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Geoj posted:^ That's certainly possible - rockauto's cheapest knock sensor is still $65, and this one was $13 shipped on ebay. It's not showing a pending or stored P0325 yet. The sensor I got is a private label from the seller I ordered it from, and they have an absurd amount of 99%+ positive feedback. Also has a 1 year warranty. I'll scan the ECU in a few days and see if it comes back. Even with the sensor disconnected, it's been getting horrible mileage - 19.8 MPG on this last tank... from a 4 cylinder in a compact car.
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Aug 21, 2011 08:21
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Sockington posted:More of a midsize than compact. Sentra filled that spot. The first and second generation Altima were at the upper end of the compact car class - interior volume from 93-01 is 108 cubic ft, and a 103.1 inch wheelbase. According to Wikipedia, that meets the EPA's definition of compact car. It's not much bigger than an early 2000s 4 door Civic. 02+ is definitely in midsize territory though. The third and fourth generation Altimas look like bro trucks next to my 99. You can easily fit 5 adults in an 02+, but you can barely get 4 in my 99... and the two in the back are gonna have to be pretty comfortable with each other. randomidiot fucked around with this message at 17:08 on Aug 21, 2011 |
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Aug 21, 2011 17:01
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heat posted:If you haven't found out just how far the needle will go past E you haven't lived my friend I drove 60 miles after the low fuel light came on a few months ago. Took 14.8 gallons to fill it up after that. I have a 15 gallon tank. So we'll call it 60 miles of safety net on my car.
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Aug 22, 2011 04:07
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NOTinuyasha posted:Apparently the Mercedes/Mopar smart key system will just crank the engine forever until you turn the key all the way to the left to cancel it, just in case anyone was wondering how digital keys/starters handled engine failure. That sounds like a wonderful way to burn up a starter, maybe even set the battery cables on fire if they're not heavy enough for that kind of continuous load. The positive cable went up in flames when the ignition got stuck in "start" on my F-150, that was fun. And yeah, it's not terribly good for the fuel pump, but otherwise doesn't do any real harm to a gasoline engine. Diesel engines, on the other hand, are a bit of a bitch to get running again, aren't they?
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Aug 22, 2011 07:44
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Just hit the MAF with some MAF cleaner. Hopefully it'll help with the sputtering/hesitation issue - don't have to drive for another 2 hours, so it should be plenty dry by then.
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Aug 24, 2011 10:56
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Picked up some LEDs for my dash, and... holy poo poo it looked horrible. Hot spots, dark spots, you name it. Granted the LEDs were super cheap, but... Wandered through Pep Boys and noticed some hyperwhite 194 bulbs. Not the painted ones, but the ones with dyed glass. Cheapish, and as it turns out, the dash looks pretty decent with them. Not overly blue, not too bright. 
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Aug 27, 2011 03:35
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 Why yes, I did want to swap an alternator when it's 105 outside! And I did have $173 for a new one!  At least it crapped out pretty close to home - 5 or 6 miles - and the battery still had 12.1 volts when I pulled into the driveway. Old alternator was making a really weird noise and was making a horrible burning smell when I got home. But it's right up on top, so it only took about 30 minutes to swap. Reman Napa alternator w/lifetime warranty: $155 + tax. It was only $10 extra for the lifetime warranty vs the 3 year warranty.
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Aug 29, 2011 23:23
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Viggen posted:Given the threads about your car, I would have saved V  V NOW LISTEN HERE THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH THIS CAR IT'S A PERFECTLY GOOD WELL MAINTA... ah gently caress it you're right, something else WILL break tomorrow.  Still, 147k out of the original alternator ain't too bad.aventari posted:you sure it wasn't the belt? A loose belt can make noise and a horrible burning smell. True enough, but that belt also spins the water pump and power steering pump. It didn't overheat and my arms don't look like Popeye's arms yet. Also it was a rather distinct electrical smell.. I was torn between driving it the rest of the way or getting it towed since the alternator released some of its magic smoke. Anyway, it's got 13.8 volts while running now. A little lower than before, it would do about 14.5. But it stays at 13.8 even if I turn everything on that's capable of drawing electricity.
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Aug 30, 2011 00:24
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 Tried another set of LEDs. Much, much better than the ones I tried before. Now I just need to actually clean the clear plastic over the cluster and get some itty bitty ones for the climate control. Half of the climate control hasn't lit up since I've owned the car, and I'd like it to match the cluster. Used two sets of these LEDs. Dirt cheap (I've found the same ones for $15/each from US based sellers) and far brighter than the original bulbs. Also one of these for the dome light. Seems to be a little brighter than the original bulb, though the "fade to off" dimming crap that the car does when you close the doors ... doesn't work with this. It just stays on, then flickers a couple of times and goes off when it tries to dim. I'm sure it's because of the way the body control module tries to dim the bulb.
