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[quote=”NATHANSB” post=156661]Also I forgot to mention that the engine oil was really low to my surprise. It’s blow the lower dot and barely made it on the dipstick. I have just changed the oil in October. There is no substantial oil leaks to be seen. The coolant was also a little low.
While the car was parked, it rained pretty hard for a couples of days. But I really doubt it has anything to do with the weather.[/quote]Hondas seem to enjoy leaking oil. Not sure WHERE.
About the rain, there is a lot of humidity in the air when that happens and it does seem to effect starting. My sister has a 99 civic that had that strange problem. Of course she decided to get a newer civic as the old one was pretty much worn..
Also I think some honda engines have problems with burning valves.
You have to admit though that 240,000 miles is quite a bit even for a honda so it is going to have a lot of crap worn in the engine.
Until you can fix the actual problem, when it starts to overheat you might try hitting the A/C switch. This might turn on the cooling fans even though the AC compressor may not run when it is cold out. At least it will help cool things a little. My room mate does that on her Grand Am (though it has very serious cooling issues which we need to mess with.)
Just when the engine is idling and hood up, hit the AC switch and see if the fans come on.
This is not a solid solution may buy you a little time.
To stake all four points, it looks like the rack would have to be out of the car. I am guessing there is hardly enough room to do this on all four surfaces when the rack/tie rods are already installed. So if you do not want to remove the rack, you might have to settle for staking 2 or 3 points. Something is better than nothing. Do your best to support the rods on the opposite side of where you stake so the impact is not absorbed 100% by the steering system. Maybe like have some wood pieces ready to wedge in against something solid. Get a cheap 2 X 4 or piece of scrap wood and be ready to cut it into pieces.
As far as being safe to drive, it is probably not going to fall apart overnight assuming you got things tight. Just try to avoid real hard turns, hitting potholes when turning, and other things that are hard on the front end.
It looks like staking that part is basically extra assurance of it not coming loose. Eventually after enough miles it could work itself loose but for the time being, just be careful with it.
One thing you could do, if it would not get in the way when turning the wheels –
Drill out the threads so there is a bore the same size and the non-threaded bore, then use a nut/bolt combo in place of that single bolt.
Make sure the new bolts are the same diameter AND grade 8 and just long enough to accommodate the lock nut you will secure it with.
Once again though with the wheels off the ground, have someone turn the steering wheel lock to lock and visually examine if aforementioned set-up would get in the way of something else like hitting the lower control arm.But with ANY “guaranteed to break” fasteners, plan for the worst case scenario by having replacements on hand ahead of time and alloting extra time for the aggravation.
You could go to the dollar store and buy some cheap tooth brushes to work the fine particles out of crevices of the trim or what not.
Just have the vacuum hose ready to catch the debris. Or at the very least have a dry dish towel to gently knock it on the floor (ot vacuum up)If it is freezing outside, you might have to wait til it warms up a bit OR vacuum after good drive when the heater is keeping the cab toasty.
stiv625, that does help a lot. Now I know how to test the clutch when I test drive my next car.
I guess i could go ahead and ask this too –
Do clutches show signs of wear gradually or are they more like automatics where you go out one day and the stupid thing is just dead or something lets loose while driving.
Like if i drive a stick today and it seems OK,can i most likely count on getting a lot of use before problems happen?
Anyone who has owned an automatic knows what I am talking about – Go out one day and the stupid trans does not want to go into gear or slips badly, even though it was just fine the day before.If an automatic trans goes out in a car, rendering it totally undriveable (like an Acura I owned for 8 months), that is where i draw the line. Even my cougar with automatic trans problems still rolls down the road but shifts crappily. Of course due to someone side-swiping me, that car will soon be totaled by insurance. I do not WANT to part with it but that is a long story.
You couldn’t find a trans at a junkyard? Manuals are easier to replace than automatics cause they are smaller and lighter and easier to get to bolts etc.
Keep in mind there are likely other GM cars with the same trans. Pulling one from a junkyard tho is taking a chance because there are three things that land a car in the junkyard anyways – Bad engine, bad trans, or “total” wreck.
Count on a used trans at a junkyard setting you back between $80 to $200, depending on how crooked the owner is.
You could also do some homework and find out what the exact unit your car uses and start looking on ebay.Depending on what you can afford to spend on a newer car will determine if you should try to save this one or go for another.
If you can afford something for $4000 or more (even if you have to make payments) then maybe start shopping.
If your “new” car budget is but a couple grand, maybe think of saving the cavalier and here is why –Car shopping sucks. Some people overcharge for complete junk. You also do not know if a car has been rigged to cover up problems just long enough to to sell.
At least you know the cavalier with all it’s problems.
if antifreeze and coolant were mixing, that black stuff would look more brownish like chocolate milk.
An assumption here is that exhaust is leaking into the cooling system, which normally does mean a bad head gasket.Honestly though, you might have to do some serious testing of things to find out what is going on. You do not want to just throw $200 or more worth of parts in hopes it will fix. Save the receipts unless you plan on replacing no matter what.
The heat getting hotter and colder (or not working at all even though the cab fan runs) is a sign of cooling system problems.
Cooling systems are stupid. I mean any little leak and it doesn’t work right.
Bad ball joints or tie rods are just things you shouldn’t take a lot of chances with. If you do drive it before fixing it, avoid the highway. Also be real careful in turns not to slam into pot holes.
