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Raluek posted:it may not damage anything, but i would not trust that to be the case, unless you have an older generator system Older alternator systems didn't like it either. I had a battery cable come off of a 74 F250 back when ford was using external mechanical regulators and everything got really really bright and I was changing bulb for hours afterwards. This and everythign else mentioned and more is why the "alternator test" of removing a battery cable after the vehicle is started has been relegated to your grandpa and youtube hack idiots like scotty kilmer.
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Dec 28, 2022 16:28
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Last time I did that was on a '74 Fury. Even then, you risk blowing out the alternator. Try that thing on anything with an ECU and you could be in a world of hurt. This is timely: my neighbor's wife called last night because her 2019 Toyota would not start and lights were blinking all over like a pinball machine. Only the left headlight would light. It wouldn't crank. It's been cold here (down to 10F) and it was sitting. Explained that a low-voltage condition in the battery would have her BCM doing the funky chicken. Threw a jump on it & it was fine. May be putting a battery in it today. Three years on the factory battery seems short to me but IIRC she had some weird parasitic drain issue when it was still under lease that may have dinged it. PainterofCrap fucked around with this message at 16:39 on Dec 28, 2022 |
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Dec 28, 2022 16:34
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My 2005 Chevrolet Suburban has a 4WD issue. The 4WD is changed by pushing buttons on the dashboard. A couple of years ago my dash gave me a message saying "Service 4WD." I took it to a mechanic and they changed out the "transfer case" parts and labor totaled about $400. About a year later the message started back again. I could turn off the message by just hitting the enter key on the steering wheel and it would go away for a week or so and then come back. I just tried to ignore the problem. Then one morning I noticed the Suburban was driving strange and saw that the 4WD had shifted itself into 4 Wheel Low. I followed the instructions to change it back to 2 High but it did not work. Took it back to the mechanic and he replaced the transfer case again at no charge. That was about a year ago. Then yesterday I was driving back home from my holiday trip and stopped for gas. Upon start up it was once again in 4 Wheel Low. I was about 200 miles from home and thought I was hosed but this time I was able to shift it back into 2 High by putting it in neutral pressing the button then driving around the Sheetz parking lot until I heard the back axle disengage and the 2 High light came on. Do you think I have a bad part? The second time the mechanic replaced the part he said he had to go through 3 different ones until one worked and claimed some parts just come out of the box hosed up. Or is there a larger issue with the 4WD in general? Also a few weeks ago the air bag light came on and didn't turn off but i just hit enter to make the message go away and then it never happened again.
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Dec 28, 2022 17:54
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The mechanic did not replace your transfer case for $400. There is no telling what is wrong without a bidirectional scanner to see what's going on. If you don't trust your mechanic find a new one that you do trust. Because this is a hands on diagnosis that starts with a $1k+ scan tool. FYI, this is super common. There are a handfull of causes. The latest occurrence could be completely different from what happened the first and second time. When you're driving something that's old enough to vote things like this come with the territory.
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Dec 28, 2022 18:00
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$400 at best is a cheap transfer case shift motor. Those usually have some kind of rotary encoder or contacts on a cog under a cover on the motor itself that can get gummed up. Get a manual and start probing from there. Probe the switch if it is pre-networked. If it's networked sniff the network for messages from the switch.
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Dec 28, 2022 18:06
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It is highly likely I am wrong about what he replaced. I saw the box the part came in it was small but the word transfer was definitely said to me. Also it might have been more than $400 but was not more than $700. I really just want to get rid of this Suburban but don't know how much of a hit I will take on a trade in if that service message in on there and don't know if the dealership would know better if the message wasn't there. It can go for weeks at a time without giving me that message.