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Sep 7, 2011 01:51
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Viggen posted:Yeah, pretty much. Remember that Apple was the first 'blinking/fading LED', and it's still considered a pretty neat hack, since before that, just slowly drop off the feed, and it would fade with a normal bulb. Well, that's how the body control module dims the bulb to off, and how the light behaves with a normal bulb in the socket after closing the doors (on for about 30 seconds before dimming to off). But the particular LED I got has its own voltage driver, like a higher end LED flashlight. So it's on at full brightness until the voltage drops too low for the driver to keep it lit - it'll flicker for a moment before going off completely. I did notice today it's not any brighter than the bulb it replaced except for right under it - but the lens over the bulb diffuses it enough that it's about as bright as the original bulb it replaced anywhere else in the car. I was hoping it'd be brighter, particularly since it has two 1W LEDs, but I think if I'm going to be able to do that I'll have to get a small LED panel and stick it to the inside of the lens. Dealextreme has them pretty cheap, complete with driver, so I may do that. My dash LEDs dim fine with the dimmer, but they're 5 LEDs with a small resister wedged into a 194 base - no driver. They're also much brighter than the original lights, and seem to dim to almost the same level. I did notice one dim spot on my way to class this morning, but it had the same dim spot with the original bulbs. Why Nissan chose to light the entire cluster with only 4 bulbs is beyond me. Anyway, enough of my love of LEDs. I finally started trying to figure out why my cruise control sometimes shuts off after hitting a bump. Didn't have to look far!  Yeah, they're just twisted together by hand - loosely at that. One of these days I'll solder/heatshrink the connection, for now I twisted it up a bit tighter and wrapped it tightly in electrical tape.  I also need to replace the center stack and center console if I want everything to line up properly... the ashtray is also next to impossible to pull out thanks to all the busted plastic back there. I have no idea what the gently caress happened here, it was like that when I got the car.  If/when I get around to it, it's all plastic that's held on by a handful of screws.. not difficult to replace, though it'll be hard finding a center console from a manual. Maybe the previous owner had an aftermarket stereo that got stolen, though if that's the case, they were nice enough not to hack up any wiring.
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Sep 7, 2011 15:58
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It didn't smoke at all while I was actually feeding it Seafoam, it started smoking when I was driving it afterwards. And when I shut it off to hook the brake booster vacuum back up, the engine dieseled for a good 5 seconds or so, wasn't expecting that. It's been pinging pretty bad for a few weeks, I'm hoping this will help. Dumped about half the bottle in with the gas (has a half tank right now). I drove it for about 15 minutes afterwards - if nothing else, the idle is much, much smoother and it seems to respond a bit quicker if I blip the throttle at idle. If it's still pinging after this, I'll try a cooler thermostat and maybe drop down to cooler plugs. Maybe I can actually hook up the knock sensor soon, the car is almost undriveable with it plugged in.
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Sep 26, 2011 05:58
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extreme_accordion posted:GM or whoever assembled this car decided to route the wire right next to the hinge and under the piston for the trunk lid. There is a nice knife angled mounting bracket with the hinge assemble and not a lot of slack. 4 of 5 lines completely severed. My theory is that the slack that was there got around the edge of that bracket. Toyota Avalons and Camrys suffer from this too - not so much from the wiring being run too close to anything, more because there's no slack. I don't think the Avalon uses pistons on the trunk lid, just a torsion bar/spring; I assume the Camry is the same. Another 4-6 inches of wire at the factory would help prevent, if not eliminate, the issue. But  and  If the bundle doesn't have much slack after your repair, you may want to splice in an extra 6 inches or so of wire - adding enough split loom tubing to protect it, of course. Mom has a 03 Avalon, and uses the trunk constantly on hers - I'm sure I'll get to tackle that soon. Thankfully my current car doesn't have any wiring in the trunk lid whatsoever (the interior release is cable operated, no lights on the lid)...
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Sep 27, 2011 08:52
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I got an OBD2 Bluetooth dongle and Torque for Android. I played the Chinese knockoff lottery and lost, the dongle is a piece of poo poo that sends garbage data about 1/4 of the time, works 1/4 the time, lag like crazy for 1/4 of the time, and flat out disappears for the remaining 1/4 of the time. Also found out the dongle comes with an automatic battery killer function, aka make the interior of the car smell like burnt electronics function, that kicks in if you leave it plugged in overnight. Torque is a very impressive piece of software. I shipped the dongle back, going to go ahead and get the dongle recommended by the author of Torque instead. I was just hoping to avoid spending $100 on it.
