What did you do to your car today? My car isn't fast, it's only 10s in the 1/4 mile

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Automotive Insanity > What did you do to your car today? My car isn't fast, it's only 10s in the 1/4 mile

Doctor Zero: Sep 21, 2002; Would you like a jelly baby?
It's been in my pocket through 4 regenerations,
but it's still good.

I replaced the hood support struts (well, I did yesterday).

# ¿ May 31, 2009 17:33

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# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 14:44

Doctor Zero: Sep 21, 2002; Would you like a jelly baby?
It's been in my pocket through 4 regenerations,
but it's still good.

Xanth Eridani posted:

well hey guys, im new here looks like my sort of thread

im from the UK and i have a Nissan 200sx S14 (i think these are the 240sx in america)

having spent the best part of 6 months rebuilding the engine myself, after having melted a piston, she's now all back together at around 400/420bhp getting her dynoed next month

ill get some pics up in a bit

cheers

Ben

You'd better read the Rules first

# ¿ Jun 8, 2009 21:05

Doctor Zero: Sep 21, 2002; Would you like a jelly baby?
It's been in my pocket through 4 regenerations,
but it's still good.

After a small spinout and meeting a fire hydrant in December, I finally got around to fixing my truck.

After looking under the front, it seems the plastic broke around the bolts on the sub-bumper (inner bumper?) I figure a quick ghetto fix will work! It's a lease car I have to turn in soon, so I didn't want to pay for repair, nor did I want to jack up my insurance by reporting it.

So...

Taking the bumper off is so simple a trained monkey (me, although I'm not so trained) can do it.

pffffft, that's not so bad. I'm sure this would cost me $1200 to fix at a dealer though.

I swear the repair manual specifically says to use "washers and gorilla glue"! :ninja:

It's MUCH easier to take the bumper outer skin off before removing or putting the whole bumper back on. Hindsight and all.

Good as new (as long as you don't look underneath)!

The last pic is kinda lovely because it was getting dark.

Go Go Gadget Ghetto Body Work! :woop:

Doctor Zero fucked around with this message at 22:22 on Jun 12, 2009

# ¿ Jun 12, 2009 22:19

Doctor Zero: Sep 21, 2002; Would you like a jelly baby?
It's been in my pocket through 4 regenerations,
but it's still good.

Replaced the weeping transmission cooler line.

Well, it was 2 days ago, but I'm catching up :colbert:

)

# ¿ Jun 17, 2009 20:01

Doctor Zero: Sep 21, 2002; Would you like a jelly baby?
It's been in my pocket through 4 regenerations,
but it's still good.

Just topped off the front differential and changed the oil. The previous owner must not have done it in a while because it looked like Hershey's syrup. :barf:

# ¿ Jun 18, 2009 03:00

Doctor Zero: Sep 21, 2002; Would you like a jelly baby?
It's been in my pocket through 4 regenerations,
but it's still good.

Cavepimp posted:

Also dumped Sea Foam in just about every orifice possible.

I hope you're still talking about your car.

# ¿ Jul 3, 2009 22:52

Doctor Zero: Sep 21, 2002; Would you like a jelly baby?
It's been in my pocket through 4 regenerations,
but it's still good.

Torqued my transmission pan bolts to spec. The PO left them so loose I could unscrew them with my fingertips. :argh:

No wonder it was weeping.

# ¿ Jul 14, 2009 02:28

Doctor Zero: Sep 21, 2002; Would you like a jelly baby?
It's been in my pocket through 4 regenerations,
but it's still good.

sw0cb posted:

I hate you so much. How much did it cost to run out there? DO you just need a helmet and such?

Er... when i drove through there on I-80 you could just turn the wheel and drift out over the salt flats any time you like (well, okay, you'd want to slow down a bit). I don't know if it's legal or not, but ...

# ¿ Jul 22, 2009 19:58

Doctor Zero: Sep 21, 2002; Would you like a jelly baby?
It's been in my pocket through 4 regenerations,
but it's still good.

I know it's not my DD but I do "ride" in it! :smugdog:

Gave the boat a good washing. It needed it. Scrubbed everything. It had been sitting at my sister's place for the last year.

Carpenter ants decided that the top storage was a good place to nest. They were all dead but it reeked. :barf:

The cover smelled like goats (because my sister has goats) and was filthy :barf:

2 years worth of dirt. :barf:

I fixed the cover support poles (the plastic tops had broken) with plumbing fixtures. gently caress you SeaDoo and your $80 replacement poles.

She's all cleaned up now and only slightly smells like goats!

