|
Imagine calling a car that needed an entire new wiring harness "reliable."
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2020 05:26
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 26, 2024 06:11 |
|
|
It's only one piece.
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2020 05:46
|
|
|
Mercedes fixed the biodegradable engine wiring in '96 or '97 on the M119 engine in the W140, I'm 99% certain they didn't repeat the mistake on a new generation of engines like the W220s had. Can't speak for the rest of the car though. My folks recently got a '98? W140 and I can say for sure the wiring in the side mirrors done biodegraded. But again, previous generation and I can't imagine them importing such a stupid problem to their next generation of cars even in the darkest days of cost cutting.
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2020 05:48
|
|
|
Olympic Mathlete posted:The 4CV is beautiful. It has been a long term dream of mine to own one of these. They're quite tiny (which I like) but in such a dignified way. And the paint on this one is perfect.
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2020 06:23
|
|
|
taqueso posted:It's only one piece. "There's no way the car's still running if they haven't fixed that!" It's reminds me of those Edmund's or whoever reliability reviews, your infotainment is glitchy? 1 problem! Your window squeaks when rolled down? 1 Problem! Your engine loving explodes in 20kmi because of an intrinsic flaw that the OEM hasn't solved and they just keep replacing it until your warranty is up and it takes 3 months for the dealership to replace it each time? 1 problem!
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2020 06:46
|
|
|
Nocheez posted:Imagine calling a car that needed an entire new wiring harness "reliable." I don't really get what's so hard to understand about this. The car, once upon a time, had a biodegradable wiring harness. It was a huge point of weakness and a large factor in why it was considered an unreliable car at that time. At some point, 5, 10, 15 years ago, that harness stopped working (unsurprisingly). A new one was fitted that was not biodegradable. It is now not a point of weakness in the car, therefore as long as you check that it has been replaced in a car you are buying, you can't reasonably consider it unreliable for having a biodegrading wiring harness. madeintaipei posted:Don't tell them that. I like to watch them suffer. Thanks! Not much, really - BXs are relatively simple and most of the work I do on them is maintenance debt from POs (or the decades they sat in back alleys). I've used my GTi the most (~7000 miles in the last year) and it's needed nothing until recently the ride started getting a little too firm which is a sign the nitrogen has leaked out of the spheres; regassing spheres costs about 10 dollars per sphere at a specialist and with some practice takes about half an hour to remove them from the car and about 30 seconds to put them back on again (they screw on like oil filters). I've done some more involved repairs/upgrades to some of my other ones like replacing and relocating the hydraulic return lines from behind the engine to the upper firewall for accessibility, but again this stuff took me maybe 3 hours total and about 15 dollars in fuel hoses and T junctions. The good thing about Citroens is that the expensive or hard to replace parts tend to be the most reliable. That said, the big cars like phase-1 XMs or CXs have electrical issues related mainly to bad grounds, that can be frustrating and time consuming to track down. Nothing that will immobilise the car, but windows, lights, hvac, trip computer etc. that are annoying when they stop working. As above though, most cars have had this stuff fixed 30-40 years on, though as luck would have it, my XM sat in a warehouse since the 90s and as such has not.  
Grakkus fucked around with this message at 09:52 on Feb 7, 2020 |
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2020 09:47
|
|
|
Grakkus posted:Uhm, what? Are you having it fixed at a Mercedes dealer? The people I was referring to do their own maintenance on the cars at a local DIY garage. I imagine that helps with costs. Like yeah, it's not a civic, but you don't have to be Jeff Bezos to run these things. How much did they want for the windscreen fluid reservoir replacement? A good used one should be cheap and it's easily accessible from the engine bay.. Oh god no, I did a couple times when I had a warranty. Now I go to an indy which is basically peanuts in comparison. And yeah, it is just a car and I do quite a bit of work myself. As for the reservoir? Quoted me a couple hours for labor to get to the leaking grommet which apparently MB thinks is worth $15. Last thing I worry about is the engine/trans. Except I know the coil packs are going to bite it eventually and they are $700 or so a piece. Electrics and suspension as mentioned are the big ones. You are basically looking at $700 a corner or so. If you go with ABC that includes a tandem pump which is around $1500. Another problem with ABC is the hose routing which sometimes requires dropping the front subframe. Usually the first thing you purchase is a laptop with multiplexor and the ...ahem... software (DAS/STAR/Xentry) to talk to the car. I find it funny that MB doesn't really care about these kits. Because when you replace just about any electronic module it needs to "phone home" for programming and you don't have that ability since you aren't a shop that pays them 10K or so a year for the privilege. There's actually a clandestine underground sort of thing for this.
