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While I'm walking to AutoZone to get the proper spark plugs, a question. I replaced the driver side ones with the wrong plugs. When I tried to start it, there was no attempt to start, and something by the ignition in the car was rapidly clicking even when I took the key out and doesn't stop until I unplug the battery again. Is that related to the spark plugs or is something else hosed? Edit: The positive/red battery cable was a little loose. The stupid screw to tighten it broke off. Driver's side plugs replaced and starts so far. Admiral Joeslop fucked around with this message at 17:24 on May 24, 2023 |
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May 24, 2023 16:28
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So I tried replacing the carbon brushes in the regulator in my alternator for my E39. Still isn't charging like it should. I tested it with a multimeter and it was slowly draining (occasially for a split second going up 0.01V). I'm pretty sure I did it correctly and did a good job soldering it, so shouldn't be that. I'm going to try a cheap regulator I got just in case (didn't have time to swap it today). Thankfully I found out that you can swap the regulator on an E39 without removing more than the air filter box. If it's still messed up I'm just going to order an alternator. I mean can't be anything else really that would give a no charging fault? Edit: Maybe I should try to check what the alternator is actually outputting. VV: I'm 2 for 2 from Rockauto at least. MrOnBicycle fucked around with this message at 18:42 on May 24, 2023 |
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May 24, 2023 17:20
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opengl posted:I got no magnets with my past 3 orders, fuckin sucks Thanks Obama
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May 24, 2023 17:33
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opengl posted:I got no magnets with my past 3 orders, fuckin sucks I'm pretty sure I've gotten magnets on all my orders, but one had an Aztek on it which is worse than no magnet at all.
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May 24, 2023 18:10
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Took me four hours, not including the walk to AutoZone for the correct spark plugs to change them and the ignition coils. Seems to run fine, temps are fine, we'll see if it holds up. Really need to get myself a good ratchet set with actual extenders, instead of using the socket with a regular screwdriver and hoping I don't drop anything I couldn't reach.
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May 24, 2023 18:20
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Maybe I should ask in the chat thread or Volvo thread, but can I get some gut checks on if it's worth keeping my Grandma's 2015 Volvo S60 in the family, or if it's a hot turd that should be dumped on Carvana, Carmax, or a dealer? I'm confirming details, but what I know for sure is that it doesn't have a backup camera despite being a car that cost $40,000 in 2015, which means that none of my uncles want it. I'm fairly certain it's AWD, which is bad because in 2015 the FWD Volvos got a perfectly modern 4-cyl while the AWD ones got Volvo's ancient dogshit 5-cyl that goes like a 4 and drinks like a 6. It has stupid low miles and will probably have some problems due to under-use and dried out seals and poo poo, it was barely driven because she's 94 years old but the dealer came and picked it up from her house for scheduled service at some exploitative frequent interval. Thoughts on a grandma car? I'm assuming it's pretty worthless, which makes me want to just buy it from the family rather than a dealer getting it for a pittance. On the other hand, Volvo makes me think of BMW or Audi level ownership expenses without any of the interesting to drive benefits. Edit: Oh yeah, it's been parked outdoors its entire life in high elevation snow country too, and apparently has already suffered some type of significant failure related to its main screen that hasn't been fixed. But it runs and drives! Twerk from Home fucked around with this message at 18:54 on May 24, 2023 |
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May 24, 2023 18:51
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Do you have room to park it? How many other cars do you have. I personally would convert that into what looks like $12k at CarMax and put the money into your mortgage or something
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May 24, 2023 19:03
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Hadlock posted:Do you have room to park it? How many other cars do you have. I personally would convert that into what looks like $12k at CarMax and put the money into your mortgage or something We've got 1 car for a family of four and are considering adding a second. We have an open off-street parking space. I was the one shopping for minivans, getting put off by modern minivans costing $40k, and either putting off the minivan purchase or thinking of just picking up a Corolla Hybrid for $22k to have a 2nd car. After peeking at values, I think I'm going to let the family just sell it to Carmax. This option just came up and for a moment I thought that it could be a decent option to be a 2nd car. Carvana is selling very similar cars to this one for $22k, so if they can get $15k+ trade in I'll just let that happen.  Jesus. Those are both FWD even, not AWD. That absolutely does not seem worth it, having been in this car and driven it a few times.
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May 24, 2023 19:07
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MrOnBicycle posted:So I tried replacing the carbon brushes in the regulator in my alternator for my E39. Still isn't charging like it should. I tested it with a multimeter and it was slowly draining (occasially for a split second going up 0.01V). I'm pretty sure I did it correctly and did a good job soldering it, so shouldn't be that. I'm going to try a cheap regulator I got just in case (didn't have time to swap it today). Thankfully I found out that you can swap the regulator on an E39 without removing more than the air filter box. If it's still messed up I'm just going to order an alternator. I mean can't be anything else really that would give a no charging fault? Yeah you should test the output voltage from the alternator itself. I'm not sure if you can spin the pulley with a drill or something to do this or if you can just jump the car and test it with it idling. The only other thing that comes to mind besides the regulator or a terminally (heh) bad battery is a failed ground. Are you sure your grounds are all good? They'd have to be quite bad for the car not to charge, but if you're in a rust area etc it might be worth checking. I also don't know anything about BMW so I dunno how old an E39 is.
