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HenryJLittlefinger posted:I just got a new to me F250 work truck with a rodent problem. No damage or nests that I can find, no stains or urea on the seats, but an incredible piss stench. The seats are upholstered but no carpeting. It's unusable until it gets cleaned. I think I got the mice all (2) trapped out but we'll see tomorrow. Dr. Lunchables posted:Any solvents that will truly solve the problem will dissolve the foam in your seats. Im sorry about your pissy, pissy truck. Powershift posted:If they were on the dash there's mouse piss in your defroster vents. Depending on how deep in they got, there could be piss all over your a/c evaporator and heater core. Dr. Lunchables posted:Gutting the airflow is probably the best bet, since a lot of smell is gonna come from there. Next is deep wash and scrubbing, probably removing seats and carpet cleaning. With the seats out, shampoo and scrub those suckers too. Finally, you can try an ozone machine, though you dont wanna gently caress around with it. Follow all safety instructions. Ok, just for closure: Detailer found nests under the dash, under the flooring, and behind the seats. Piss and poo poo everywhere, including the engine bay, A/C and heater core, dash, EVERYWHERE. Enzyme cleaner, chlorine dioxide, days of ozone, days of stuff just sitting out in the sun. $891 total, which to me seems like a pretty reasonable price. The loving ding dongs in motor pool won't take the bill despite the exorbitant overhead from both the PO's and my budgets, which includes extraordinary repair, and despite the fact the truck was always parked on property controlled by them that we have to pay for permits to use at our own facilities. I haven't seen the truck yet, but we pick it up tomorrow. It's been there for a full 8 days now.         So the lesson to be learned here: if you find a mouse in your car, don't just chase it out and toss the nest and scrub the carpet and assume it's good and kick the can down the road for a year. Go scorched loving earth right away. I'm glad the dude responsible for this doesn't work for me anymore so I don't have to be the one to explain this whole situation to him.
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Jun 24, 2023 04:55
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Sorry to hear it was that bad, mice are right pricks. The price seems decent for the amount of work involved and based on the degree of disassembly i would think they did it right. You're probably going to have a hard time telling if you smell it or not. The real test is going to be if someone else smells it
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Jun 24, 2023 05:15
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Fortunately I didn't have to interact with the truck other than unloading some stuff from it and driving it from the detailer, which I did with an N95 on and the windows down (in the rain lol). I actually deal with a lot of mice in my storage buildings (trapped 85 since November!), so I've gotten good at smelling them when they try to set up shop. We'll figure it out pretty quickly, a few of my coworkers are taking the truck down to New Mexico for 10 days next week. And yeah, I feel like under $1000 for a good chunk of a week's work for professionals is a bargain. After talking to the guys in person at their place for a bit and hearing some of the horror stories, I felt pretty good about it. Dude told me they find guns all the time in cars and just hold them in the safe till the car gets picked up.
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Jun 24, 2023 05:51
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Stupid question: How important is it to follow the recommended time interval for replacing a timing belt, rather than the recommended mileage interval? I got a 2013 WRX new ten years ago, and I don't drive very much. It only has 57,000 miles on it, which puts me 48,000 miles below the recommended replacement interval. However, I am beyond the recommended time interval (9 years) at this point. I'm just wondering if I should bite the bullet and replace it.
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Jun 24, 2023 20:23
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[quote="il serpente cosmico" post="532746121"] Stupid question: How important is it to follow the recommended time interval for replacing a timing belt, rather than the recommended mileage interval? I got a 2013 WRX new ten years ago, and I don't drive very much. It only has 57,000 miles on it, which puts me 48,000 miles below the recommended replacement interval. However, I am beyond the recommended time interval (9 years) at this point. I'm just wondering if I should bite the bullet and replace it. Replace it for sure, timing belts are expensive but they're a lot cheaper than a valvetrain. (Also it's generally whichever interval you hit first: a belt should be good until either 9 years or 100k miles).
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Jun 24, 2023 20:25
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yeah rubber deteriorates due to time, as well as due to being run around metal cogs a whole bunch of times.
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Jun 24, 2023 21:06
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Replace it.
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Jun 25, 2023 02:02
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+1 replace it. Failure destroys the engine.
