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Chief Savage Man posted:2014 VW Jetta Sportswagen 2.0L TDI 25k miles (its a working car) See emphasis above, surely this is still under factory warranty? Take it to the dealer and let them handle it. e: just saw your later reply, if it's a fleet car let the fleet management company handle it. Geoj fucked around with this message at 19:08 on Feb 8, 2015 |
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Feb 8, 2015 19:01
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| # ¿ May 1, 2024 05:43 |
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C-Max is a "people mover" or MPV - kind of a cross between a minivan and a four-door hatch/station wagon. Longer wheelbase and more headroom than the Focus hatch, although they do share the Ford C platform as an underpinning.
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Feb 9, 2015 07:23
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melon cat posted:Hopefully it won't cost too much to pay a local garage to re-spray the side mirror into a matching colour? You'd want to talk to a bodyshop about this. This is the kind of thing where if you were having the car sprayed for something else they'd probably throw it in for free, but considering auto paint is about as expensive as unicorn semen you're probably going to be looking at a minimum of $100 to have it professionally done. Alternately, if your car is a relatively common color like black (kind of hard to tell from your picture if its black or forest green) you could probably do a passable rattle can job yourself.
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Feb 15, 2015 06:56
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The word you're looking for is metallic. I'm sure you could find a close match either at a hardware store or auto parts store but it's not going to be the same as the rest of the body. The painted cap should come primed, but otherwise there really isn't much to concern yourself with when choosing a primer, especially when painting plastic. Lots of thin coats are better than one thick one, and you'll want to follow up the base coat with clearcoat. TBH you should really try to find a pre-painted replacement in a junkyard if eBay doesn't work, getting spraypaint to come out good is very difficult if you've never painted before.
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Feb 15, 2015 07:20
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Rear disc brakes? If so you may have a rock jammed between the rotor and it's shield.
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Feb 18, 2015 17:25
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FogHelmut posted:A friend of mine was just quoted $1600 for a bad catalytic converter...he found the exact parts for less half what they quoted. In addition to what was already stated, they could have been trying to sell him OEM or 50-state cats.
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Feb 19, 2015 20:13
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As a lifelong NE Ohio resident I can attest that the worst snow tire will do better in the snow than the best all-season. Yes, you can get by with all-seasons in heavy snow, but with snow tires you can pretty much drive like normal as long as you have sufficient ground clearance. Really it depends on how often you have heavy snowfall to the point that it accumulates on the road and cannot be reasonably cleared. If its fairly common having a set of dedicated snow tires should be required, but if it only happens a handful of times per season I wouldn't worry about it.
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Feb 20, 2015 22:57
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StormDrain posted:Well I drove down there and looked at it. No leaks or drips on the floor, all of the plastic around the air boxes was completely clean like it had been detailed even. The level of coolant was down a very slight amount from the cold fill line but I have no reference to what it was last week. Still under warranty I hope...? That could get expensive fast.
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Feb 24, 2015 23:27
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EZipperelli posted:Re: overheating Civic What happens when you turn on the A/C? On most modern cars this will turn the fan(s) on at full blast. While I can't speak specifically to the model a lot of modern cars also use a resistor pack to run the fan(s) at low speed, if this wears out it can either result in the fan(s) not working at all or only working at full. smackfu posted:Would it make any sense for my automatic car to shift worse after getting the transmission fluid flushed? It just seems to jolt a bit when going from 1st to 2nd to 3rd. How long was it since the last flush/how many miles are on the car? This could go one of two directions - either the transmission is over/under filled causing rough shifts, or else the transmission went so long between flushes that gunk built up inside the fluid passages which flushing broke loose, and now has worked its way into a small passage and is blocking or restricting fluid from flowing through. Geoj fucked around with this message at 20:07 on Feb 26, 2015 |
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Feb 26, 2015 20:02
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smackfu posted:120k miles, may never have been flushed? So probably the second one. Yeah, generally its not advisable to flush fluid in a transmission that has either never been flushed regularly or is an unknown quanitity. You can change the fluid on such a transmission, but this is a long, drawn-out process that usually requires you (or your mechanic) to disconnect the transmission cooler and slowly suck new fluid in while it spits old fluid out on the other side. Most shops would rather hook the transmission up to a flushing machine that forces fluid through it at (relatively) high pressure, which is what can knock the buildup loose.
