replace them and extended the warranty on the 2004 - 2009 models. It's less likely on the 2011s going forward but still happens. https://youtu.be/xn-PK_nrC5M Above is what it sounds like when it needs replacing. Most folks (again in broad strokes) have them go out somewhere between 100k and 150k.
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Jun 21, 2018 00:22
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punk rebel ecks posted:What can I do to prevent my Prius from having anymore hiccups as much as possible? Keep your fluids changed and do the suggested maintenance at the suggested intervals. It's a machine, stuff's going to break eventually. The Prius tends to have fewer breakdowns than other cars, but when it does it tends to cost a lot to fix it.
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Jun 21, 2018 00:25
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Deteriorata posted:Keep your fluids changed and do the suggested maintenance at the suggested intervals. It's a machine, stuff's going to break eventually. Thanks. Goober Peas posted:The brake accumulator is the most common failure on the Prius - so much so that they recalled all of the 2010 models to replace them and extended the warranty on the 2004 - 2009 models. It's less likely on the 2011s going forward but still happens. I see thanks. Good thing I don't put too many miles on it anymore.
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Jun 21, 2018 00:52
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Well I redid the entire regulator circuit and.... Nothing. I don't get it. There's literally no other component to this. The cables from battery to alt in both directions, and the wires that let the regulator control the alt's output. All are good. Some dude on Facebook said "O'Reilly's probably lied because they didn't want to warranty the alternator" and I'm starting to believe him. E: circuit diagram as currently wired (minus the regulator, the plug will arrive tomorrow, but it was tested via connecting the wires that would go to the reg which SHOULD kick the alt into full, but did not)  Every single wire and connector pictured in color is brand new, with the sole exception of the ring connector on the wire to the + post, because I don't have any and it's nice shiny metal, which I still cleaned and crimped onto new wire. Here's the tentacle monster in all its glory:  There's no physical way to hook it up that doesn't have the field rings near the terminal posts, so I have it double layered with heat-shrink and bent away a bit for now.  You can't really tell from the angle, but the field wires are BEHIND it, not attached to it. I feel like the heatshrink might still wear through if it starts rubbing but I can keep an eye on it. The regulator has been relocated to the firewall inside the hood out of frame. Javid fucked around with this message at 01:47 on Jun 21, 2018 |
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Jun 21, 2018 01:18
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Yeah there is no way that wouldn't work unless you've got a bum regulator or a bum alternator. You can test the later by hooking up the voltage meter across the battery where you can see it and taking the blue wire that goes to the regulator and putting it to ground for a few seconds - if the alternator is working you'll hear the engine load up a bit and the voltage on the battery should jump to 13 or 14V.
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Jun 21, 2018 04:59
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I've been searching google for 3 days straight now... I'm looking for something to jack up my truck: - Must be able to rise at least 4 feet (something more like 3 feet can work if lifting by the tires instead of the frame) - Must leave the middle of the underside completely obscured - Can't be a 2 or 4 post car lift, because this is in a paved back yard. Should be something I can bring in temporarily on the occasions I need to lift the truck. I can't find anything at all that meets those three requirements. Is there anything that's sort of like, four of these Hi Lift Jacks that are braced in a way I can raise the truck from all four corners?: https://www.amazon.com/Hi-Lift-Jack...l/dp/B00042KG3A There's QuickJacks, but I don't think even those raise up 4 feet either.
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Jun 21, 2018 05:19
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Zero VGS posted:I've been searching google for 3 days straight now... I'm looking for something to jack up my truck: Let's go back a step: why do you need to lift your truck 4 feet in the air all at once?
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Jun 21, 2018 05:26
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Shifty Pony posted:Yeah there is no way that wouldn't work unless you've got a bum regulator or a bum alternator. Red to top regulator post, blue to ground? I did that just now; nothing happens.
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Jun 21, 2018 05:36
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Kill it with fire. That thing is loving cursed. Or at least, it sounds more and more like the alternator is roached. One thing though... this isn't contributing to your current (... or lack of) issue, but may cause a low(er) voltage issue later. That red wire from the regulator needs to go to the fuse box, or the battery (fused of course), so that the regulator can see what the voltage is at the battery - it really shouldn't be connected to the alternator's positive terminal. The voltage measured at the alternator's battery connection will always be a bit higher than the battery is actually seeing (when the alternator is actually charging). Once you finally excise the discharge demon, check voltage at the battery with the engine idling. If you see ~13.8 with accessories off (just the engine running), then disregard what I just said. But if you see lower than that, go ahead and run a wire to the fuse box. I'm not sure if it would need to be switched ignition power or straight battery, but I know not doing this is a common cause of "my headlights are dim" or "my voltage is showing only 12.8 while cruising" after someone has done some kind of charging system conversion.
