I'm having a complete frame off restoration done to my '67 Bronco. Here's the before picture... And here is how it looks now... Hopefully in a couple of months it will basically be like having a new car. A few of the things that I'll be upgrading(for lack of a better term), is the tranny, currently a four speed crawler will be switched out for a NV 3550 5 speed with new 4:56 gears to be able to take full advantage of the overdrive gear. Part of the reason for the re-gearing is that I'm going from a 3.5 inch lift with 33's to a 5.5 inch lift with 35's. I'm also getting rid of the glass packs and going with ceramic headers into a flow master dual exhaust.
I got a Craftsman scan-tool that does all that and has adapters for Ford/GM/Mopar/Toyota OBD1 for $149 at a pawn shop. I think it's about $250 new at Sears. I don't have the part number with me, sorry. You do know that you can read most OBD1 codes by jumping the terminals on most cars, right? That's what I used to do on my Trans Am.
Our 2005 Honda Civic has this weird issue where if you turn the key, the battery comes on but it won't start. There is no clicking sound. Sometimes it starts the first time, sometimes I have to turn the key 20 times for the engine to roar the life. I am thinking it is electrical in nature. Anyone have ideas on things I could look into? I don't have a reliable mechanic here and would like to know a little something before I take the car in and get gouged.
The easiest thing to do is to take it to AutoZone. They'll test batteries for free. Actually, I think most auto parts places will do free battery testing, I just haven't actually done it anywhere but AutoZone. Does it make any noise at all when you turn the key? Just dead silent? You could do a quick visual check of the battery and see if there's a lot of corrosion around the terminals. Corrosion will look like this: edit: also, you can check out cartalk.com and look for "the mechanic's files" - there are reviews of local mechanics on there.
The batteries in the Civic's are just fucking junk, they are about half the size of a regular car battery. And were they locate them you cant put another batter in its place. And like binary has said, and place will should do a free load test for you.
I thought that it WOULDN'T be the battery just because all the lights on the dash would come on and the AC would work, but everything else was silent. Is that stupid?
It's not stupid, but there is a whole lot more juice required to start the car than there is to turn on your dash lights, or even the AC. This is frequently identified by the loud clicking noise when you try to crank it, but not always. The battery is by far the cheapest, easiest thing that might be wrong here, which is why it's important to make sure it's not that.
Ok, I checked the battery. It's in perfect shape, no corrosion at all. There was a sticker on the top that said, "12/11," so the battery is pretty new. Something else that might be important: if the car's motor has been warmed up, it turns back on either on the first or second try. It takes many, MANY (scary) turns of the key after it has been sitting in a parking lot in the sun. When the engine is cold and the car has been parked in our covered spot in the parking garage, it usually takes anywhere from 2-10 turns and it's on. Any ideas?
That sounds like a problem some Chevy's had in the early 2000's. It was a problem with the anti-theft module. It would sporadically stop recognizing the key and wouldn't start. I don't know enough about Japanese cars to know if they have similar problems but the symptoms are identical. The fix was to replace the anti-theft module which wasn't cheap.
Unfortunately, with problems of this nature, you're very rapidly outside the area of things you can diagnose casually. It could be a loose connection or a bad relay somewhere, but it's going to be almost impossible for you to figure out without either tools and a wiring diagram, or just starting to buy parts and replace things. There's a pretty fair chance your problem is actually behind the dash, either the ignition lock cylinder (where you stick your key) or the ignition switch (which attaches to that). The former is a couple hundred dollar part, while the latter is like $30, but both have minimal labor associated. Head on over here and find yourself a local mechanic: <a class="postlink" href="http://www.cartalk.com/content/mechanics-files" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.cartalk.com/content/mechanics-files</a>
Howdy folks, got a super easy, basic question for everyone. One of my brake/turn signal lights is out, along with my truck/cargo "overhead" light. It's an easy fix I can do without a problem, and I figured out what bulb it is (3057), but when I look online, there are several kinds of 3057 bulbs, what are the differences? Do they all fit? Thanks.
There are a few different dual filament bulbs, only thing that changes is the amps/watts. You can interchange them, put one might be slightly brighter then the other. 3057(2.1 / 0.523)/3157(2.11 / 0.547)/3357(2.23 / 0.648)/4057(2.23 / 0.479)/.... etc.
Here's something to try: The next time it starts doing this, hold the key in the starting position (turned all the way in) and have someone else hit the starter with a heavy object (using a hammer and a piece of wood as insulation is good. Don't hit a starter directly with a hammer! There are some large ceramic magnets in there that can get cracked if you do that!) If the car magically starts right up, it's most likely your starter. See, what happens is that over time the bushings inside the starter wear out, and that allows the armature (the part of the starter that turns) to get kind of cocked inside the housing by those magnets I mentioned. When you hit it, that knocks it into proper alignment and allows it to turn freely. This same phenomenon happens to windshield wiper motors, fuel pumps, etc. Hope this helps.
My day of reckoning has come, it's time to break down and buy a minivan. Anyone here have any experience with Dodge Grand Caravan's? Looking at 2011's. Concerned with reliability more than anything else.
This seems like the appropriate thread to ask, WTF was Ford thinking when someone said, "yes, yes I think it's a good idea to permanently crimp the heater hose to an unremovable clamp on the metal pipe going into the firewall." I spent 30 minutes bloodying my knuckles with a hacksaw to cut the end off the pipe in a tight space, rather than 5 minutes unclamping it and replacing the hose on my girlfriend's old Taurus.
Hahahaha. By best one is the heater core on most cars/trucks. Have to take the dash apart, and the book time for most are around 6-10 hours. Ford got it right in the late 80's i believe were they had an inspection plate on the fire wall, where you could just change it that way.
I've got a fiberglass (gel-coat) outrigger canoe that's dirty. I have a 3-step Meguiar's Cleaner/Polish/Wax that I've used on my cars before, but is it safe to use on the gel coat?