|
Mr.Radar posted:This is a really stupid question, but if I'm wrong I'd like to know ASAP. I have a 2012 Chevy Sonic and this morning I closed my car door on the front driver's side seat belt buckle and the plastic cover broke and came off. Pics. Will this impact the safety of the seat belt? (I'm guessing no.) Is there any way to replace the buckle without replacing the whole seat belt assembly? (Based on a quick part search also guessing no). If no, what kind of labor am I looking at to get that fixed? (I'm guessing 2-3 hours assuming the seat needs to be removed.) Would this be covered under the warranty? (Probably not.) Thanks! It won't matter at all beyond cosmetically. You have to replace the entire belt if you want a new buckle. I'd say around an hour's labour being generous (and assuming a chevy sonic doesn't have some kind of insane seatbelt fixture design).
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2015 03:04
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 20, 2024 00:54 |
|
|
That cover looks like it may be able to just slip back on. It's purely cosmetic. Older seatbelts had bare metal buckles. I'm going to disagree with Slavvy on how long it'll take though, since that seat belt will have pretensioners inside it that are set off with the airbags (to tighten the belt). Replacing it will require disconnecting the battery and following whatever procedure exists to ensure the airbag system is drained of power. I'd guess 2 hours (book) labor. I'd see if the dealer will fix it under warranty and maybe leave out the part about it getting caught in the door.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2015 09:42
|
|
|
Slavvy posted:It won't matter at all beyond cosmetically. You have to replace the entire belt if you want a new buckle. I'd say around an hour's labour being generous (and assuming a chevy sonic doesn't have some kind of insane seatbelt fixture design). some texas redneck posted:That cover looks like it may be able to just slip back on. Thanks guys. It also turns out that my turn signals stopped working on my way in to work this morning  so I'll have them give me an estimate for fixing the belt while they're fixing those.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2015 15:32
|
|
|
Looking at a first car for my girlfriend, she's 23. What are the problem areas on the 96-01 Camry/ES300? Looking for a car in the 3k-ish area and it seems as though these are a little bit nicer and less beaten. ie: http://phoenix.craigslist.org/cph/cto/4902803684.html BlackMK4 fucked around with this message at 18:47 on Feb 26, 2015 |
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2015 18:45
|
|
|
some texas redneck posted:That cover looks like it may be able to just slip back on. Pretensioner procedure: remove trim, disconnect pretensioner connector, remove seatbelt as normal. Disconnecting the battery for airbag poo poo is overrated; no dealer tech ever does it. BlackMK4 posted:Looking at a first car for my girlfriend, she's 23. What are the problem areas on the 96-01 Camry/ES300? Looking for a car in the 3k-ish area and it seems as though these are a little bit nicer and less beaten. Cambelts are fairly labour intensive on that engine (like every FWD V6 I guess) so it's worth seeing when it was last done. They're absolute tanks though.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2015 18:52
|
|
|
That's kinda what I'm hoping for. She likes older cars but I'm trying to steer her towards a mid-late 90's Toyota tank for my own mental sanity and her small wallet. I guess I'll look and see how bad the belt job is.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2015 18:55
|
|
|
Re: overheating Civic So we checked it out, and the fans didn't come on while stopped, and allowing the car to heat up. Would the next step be to check/replace the fuse(s)/relay(s) or would there be a different direction to go in?
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2015 19:02
|
|
|
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.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2015 19:51
|
|
|
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 |
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2015 20:02
|
|
|
Geoj posted: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. 120k miles, may never have been flushed? So probably the second one.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2015 20:11
|
|
|
smackfu posted:120k miles, may never have been flushed? So probably the second one. Probably worth checking the fluid level on the transmission to see if its the first. Do you know what the fluid looked like when it came out?
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2015 20:42
|
|
|
I'm going to be travelling around in my 78 vw camper in a bit, and sleeping in the back. I'm about to redo the interior paneling, and want to insulate the poo poo out of it while I have them off. Is there some insulation type/method that is way better than others?