As far as a shop doing it – do not be surprised if they find some excuse to charge extra for replacing the outer one. There is always some “special” case they like to come up with, even though it is absolutely true that if the inner tie rod needs replaced, the outer one has to come off to get to it anyways.
Separating the inner and outer tie rods is as simple as loosening a nut and unscrewing the outer.If you do this job yourself, take measurments so when the outer one is installed, the “toe” of the front wheels is not altered.
I had a 1981 dodge aries that had no cabin filter. Every so often part of a dead leaf would shoot out of the vents.
It sucked though cause if one got caught in the fan, it was noisy.It wouldn’t hurt to have it. If you want to make a career of something, having certifications at least looks good.
[quote=”andrewbutton442″ post=155195]There was a bottle of margarita mix in there half opened and they took that. All the things that could have gone in that bottle had I known it was was to be pilfered. One time I had a radiator stolen off a UPS truck because somebody thought it was a flatscreen TV. I would have payed money to see the dissapointment in their face when they opened it up and figured out it wasn’t something anybody but me would even want.[/quote]
One time I had to meet my brother at a gas station to pick up something. He had two bottles of his favorite booze in the passenger seat, they were seat-belted in. For some reason the song “smashing a perfectly good guitar” came to mind.
With the radiator being stolen, Imagine what a dumb-ass he felt like. Got it home to the wife and kids, “Honey look, I bought us a new TV!” And there is a stupid radiator in there.
He did not steal it from you, what he did was accept the radiator in exchange for you to have something to joke and laugh about for years to come. Fair trade i say 🙂[quote=”szavjani” post=149604]Anyway…..What was with the end of the video? :D[/quote]
Keeping in context of the video, maybe they were gonna “steal away” into the night. (Robbie Dupree song) In such a case, not a crime… 😉So yeah, Eight years ago someone busted out a small quarter glass in the back door to get in my car. My stereo, amps, subs, tool box, and a couple cases of pepsi were gone. Luckily I had full coverage. I did not replace the system, figured it would get ripped off again anyways.
About 20 years ago I had a car stolen. It was cold, I was letting it warm up and walked away to talk to someone just for a second… Well you know what happened. I eventually got the car back and get this – The stereo was not gone (it sucked anyways) and the $140 I had hidden under some tapes in the center console was still there. Only thing missing was some bazooka tube sub in the back seat (no real loss)
Today I do not keep anything in my car worth stealing. Yeah the stereo but I keep the face off. One can only do so much.
I have a jack, some rags, an old towel, ice scraper, tire inflater (seen better days) and an umbrella that, ironically enough, I “borrowed” from my room mate. Don’t tell her.Thing is, stealing crap is a desperate move. Like the person who had the camera stolen – how much could the thief really get out of the thing? The thief is probably someone that no one would do business with anyways so the camera is worth zero dollars to him.
Anyone want to buy an umbrella? 😆
Clean and organized. I use mineral spirits to clean the tools I used after a job. While I am working, I will keep the tools laid out that I use until the job is done then clean and reorganize.
I do not work in a shop so my tools from when I did work in a shop stay mostly in storage until I have to fix something on my car (or around the house)So in the home mechanic’s case, it is a lot easier to keep tools in good order.
I treat them like I paid money for them (which of course i did) and like they are saving me a fortune by me not having to get ripped off by a shop for auto repairs.
Plus like others have said – I use them only for the intended purpose. The only time I deviate from that is with a very few “junk” tools I have that are lower quality and are already in bad shape.
I have lost things a time or two like when I am at the junkyard pulling parts. It is really annoying, even if it is something i seldom use.
What you said about the car or whatever giving step by step repair instructions –
Didn’t people think the same thing when OBD II came out? Some people thought it would be as simple as “hooking it to a machine to tell you exactly the problem” and other folks were scared cause they thought it would be impossible to work on anything like even replacing a coolant temp sensor if you were not a computer tech.
No, to replace a CTS or most other sensors (if they ever even need to be) you just need to be a very slim contortionist or pull the entire engine. Piece of cake. For some odd reason, the parts most likely to fail are also the hardest to get to. A TPS, being located RIGHT where you can change it in 10 minutes (3 if you don;t stop to smoke a cigarette) won’t fail. No, the common failing sensor is on the back of the engine, right between the Y-pipe of the exhaust, and you have to drop the subframe to get to it with a special tool… Has THAT ever changed?It seems though that older and newer cars have the same root problems – mechanical failures. “computer” type problems seem rare. Unless you have to drop the subframe or remove the harmonic balancer or both.
The main problems that may come, I suspect, with cars depending MORE on computer stuff is –
– possible constant ads being displayed on the dash.
– PCM software needing constant (and mostly useless) updates much like computers, phones and tablets, and thereby depleting storage space.
One day your car will not start. Not because you own a GM with a security problem, but because the internal memory is full.
– Having to go through a cumbersome set-up process the first time the car starts after a total electrical power loss.
– Car wanting you to like crap on FB, follow on twitter, wanting to upload pics of you while driving to instagram, and let’s not forget privacy issues.God help us all if Google ended up designing the operating system.
The fact that too many cars are a headache will never change. Problems are never solved, just rearranged.
In the meantime, I am happy with my wrecked ol cougar that never needs a thing except oil and gas.