QTDDTOT : Questions That Don't Deserve Their Own Threads

A place to ask all your short automotive related questions.

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Also, go through the thread and look for questions that you can answer.

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I took off my intake hoses the other day and looked into my throttle body (electric)... I noticed the butterfly valve wasnt completly closed or somthing. It was at a slight angle rather than straight up and down. Is this normal?

Is it safe to reuse these for different fluids (diff fluid (Acura all wheel drive fluid) and hypoid gear oil)?

If so am I right to think I should pump a few squirts of the the new bottle through to get out the residual fluid?

This may deserve it's own thread, but I didn't really see a wrenching thread or 'vette general.


I have a '78 Canadian export L48 corvette with around 120,000 km. It needs some serious work on the suspension, but I bought this to be a treat for myself, and to teach myself the ins and outs of auto mechanics, since I read C3 and C4s were relatively easy to work on since their engine bays are so open.

At minimum I need new sway bars and control arms, but I hear rhythmic squeaking in both front wheels too; I'm assuming wheel bearings. My right muffler recently rusted right off, and plans to replace the exhaust entirely are in the plans now too. The headlights lift, but not all the way, so I assume they need new gaskets and boots.

My question: where should I start? I want to get it to pass inspection and be safe to drive for more than a short trip around the neighborhood. If I go in to repair the control arms, what else should I repair at the same time?

Replacing the exhaust piping doesn't look too hard, but fuck the right manifold on an L48 engine is bolted on to a portion of the belt system, which tells me it's going to be one pain in the ass to replace. They're both pitted and rusted red, so I should probably do away with them as well.

Anyone with knowledge on C3s want to give me a good stepping stone and tell me where to start? it all seems overwhelming without a good place to begin.

When will the stickie be updated

I haven't found an answer to this anywhere
I drive a 2005 cobalt ss with 220k on the odometer. When I push hard and rev close to redline, the clutch bites very low for the next couple shifts. Generally it bites about halfway up, but after revving high, it bites almost instantly. Why? After a couple shifts it goes back to normal.

Small puddle/dripping happens behind my muffler and my car makes a high pitched whistle when I hit a certain RPM. Without removing scrape guards and heat plates it can be assumed to be my exhaust flange gasket right? Subaru btw.

Excuse the giant pic, I'm on mobile at work.

Fucked up and scraped a pillar in an underground parking garage. Paint transfer, dent and scraped off paint on passenger side. Other than the dent and missing paint, what should I use to remove the transferred paint and scuffs?

Repost from previous thread since no answer.

Which tie rod would be better for me? Mevotechs which are $17 cheaper than OEMs. OEMs are a sealed unit while Mevos comes with a grease nipple. But how often do I need to grease them? and what type of grease? I drive maybe about 6-8k between oil changes

Wd-40 and a mr clean magic eraser. Go easy and dont scrape your cars paint off. Then rinse it off.

Over the course of a cars life, probably a 2008-2013 model, which of these would be the most expensive to fix issues? Which would be the least expensive? And which would be the easiest to maintain myself?
BMW, Audi, or Mercedes?

Yes. There's usually throttle stop adjustment to keep it from closing entirely. The ECU expects this.

from expensive to "cheap"
benz >>> audi > bmw
maintaining them yourselves depends on the actual model but they all 3 are equally cancerous
but if you CAN maintain it yourself you will be able to save 4 figure numbers

as an example
>1998 slk leaking hydraulic roof cylinders
>"that will be 1100€ ... 2 cylinders only though out of the 4 :)"
>repaired with friends for about 40€

>2003 sl500 SRS lamp is on
>"that will be 4000€ for a completely new cable tree :)"
>replaced a faulty sensor for 50€ with friends

>also sl500 2003 car "sags" when standing still for more than 3 days
>"we will have to replace all 4 hydraulic shocks for 1000€ each + labor :)"
>cleaned the flowback block, LITERALLY FREE

things only get worse and more expensive the newer the model, you are better off picking one that has a lot of market presence, then you will be spammed with replacement parts if you actually ever need some

t. german

is this a mildly decent car for a first timer? I am basically buying the old one my parents currently have, it is light as fuck because its the basic fucking options. Its engine bay is mildly open and supposedly has enough room for soe ricing and cabling optimization to happen. I'll post the specs it has if you want.