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Oct 10, 2011 23:50
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Geirskogul posted:Ouch, we all lose the Chinese knockoff lottery every now and again. I also never buy something that I can also find on Dealextreme without either getting two spares (just in case), or understanding that it may not work. Bad luck, man. The price was within a couple of bucks of Dealextreme, but I have Amazon Prime (2 day shipping on most stuff), and Amazon also makes returns really loving easy on stuff listed as "fulfilled by Amazon". Free shipping on returns if the item is defective as well; the third party seller never gets involved in returns or even shipping, only customer service. I've bought a lot of stuff from Dealextreme, only been burned a couple of times, but it takes forever to get anything unless it's stocked at their US warehouse. Crustashio posted:Can you leave the bluetooth dongle plugged in all the time? This software looks great but if I have to climb into the footwell every time I'd just stick with my OBD reader. I left it plugged in overnight and was greeted to a battery that didn't quite have enough oomph to turn the starter, just a click - but enough for the ECU and fuel pump; I park on a steep driveway and have a M/T, so I just rolled down the driveway and popped the clutch. Also, there was a distinct hot plastic/electronics smell inside the car, the dongle was rather hot to the touch, and my phone couldn't see it at all. Unplugging it and plugging it back in got it working as good as it ever did though (which is to say, on its own terms). Admittedly, my battery has seen better days, but it's obvious the dongle I got wasn't designed to stay plugged in 24/7. I don't remember if the power light stayed on or not, I already shipped it back. And admittedly, my battery is marginal anyway; it cranks pretty slow after sitting overnight and Autozone's tester claims it's not putting out poo poo for amps (850 CCA, put out about 300 amps when tested). The PLX Kiwi I'm going to get instead comes with a 6 foot cable and a power switch; if the switch is part of the cord I'll probably wire a relay into it so it shuts off on its own.
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Oct 11, 2011 07:18
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98-99 Altimas have a poo poo sunvisor design - specifically, the pivot snaps. My car was no exception when I bought it, been driving sans visors for over a year. Picked up a set from an 01 on eBay thinking they were the same. Turns out they redesigned the pivot (it's metal now instead of plastic, shouldn't break nearly as easy) and it's just a hair longer, but still uses the same mount location and screws. Apparently the 00-01 plastic clips hang down a little further too, but those won't attach to my 99's ceiling without drilling. The 98-99 clips work, it's just a little difficult to snap the 00-01 visors in and out of them. Also, since they're a little longer, they rub the headliner where the maplights would be (if my car had them). I'm just happy to have visors that don't fall off though. Got the set for $50 shipped, usually they go for at least $50-75/each. New ones have lights, old ones didn't; eventually I may figure out how to wire them up. Now I just need to find some screws so I can put the passenger side up.  
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Oct 14, 2011 19:26
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Beach Bum posted:I replaced the 170k mile brake master on my E30 today and my brake pedal is loving ridiculous now Several years ago on my Integra I replaced the master, plus I swapped all the brake lines to Goodrich braided lines, and replaced the rotors and pads on all 4 (original fronts had stress cracks, original rears were grooved). I reused the calipers, but they seemed to be in good shape. If you sneezed in the general direction of the brake pedal it would lock up the tires. Surprised I didn't get rear-ended in following days, it took a lot of getting used to and it was always hilarious watching someone else try to drive it.
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Oct 15, 2011 18:54
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. I can just barely touch the brakes and it grabs like I ran into a wall. This is going to take some getting used to. It also grabs at the top of the stroke as opposed to me panicking when it doesn't grab until halfway to the floor.
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  SlimManFat posted:I on the other hand won big on the Chinese lottery. That's the exact same one I received, actually. Torque will bitch sooner or later about getting garbage data from it.
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Oct 16, 2011 06:55
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If you only want it as a code scanner, it works great. It's sluggish with Torque in dashboard mode though.
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Oct 16, 2011 07:49
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 Proved to the state that I'm not belching clouds of noxious fumes from the exhaust. And as you can see from the reflection, tried Del Taco...  seriously who the gently caress gives you FRIES with tacos?!Kotaru posted:Took my car down the Twisted Sisters in Kerrville Texas for the first time. Kept up with the supercharged MRS in our group. I need a bigger engine and better brakes now. Goddamn I'm jealous, Kerrville is loving beautiful this time of year (anytime of year, really). Some absolutely gorgeous roads around Hunt too.