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May 24, 2023 19:31
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VelociBacon posted:Yeah you should test the output voltage from the alternator itself. I'm not sure if you can spin the pulley with a drill or something to do this or if you can just jump the car and test it with it idling. I will test the alternator itself. Also saw that I shouldn't test at the battery but at the charge points in then engine bay (the battery is in the boot). My E39 is from 2003. There shouldn't be any problems at the ground point(s) as the car was working fine and just one day decided to not charge any more. Upon opening the alternator I found that one carbon brush had snapped off. I really thought that was the problem, but could be that the repair didn't work or something else broke as well. After testing the output tomorrow I'll replace the regulator (if I get bad readings) and see if that works. The alternator itself had no obvious damage. I cleaned it up. The car starts off the battery without hesitation. The battery is brand new, but I did drive it for 50 minutes without it charging, so might try with one of my other batteries that are fully charged as well. IIRC the battery read 11.0 volts with lights, massage seats, head unit and fans on max. 11.5 with "no" load.
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May 24, 2023 19:46
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Boaz MacPhereson posted:I'm pretty sure I've gotten magnets on all my orders, but one had an Aztek on it which is worse than no magnet at all. Place it on the entrance to your meth lab.
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May 24, 2023 22:13
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C-Bangin' it 
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Sort of car related. Is there any literature on the 'art' of bashing sheet metal and fixing dings and dents on cars? I feel like there ought to be some old timey books about just this kind of thing from before bondo was common, but no idea what to look for. I assume most people in the trade used to learn by doing / apprenticing however. e: I have found several now actually, so I guess my question is, which is the best one. His Divine Shadow fucked around with this message at 05:16 on May 25, 2023 |
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May 25, 2023 05:07
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Steel or aluminum? You might be best off reading about coach building and gas welding. There's a whole subculture of people building 550 Spyder inspired cars aluminum skin on steel body with an ocean of information Steve Culp on Facebook has a homemade cars group and highlights different builds and techniques almost daily
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May 25, 2023 05:38
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VelociBacon posted:I'm not sure if you can spin the pulley with a drill or something to do this yeah thats not a thing. you need to at least power the field winding, which on domestics comes from the dash bulb
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May 25, 2023 06:06
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Steel, it's more about repair and fixing than making new stuff I am interested in learning. It's a reaal impressive skill when you see some guy with a hammer and dolly and some kind of lever tool doing a million tappety taps on a dent and slowly working it in or out.
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May 25, 2023 06:06
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https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/ba...%20Bible%29.pdf
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May 25, 2023 06:12
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Awesome, looks like precisely the kind of thing I was looking for! Thanks 
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May 25, 2023 06:25
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Doing all that bullshit to my Spark's pedals, I realized I don't have floor mats. What is a quality mat and where should I pick it up? Is it worth it to get specifically cut floor mats for a car that isn't exactly getting driven 20k miles a year? Or do those ones that you cut yourself work just fine? My goal is getting something that will last the life of the car, because I intend to drive it until it explodes.
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May 25, 2023 12:58
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I've never had a car that didn't have model specific rubber mats-you sort of need those in the winter where I live. There's a bit of a safety issue if it doesn't stay where it is supposed to in the driver's footwell since it can foul up pedal travel, so form fitting is a major advantage.
Invalido fucked around with this message at 14:04 on May 25, 2023 |
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May 25, 2023 14:01
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kastein posted:You can usually buy just the cylinder - at least one of my friends did years ago because I long term lent him my engine hoist since it was less useful on dirt than it was in his shop. But had been stored outdoors for so long that the piston had rusted and torn up the seals. I think a new cylinder was like 50 bucks, just make sure you get the right one. Length collapsed+extended and mounting hole diameter at each end are about all you need to check. Nice, thanks
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May 25, 2023 14:42
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Captain Log posted:Doing all that bullshit to my Spark's pedals, I realized I don't have floor mats. You should get floor mats specific to the car that use the car’s anchors. Lots of unintended acceleration and other issues are caused by improperly fit floor mats that aren’t anchored.
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May 25, 2023 15:13
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Captain Log posted:Doing all that bullshit to my Spark's pedals, I realized I don't have floor mats. Weathertech mats. OR, look on Craigslist for someone selling their OEM Spark floor mats. The oem mats will probably be like 20 bucks. Weathertechs might be a couple hundred.