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Dec 28, 2022 18:08
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Just wanted to chime in and say yeah definitely don't run a car without a battery, you might get away with it for testing for a few seconds but it's strongly not recommended for all the reasons listed above. Alternators have no filter cap large enough to filter the amount of ripple that would result from a rectified 3 phase AC output feeding an entire automotive electrical system, they rely on the battery to do that job, and you'll hammer the poo poo out of your poor ECMs and bulbs the entire time it's disconnected. It being loose isn't good for it either but for a short distance is less likely to cause real damage.
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Dec 28, 2022 21:28
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Anyone have any experience with oil system flush products? I've been googling around but most of its seems to be "our product is so much better that *THEIR* product because of......." Should I just dump some straight up solvent like acetone or benzene in the crank case, run for 15 and change the oil and filter?
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Dec 28, 2022 23:03
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wesleywillis posted:Anyone have any experience with oil system flush products? It's a great way to find out which seals need to be replaced I guess. What are you hoping to solve with the oil system flush? I wouldn't do it 'just because'. Regular oil changes and targeted cleaning of certain components like hydraulic lifters or whatever is probably a better way to go.
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Dec 28, 2022 23:06
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VelociBacon posted:It's a great way to find out which seals need to be replaced I guess. What are you hoping to solve with the oil system flush? I wouldn't do it 'just because'. Regular oil changes and targeted cleaning of certain components like hydraulic lifters or whatever is probably a better way to go. This. The only times I flush oil is when I'm resurrecting old junk. And then I'll dump in a can of Marvel or just ATF. It's absolutely something that is likely to break off a big chunk of crap that is big enough to clog an oil gallery.
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Dec 28, 2022 23:09
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If you just want things cleaner, do a short turn around oil change and make sure to use a high quality filter. Go 500 miles or something on your next oil change. Drain it warm and give yourself an hour to let it really drip out the dregs. Clean your magnetic drain plug, and if your car doesn't have one, get one.
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Dec 28, 2022 23:10
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Motronic posted:This. ATF was the wisdom that my dad gave me. Swap a quart of oil for ATF during a change, drive the beans off it for 500 miles or so, and then change it again with some decent oil. Little more detergent without risking trashing seals like acetone might.
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Dec 28, 2022 23:20
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Motronic posted:This. I had this happen on my 383-powered '65 Fury. It liked to burn the back exhaust valves, eventually vulcanizing the valve seals and making them brittle. Brittle enough to shatter under use and send big chunks into the oil pump. Found out when the oil light came on all of a sudden at 75-MPH. A chunk bypassed the pickup screen, bound up the pump rotor & snapped the drive rod right at the distributor base. That was a fun weekend. I shut it off immediately so the engine was fine. The second time it was towed, the first being when I windowed the block with the #3 rod two years earlier.
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Dec 29, 2022 00:53
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I was looking at purchasing a used 2013 RAV 4 Limited with 128449 km (79 814 miles) on the odometer. Being sold at a local Toyota dealership. Put down a deposit but just noticed this item in its Carfax service history about a "Potential Odometer rollback": Abandon ship? Or potential error by the Service Writer? I haven't sealed the deal yet but have already put down a deposit. No idea if the gauge cluster was replaced at any point. I brought this to the sales rep's attention and he said that rollbacks nowadays are "impossible" but wanted to know how credible or real an issue odometer rollbacks are in this day and age. The vehicle otherwise has a very detailed service history of mostly tire rebalances, air filter replacements, and a few oil changes. Larger screenshot for reference:  I'm learning towards Service Writer fuckup but still am interested to hear in hearing your thoughts and experiences with this sort of thing. On another note gently caress everything about buying a used vehicle in 2022. End rant. melon cat fucked around with this message at 03:00 on Dec 29, 2022 |
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Dec 29, 2022 02:44
