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22 Eargesplitten posted:The engine bay and drivetrain has always been kind of a black box to me. I perform the rituals as mandated by the holy user's manual, satisfy it with blood sacrifice, and speak over it the curse words of power. But I don't really get more than the absolute basics of what goes where and which part does what. I don't have a spare car to make mistakes on, what should I read? Bosch Automotive Handbook is a good resource but its kind of dry, it does a good job of explaining everything's purpose though. Probably not what you want to hear but what taught me was owning a shitbox that was easy to repair. I kind of understood basic stuff before I got my Scirocco but like you said the engine was still a mystery box. But after a year of diagnosing, repairing PO fuckery, tearing down and putting back together an engine everything just seemed to click after that.
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Apr 28, 2015 03:33
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That's an idea, I guess. It will have to wait until I turn 25 and can afford the insurance on two cars, though. If I did it now, I'm pretty sure within a year I would have paid more for the insurance than the car. Maybe six months.
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Apr 28, 2015 04:14
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Cellular Suicide posted:Try Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig. It's not exactly a technical how-to, but it's a great summary of the best and worst involved in working on/understanding your own machine. It can get a little bit verbose sometimes, but stick with it and I guarantee you'll want to go crawl underneath your car and figure everything out. Or he could just buy the factory service manual for his car and google "how an engine (or transmission or differential or whatever part he's interested in) works" and read up on it on howstuffworks.com or watch videos on youtube, and not have to slog through a terrible fisher-price-babbys-first-philosophy book just to learn technical information. It's a poo poo book by a poo poo author. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbCe68ck6qg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIU-lGc3DL4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ld4LfI0fb48 http://auto.howstuffworks.com/engine.htm http://auto.howstuffworks.com/fuel-injection.htm http://www.howstuffworks.com/transport/engines-equipment/gear.htm http://www.howstuffworks.com/differential.htm http://www.howstuffworks.com/turbo.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_injection The internet plus a factory service manual for a car has more than enough information to learn every single bit of any car.
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Apr 28, 2015 04:24
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Awesome, thanks. I figured there was probably some good resource for how internal combustion engines work. Online is even better.
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Apr 28, 2015 04:32
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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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SD-455 posted:In 70 it was in the column. I put one in a 73 ranchero and remember it just popping it in the empty whole but that was a long time ago and not sure if I had to do anything else IIRC on the Fords you had to turn it to a certain position (I think that position between lock and run, where the column is unlocked but nothing is on), shove a pick into a hole in the column, and the lock just popped out. No idea how GM did it though. Scyantific posted:Ok, got a (possibly stupid) question here: How deep was this puddle? It's very possible you got something wet in the ignition system if you splashed a bunch of water under the hood. If it was just wet, the CEL might even go off on its own next time you drive it. But I can pretty much guarantee you'll have a misfire code logged. Figuring out why it decided to misfire will be the fun part.
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Apr 28, 2015 05:16
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1500quidporsche posted:Stupid question here: I don't know US vehicles, so this is a guess: You have a carb and it has an automatic choke. This light is to show you that the choke is on (cold start). Turns on when you start in the cold weather, turns off after a couple of minutes when the carb is warm enough for the engine to run without choke. I think you guys call it a 'choke pull off'
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Apr 28, 2015 08:15
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Or possibly they used an instrument cluster from another model which has a choke, and if your van doesn't then it's just an unused light that isn't connected to anything.
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Apr 28, 2015 11:00
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Sweevo posted:Or possibly they used an instrument cluster from another model which has a choke, and if your van doesn't then it's just an unused light that isn't connected to anything. This. GM parts bin engineering.
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Apr 28, 2015 14:08
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Sweevo posted:Or possibly they used an instrument cluster from another model which has a choke, and if your van doesn't then it's just an unused light that isn't connected to anything. That was my first thought: but wouldn't a vehicle of that age have a carb and so must have a choke?
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Apr 28, 2015 14:14
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Geoj posted: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. some texas redneck posted:How deep was this puddle? It's very possible you got something wet in the ignition system if you splashed a bunch of water under the hood. So yeah, the puddle might have been bigger than I thought. Either way, I checked it this morning, and it's stil a solid light. Car was due for an oil change this week anyway so I'm going to take it to my mechanic and have him pull the codes after he changes it. Hopefully it's nothing too bad, or if it's something that needs attention, something that won't keep me from my car for too long a time.