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Jun 21, 2018 06:26
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So how likely is it that the alt somehow came up good at oreilly's but isn't? It seems like loving up that test would only be able to create a false negative, not make a working alternator out of one that isn't. E: for clarity, this was a literal remove from vehicle and hook up to machine bench test, not just attaching the idiot box to the battery in the parking lot. Javid fucked around with this message at 06:47 on Jun 21, 2018 |
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Jun 21, 2018 06:33
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EightBit posted:Let's go back a step: why do you need to lift your truck 4 feet in the air all at once? Apparently to move a battery pack in/out underneath, but I would never ever ever ever trust multiple high lifts on a vehicle. They're sketchy as gently caress in optimal conditions, just one at a time.
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Jun 21, 2018 06:52
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IOwnCalculus posted:Apparently to move a battery pack in/out underneath, but I would never ever ever ever trust multiple high lifts on a vehicle. They're sketchy as gently caress in optimal conditions, just one at a time. I went back and remeasured, the wheels have to be 19-20 inches off the ground, or the frame has to be 30-31 off the ground for this to work. So not quite 4 feet, but still out of range of most jack/stand solutions. Any ideas? This Kwik-Lift thing seems like exactly enough height, but $1500 seems a bit steep for what it is: https://www.kwik-lift.com/products/ Four of these would work but even more expensive at $4000 total: http://www.qualityautoequipment.com/product/3000-lb-mobile-side-lift/ This thing looks perfect but I can't find it sold in the US, maybe I can have them made to order or something?:  Edit: found a thread of people doing DIY ramps that is good for a laugh: https://www.theturboforums.com/threads/jack-stand-alternative.337678/ Zero VGS fucked around with this message at 09:00 on Jun 21, 2018 |
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Jun 21, 2018 08:36
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Why, exactly, do you need so much space under a vehicle, with the wheels still attached? $1500 seems loving cheap for that kind of height. You forget how much engineering goes into something that can handle that kind of weight at that kind of height. And the cost of building something that beefy. A "compact" truck these days still breaks 2 tons (my rental Frontier a couple of months ago was over 5000 pounds, though it was a crew cab 4x4 with a pretty nice offroad package). Let's go to the middle and guess you have a base model 2018 F-150 - V6, short bed, supercab, 4x2. That's still around 2.5 tons (5000 lbs). What's that? You have a diesel King Ranch 4x4? Oh, that's only a ballsack shy of 3.5 tons, before any accessories. Add a 5th wheel hitch and some other stuff, or hell, just fill up both tanks, and BLAM, you're at 4 tons. 4 tons is eight. thousand. pounds. Now if you're just trying to get an 80s or 90s Ranger or S-10 in the air, that's a different story. But we have no idea what you're trying to lift. And even the mention of bumper jacks has us thinking you're suicidal. Javid posted:So how likely is it that the alt somehow came up good at oreilly's but isn't? Decent. Especially in your case; there's been so many changes made in such a short amount of time that you really have no clue what's going on. You've done enough tests and rewiring, with zero charging so far, that it's very likely that the alternator itself is hosed, the voltage regulator is hosed, or both are hosed. And if the alternator tester at O'reillys didn't put a real load on the alternator, the tester may have just seen "14 volts" and said "yup, it's good", even if that falls flat on its face once you actually put a load on it. All of the rewiring you've done absolutely NEEDED to be done, no doubt about it. I'm personally amazed this thing hasn't committed a Dave's Jeep meets Nebraska yet. But there's just so many unknowns at play with the PO wiring, especially now that you've gone in and fixed so much. The only thing that's really questionable at this point is the alternator itself, if your diagrams are accurate. Maybe the voltage regulator too. randomidiot fucked around with this message at 09:28 on Jun 21, 2018 |
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Jun 21, 2018 09:16
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It was a decently fancy tester, it printed out a whole sheet of numbers that I didn't really read beyond "good", which I probably haven't thrown out and will look for here. I would assume their machine is thorough but gently caress, at this point.
