Car Talk

[prateek]

/wow, that's a lot of miles. Does it give you problems?

[JayDuck]

It's been pretty trouble free for the most part. It seems like once a year or so there's something that need to be fixed, like a brake job or a new muffler or something, but I can do most of those repairs myself, so it's not too big of a problem. It does have some issues; the power steering leaks fluid, the radio stopped working, and it's starting to rust in spots, so it is starting to show its age. Then again, after that many miles, I'm sure parts of me would be leaky and worn out too.

In the nine years (and ~120K miles) that I've had it, there's only been one time where it wouldn't start for me, and that was due to a short in the power to the fuel pump, which is a common problem for Dakotas of that vintage. All told, it's a very reliable rig.

[Big Cam]

Thats very impressive, in my personal experience, Chrysler products have failing transmissions.

Kudo's to you for taking such good care of it.

[prateek]

Thats very impressive, in my personal experience, Chrysler products have failing transmissions.

Kudo's to you for taking such good care of it.

I think that only Chryslers' transmissions fail. I have a Dodge Grand Caravan with over 100,000 mi. on it and no problems yet.

[Enilder]

I am in:

City car: Honda Civic

Small family car: Honda Accord

Large family car: Audi A8 (preferably W12L)

Executive car: Rolls Royce Phantom

Luxury Car: Porsche Panamera Turbo

Sports car: Porsche Turbo (997TT)

Grand tourer: Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano

Supercar: McLaren F1

Convertible: Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 Spyder

Roadster: Mercedes SLR

Minivan: Honda Odyssey

SUV: Porsche Cayenne Turbo S

Pick-Up: Nissan Frontier Crew Cab Nismo

I think I went a little crazy as far as prices are concerned but there aren't any restrictions, is there? :p

[Steel Dragon]

Newest car I've gotten to ride in is this guy, a Volkswagen GTI. Very nice, and with satellite radio! It's black, and I'm trying to convince the owner to paint it with red racing stripes down the sides, but he'll have none of it.

Anyone else have experiences with the GTI/Golf/Sirius Satellite Radio?

[prateek]

That's a pretty cool car; I really like the new one

[5150 Lego]

I think that only Chryslers' transmissions fail. I have a Dodge Grand Caravan with over 100,000 mi. on it and no problems yet.

Chrysler and Dodge are the same company. Only difference with most of there models is the sheet metal. Chassis, engine, transmission are all the same with models built on the same chassis.

[prateek]

Chrysler and Dodge are the same company. Only difference with most of there models is the sheet metal. Chassis, engine, transmission are all the same with models built on the same chassis.

I think I know that.

[5150 Lego]

Then why did you say only chyslers tranny's fail?

[Big Cam]

So my wife and I went on a road trip but before we left I had to change her oil becasue she was at that point.

It was 2 degrees outside and 25 in my garage, it sucked, my oil filter wrench ended up being stripped so I had to go buy a generic rubber strap one and it dented the filter really bad, I need a specific Honda one because well, Honda thinks they are special, and the regular ones in auto parts stores(at least by me) won't work. So in all, I spent about a solid hour in my freezing cold garage for an oil change that should have taken 20 minutes.

[dr_spock]

So my wife and I went on a road trip but before we left I had to change her oil becasue she was at that point.

It was 2 degrees outside and 25 in my garage, it sucked, my oil filter wrench ended up being stripped so I had to go buy a generic rubber strap one and it dented the filter really bad, I need a specific Honda one because well, Honda thinks they are special, and the regular ones in auto parts stores(at least by me) won't work. So in all, I spent about a solid hour in my freezing cold garage for an oil change that should have taken 20 minutes.

At that temperature I would pay someone else to do it. There's also the stab the filter through with a long screwdriver and turn trick to loosen it. It'll be kind of messy. What kind of Honda do you have? I use the Honda compatible ones from the auto parts store.

