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Good call. Keeping a level of separation will save you huge on the back side. I also think it's better to run that thing into the ground instead of pouring time and money into it. You're doing a great thing, and there is more need than you realize. I have been a contributor to I Support the Girls for a few years. it's a non-profit that provides bras, panties, and feminine care products to those in need. I just have a recurring Amazon Subscribe and Save order going to the local representative's house. I continue to be stunned by some of the stories of women that don't have access to basic personal care items. This is a great country, but we don't care for the people that really need it.
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Jan 11, 2023 17:37
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meatpimp posted:Good call. Keeping a level of separation will save you huge on the back side. I also think it's better to run that thing into the ground instead of pouring time and money into it. A large portion of the people in this country have bought into the idea that you have to "earn" your position in the country. If people don't "deserve" it, then they shouldn't be "just handed everything on a silver platter". It comes from the myth of the "American Dream" where anyone with a good work ethic could turn themselves into a completely successful "model American" with enough hard work and dedication. This completely ignores that there are thousands of pitfalls that can outright ruin someone's chances of being successful. Some people have safety nets across these pitfalls. Some people are literally born in the pit and would have to work their whole lives to make it to the starting point of their more successful neighbors. It makes successful people feel like they earned and deserve their success, regardless of their starting position, any assistance they obtained, or how much fortune (I'm not fond of the word luck) played a role. It makes successful people feel like the people who haven't achieved success "deserve" their position in society. It also ignores the obvious racial/gender/health/family aspects of success. The wealthy, churches, mass media, and to a larger extent, the government all have a vested interest in keeping this system in place because it makes them a poo poo load of money, provides easy scapegoats/victims/vassals, and makes them feel like their power isn't an entitlement, but a deserved reward for their success.
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Jan 11, 2023 18:12
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sharkytm posted:A large portion of the people in this country have bought into the idea that you have to "earn" your position in the country. If people don't "deserve" it, then they shouldn't be "just handed everything on a silver platter". It comes from the myth of the "American Dream" where anyone with a good work ethic could turn themselves into a completely successful "model American" with enough hard work and dedication. This completely ignores that there are thousands of pitfalls that can outright ruin someone's chances of being successful. Some people have safety nets across these pitfalls. Some people are literally born in the pit and would have to work their whole lives to make it to the starting point of their more successful neighbors. You're absolutely right. And the large portion of people that believe that are largely boomers / boomer-adjacent. And they grew up in a time where things were good throughout the country (1950s-1970s). What is particular about that time? Well, let's take a look:  Here you see the maximum tax rate versus the 1% earner's share. Notice how big of a gap there was during that same time. It was a time of equality (well, if you were white), and prosperity. But bring in Reagan and the 1980s and you see the maximum tax rate plummet. Why is this significant? Well, the higher tax rate paid for a lot of social support systems and services that simply aren't there (or as viable as they should be) anymore. During the "great" years there were state psychiatric hospitals. Now there ethics and efficacy of them is not a debate for here, but certainly the high percentage of the unhoused that are mentally ill is significant. So we are getting fewer services for our taxes, because the government has cut the amount of money it receives. And this has allowed unprecedented income inequality to run rampant through the US. And what are the bright points? Well, the new Republican-lead House voted to get rid of the IRS yesterday, putting a sales tax instead of any kind of income tax. Who would that benefit? The rich. Neverminding the monopolistic structure that is in place in many consumer goods sectors and... poo poo, I could go on. Sorry for the derail.
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Jan 11, 2023 18:36
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Naw it's all good convo. Hey check it out! Less horribly-designed site is up!  https://www.revivethedrive.org
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Jan 12, 2023 01:37
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Coming out from lurking to say that this is cool as hell and you are extremely good people
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Jan 12, 2023 01:46
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Site looks good! This is such a great idea and I so wish I lived close to help. You are a good dude though I knew that already XD
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Jan 12, 2023 02:32
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whats for dinner posted:Coming out from lurking to say that this is cool as hell and you are extremely good people
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Jan 12, 2023 19:30
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Adiabatic posted:Naw it's all good convo. 