Yes and yes. If you're putting in any significant amount of a fluid that is very similar then some tiny amount of residue that you didn't already flush out shouldn't matter.

Side note, i have obviously read the damn sticky

specs?
don't expect winning streetlight races in it nor good handling in curves with lots of bodyroll

get somewhere with a HUGE amount of space and test the limits of your tires so you dont get thrown into cold water during real driving situations

>tfw discovered my 1993 fiat punto had no ABS
>while tailgating an RS3 at 100km/h when the nigger suddenly threw the anchor out of the window

was fun

Looks like possibly condensation in the exhaust (this is normal) leaking out of the gasket junction between the muffler and the midpipe (indicating that you should get the gasket replaced in the hopes you can avoid the flanges rusting out and having to replace exhaust parts).

A leak like that can whistle. That may mean it's already too to save just by replacing the gasket.

It currently has around 200K km. I don't expect to win any super fast shit with it. I've driven it before and learned and used it for about a year. So i probably contributed about 35000 km to it as i drove outside of my city to work and back daily.

What should I do if I want to buy a recalled car? I'm planning on getting a Saturn Ion, but I want to make sure it isn't afflicted by the problems.

>200K

push it to the limits as if every day is its last, no mercy
then buy something else

so it isn't worth toying with the ricing of it? its had about half of its fucking parts replaced at around 175K because my parents are cartarded.

Ok cool, that's what I'm thinking too. I'm in the southwest so rust isn't normally an issue so I'm hoping it's just the gasket. The puddles are watery and dry quickly so yeah, probably exhaust condensation

>so it isn't worth toying with the ricing of it?

ok, this is what you will need to do to make it, kid:

-engineswap for a 2L l4 with ~150-200hp (good luck finding one that fits in there, maybe you can cut some footroom)
-turbocharger (maybe into the trunk for the lulz, fuck effectivity)
-kompressor for the low end rpm
-lots of ECU black magic to make all of the above even work
-complete suspensions overhaul, stiffer, lower
-cut the fucking roof off at about 2/3 of the ride height for lower center of gravity... fuck put some cement bags on the floor
-10 inch spacers on all wheels
-punch holes all over the fucking exhaust system so it can breathe

in the end it will still be a FWD box

How does ford get away with charging 100 dollars with shipping for this?

Prolly labor. I've only changed the tone ring on my own car once during a brake job, but you pretty much have to take everything apart to get to it.

would you spend 38k on this 2007 z06 manual with less than 14k on the clock? apparently its been owned by carcux for the last 18 months

Nah the part itself. cheapest I can find a genuine ford version of the part is 88 CAD plus shipping. The imitations are as cheap as 10 dollars. Because it's just a piece of stamped metal with a fucking ring shaped piece of fridge magnet material adhered to it.

Is it more difficult to supercharge a car than it is to bolt on a turbo?

If I have a base model car, and want to swap in an engine from the sport version of the car, there's no need to fabricate, right?
For example, there's a 1.6 liter in the base model, and I want to put in the 2.0 turbocharged engine from the sport version.

wew. OK yeah. The strangest OEM parts are sometimes stupid expensive. Fortunately there's an aftermarket for dumb shit like that.

I assume if I do go for an aftermarket imitator for it I should take a pair of micro-calipers to it before installing it to make sure it's within tolerance.