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Jun 21, 2018 09:37
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So my own question, and one that may be a bit beyond what anyone here can give a good answer to. GM's oil life monitoring system is supposed to be pretty accurate, right? For background, I'm part courier, part glorified pizza guy, part "spends 8-10 hours a day in the car". So during slower parts of the day, I will absolutely find a tree to park under, turn on the ac, set an alarm, crank my phone up, and pass out for awhile (if it's winter, I'll actually turn the car off and keep a blanket with me, but it's hot as gently caress in TX for 9 months out of the year). I'm in the car so long every day that I have to either get naps now and then, or snort caffeine, coke, meth, etc. A nap is a lot healthier. This is an 06 Saturn Ion. I'm guessing the OLM is the same as used in the 03 Ion (as the electronics, outside of the PCM, don't seem to have changed at all during the entire run of the Ion). I'm more just wondering if the OLM on this car (let's just call it an 03, in case they didn't update the logic later), can account for extended idling. I run Mobil 1 Synthetic High Mileage, and generally run an AC Delco filter. It doesn't seem to suggest an oil change any sooner vs just driving, but I have no idea how much wear extended idling (with a warm engine) puts on things. On my old car (same year/make/model/engine), I did send samples to Blackstone, and they said the engine appeared healthy, but always noted elevated silica levels (.... turns out it had a blown head gasket when I got rid of it, maybe that's why?). I've yet to do an oil analysis on this one. I always went by the OLM recommended changes (which was anywhere from 8k-10k). tl;dr just wondering how accurate early 00s GM OLM is. I'm already up to 5k on this oil change. Since I drive so much, keeping oil changes minimized will help my wallet, but the last car had picked up a smoking habit when cold, and had an occasional sticky valve, when it got written off. tl;dr2: I bought the old car with 60k, totaled with about 205k. It had been smoking on a cold start for a little bit, and the sticky valve on a cold start was a once every couple of months thing. It wasn't too pretty under the valve cover. Don't plan to keep this one as long, but i'd rather make sure it doesn't take up smoking or sticky valves. randomidiot fucked around with this message at 09:50 on Jun 21, 2018 |
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Jun 21, 2018 09:48
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That sounds like the sort of question a Blackstone analysis can answer. E: ok you already know of that option, I got nothing then
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Jun 21, 2018 09:49
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The 3 Blackstone analysis's I had done on the old car all declared that the engine was in good shape, but always mentioned higher than normal silica (but also mentioned Mobil 1 had extra silica?). Apparently silica is also found in coolant though, and it was high enough in the last analysis that they couldn't rule out coolant contamination. That last one was around 100k; I did the last spark plug change at 180k, and really suspected a head gasket issue at that point (2 plugs had a lot of rust on them). Letting it sit a couple of weeks after the wreck confirmed it; it ran on 3 cylinders on a cold start for a couple of minutes, blew a ton of white smoke, and reeeeeeeeeeked of coolant. Pulling the plugs again found one dripping with coolant, another damp with what smelled like coolant. I did mean to send in a sample when I did my first oil change on this car, but the oil had been in it for almost a year, if the oil change sticker was to be believed, and I didn't even hit the 3k recommendation until 2 weeks after buying it. The PO only did about 4-5k of driving a year. For comparison, I've owned it 9 weeks, and I've put over 7k on it. e: a kind AI goon that works at a GM dealer was able to pull dealer service history on my current car for me, and discovered it had the head gasket replaced at 37k under an extended warranty. That was interesting to find out; these engines are generally bulletproof, outside of the timing chain tensioner. But I also found it wasn't titled to the first owner until it had nearly 3000 miles, and it's a really oddly optioned car (base model, but has a sunroof, keyless entry, power mirrors, power windows, power locks, etc - it's basically the top of the line car without foglights, alloys, extra sound deadening, auto dimming mirror, silver face cluster, and automatic headlights). I'm guessing it was a dealer demo. I was able to swap over some stuff from my old car (namely the auto dimming mirror w/compass + outside temp, and the much more comfy front seats). randomidiot fucked around with this message at 10:02 on Jun 21, 2018 |
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Jun 21, 2018 09:54
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Zero VGS posted:
Those look sketch as gently caress. I wouldn't work under a vehicle with just those.