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Nov 6, 2011 08:36
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That might even be beyond Sockington levels of rust. Had to replace the battery. And had to borrow money from family to do so since I just paid all my bills for the month - and in doing so they demanded I get the absolute cheapest battery I could find that had a decent warranty. Didn't know Costco had their own line of batteries and the warranty is null and void if the membership used to purchase it lapses $66.99 gets you Kirkland's 
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Nov 29, 2011 21:29
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Seat Safety Switch posted:You added a battery tie-down to that after the picture was taken, right? Holy crap I should follow this thread more. As others said, there's a lip on the bottom of the battery - the bolt you see at the bottom tightens a clamp into that lip. The other side doesn't have a bolt, but does have a fixed clamp. But once that bolt is tightened, the battery ain't going anywhere. Tightening that bolt is a pain in the rear end, I don't own enough extensions to get the ratchet above the top of the battery. The A/C receiver/dryer sits next to the bracket/clamp, so I can basically turn it 1/16 of a turn at a time. I'm going to pick up a decent set of tools pretty soon (probably Craftsman) instead of these lovely Harbor Freight shitpiles that keep breaking if I breathe on them. Originally there was a plastic cover/shield on the battery - I never put it back on after I replaced the terminals. Seemed pretty pointless. But to contribute - I got a locking gas cap instead of fixing the broken gas door latch ($12 vs a $35 cable + an hour of fishing it through the interior and up to the trunk release - same cable for both), and I broke 155k. Big whoop. One of these days I'll actually replace the cable, but a few days ago I came out of work to a very empty gas tank (it was half full when I parked)..  One of these days I'll get around to replacing the cracked front bumper. And replace the shift knob, the one on there now is just disgusting. randomidiot fucked around with this message at 10:40 on Dec 18, 2011 |
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Dec 18, 2011 10:38
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Splizwarf posted:What do you mean by "standard"? Ford did that a lot. Full size trucks still have the parking brake on the floor. As does the Toyota Avalon and Ford Crown Victoria, though neither of those are available with a manual transmission. GM still puts them on the floor on their mid size and larger cars.
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Dec 18, 2011 21:21
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Got an EVAP related code today ("vacuum cut valve bypass valve"). Crawled under the car and... well, I thought I got rid of all the gifts from the previous owner. I was wrong. What the gently caress?! Did you really have to get every loving drop of gas in there every time you filled up?  The FSM's troubleshooting procedure for P1491 mentions a small EVAP leak can also cause this code, as can a damaged pressure sensor. Guess I get to replace a few hoses and cross my fingers.  edit: attempted to pull the nasty hoses off. They pretty much crumbled to dust the moment I touched them, and left some horrible horrible crap on my hands. Thankfully only one hose is a bitch to get to, and it can be accessed by removing the back seat and an access panel (better than dropping the tank). Also getting an EGR code as well (for low/no flow detected), though the extent of my troubleshooting on that so far has been to move the EGR valve by hand. It moves easily and the engine dies instantly if I open it fast, and goes into a loping/bouncing idle if I open it slowly, so the valve itself and passages seem to be in decent shape. The car passed smog 6 weeks ago with no issues, and it's not stumbling or hesitating at all, so the EGR stuff can sit on the back burner until I clear up the evap codes. The EGR code appeared at the same time as the EVAP code; I know they share a common vacuum source, so there's a very tiny chance they may be related. Even if the hoses had nothing to do with the codes I'm getting, it's pretty obvious they needed attention. I did try removing the charcoal canister; no liquid in it, so that's (maybe) a plus. edit 2: replaced the rotten hoses today and reset the ECU. Driven about 80 miles since then and no CEL, and no pending codes. I'm somewhat expecting the EGR code to reappear the next time I have it on the highway, but I'll tackle that if and when that happens. another edit: 250 miles since I replaced the hoses, 70 of which were nonstop highway. No CEL, no pending codes. loving weird. randomidiot fucked around with this message at 10:55 on Dec 23, 2011 |
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Dec 20, 2011 18:19
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Tired of my yellowed/almost opaque headlights and the lack of useful light on the road. One 3M headlight polishing kit later, night turns into motherfucking day.  The low beams now throw more usable light than the high beams did previously. I can actually see the beam pattern now.  Low beams  High beams Need to pick up something to block the UV/prevent them from hazing for awhile tomorrow, but drat if this wasn't cheaper and easier than replacing the headlamps.
