AI Stupid Question Thread - The automotive forum is calling about your car

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Automotive Insanity > AI Stupid Question Thread - The automotive forum is calling about your car

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ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

I'll be moving from Saskatchewan to Ontario in April, and soon after I start my new job there I'll want to buy a car. I'll sort out budget and so forth and post in the AI-meets-BFC thread when I've got some numbers, but I wanted to check in here where I know there are a few Ontario goons kicking around.

I read the relevant webpages, and I understand I'll have 6 days after buying the car to get it registered and plated. They (Ministry of Transportation) will charge me 13% sales tax on the value of the car (actual price or book value, whichever is higher) and will want to see some documents, like a safety certificate and (maybe?) an emissions test. Plus proof of insurance.

I'm a little confused about the process here. Is it:
1. Find a car, test-drive it, buy it
2. Go to an insurance broker and get car insurance
3. Go to a MTO office and register the car, get plates.
4. Drive, be happy.
?
or do I have the order of operations wrong?

My confusion is: can you drive around for most of a week without plates? Do you get temporary plates of some kind when you buy a car? Do I ask the seller to leave the plates on the car until I can get the registration and insurance all arranged? Can you get an emissions test with temporary or previous-owner's plates?

EDIT: I'll be moving to Kitchener/Waterloo, if that makes any difference.

# ¿ Feb 11, 2015 22:38

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# ¿ Apr 30, 2024 03:18

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

IM DAY DAY IRL posted:

I ask because this is about 10 miles from my house

Stop loving around on the internet and buy this RIGHT GODDAM NOW! Sunday Drives in that beast are going to be every kind of awesome.

Suave Fedora posted:

I bought a 2000 Ford Ranger for $2,250 (only 67k miles on it, couldn't pass that up) as my beater, but the exterior makes it look like it was garaged in Beirut. I just bought new shocks that I plan on installing with the help of a neighbor.

Rangerchat! I'm shopping for exactly that: a Ranger from between about 1989 and 2004 for a budget of around $2500 - $3500. Which engine do you have in yours? I've been told to seek out the I4 2.3L (2.5L after 1998). I find the XLT trim, with extended cab (jump seats!) and 4x4 if I can find it, most appealing. How has yours been treating you so far?

# ¿ Apr 9, 2015 01:10

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

None of that matters - it has THIS

EDIT:

quote:

embrace the patina

# ¿ Apr 9, 2015 01:23

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

1997 Ford Ranger XLT Supercab 4.0L V6 4x4 (most of that is probably irrelevant)

The climate control on my truck is not working. The blower pushes air just fine, the AC blows cold but only barely, and the knobs all seem to turn properly. The engine temperature is fine and there's plenty of clean coolant where it's supposed to be. But no matter where the temperature dial is set, the air blowing from the vents is the same temperature as the outside air; unless, like I said, I put it to AC or MAX AC and then it's a little colder than outside.

Replacing the control unit under the radio receiver looks fairly straightforward (assuming I can find a replacement part, presumably from a junkyard), and I plan on replacing the head unit with an aftermarket receiver / CD player soon anyway. However, if it's the heater core I'll need to basically remove everything in front of the steering wheel (and probably the steering wheel, too) to get at it. Is there a way to test what could be causing this problem?

Please tell me it's something stupidly simple like a blown fuse. It's not a huge problem right now, but in a few months the weather is going to get cold and I want heat inside my truck.

# ¿ Jun 17, 2015 02:16

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

InitialDave posted:

So you're saying I should dump the body before getting gas in order to maintain performance?

No. You want to fill the tank several days - and dozens of miles - away from the dump site. Have a 3/4-full tank when you're making your disposal run, you want to be comfortably independent of local suppliers for everything. Gas stations have cameras, they'll spot you filling up at that open-all-night station at the crossroads just down from those nice, tangled bushes. Between your furtive glances, the mud caking the wheel wells (and your shoes), and the black garbage bags flapping out of the trunk, they'll nail you quickly.

# ¿ Jun 23, 2015 21:03

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

I'm planning to change the oil + filter on my 97 Ranger on Saturday, but tomorrow (Friday) I'll be poking around near some autoparts stores. Anything else quick-and-easy I should add to the list? I did the air filter about 5000 km ago (mostly highway), and the cooling system appears to be in great shape. Rotate the tires or something like that?

# ¿ Jul 10, 2015 05:53

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

VelociBacon posted:

Fuel filter if it's original I guess.

That's a good idea. I was looking up a how-to ("have a fire extinguisher handy") when I remembered that my mechanic checked it and told me it was in good shape and not original when I brought the truck to him after I bought it. Still a good suggestion even if I don't need to do it now, thanks.

# ¿ Jul 10, 2015 20:37

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

Toebone posted:

I'm replacing the hatch lift supports on my 2009 VW Rabbit. I ordered the ones that came up as a fit at Autozone (Mighty Lift D95882) but they're about an inch and a half longer than the OEM supports, and I can't fit them in fully extended. Am I supposed to be able to compress these things first, or do I have to go yell at autozone and get a different fit?

Every time I've swapped hatch lift supports (3 pairs so far, all Ford for whatever weird reason) the new ones have been exactly the same length extended as the old ones.

Go yell at autozone.

