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Can you plug it into a battery tender? Or unplug the negative. You can hook up a quick disconnect. https://smile.amazon.com/Ampper-Battery-Disconnect-Switch-Isolator/dp/B07JYYXJH7/ref=sr_1_3
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Oct 1, 2020 20:32
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Aquila posted:Anyone have recommendations for the longest lasting car battery for occasional use? I only drive every few weeks and I want my car to always start. I live in a nice climate and the car is garaged so temperature extremes are not a concern. I'd rather pay more and not worry about this for 7+ years, which is how long the OEM battery in my Toyota lasted. Just put a trickle charger on it. They're less than $50 on Amazon. I don't think brand is going to make any difference.
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Oct 1, 2020 20:36
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Or put a smallish solar panel in - I've left my cars sitting for months at a time with that and they start right up. Except when the cables are corroded for unrelated reasons...
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Oct 1, 2020 20:36
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Krakkles posted:Or put a smallish solar panel in - I've left my cars sitting for months at a time with that and they start right up. Uthor posted:Can you plug it into a battery tender? Or unplug the negative. You can hook up a quick disconnect. Deteriorata posted:Just put a trickle charger on it. They're less than $50 on Amazon. I don't think brand is going to make any difference. I have a tender, but the battery is also seven years old and needs to be replaced.
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Oct 1, 2020 23:20
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Aquila posted:I have a tender, but the battery is also seven years old and needs to be replaced. There's no "one weird trick" that will keep your battery from losing its charge over time that no one knows about. All cars have small drains when shut off and all will drain your battery over a few weeks or months. There's only about three actual manufacturers of batteries that put them out under dozens of brand names. Buy something cheap, put the trickle charger on it and stop worrying about it.
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Oct 1, 2020 23:30
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Deteriorata posted:There's only about three actual manufacturers of batteries that put them out under dozens of brand names. Buy something cheap, put the trickle charger on it and stop worrying about it. This right here. Also, the different "grades" of batteries that come with varying warranties are all the same batteries with different stickers on them. You are literally paying for the warranty difference.
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Oct 1, 2020 23:43
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Check out the project farm video on batteries for some empirical tests
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Oct 1, 2020 23:50
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The only thing I have to say is find a way to keep the battery or battery tender catching fire from setting everything else on fire. Multiple friends have lost cars and garages and houses to incidents like this. I have been avoiding running tenders when I'm not in the shop because of it, and I think I might install a battery disconnect and a voltage monitoring system on all my junk heaps so I can tell when I need to hook one back up and take it for a half hour drive instead.
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Oct 2, 2020 02:47
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Deteriorata posted:There's no "one weird trick" that will keep your battery from losing its charge over time that no one knows about. All cars have small drains when shut off and all will drain your battery over a few weeks or months. My ONE WEIRD TRICK is to find the heaviest battery in my form factor. Can't hide the quantity of lead in those cells...
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Oct 2, 2020 03:42
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Because I deal in older cars I just pop the wires off the terminals if the car is going to sit for a bit. I can reset the clock later 
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Oct 2, 2020 04:35
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I'm filling in a few chips from rocks on my front hood for my Pontiac Vibe. I have a touch up pen. Was going to do a precise, light sanding, then filling in with my touch up pen. And finally adding back on the wax. My question is for anyone that has done this, do I need to mix the touch up paint with a clear coat and mix it before I apply?
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Oct 2, 2020 14:19
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zaepg posted:I'm filling in a few chips from rocks on my front hood for my Pontiac Vibe. I'm not sure how you'd do that with a paint pen (i.e., how would you add the clear coat). I think I'd do layers of base coat, then clear coat it. This looks like a pretty good tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJ01Gb1pmyU
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Oct 2, 2020 17:40
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Why is Navel pastrami, obviously the more delicious and correct variety, so much cheaper than the other(?) Pastrami? At my grocery store it's literally less than half the price. Edit: lol very much the wrong thread. DildenAnders fucked around with this message at 20:00 on Oct 3, 2020 |
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Oct 3, 2020 19:25
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DildenAnders posted:Why is Navel pastrami, obviously the more delicious and correct variety, so much cheaper than the other(?) Pastrami? At my grocery store it's literally less than half the price. If you want to reduce your carbon footprint I suggest eating less meat. The amount of energy that goes into raising livestock is immense and contributes to our GHG emissions quite a bit. I'm not perfect, I still have a lot of dairy, and I'm a fatty, so not making any judgements here. 😅😂 Anybody who's a prick about it really annoys me. I also want my next car to be an EV but they're not quite in my price range. Same with getting a solar setup, it's still a $25-30k investment and doesn't pay off as quickly here in the PNW. Same thing with those people that talk about abolishing cars, they need to get their head out of their rear end, but it doesn't mean we can't try and do as much as we can to help the environment, and also try and get cars with safety features that will attempt to stop for pedestrians (these are far from perfect -- see Uber self-driving car and BMW test results from IIHS). Anyways this strays pretty far off your question but I hope it's helpful.