Also check it to make sure it's perfectly circular and take a pencil rubbing before you install it as proof in case it causes an accident and you have to prove to your insurance company that you were not at fault for using non-OEM safety equipment.

this is how your car should look like by the end of the day if you follow all my tips

also, fuck connecting the turbo to the exhaust, the airflow will create a higher pressure than the engine exhaust trust me, i'm an engineer

Not a vette expert but if you're replacing control arms you may as well replace shocks and possibly springs, as well as most all other suspension parts on that end of the car becuase you'll need an alignment done (which will need to be done at a shop), and its better to have all that done at once instead of having to make multiple trips to the alignment shop.

If your exhaust manifolds are not leaking or cracked you can probably leave them be for the time until you get proper headers, exhaust systems can be a bitch to do on your own so it maybe advisable just buy a desired muffler/ cat and get a shop to do it since they'll properly weld it.

The Dot fluid in your clutch lines may need to be flushed for new fluid.

Had to double check you didn't photoshop a fat guy driving it.

Magnets used in braking systems are fucking expensive.

No.

Ideas on how to combat sticky residue and wrecker marker?

>Chevy
No

Goo gone, or wd 40

I would use goo gone then rubbing alcohol to remove any residue

2001 mustang feels like the axle jerks forward when stopping then jerks back when going forward
Transmission is fine colors good don't know how long ago it's been changed but it's only got 33k miles on it so I doubt it needs it right now
Some people say ball bearing in wheel
Wheels are balanced
Car shifts kind of harshly but it doesn't skip or slip or jerk per say
What could it be?

Whats the perfect HP range for a daily driver that you want to have a little punch in terms of performance?

Obviously less

U joint, wheel bearing or differential wear

>Whats the perfect HP range for a daily driver that you want to have a little punch in terms of performance?
Max 350. Anything above is a weekend car or you have to be richfag to afford the fuel costs.

Thanks user, I already got to the job and did exactly that. There was hardly any DPSF left after it sat for a few minutes in the pump anyway

U joint is fine

Just changed my tensioner, water pump, pulleys, etc. what do you do with the old parts? Recycle? Can I sell for scrap?

My city has single-stream recycling pickup, so parts that are just plain metal or plain plastic of the right type or whatever just go in to my recycling bag.

Local shop I use just chucks everything they don't want into a dumpster which I assume goes off to the landfill. So if that's the worst you do with it then you're no worse then the pros. Your old parts are probably worth a penny or two as scrap, so can't sell them.

The other cool thing about my city is that guys in pickup trucks sometimes patrol for scrap metal left by the sidewalk. So big metal parts I can't hide among my recyclables (e.g. exhaust parts, wheels) I can just leave on the sidewalk and it'll disappear before too long.

thanks for the info mate. I'm expecting the control arm replacement to turn into a full frontal suspension rebuild anyway.

I was considering having a shop do the exhaust Work, but damn it's gonna cost.

Get the sealed unit.
There's a reason the serviceable one is cheaper.

??

Guys im thinking about doing the whole seafoam spray in the intake while running the engine thing.

Is it safe to do? Or will it fuck my shit up?

Also i have 2 intakes, do i need to do 1 bottle per intake? Or just 1 bottle in whichever intake it doesnt matter?

It's safe if you're not an idiot. Basically if you have one hand on the throttle and open it enough as needed to keep the engine going at 2-3k RPM while you're spraying then you can't screw it up.

Do half the can in one intake and half in the other. That's more than enough.

How do you know?

Just looking at it ain't going to tell you shit. gotta pull that bitch out from the the diff or the trans.

I live in the states in a non-emissions state and Muffler shops are usually some of the cheapest places to go to, like $150 for a whole system provided you walk in there with your own cat and mufflers.

is it possible to do donuts without a LSD?

As long as you have enough power yeah.

Chevy, Dodge, or Ford for a new truck?

Are buying impound abandons for cheap ever worth the hassle and risks?

What the FUCK is the point of core charges? I get its for recycling and shit but why are they charging me for that shit?