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Jun 25, 2023 14:42
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I'm having problems with painting cars. As in I can't seem to get that final smooth result, there's always an imperfection left and it's kinda driving me crazy. Can I start blaming the equipment yet or is there something I am doing wrong? How many times do you have to use filler and sand down? I've also used high build primer, I've tried both dry and wet sanding to a smooth nice looking 1000 grit finish and then when it's time for the base coat I see there's an imperfection I missed in an area I could've sworn looked good. It's sorta driving me crazy and I wonder if I am using some bad products, or bad methods. I kinda prefer to wet sand by hand, have more control I think, but the end result was the same. At least it's mostly the sills and lower down on the car, but I have future plans where I want to do bigger surfaces, whole panels, maybe a whole car. I want to get perfect damned results then. I am using mostly 2k products from start to finish. Steps I took this latest repair -grind away rust and bad paint to bare metal -sand blast / citric acid / rinse and repeat -2k epoxy sealer -2k filler -Sanding 2k filler -2k high build primer, multiple coats -wet sanding the primer and blending in the area using 1000 grit sand paper -base coat -clear coat When I put down the base coat I saw imperfections I didn't see earlier. Since it was so low down on a cheap old car I didn't try and fix it but went on to clear coat. It still rankles though, I mean I want to be able to get a better finish. I dunno it doesn't feel like I've cheaped out on the products, maybe thge polyester filler I used this time was a no brand name cheapo can, but all the others where stuff from a car painting store and pro grade. Sand paper might also have been on the cheap ebay side of things.
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Jun 25, 2023 14:48
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Bought a car a few years back. One of the tires may need replacing, so I brought it to mavis but the car didnt come with a key for the rims. Mavis said they can break the locks, but it would cost extra. Ive been looking for a replacement key but I dont really know what to look for. Could use some advice. This is the lock shape in question: 
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Jun 25, 2023 16:54
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Verisimilidude posted:Bought a car a few years back. One of the tires may need replacing, so I brought it to mavis but the car didn’t come with a key for the rims. Mavis said they can break the locks, but it would cost extra. Did you really look everywhere for the key? Glovebox, center console, around the spare, who knows where the PO left it. If you can't find it, have you reached out to the PO? The image you posted, those locks all look like that but are slightly different in the keying. You will not be able to buy a key for it based on what it looks like. e: the dealership where it was sold might be able to order you another key with your proof of ownership, if that was installed by them. Do people even steal wheels anymore? OEM Honda wheels? VelociBacon fucked around with this message at 17:08 on Jun 25, 2023 |
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Jun 25, 2023 17:05
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You can buy kits that will remove them. Can also usually buy a slightly larger socket and pound it on with a mallet. I assume wheel theft still happens occasionally but like $4000 aftermarket sets not OEM Honda 17s.
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Jun 25, 2023 17:45
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Verisimilidude posted:Bought a car a few years back. One of the tires may need replacing, so I brought it to mavis but the car didn’t come with a key for the rims. Mavis said they can break the locks, but it would cost extra. Selling dealer might be able to get a key but if it's lost you probably will have to get it broken off. Had to do that for my wife's car when she lost the key.
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Jun 25, 2023 18:01
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Raluek posted:yeah rubber deteriorates due to time, as well as due to being run around metal cogs a whole bunch of times. honda whisperer posted:+1 replace it. Failure destroys the engine. randomidiot posted:Replace it. Thanks everyone - I'm going to call the shop and set an appointment on Monday. Between a new set of tires, timing belt, and an AC system leak, it's gearing up to be an expensive car month. Better than a car payment I suppose.
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Jun 25, 2023 19:20
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bird with big dick posted:You can buy kits that will remove them. Can also usually buy a slightly larger socket and pound it on with a mallet. couple years ago, an FC near where i was living at the time had its wheels stolen. it was wearing RPF1s, which are some of the cheapest aftermarket wheels, and surely less than the oem honda wheels in question. i was pretty surprised that it got targeted, but apparently it was. e: remembered they were RPF1s, and found an old pic. 
Raluek fucked around with this message at 20:14 on Jun 25, 2023 |
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Jun 25, 2023 19:51
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Sure, but there is way more of a market for RPF1s than some random OEM honda wheels. The RPF1s will sell instantly on facebook marketplace because car nerds will want them and pay way closer to their new value for them.
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Jun 25, 2023 20:43
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il serpente cosmico posted:Thanks everyone - I'm going to call the shop and set an appointment on Monday. Between a new set of tires, timing belt, and an AC system leak, it's gearing up to be an expensive car month. Better than a car payment I suppose. two of the three are scheduled routine maintenance items
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Jun 25, 2023 23:23
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VelociBacon posted:Do people even steal wheels anymore? OEM Honda wheels? A gal I know had all four of her 21 Civic Sports wheels stolen this past winter. Still happens.
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Jun 25, 2023 23:50
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Raluek posted:couple years ago, an FC near where i was living at the time had its wheels stolen. it was wearing RPF1s, which are some of the cheapest aftermarket wheels, and surely less than the oem honda wheels in question. i was pretty surprised that it got targeted, but apparently it was. That poor car. It's got that I'm trying my best energy and someone decided gently caress you. And yeah wheel theft is 100% still a thing. I think the cracked and smashed wheels of my accord donor car were worth $50 at the recycling center. The cat got $250 so I see why it's trending that way but scrapping wheels nobody bats an eye. Desirable wheels for half retail will get snapped up.