Doctor Zero fucked around with this message at 17:27 on Aug 10, 2009

# ¿ Aug 10, 2009 17:24

Doctor Zero: Sep 21, 2002; Would you like a jelly baby?
It's been in my pocket through 4 regenerations,
but it's still good.

Well, yesterday I changed the transmission pan gasket and filter. No more leaks! Yay!

And it looks like it didn't have enough trans fluid in it from the last owner. :argh:

# ¿ Aug 18, 2009 03:46

Doctor Zero: Sep 21, 2002; Would you like a jelly baby?
It's been in my pocket through 4 regenerations,
but it's still good.

Getting ready to do a whole bunch of work. Got 4 new shocks and front brake pads for the Jeep, got front brake pads for the wife's car, and a hand pump to change the differential oil.

Then all I did was put in new front marker lights. :haw:

However, I also did this:

# ¿ Oct 12, 2009 17:37

Doctor Zero: Sep 21, 2002; Would you like a jelly baby?
It's been in my pocket through 4 regenerations,
but it's still good.

Checked the front diff fluid after 2 months, and indeed it is not leaking (although it could probably stand to be changed).

# ¿ Oct 14, 2009 19:28

Doctor Zero: Sep 21, 2002; Would you like a jelly baby?
It's been in my pocket through 4 regenerations,
but it's still good.

Got 4 brand spanking new tires at Costco. $70 off and free rotations and balancing for the life of the tires. :hellyeah:

It drives like a whole new Jeep!

Replaced the rear glass support lifts and now I can hardly close the thing, the new ones are so strong. :shobon:

# ¿ Oct 25, 2009 00:53

Doctor Zero: Sep 21, 2002; Would you like a jelly baby?
It's been in my pocket through 4 regenerations,
but it's still good.

The more arcane they make it, the more likely they'll get people bringing them into the dealer to program and paying $80 for a few second's work.

# ¿ Nov 16, 2009 16:05

Doctor Zero: Sep 21, 2002; Would you like a jelly baby?
It's been in my pocket through 4 regenerations,
but it's still good.

Hypnolobster posted:

Got everything back together and there aren't any leaks, but the motherfucking blend door isn't moving, and it's stuck on cold. I've got to pull the dash off again and figure out what the hell is wrong. What makes it particularly horrible is the only way to test is to put the dash back together, and if I don't fix it the first time..

Are you sure the motors are working? On a Jeep you have to cut the power (pull the battery lead), wait a few seconds, then reconnect the battery and turn the key to Run. The motor should then go through its seek cycle, so you can see if it's working.

# ¿ Nov 17, 2009 15:56

Doctor Zero: Sep 21, 2002; Would you like a jelly baby?
It's been in my pocket through 4 regenerations,
but it's still good.

Well, yesterday I dropped the gas tank on my 99 Jeep GC and finally fixed the fuel pump gasket. The PO had apparently tried to do the same thing at one point, but (like the transmission pan) he folded the gasket when he put it back in. On top of that, the retaining ring was just bouncing around - it wasn't even screwed on! :argh:

No wonder it leaked.

Of course, I make it sound easy. It took me 3 hours to get the drat trailer hitch off because I was trying to do it the right way and remove the rear fascia. Well, I had to take most of the rear end apart. Every piece I had to remove was covered by another piece. I ended up in the rear seat at one point. There I was, in the rear seat, removing poo poo so I could take off the trailer hitch. :wtc:

In the end I admitted defeat because I couldn't find the retaining clips that there are no pictures of anywhere. All the instructions say is to "take off the D pillar molding and peel back the rubber seal" to get at them. Well, I couldn't find a loving rubber seal anywhere, I have no idea what the gently caress. I finally just gave up and pulled the hitch out by pulling back the lower end of the fascia. Getting it back in will be fun.

# ¿ Nov 23, 2009 16:10

Doctor Zero: Sep 21, 2002; Would you like a jelly baby?
It's been in my pocket through 4 regenerations,
but it's still good.

Just changed my battery terminals. Had been getting the electrical gremlins that some WJs get, so I figured I'd start with the easy stuff. There was a lot of corrosion when I pulled the suckers off, actually, so I feel pretty good about this being the culprit. Cleaned the cables, applied dielectric grease, put marine-grade terminals on it, and even got some of those anti-corrosion pad dealies.

Looks a whole lot better, so we'll see if it helps.

# ¿ Nov 28, 2009 00:54

Doctor Zero: Sep 21, 2002; Would you like a jelly baby?
It's been in my pocket through 4 regenerations,
but it's still good.

Doctor Zero posted:

Just changed my battery terminals. Had been getting the electrical gremlins that some WJs get, so I figured I'd start with the easy stuff. There was a lot of corrosion when I pulled the suckers off, actually, so I feel pretty good about this being the culprit. Cleaned the cables, applied dielectric grease, put marine-grade terminals on it, and even got some of those anti-corrosion pad dealies.

Looks a whole lot better, so we'll see if it helps.

Had to do this again today.

Yesterday, it started losing power after sitting for a while. I'd turn the key and it would go dead. I'd jiggle the wiring harness and it would be fine until I parked it again. So, I took it all apart and redid my wiring. I don't think I had the positive wire clamped in the terminal tight enough.

I also took apart and re-wrapped the harness about 100% more tightly. So far so good. Let's hope it keeps this time. The wires in the harness looked fine, so I doubt it was another lose connection - I think it was all me. :sigh:

# ¿ Nov 30, 2009 01:17

Doctor Zero: Sep 21, 2002; Would you like a jelly baby?
It's been in my pocket through 4 regenerations,
but it's still good.

Noise Complaint posted:

I removed the stupid "Boost gets you laid" stickers the PO put on my SVO. What the hell is wrong with people. That was a giant pain in the rear end.

All you had to do was take off the L.

and add an S. :v:

# ¿ Dec 2, 2009 23:46

Doctor Zero: Sep 21, 2002; Would you like a jelly baby?
It's been in my pocket through 4 regenerations,
but it's still good.

Dropped the tank on my 99 Grand Cherokee ... again. It started leaking gas when filled again. Now I know why it looked like the PO didn't bother to tighten down the fuel pump retainer ring. Apparently, it is a complete bitch and a half to get the drat thing on without their one-off tool for screwing it on. What I had done was to screw it onto the top of the fuel pump, but not actually onto the tank. I thought it might have been stripped, so I bought a new one. Unfortunately the new one was even harder to get fastened on, so I finally got the old one screwed down pretty well with the assistance of my wife. The problem is that the fuel pump wants to come up and the ring is really hard to get aligned without the drat tool. After about 45 minutes, we managed to get it. I pulled up on the fuel pump valves about as hard as I dared and it didn't come off.

If it comes off again, I swear I'm just going to epoxy the drat thing on. :argh:

Well, okay, maybe not. Maybe I'll get the stupid tool.

As long as I had the back end up on stands (again), I put on new rear shocks. The old ones weren't as blown out as I thought, but I definitely tell the difference when driving. I want to change the front too, but I'm not looking forward to it. The top of driver's side shock is under a whole bunch of crap, and I have no idea how I'm going to get at it without taking a bunch of poo poo apart.

Tomorrow I hope to finally fix the blend doors now that I'm done (hopefully) re-fixing poo poo.

# ¿ Dec 6, 2009 05:18

Doctor Zero: Sep 21, 2002; Would you like a jelly baby?
It's been in my pocket through 4 regenerations,
but it's still good.

Fixed the blend doors on my Grand Cherokee! Used a through-the-glovebox kit that was actually really, really easy to do. Also the passenger side motor turned out to be still good (whew), so I retain the climate zones.

Saved $1200! :neckbeard:

I have heat again! :neckbeard:

# ¿ Dec 7, 2009 02:23

Doctor Zero: Sep 21, 2002; Would you like a jelly baby?
It's been in my pocket through 4 regenerations,
but it's still good.

Yesterday I fixed my wife's Taurus' power mirrors and the technique might fix yours too.

My Jeep Grand Cherokee's driver mirror had been randomly resetting its position when I'd get in. It has the memory feature where you set the seat and mirror position, and it automatically adjusts when you hit the remote unlock. Well, randomly it decided that my mirror should be pointing at the pavement, no matter how many times I'd reset it. So I added it to the mental list of poo poo that isn't important enough to fix right now.

Fast-forward to a couple weeks ago trying to fix my electrical gremlins - while reading the Jeep forums I run across a post that offers a simple fix for power mirrors that are doing what mine are doing. It can't be that simple can it?

All you do is get in the car and run the mirror through the extreme edges of movement a few times. Yes, that's it. What I did was to move the mirror all the way down until it stops or starts jumping. Then go all the way left. Then up. Then right, then repeat that a couple times. Sonofabitch, it worked! It no longer randomly resets itself. It was explained that dirt and crap gets in the gears and moving it through the limits somehow cleans/forces that crap out.

Yesterday, I decided to try the same thing on her Taurus - the mirrors were slow, sluggish, and didn't want to hardly move inward at all. So I ran her mirrors through the extremes a couple times, and holy poo poo, they move like they're brand new now! It's really loving freaky, and I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't do it myself.

So if your mirrors are sluggish, give it a shot! Easiest fix ever!