So I currently drive a 2005 vw gti 1.8t.
I took it the the shop recently and it turns out there are a bunch of leaking vacuum tubes, some leaking plastic parts, leaking dipstick, bad waterpump and a leaking headgasket.

They want to charge ~2800 for the headjob and ~4800 total to fix it all, which seems like a lot. Obviously I should shop around for a better quote, but this is also more than half what I paid for the car so I might need to just buy a car.

Am I right in thinking that estimate is too high, and are there any cars in particular that I should consider while shopping for a new car?

>are there any cars in particular that I should consider while shopping for a new car?
something that's not german obviously

Getting p0420 code (cat below efficiency),
My car is also stalling every once in a while with low idle.
Is that a sign of a plugged cat, and can I try the burnout method or will that just make things worse.

>burnout method
What's the burnout method?

Possibly. Or a bad O2 sensor. But I would be inclined to start by checking the intake for leaks or a bad air sensor, since that's an easy way to wind up with sketched out A/F ratios and a lousy idle.

If the cat were plugged, you'd notice it really struggling when you need power before it being unable to hold idle.

running anti-lag for two minutes straight

If it is the case that you have the code and poor idle because you're running super-rich, that will help destroy your cat faster.

theres this weird sound my car makes. I actually think the cat is cracked. Like theres so vacuum sound when I first start driving the car. But I cant get it to happen when I take it to get looked at because its inconsistent once the car has warmed up.
I have a v6 and found it doesnt really struggle. Maybe sometimes it doesnt accelerate for 0-50 as fast as other times but I cant tell.

If the cat's cracked it should probably smell like exhaust, you'd hear at least ticking sounds from an exhaust leak, and you'd probably see water vapor or smoke coming off of it right after a cold start. (If it's already hot then the expansion of the metal might make these things less obvious.)

Can't tell you where a vacuum sound might be coming from exactly, but you're making it sound like a leak somewhere in the intake. If it only happens on a cold start then you or somebody else will have to go hunt it down after a cold start.

Not that user but my car has a vacuum sound when I let off the throttle in 1st gear.

would a cracked manifold cause a p0420 (cat below efficiency) code.
I was thinking o2 sensor as well because a mech I took it too said the exhaust didnt have a smell, but the weird sound made me think it was the cat again.
I really dont know how to look for a leak like this. Any tips?

I've got an older Honda Accord with a P1456 code (evap system error) on a friend's car. We checked for a loose gas cap and even tightened past the 3 clicks the light stays on, and I can smell gas while it's supposedly sealed. Friend's really fucking cheap, so I need to know up front how likely it is that replacing the gas cap with a new one will fix the problem. Usually a good guy, but he's going to blame me if something else is wrong with the system after I make him spend the ~$10 to change the gas cap.

Engines do produce vacuums by their normal operation

So it's normal? And a cold air intake makes it even more noticeable?

I guess it could. Exhaust leaks are usually loud, especially if there's one at or before the cat. Ideally it would get louder and more obvious when revving.

But I can't do a whole lot good suggesting by just guessing at things online. You might get better results finding a forum with expertise with your particular engine where people would be familiar with what usually goes wrong.

What happened to all the ausfag threads? Not complaining, just wondering.

Well I pulled on it and wiggled it and it had absolutely no play whatsoever that's how I know

You would need to run an evap system test through a scan tool, or smoke test the tank, charcoal canister, pump ect to see what's leaking.
If you smell gas it's leaking somewhere, if you don't need to pass emissions or that jazz and it's not sloshing onto the ground then who cares.

>in car with bro
>he has a mega phone
>says we should blast police sirens at people in the tunnels
>statey pulls us over
>bro shits himself
>ticket for excessive noise and tint
>could be worse

He's trying to get me pulled into appeals court to take fault for both infractions but the tickets for him only, he was driving his car, his megaphone, and his idea but I was the one out the window blasting noise.
Could he even get me summoned for this shit?