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2020 13:07
|
|
C-Bangin' it 
|
I was seriously considering buying a mid 2000's SL500 / SL600 here in the UK last year. They are cheap as chips and being in Europe the parts aren't anywhere near as expensive as they are in the US, but yeah, the main thing I found in researching them is that around 100-120k miles the air / hydraulic suspension will give out and each corner is nearly as expensive as the car itself. It's like buying a car JUST before it needs a timing change, sure it'll be a cheap buy, but then you double the price to have the work done (unless you have a fully kitted garage yourself, something not common here in the UK at all). I'm still gonna get one once i've half a dozen years no claims bonus built up on my existing ride because I own a car purely for recreational reasons and do around 3k miles a year so maintenance costs are minimal, so as long as i find one that's had the suspension work replaced or a conversion to regular shocks and springs then it'll be well worth it for the £:BHP ratio those beasts put out.
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2020 13:15
|
|
|
https://twitter.com/BabyPatThicc/status/1225193012004818944?s=20 Imagine paying $400mil on a yacht only to be upstaged by whatever that is up front.
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2020 13:38
|
|
|
dpack_1 posted:I was seriously considering buying a mid 2000's SL500 / SL600 here in the UK last year. Heads up on the SL600 and something to look for when shopping, replacing the motor mounts is basically an engine out procedure. IIRC around 20 hours quoted labor. And if they haven't been replaced, assume they are shot. The V12 eats them for breakfast. Not sure on the SL500. Casual googling looks like simply remove the exhaust and jack up the engine. Anyways, sorry to derail the thread, there's a MB thread if you have more questions or want more misery.
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2020 13:49
|
|
|
Grakkus posted:I don't really get what's so hard to understand about this. The car, once upon a time, had a biodegradable wiring harness. It was a huge point of weakness and a large factor in why it was considered an unreliable car at that time. At some point, 5, 10, 15 years ago, that harness stopped working (unsurprisingly). A new one was fitted that was not biodegradable. It is now not a point of weakness in the car, therefore as long as you check that it has been replaced in a car you are buying, you can't reasonably consider it unreliable for having a biodegrading wiring harness. According to a previous post you just have a 1 in 10 chance that it's not been done. In that case, it only requires disassembly of a German car from the worst automotive design era (in terms of repairs). Reliable. 
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2020 14:20
|
|
|
What kind of  engineering meeting happened where someone decided that biodegradable wiring was a desired feature?
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2020 15:38
|
|
|
Iirc the initial efforts to make low-voc insulation for did not work out well, it was not intentionally bio degradable.
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2020 15:50
|
|
|
What was the car that would ingest water into the wiring harness?
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2020 15:54
|
|
|
Yeah fully agreed that the suspension and electronics are the bits that can get expensive. That said, they're pretty durable items so once replaced they'll last a long while, so if you can pick one up that has had at least some of the work done then you're in good shape. Nocheez posted:According to a previous post you just have a 1 in 10 chance that it's not been done. In that case, it only requires disassembly of a German car from the worst automotive design era (in terms of repairs). I too buy cars purely sight unseen, without asking any questions, checking service history or inspecting them. Sure hope I beat the odds next time too!!! 
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2020 16:14
|
|
|
Colostomy Bag posted:What was the car that would ingest water into the wiring harness? 2000's VWs, until they stopped putting the harness's wire sheath right up to coolant tank's (leaking) level sensor
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2020 16:38
|
|
|
Grakkus posted:I don't really get what's so hard to understand about this. The car, once upon a time, had a biodegradable wiring harness. It was a huge point of weakness and a large factor in why it was considered an unreliable car at that time. At some point, 5, 10, 15 years ago, that harness stopped working (unsurprisingly). A new one was fitted that was not biodegradable. It is now not a point of weakness in the car, therefore as long as you check that it has been replaced in a car you are buying, you can't reasonably consider it unreliable for having a biodegrading wiring harness. This is a fair point. If it's still going by this point, it's probably OK in that respect. (I like your Citroens, too - there are so few that made it to the US, and even fewer that survived, that they're in a similar place to all the neat little Japanese things we never got.) Colostomy Bag posted:Usually the first thing you purchase is a laptop with multiplexor and the ...ahem... software (DAS/STAR/Xentry) to talk to the car. I find it funny that MB doesn't really care about these kits. Because when you replace just about any electronic module it needs to "phone home" for programming and you don't have that ability since you aren't a shop that pays them 10K or so a year for the privilege. There's actually a clandestine underground sort of thing for this. As there should be. Same thing is happening with John Deere tractors out of necessity. When the special snowflake electronics go wonky in your $100k tractor that your livelihood depends on, you can't just have it towed to the dealer and get a loaner, so farmers are getting cracked dealer diagnostic software from Eastern Europe and fixing the damned things themselves. John Deere is trying to fight back, consumers are trying to get freedom-to-repair laws passed - the ones covering cars don't cover tractors and other farm equipment. It's perfectly legal, currently, for JD to require that you bring it to them for service or void your warranty. Colostomy Bag posted:Heads up on the SL600 and something to look for when shopping, replacing the motor mounts is basically an engine out procedure. IIRC around 20 hours quoted labor. And if they haven't been replaced, assume they are shot. The V12 eats them for breakfast. Sounds like the V12 needs the old-school muscle-car "length of chain" motor mount retainers. NoWake posted:2000's VWs, until they stopped putting the harness's wire sheath right up to coolant tank's (leaking) level sensor Those were hilarious. They would go so far as to fill the tail light housings with water. Literal blinker fluid.
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2020 16:49
|
|
|
Darchangel posted:
I've heard of being underwater on your car, but this is ridiculous!
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2020 17:37
|
|
|
Darchangel posted:
I 'think' the mounts wore out because MB tried getting fancy with fuel economy with them, shutting down 6 cylinders at low RPMs to save gas, but of course everyone that bought a V12 wanted it to always be firing on all 12 cylinders so the throttle is basically an on/off switch and the violent jerking from switching from V6 to V12 would rattle the mounts like maracas. If you drove it sensibly they'd last as good as any other mounts, but nobody drives a V12 sensibly so...
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2020 17:56
|
|
|
Olympic Mathlete posted:https://twitter.com/BabyPatThicc/status/1225193012004818944?s=20 I saw that yacht in person once randomly and thought it was a weird art installation type building. I cannot overstate how big and ridiculous it is. Exactly the opposite of the swimming jeep.
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2020 19:17
|
|
|
holey moley check out mitsu's wrc shop http://www.speedhunters.com/2020/02/meet-the-saviours-of-mitsubishis-wrc-era/
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2020 19:27
|
|
|
BraveUlysses posted:holey moley check out mitsu's wrc shop
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2020 23:00
|
|
|
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMZ8_pqJgek
|
|
#
?
Feb 9, 2020 19:35
|
|
|
dpack_1 posted:
I drive mine sensibly into the gas station.
|
|
#
?
Feb 9, 2020 20:54
|
|
|
kinda late to the W220 chat, butGrakkus posted:it's not a civic, but you don't have to be Jeff Bezos to run these things. https://youtu.be/iJQdj9EhQoQ e:typing is hard snugglz fucked around with this message at 23:36 on Feb 9, 2020 |
|
#
?
Feb 9, 2020 23:32
|
|
|
This is like the car guy/girl version of edging.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2020 02:11
|
|
|
BraveUlysses posted:holey moley check out mitsu's wrc shop From looking at the pics I thought this was a detailed model until that one of someone holding a brake disc. Woah. Edit: in my defence every single pic looks like it's shot with tilt-shift! Pile Of Garbage fucked around with this message at 15:59 on Feb 11, 2020 |
|
#
?