# ¿ Jul 11, 2015 19:09

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

1997 Ford Ranger XLT (4x4, 4.0L V6, stick-shift, Extended Cab)

I've gotta track down a slow leak in my power steering. The pump works, there's no whine (unless the fluid is low), and as long as I keep topping up the fluid level it works great. But if I leave it for a few days, it drains out completely. I suspect a leak in a hose or a hose fitting, but I don't know which hose (assuming there is more than one). How do I track this down?

Is this something I can reasonably expect to tackle myself (with a bit of help from another enthusiastic amateur, my GF) in an afternoon? I'll be able to hit up local parts shops - in a different vehicle - on Friday and I could devote Friday afternoon and Saturday to this if I had to. Is there anything else (the power steering pump? some other hose in that area?) I might as well do "while I'm in there"?

# ¿ Aug 26, 2015 03:47

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

I have a set of studded winter tires from my dead BMW, and I want to put them on my Ford Ranger. I am in Kitchener/Waterloo, Ontario. This apparently matters regarding the legality of studded tires.

The tires are 185/65R-15 General Altimax Arctic with carbide studs I got from Tire Rack, put on my e36 BMW 328is, drove about 5000 km on then put in storage when the GDCS killed my bimmer.
I now have a 1997 Ford Ranger XLT 4x4 that Tire Rack tells me came from the factory wearing 215/75-15, 225/75-15, or 235/75-15 tires.

The tires are still on the cheap steelies that fit the BMW, so I know I'll need to get new-to-me wheels to even try to put them on the Ranger. I plan to get a set from a junkyard or local kijiji.

If I ask a shop to put my 185/65R-15 tires on Ford Ranger wheels, will bad things happen? I know tire sizing is some kind of dark art with way too many people doing really weird things like stretching small tires onto big wheels, but I look at those numbers and all I see is that my tires will be narrower than Ford's OEM setup, which is fine for winter tires anyways as long as the bead seats properly. And I'll need to remove the studs because southern Ontario doesn't like them, but that looks like a job of a couple of hours with needlenose pliers and some lube.

# ¿ Oct 28, 2015 14:05

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

Thanks, that's not the news I was hoping for but it saves me some trouble.

I had tried to sell the tires a year ago in Saskatchewan but :effort:

and laziness on my part meant I put them in the trailer and hauled them to southern Ontario where their studs will be a bit of a liability. I have a list of crap needs doing on the Ranger anyways (oil leak, out-of-province inspection, registration in Ontario, jammed HVAC blend door

), I'll add "buy winter tires" to the list. On the upside, Rangers (and other Fords with wheels that should fit, like Explorers) are pretty abundant around here so a set on kijiji shouldn't be too hard to find.

Anybody want my tires? I will deliver within a pretty good radius (500km? maybe?) because the adventure would be worth it to me, though timing will be "sometime in November or December or January or when I feel I can take a long weekend". I'm serious, I would happily toss those tires into the back of my Ranger and drive to Northern Ontario or Quebec or New York (state) or someplace.

Comedy option (because I cannot afford this): Buy another BMW! I really want a 3-series convertible anyways, something like a 318 or 320, but I've got too much other poo poo to worry about right now to even contemplate a budget. And yes, I would *absolutely* drive a convertible RWD all winter long, and it would have good winter tires regardless. I'm kind of an evangelist when it comes to winter tires.

EDIT: One of the studded tires in question, on my dead BMW. Better days...

SD 133 Checking the Ice Ferries 24 by Martin Brummell, on Flickr

EDIT2: I'll put together a SA-Mart thread and a link in the AI Buy/Sell thread when I sort out some details.

ExecuDork fucked around with this message at 15:28 on Oct 28, 2015

# ¿ Oct 28, 2015 15:12

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

EightBit posted:

On another topic, to send an oil sample to Blackstone labs, I just slap $3.14 postage on the labelled container they give you and drop it in the mail slot, right (after putting a bit of tape on the lid to keep it tight)? Old lady at the post office gave me some bs runaround when I asked her how to deal with it.

Yup. Check out Blackstone's website, they get asked this often enough that they basically walk you through it. Post office employees don't have a clue, but an oil sample in that container is completely harmless and there are no laws that restrict transport of something like that.

# ¿ Oct 29, 2015 12:33

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

1997 Ford Ranger XLT, 4x4 and the 4.0L V6, manual transmission. About 205 000 km, Canada.

I took my Ranger in for out-of-province inspection because I've just moved to Ontario from Alberta. I stopped in Saskatchewan for a visit with my GF and had the power steering pump replaced at a local mechanic because it was leaking fluid; the mechanic who did the work also replaced the water control valve (a part I didn't know I had, but that's not particularly surprising) because while he was working on the PS pump it fell off; he also did an oil change and told me my brakes were fine. After that, my truck had an oil leak, I was putting in about 1 quart of 5W30 every 800km as I drove to southern Ontario. The OoP inspection turned up bad wiring for the license plate lights ( :jerkbag:

) and a need for new tires, duly fixed & purchased. Also, one of the front brake pads was bent, so those got replaced, too. I told the mechanic here about the oil leak, and he said they'd have to shampoo the engine to find it, something they're not allowed to do because of municipal water rules. So he dumped in some kind of stop-leak solution that actually seems to have (probably temporarily) solved that problem.

