Car Repair thread

Put a litre of petrol in the auto!

That’s how you say it right?

 

All oil turns black due to heat. Once the engine reaches its normal color, it turns black.

When it thickens is when you need to worry. That is the sign it’s losing its viscosity.

 

No we call them cars. But yes, petrol.

 

take it and get the oil changed again
check oil before leaving shop
check oil every time you put gas in, and report back

 

99% of oil change place employees have zero auto care knowledge
if they did they could get a real mechanic job

 

So 3 years ago my 4Runner failed an inspection for emissions. Had the muffler kit and tailpipe kit installed for about $600. My wife told me she heard a weird nose and I get under the vehicle and the weld on the tailpipe failed. Called dealer and they said they can fix it. I spoke with the rep at Walker Exhaust and their parts have a limited lifetime warranty but only for the muffler kit not the tailpipe.

Long story short I call the dealer back and tell them they charged me $125 a few years ago for a tailpipe I can get on Amazon for $60. She says to just bring the part and they will put it on. I buy the tailpipe and a gasket. It’s just 2 rusty bolts holding this on. They won’t turn for me. Any advice on taking them off or is should I just take it to the dealer.

 

you try pb blaster?

 

I bought liquid wrench but haven’t tried yet

 

you should try it

 

I think I’m going to try it.

 

sounds like a good idea

 

heating them up is another old trick to getting stuck bolts loose, which should be easy enough since the car runs

 

Quit farting around a cut them off, did your new one come with hardware?

 

No. Just the tailpipe. I’ll cut them if this doesn’t work. Will try later and report back.

 

I have a certified preowned 335i (vehicle has 55-58,000 miles on it) that I purchased in June of 2016. While I was driving to work in September. I noticed water on the rear passanger floor. Originally I thought that I could have spilled something back there. So I vaccumed the water and went about my day. The next time I got into my car the water was back. So I talked to a family mechanic and he said that it could be a drainage pipe from the A/C that could be clogged. I scheduled a time to go to the local BMW dealership. I explained to the BMW dealership that this was a time senitive issue. But they only time they could fit me in was 4-5 days away.

The day before I was supposed to bring my vehicle in I got into a front in wreck (Not totallying the vehicle). I had to file a claim with my insurance and get that taken car. Originally I was going to try to get the BMW collision center to repair the wreck & figure out my the leaking issue. But my insurance made it clear that the vehicle needed to be taken to a preferred shop. So I took the vehicle to the preferred body shop. What was supposed to be a two weeks repair turned into a two month repair issue by the collision center (I legit heared everything under the sun as far as the progression issues on the vehicle).

Around the beginning of November the manager of the collision center got intouch with me to say that the headlight rings on my car were not working properly and that they car needed to be diagnosed by the BMW dealership. They diagnosed my vehicle and said that they found a leak in the fenderwell or grommet. This has now caused electrical damage to the car and needs to be repaired. They also explained that they do not repair water damage to vehicles and said that this should be filed under an insurance claim.

I reached out to my insurance company and they sent an estimator out to the dealership where my car is now. The estimator, BMW tech & BMW service manager apparently looked at the vehicle and could not find where the leak was coming from. But did note that electrical damage has been done. But believe that this does not fall under an insurance claim issue.

 

Water flows downhill, find the damage and look up.

 

Do you believe this is a sunroof problem? I don’t really understand how that would case an electrical issue in the front of the car.

 

The actual cause of the leak ie: the clogged pipe or run channels which is common once it starts to rain that won’t be covered since that’s a maintenance/wear and tear issue , but the resulting damage (electrical issues) would be covered under a comprehensive claim

 

Just got a $11,000 quote for repairs on my AWD 335i from BMW. Awesome.

 

What happened someone hit u? Or mechanical issues ?

 

I love German cars, but I gave them up because of the repair and maintenance costs associated... it’s a pain in the ass to find a mechanic that doesn’t act like they’re spaceships

 

Oil pan leak, new suspension all around, o2 sensors and cats all need replaced.

Luckily I can do the suspension and cats/o2 sensors myself but the fucking oil pan gasket replacement is still $2000

 

The best hourly rate i can find locally is $140/hr. Its ridiculous so I just end up doing most of it myself

 

My wife once hit a block of wood that fell off a flatbed truck with a Mini Cooper. 6 weeks old vehicle. Estimate was about 14k to bend the unibody frame back and fix everything from the BMW mechanic. Not enough to be totaled. I was pissed.

In other news, I was able to saw off the bolts on my 4Runner to replace my tailpipe and fix that for a fraction of the cost.

 

Is it okay to use Universal Coolant in cars that call for the old red/pink type? I'm seeing conflicting stories online about how the universal stuff can cause corrosion.

I just put a bunch of the universal stuff in my car and now I'm worried that I need to flush it out.

 

My opinion is it will be fine

 

You will be fine

 

Depends. The old Toyota/Lexus do really need the red/pink stuff. It has to do with how the coolant reacted with the iron blocks. I've seen many different radiators with clear indication of rust forming.

 

You have a car with over 200,000 miles? Are you the poorest person in River Rock Ranch or what?

 

Mmmm I do enjoy cleaning something that really needs it and how satisfying it is when it looks and works 10x better.

 

Or the smartest since keeping a car running is worth more than buying another

 

This is how poors think.

 

Or people who have money they like to keep.

 

also people that aren't slaves to consumerism.

 

Ok, thanks Shu.

 

Does your code reader say Incel on it

 

STFU. My vehicle has 215K and will be very sad the day it finally dies. Team lech on this one

 

I have 4 vehicles, the lowest mileage is 158K and the newest is 13 years old, haven’t had a car note in 4 years.

To be fair, I’m closer to being poor than I am being rich.... I think

 

Not much better than a trusted mechanic.

 

Car shit the bed a few days ago after some "spirited" driving up some country roads. Had to get a tow home. Thank god for AAA.

Ran some codes and also looked at datalogs of the engine management computer, it seemed the issue was fuel related. I like to try and diagnose things from the simplest to the most expensive/involved.

• First I replaced my spark plugs, it turned over but still wasnt running right and was getting a misfire.
• Swapped to coils to see if the issue followed the coil packs, it didn't.
• Ran a ECU wipe and relearn. Car was able to drive but performance still wasn't there, turbos were giving out low boost and car would go into 'limp mode' (low power and only 4 cylinders) after a few minutes.
• Ran more datalogs and saw that there was a large difference between what the ECU was wanting for requested fuel pressure and what it was actually getting. BMW's with turbos have a two fuel pumps for low and high pressure. The high pressure pump on my model I guess is notorious for going out. Drove it a bit more and I think that's the culprit.

Bought a remanufactured one today ($600, fuck) and will be replacing it in the coming days. My mechanic wanted $1800 to do it.

 

Where did you buy the Remand from?

 

online, ECS tuning

 

What does it mean if the longer I drive on the highway it takes more and more RPMs to maintain the same speed until I eventually get an engine overheating indication?

 

Seems like a pretty legit source. I’m on the collision side of vehicles and have seen some fucking awful “reconditioned” parts.