Doctor Zero fucked around with this message at 21:47 on Dec 14, 2009

# ¿ Dec 14, 2009 21:44

Doctor Zero: Sep 21, 2002; Would you like a jelly baby?
It's been in my pocket through 4 regenerations,
but it's still good.

Changed the oil in the Jeep and eyeballed the leaky power steering hoses. Doesn't look that hard to change them but of course I'm sure something horrible will happen.

# ¿ Mar 8, 2010 02:08

Doctor Zero: Sep 21, 2002; Would you like a jelly baby?
It's been in my pocket through 4 regenerations,
but it's still good.

Fats posted:

Not my car, but I spotted a stolen Jeep in a parking lot today and got it returned to its proper owner. Turns out the police blotter in the paper is good for more than just laughing at drunks.

You are a loving hero, no lie. :patriot:

# ¿ Apr 14, 2010 15:02

Doctor Zero: Sep 21, 2002; Would you like a jelly baby?
It's been in my pocket through 4 regenerations,
but it's still good.

It's not very AI, but I took my Jeep in to have them swap out the radiator that developed a hairline crack down near the lower radiator hose. It took me all drat day to do it the first time, and I didn't feel bad when it ended up taking the mechanic twice as long as he thought it would to do it. I recognized that look on his face - he was not very happy. They just charged me labor, and I definitely got more than the standard bill rate's worth of his time.

Still, if the drat thing cracks again, I have a lifetime warranty.

So worth it.

# ¿ May 23, 2010 22:20

Doctor Zero: Sep 21, 2002; Would you like a jelly baby?
It's been in my pocket through 4 regenerations,
but it's still good.

mutt2jeff posted:

Velcroed down my floor mat in the 260z, which would bunch up and caused the gas pedal to get stuck when I floored it. Once was enough of that. Also, tighted the cover bolts on the rear differential in a attempt to stop the slow leak.

Does your differential have a gasket? If so, I hope you simply re-torqued it, because tightening it past spec will actually cause it to leak more.

# ¿ May 29, 2010 18:15

Doctor Zero: Sep 21, 2002; Would you like a jelly baby?
It's been in my pocket through 4 regenerations,
but it's still good.

mutt2jeff posted:

A few of the bolts were actually loose enough to turn with my fingers. I couldn't fit a torque wrench in, so I just snugged them all up as close to the same as I could with a regular wrench.

Yeah, that's probably good.

# ¿ Jun 2, 2010 15:15

Doctor Zero: Sep 21, 2002; Would you like a jelly baby?
It's been in my pocket through 4 regenerations,
but it's still good.

Changed my spark plugs which were without a doubt the most horribly degraded plugs I have ever seen in my life. I have no idea why my Jeep ran as well as it did.

# ¿ Jun 7, 2010 16:32

Doctor Zero: Sep 21, 2002; Would you like a jelly baby?
It's been in my pocket through 4 regenerations,
but it's still good.

Replaced the front pads and rotors on my Jeep. Went pretty well, but had to run to the store because they sold me the wrong pads. :argh:

Tried to bleed the brakes because the fluid is horrible and brown... Yeah... Didn't work so well. Was able to finally get the air out after the loving tubing came out three goddamn times. Think I might take it in for bleeding - I don't have a tool to bleed the ABS anyway. :sigh:

# ¿ Jul 5, 2010 17:15

Doctor Zero: Sep 21, 2002; Would you like a jelly baby?
It's been in my pocket through 4 regenerations,
but it's still good.

I was going to wash & wax our cars, but it rained all weekend, so I just vacuumed and cleaned the interior on the Jeep in the garage.

# ¿ Jul 12, 2010 16:23

Doctor Zero: Sep 21, 2002; Would you like a jelly baby?
It's been in my pocket through 4 regenerations,
but it's still good.

quadpus posted:

What the hell is a smith's module?

It provides power to the Johnson rod.

# ¿ Jul 21, 2010 19:56

Doctor Zero: Sep 21, 2002; Would you like a jelly baby?
It's been in my pocket through 4 regenerations,
but it's still good.

Blew out the plugged AC drain with air. Hopefully that will keep Lake PassengerSide from forming again.

# ¿ Aug 2, 2010 18:57

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# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 14:44

Doctor Zero: Sep 21, 2002; Would you like a jelly baby?
It's been in my pocket through 4 regenerations,
but it's still good.

MrSaturn posted:

This is not a measure of a good car. This is a measure of a bad owner.

It may have been good at one point, but it's sure not any more.

# ¿ Aug 13, 2010 15:27

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Automotive Insanity > What did you do to your car today? My car isn't fast, it's only 10s in the 1/4 mile