Overall, I'm not impressed by that mechanic in Regina, and I'm still undecided on this local guy here in Waterloo.

Now, it chugs under moderate-to-hard acceleration. In any gear, even just maintaining speed up a gentle incline comes with some hestitation and jolting. The oil level seems fine, and the spark plugs and wires were replaced by the PO shortly before I bought the truck, so they're around 1 year old or about 25 000 km. This seems to me like a fuel/air/spark kind of problem, but it feels different from the misfire it had when I bought it (that was due to plug #4 being broken).

How would you go about diagnosing this? Cylinder pressure test and visual inspection of the plugs? How would you test the fuel pump? Is there an easy way to figure out if an O2 sensor is going bad? Could whatever oil-stop-leak solution he put in cause a problem with a sensor or some other part of the oil system?

I have a basic OBDII scanner, somewhere, that I suppose I should dig out and use as step one, even though I don't have a CEL on. Any other suggestions?

EDIT: Could a going-bad battery cause something like this, maybe weak spark? I don't know how old the battery is, and lately on start-up the battery indicator on the dash shows it a little low, like the needle is around 1/4, for the first 10 minutes or so. Then it climbs up to where it indicated before, around 1/2.

ExecuDork fucked around with this message at 18:18 on Nov 17, 2015

# ¿ Nov 17, 2015 18:07

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

Enourmo posted:

Are you sure they replaced them?

Reasonably sure, yes. The wires looked brand new when I bought the truck, and they still look out of place because they're in great shape on the outside. The mechanic in Alberta who diagnosed and fixed the misfire 6 months ago when I bought it told me he thought those wires and plugs (and a few other things, like the alternator) were clearly very new, but whoever had installed them was clumsy, because plug #4 was broken in a way that looked like overtightening.

I've driven it for 6 months and 25 000 km without this issue, including towing a trailer 3000km, so I suppose a plug or wire (or something else) could fail in that time, just coincidentally right after I pick it up from a shop that did an inspection on the vehicle.

I guess I could take a close look at the wires. Anything in particular I should look for?

# ¿ Nov 17, 2015 19:19

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

8ender posted:

I've been hearing excellent things about Autologix in Kitchener from co-workers. Seems to be the kind of honest, old school shop where they don't gently caress around. The only issue might be that they seem to specialize in Subaru's. Not sure if they'd take on your truck but it's worth a call.

Thank you, I'll check them out!

# ¿ Nov 21, 2015 17:56

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

8ender posted:

I just want to add that since I posted that I drove a co-worker there to pick up his car and holy poo poo, run, don't walk to this mans shop.

It's like an AI wonderland in there. Shop seems sketchy as hell at first glance but inside he's got engines apart, turbos being reman'd, and he identified my Audi's engine just looking at the car and told me to bring it in for a cam chain tensioner.

He troubleshooted my friends car via photos sent over text message and then had all the correct parts waiting when he brought it in.

drat. I went to the independent shop that's on my walk to work yesterday morning, the same shop that did my out-of-province inspection. They told me to come back tomorrow morning, and wrote my name & phone number into their hilariously analogue schedule. Now I'm torn - Autologix looks excellent. Their location is far-ish from my current home, but like 2 blocks from my friend's house where I was staying when I first got here. I know the buses in that area and I've been meaning to visit them anyways...

B4Ctom1 posted:

Great idea! I might have to wait until summer to get the most deals?

The best time of year to buy second-hand winter tires is right now. Lazy asses like me don't sell our tires (that don't fit our currently-owned rides) right away, we wait until the snow flies and the demand rises among buyers.

Prices might or might not be better in May, but there's plenty of selection right now.

PaintVagrant posted:

Stupid winter tire question: inflate to the normal pressures indicated on the driver door sticker? Or something else since they are weird voodoo magic tires

Regular, normal pressures.

Unless you bought a set of 4 spiked-with-ice-motocross-studs spare-tire-donuts in a shady back-alley deal under a single flickering sodium-vapour lamp, casting its sickly orange glow over the layers of slush and ice and unmentionable frozen organic fluids as you hand over damp bills to a man wearing a threadbare balaclava and a shiny leather jacket.
Then you need higher pressures. And a shot of Twinrix.

ExecuDork fucked around with this message at 16:22 on Nov 24, 2015

# ¿ Nov 24, 2015 16:18

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

Double-postin' to switch tone.

ICU nurse and Writing God, Elise the Great, mentioned a story about a man crushed by his Honda in the Health Care Stories thread and I asked for some elaboration because the story clearly involved a violation of the first rule of working on your car: NEVER GET UNDER A CAR SUPPORTED BY ONLY A JACK.

WARNING: HORROR

DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE NOT READY TO BE HORRIFIED

elise the great posted:

I don't have a lot of details on the accident, and I cared for the guy during my first year practicing as a nurse, so my memories of his care are a little dim. But I only worked trauma ICU when the MICU was closed for low census, and while I see a lot of blood and cut-up flesh, I rarely see someone who's just been... crushed.

He had been under a car two days before, using a jack. His wife said it was a really good jack, that he had bought it so he could do some relatively minor repair in the driveway, something that required the wheel to be removed. I do remember that the car was a Civic, because my husband (despite his weird Mazda fetish) has a secret soft spot for Civics. I don't know what he was trying to do, but I know that there was some chunk of metal exposed in such a way that when the jack slipped and the car fell, the metal ripped into his side. It glanced off two or three ribs before burying itself in his abdominal wall, lacerating his spleen, shredding a section of colon, and (presumably) leaving him in a pool of blood for his wife to discover when she checked on the noise.