[Big Cam]

At that temperature I would pay someone else to do it. There's also the stab the filter through with a long screwdriver and turn trick to loosen it. It'll be kind of messy. What kind of Honda do you have? I use the Honda compatible ones from the auto parts store.

I have an Acura RSX and my wife has a Honda Civic, both 2002 model years.

The filter is so hard to get too, and I definetaly could have just pile drivedn the filter but I was trying to stay clean. It's weird becasuwe the ld filter wrench I had was from an Auto parts store but since I used it on my bike too, it kind of got stripped, apparently even though they look the same size they aren't.

When I went ot he closest auto parts store at about 8:40pm (stores close at 9:00) they didn't have one that fit mine, so I got the crappy universal one.

I'm sure I could find a generic one that fits but since both our cars use the same pil filter, I figure I'll pony up the cash for a Honda one, and then I'm going to get a Yamaha one for my bike, I'm done with generics.

Usually I wouldn't want to change oil when it's that cold but we were leaving first thing the next day and I put off the oil change for so long that it had to be done, late in the evening. It wasn't that bad. My garage is insulated so it was much warmer than outside and no wind obviously.

Wow, that post got long, sorry.

[Modulex Guy]

So my wife and I went on a road trip but before we left I had to change her oil becasue she was at that point.

It was 2 degrees outside and 25 in my garage, it sucked, my oil filter wrench ended up being stripped so I had to go buy a generic rubber strap one and it dented the filter really bad, I need a specific Honda one because well, Honda thinks they are special, and the regular ones in auto parts stores(at least by me) won't work. So in all, I spent about a solid hour in my freezing cold garage for an oil change that should have taken 20 minutes.

Your story reminds me of this comparision of men Vs. women:

WOMEN:

1. Pull up to Jiffy Lube when the mileage reaches 3000 since the last oil change.

2. Drink a cup of coffee.

3. 15 minutes later, write a check and leave with a properly maintained vehicle.

Money Spent:

$20.00 Oil Change

$1.00 Coffee

----------------

$21.00 Total

MEN:

1. Go to auto parts store and write a check for $50 dollars for oil, filter, kitty litter, hand cleaner and scented tree.

2. Discover that the used oil container is full. Instead of taking it back to recycle, dump in hole in back yard.

3. Open a beer and drink it.

4. Jack car up. Spend 30 minutes looking for jack stands.

5. Find jack stands under kid's pedal car.

6. In frustration, open another beer and drink it.

7. Place drain pan under engine.

8. Look for 9/16 box end wrench.

9. Give up and use crescent wrench.

10. Unscrew drain plug.

11. Drop drain plug in pan of hot oil; get hot oil on you in process.

12. Clean up.

13. Have another beer while oil is draining.

14. Look for oil filter wrench.

15. Give up; poke oil filter with screwdriver and twist it off.

16. Beer.

17. Buddy shows up; finish case with him. Finish oil change tomorrow.

18. Next day, drag pan full of old oil out from underneath car.

19. Throw kitty litter on oil spilled during step 18.

20. Beer. No, drank it all yesterday.

21. Walk to 7-11; buy beer.

22. Install new oil filter making sure to apply thin coat of clean oil to gasket first.

23. Dump first quart of fresh oil into engine.

24. Remember drain plug from step 11.

25. Hurry to find drain plug in drain pan.

26. Hurry to replace drain plug before the whole quart of fresh oil drains onto floor.

27. Slip with wrench and bang knuckles on frame.

28. Bang head on floor board in reaction.

29. Begin cussing fit.

30. Throw wrench.

31. Cuss for additional 10 minutes because wrench hit Miss December (1992) in the left breast.

32. Clean up. Apply Band-Aid to knuckle.

33. Beer.

34. Beer.

35. Dump in additional 4 quarts of oil.

36. Beer.

37. Lower car from jack stands

38. Accidentally crush one of the jack stands

39. Move car back to apply more kitty litter to fresh oil spilled during step 23.

40. Test drive car.

41. Get pulled over; arrested for driving under the influence.

42. Car gets impounded.

43. Make bail. Get car from impound yard.

Total Time Spent ???