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Oct 3, 2020 19:47
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Motronic posted:This right here. Unless you are buying a sealed AGM battery, which will hold up better to deep discharges and self discharge. AGM batteries will have more lead and no liquid acid to evaporate, so they typically last longer. But in OPs situation, an AGM would be pointless- just hook up a tender when not being used for a while and you'll hit another 7 years easy.
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Oct 3, 2020 20:28
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GOD IS BED posted:Unless you are buying a sealed AGM battery, which will hold up better to deep discharges and self discharge. AGM batteries will have more lead and no liquid acid to evaporate, so they typically last longer. But in OPs situation, an AGM would be pointless- just hook up a tender when not being used for a while and you'll hit another 7 years easy. AGM is not a "grade", it's a completely different battery technology. There aren't any brands that have a top warranty tier of SLA/FLA batteries that magically tops out with an AGM.
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Oct 3, 2020 21:55
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Motronic posted:AGM is not a "grade", it's a completely different battery technology. There aren't any brands that have a top warranty tier of SLA/FLA batteries that magically tops out with an AGM. ah, I get what you're saying. I sell batteries, and have had customers refer to AGM batteries as "high grade" before.
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Oct 4, 2020 00:20
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7rTcBanpMk Watch this video for some tests. It's not truly scientific.youd need multiple batteries of the same brand. But might give you an idea. Otherwise go to Costco, it has a long prorated warranty.
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Oct 4, 2020 00:51
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To the Australian goons of AI, does Koya Racing have a decent reputation as far as wheel manufacturers go? I just bought a used set and they have zero presence in North America, so I have no idea how they got here let alone what I actually purchased. But they're light and very pretty.
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Oct 4, 2020 02:43
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wesleywillis posted:That was the 4.3 was it not? Yes, it was the 4.3 and finally was fully upgraded with the new Gen 5 small blocks that came out in.. 18MY? But before the refresh, that engine was still using a distributor. IOwnCalculus posted:You need to know the pinout of your sensor but assuming it's a four-wire, two of them will be dedicated to the heater. Heaters on modern vehicles run lower RMS voltage after lightoff and also utilize dew point waiting so it could be lower like 9-10V. This is normal. It should only be running at full power during lightoff phase which should be under 30 seconds (though that 30 seconds may not start immediately if it's cold and there's dew point waiting). But just checking the AFR sensor, there might be two wires with the same color. If so, they're the heater wires. Resistance should be between 2-4 ohms, depending on maker, though resistance at RT can still read OK even if the element is cracked. Modern switching sensors, depending on type (thimble vs. planar element) and maker will have resistances lower than 10 ohms. 2-4 for planar type, with a bigger range like 3-7 for thimble types depending on the heater used. 10 ohm is too slow anymore to meet lightoff/emissions requirements. Other things to look for on an O2 sensor. Some of these only apply to used sensors but sometimes to new sensors as well, though a damaged new sensor is unlikely unless it's a 10 dollar ebay special or was damaged in shipping. 1. Check that all pins are in the proper position. Look at both the terminal side and the sensor harness side (sometimes you can see a wire seal out of place if it's been pulled, but depends on connector design). 2. Pull back the sleeve on either end of the sensor harness and look for any holes in the wire insulation. You'll be able to see green or black corrosion if the insulation's punctured. 3. If the sensor has a filter, check that there are no holes in the filter. Magnifying glasses may help here if the puncture is small. 4. Look straight down the axis of the sensor / roll it around to see if the body is bent at all. You may or may not be able to feel an uneven bulge at the base of the metal pipe (just above the hex) if it's been bent. If it's bent, there's a good chance the element or heater inside is broken, as they're ceramic and do not bend at all. 5. Check for cracks or signs of corrosion near weld points (varies depending on design but usually near the hex). 6. My personal favorite - hold the gasket (important..) and give the sensor a good shake by your ear. If the element is badly broken (for example, by water / thermal shock) then you may be able to hear the little bits bouncing around inside. If you hear anything (while holding the gasket!) then your sensor's no good. You'll never find a good sensor if you don't hold onto that gasket though heh. totalnewbie fucked around with this message at 03:54 on Oct 4, 2020 |
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Oct 4, 2020 03:45
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There was an incident and now one of my car doors has a deep, v-shaped dent. It's a 10 yr-old economy sedan with 150,000+ miles, so the dent isn't exactly a deal breaker; however, the paint has been cracked along the line of impact for about an inch. Should I be worried about rust? I live in an arid environment, but the altitude means it can snow in the winter and the roads are salted when it does. My plan is to drive the car until the transmission or something equally vital goes, so I try to take good but cost-effective care of it.