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2015 23:46
|
|
|
Well, closed-cell rather than open-cell foam would be my guess, so it doesn't soak up moisture.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2015 00:15
|
|
|
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.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2015 00:42
|
|
|
School me on exhausts, I've never worked with 'em before: The muffler on my 1988 Cherokee is shot (small rust holes on the bottom), and the noise of the exhaust leak is starting to piss me off. I tried several different patch epoxies which all fell off within a couple of weeks. Is installing a new one as easy as it looks? I was going to price it at a shop, but it seems the job don't necessarily require welding (just clamps)? I have a sawzall etc... Second, I was considering replacing the cat while I'm at it - it's a California car and as far as I can tell it's original due to no major rust. Is this a stupid use of $180? The Jeep passed smog with good numbers when I bought it 8 months ago, so the cat seems to be ok - do they get clogged up over 27years and 188,000 miles? Maybe I'd get a bit of performance/mpg boost? This is my pre-OBD1 desert beater so if this is a case of ain't broke/don't fix I'll skip it.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2015 03:42
|
|
|
Is Carfax the best VIN lookup to use if you're just going to spend a week or two looking for a new car? It seems so expensive.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2015 05:04
|
|
|
The Royal Nonesuch posted:School me on exhausts, I've never worked with 'em before: Exhaust is the one thing I don't gently caress around with. After parts fell off for the 5th or so time I gave up on a shop and took it to a shop to weld the whole thing up. The problems with clamps is that they loosen over time and will basically wiggle free. If you aren't offroading your jeep it probably is something you can get away with though. Clamping and installing is pretty easy so long as the stuff is specific to your car. where you run into trouble is trying to mate a 2 inch fitting to a 2.25 one or poo poo like that. Regarding the cat, waste of time replacing in my opinion. When I took mine off my scirocco it had maybe 3 of the little passages plugged after 30 years. If you're looking for that last little bit of performance out of the vehicle it might be worth taking a look at your current one to see its state. I fully removed my cat and there wasn't a real noticeable increase in performance. Tony quidprano fucked around with this message at 05:18 on Feb 27, 2015 |
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2015 05:15
|
|
|
Reason posted:Is Carfax the best VIN lookup to use if you're just going to spend a week or two looking for a new car? It seems so expensive. If you're looking for a new car, why would you need a Carfax? Unless you mean "new" as in, new to you, in which case, yeah. Most dealerships that sell used cars will actually give you a free carfax report. Obviously private sellers won't, unless they have 1 printed out and made copies...
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2015 06:25
|
|
|
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.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2015 06:49
|
|
|
1500quidporsche posted:The problems with clamps is that they loosen over time and will basically wiggle free. If you aren't offroading your jeep it probably is something you can get away with though. Hah, I'm building it for washboarded, rutty desert roads so that answers that question. Thanks! Geoj posted:If you're still in California I'd be shocked if you could get a CARB-certified cat for $180. I am, but O'Reilly's site says $183 (pre-tax, natch) for a CARB compliant MagnaFlow # 339004. RockAuto says $158 for a Walker #80945. Unless there's some emissions-rapetax on checkout I'm missing...