Money Spent:

$50 parts

$12 beer

$75 replacement set of jack stands; hey the colors have to match!

$1000 Bail

$200 Impound and towing fee

---------------------------

$1337 Total

Knowing that you changed it yourself... Priceless.

Whats funny is this is for the most part true! haha!

[Big Cam]

LOL, some stuff is true and funny, but it was too clod to have a beer with my project.

I smiled though.

[dr_spock]

Big Cam, I have a 02 Civic too. Every time I take off the oil filter, it drips oil down my arm, on the exhaust and control arms. Do you a have way to stop that?

[prateek]

$12 beer

That's some cheap beer!

[Modulex Guy]

That's some cheap beer!

Probably Pabst Blue Ribbon, its like 8 bucks for a 30 case.

[Big Cam]

Big Cam, I have a 02 Civic too. Every time I take off the oil filter, it drips oil down my arm, on the exhaust and control arms. Do you a have way to stop that?

Ya, pay someone else to change it. I get oil down my arm everytime. I just make it a point to wear a short sleeved shirt.

[dr_spock]

Ya, pay someone else to change it. I get oil down my arm everytime. I just make it a point to wear a short sleeved shirt.

I have a dedicated oil changing shirt. It's well stained with 5W20 oil. It is good to know that I am not the only one getting oil down the arm. I thought I might be doing something wrong. :)

[dr_spock]

Have any of you used Lego for car repair or maintenance?

I lost a metal clip that held up the plastic splash guard on my VW. The clip was attached to a threaded post on the car body. I didn't want to buy a new clip from the dealer$ and found that a 2x2 Lego brick screwed in perfectly over the threaded post. So far so good, the splash guard is staying in place with no sag.

I also used two 1x2 bricks to help measure the thickness of my brake rotors. Since the rotors are old, there is a small lip formed on the edge where the pads didn't touch. I had to get around the lip for an accurate thickness measurement. I zeroed my digital caliper on the thickness of the two bricks. Then I placed a brick on each side of the rotor and took the measurement with the digital caliper.

[Big Cam]

Have any of you used Lego for car repair or maintenance?

I lost a metal clip that held up the plastic splash guard on my VW. The clip was attached to a threaded post on the car body. I didn't want to buy a new clip from the dealer$ and found that a 2x2 Lego brick screwed in perfectly over the threaded post. So far so good, the splash guard is staying in place with no sag.

I also used two 1x2 bricks to help measure the thickness of my brake rotors. Since the rotors are old, there is a small lip formed on the edge where the pads didn't touch. I had to get around the lip for an accurate thickness measurement. I zeroed my digital caliper on the thickness of the two bricks. Then I placed a brick on each side of the rotor and took the measurement with the digital caliper.

Now that is Lego dedication.

[prateek]

Have any of you used Lego for car repair or maintenance?

I lost a metal clip that held up the plastic splash guard on my VW. The clip was attached to a threaded post on the car body. I didn't want to buy a new clip from the dealer$ and found that a 2x2 Lego brick screwed in perfectly over the threaded post. So far so good, the splash guard is staying in place with no sag.

I also used two 1x2 bricks to help measure the thickness of my brake rotors. Since the rotors are old, there is a small lip formed on the edge where the pads didn't touch. I had to get around the lip for an accurate thickness measurement. I zeroed my digital caliper on the thickness of the two bricks. Then I placed a brick on each side of the rotor and took the measurement with the digital caliper.

Wow, talk about using your resources. I'm sure this is one of the benefits of being an AFOL

[Joey Lock]

This has been bugging me all day, I wanted to see if you can "pimp" the seats in your car to look like Bentley seats:

And the doors like this:

But what do you call that type of material? Its bugging me, Is it called Padding?

[prateek]

But what do you call that type of material? Its bugging me, Is it called Padding?

That's just leather stitched in a special way. It's just called diamond stiching or something like that.