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Dec 24, 2011 06:14
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That's a bit more than what I want to spend... and they don't make it for my car anyway (98-99 Altima, not Sentra). Thanks though. I was thinking something more along the lines of rattlecan clearcoat or .. something along those lines. The car's really not worth a whole lot.
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Dec 24, 2011 06:56
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The timing chain rattle at startup has been getting worse and worse, to the point where it would rattle even if the engine had only been off for a few minutes. The rattle never lasted longer than 5 seconds though. The NissanClub forums suggest that if it only rattles at startup, then the oil supply for one of the timing chain tensioners is likely blocked with sludge. This morning the oil was a dark amber on the dipstick, not bad for 5500 miles (synthetic). Half a bottle of seafoam in the crankcase and about 15 minutes of idling turned it pitch black. It got filled back up with Walmart's store brand 5W30 and sat for a few hours, I just tried starting it and... no rattling whatsoever. So yay, I probably won't have to tear the timing cover off. I plan to do another round of Seafoam in the oil next week, hence the crappy oil - after that one it'll go back to its regular Valvoline synthetic diet. Also replaced the semi-decent Kicker 6.5" coaxials in the doors with some MB Quart Onyx components. The mids are a lot deeper and don't fit in the basket (and the basket just barely clears the window), so I have some washers acting as spacers for now until I can make some proper spacers after new years (they fit fine under the door panel, at least). Mounted the crossovers to the inside of the door panels (this way I didn't have to try and pull more wire into the doors), and the tweeters to the front corner of the doors behind the mirrors. Sounds much, much better. The Kicker coaxials will get moved to the rear deck to replace the horrible stock speakers.  edit: well drat, Amazon has Metra spacers for $5 with 2 day shipping. gently caress making them myself at that price. randomidiot fucked around with this message at 08:48 on Dec 31, 2011 |
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Dec 31, 2011 07:52
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Managed to fry my 7 year old, horrible lovely Namsung (Dual) sub amp. Speaker wires were frayed and shorted against the amp body, poof. It's stuck in protect now, even with only power and ground connected. Replaced it with a slightly less lovely (but only slightly) Maxxsonics Crunch "GroundPounder 1100W" amp. I'm sure it's probably closer to about 300-350W RMS, but my single sub is rated for 360W RMS/720W peak. The Dual amp was "460 watts", probably closer to about 150W RMS. And got Fry's to price match Amazon's price on the amp. Also when the gently caress did Maxxsonics buy MB Quart? I just put MB Quart components in the car thinking they were good speakers... 
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Jan 4, 2012 05:53
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Kotaru posted:I have no interest in the 3sgte. The 1mzfe is lighter, smoother and drat near everyone does a 3sgte swap. 2300lb car with a big torquey v6 is lancia stratos level of awesome. I know at least the VVTi version of the 1MZFE makes mom's Avalon get up and dance a bit. And her pig of an Avalon XLS w/sunroof is approaching 3500 lbs - it has no problem running away from my KA24DE Altima. One of the quietest and smoothest engines I've ever seen - even with 115k on it, the only noise you hear with it idling is the whine of the alternator, and that's only if you're standing outside of the car. It's a fantastic engine as long as you stay on top of oil changes and valve cover gaskets. No seriously change the valve cover gaskets before it goes in and watch out for sludge.... But in the Avalon and ES300, you literally cannot tell the engine is idling unless you look at the tach, it's that quiet. I've driven Cadillacs with worse manners. Shedding 1200 lbs would probably result in bald tires in a hurry. Even in the 3500 lb Avalon it doesn't have any issue breaking the tires loose. randomidiot fucked around with this message at 06:56 on Jan 9, 2012 |
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Jan 9, 2012 06:53
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More like what did my ride do to me today the alternator light is lit if your lovely cellphone photo interpreting skills aren't up to par The original belt lasted 12 years. The new lovely Duralast belt? 12 months.  Admittedly it may have had some coolant splashed on it at one point.And on this car, the serpentine belt also runs the water pump. Just moved to a new city and don't know anybody either, looks like I get to take the bus to AutoZone tomorrow, or maybe walk, it's only 2 miles.
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Jan 26, 2012 01:35
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Imperador do Brasil posted:A Kia Soul has lots of space? The trunk is like the size of a briefcase. I couldn't even fit a stroller in it when the wife and I were looking at one! Admittedly, I really like the Soul. Way more than I should. Except they don't offer a stick on anything except the base 1.6. I'd rather have the 2.0, sunroof, map lights, and power mirrors... but not quite enough to give up having 3 pedals. And they have a bit more usable room than my late 90s Nissan Altima.I could have sworn you could get M/T on the 2.0 before 2012.