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Jun 26, 2023 00:32
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:two of the three are scheduled routine maintenance items Oh I am aware. Since I don't drive much, I get used to not spending a lot of money on maintenance. My car is great though - I'll probably keep it for another ten years at least.
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Jun 26, 2023 15:52
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Is there an easy way to identify a freon leak at home, or is a mechanic my best bet? I suspect I have a leak because I had to put some in my AC system yesterday for the first time since I've own the truck (2013 Toyota Tacoma). I did have the front end fixed due to a deer strike about 2 years ago so I'm a bit worried that I have a leak that might have vibrated open since then.
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Jun 26, 2023 16:06
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Any shop (and a lot of OEMs at this point) should have put in UV-reactive dye as part of the oil charge when working on it. Anywhere a refrigerant leak occurs that you can actually address, oil will almost always leak as well, and this will show up bright with a UV light. The exceptions to this are the hoses themselves, and the service ports. Service ports should show some UV dye even without a leak because that's where the dye was most likely injected. Hoses themselves, even in good condition, will still leak a tiny amount of refrigerant through the rubber itself. You can also get a refrigerant sniffer from Amazon for about $20 which will detect the refrigerant directly instead.
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Jun 26, 2023 16:47
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Serpentine belt dying while you are driving on the highway is bad right?
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Jun 26, 2023 21:54
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Bilirubin posted:Serpentine belt dying while you are driving on the highway is bad right? It's not great, but you're probably safe to drive to the side of the road and find a safe place to stop. Your water pump and power steering pump won't get power, so you'll want to come to a stop within a minute or two and it will be hard to steer the car, but it's not as bad as your timing belt failing on the highway ($new_engine). Invalido posted:If youre unlucky the belt can smash things too that you really don't want to break. e. Oh yeah, I forgot, it can cause some damage as it exits through the gift shop. Try not to break a serp belt if you can avoid it. Safety Dance fucked around with this message at 22:02 on Jun 26, 2023 |
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Jun 26, 2023 21:57
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Bilirubin posted:Serpentine belt dying while you are driving on the highway is bad right? Very bad. At the very least you lose things you want to have. Like alternator, power steering, ac. Sometimes water pump. If youre unlucky the belt can smash things too that you really don't want to break.
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Jun 26, 2023 21:59
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Yep, very common on 93+ volvos to have the broken serpentine belt wind around the crank pulley which can thread it into the timing cover and jump the timing belt which trashes the entire motor. All this timing and serp belt talk reminds me I haven't touched mine since 2013, even though it's only been 40k miles. That's more than the serp belt life and ages out the timing belt too. Time to look and see if I got them from FCP on the lifetime warranty thing. Dammit, nope. I started buying from them right after that.
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Jun 26, 2023 22:32
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Bilirubin posted:Serpentine belt dying while you are driving on the highway is bad right? Happened to me one time in a Focus wagon, the accessory belt tensioner bearing failed and dropped the pulleywheel onto the interstate in the middle of the night. I paid to have it towed to a motel in the dark, waited for sunrise, then drove it to a nearby AutoZone with no power accessories and borrowed their tools to put a fresh belt and pulley on. Everything else about that car sucked but you could do a serpentine belt in an autozone parking lot with bent tools and it was pretty easy work.
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Jun 26, 2023 23:12
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Can I combine a CatStrap with a cat shield on a prius? Or is there not enough space once the shield is in place? Or is the strap bullshit in the first place? It's basically three strips of metal in a casing that adheres to the cat itself. The metal wobbles when the saw hits it and supposedly that fucks up the sawblade. The shield doesn't cover the entire cat, and I was thinking that since the metals are precious and not the thing as a whole piece, with enough time they could just cut it apart in slices and sell those. The strap would act as a last line of defense. Granted, I don't actually know how the sale of these things works.
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Jun 26, 2023 23:52
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Those catstrap people have a "review" posted on their website that's hosted on their own youtube channel, in their example of "no protection" they're cutting down from the top. In the "this product totally works" example they're cutting up from the bottom where the strap is installed, and not from the top where it isn't. The mild steel exhaust clamps are so lovely they're bent in their own video and would take seconds to cut through if the thieves weren't smart enough to just cut from the top down. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPdcjTfFmKU&t=5s I guess it would be a minor deterrent but the company and product seem like complete bullshit
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Jun 27, 2023 00:16
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Bilirubin posted:Serpentine belt dying while you are driving on the highway is bad right? Depends on the car and how clean it broke, if it tore and just existed the vehicle safely without taking anything else with it its not so bad other than you really have to watch temps as the engine is going to overheat. I limped a 2003 sentra home after a friend lost the belt maybe 5 miles away.