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Apr 28, 2015 14:16
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The Mandingo posted:I worked at a dealership, so I have some insight here. The answer to your question is: it depends on the general manager. Typically, we put our GM and sales managers into the top of the line biggest SUV we had. They wouldn't baby them, but they weren't off-roading either. The most work that the GM driven cars get is probably hauling golf clubs to the country club. You're right, likely not given a proper break-in, but who says the average car owner would do that anyway? You can look at it as a lease-return with less miles (or kilometers in your case). Sorry to come back to this but the dealer is making some very aggressive offers. Just how risky is it to buy an off-lease vehicle in this story of import luxury class?
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Apr 28, 2015 15:28
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Can y'all help me diagnose a manual transmission problem on a 2004 Ford Focus? It started last week when while downshifting to get off the interstate, I found it to be physically challenging to shift from 5th down to 4th. I probably should have just left it in neutral, but I jammed it into 4th with a little bit of doing and it caught 4th gear. Coming off the offramp stoplight, it physically shifted into first gear just fine, but seemed like it wasn't completely in gear. As I shifted up from second to third, I got no resistance in the clutch pedal and used momentum to pull my sorry rear end to the side of the road. I called a tow and observed an oily discoloration on the floor-mat under the clutch pedal. Mechanic diagnosed, and replaced, a faulty master clutch cylinder. I got the car back yesterday and everything seemed fine...until I got two blocks from the mechanic. Though I could shift freely, third gear seemed like it wasn't catching all the way and it was taking a lot of RPMs for a little movement. A block later and all the gears do nothing. The clutch pedal has resistance (and the car won't start without it being depressed). I can freely move the shifter from gear to gear, but they all might as well read N for all the actual energy being passed onto the wheel. I get a little movement from reverse, but its more of a gentle rocking simulator than a car at this point. I'm going to take it back to the mechanic tomorrow, but I'd like an idea of what I'm up against.
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Apr 28, 2015 15:39
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Subterfrugal posted:Can y'all help me diagnose a manual transmission problem on a 2004 Ford Focus? When you say "a lot of RPM for a little movement" do you mean the RPM's are spinning up but the car isn't accelerating properly? FWIW, the clutch pedal has a small switch so it can tell when it's pushed down all the way, being able to start the car with the clutch down doesn't really infer anything about the health of the transmission just that the pedal is pushed down. I'd say you probably boned your clutch but the rest of the story with the weird shifting and stuff makes me think it could be something more serious to do with the internals of the transmission. Having issues shifting from 5->4 makes me think syncro.
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Apr 28, 2015 15:44
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TKIY posted:Sorry to come back to this but the dealer is making some very aggressive offers. A corollary to my last question, are there any good "working on cars" shows? The ones I've seen are half commercials for stuff like magnaflow, disregarding normal commercials.
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Apr 28, 2015 15:47
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VelociBacon posted:When you say "a lot of RPM for a little movement" do you mean the RPM's are spinning up but the car isn't accelerating properly? FWIW, the clutch pedal has a small switch so it can tell when it's pushed down all the way, being able to start the car with the clutch down doesn't really infer anything about the health of the transmission just that the pedal is pushed down. That's right, I probably wasn't describing it properly. After I got it back from the mechanic, the first time I got it into third gear I observed really poor acceleration and pressed further down the pedal to get through the intersection. Within about a block from there (and a tour through the gears), it became clear that no amount of gas applied to the throttle will produce acceleration in any gear. From the cabin, it appears as everything is working as intended.
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Apr 28, 2015 15:50
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22 Eargesplitten posted:Maybe I'm missing something, but why would it be significantly riskier than buying a normal used vehicle? Are they offering a warranty? My understanding is that leases tend to be ridden hard and put away wet for lack of a better phrase. A used vehicle is owned by someone that has to think about the long term care of the vehicle and that's not the case with leases. I could be totally wrong here though. I've never bought a vehicle that wasn't new, I'm a risk averse person. The good news is that since this vehicle was technically never sold the factory warranty doesn't start until it's sold.