Feb 11, 2020 15:57
|
|
|
boxen posted:This is like the car guy/girl version of edging. The climax is going to be when they take it on the road for the first time then crash it into a tree Then we get Project Repair Binky for another five years!
|
|
#
?
Feb 11, 2020 17:36
|
|
|
Paul Radisich driving TheLab's Nissan March up the hill at Leadfoot day 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RjeitY5PvU Not quite your regular March as it now has a twin turbo VQ35 mid mounted and 4WD via a custom designed and built transfer box to reverse the direction of drive since the longitudinal engine is now facing the wrong way.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKdPGxkiR74
|
|
#
?
Feb 14, 2020 09:03
|
|
|
That owns so much but oh how I wish that was in a bubble shaped K11 Micra/March... 
|
|
#
?
Feb 14, 2020 16:29
|
|
|
HIGHway 420 is in my home town.
|
|
#
?
Feb 14, 2020 22:33
|
|
|
wesleywillis posted:HIGHway 420 is in my home town. Nice!
|
|
#
?
Feb 14, 2020 22:45
|
|
|
To add to that, if you take a drive from Windsor Ont, to Sudbury, its approximately 420 minutes (traffic dependant obv..) to get there. Part of which includes travel on HWY 69 including going through the town/hamlet/whatever of Bigwood https://www.google.com/maps/place/B...21!4d-80.597122
|
|
#
?
Feb 14, 2020 23:06
|
|
|
Fully sick looking car https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0XvBHd3p24 Have this chunk of rad too... https://twitter.com/ovrpat/status/1229739042381500416?s=20 Olympic Mathlete fucked around with this message at 15:58 on Feb 18, 2020 |
|
#
?
Feb 18, 2020 14:57
|
|
|
Darchangel posted:Those were hilarious. They would go so far as to fill the tail light housings with water. Literal blinker fluid. My third-gen Honda Prelude did this. It was rain water, running down from a 22-year-old trunk-lid weatherstrip and causing the 95-cent light bulb to fail. I fixed it by drilling a couple of little holes in the bottom of the plastic light housing, for drainage. Remember to drain your blinker fluid, folks! wesleywillis posted:To add to that, if you take a drive from Windsor Ont, to Sudbury, its approximately 420 minutes (traffic dependant obv..) to get there. Part of which includes travel on HWY 69 including going through the town/hamlet/whatever of Bigwood I used to live in Sudbury. Up and down 69, many times. The grass really is greener (because of the environmental restoration). **** Anyway, I came in here to post this: https://www.sixwheeler.com.au/ I saw one on the road a few days ago and it turns out the conversions happen at a place I could drive to in about 4 or 5 hours. Everything they have - and everything they've done now for sale on the used market - is way outside my budget, but these are very appealing. Some of them - like this one (Holden WB Ute 6-wheel) are dancing close to Peak Australian.
|
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2020 00:08
|
|
|
ExecuDork posted:Anyway, I came in here to post this: https://www.sixwheeler.com.au/ Man, if that were A Thing in the US, the bro dozer crowd would eat that poo poo up.
|
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2020 01:24
|
|
|
boxen posted:Man, if that were A Thing in the US, the bro dozer crowd would eat that poo poo up. I’ve seen at least one of these in Fort Lauderdale, but I think it was a new JL, and I think it had a factory gladiator bed. 
|
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2020 01:36
|
|
|
ExecuDork posted:
I saw what looked like an HQ based version in Frankston the other day. Was rocking some Pontiac honeycomb type wheels in a bronze colour and it looked super good.
|
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2020 02:35
|
|
|
slothrop posted:I saw what looked like an HQ based version in Frankston the other day. Was rocking some Pontiac honeycomb type wheels in a bronze colour and it looked super good. Did the wheels look like this what's on this?  If so, then they were off a HX Holden Monaro LE
|
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2020 05:24
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 26, 2024 06:11 |
|
|
Watch from 1:42 to 5:30 if you want to see some weird and wonderful Japanese cars and from 9:44 until the end if you want to know what a Toyota Century with a 1GZ-FE V12 sounds like with a custom exhaust (this is the bit I've linked right to in the video). Makes some good noises. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJEmP6c-Io4&t=584s
|
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2020 12:13
|
|