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Jan 28, 2012 09:35
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EightBit posted:Well, make an AI Soul. I don't need to tell you what to do even, you're already planning it out. Unfortunately, Kia Souls are not quite the legos that Honda Civics were made of in the 90s. If they were, I would have snapped one up a long time ago. Also my massive $4.25/hr pay rate + nearly nonexistent tips doesn't help.
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Jan 28, 2012 11:20
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I've had a CV joint clicking for about 6 weeks, along with an occasional odd grinding noise when coming to a stop (but not brakes) that I haven't been able to figure out. I figured I had at least another couple of weeks, since it was only clicking if I stomped the gas through a turn. The grinding has been bugging me, but I pulled the front brakes apart a few days ago and couldn't figure out WTF. The CV boot has been torn for awhile. Turns out the grinding was the CV joint self-destructing. Started to pull away from a stop tonight and the whole loving car was vibrating in a way that only metal on metal can do. It was like a combination of every wheel bearing making GBS threads itself while all 4 brakes were down to metal, with an added POP POP POP POP POP POP every few feet. Pulled into a parking lot and looked at the outer CV joint on the LF wheel - chunks of metal were stuck in the little bit of grease that was still there. So loving glad I have AAA and an awesome boss. Boss picked me up and drove me to my last delivery, then back to the store to clock out and collect my tips. Shift manager drove me back to my car while I called AAA. It still moves under its own power, but oh god the noises coming from the LF are horrible. The last time I had a car make those noises, the CV joint snapped about 30 seconds later. At least I can move it around the parking lot under its own power until I can find a ride AutoZone, and my boss offered to bring his tools up here on Monday to help me swap the axle in the parking lot. NOTinuyasha posted:ended up driving it back all 50 miles on a AAA flatbed as the sun rose Sup expensive-tow-covered-by-AAA buddy? 40 miles in my case. I asked the driver how much the tow would have been had AAA not covered it - $250-$275.  He left with a bit of cash in his pocket as well, he had me cracking up the entire way.
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Jan 29, 2012 07:28
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It's still sitting broken. Walked about 4 miles total to get a new axle from AutoZone (shush, Napa is 4 miles each way). The 2 miles to get there were downhill and cake, beautiful day and all that. Walking 2 miles back with an axle over my shoulder sucked rear end. Thought about taking the bus back, then checked the schedule and found there wouldn't be another one for nearly an hour, so.. the exercise won't hurt me anyway. Instead of trying to get my tools up here without a car (45 miles each way), I put up an ad on Craigslist for someone to swap it for me. Got an offer for $80 in labor and that's for them to come to me and do the work here. gently caress it, I'll gladly pay that if it means I don't have to spend a couple of days tracking down tools. Reman axle was $55. With a $76 core.  The ABS version had a $35 core, now I'm kicking myself because it's the exact same axle except for the ABS ring - the broken axle is an ABS version (non-ABS car), so I know it would fit.ratbert90 posted:Chain slap on startup on my VQ30DE is getting worse. I don't want to fix it and it goes away after 3 minutes of idling. If it has to be done it has to be done though. Ew, I thought the 2-3 seconds of slap on a cold start on my KA24DE was bad.
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Jan 31, 2012 01:23
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By "cold start" I mean sitting overnight.  It rattles the same if it's 100F or 0F if it's been sitting overnight, just turns over a bit slower when it's 0F. But I know why, the lower timing chain tensioner is either clogged with sludge or the oil passage to it is clogged with sludge. Though I only have 160k. edit: welp school wouldn't let me work on it here. But a search on Yelp surprised me - one of the guys at the shop I used for 13 years (son in law of the owner) moved up here and opened his own shop. I limped it over there after class. #1: Autozone gave me an automatic axle - different splines #2: Still popping and making horrible noises after he got the right axle installed, just not clicking while turning anymore #3: He starts trying to figure out wtf is making all that noise. All the bushings look good, found a bad transmission mount that needs to be addressed when I can afford to, but he couldn't find anything wrong under the car. #4: Finally pulls the hub and finds this:  Welp that's certainly a horrible mechanical failure in the making. For all of that he only hit me for 2 hours labor even though I was there about 3 hours, and charged me his cost on the new axle and wheel bearing. Also, what the hell, nobody in Denton had a reman axle for a 98-99 Altima M/T. He wound up getting a brand new one for me. I'm $278 poorer, though I took the Autozone axle back and got my money back on that. $278 for a new wheel bearing, brand new axle, and a few hours of bullshitting and catching up. randomidiot fucked around with this message at 23:37 on Jan 31, 2012 |
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Jan 31, 2012 05:54
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Changed the serpentine belt. For whatever reason, my 1 year old Gates belt has stretched to the point that the tensioner can't do poo poo anymore. It didn't squeal unless it got wet, and I'd instantly lose power steering/alternator/water pump when it squealed. So basically anytime I hit a puddle...  Forgot what a pain in the rear end job that is on my car, though it's a lot easier if you remove the passenger side motor mount and lift the engine a bit.. otherwise it's next to impossible to get the belt around the idler and power steering pump.