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Feb 27, 2015 00:42
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The Royal Nonesuch posted:I was considering replacing the cat while I'm at it - it's a California car...Is this a stupid use of $180? If you're still in California I'd be shocked if you could get a CARB-certified cat for $180.
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Feb 27, 2015 06:49
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leica posted:Anyone know a trick on how to patch a hole in a CV boot? It's a tiny hole but it's spurting grease everywhere. I read somewhere that using a new boot, and cutting out the groove you need and putting it over the groove with the hole in it, sealing it with silicone. IDK, but I really don't want to use a split boot because they are poo poo and I REALLY don't want to take the axle apart for a tiny hole. Is it an actual hole or just a tear in the rubber? I found a small tear in the boot on the passenger side boot of my Focus once, cleaned it off really well and just covered it with some black RTV. That was seven or eight years ago, last time I looked at it (maybe a year ago) it was still sealed. If you have an actual hole YMMV.
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Feb 27, 2015 21:48
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smackfu posted:I think it might be a third option: it's shifting poorly when the engine isn't warmed up, and it's been very, very cold around here lately. How cold are we talking? You'd have to be pretty far into double-digit negative temperatures for ATF to become viscous enough to effect shifting. The only other explanation I could think of is if the shop used the wrong type of fluid, either for your transmission or for weather local to where you are.
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Mar 2, 2015 20:20
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That's a MkI Focus, the 2012 is a MkIII. Looking at GIS results looks like it might be tucked up in front of one of the front wheels...?
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Mar 5, 2015 06:07
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SperginMcBadposter posted:Can Ford dealerships look up the key cuts for a car based on the VIN? I need to get more copies of the key to my zx2, but they only key I have for it is a beat up non-original. Might vary from dealer to dealer but yes, most should be able to cut a key based on the VIN. I got my brother a replacement key for his Focus (after he dropped his keyring and ran it over with a lawnmower) from a Ford dealer that was offering 20% all parts on another forum by giving the parts guy his VIN. You might have to pay them or a locksmith to program it to your car though, IIRC Ford's PATS from that era requires you have two keys to add more to the system.
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Mar 5, 2015 15:47
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Shift into the highest gear the transmission will allow you to select from a stop and push the gas pedal like there's a newborn puppy under your foot.
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Mar 5, 2015 17:24
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1500quidporsche posted:Not going to help if he has to reverse out. Depends, if he has space to roll forward it could get him out of the ruts his tires carved into the ice. Then drop into reverse and back out using momentum to not get stuck in the ruts again.
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Mar 5, 2015 17:38
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Mr Executive posted:FM Modulator Questions Are you powering the modulator off the same circuit as the head unit? If not the static being introduced on other FM stations could be the result of a ground loop. Same goes for static in the background of music being played over the modulator - do you only hear it when the phone is charging or all the time?
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Mar 9, 2015 17:22
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Mr Executive posted:Yes, the modulator is powered off the head unit's harness. And I always hear the static, regardless of whether the phone is charging or not. How did you ground the modulator? ninja edit: seconding the suggesting for a ground loop isolator, but it likely won't do anything for the static on other FM stations. You either have a poor connection, poor ground or a faulty unit.
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Mar 9, 2015 18:08
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Mr Executive posted:Sorry if it wasn't clear in my original post, but the modulator ground wire is not connected at all. There's your problem. No need to run a wire back from the battery, just find a screw that is attached to something metal, back it out a few turns and wrap some bare wire from the ground around the screw and tighten it back down.
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Mar 9, 2015 19:03
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When I had an FM modulator years ago in a company car it was drat near CD quality, and all other stations came in normally/no added interference. Sounds like you have a bad unit.
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Mar 9, 2015 19:25
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Pander posted:-Upper control arm replacements Do you recall at any point the car having an alignment done with all of these suspension parts being replaced?
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Mar 11, 2015 16:42
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Pander posted:Should an alignment be done at that point, or some point like that? Just asking because none was and I later found out I was really out of alignment after it started pulling way left and my tires got hosed up in about a month. Any time you do major suspension work (ie, replacing components) an alignment should be done. In addition at the bare minimum every time you replace tires (at normal wear rates) you should at least have it checked and realigned if out of spec. A nearly 10 year old car should have been realigned at least once in its lifetime.