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Apr 28, 2015 15:56
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Subterfrugal posted:That's right, I probably wasn't describing it properly. After I got it back from the mechanic, the first time I got it into third gear I observed really poor acceleration and pressed further down the pedal to get through the intersection. Within about a block from there (and a tour through the gears), it became clear that no amount of gas applied to the throttle will produce acceleration in any gear. From the cabin, it appears as everything is working as intended. That sounds a lot like a slipping clutch but because you JUST had a component of the hydraulic system replaced I'd want to make sure it's not a failed new part or something that wasn't put back together properly.
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Apr 28, 2015 16:01
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TKIY posted:Sorry to come back to this but the dealer is making some very aggressive offers. I'd say that the demo trucks that we sold were in very good condition. We typically would change out the managers no later than 7500 miles driven, and usually before that. Plus they still had the factory warranty included. I'd guess that they had 3-6 months of daily driving on them, so I wouldn't worry about how risky they are. Have your mechanic give it a full inspection if you want more peace of mind, but I'd bet that everything is fine.
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Apr 28, 2015 16:23
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1500quidporsche posted:Stupid question here: That means the idle enrichment valve is operating. Yeah, choke if it's got a carb (electronic) but on some early FI motors they used the same symbol. It should go out once the engine starts to warm up. If not, there's a problem (and you're probably running super rich).
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Apr 28, 2015 16:42
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Sweevo posted:Or possibly they used an instrument cluster from another model which has a choke, and if your van doesn't then it's just an unused light that isn't connected to anything. Took a second look and given that there is also an upshift light on an automatic transmission I'm going with this theory. Probably left over from the model years that had carbs instead of TBI.
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Apr 28, 2015 16:44
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I have an Opel Astra from 2001 that hasn't given me a lot of trouble until now. Basically I can't put in the ignition key, like at all. I'm terribly poo poo with cars and I've no idea what to do. How do I fix this?
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Apr 28, 2015 17:16
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1500quidporsche posted:Took a second look and given that there is also an upshift light on an automatic transmission I'm going with this theory. Probably left over from the model years that had carbs instead of TBI. Do you have carbs or EFI? (but as long as it works, who cares?)
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Apr 28, 2015 17:55
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VelociBacon posted:That sounds a lot like a slipping clutch but because you JUST had a component of the hydraulic system replaced I'd want to make sure it's not a failed new part or something that wasn't put back together properly. 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.
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Apr 28, 2015 18:00
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spog posted:Do you have carbs or EFI? Throttle body injection. Carbs were used in years prior but not my year which would sort of explain why its still on the dash but my manual makes no mention of it. As you said it really doesn't matter so long as it works, which it does. Was just sort of curious.
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Apr 28, 2015 18:14
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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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I bought an '06 Focus hatchback a few weeks ago, and today I discovered I can freely shift between neutral and drive at any time. Moving, stopped, whatever. Braking or holding the button on the side of the shifter are both unnecessary. All the other gears are fine. Should I be concerned about this? Also, it has steel tires and it's missing like 14 (of 20) of those lugnut cap things that hold the hubcaps on. Can those be obtained for less than $5 a piece?
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Apr 29, 2015 03:05
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No, every auto I've driven could be shifted from N to D freely.
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Apr 29, 2015 03:14
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Fucknag posted:First off, use a voltmeter, not a trouble light; one possibility is corrosion inside the cable increasing resistance, causing an excessive voltage drop. Enough to light a bulb, but not run a starter motor that draws 100A or more in normal operation. Good ideas, thanks. I was just too lazy to pull out my multimeter. After checking it I had bad voltage at the solenoid but no drop on the lines. Did a bit of digging and found the POs gift to me in the form of a hacked up old alarm / immobilizer system. Pulled that bitch out and were back up in running! Outside of a lovely low idle now. I probably just need to clean the IAC.
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Apr 29, 2015 03:39
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Uthor posted:No, every auto I've driven could be shifted from N to D freely. Maybe I just never noticed because almost everything else I've ever driven had a column shifter.