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Jan 12, 2023 19:43
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whats for dinner posted:Coming out from lurking to say that this is cool as hell and you are extremely good people shy boy from chess club posted:Site looks good! This is such a great idea and I so wish I lived close to help. You are a good dude though I knew that already XD Thanks yall! Appreciate the backing from everyone. Plans this weekend: 1. Try to get the Tahoe out to my place tomorrow. I went to lunch with the guy who's facilitating convo between the donor and me and he said the donor has a list of stuff he'd like to do to it, but he doesn't want to work on it because of superficial quarterpanel rust? We'll see exactly how superficial we're talking. 2. We had a meeting yesterday afternoon with a nonprofit called Reestablish Richmond! They help refugees from Ukraine, Afghanistan, Syria, DR Congo, Honduras, El Salvador, and Venezuela get all their paperwork in order, and they have a great Transportation Independence program. They teach refugees to use the bus system, partner with private driving schools to get their learner's permits, walk them through the process for a full driver's license (they even translated all the workbooks into Pashto, Ukranian, and other languages!) and teach them about car safety! We are working on partnering them, to supply them vehicles in order to donate them to these refugee families trying to better their lives in a new country after being displaced from their own. They'll put our logo on their website too, which brings us to: 3. Work on making a logo! The favicon on our website is currently Wordpress and I currently hate that.
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Jan 13, 2023 15:35
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To the goon I met at a wedding tonight who shared their joy in reading this thread: Thanks for reaching out, and thanks for sharing your story! It was a miracle we got sat at the same table to begin with. Small world. e: AL and I were shamelessly promoting our nonprofit at the wedding table of 8 people, and this one rad guy comes out and says "weird enough I've already read about you" and I'm trying to figure out where he''d been able to see our website and it takes me a full minute to realize he's a goon and read this thread. What are the dang odds. Adiabatic fucked around with this message at 04:43 on Jan 15, 2023 |
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Jan 15, 2023 04:32
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I've got family near Richmond. Want me to ask them to post on Facebook with your website?
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Jan 15, 2023 22:20
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honda whisperer posted:I've got family near Richmond. Want me to ask them to post on Facebook with your website? Heck yeah man! That would be amazing. Thank you. In other news, WE'RE OFFICIALLY TAX EXEMPT!!! Letter from the IRS came in today. Easily the best information I've ever received from them. Time for a celebratory posting of the Subaru journey!!!
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Jan 18, 2023 19:28
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Anywho, too many words not enough pictures amirite? Let's tell the saga of the Subaru and how we got here in the first place. These will be the same pics I posted in my other thread, but with the actual story attached. Hank is my Chevy 2500. He likes to haul things:  One fine Saturday I found a 2000 Subaru Legacy on facebook marketplace for sale for $650. It had a bad auto transmission, as 4EATs are wont to do. My lady and I drove up to Fredericksburg, VA to go see it. When we got there at 6:30pm, the lady selling it let us know via phone that she couldn't make it till 8pm because Walmart kinda screwed her hours up and she had to work late. However, the car was sitting out front of her mom's place and we could take a look. We met her son, who was 14 at the time and seemed to have a very well-guarded but hopeful attitude. I remember he liked basketball and was very excited that we showed up with the full $650 instead of trying to lowball his mom. I think the hour and a half we spent with this kid really cemented Anna-Lisa's involvement in this whole thing, because she's been excited about it ever since that night. We got it strapped to the rented Uhaul trailer and took it home:  I knew the trans had to come out. It would shudder and go into gear at super high revs sometimes, including luckily to get it on the trailer at their house. However, the fluid smelled real burnt and was black.   I started the teardown: (man look at how dirty that garage was)   Broke the O2 sensor bung clean off the catalytic converter:   Got the transmission out relatively quickly. Chalk it up to all those subarus from the previous thread: 
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Jan 18, 2023 19:48
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Also lol - someone at my church was asking about if I could diagnose an internal engine noise on a 2013 Dodge Grand Caravan with like 40k miles on it. The engine? 3.6 Pentastar. They're screaming out for help, y'all.