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Mar 11, 2015 17:31
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Those are all valid service items for a car with >110,000 miles on it. Prices are a bit steep since it's a dealer quote. Timing belts tend to be a fairly labor intensive project because the engine has to be retimed at the same time, and depending on the layout/design of the engine can be a major pain in the rear end to do. Definitely something you'll want to have done if you're unsure of when the last change was made, if your car has an interference engine (valves & pistons occupy the same physical space at different times) you could be looking at a several thousand dollar repair if the belt breaks while driving. CEL coming on is almost undoubtedly unrelated unless they left something disconnected. If you live in any state but California go to a chain parts store and have them pull the code to see what is wrong.
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Mar 19, 2015 20:43
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saint gerald posted:The saga of my step-daughter's car (with the bent wheel) continues. While removing it last night I discovered some monkeyhanded dogfucker had crossthreaded two of the lugnuts. Did you get the lug nuts off? If so all you really need to do is remove the rotor and then drive the lugs out of the hub with a hammer, taking care to tap them out instead of going to town on them with a sledge hammer (beating on the hub and attached parts isn't the best thing for the bearings.) Installation of new lugs can be done either the same way or use a pile of washers and a lug nut to pull them back into the hub.
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Mar 20, 2015 15:10
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saint gerald posted:Is it OK to just replace the two that were cross-threaded, or should I do all five? The other three were not overly tight (in fact, they were a bit on the loose side). As long as the other three thread onto the lugs smoothly they'll be fine.
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Mar 20, 2015 15:41
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I always thought collision was for vehicle on vehicle accidents and comprehensive covered everything else. Probably a question best answered by the Insurance megathread.
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Mar 26, 2015 23:09
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If both need replacing you could buy yourself some time by cycling the rear wheels to the front and only replace the damaged tire. Since there isn't anything tying the rear wheels together it isn't a big deal if one is substantially more worn than the other.
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Apr 6, 2015 03:57
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Fucknag posted:Veyron GT has 1200 hp to a V6 Camry's 268, a ratio of about 4.5:1. OTOH I can't imagine trying to get 320 WHP down to the ground on turn-of-the century skinny tires and with an open differential...
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Apr 7, 2015 07:05
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Sentient Data posted:How accurate should a fuel gauge be? I've usually been filling up my car at about the 1/4 mark or higher to make sure the fuel pump doesn't struggle/run hot, and re-reading the service manual gave me a bit of pause. The tank usually only takes about 7~8 gallons to fill at the 1/4 level or slightly below (and I know for a fact that it's full at that point since the auto-shutoff didn't trigger once and I got a quick little fuel waterfall), but according to the specs the tank is rated at 14 gallons. Should I assume that the fuel pump is taking 3~4 gallons of space inside the tank? Seems a bit high to me, but I've never seen one out of the tank. 88 Chrysler Lebaron 2.2 turbo, fuel injected (~55psi if that affects pump size) Granted every car is going to be a bit different but I used to drive my Focus for work as a field technician (put about 40,000 miles on it annually for 2.5 years before they issued me a company car) and I almost always filled up after the low fuel light turned on. I figure I ran it through at least 250 tanks of fuel in that time and never had a problem with the fuel pump burning up. spog posted:Has anyone here had a car with an accurate fuel gauge? In my experience fuel gauges are only accurate at full, half and (nearing) empty. With the increasingly dumbed-down gauge clusters being offered I'm surprised manufacturers haven't switched to an idiot light only configuration, with estimated fuel buried a few levels down in a LCD/VFD panel in the cluster.
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Apr 11, 2015 00:54
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I use a basic drain pan and pour the oil into a separate jug that seals better. Something like this.
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Apr 11, 2015 23:11
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The only safe/responsible way to add HID to a car that didn't come stock with it is either add OEM HID housings, or if they were not offered on your vehicle crack your stock housings open and retrofit a set of HID projectors into them. I don't care how many times you've heard it, just because your headlights have projector housings doesn't mean it's safe to install a kit of re-keyed HID bulbs into them.