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2015 07:04
|
|
|
There may be quite a hefty core charge on there, though.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2015 07:14
|
|
|
EightBit posted:There may be quite a hefty core charge on there, though. Out of curiosity I went through to the point of checkout on both sites; neither added a core charge which seems bizzare, since I got charged core when I bought a tailgate hatch lift strut last time I was at the junkyard. Even the stoned kid at the counter that day doublechecked, and said it was stupid. I did a quick search on recycling cats just now and found several places willing to come buy/pick them up, however. Only a goddamned fool would attempt to understand California emissions regulations and the labyrinth of business it creates.  edit: a cursory search says there are no core charges for cat converters, because they're not a rebuildable part. They're just valued for scrap due to the various rare metals used. The Royal Nonesuch fucked around with this message at 07:46 on Feb 27, 2015 |
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2015 07:33
|
|
|
The Royal Nonesuch posted:I am, but O'Reilly's site says $183 (pre-tax, natch) for a CARB compliant MagnaFlow # 339004. RockAuto says $158 for a Walker #80945. Unless there's some emissions-rapetax on checkout I'm missing... I'm also shocked you're able to find one meeting CARB regulations at that price. fake edit: wow, just googled both part numbers. They actually are CARB compliant.  I guess enough states have adopted California's emissions standards that making aftermarket cats compliant is becoming worthwhile for the aftermarket.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2015 13:20
|
|
|
Hello AI! My wife has a 2003 BMW 330ci with 115k. Two days ago the transmission light came on and the car went into "limp home" mode, with nearly no acceleration. It was bad enough that people would honk at her at stop lights because it just wouldn't go. I assumed it was just a bad sensor. We brought it to an independent BMW specialist and they said it needs a new transmission. Now she's crying because she owes $5500 on the car and we're assuming it will be near that price to fix it. How do we not get our pants pulled down over the price? Are those transmission shops worth checking out or are they putting in poo poo? Do I have any over options? How do I get my wife to stop crying? I found a few compatible transmissions on eBay but they are pulled from wrecks, not rebuilt or new so who knows how long they will last. This one went out at 115k so really if we decide to keep the car it better have a decent replacement transmission.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2015 16:27
|
|
|
I'm just curious how she owes $5500 on a 12 year old car. Did she buy it new?
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2015 16:53
|
|
|
This sounds like someone bought a bmw because of the badge on the front and the perceived "prestige" that comes with it, without actually considering what your getting into. A junkyard trans is probably your best bet for a quick/easy/simplest solution. It's a little bit of a chance, but if you can check the fluid before you buy it, it should give you a little bit of a better idea how healthy it is. Once it's fixed, I'd consider selling it.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2015 17:09
|
|
|
ToteYourNoteLot.txt
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2015 17:15
|
|
|
Bajaha posted:This sounds like someone bought a bmw because of the badge on the front and the perceived "prestige" that comes with it, without actually considering what your getting into. Pretty much this. Find the cheapest transmission possible and get out while you can.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2015 17:27
|
|
|
Is there a way to pull check engine codes on a 98 ES300 without an OBD reader? (flash codes?)
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2015 18:09
|
|
|
Yeah, Michael Scott posted:I'm just curious how she owes $5500 on a 12 year old car. Did she buy it new? She picked it up last year for $8k even. At the time she was driving a white F150 long bed regular cab, the least girly of vehicles and just wanted something fun to drive on her 40 minute each way commute. I know there's a lot of hate on BMW drivers, especially the ones who don't expect high repair costs. But the transmission dying at this mileage is unexpected for any vehicle in my opinion. You could say it was paying for the badge, but her main goal was a decent driving convertible. We looked at a few Volvos and even a Cadillac convertible before she picked this one, as it seemed to be in really good shape. Anyway we've been searching eBay and Craigslist. Found some decent wreck pulls on eBay in the 600-800 range with 6 month warranties, so it's not as drastic as we feared. But yeah, probably time to look into a trade in on something domestic.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2015 18:19
|
|
|
115 too early for a trans failure? haha never. If it was never touched? oh loving definitely right on par. I could list about 25 transmissions that'd fail if the fluid went untouched for 40-60 thousand miles. (Limp mode is usually electrical fault unless one of the internal speed sensors notes a slipping condition of that apply clutch)
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2015 18:29
|
|
|
Drunk Beekeeper posted:I know there's a lot of hate on BMW drivers, especially the ones who don't expect high repair costs. 