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Oct 4, 2020 21:43
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So I've got a Hyundai Accent that has been having an odd issue - a couple of times when at low fuel and idling, the engine has cut off. So far only under those conditions, and it starts right back up with no check engine lights or anything. Took it in today to get it looked at and ended up getting some fuel injection cleaner run through it and the filter replaced - the fuel lines were dirty as hell and it made some gigantic white exhaust clouds when he cycled it through. But after poking around under the hood, he thinks that the root of the problem is one of two issues - either the throttle body or the electric fuel pump. He asked me to look at the RPM gauge when I start it up tomorrow morning and let him know if it goes up to 2 and slowly drops down or if it goes up and immediately drops back to 1. The car definitely runs smoother now and I'm not feeling the slight "drag" feeling it would get when I accelerated every once in a while, but I'm mostly worried about the issue getting worse and having the engine stall while I'm on the highway or something. But I'm also in a fairly tight spot financially right now and looking at replacement cost estimates is painful - the idea of throwing an entire month's rent into replacing a throttle body is stressing me out. I guess what I'm asking is, does the mechanic's assessment actually sound correct, and how much of an emergency is it to get this fixed up? I'm depending on the car to get to work so I can't afford for it to be out of commission but I also don't want to spend a shitload of money on it unless it's absolutely necessary.
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Oct 4, 2020 21:49
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Might be hard to keep track of everything, but if you can do it safely, see if the tach immediately goes to 0 when it dies or if it follows the engine speed properly (ignition issue). Also see it the Check engine light comes on after the engine stops. If not, the computer is losing power and that's why it's not storing a code. But stuff like a dirty throttle body and things can do it.
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Oct 4, 2020 21:57
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Brennanite posted:There was an incident and now one of my car doors has a deep, v-shaped dent. It's a 10 yr-old economy sedan with 150,000+ miles, so the dent isn't exactly a deal breaker; however, the paint has been cracked along the line of impact for about an inch. Should I be worried about rust? I live in an arid environment, but the altitude means it can snow in the winter and the roads are salted when it does. My plan is to drive the car until the transmission or something equally vital goes, so I try to take good but cost-effective care of it. I don’t think I’d worry too much. The most ideal solution would probably be replacing it with a junkyard door in a matching color. Who’s to say what matches though, eh? DIY rustproofing and painting is still going to cost a bit and isn’t going to look pretty, so I’d save the money for a better door or some future repair.
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Oct 5, 2020 02:49
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Brennanite posted:There was an incident and now one of my car doors has a deep, v-shaped dent. It's a 10 yr-old economy sedan with 150,000+ miles, so the dent isn't exactly a deal breaker; however, the paint has been cracked along the line of impact for about an inch. Should I be worried about rust? I live in an arid environment, but the altitude means it can snow in the winter and the roads are salted when it does. My plan is to drive the car until the transmission or something equally vital goes, so I try to take good but cost-effective care of it. How much do you care about how your 10 year old car looks? nitguga suggested a junkyard door. Doors are a massive pain in the rear end to replace though (the wiring usually unplugs somewhere inside, but hanging it and getting it lined up is very much a 2 person job with a lot of trial and error). You might be able to get a body shop to replace just the door skin (plus the required paint) for a not HORRIBLE amount of money. Or depending on circumstances, you may be able to run it through your insurance, even if you don't have collision (comprehensive covers vandalism and animal strikes in most states, for example). Cheap option: talk to a painless dent repair person about pulling the dent as much as possible, find someone to slap some somewhat matching paint on (or just have them pull the dent - it won't look remotely perfect or even good because of the crease, but it'll look better than a caved in door). Cheapest option: ignore it. It'll get surface rust in the winter, but it's not likely going to rust through for several years (if ever).