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Apr 12, 2015 05:30
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B4Ctom1 posted:Is it because they melt or because of light spattering/blinding/leakage? The latter. The reflector (even in a projector housing) is designed around the bulb, so filament length, shape, orientation and output are all critical factors in what happens with the light. Since HID bulbs generate light through an arc instead of a filament the light source is radically different from any halogen bulb, and as a result the light that comes out under the cutoff is going to scatter. This will result in a dangerous situation not only for other drivers being blinded by your headlights, but it will also cause the lighted area ahead of your car to be massively insufficient and overly bright, both not illuminating sufficiently at a distance and reducing your ability to see in the dark because the immediate area in front of your car will be highly illuminated. VelociBacon posted:Yeah that's the first place I looked but I couldn't find front fenders and I would really like to buy some pre-painted ones since the paint on the rest of the car looks basically new (50k kms on the car and it's been garage kept). Only place you're going to be able to obtain a pre-painted body part is a junkyard. Geoj fucked around with this message at 20:14 on Apr 12, 2015 |
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Apr 12, 2015 19:06
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Tomarse posted:If I go out when it is dark tonight and point the car at a wall, I assume the bit I want to cover with tape is the bit that slopes up above the straight line my lights give on the wall - so a long flat triangle with its end point on the X mark is likely to do this? Sounds like your lights are out of alignment. Procedure for aiming is usually park the car on a level surface X feet/meters from a flat background, measure the distance from the ground to the center mark on the headlight, then add Y inches/centimeters to this and make a horizontal line on the surface. Then you raise/lower the beam until the cutoff is on that line. I can't remember the formula off the top of my head, it's been a while since I had to aim headlights. e: this might help: https://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/aim/aim.html
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Apr 12, 2015 20:19
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lol internet. posted:Is it possible for a car battery to be completely drained to the point you cannot jump start it? Yes. The alternator needs a small amount of current to function, so if the battery is drained enough the alternator won't generate any power. If your battery is that flat it's a good bet you're going to need a new one.
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Apr 26, 2015 00:52
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Yes. If you were in the US I would suggest the $10 Harbor Freight trickle charger. You don't need a really high-end unit to keep a battery topped off.
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Apr 26, 2015 03:38
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You would have to find the factory stereo with the AUX input. Other options include an aftermarket stereo (you can get AUX-in, USB and/or bluetooth on all but the most basic head units today, probably cost under $120 if you do the installation yourself) or else you could buy an FM modulator, which splices into the antenna cable and directly injects the signal into a FM frequency (also requires a set of manufacturer-specific antenna cable adapters.)
Geoj fucked around with this message at 00:50 on Apr 27, 2015 |
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Apr 27, 2015 00:48
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Scyantific posted:With a solid CEL, how safe is it to say, take it to the local auto parts shop to get the OBD codes pulled so I can take it to my mechanic (nearest Auto Zone is ~3 minutes away). Or should I just let my mechanic know and have it towed straight to his shop from my house? I'd rather not have my car blow up or anything since we've had it for 10 years now and it's only failed us once (timing belt about a year ago). Solid CEL = fault code logged but should be safe to drive, flashing CEL = misfire detected which can cook the cat and cause damage to the exhaust manifold/header and the entire top end of the engine if you're really unlucky. Basically flashing CEL should be treated with the same severity as an oil pressure light - shut the engine off and stop the car as soon as it is safe to do so. Since it's now a solid check engine I'd carefully drive it to your mechanic or chain parts store if you live in not-California, have the code(s) pulled and see what the problem is.
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Apr 28, 2015 04:52
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babyeatingpsychopath posted:A rebuilt master cylinder with a sketchy slave cylinder can cause the slave to pop internally, leaking hydraulic fluid all over the clutch plates. Fluid-covered dry clutches don't work that well. There is no rebuilding the master cylinder on a Focus - they're made from plastic and every one of them is a ticking timebomb from day one. A very common problem on the MkI Focus with a manual transmission is "fluid leaking down my clutch pedal." But yeah, I'm going to guess dead clutch or blown clutch hydraulics inside the bellhousing. The slave cylinder and TOB are the same unit so unfortunately the transmission has to come off to diagnose or replace it, and at that point might as well replace the clutch too.
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Apr 28, 2015 20:21
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| # ¿ May 1, 2024 05:43 |
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Breaker bar with an impact socket and a big piece of pipe, or you could do the same minus the pipe and secure the breaker against something solid, then turn the engine over briefly and let the starter do the work for you.
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May 2, 2015 20:50
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