Oh, and it also crushed his face. And his arm. They were ruined.

His right arm had three pins put in it; I guess he'd been working with that arm elevated, and it only sustained a sharp blow. The left, something must have fallen on it and really sat there for a while, it was such a loving mess that the X-ray looked like a black-and-white still-life of a fruit salad with almonds. I'm reasonably sure they amputated it. The ortho surgeon described it as "devastated." Enough of the vasculature had been destroyed that his hand, perfectly intact and normal-looking with wiry hairs lapping neatly over the wrist, was mostly white. A bit of it was healthy and pink, gently mottling out into the larger area of corpse-colored wax. The last three fingertips were so purple they were almost black.

His loving face, though, that poo poo haunts me. Everything was wrecked. Both eyes were missing, but you barely noticed it while you were changing the dressings, because so much of the orbitals was simply missing that the sockets seemed too shallow to house eyes. Nose, totally gone; bones behind nose, crushed to a pulp and removed by surgeons on the left, merely cracked on the right. Cheekbones, gone. Maxilla-- the space between cheek and upper lip-- totally removed on the left side, along with most of his teeth on the left. Chin, shattered, stabilized with wire. Tongue, bitten through on the left, swollen until it spilled out of the space where his lips and teeth used to be.

Some of the skin had been more-or-less stretched over the wounded areas. Chunks of his left cheek, brow, and forehead skin had been grafted into slashes on his abdomen, to keep them healthy until they could be moved back to his face, if he survived long enough for reconstruction. The whole face area was packed with vaseline-impregnated gauze, covered with saline-soaked gauze, wrapped in dry fluffy gauze, still not approximating something that looked human with all the wrappers on-- too concave, too asymmetrical. With the wrappers off, he looked like a half-eaten apple discarded by a toddler.

Worst of all, he had suffered a significant brain injury. Frontal lobe, mostly; he'd been very lucky, and whatever hit him had mostly wrecked his face instead of his cranium. But bone chunks from his shattered sphenoid had lodged in his brain, in the areas where things like emotion and impulse control and self-identity are housed. His pituitary gland had also been hosed pretty hard; it normally sits in a little bone basket behind the bridge of your nose, and having a Honda sit on your face can really ruin its day. His endocrine system was going apeshit. The hormones that controlled his water balance were so far out of whack that he'd started hoarding fluid, and his body bloated up like an over-soaked noodle while his kidneys reluctantly trickled brown sludge into his urinary catheter.

Sorry, did I say "worst of all" yet? My bad. He obviously couldn't breathe through the pile of corned beef hash his face had become, so his throat had been carefully slit and a breathing tube shoved through the hole. Merciful, sort of, since it let us keep his face totally covered most of the time. He really hated the gauze on his face, though.

Because, yeah, I'm gonna say it now: worst of all, he would periodically fight through the incredible amount of sedation we were giving him, and wake up.

Not enough, I hope, to understand what was going on. Not enough to really feel the pain of what had happened, or to respond to commands like "give me a thumbs up" or "wiggle your toes" or "honey, can you hear me, please squeeze my hand." Just enough to try to move his tongue, or to work his jaw, turning his head from side to side to try and escape the gauze. It set the remaining flesh of his face twitching until the bones wrenched. He couldn't speak or even moan, not with the tube in his throat, but he could still try to scream.

At 2000, the surgeon's assistant dropped by to change the dressing with me, to exhort me to keep him on as much pain medication as I could without bottoming out his blood pressure, to explain to me how crucial it was that he not wrench any more bone shards into his brain before they could get the neurosurgery and trauma teams together in the morning, and to give him the first facial nerve block of about six that night to keep his face paralyzed and painless until they could finish cutting it away.

I have no idea what happened to him. It was the week after Christmas. When I came back on January 3, he was gone. He might have been transferred to a larger hospital, or he might have died, and I'm not sure which is better.

# ¿ Nov 24, 2015 16:21

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

/\/\/\ Now you tell me. I ordered one of those little blue ones from Newegg just the other day! I guess that counts as this week's little gamble.

Bajaha posted:

You wouldn't happen to have a link to her story about the mother and son, the one where the mother has Alzheimer's /dementia, falls by the fridge, then the son falls too and it's one of the most horrible stories I've ever read? I think it came up in the chat thread recently. But I can't track it down.

# ¿ Nov 24, 2015 19:25

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

/\/\/\ Spog's in Britain, which isn't much like Arizona.

spog posted:

No-one got any thoughts on whether this is a good/bad idea?

A cover would keep birdshit and snow off of your convertible. But, it's a Saab, built by Swedes who have some experience of winter. I doubt a bit of snow is going to hurt your car.

# ¿ Nov 25, 2015 15:25

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

Update on my 97 Ranger - I scanned the codes this morning before dropping it off at my local mechanic. 0304 - misfire in cylinder 4. That's the same sparkplug that was broken when I bought the truck back in May, sparkplug was replaced. It's been replaced again, along with some other work that I don't fully understand because I can't fully understand my mechanic on the phone. I actually really enjoy the language barrier, it makes the whole spending-money thing seem somehow exotic and interesting. Anyway, if this problem happens again I'm going to assume it's not coincidence and something is going wrong with the ignition system.