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May 25, 2023 16:18
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Ah, thank you all for the safe advice. With my pedal extension, I’m not going to gently caress around with something that doesn’t fit. Looks like weathertechs would be about $125ish. I can swing that in a month or two. I don’t really get my car messy, but I loving hate carpet mats. Spill a soda, and it’s a motherfuck.
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May 25, 2023 16:58
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I've had weathertech floor liners in my Corolla for almost 14 years. They still good. It's possible they might even outlast the car
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May 25, 2023 18:24
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I've had Weathertechs in my Fiesta for seven winters now and they're great. Perfect fit, deep basins to keep winter boot drippings where they belong, and they will definitely outlast the car.
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May 25, 2023 22:16
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Captain Log posted:Doing all that bullshit to my Spark's pedals, I realized I don't have floor mats. In the past (like 8 years ago) I spent a hundred or so on some ebay listing where you tell them what model vehicle you have and they make floor mats. I was super impressed with the quality and fit and I would think that kind of thing is still available.
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May 25, 2023 23:00
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I need to wash my car this weekend ('23 CX-5) and I was going to spray some ceramic wax spray (hybrid solutions) afterwards. Should I do a clay bar first? The car is about 4 months old at this point and doesn't have any spotting from what I can tell. If I just wash down the car as I usually would, I think the car would look mostly new again, but I don't want to avoid clay bar if there's some meaningful benefit to do so before spraying it.
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May 25, 2023 23:26
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Weather tech is run by very trumpy people if you happen to care about that
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May 25, 2023 23:59
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Bank posted:I need to wash my car this weekend ('23 CX-5) and I was going to spray some ceramic wax spray (hybrid solutions) afterwards. Should I do a clay bar first? The car is about 4 months old at this point and doesn't have any spotting from what I can tell. If I just wash down the car as I usually would, I think the car would look mostly new again, but I don't want to avoid clay bar if there's some meaningful benefit to do so before spraying it. It’s generally a good idea to decontaminate (clay bar), maybe even especially on a “new” car. Basically it’s been through a fair amount of poor conditions already. I’d recommend a synthetic clay bar too. Fond of Griot’s personally, but I’m sure there are good alternatives out there.
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May 26, 2023 00:11
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:Weather tech is run by very trumpy people if you happen to care about that Ah, gently caress. I don't love that one bit. Is there a reputable alternative that isn't double the price? I firmly believe there is no ethical consumption under hyper late-stage capitalism. But if I can avoid handing money to a company like that, I will. VelociBacon posted:In the past (like 8 years ago) I spent a hundred or so on some ebay listing where you tell them what model vehicle you have and they make floor mats. I was super impressed with the quality and fit and I would think that kind of thing is still available. I'll poke around and see what I can find. I've had some luck with custom poo poo off eBay in various hobbies.
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May 26, 2023 12:22
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Quick google found me the genuine GM article for like 120
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May 26, 2023 13:02
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:Quick google found me the genuine GM article for like 120 Yeah, I found those. But I'm liking the idea of not having carpet floor mats. Not a big deal, just a silly preference.
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May 26, 2023 13:12
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I'm not sure how you managed to miss the all weather versions (new link)
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May 26, 2023 13:37
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:I'm not sure how you managed to miss the all weather versions (new link)  God damnit. I'm literally going through my search history to try and figure out how I could be so dense after searching that loving website. I think I believed they were carpeted from the thumbnail or something. Problem solved!
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May 26, 2023 13:44
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You can shop around a bit at various GM dealers, I saw them for about 125 but probably with shipping
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May 26, 2023 13:46
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I’ve had weathertechs but I don’t really like how thin and hard they are. Currently have Ford factory rubber mats which being rubber are thicker and also a set of Maxpider which imo are nicer/thicker/more flexible than weathertech also.
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May 26, 2023 14:04
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bird with big dick posted:I’ve had weathertechs but I don’t really like how thin and hard they are. Currently have Ford factory rubber mats which being rubber are thicker and also a set of Maxpider which imo are nicer/thicker/more flexible than weathertech also. Agreed, too hard and slick. I had them in my xB and didn't like them, now I have the factory all weather mats and they are much better, my feet don't slip on them.
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May 26, 2023 14:47
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in my experience the factory stuff is good and not that much more money
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May 26, 2023 14:57
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:I'm not sure how you managed to miss the all weather versions (new link) Everything said, I'll probably get these when I have the spare funds. Got a crown this month, which isn't covered by either of my insurances. They only cover steel, which is apparently "Not That Great."
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May 26, 2023 16:50
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Captain Log posted:Everything said, I'll probably get these when I have the spare funds. Got a crown this month, which isn't covered by either of my insurances. They only cover steel, which is apparently "Not That Great." You don’t need em really in the short run. Good in the winter in particular to prevent you from damaging the carpet but a couple months won’t make a difference especially if you don’t drive much.
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May 26, 2023 18:15
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