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Apr 29, 2015 03:52
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Months ago, while replacing the oil pressure sending unit on my 1992 Chevy S-10 with 4.3l V6, I was forced to pull out the distributor (not just the cap, but the entire shaft) in order to access the unit. When I reassembled, I realized that the marks I'd made on tape and stuff to put the cap back on exactly where it was before were hosed, because it physically wouldn't fit like that. After a lot of trouble (basically trial-and-error with distributor cap position until the truck would actually start and idle), I took it to my mechanic, who re-replaced the oil pressure sending unit with a different one that A) didn't leak, and B) was a smaller diameter, that allowed the wires from the distributor cap to straddle it (and a nearby fuel line) the way I guess they were supposed to. The truck has had an occasionally stumbling idle since then, has felt a little down on power, and has stalled a few times while stopped at a light (in Drive, brake on). I've been thinking the timing wasn't quite right, but when I trial-and-error tweaked the position of the cap, nothing seemed to improve. I went ahead and replaced spark plugs, wires, and the entire distributor cap, but no change. Today the truck failed CA smog check. The smog technician said the ignition timing was "22 BTDC" and it's supposed to be 0. This is with the timing connector disconnected. This truck is equipped with some sort of electronic device that automatically retards the timing or something? I'm not sure exactly, but obviously with it plugged in, the truck was able to start and run despite this drastically wrong timing. But not well enough to pass smog: it had slightly higher than allowed HC (hydrocarbons, e.g., incompletely burned fuel), and massively high NO (I assume the same). So here's my question. Adjusting the distributor cap is easy as hell. You just loosen a bolt that holds down a clamp, and then you turn it. But, the two plugs that come out of the cap tend to interfere with the oil pressure sending unit, and a separate fuel line. So there are certain positions where it simply cannot fit. Should I: A) go back to my mechanic to have him fix it? He claimed the timing was correct when I got it from him, but I had to monkey with it again when I replaced the cap, rotor, plugs, and wires later. B) just rotate the cap myself? If so: is there a 1:1 relationship between the cap and the timing, such that if I rotate it the correct direction precisely 22 degrees, it will now be in exactly the right spot... or, is it one of those deals where I need to rotate it a small amount to affect the timing by a larger amount? I think the "degrees" has to do with when the #1 cylinder is at TDC in relation to when the spark is fired on that plug, but I'm not entirely sure that those degrees measure where the distributor cap is positioned, as opposed to by how much the crank shaft has turned or something else like that. If I do rotate the cap myself: my Haynes manual doesn't say which direction to turn to get before TDC vs. after TDC (that is, to advance or retard the timing). It also claims there is a timing mark on the main pulley, but I spent a lot of time dangling flashlights down there and I could never find it... we also couldn't find it using a timing strobe when my dad was over here helping me monkey with it. So the best I can think to do is just rotate the cap the correct direction exactly the right number of degrees. If the truck seems to idle better, then I'll get it re-smogged, but it's gonna cost me money so I really don't want it to fail again. Leperflesh fucked around with this message at 04:59 on Apr 29, 2015 |
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Apr 29, 2015 04:54
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As you advance it, you'll hear the idle come up a bit (you'll probably need to unplug the timing connector as well). Advance it until it sounds like it's starting to struggle a bit. Back it off a little until it smooths out, back it off slightly more. Go for a drive, see if it pings. Shut it off, try to start it - does it start really easy, or does it sound like the starter is struggling? If it's struggling, you'll need to back it off a little more. That's how I've always timed engines by ear, anyway, and they've generally passed smog fine. Or take it back to your mechanic, tell him what they said. And yes, the engine computer adjusts the timing as you drive.
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Apr 29, 2015 05:02
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Update: I spoke to my mechanic and he pulled the codes. Seems that the second cylinder was/is misfiring and he is recommending a replacement to the ignition coil. So that's that. How easy is it to replace the coil, can it be a DIY or would I be better off just taking it to my mechanic?
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Apr 29, 2015 05:05
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some texas redneck posted:As you advance it, you'll hear the idle come up a bit (you'll probably need to unplug the timing connector as well). Advance it until it sounds like it's starting to struggle a bit. Back it off a little until it smooths out, back it off slightly more. Go for a drive, see if it pings. Shut it off, try to start it - does it start really easy, or does it sound like the starter is struggling? If it's struggling, you'll need to back it off a little more. With a little research: looks like the distributor rotates clockwise, as seen from above. I think this means to advance the timing 22 degrees, I need to rotate the distributor cap counter-clockwise (that is, make the spark fire 22 degrees earlier in the cycle, so move the #1 contact "backwards" in the cycle). Yeah? Each adjustment requires me to disconnect some stuff, so it's very difficult to make a lot of fine adjustments and start the truck in between each one. Well, not difficult, but time consuming. e. I wonder where my protractor is.