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Oct 5, 2020 15:36
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Would throwing some clear nail polish on the cracked paint be a good $5 rust preventing stopgap?
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Oct 5, 2020 15:51
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I am somehow having a lot of trouble finding the part I need, a wire harness/connector to my 2008 Mazda 3S low beam. This is what it should look like:  I've tried two places so far, AutoZone and RockAuto, both sent me the wrong part despite claiming it was a wire harness that would fit. So I'm turning here before I try a third time. This is the one AutoZone and Advance Auto want to sell me: https://www.autozone.com/electrical...wE&gclsrc=aw.ds Lousy Dorman part that doesn't fit, the socket is too narrow for the terminals coming off the headlight assembly. The Rockauto part had the same problem. The problem seems to be that the harnesses they've sent do, technically, fit the H7 bulb that the car uses...but this car uses a little socket thingy to hold the bulb in place, and for some reason, the terminals that come off of that socket are slightly wider than a standard H7 bulb. This is the socket that goes between the blub and wire harness:  So can does anyone know a place that actually has a wire harness to fit into that low beam socket I'm a 2008 3s?
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Oct 5, 2020 17:41
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I'm not mechanically inclined and don't even have a driveway so i'm not used to looking for parts like this. Someone sideswiped the driver's side mirror on my 2015 Fiat 500 while it was parkerd(abarth, tho that should be irrelevant). Fortunately the glass stayed intact as it was dangling from a wire and i was able to snap the glass and the red plastic mirror housing back into place by hand. However, the mirror cover unsurprisingly got cracked as it fell to the ground. I've searched "red Fiat 500 mirror housing/cover" with no success and sites just want to sell me the entire mirror. Where can I find just the part i need? The only site I found selling them is british (I'm in the US) and out of stock but this shows what I need if I'm being unclear. I would obv prefer to just buy the one need. https://www.fiat-accessories.com/fiat-500-red-colored-mirror-caps-kit Thauros fucked around with this message at 18:37 on Oct 5, 2020 |
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Oct 5, 2020 18:35
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Thauros posted:I'm not mechanically inclined and don't even have a driveway so i'm not used to looking for parts like this. Someone sideswiped the driver's side mirror on my 2015 Fiat 500 while it was parkerd(abarth, tho that should be irrelevant). Fortunately the glass stayed intact as it was dangling from a wire and i was able to snap the glass and the red plastic mirror housing back into place by hand. However, the mirror cover unsurprisingly got cracked as it fell to the ground. I've searched "red Fiat 500 mirror housing/cover" with no success and sites just want to sell me the entire mirror. Where can I find just the part i need? You probably can't. More and more stuff is sold these days as complete assemblies since it's generally not cost-effective for shops to tear them apart and repair individual components (i.e. it costs more to tear the mirror apart to replace the broken housing than to just replace the whole thing). Your best bet is a junkyard if all you want is the housing. Otherwise spring for the whole mess.
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Oct 5, 2020 18:39
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DrBouvenstein posted:I am somehow having a lot of trouble finding the part I need, a wire harness/connector to my 2008 Mazda 3S low beam. Find a junkyard that has one and cut the bits out you need? Make sure to leave plenty of pigtail for splicing.
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Oct 5, 2020 21:02
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Grizzled Patriarch posted:So I've got a Hyundai Accent that has been having an odd issue - a couple of times when at low fuel and idling, the engine has cut off. So far only under those conditions, and it starts right back up with no check engine lights or anything. Took it in today to get it looked at and ended up getting some fuel injection cleaner run through it and the filter replaced - the fuel lines were dirty as hell and it made some gigantic white exhaust clouds when he cycled it through.
