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What are the usual suspects for a decrease in MPG? New plugs, new wires, new valve cover gaskets, new fuel filter. I'm thinking diff oil?
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Feb 7, 2015 05:50
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Air filter might be overdue for a change as well, tires may be low/worn out too. E: unless you changed the diff oil and poured something much more viscous in there, diff oil won't spontaneously cause mpg decreases.
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Feb 7, 2015 06:32
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I'll check tires, they might be low from the cold. I replaced the air filter less than 5k ago.
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Feb 7, 2015 06:33
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Also if you're like most people, clean the miscellaneous bullshit out of the trunk that accumulates over time. Carting around 50+ pounds of junk in the trunk( ) eats away at mileage too.
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Feb 7, 2015 06:40
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When was the last time you checked? Winter-blend fuel does it too.
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Feb 7, 2015 06:55
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Kilersquirrel posted:Also if you're like most people, clean the miscellaneous bullshit out of the trunk that accumulates over time. Carting around 50+ pounds of junk in the trunk( Not as much as you would think. I got 23.13mpg in a 1991 comanche with a 4.0L engine and automatic transmission, neither of them ever rebuilt, with over 200 thousand miles on them... and 3/4 ton of cargo in the bed. As long as your tires are appropriately filled for the load they are carrying and you don't brake/accelerate/brake/accelerate like an idiot, a bit of extra weight will do almost nothing to your fuel economy on the highway. It'll murder your numbers in town for sure, and extra aero drag ruins everything on the highway, but extra weight in general is not that big a deal.
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Feb 7, 2015 08:10
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Question: Bulb grease?
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Feb 7, 2015 09:39
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CharlesM posted:Question: Bulb grease? No. I mean, if you're worried about your bulbs seizing in to their sockets, then you have much larger problems, with regards to the environment in which you're driving.
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Feb 7, 2015 12:34
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Only if the sockets are exposed to the elements (very few are). It's just dielectric grease, nothing more. I got a manager at AutoZone fired for his hard-sell "bulb grease" sales technique awhile back. He pulled out a big box of burned out bulbs and said they all burned out because no bulb grease was used on them, and that bulb grease was used to cool the bulbs. He also said my information was "loving stupid" when I told him what bulb grease really was.  It helps that Texas is a one party consent state for recording audio, and I raised a pretty massive stink with corporate over it.
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Feb 7, 2015 12:51
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Lets talk suspension diag for a minute. My fiances 2004 accord (2.4l) is clunking a lot in the front end over our lovely michigan ruts/potholes/expansion cracks. It doesn't seem to have much steering slop or any sort of shimmy at high speeds. No shudder when braking either. Just clunking. Is that enough to try to diag what component needs to be replaced? Or do I need to get the wheels off and do something else? I dont have much suspension experience so I am not sure what to look for.
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Feb 7, 2015 15:48
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22 Eargesplitten posted:What are the usual suspects for a decrease in MPG? New plugs, new wires, new valve cover gaskets, new fuel filter. I'm thinking diff oil? Weight in the car due to junk. Dragging brakes, oxygen sensors, tyre pressure, engine oil, any minor problem that causes the engine management to run richer eg - low temp coolant sensor. Auto trans juice being shagged, fuel pressure regulator? Fo3 fucked around with this message at 16:07 on Feb 7, 2015 |
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Feb 7, 2015 16:03
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PaintVagrant posted:Lets talk suspension diag for a minute. My fiances 2004 accord (2.4l) is clunking a lot in the front end over our lovely michigan ruts/potholes/expansion cracks. It doesn't seem to have much steering slop or any sort of shimmy at high speeds. No shudder when braking either. Just clunking. I had a similar problem a while back. The thread suggested it might be a swaybar endlink, but also check the strut mounts, make sure the nut isn't coming loose. That's what happened on mine. Mine was more of a squeak, though.
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Feb 7, 2015 16:44
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Thanks! I will take a look. To clarify, the clunks are not just noise, they are generally shocks that reverberate through the whole car. If I was guessing it would just be worn out front shocks, but I wanted to check here and see what you guys think first.
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Feb 7, 2015 16:45
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I have a 2002 renault clio 1.4 petrol, the loving battery is flat because it's cold and i mostly make short journeys at night with the lights, heater + radio on. My car isn't near a power outlet (at least 100ft from a power outlet and I can't run a cable that far) but I do have 13.8V power supply indoors, will there be any problem with taking the battery completely out of the car and charging it indoors. The power supply is variable from 12V to 15V and has a voltmeter and ammeter (although I also have a separate DMM). My current thinking is to take the battery indoors and adjust the power supply to be *slightly* higher than the battery's current voltage and charge it at about 1A, I believe that a slow charge rate shouldn't boil the electrolyte or spew hydrogen gas. I'll be near the the battery and will adjust the PSU voltage slightly upwards as it charges.