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Feb 7, 2012 02:24
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It's not quite what I did TO my ride... but rather what I did FOR it. I walked out on my pizza delivery job. It's bad enough getting paid $4.25/hour to run my car into the ground. Worse when I don't get the "delivery fee" (they charge $2 for delivery, I get $1 of it, but they tell the customer I get it, which kills my tips). Then when corporate decides to hand out hundreds of thousands of free pizza coupons this week and I wind up getting 0 to 10 cent tips on a fuckload of orders? I pulled a total Half Baked Scarface moment. Now I'm realizing my clutch might last a few years instead of 1-2 months, despite the fact that it's starting to slip if I downshift in a hurry a few times - I'm now living in a college town where I walk everywhere and might go through a tank of gas every 2 months, down from 3-4 tanks a week while doing delivery. gently caress you, gently caress you, gently caress you, you're cool, gently caress you, I'm out. Since going back to that lovely job last fall I've put more money into car repairs and maintenance than what I've brought home. Tip your pizza guys. 
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Feb 11, 2012 12:34
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Geirskogul posted:I always tip my pizza guys (always, at least $4, even though all three places are literally four blocks away, and I never order more than a single $12 pizza). May I ask what pizza place you work(ed) for, so I can either give extra sympathy tips, or refrain from ordering from in the future? Or, barring that, what vehicle you drove that was eating clutches in one or two months? The clutch has unknown miles on it (it was in the car when I got it), but if you so much as look at the pedal funny it starts to slip, so it's pretty much done (also slips if I downshift more than a couple of gears). Car has 160k, got it with 130k in Sept of 2010 and it already chattering at that point, but I got another $500 off of the asking price when I mentioned the clutch (despite them swearing up and down the clutch was brand new). When I did delivery full time I was averaging about 60k per clutch, I've gone 150k+ when I'm not delivering (over 200k on one). I have a nice tax refund coming though. The car has a broken transmission mount too, I'm planning on setting aside enough from my tax refund to cover both. As little as I drive since moving, I can probably go at least a year before the clutch is totally dead - I'm driving the car about once a week on average. And it's Papa John's. To contribute to something besides a tipping debate, just got two used tires for $25/each. They're not new by any means (but have more than 1/2 of the tread left), but one of my tires had belts showing, another wasn't far behind. Slicks + rain = OHGODIMGONNADIE
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Feb 11, 2012 18:23
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MiniFoo posted:I knew what company you worked for even before you said it. I know, because I am a driver of theirs too (but like you, not for much longer). But uh, where the hell does your manager/employer get off not paying you minimum wage...? It's $7.25 in Texas, which also happens to be the federal minimum anyway. I thought you might be getting a lower hourly wage because of tip credit, but that doesn't make sense either. I think you've been getting robbed, unless there's something else I am unaware of (i.e., you are under 20 years old and haven't worked there more than 90 days). I worked at Dominoes briefly and got $2.13/hour while on delivery. PJ's pays the most out of the big 3 around here, and they were the last to go to tip credit wages. Though up until somewhat recently (3 or 4 years), all the PJ's stores out here have been corporate owned, while all the Dominoes out here are franchises. At both places I got $7.25 while inside the store as I was expected to help with production - cooking, phones, etc. Federal law prohibits tip credit employees from doing production, they got around it by bumping you to minimum wage anytime you weren't on a delivery (or when the computer thought you weren't on a delivery anyway, I've had some sneaky managers assign me orders while I'm still in the store). The hosed up part is 5 years ago I was making $7.50/hour at PJ's the entire time I was on the clock, whether on a delivery or in the store. 10 years ago? $8.00. It's been my fall back job off and on when I need extra money, and it wasn't bad money until they cut wages and started charging for delivery. But I've been meaning to find something local anyway, I've been driving almost 30 miles each way for work since I moved for school.