We're in a state that doesn't do emissions testing. So if it's not noticeably leaking, he's cool to just leave it alone?

Depends on your local jurisdiction and if he's using a lawyer. In mine, even if you were served or summoned, you could just skip out of it and only if he wanted to pay more money and set a new court date for an appeal or whatever would there be a chance he might also pay to have somebody come physically drag you in, and that's if they could find you.

Hey guys,
I got a little bit of rim rash. I know I'm a piece of shit yada yada but the bottom line is I got a little too close to the curb and that's the situation I'm in. So my question to you folks is what should I do to make sure it doesn't rust in the small area that caught a dig? Clear coat? Any advice would be greatly appreciated
>tl:dr got some minor rim rash what do I do to fix?

Depends on if your state requires that OBDII isn't throwing codes as well. So it could be as simple as clearing the codes (Autozone or similar can do this, or you can reset the ECU yourself) and hoping it doesn't throw a code before it's done being inspected.

As far as I know, you can't fail an inspection here for throwing codes. My car passed last year with an ABS and TPMS light, so I don't think the check engine light would be any different here.

Where I live, if you fail it you can retake it once more for free. I used the code clearing method once with success when my ECU was running some bullshit about the cam sensor after I put in a lightweight flywheel. It usually took day or so for the light to come back on, so I just cleared the ECU before driving it in.

Saved me the trouble of possibly having to pretend I fixed the problem only to have the same code come back for round 2.

He's fighting a 300$ ticket, he has no money. We do live in nanny state Mass though
I've got 2 cars pre obd2 with all the evap equipment torn out, makes 0 difference the car whether or not the environment is being hurt.
For the most part obd2 cars won't give a shit either. Like user said though your state inspection laws are the only thing to worry about.

I'm going to see a 1997 Buick LeSabre to potentially buy tomorrow.
Any thoughts on the 5th gen LeSabres? anything specific i should look for? the 3800 series II v6 is somewhat famous for reliability.

How tough is it to replace driveshafts on an 05 Accord, and what brands make quality replacements?

Specifically look for all the pussy you'll be getting in that sweet LeSabre

I don't have experience with Accords, but rockauto has a good reputation for quality remanufactured replacements and I was quite entirely happy with them when it came time to replace mine. I'd put it on the list of vendors to consider.

>would you spend 38k on this 2007 z06 manual with less than 14k on the clock?
yes, decent price
>apparently its been owned by carcux for the last 18 months
that's a red flag

How about you give us more info than that?

Yes but it puts more strain on your suspension.

If the parts are still good, and like me you only replaced them becuase you had other shit you were fixing in the process, I usually hang on to the harder to get ahold of shit.

Otherwise I pile it up and then take it to the scrap yard after a few hundred lbs.

Most half shafts are pressed into the hub, so with out proper tools they'll be a bitch to get out and put back in.

>230 - 350 hp?
i'd say that's a decent range without being impractical. back when i sold chevy's the impala's with 197hp 4-cylinders were slow dogs but the 305hp v6 was a blast to drive

C'mon bros I know one of you can help me

lol i shouldn't take that as a legitimate answer, but thanks that is exactly what i wanted to hear

Put some gorilla tape on that bitch.

>Chevy

>How about you give us more info than that?
Light duty pickup. Ram 1500, Ford F150 or Silverado 1500. Possibly a Colorado. Not diesel. Either a new base level truck (only upgrade I care about is engine) or at most a 3-4 year old model. Use is mostly utility and some commuting. It will be used to tow, but at most a small camper and rarely a car hauler.

I assume you're talking about steel wheels if you're worried about rust. In that case, your best options are:

1. Fuck it. Steel wheels start rusting eventually anyway. And who cares: it's a steelie.

2. Pull it off and spray paint + clear coat the whole thing. Might have to do all four to make them match depending on the situation. I did this once after getting all the rust off and it looked great for the next few years until they all started rusting again.