For future planning purposes, I priced out a set of sparkplugs and wires on Rockauto, came to a little under $100 with shipping and I figure this is something I could do myself. I know nothing about ignition coils, but the pictures on Rockauto show 6-pack looking things to go with my 6-cylinder engine, so I assume if I wanted to replace that, too, I"d need one. For about $50, which seems reasonable.

Rockauto sells a wide variety of parts they say will fit my car, including "economy", "standard", and "premium" coils, with not much difference in price. Would a "premium" coil do anything noticeable for my engine over a "standard" one? Do you need a premium coil if you're running platinum or other "premium" plugs?

# ¿ Nov 25, 2015 20:17

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

My mechanic thought it was burning oil. The blackened, scorched plug he pulled out seems consistent with that.

Good idea on moving the wires, I'll have to remember that if it happens again.

# ¿ Nov 25, 2015 23:31

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

hackbunny posted:

So, I'm writing a script for a comic book, and I need some help with keeping the automotive stuff not-stupid

totalnewbie posted:

Have you watched the original Italian Job?

Seriously. Watch the original Italian Job. Even if you decide the way the cars / heist stuff in that movie works isn't going to fit with your script (short version: Minis are tiny!), it's a drat good movie.

Some cars of that era to ponder, if for no other reason than the 60's Euro styling:
Karmann Ghia
BMW "New Class" (this includes the very-well-regarded 2002)
Fiat 125
Volvo 140 Series
Saab 96
Aston Martin DBS - pay attention to the Weber carbs swap mentioned in the wiki article, something like that could be semi-plausibly done to any 60's car to make it work the way your comic script wants it to.

And as long as you're watching of-the-era movies, check out Get Carter for more Michael Cain, and any of the Bond movies from the 60's and 70's will have a few fun car scenes.

Also: Rendezvous (1976, Paris)

ExecuDork fucked around with this message at 05:33 on Nov 27, 2015

# ¿ Nov 27, 2015 05:19

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

Grouco posted:

I have a 2003 Chrysler Concorde (190k miles) that is a piece of poo poo. But I got it for free a few years ago after studying abroad.

I assume it's a bad thing if you hear a loud, repetitive grinding/mechanical clanking/knocking/clunking type noise coming from somewhere near the front axle?

I originally thought I might have had a nail in the tire or something, but it's neither the tires nor the engine (there's no sound when I'm at an idle). The sound gets faster in accordance with my speed, to the point where my car was violently shaking on the highway when I was driving home today. Also, I've noticed I need to hold my steering wheel a bit to the left in order to go straight.

Is my front axle about to spontaneously explode?

Oh, also, it goes away when I start to apply the brakes.

Your wheel is about to fall off.

Wheeloff by Martin Brummell, on Flickr

In the 20 minutes of driving I did before this happened, there were sounds and vibrations coming from the front half of the car, that corresponded with speed and went away under moderate braking. I'd just had a pre-trip inspection done and the mechanic had forgotten to tighten the lug nuts after checking my brakes.

Try to move your lug nuts with your fingers. My bet is they are loose as hell. Tighten them back up and take your car back to the last shop you were at and complain until somebody gives you a free very-thorough clean-and-detailing. That's what I got from that shop, they apologized PROFUSELY as soon as they picked up the phone.

Fortunately, this is an easy fix as long as you catch it BEFORE your wheel decides it would rather carry on without you.

# ¿ Nov 29, 2015 04:06

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

Seconding (thirding? whatever) "Get CAA" In Alberta it's AMA, rest of Canada CAA [Province Name], and in the USA AAA. This is for everybody, I don't care what car you have or how reliable your wrenchin' buddy is, AAA/CAA is absolutely the best car-related purchase I have ever made.

Worth 10x more than it costs, easily, plus the intangible benefit of knowing you have a phone number in your pocket to call in case of the unexpected. With a membership, they've got your back for anything car-related.

We're a month from the end of the year, and I haven't hit my quota of two tows a year, just the one from March related to that picture I posted, above (weirdly, the tow truck driver told me I was the second wheel-fell-off job he did that evening). The previous 5 years I was rescued by CAA twice a year like I'd signed a contract. Clearly I need to drive on less-well-maintained roads and find more out-of-the-way places to visit. Right after I renew my membership, of course.

# ¿ Nov 29, 2015 21:40

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

Javid posted:

nthing AAA. I've even burnt a leftover tow at the end of my year to get someone else out of a ditch. It's pretty handy.

They also aren't dicks about what constitutes a tow. If you break down at 11 PM on a Friday night, the tow home + tow into a shop on Monday are both one incident, not eating your two tows for the year if that's what you have.

That's good to know! I haven't tested that. Almost all of my tows were Sunday afternoon / evening, so the ~half that were "broken car" rather than "foolish driver"* ended with a drop at the shop and then I got a ride home (or lived close enough to the shop to just walk).

* I realize that 100% of my tows were "foolish driver", and the differences are just a matter of scale. Foolish for driving down that not-really-a-road, foolish for setting off with a known-bad clutch or in a BMW with a known-failing cooling system. And we'll just ignore the two times I've gotten CAA Saskatchewan to pour 5 gallons of 87 octane into my gas tank for free!