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I'm phone posting from the pub while sinking a bunch of piss and also having a text message conversation with someone so bear with my potentially lovely spelling. .I have a Toyota that burns oil. According to motrinic they burn oil because the piston oil drains get clogged with sludge. I've been doing some looking and saw a video on YouTube that while not the same Engine as my Corolla,, the guy in the video did what I thought was a good explanation of the problem and some *potential* solutions. I'm just trying to come up with some ideas of what might be done to either reduce the oil burning or stop it. Or destroy my engine, whatever. I'm up to date on all maintenance according to Toyota, but thinking about it I probably could have qualified for "severe duty" conditions because my daily commute is about 5 km 1 way. In the summer that's probably fine but in the winter when it's really cold maybe not so much. So I'm figuring that the back sides of the pistons are slydged up and causing me to burn oil. Now before you guys start berating me, I don't think that I'm going to figure out that one weird trick that Toyota wishes they knew. But I have a few things in mind that I want to try. I've posted about it in this thread before and someone pointed me to a video of a guy who has had moderate success with dumping solvents in the cylinders and letting it sit for a while. That's something I've been thinking about trying but I want to try something more uhhhhhh solventy than the products he's been using. Such as the aforementioned acetone. Something else I've been contemplating is draining the oil sticking a scope up there and investigating and seeing if I can spray the backs of the pistons that presumably have a bunch of sludge on them. With all that being said though, if I recall correctly from the last time I was under the car, a while ago, I think there might not be any obstructions. In the way for me to remove the oil pan. Which would make things considerably easier. Obviously yeah yeah new oil and filter after every
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Dec 29, 2022 03:01
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melon cat posted:I was looking at purchasing a used 2013 RAV 4 Limited with 128449 km (79 814 miles) on the odometer. Being sold at a local Toyota dealership. Put down a deposit but just noticed this item in its Carfax service history about a "Potential Odometer rollback": Can you go back further? If the entry previous to 2019 June 10 was less than 68,000K, and all the other previous entries make sense, then the service writer probably transposed the first two numbers typing 86 instead if 68.
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Dec 29, 2022 03:13
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SkunkDuster posted:Can you go back further? If the entry previous to 2019 June 10 was less than 68,000K, and all the other previous entries make sense, then the service writer probably transposed the first two numbers typing 86 instead if 68. Heck yeah go nuts. Furthest back I can go is 2016.
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Dec 29, 2022 03:19
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20,000 km km n a month is uhhhh quite a bit. Curious to know what the missing mileage is on that one date in October. 2019 E: 20,000km in two months
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Dec 29, 2022 03:24
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melon cat posted:Heck yeah go nuts. Furthest back I can go is 2016.
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Dec 29, 2022 03:57
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wolrah posted:I'm with SkunkDuster, someone typing 86,900 instead of 68,900 fits perfectly, and I just can't imagine going through all the trouble to roll back an odometer for a few thousand km on a RAV4. Yeah I can agree with that. It looks like the Service Writers were just rounding up the odometer numbers AND mis-typing (bad and wrong to do but more reflective of the mechanic than the owner). And seeing as how this owner did make a regular effort to have their vehicle serviced I feel confident that they weren't rolling back the odometer. Helps to have an outside perspective on this- thanks guys Edited to add: on second thought the vehicle does look pretty suspicious. Not going through with this one. melon cat fucked around with this message at 05:03 on Jan 4, 2023 |
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Dec 29, 2022 05:09
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melon cat posted:Yeah I can agree with that. It looks like the Service Writers were just rounding up the odometer numbers AND mis-typing (bad and wrong to do but more reflective of the mechanic than the owner). And seeing as how this owner did make a regular effort to have their vehicle serviced I feel confident that they weren't rolling back the odometer. Helps to have an outside perspective on this- thanks guys I would still make a bit of a stink about this at the dealer since that same thing will show up when you go to sell the car to someone else, thereby lowering the value. They might throw in some dealer type stuff like a free oil change or a branded whatever.
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Dec 29, 2022 05:54
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Motronic posted:Older alternator systems didn't like it either. I had a battery cable come off of a 74 F250 back when ford was using external mechanical regulators and everything got really really bright and I was changing bulb for hours afterwards. I don't care what the hell you're driving, removing the major load/filtering source in an electrical system without some kind of buffer is asking for  My stepdad yanked the negative cable on my 80 F-150 when I suspected a bad battery, and it took out every light that was on at the time, along with stereo stuff that was worth more than the truck (my 2 week old Sony CD player let lots of smoke out, also took out amps and every speaker). Also fried the alternator, ignition control module, even the clock. I was not happy at all, but at least he replaced the amps and head unit for me (... with pawn shop crap, but not the speakers, alternator, ignition module, lights...). Probably would have taken out the temp and fuel gauges if it hadn't died so fast, definitely took out the fuel selector valve.
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Dec 29, 2022 06:26
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Any of you car nerds tell what year this is?
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Dec 29, 2022 17:26
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I see a puddle under it. Is the GDCS leaking already?
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Dec 30, 2022 02:29
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Re battery chat: I am looking to install an auxiliary battery in my van so I'm not running accessories off my starting battery. Wanted to do a quick sanity check before I bought an isolator: It seems the most common battery isolators are those automatic ones, however I was initially thinking a manual switch would be better as it will keep the aux battery isolated in case I leave the headlights on (it's an older vehicle that doesn't have a warning chime, so this is certainly a possibility). My understanding is the automatic ones should cut out once the battery drops to a certain voltage, so if I left the lights on, it would drain both down to a point, then the isolator would cut out the auxiliary battery, while my primary battery drained itself all the way down. In that scenario, would I need to manually swap the wires around so that the primary battery is now secondary and vice versa? I'm guessing the isolator would then allow the dead primary battery (now secondary) to charge once I started the car. I'll obviously be trying to develop the habit of checking the lights aren't on every time I park the car, but just wanted to know what I should do if the worst happens. edit: can I get away with using locking pliers to crimp the wires? I'm moving overseas later this year and really want to avoid buying a tool for just this one job (I bought a cheap eBay crimper before and it broke the first time I used it). Ethics_Gradient fucked around with this message at 03:26 on Dec 30, 2022 |
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Dec 30, 2022 03:19
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Depends on the isolator. Typically they'll flow current bi-directionally. Some may only offer one way though. At the very simplest a contactor with a tap to the acc feed will do what you want. key turned to run/acc: two batteries linked. key off: batteries disconnected. A proper isolator just keeps the two linked until the preset conditions breaks the circuit of the two batteries.
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Dec 30, 2022 03:30
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Do traction boards work? Some idiot (not me, couldn't be me) was stranded in one of the most remote highways in the US yesterday for simply being stuck in the mud after sliding on a little bit of ice.
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Dec 30, 2022 05:44
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I don’t have personal experience with it, and I have not yet seen a commercial traction board that has managed to get mindshare / market share of Big Cardboard Piece and kitty litter, but perhaps there is an item out there people like. That would be scary and unpleasant for me though. I might run AWD and good tires to make that as unlikely as possible, but that may have made no difference whatsoever here. Glad you’re unscathed!
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Dec 30, 2022 05:53
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If you're just barely stuck, they're a little better than using your floor mats. In that you're not going to ruin your floor mats....
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Dec 30, 2022 05:57
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Ethics_Gradient posted:edit: can I get away with using locking pliers to crimp the wires? I'm moving overseas later this year and really want to avoid buying a tool for just this one job (I bought a cheap eBay crimper before and it broke the first time I used it). You shouldn't, but might be able to get away with it depending on what size wire you're crimping. That being said, if you're near central mass I can crimp anything from 22ga to at least 350mcm, probably 500mcm, if you bring it to me.
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Dec 30, 2022 06:06
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Ethics_Gradient posted:. so if I left the lights on, it would drain both down to a point, then the isolator would cut out the auxiliary battery, while my primary battery drained itself all the way down. If you are doing this much re-wiring then map the headlight relay through the ignition aux circuit like a literally any year Volvo. Key off lights off. If you can loving ding you can just turn the drat things off. Harumph.
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Dec 30, 2022 06:15
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Inner Light posted:I don’t have personal experience with it, and I have not yet seen a commercial traction board that has managed to get mindshare / market share of Big Cardboard Piece and kitty litter, but perhaps there is an item out there people like. Yeah if I just had AWD or rear wheel drive, it would not have been a problem since my back passenger wheel was on the road still. The DPS officer that took me back to town did say that it looked like there wasn't much I could have done, but maybe he was being nice. i checked the forcast before I left, and the mountains had no snow or ice on them when I started down the road but well. Maybe I'll just try kitty litter and cardboard since it would probably fit better in my trunk.
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Dec 30, 2022 06:37
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 For some content, here's a build pic from earlier this week: the back of the Hiace is a darkroom for wet plate collodion in the field. The somewhat cramped space and red light makes me feel like being on a submarine when I've got the blackout curtains up. The safelight is actually a strip of 5V LEDs that runs off a USB battery bank, the 12V deep cycle battery setup is mostly for running an exhaust fan (4A) and a pump for my rinse water, and maybe charging a laptop off an inverter if I'm doing overnight trips. It's probably overkill but I don't want to run this stuff off my main battery just in case, as I'm often outside of mobile reception. H110Hawk posted:If you are doing this much re-wiring then map the headlight relay through the ignition aux circuit like a literally any year Volvo. Key off lights off. That's a great idea though probably more involved than my idiot brain can handle (I'm not really doing much re-wiring, basically just adding stuff) - think it's likely I could break something that's currently working. OTOH your post sent me on a bit of a Google rabbit hole and this looks like a very doable mod: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwG5RXrAUu8&ab_channel=RVdaydream. I think I have some of those fuse jumper wire/tap thingos that should be a little less bodgey than old mate's method. kastein posted:You shouldn't, but might be able to get away with it depending on what size wire you're crimping. That being said, if you're near central mass I can crimp anything from 22ga to at least 350mcm, probably 500mcm, if you bring it to me. Southern Tasmania, I'm afraid! Rick posted:Do traction boards work? Some idiot (not me, couldn't be me) was stranded in one of the most remote highways in the US yesterday for simply being stuck in the mud after sliding on a little bit of ice. They seem semi-popular here in Australia (I regularly see then clipped on to roof racks of 4WDs here) but I can't vouch for their effectiveness. I'd think they worked better than floor mats or kitty litter (but both of those are easier/cheaper), but maybe not radically better.
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Dec 30, 2022 07:24
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Oh well that's a bit of a drive I suppose. 
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Dec 30, 2022 10:57
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Well he did say he has a submarine *considers remedial reading*
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Dec 30, 2022 15:30
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Update: we paid the $750 for just replacing the starter so we could have a semi working vehicle. She used the car to go two places in one trip after leaving the shop. Today the problem, car not starting or even trying to turn over, re-occurred when she tried to leave for a medical appointment.
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Dec 30, 2022 17:13
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Harold Fjord posted:Update: we paid the $750 for just replacing the starter so we could have a semi working vehicle. She used the car to go two places in one trip after leaving the shop. Today the problem, car not starting or even trying to turn over, re-occurred when she tried to leave for a medical appointment. Is it an auto? Try wiggling the gear select around to see if maybe there is a failing connection. Most autos won't try to start if you're in D or R for example.
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Dec 30, 2022 17:17
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Thanks for that tip. It didn't work but it agrees with my guess of loose wire
Harold Fjord fucked around with this message at 17:21 on Dec 30, 2022 |
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Dec 30, 2022 17:19
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Harold Fjord posted:My current guess is loose wire which then begs the question of why we were charged $800 to replace the starter They aren't magicians and sometimes they get it wrong. Hopefully they still have your old (functional) starter.
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Dec 30, 2022 17:21
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Of course. I'm just so extremely annoyed. If they do right by us I'll let them overcharge me for struts.
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Dec 30, 2022 17:31
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