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Jun 21, 2018 10:04
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If you're flogging it that hard for work getting it Blackstoned seems like a no brainer to me. I should do that - in my car I've started disregarding the sticker and having it changed every 5000 miles even for simplicity's sake - so 220000, 225000, 230000, etc. rather than every 3000.
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Jun 21, 2018 10:14
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Javid posted:It was a decently fancy tester, it printed out a whole sheet of numbers that I didn't really read beyond "good", which I probably haven't thrown out and will look for here. I would assume their machine is thorough but gently caress, at this point. The only thing I could think of other than the alternator being bad would be the fusible link connecting it to the battery having blown at some point. I think you already checked this but with the battery and alternator harness disconnected check the continuity/resistance between the terminal that connects to the alternator output and the positive battery clamp.
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Jun 21, 2018 14:52
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STR posted:Why, exactly, do you need so much space under a vehicle, with the wheels still attached? It is an electric truck with a 9 foot long, 3.5 foot wide, battery pack. Said battery pack is fitting perfectly on a motorcycle lift. I need to get the truck at least 20" up in the air so I can slide the motorcycle lift underneath and raise/lower the pack. If I were to use jack stands on the frame they would need 30" of height, or if I ramp the tires I just need a 20" ramp. If I could magically find some mass-produced jack stands that are long enough or something other solution I won't have to settle on the $1500 ramp. The curb weight of the truck is only 3500 pounds with battery pack, very light duty. Edit: Also worth noting, I never have to actually work under the truck. I dropped the pack out already by sliding the motorcycle lift underneath and unbolting the battery from the sides. So a slightly dicey solution is OK since I'm never going under ever. Zero VGS fucked around with this message at 17:37 on Jun 21, 2018 |
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Jun 21, 2018 17:33
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Zero VGS posted:It is an electric truck with a 9 foot long, 3.5 foot wide, battery pack. Said battery pack is fitting perfectly on a motorcycle lift. I need to get the truck at least 20" up in the air so I can slide the motorcycle lift underneath and raise/lower the pack. If I were to use jack stands on the frame they would need 30" of height, or if I ramp the tires I just need a 20" ramp. Have you looked around for rentable shop bays? They can be quite cheap, they include a proper lift and a set of tools. If you know exactly what needs to be done & can get the components to the shop, that would be a convenient way to accomplish it.
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Jun 21, 2018 17:38
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STR posted:So my own question, and one that may be a bit beyond what anyone here can give a good answer to. Isn't idling at warm basically the easiest thing you can do to it? From this article/post it looks like they generally take idling into account. https://blog.amsoil.com/oil-life-monitors-everything-you-need-to-know/
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Jun 21, 2018 17:59
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Zero VGS posted:It is an electric truck with a 9 foot long, 3.5 foot wide, battery pack. Said battery pack is fitting perfectly on a motorcycle lift. I need to get the truck at least 20" up in the air so I can slide the motorcycle lift underneath and raise/lower the pack. If I were to use jack stands on the frame they would need 30" of height, or if I ramp the tires I just need a 20" ramp. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0093NBQNA/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_ep_dp_9yblBb77SFK2D I don't really see any cheaper option (other than renting shop time somewhere, which is by far the best option). Lift the truck, put it on stands, block up the floor jack (safely, like 4x4's with 3/4" plywood holding them together into solid mats, at least 2x4 foot or more), lift it some more, block up the jack stands, rinse and repeat until it's high enough to get 4 of those bigass under-hoist stands under it. Alternative option is make a bunch of big 4x4/ply mats and lift the truck and stack them under the wheels, block up the floor jack, etc etc. e: the long reach/low profile 3 ton Harbor Freight floor jacks have a very high lift, like 24". I don't know if you're in the US (because an EV truck sounds very not-US), but they're a good, inexpensive option for a lot of lift. Hypnolobster fucked around with this message at 22:23 on Jun 21, 2018 |
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Jun 21, 2018 22:17
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 JESUS TITTYFUCKING CHRIST Today I tore out the alternator and took it to the alternator repair place from last week. Official diagnosis: "it didn't work until I whacked it with a wrench, probably a bad brush or something" I get the idea from the manual that I can replace a brush myself. Will research
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Jun 21, 2018 22:38
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