# ¿ Dec 1, 2015 04:14

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

Gray Stormy posted:

Ive got a Nissan Titan with the 5.5ft bed. Who/where is a good spot to shop for tonneau covers? Whats something to look for so I dont buy total poo poo?

I really have no idea, but I had a good experience getting replacement lift-struts for my no-name, used canopy on my beater Ranger at CAP-it. I'm sure you could do worse than walk into one of those and talk to the salesmonkey.

# ¿ Dec 14, 2015 17:17

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

spog posted:

I would guess that if things break, it is likely to be stuff like electric frippery that you can live without.

If it meant paying off my credit cards a year earlier, I'd quite happily live with a car where the electric heated seats don't work.

Just an aside: I picked up an aftermarket heated seat for my blend-door-jammed Ranger a couple of weeks ago for about $30. Works well enough until I can rip into the dash, methinks.

Safety Dance posted:

Pelicanparts, that's what I was looking for. Rock Auto has some cheesy "chrome" things for like eight bucks a piece. Pelicanparts has the OEM piece.

Does anyone know if replacing the kidney grille is as easy as just pushing the new one into place, or will Mom have to take her car to the shop?

It should just push in, carefully. I pulled my kidney-grills off and sent them to a goon when my e36 died, they have (I think) 8 clips all around the circumference but they're not super-fragile.

Somebody in Vegas give Centripedal Horse the Christmas miracle he needs already. Where's the paypal link? My GF got me a very imbalanced xmas haul and I'm feeling guilty-spendy.

# ¿ Dec 25, 2015 05:41

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

Some of you may have seen my posts about the lab's work truck in other threads. Short version: 2007 Ford F150 4x4 XLT (with about 200 000 km on the odo), and we drove her through so much mud last summer that her transmission overheated and must be replaced, along with the transmission cooler and some other things:

Metro Ford posted:

Vehicle need new transmission, transmission cooler, master brake cylinder, left front axle IWE solenoid , front drive shaft vacuum line ,and valve.

Total cost of repairs is estimated at somewhere around $8000-$9500 - it's a University-owned vehicle and the work would be done at the dealership so there's zero chance of any fix-it-yourself type options actually happening. Either it gets repaired at the dealership or it gets liquidated.

We (my boss and I) are trying to figure out what to do for a field work vehicle next summer. This truck is the most convenient option - as a university-owned vehicle she'd be available when we need her and pickup / return is very, very easy. Insurance and getting as many people as possible on our field team set up as drivers is also easiest with this truck. We use the truck all summer (late-April to early-September) and another prof at the university uses this truck during the off-season. We put about 5000 km on her every summer, the other prof around 3000 km the other 7.5 months of the year. Her high mileage mostly comes from a few years ago when she was driven around 20K per year.

Our other option is a rental through the university, which would cost about $5000 and have a slightly higher difficulty of getting all of our drivers sorted out on it, and we don't know for sure how the insurance is going to work.

The question I've been asked, as the most car-enthusiastic person here, is:

DogonCrook posted:

Battery / connectors

Razzled posted:

IAC valve, TPS, MAP sensor.

Breakfast Feud posted:

IAC valve then 02/MAP sensors

Awesome. Thanks to all of you. It was dark and I had to Do Stuff last night so I did nothing on my truck except drive it and argue with my GPS about how to get around the construction. I noticed the headlights dimmed when the engine rpms dropped down below 500, which is (I think) consistent with an electrical problem like a dying battery and/or corrosion increasing electrical resistance. There could be other stuff going on as well, of course, but a battery swap (and a bit of time cleaning up the wires as much as I can) is easy and probably worth doing anyways.

EDIT: some poking around on RockAuto suggests an IAC will cost about $50, TPS $40, and RockAuto doesn't seem to stock a MAP sensor for my truck. I also found some videos explaining how to test these things with my multimeter, so I guess I know what my Saturday looks like.

Deteriorata posted:

2) Old BMWs cost a fortune to maintain. Routine maintenance like brakes costs twice as much as other cars, while other stuff breaks regularly and also costs a fortune to fix. You have to really want to own a BMW to put up with it. Your friend should plan on several thousand dollars per year in repairs.

Confirmed. I used to have a 1996 BMW 328is (loved that car!) that I drove from 250 000km up to about 315 000km in 2.5 years and it was an expensive (and lovely! and fun! and I loved that drat car!) toy. An oil change was $100, getting the clutch replaced - with OEM equivalent, not an aftermarket performance clutch - was somewhere close to $1000, I did the brake pads myself (with a friend who was curious about BMWs and had very good tools) but even those were about twice the price of pads for my friend's Subaru. Everything about a BMW costs more. Mine was eventually killed by overheating, which warped the heads and VANOS means a replacement engine is cheaper (including labour) than fixing that. And that was more than the car was worth at the time, so to the JY she went.

ExecuDork fucked around with this message at 15:53 on Oct 11, 2017

# ¿ Oct 11, 2017 15:46

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

CornHolio posted:

Where were you getting your parts? When I had my E36 I joked to a friend that my parts were cheaper than what he was getting for his Taurus. To date that is the cheapest car I've owned, per mile.

