I'm actually in a similar position in that I need to get a new (to me) car relatively soon. I'm also in the NorthEast, Boston area to be specific. However, I don't have huge amounts of money and I suspect my requirements are different generally. Also, and here's the big one, I don't know dick about cars generally speaking. I drive about 40 minutes daily, but semi-regularly drive a couple hours out and back on weekends and occasionally down to Virginia (8-10 hours). Aside from having a normal radio, I don't care about the sound system as me and my wife will just use our ipods generally. Also, since we go away on weekends having some space to pack stuff is important. Not like a minivan or station wagon important, but roomy is good. Beyond that, the less I have to worry about the better. So reliability, good gas mileage, easy to find fixes for, long-term durability, etc are key for me since I'm not good with cars. As best as possible I'd like to buy a car, get oil changes occasionally, and otherwise not worry about it. I also won't modify the car later on, most likely. And, naturally, not hugely expensive. Any help for me on this or is it way too broad and uninformed? Any advice or pointers would be fantastic. Thanks!
I PMed you in more depth but VW Jetta TDI 1: 40+ MPG highway 2: Huge trunk 3: Oil changes every 10 000 4: Diesel engines last forever. 5: VW aftermarket community is huge. VW gassers have had a few electrical problems recently but by and large they haven't been there in the TDI line. Also the 2009s had an automatic transmission issue that has since been fixed by an ESB so if you make sure that's cleared you should be fine. If you're so inclined they make a station wagon model as well.
Hey guys, looking for some advice from the R&R thread: I decided to install some High Flow Cat's myself and was able to easily get the passenger side one one but could not get a bolt on the driver's side off. It came from the factory with the bolt installed on the cat from the front instead of the back and they decided to cross thread it into the cat, so it's a PITA to get off. Here's what I did so far: I soaked it in PB Blaster the day before I worked on it and brought it to the shop to do the work it myself. I used a 1/2" ratchet set with a 6 sided 14mm socket to match the bolt, connected it to a 2 ft extender and a breaker bar plus a lead pipe. Since it was installed from the front, I had to come in from the engine bay to break it. I ended up stripping the top of the bolt I think because the socket was slightly rounded and older. If anyone needs any clarification about what I'm talking about, here's a youtube video outlining the general how-to-do of the install. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gol70tT2bMU FF to the 5:25 point to see what it looks like after they got the cat off, put it back on, and then video'd themselves taking it off again. I'm looking for some kind of techniques I could use to either cut, break, pry, etc this bolt off so I can get the HFC on. I don't need the bolt or the OEM cat, so I can cut them up or bend them in any way necessary. I have never cut anything on my car before and it slightly scares me, but I'm willing to do it. If all these methods don't work, I'll just have to take the car to the shop and have them do it.
Depending on the exact configuration of your joint, you've got a couple of options. You can drill a hole in the bolt and use a broken bolt extractor. If the gap between the flanges is big enough you might be able to get the blade of a reciprocating saw or cutoff wheel in there and cut the bolt. The broken bolt extractor is probably the safest way to get it out without risking damage to something else. I saw your R&R post and it won't hurt the car to drive with one stock and one high flow cat for a while. edit: From that video it looks like the flange is not threaded and just has a bolt going through it with a nut. If that's the case, use a grinder to grind the head off the bolt and whach it with a punch
Thanks, I am trying to get my hands on a bolt remover set in my area but it's proving to be difficult. A mechanic on my car site mentioned it and that seems like it's the best bet. As for the gap, it's pretty much non existent, but if I can work something in there, I'll dremmel the bolt in half or something similar. And thanks for the advice on the two different cat's question, no one has answered it until now.
Tossing this link up here since it's pretty awesome and is Auto heavy. http://6crew.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16990 Summary: This Mazda owner sent his valve cover to be PC'd by this guy in Utah. Waited 4 months and the vendor has not shipped it back. The vendor continuously dodges email, phone calls, and text messages. The car owner posts this up on the 6crew forum. The site starts to go crazy and bash this guys business ethics. One of the senior members of the board threatens to post personal information about the PC-er unless he ships the valve cover and refund. Dude dodges everything. Personal information gets posted including addresses, family members, financials, etc. Forum goes viral. Page 6-ish is when it starts to get good.