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Apr 29, 2015 05:08
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You should be adjusting it while it's running. And yeah, I think you're on the right track. But being 22 degrees off makes me think the rotor spun a bit when the distributor was reinstalled. To reinstall it properly, cylinder #1 should be at TDC, with the rotor pointing directly at the #1 contact on the cap (you'd mark this on the distributor itself and reinstall it with the cap removed), and then you start it and set base timing from there. Since you don't have any way to use a timing light, you're stuck timing it by ear. Or in this case, your mechanic probably is, since he should be redoing this for you. Scyantific posted:Update: I spoke to my mechanic and he pulled the codes. Seems that the second cylinder was/is misfiring and he is recommending a replacement to the ignition coil. So that's that. DIY if it's on the front bank. If it's the rear bank, it may or may not be terrible to DIY. randomidiot fucked around with this message at 05:37 on Apr 29, 2015 |
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Apr 29, 2015 05:31
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some texas redneck posted:You should be adjusting it while it's running. If it's like a small block V8, the bottom of the distributor will drive the oil pump; it will either go in correctly or 180 degrees out. Unless he really manhandled it in there, or intentionally rotated the oil pump (because he knew it was off by a tooth). So basically if he was careful with putting it back in, that shouldn't happen. Of course, it came back set wrong, so who knows how much care was taken.
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Apr 29, 2015 05:37
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The 4.3 is a 350 with 2 cylinders chopped off. Literally. I've not installed one in a Chevy; the last one I did was on a Nissan KA24E, which also drove the oil pump - but since the timing cover had been off to change the timing chain guides (which also required removing the oil pump), we had an interesting time getting it lined up again. It was a worm gear drive, so the distributor shaft would always try to rotate when reinserting it.
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Apr 29, 2015 05:40
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Leperflesh posted:With a little research: looks like the distributor rotates clockwise, as seen from above. I think this means to advance the timing 22 degrees, I need to rotate the distributor cap counter-clockwise (that is, make the spark fire 22 degrees earlier in the cycle, so move the #1 contact "backwards" in the cycle). Yeah? The distributor rotates at half speed, since you only need a spark on every other revolution of the motor. You'll need to rotate it only about 10 degrees which would get you closer to zero. If you have a 90' angle, cut/fold that in half and you've got 45, you can cut that in half and get 22.5. Cut that in half again and there's your angle, 11.25' or so. Here's the video you probably need to find the timing marks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e74qmYkFMGc
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Apr 29, 2015 14:48
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Geoj posted: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." This is true, but it's also fairly easy to replace. It's in an awkward spot, but not TOO bad. some texas redneck posted:IIRC on the Fords you had to turn it to a certain position (I think that position between lock and run, where the column is unlocked but nothing is on), shove a pick into a hole in the column, and the lock just popped out. 66 Corvette (dash ignition) is exactly the same.
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Apr 29, 2015 15:33
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The distributor would only fit back in one way: it seemed to be keyed. I did not rotate the engine during work, so there's no way I got it in 180 degrees off. I'm 99% sure it's back in there correctly. StormDrain posted:The distributor rotates at half speed, since you only need a spark on every other revolution of the motor. You'll need to rotate it only about 10 degrees which would get you closer to zero. If you have a 90' angle, cut/fold that in half and you've got 45, you can cut that in half and get 22.5. Cut that in half again and there's your angle, 11.25' or so. This is really useful! I was all set to go try and rotate it 22 degrees. So, rotate counterclockwise 11 degrees and I should be spot on. I'm going to give that a try, and if it's still not right, I'll take it to my mechanic. In other news, wife just called; some motherfucker rear-ended her in stop-and-go traffic (at like 15 MPH). She pulled over immediately; the other driver drove away without pulling over. She said it was some really expensive-looking car, too. She's fine, but she says there's a "new rattle" when she drives. Greeaaaat.
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Apr 29, 2015 17:17
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