Rockauto for some things but most of the work was done by professionals. I am not good at cars, I just like them

# ¿ Oct 13, 2017 00:44

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

Follow up on my drowsy Ranger. New battery, lots of rust on the hold-down bolt, wire brush applied to the battery connectors, problem solved.

I'll give it a more thorough test today but it immediately seemed way better.

# ¿ Oct 15, 2017 15:22

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

Q8ee posted:

Got an independent garage to take a look at my car. They've told me they haven't detected any issues, and it's driving me mad.

Get somebody from that independent garage to test-drive your car, with you in the passenger seat.

The last time I had problems with my truck's front end (there's a part of the 4WD system that keeps mysteriously disappearing, new axles seem to have solved this weird problem) the tech who had done most of the work on it up to that point offered to drive around with me to diagnose the on-again/off-again nature of my problem. His little test-drives hadn't shown anything, but after I picked it up the first time I had some problems at highway speeds so I came back. For the first 10 minutes, no problems (of course), but we got onto a highway and up to speed and then he felt the front end misbehave.

Things like janky gear changes and no power in 4th should show up on a test-drive that goes further than once around the shop. Really, if you've described your problems to them the same way you've described them here, they should be doing proper test-drives anyway.

IOwnCalculus posted:

Why would you not downshift for an overtake like that?

He did. He said he dropped down to 4th, so presumably had been in 5th at 50mph. Dropping more than 1 gear to overtake is outside most people's normal driving habits, I think. Not saying it's a bad idea - Q8ee, take it out again and see what it's like in 3rd at 50mph - but it's probably not something most people would think to do.

ExecuDork fucked around with this message at 15:03 on Oct 18, 2017

# ¿ Oct 18, 2017 15:00

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

Q8ee posted:

I didn't realise it was that bad but after they'd tightened whatever they tightened, the clutch feels solid and responsive.

It's possible they were looking at the car and somebody noticed a loose bolt or dangling wire or something, and just did it. Rarely, but not never, a tiny, trivial fix makes a huge difference. Something like a loose electrical connection that comes and goes, or a pin that gets in the way of something else when it's not supposed to, sometimes, can really gently caress with driving a car in weird ways.

# ¿ Oct 19, 2017 17:07

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

Christobevii3 posted:

How do you decide if you should have winter tires or not? Snow stays more than a few days?

Temperature.

Winter tires are made of rubber with a different chemical composition than all-season tires. All-seasons get very rigid at temperatures below 7 C (45 F) but winters stay nicely pliable. If you're expecting near-freezing temperatures, or colder, for more than a couple of days, get winters.

# ¿ Oct 21, 2017 23:49

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

LawfulWaffle posted:

I guess a good follow up question I should ask is: Do dealerships usually have tow companies they work with? I have AAA but this isn't an emergency I'd like to call them in for. I have no way of moving my car to the dealership as is and figure they've got to have something in place for a situation like this.

Unless AAA works drastically differently from its Canadian sibling, call AAA. Most of CAA's calls are 3-minute fixes like boosting a dead battery, unlocking doors, or changing flat tires. The first they usually ask me when I call them is "Are you in a safe place?" because they prioritize the actual-emergency stuff, but they don't hang up when I say "Yes" (because I'm at home in my parking spot, drinking coffee and lamenting the current state of affairs).

Sometimes batteries die and take other things with them on the way down. I had a weak battery murder-suicide the alternator long ago, and the CAA tow truck driver talked about the "Unholy Trinity" of battery, alternator, and starter - when one of those goes, it can kill one or both of the others at the same time.

Your battery is dead or close to it and will cause problems. Replacing it might not completely solve your problems (there might be more than one thing going on) but it will solve at least some of them.

****
Replacing my battery last weekend (add "clumsily spray PB Blaster on the bolt that's more rust than steel" to that SOP, please) helped, but my truck is still doing that slow-and-low surging and dying at stop lights thing. :sigh:

What gauge of wire am I shopping for to replace my corroded negative wire? There are two black-insulated wires going to the negative terminal on my battery, one is smaller than the other. Any idea what that smaller one is for? I assume the big one is for "the whole truck" but that smaller one is for some specific accessory.

# ¿ Oct 23, 2017 15:20

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

/\/\/\ Long shot, but worth a look I think: https://www.mcmaster.com/

Mr_Peaches posted:

That being said, I don't know my rear end from my elbow when it comes to cars. I don't know what types of vendors can be trusted, or how to inspect an engine to see if its good or not. So I thought I'd post here. Is a used engine a good idea in the first place? If so, what are the ways to go about looking for one to avoid totally loving up?

Your trusted mechanic should be able to handle everything for you. I considered an engine replacement on a previous car, and my mechanic walked me through all of the options - his recommendation was "junk the car, not worth it" which is what I did, but his second choice was for him to find a replacement, bring it in and give it a thorough once-over before it goes into the car, and basically handle the entire process start to finish, for about $4000 (1996 BMW 328is, :canada:

). If I had found an engine and brought it to him, I might have saved $1000 but he would not be able to provide any warranty because he wouldn't trust the engine.

Godholio posted:

That is what I have, and that nut doesn't actually tighten enough to clamp well, it just keeps it from coming completely loose.