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Jun 27, 2023 00:33
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Invalido posted:Very bad. At the very least you lose things you want to have. Like alternator, power steering, ac. Sometimes water pump. If youre unlucky the belt can smash things too that you really don't want to break. This is the correct answer. I heard a short belt squeak, didn't think much of it, a bit later started to notice the ac not putting cold air out, then saw the lights I didn't realize existed turning on. Water pump, power steering, and engine all dead. 16 year old car, thinking its not worth trying to source a new engine in rural Saskatchewan
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Jun 27, 2023 00:43
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Bilirubin posted:Serpentine belt dying while you are driving on the highway is bad right? probably not as bad as the time my exs clutch failed on I-95 over New Haven on the way to visiting my parents and we immediately lost throttle in the center lane
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Jun 27, 2023 01:26
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His Divine Shadow posted:I'm having problems with painting cars. As in I can't seem to get that final smooth result, there's always an imperfection left and it's kinda driving me crazy. Can I start blaming the equipment yet or is there something I am doing wrong? How many times do you have to use filler and sand down? I've also used high build primer, I've tried both dry and wet sanding to a smooth nice looking 1000 grit finish and then when it's time for the base coat I see there's an imperfection I missed in an area I could've sworn looked good. It's sorta driving me crazy and I wonder if I am using some bad products, or bad methods. I kinda prefer to wet sand by hand, have more control I think, but the end result was the same. Paging Darchanel(?) to thread, I think they would be best to answer
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Jun 27, 2023 01:36
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Powershift posted:Those catstrap people have a "review" posted on their website that's hosted on their own youtube channel, in their example of "no protection" they're cutting down from the top. In the "this product totally works" example they're cutting up from the bottom where the strap is installed, and not from the top where it isn't. The mild steel exhaust clamps are so lovely they're bent in their own video and would take seconds to cut through if the thieves weren't smart enough to just cut from the top down. The review thing is shady, true. There's a bunch of other channels promoting it, but it could just be paid sponsorship. Cutting from below seems like the correct way to demonstrate it? Is there a way to start from the top of the pipe from underneath the car? I would be putting a lot of faith in the adhesive on the casing holding it to the cat, and on the shield covering the clamps. It would all depend on the clamps being able to fit under the halves of the shield, and the adhesive working as advertised. If an adhesive is designed to begin bonding in a high heat environment, will that same high heat environment cause it to come undone? EDIT: additional shady thing - the same product is being sold through a dot com site and a dot net site, and it's two different companies, according to paypal at checkout.
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Jun 27, 2023 02:18
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Ok Comboomer posted:probably not as bad as the time my exs clutch failed on I-95 over New Haven on the way to visiting my parents and we immediately lost throttle in the center lane Eek! Earlier I was thinking that I have been lucky with my cars so far, but then your post reminded me of the time I discovered my first car's brakes were out when exiting the US 131 offramp off the elevated S-Curve in downtown Grand Rapids (so exiting downhill). And then the time the same car broke the oil pan gasket on I-196 (it also never started again). So basically gently caress cars, they are trying to kill us all Now to go pick up my rental...
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Jun 27, 2023 02:29
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Hey, speaking of beltchat: I've got a 2007 Yaris (motor is a 2NZ) with 350k on the dial, which I'm selling in a few weeks due to an overseas move. The only issue it has is an intermittent belt squeal on startup, which has gotten a lot more regular now that it's getting cold. Is it fairly idiot proof to tighten (loosen?) the belt? I am not a total idiot but if a mechanic will do it for me for chump change I'd probably rather farm it out.
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Jun 27, 2023 03:59
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My memory of when I last had it replaced (it might have been in my old Corolla not this Matrix though) the engine configuration was such that it required a not insignificant amount of work. Of course, with all the computerized poo poo now I will not touch my car myself anmore. Have no idea about the Yaris but I can't imagine it is roomier than a Corolla
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Jun 27, 2023 04:14
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My water pump died at highway speed in -30F and it still redlined my engine temp. Had to get a tow in the tundra.
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Jun 27, 2023 04:33
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Dr. Fraiser Chain posted:My water pump died at highway speed in -30F and it still redlined my engine temp. Had to get a tow in the tundra. I am sorry that happened to you. I hope you weren't too cold for too long. I am super glad it wasn't a really hot, cold, stormy day. And that I was in an area with cell reception, next to a range road making it easy to be found. I really could have been much worse.
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Jun 27, 2023 04:42
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Dr. Fraiser Chain posted:My water pump died at highway speed in -30F and it still redlined my engine temp. Had to get a tow in the tundra. The convective flow through the radiator, even while being cooled at highway airflows, will definitely cool the coolant in the rad but won't effectively circulate coolant well enough through the system to give you lower temps in the block, or wherever the coolant temp probe is. A lot of people destroy their engines when they have a catastrophic loss of coolant but think it's fine because the temp guage isnt redlined.
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Jun 27, 2023 05:30
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