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Feb 12, 2012 01:40
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Car ate ANOTHER loving BELT. Limped it about 1/2 mile to AutoZone with no alternator, water pump, or power steering (temp gauge got to a little above 1/2, but it threw the belt before it warmed up). Got another belt, this one was warrantied. Start installing the belt, discover the idler pulley is about to fall off. And it's a cheap idler pulley replacement - no grooves, no ridges, just smooth plastic, so when it wobbles the belt jumps around and gets caught on anything and everything. So pissed I didn't notice the loose idler before. To get any kind of wrench on the idler you have to pull one of the motor mounts and lift the engine a bit on that side, which requires pulling the alternator and its brackets. Start to finish in AutoZone's parking lot was about 45 minutes, though I had a floor jack and a block of wood in the trunk. Also, helped a friend change the timing chain guides on his the KA24E he bought off of Craigslist. Why the gently caress he bought a KA24E for a project car (2.4L with 130HP) is beyond me, particularly when the 240SX shell he has doesn't have an intact harness; but the chain had worn a nasty groove into the timing cover. At least it hadn't jumped, and the chain looks to be in good shape. I would hate to do that with the engine in the car. timb posted:If you get fired for it, all you have to do is call up the labor board. They'll take care of it REAL quick. A lot of these places don't give pay stubs anymore, or even paper checks. Direct deposit or you ain't getting paid - if you don't have a checking account, you get a prepaid debit card with some hilarious per-swipe fees. Want a pay stub? Ask the store manager to print one - some are dicks about it, though my boss didn't give 2 shits about people having them and gave me his password so I could print my own. Needed them for school financial aid, my 2011 income was less than 1/4 of my 2010 income and they wanted proof before adjusting my 2011-2012 aid.
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Feb 22, 2012 08:31
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First time I've been on the highway since getting new tires (1.5 to 2 weeks?). Car was difficult to control, kept trying to dart off in new and exciting directions. I've never had the alignment checked, but the tires seem to wear evenly and I've never had problems with it pulling before. It was like someone removed every bushing in the front end. Checked the tire pressures about an hour after I got home. LF was 45 PSI. RF was 52. Door sticker says 28, tire sidewalls says 35 max. I figure they're not completely cooled after 1 hour, but goddamn. I dropped them to about 30, though I won't be driving it again until Sunday.I've never had anyone overinflate tires that badly before. A lot of shops are guilty of inflating to the max sidewall pressure (usually 35), but 35 doesn't make a massive difference in handling vs the recommended 28. Detroit Q. Spider posted:Had that same problem. Integras run colder than poo poo no matter what. Mine takes forever to warm up even on tepid days. When the thermo was broken the temp needle would barely move at all. There was at least one very cold drive to Waco and back a couple of Christmases ago My LS warmed up really quick - if it was above freezing, I had heat within half a mile, assuming I started it and let it idle for 10-15 seconds before taking off. Temp gauge was up to normal within 5 minutes. Also, cardboard is your friend when you have a stuck thermostat, just cut up an old box and shove it in front of half (or 3/4) of the radiator and keep an eye on the gauge. My KA24DE Altima takes loving forever to warm up. At least a mile and a half before I get anything resembling heat from the heater, and 5+ miles before the needle gets to "normal". Before the new thermostat it would take about 20 minutes to get any heat whatsoever. ratbert90 posted:I'm glad I did. The VQ was ran hard and never maintained well it looks like. We got the upper oil pan off (both seals were leaking,) and the timing chain cover off. Nissan seems to consider timing chain guides to be a maintenance item.  My KA24DE's chain rattles for a few seconds at startup, which tells me either one of the guides is gone or the tensioner is clogged with sludge. And being a FWD version of the KA24DE, pulling the timing cover is impossible without pulling the engine. Thankfully I hardly drive at all since moving - the car might get 5 miles put on it during the week, weekends see anywhere from 20 to 100 depending if I go down into Dallas or not.Just helped a friend change a tensioner on his KA24E - one was completely gone, and judging from the gouges in the block and timing cover, has been gone for a long time. Thankfully the engine wasn't in the car, so the only challenge was trying to find all the timing cover bolts buried under 2 inches of solidified oil. edit: vvvv this tire shop was the most shady I've ever dealt with, I should have walked when they started trying to switch poo poo around on me, but they didn't start that until they'd already removed my old tires from my wheels. also 35 was the max rated on my tires.... so 10-17 psi over the max. I get to fix a couple of crossthreaded lugs next week too. I've been to 24 hour tire shops in the heart of the ghetto that did better work, though at least this one didn't try to sell me rimz. randomidiot fucked around with this message at 05:19 on Feb 24, 2012 |
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Feb 24, 2012 05:05
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