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Jan 18, 2023 21:01
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Back to the Subaru, this is the point where I was like, well, might as well just do everything. The engine had 190k on it and had single layer graphite (prone to failure) head gaskets. I wanted to replace them with MLS (multi-layered steel) gaskets from a turbo. Time to remove the engine:  This thing had to have been parked with its hood up for a while, considering the amount of sheer crud everywhere and the oxidation of all the metal. I shop-vac'd it and pulled the intake manifold and fuel rail in one big ol assembly. At least Subaru makes things easy to remove and disassemble for the most part:  Took the timing covers off, as I had no idea when the last time the timing belt was replaced:  Down to the short-block:   Spare parts pile:  Time to take these to get decked:   
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Jan 18, 2023 21:09
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I don't care what people say about you Wes - you good people.meatpimp posted:Good call. Keeping a level of separation will save you huge on the back side. I also think it's better to run that thing into the ground instead of pouring time and money into it. You'd be shocked how many companies consider tampons to be a luxury item - i.e. their female employees cannot expense them on a business trip. They can often expense pads, but not tampons. You'd probably be safe in assuming that someone with a penis has made that decision.
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Jan 19, 2023 02:13
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I didn't realize Subaru made graphite head gaskets? What the hell?
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Jan 19, 2023 14:35
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CommieGIR posted:I didn't realize Subaru made graphite head gaskets? What the hell? I've always referred to those as "carbon-coated pieces of poo poo." It's a steel shim gasket with some kind of carbon/graphite layer on each side using firing rings to seal the cylinders. They actually don't usually fail at the firing rings, they tend to fail at the coolant ports, leaking coolant externally.
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Jan 19, 2023 17:17
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They aren't the only ones to have used that style; the original head gaskets on my LS1 were the same poo poo. loving awful to use and clean up after, too.
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Jan 19, 2023 17:27
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Yeah they're pretty gross and I'm glad I replaced em! The ebay transmission came in on a pallet so I moved it with my lawn rig:  Old and Very, Very Busted:  Less Old and Less Busted:  Heads back from the machine shop, just got them flat:  Old remnants of the graphite head gaskets amongst other crud:  I got one of those white Roloc bristle brushes to do the block portion of the mating surface:  Got the oil pan off to do that gasket as well:  Other side of the engine:   Heads back on:   The part of the story I neglected to mention in the previous posts is the story Anna-Lisa uncovered from the kid while we waited for the mom. We just kind of assumed the sellers of the vehicle were getting rid of a car they had already replaced. Turns out they had recently been evicted and were living at the grandmother's house. They also didn't have a car - the mom was borrowing the grandmother's car to get places. We were both struggling with our current plans - we already had a family in mind to give this car to, but it really felt like this family needed some sort of break. We talked about it for an hour on the way home.
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Jan 20, 2023 01:18
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Popped the new-ish transmission up in there:  Did some valve lash adjustment because hahaha screw doing that in the car:  Engine goes back in:    Bolted on the belt-driven accessories and the intake manifold:    Close to done with the engine, waiting for an oil pump: 
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Jan 25, 2023 01:57
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As far as actual updates: Tahoe is ready to come home! Malibu, we're looking for a date that works with the donor to go pick it up Camaro, we're probably doing that one if one of the above 2 don't work out I'm headed to Norway for a snowboarding trip on Saturday. I'll be gone for a week, back on Feb 5. Feb 6 or 7, hoping to get the Tahoe over. Starting Feb 8, we'll be hosting a 10 week Community Group on Wednesday nights that's all about fixing cars, that will hopefully get some interested mechanically-inclined folk! We already have 20 people signed up, with varying degrees of experience ranging from 0 to Lemons crew chief! If we have a Tahoe, we'll work on it. We will also be hosting some entry-level workshops on car repair. I think maybe at the end of it we'll host a day at our community's parking lot that does easy stuff for the members (lights, wipers, fluid checks & fills, etc) Any ideas on fun stuff to do with a group of people with wildly varying experience levels would be appreciated! "Level 1" workshop ideas I would consider: Securing your car on jacks and jackstands Changing a Tire & Checking Tire Pressure Car Fluids - There’s A Lot Of Them Checking & Changing Engine Oil & Filter Replacing headlights and other bulbs Jumpstarting a Car Changing Wiper Blades Changing Air Filter & Cabin Air Filter Bolts, Clamps, Gaskets, Oh My! LMGTFY: I Guarantee You, It’s On Youtube "Level 2" stuff: Scanning and researching OBD2 Codes (CEL) Changing Spark Plugs & Coils Changing Serpentine Belts Changing Brake Pads & Rotors Power from the Engine to the Wheels Different Engines - Same Concepts Every Car Is The Same… But Different Torque and You: Lessons Learned Through Pain Fuses and Electrical 101 I've also got levels 3 through 5 for other stuff but I figure at that point they know what they want to learn about. Adiabatic fucked around with this message at 02:09 on Jan 25, 2023 |
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Jan 25, 2023 02:07
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Oh! We're also in talks with an awesome organization called ReEstablish Richmond! Check them out here: https://www.reestablishrichmond.org/ They work specifically with refugees (mostly from Ukraine, Afghanistan, DR Congo, and Venezuela) that need to set up roots here. Their Transportation Independence program helps refugees learn Richmond's bus system, apply for learners permits and driver's licenses, and teaches basic driving school stuff. They currently only accept donated vehicles in good working order that are state-inspected, so we feel like we can provide a steady flow of vehicles that otherwise wouldn't make it to them. They have been around for a long time and we trust that they will be good stewards of our gifts, and choose the families that need these cars most in our community.