Jesus. I wish the internets were this powerful back in 2000 when some douche machinist fucked up my OEM very hard to find Syclone intake manifold. Fucker cracked it and played dumb for over a year. I love shit like this
I fucking loathe lazy or incompetent mechanics. Just spent the last three hours changing TWO wheels on my 3500. Swapping on the new snow tires/wheels I just bought. Needless to say it's the first time I've had these wheels off since I've had the truck. No antiseize anywhere. Overtorqued lug nuts. Aluminum wheels practically welded to the hubs there's so much corrosion. Just did two of them on one side of the truck and it took various combinations of penetrating oil, some heat, and judicious use of a 40lbs hammer to get them off. Even just cleaning everything up took an hour. Time for a break and a beer or three. I also did the one side, so if I get lazy during lunch and go for a nap, I can deal with it tomorrow and can drive around with nobody any the wiser. It'd make for some fun control issues if the snow stays, but at least it won't look fucked up to anyone else. That's all that matters, right? Oh. And to top it off, my big compressor doesn't work since the electrician wired up my new lift. Joy. And the small one isn't big enough to drive the gun. So yeah. 120 ft lbs lugs off and on, then torqued to 135, by hand. Hate it. Last little word of advice. Be sure to use some antiseize when doing wheel work. Or die in a fire.
And, two snapped studs. Just awesome. At least it was in the same hub, so it's not as bad as it could be. My electrician is also a part-time delivery guy for a local auto-parts shop, so he's bringing out the replacements tomorrow when he comes to fix my electrical/compressor stuff, so that's a bonus. I guess there's nothing left to do now but have a beer or six.
I hate when "no fun" car projects that you thought would take an hour or two take all day. I'll futz around with intercooler piping all day and won't think twice about it but if the fucking oil filter is superglued on and it takes an extra 30 min to get an oil change done I lose my mind.
I wish it was only "all day". Took about 14 hours, over 2 days. Outside. On the cold, sub-zero ground. Part of it was when I ended up doing the rear brakes after I saw how thin the pads were. And I also opted to change out all the studs on that one hub, as the others looked a little more worse for wear after I took a close look at them. But the worst was one wheel that took me almost two hours of fucking around to get off. Ended up reversing a vice and jamming it behind the wheel, and then basically opening the vice to pry the thing off. And the electrician today said that the controller on my compressor is fucked, so still no air tools today. But it did have it's moments... posted this in the drunk thread, but thought it was funny. It's not often that I do something and then break out laughing all by myself, at myself. Yeah, it was one of those days. Spoiler I've spent most of the day swapping snow tires onto my truck, replacing busted wheel studs, and doing rear wheel brakes on my truck. In -10 degree fucking weather. It got so cold that my coffee iced over. Thinking I was smart, I grabbed an old wheel spacer I had for my car, and threw the oxy at it. Got it nice and cherry red, just like that Star Trek episode. Then put my metal coffee mug on it. Warmed it right the fuck up, and I was proud of my flash of MacGuyverishness. Until I realized that the mug had welded itself to the spacer. It was a coffee mug with a 5 lbs metal coaster attached. Great. More heat, coaster was removed. The mug might be a little melted and not quite level any more, but it's still water tight. Mission accomplished.
If anyone has any idea where and how I can get my hands on an ABS valve for a 96 Mazda B300, please PM me.
Try here. <a class="postlink" href="http://www.car-part.com/index.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.car-part.com/index.htm</a> It will most likely be used though.
I'm getting a new car soon as I'm moving to the great state of Wyoming in a few weeks. AWD or 4x4 is mandatory and I would prefer a wagon. My number one choice so far has been a 2005-06ish Audi A4 Wagon, but I'm also considering going the 07-08ish Ford Explorer route. Anyone have anything I should know about these? Best alternatives?
If it were me, I'd probably go for the Audi. Every Explorer I've seen has turned to shit in a couple of years, but a friend of mine has one of the Audi's, and it rocks.
The Audi will be more expensive to fix when needed but if you can find a good one you can expect a pretty long life out of it. There's a pretty big difference size/storage wise between the A4 Avant and an Explorer. Have you looked at the Audi Allroad? I'm a big fan of those. Slightly higher ground clearance than an A4 and a little more rugged suspension plus you'll get increased storage/passenger space. My parents are lifelong Explorer owners (since '91) and have taken all of them over 150k thanks to handing them down to my younger sister. The fit and finish isn't as nice as the Audi but the major mechanical components are well proven.
You may also want to keep gas mileage in mind as well. The Audi will get roughly 19/28, while the Explorer will get about 14/20. The Audi will need premium, though.