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Feb 7, 2015 17:00
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Some friendly gentleman who seemed to know a ton more about automobiles than I did informed me all FWD cars with open differentials will eventually destroy the transaxle if subjected to regular loss of traction (spinning tires). Is this true? I'm asking because on my list of replacement rallyx beaters such as the 94-98 Protege, 94-99 Neon, 93-03 ZX2, 95-03 Mirage, 99-05 Accent, 94-99 Tercel/Paseo, 96-00 Civic, and 95-00 Corolla are all FWD vehicles with open differentials. Any of them will be regularly subjected to spinning tires and I'd rather not grenade a transmission if possible. It may "just" be a matter of welding in the differential pinion shaft (commonly performed on Saturn S-Series cars) but I don't know much about manual transaxles on FWD compacts. puberty worked me over fucked around with this message at 17:39 on Feb 7, 2015 |
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Feb 7, 2015 17:24
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kastein posted:It'll murder your numbers in town for sure, and extra aero drag ruins everything on the highway, but extra weight in general is not that big a deal. City mileage is exactly the numbers I was referring to, they're the most (immediately) noticeable since you can generally assume somebody lives and commutes to work inside a city or large town. Though I should probably have clarified that. Edit: Re: Crankit - You can charge your battery outside your car(its going to be constantly in learning mode though), but dude just buy a float charger. You can and probably will overcharge your battery and gently caress up the chemistry inside by just leaving it on a dumb power supply and hoping it doesn't overcharge by the time you take it off in the morning. If you're driving a Renault then I'm sure one of the UK or Aus goons here can point you towards a cheap decent one. E2: MachineMart has a maintainer for £40, I'm sure with a little bit of digging you can find one even cheaper. https://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/gunson-77115-maintance-battery-charger?da=1&TC=SRC-battery%20maintainer Kilersquirrel fucked around with this message at 18:05 on Feb 7, 2015 |
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Feb 7, 2015 17:55
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Kilersquirrel posted:City mileage is exactly the numbers I was referring to, they're the most (immediately) noticeable since you can generally assume somebody lives and commutes to work inside a city or large town. Though I should probably have clarified that. No, you really CAN'T assume that.
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Feb 7, 2015 18:08
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Crankit posted:My current thinking is to take the battery indoors and adjust the power supply to be *slightly* higher than the battery's current voltage and charge it at about 1A, I believe that a slow charge rate shouldn't boil the electrolyte or spew hydrogen gas. I'll be near the the battery and will adjust the PSU voltage slightly upwards as it charges. The only problem here is your power supply won't switch itself to a trickle charge once the battery reaches a fully charged state, and overcharging a battery will boil the cells. You'd be better off getting a basic self-monitoring car battery charger so you can just set it up to charge and leave it.
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Feb 7, 2015 18:27
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Took my '96 Camry into the shop today to have the EGR problem (code P0401) looked at. They want $580 ($377 for parts) to replace it and the vacuum switch. Googling around shows me the parts to retail for about $150-175. Does this sound high?
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Feb 7, 2015 18:35
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Mister Kingdom posted:Took my '96 Camry into the shop today to have the EGR problem (code P0401) looked at. They want $580 ($377 for parts) to replace it and the vacuum switch. Googling around shows me the parts to retail for about $150-175. Does this sound high? You may want to remove the EGR valve assembly and look for carbon buildup in the intake manifold port. Related: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ms5C6vDHCww puberty worked me over fucked around with this message at 19:21 on Feb 7, 2015 |
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Feb 7, 2015 18:56
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Kilersquirrel posted:City mileage is exactly the numbers I was referring to, they're the most (immediately) noticeable since you can generally assume somebody lives and commutes to work inside a city or large town. Though I should probably have clarified that. Not in are country. 
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Feb 7, 2015 18:58
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Extra posted:Did they already try cleaning and determined it was the VSV causing the code or are they just trying to throw parts at the problem? Even then if it was the VSV causing the issue why would the EGR need to be replaced? I'm thinking they just want to throw parts at it. The car runs fine otherwise other than the CEL staring at me all the time.
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Feb 7, 2015 19:11
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Mister Kingdom posted:I'm thinking they just want to throw parts at it. The car runs fine otherwise other than the CEL staring at me all the time. Does it have to pass emissions? If not who cares.
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Feb 7, 2015 19:17
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Extra posted:Does it have to pass emissions? If not who cares. No, it doesn't. Until it causes performance problems (and it hasn't in the two years I've had it), I'm gonna let it go.
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Feb 7, 2015 19:18
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Mister Kingdom posted:No, it doesn't. Until it causes performance problems (and it hasn't in the two years I've had it), I'm gonna let it go. I had an egr issue that drove me batty on my 2000 tacoma. It ended up being a cracked vaccuum hose. There are some simple tests you can do to see if the egr is bad or something else associated with the system. If no emissions though let it go unless your mileage goes to poo poo.
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Feb 7, 2015 19:33
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Mister Kingdom posted:No, it doesn't. Until it causes performance problems (and it hasn't in the two years I've had it), I'm gonna let it go. It will never cause performance problems, 5SFE doesn't give two fucks about whether the EGR is working. Just toss a can of seafoam through it. You'll probably get a performance/mpg improvement too.
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Feb 7, 2015 22:14
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My apologies to anyone with an unanswered question, please go repost in the new thread.
Somebody fucked around with this message at 23:12 on Feb 7, 2015 |
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Feb 7, 2015 22:14
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EVERYWHERE 