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Oct 5, 2020 23:21
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Thauros posted:I'm not mechanically inclined and don't even have a driveway so i'm not used to looking for parts like this. Someone sideswiped the driver's side mirror on my 2015 Fiat 500 while it was parkerd(abarth, tho that should be irrelevant). Fortunately the glass stayed intact as it was dangling from a wire and i was able to snap the glass and the red plastic mirror housing back into place by hand. However, the mirror cover unsurprisingly got cracked as it fell to the ground. I've searched "red Fiat 500 mirror housing/cover" with no success and sites just want to sell me the entire mirror. Where can I find just the part i need? i *think* i found what i need. Does anyone know how to ensure i receive the correct color as it's listed but there doesn't seem to be a way to specify when ordering? https://www.moparpartsinc.com/p/Fiat_2015_500/CAP-Mirror-Left/42446143/68103791AA.html
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Oct 5, 2020 23:41
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Mr. Wiggles posted:What year is your accent? 2016
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Oct 6, 2020 00:03
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Thauros posted:i *think* i found what i need. Does anyone know how to ensure i receive the correct color as it's listed but there doesn't seem to be a way to specify when ordering? Replacement body parts don't come painted. This is why you got a junkyard suggestion: you can possibly find one off a car of the same color.
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Oct 6, 2020 00:07
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My Dad's new Mercedes has 20-inch wheels with runflats and no spare tire. On his last two long-distance trips (600 km / 370 miles), the following has happened: 1. Ran over a pothole, wheel bent, tire damaged to the point that not even the "runflat" part of the runflat tire was working. Had to be towed. It was a big inconvenience, the runflat tire had to be ordered in (took 2 days), and it basically ruined his entire trip. 2. Grazed a pothole, slow puncture, had to stop every 50 kms to up the tire pressure using a portable compressor. (Both times the tire pressure was set to the recommended value in the owner’s manual before the trip.) At this point he doesn't even want to drive the car long-distance anymore, which really sucks because this was the first “nice car” he's ever owned. Is it a coincidence, or are the large wheels and thin tires partially/majorly to blame for the wheel damage and puncture events (less tire cushion)? He’s driven that stretch of road easily 50+ times over the years and impressively never had a flat, but all of those cars have had <18–inch wheels. Assuming wheel size IS a factor in punctures (as asked above), I want to suggest to him that buying a set of smaller wheels might help. The problem is the front brake caliper is so large that I doubt we could reliably go lower than 19-inch on this car. Do you think only changing from a 20-inch to a 19-inch wheel will have enough of a protective effect to justify the cost? Thanks for any help and opinions.
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Oct 6, 2020 03:41
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What model of Benz does he have?
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Oct 6, 2020 03:42
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skipdogg posted:What model of Benz does he have? It's a 2017 Mercedes Benz E200, W213, with the so-called "AMG line" package (hence the 20-inch wheels and alrger front brakes). That's all for the Australia market BTW.
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Oct 6, 2020 03:49
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Thinner tires will have less less material to absorb sharp impacts before transferring them to the wheel. Brakes will definitely be a factor on how small of the wheel one can install. Maybe check TireRack (they list "minus" sizes as an option). Going to 19" will add 1/2" of material all around. I'm worried about the same thing in my car (run flats and no spare). I've been living with it and a towing service for now. I'll probably get non-run flats in the future. In the winter I carried one of my summer tires in the trunk, but it's ugly and takes up all the space.
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Oct 6, 2020 05:10
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STR posted:How much do you care about how your 10 year old car looks? I have realized I am far more attached to other people's perception that I take good care of my car than the car itself, which is probably worth a chat with a therapist, but practically it means I would better off putting the $500 it would cost to fix it through insurance into a savings account for a new car than making a strictly cosmetic repair. Thanks for the advice.
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Oct 6, 2020 06:11
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spankmeister posted:Find a junkyard that has one and cut the bits out you need? Make sure to leave plenty of pigtail for splicing. Yeah, I wanted to avoid a junkyard if possible just to guarantee I got a new unit not already half-way corroded...which is how mine broke, the wire going into the connector corroded out and fell off and I couldn't see a conceivable way to re-attach/re-solder it that didn't damage it in someway. And to top it off, the only kind of close junkyard to me is closed Sat-Mon, and I work out of town all week except...Monday.  I hate to have to take time off just to pull a part from a junk car, but looks like I'll have to. DrBouvenstein fucked around with this message at 14:23 on Oct 6, 2020 |
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Oct 6, 2020 14:21
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