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2015 18:30
|
|
|
115 isn't unheard of for auto transmission failure. Especially if its the car has been thrashed about, which something is something BMW drivers have a habit of doing.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2015 18:39
|
|
|
Question about automatic transmission fluid intervals when they claim that it's "good for the lifetime of the transmission". I have a 2015 Mazda 3 w/1.5L Skyactiv (same as the 2014's as far as I know). Internet research in the past has yielded opinions ranging from doing ATF changes every 30k miles to people that buy the official Mazda 3 line and never touch it. Roughly, people on the internet that do ATF changes on their Mazda 3's seemed to lean towards drain and fill but not flushing. The service manual for the '14 does detail inspection and replacement of the ATF, and I've read one supposed response from Mazda that was more or less "don't change it unless your [dealership] mechanic says so, in which case do it." Transmissions are completely out of my ken and reading car repair advice on the internet is like trying to average and weight yelp reviews. I don't put a lot of miles on, maybe 6k/year. So: -Is there any kind of consensus as to whether "lifetime fluid" is pure horseshit and guarantees an appreciable loss of transmission life? And by "appreciable", I mean I don't really mind if it's the difference between seeing it last to 150k vs 180k (OK I don't even know what normal would be). But if never touching the fluid is a good way to have a transmission fail absurdly early, then I'm concerned. -What's the safest maintenance policy to adopt towards this car? I haven't found a mechanic I can trust yet (hopeful for the next one though), and this doesn't sound like something I'm prepared to attempt on my own, so I don't necessarily consider ATF changes risk-free either. Hell it looks like you have to get under the car while it's heated up to even check the fluid level, which I'm not sure I'm up for.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2015 19:31
|
|
|
BlackMK4 posted:Is there a way to pull check engine codes on a 98 ES300 without an OBD reader? (flash codes?) If you have the under-bonnet toyota connector, it's possible to bridge T1 and E1 (they're labelled under the cap, usually) and have the CEL flash them out numerically. Remy Marathe posted:Question about automatic transmission fluid intervals when they claim that it's "good for the lifetime of the transmission". I have a 2015 Mazda 3 w/1.5L Skyactiv (same as the 2014's as far as I know). Lifetime fluid is a crock of poo poo, 'lifetime' is actually just 'length of the warranty' and you should realistically change it around 60 miles on a modern car at the very latest. Safest policy is to change the oil on time with the oil specified in the owner's manual and do the same with the trans fluid and coolant.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2015 19:40
|
|
|
Pro-tip (for the BMW owner's bf/hubby): Don't drive cars in limp mode. Limp mode basically exists to get you off of a dangerous highway when the car knows it's failing. If you're not in imminent danger, DO NOT KEEP DRIVING. The difference is while it COULD have been a sensor (or a leak, or low fluid, or ...), it may have been repairable before you drove it home. Most often, they're not after being driven in limp mode for an extended period of time. And yes, what Slavvy said about "lifetime" ATF is wholly correct. Lifetime fluid is bullshit, you should absolutely follow a normal maintenance interval for your vehicle.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2015 19:41
|
|
|
The whole lifetime fluids thing basically boils down to the manufacturer saying "there is acceptable wear over x years/miles" if we don't change the fluid. I don't think there is any inherent benefit in sticking with that beyond cost savings. The Mk1 VWs had lifetime fluids for the manual transmission. You can't find one without rough syncros or a chipped reverse gear which I strongly suspect is tied in with that.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2015 19:45
|
|
|
Slavvy posted:Safest policy is to change the oil on time with the oil specified in the owner's manual and do the same with the trans fluid and coolant.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2015 19:45
|
|
|
I'd say 30k is about right for most cars. If you're really worried, look at using a better type of ATF. (For example, ChryCo recommends ATF+4 in the AW4, which is ... basically utter poo poo. Using Dexron VI has made the tranny work much, much better, and should offer more protection, too.)
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2015 19:51
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 20, 2024 00:54 |
|
|
1500quidporsche posted:The whole lifetime fluids thing basically boils down to the manufacturer saying "there is acceptable wear over x years/miles" if we don't change the fluid. I don't think there is any inherent benefit in sticking with that beyond cost savings. This could apply to pretty much any manual trans though. Autos are a different ball game entirely. Most danuals can last practically forever without changing the oil (performancy cars excepted). Remy Marathe posted:That's the plan with the other things, but there is no ATF interval listed in the manual. You said "60k at the latest", is 30k a decent interval then (about 5 years for me) or is that overkill? 30k is good if you want to just do a drain and refill which usually takes out around half the total capacity. If you want to stretch to longer you'll have to do a proper flush out and refill.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2015 19:53
|
|