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Jan 25, 2023 02:35
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Irony... I'm looking at a Tahoe tomorrow (04, so probably a 5.3). With a shitload of miles, but the BHPH lot cleaned it up pretty well - body and interior present real nice in the photos, but we'll see how much of it is armor all.  For the price, if I can get a year or two out of it, cool. I'd prefer another Panther (preferably a LTC), but non-P71 later model Panthers are impossible to find.chrisgt posted:I've always referred to those as "carbon-coated pieces of poo poo." That's exactly what my early EJ253 did - it was slightly drippy of the coolant, needed topping off about once a month, but never ran hot or smoked. And my Nissan KA24DE did the same around #4 (pretty rare for that engine to leak externally I think?). randomidiot fucked around with this message at 02:48 on Jan 25, 2023 |
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Jan 25, 2023 02:39
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Adiabatic posted:As far as actual updates: Good list. For level 1 I'd add problems you can limp through vs shut your car off right now. I feel so bad when I see coolant line blew turn into head gaskets.
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Jan 27, 2023 14:34
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honda whisperer posted:Good list. For level 1 I'd add problems you can limp through vs shut your car off right now. I feel so bad when I see coolant line blew turn into head gaskets. This is a good idea. Brain dump of some ideas for that: Flashing CEL, oil pressure light, TPMS very low/flat tire, coolant over temp, wheels gaining bonus camber or loss of ride height, lug nuts being loose and/or shaking in the steering, exhaust leaks (if it's close to anything in the bay and could melt harnesses, etc.), brakes needing pumped to work/excessive stopping distance, basically anything safety related.
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Jan 27, 2023 16:35
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STR posted:Irony... I'm looking at a Tahoe tomorrow (04, so probably a 5.3). With a shitload of miles, but the BHPH lot cleaned it up pretty well - body and interior present real nice in the photos, but we'll see how much of it is armor all. I keep going back and forth with the Tahoe guy but unfortunately I'm talking through our mutual friend as an intermediary. This friend went to go see it and was playing with the Tahoe guys dog and the dog tore an ACL??? So yeah uhh, that one's up in the air I guess. The Malibu, the lady wants to clean it out first and is also going on a cruise on the 5th and I get back from Norway (btw I'm in Norway) on the 5th so that doesn't work. I'd looooove to have one of these cars by my first community group on the 8th but it's not looking great. Unless I go get the Camaro. I'm gonna have to go get the Camaro aren't I. honda whisperer posted:Good list. For level 1 I'd add problems you can limp through vs shut your car off right now. I feel so bad when I see coolant line blew turn into head gaskets. Suburban Dad posted:This is a good idea. Brain dump of some ideas for that: Added! Great topic.
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Jan 31, 2023 07:13
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Oh also the night before I left for Norway my lady came over and helped install door/drawer pulls on the cabinets and then started going HAM with a label maker she brought and also made me start organizing my pile of spare bolts by thread pitch. I'm marrying this woman.
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Jan 31, 2023 07:16
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Adiabatic posted:I'm marrying this woman. You'd better.
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Jan 31, 2023 09:52
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Picking up the Tahoe tonight! I'll try to remember to get pics and whatnot. Thanks everyone who's donated. Your money's still sitting in our business account waiting for parts purchases on a  Murican 5.3
Adiabatic fucked around with this message at 21:14 on Feb 7, 2023 |
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Feb 7, 2023 21:12
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Adiabatic posted:Picking up the Tahoe tonight! I'll try to remember to get pics and whatnot. Ahem.
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Feb 10, 2023 00:27
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So apparently a 4500lb winch doesn't enjoy pulling a Tahoe with 4 flat tires onto a trailer. Wednesday night was the community group night - AL took a bunch of pictures and we had 17 people learning about stuff in the garage, from all skill levels! Still waiting on receiving those pictures, but here's where we ended:  Story also incoming. It's been a busy busy week!
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Feb 10, 2023 19:48
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Oof I totally need to get better at updating this for you guys. First off, a HUUGGGEE thank you to sharkytm, meatpimp, and everyone that has donated thus far. You have allowed us to make this nice list a reality:  So the community group I started meets every Wednesday night. First Wednesday, we got the Tahoe off the trailer:    So this community group is done through my church and is comprised of about 15 people. 5 are very good with mechanical stuff and cars in general, 5 are very new but have done some small stuff, and 5 have never ever touched a car in that way before. We put the Tahoe on the lift and talked about how everything worked under it. It was pretty cool     Found out we had a stuck right rear caliper to contend with the 4 flat tires, so we went ahead and ordered one.   Here's what it looked like at the end of that night:  Inspection time: 
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Feb 27, 2023 20:56
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Second Wednesday, we did a compression test on the engine. Numbers: Folks having never touched an engine before doing a compression test:  Third Wednesday, we started tearing down the engine. Or rather 4 guys who've worked on things before started tearing it down while I showed a bunch of newbies how to do oil changes on their cars.    Here's how she sits today:  Oh also.  a new challenger appears... 
Adiabatic fucked around with this message at 21:11 on Feb 27, 2023 |
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Feb 27, 2023 21:04
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Just gonna go out on a limb and guess the Malibu either jumped time or shat out a transmission.
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Feb 27, 2023 23:52
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STR posted:Just gonna go out on a limb and guess the Malibu either jumped time or shat out a transmission. So interesting story behind this one... Engine runs (it's pretty leaky and it puffs some oil smoke on startup though). Transmission'a fine, at least from the cursory analysis while getting it up on the trailer. The donor (a friend of ours) says she was living with a boyfriend that soon became an ex-boyfriend. He has apparently sabotaged this vehicle in multiple ways wherein it will randomly shut off. She says no mechanic can figure it out. I read this as no mechanic wants to hold onto it to diagnose it. AI can help with this one! What should I check? Figure clean the gas tank out, check for wiring damage, hook a scan tool up to it, would be a good start.
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Mar 2, 2023 00:24
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Adiabatic posted:So interesting story behind this one...  Full scanner with real time data recording is gonna be first line of attack.
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Mar 2, 2023 01:15
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When it dies, does the cluster shut down too? If yes, I'd start looking for something behind the ignition switch (would be super easy to do on those cars since it's on the dash). If no, start datalogging. Does it die at a set amount of time? Or is it random? Or just a big ol' question mark at the moment? I'm pretty sure that's gonna be a 2.4 w/VVT regardless of trim, which is a pretty basic engine and pretty easy to work on; LS will be a 4 speed, everything else should be a 6 speed. An old coworker might hold the record for mileage on one, she took her 2010 to just shy of 325k (miles) before it jumped time, though it was on its 3rd transmission. drat thing still ran after jumping time, but barely. IIRC anything shorting a +5V line will shut that PCM down momentarily without setting more than a pending code, which will probably disappear the next time it's driven long enough to run part of a drive cycle. So frayed wires are also a good thing to look for.
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Mar 2, 2023 02:57
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Adiabatic posted:So interesting story behind this one... Ooh boy. Pm me if you need some factory service info/repair manuals. Read codes and get a little more info on what's going on and I'll see what I can dig up.
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Mar 2, 2023 03:01
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really. every Wednesday. I've been fixing peoples cars around nc for the past couple months. wouldn't be too difficult to just drive on up to home base. apparently working on a mini cooper tomorrow! less than excited
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Mar 2, 2023 03:24
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