I bought a replacement battery connector about two weeks ago from Walmart. I also bought the metal cap-shaped shims they were selling because the package said the connector might not be able to tighten enough onto the battery terminal. I spent $10, and I had a welcome excuse to hit something with an improvised hammer.

# ¿ Oct 24, 2017 16:02

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

1997 Ford Ranger XLT 4.0L V6 4x4
The windshield wipers work fine, the intermittent settings all seem OK and there are no scary noises or weird delays or anything. What doesn't work well is the sprayer. I replaced the pump when I bought this truck in May 2015, and it *will* spray, sometimes. It won't spray if the wipers are set to anything other than OFF, and I have to hold the button (the end of the stalk) in for a few seconds before it starts going; sometimes I have to hold it, release it, hold it again to get it to work. All of this rules out the fuse and the pump, but the "sometimes it works" nature of the problem suggests the relay or switch is damaged. There's a bunch of corrosion around the battery and some other electrical components, so I wouldn't be surprised if it's something like that.

How do I know if a relay is bad? I can pull it and look at it, is there anything besides nastry grime and corrosion I should look for? How would I figure out the part number to replace it? NAPA has something in stock locally for $15, but it might be for the wiper motors rather than the sprayer. Do relays have unique part numbers written on them?

This is something that's causing my truck to fail out-of-province inspection and I'd like to register it here in Quebec before my Ontario insurance expires November 19. Sidenote, Quebec car insurance is amazingly cheap (because Socialism, basically).

# ¿ Nov 1, 2017 21:17

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

I found the wiper pump relay, it's in a little panel with one other relay, for the blower motor just behind and beside the right headlight. No corrosion or visible damage. It's dark now, I'll see if I can find an identical relay to swap-test it tomorrow morning - thanks for that! From the owner's manual the horn might be a good candidate.

Rockauto will sell a multi function switch to me for about $65 (plus shipping), but there are three junkyards nearby and this seems like something to try for. Is there a way to test a MFS that I've just pulled out of a wreck, before I install it in my truck?

The other things that led to failing the inspection were:
* Feux de freinage - "Brake lights" - LL Obstru� and a Remarque: CYCLOP CACHE PAR LA CABINE that I *think* means the centre brake light is obscured by the topper on the bed. I don't know how to solve that, but if I return to the inspection station without the topper I think I'll be OK.
* Phare de route - W Non conforme au fab. - the second part means this thing, whatever it is, does not conform to the manufacturer's standards. Google comes up with "Road lighthouse" but I'm leaning towards "LOL tes foglights sont gently caress�e" which is absolutely true. Both lights are broken, including the housings. I guess they're required in Quebec, though the guide I found only talks about "parking lights". Another target for the JY, or else an online order for $50 each.

Plus both front disk brakes are Endommag� (damaged) with a note: DISQUES AVANT GAUCHE ET DROIT ROUILLES A L'INTEREUR and google comes back with "rusty" and I guess the part about "interieur" means the inner surface? Perhaps my rotors are damaged? That would make sense, really.

And my left front wheel bearing has JEU ANORMAL - abnormal play (or "strange game", I guess).

Also the windshield wiper thing.

ExecuDork posted:

Do relays have unique part numbers written on them?

For anyone still wondering about this, the answer is yes. Apparently, this relay is used for all sorts of things, like A/C and other HVAC stuff. And it's readily available locally for $15.

My plan at this point is to test that relay, and head out to the local JY's this week (one is open on weekends, the others not so much) for the MFS and foglights. Then take it to my very local general mechanic and get him to do the brakes and the wheel bearing. I found a youtube video of somebody with a very similar truck changing out both front wheel bearings (and some other parts) but I got tired just watching it. Maybe I'll find some motivation somewhere. The guy at the Honda dealership when I picked up my truck spoke about as much English as I do French so it was an odd little conversation but I'm *pretty sure* he said this inspection report is good for a year, I just have to take it back when these things are fixed and they'll have a look and (hopefully) sign off on it.

And I'm going to run this inspection report by a bilingual coworker tomorrow to see if she agrees with my guesses about the foglights and the centre brake light (I think they call it the cyclop here :rolleye:

) - she claims to know nothing about cars but she's basically 100% fluent in both English and French and she can't take back that offer she made about helping me.

# ¿ Nov 2, 2017 00:15

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# ¿ Apr 30, 2024 03:18

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

Cage posted:

For 97 ranger goon: had this problem in a 99 explorer with the 4.0. Wipers worked fine, pump would work sometimes but sometimes not. I tried checking fuses and relays and even got a new pump motor but couldn't get it working. I ended up hooking up a basic push button directly to the pump. Would they let you pass inspection like that?

That's a good idea, but I doubt it would pass. And my French is nowhere near good enough to argue the point if it was borderline.

I found this video that shows how to replace the MFS - looks easier than I expected, I was kind of thinking I'd need to remove the steering wheel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxE9ukmE8B4

opengl128 posted:

I was just watching this tonight, sounds similar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jdx2TW78PNA

Different complaint, but I like the way he goes through the steps of diagnosing the problem. I NEED to find a magnetic light like his - the black stick he just stuck to whatever part of the frame/body nearby. A test light would also be a good idea.

# ¿ Nov 2, 2017 20:06

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Automotive Insanity > AI Stupid Question Thread - The automotive forum is calling about your car

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quote:

Metro Ford posted:

Other Prof who uses the truck posted: