Now that I have income, help me mod my car

2

Comments

  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian

    @TheRedburn said:
    Looks like my car has some poor rear suspension, so that's number 1. I guess #2 has to be new wheels!

    It's okay, son. Your old dad has some poor rear suspension too.

    UPSLynxTheRedburn
  • RyanFodderRyanFodder Detroit, MI Icrontian

    loud sigh

    CB
  • IlriyasIlriyas The Syrupy Canadian Toronto, Ontario Icrontian

    @primesuspect said:

    @TheRedburn said:
    Looks like my car has some poor rear suspension, so that's number 1. I guess #2 has to be new wheels!

    It's okay, son. Your old dad has some poor rear suspension too.

    Squats

    CB
  • TheRedburnTheRedburn Spaceman K Detroit, MI Icrontian

    So, my car had it's first stall! It was purely electrical, stripped wires under fuse box and to fuel injector. Also, my engine may be burning oil, will update as I check the oil every few days

  • TheRedburnTheRedburn Spaceman K Detroit, MI Icrontian

    Update on O'Flannagin:

    • Got a singular, dope-ass aluminum wheel to replace the leaky steel. Also upgraded my slicks to a safe amount of rubber. Now I will (hopefully) survive the winter.
    • Car had a broken head gasket, which was theorized to have caused my reverse to periodically stop working due to pressure loss. Problem has since been fixed.
    • Geo still has elusive coolant leak. Has been checked twice now, with different parts being bought. Still leaks. Now I don't care, fill up coolant every two weeks.
    • Windshield is still leaking, but I did a cheap fix with "rubber concrete". Leaks less now.

    All in all, my car is doing great, and I'm loving it!

    GnomeQueenWagsFTW
  • RyderRyder Kalamazoo, Mi Icrontian

    Hold on... Broken head gasket is in the motor. Broken head gasket will cause coolant leak because coolant is possibly going into cylinder and then car is burning it.
    "problem has been fixed" - so you had the head gasket replaced? That would have cost ~$500 or so?

  • TheRedburnTheRedburn Spaceman K Detroit, MI Icrontian

    @primesuspect would know more about it, he payed for it. I don't know. That's a keyword I think I remember hearing.

  • TheRedburnTheRedburn Spaceman K Detroit, MI Icrontian

    @Ryder said:
    Broken head gasket will cause coolant leak because coolant is possibly going into cylinder and then car is burning it.
    "problem has been fixed" - so you had the head gasket replaced? That would have cost ~$500 or so?

    Car still leaks coolant, so that one hasn't been fixed. IIRC, the mechanic pulled a plug out of the engine, and oil splurted out while I was getting new spark plugs. That specific plug leak was fixed. I don't know what you would call it.

  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian

    Valve cover gasket

  • RyderRyder Kalamazoo, Mi Icrontian
    edited October 2016

    Ok, which leaks oil. Can't cause transmission to not engage reverse. I need to stay out because I am not helping ;D

  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian

    Well, all we know is that we got the oil leak fixed, and he can reverse again.

  • aspieRommelaspieRommel Icrontic politico Indianapolis, IN Icrontian

    If I may chime in here, another thing to make sure is well maintained is your timing chains/belts. That will really affect how your pistons fire and, in turn, can affect your fuel mileage and the condition of your internal parts. It will also save you some money down the road.

    For example, the 1999 Ford Explorer I drive (yes, the one I drove to EPIC this year) has timing chains that are SEVERELY out of time, so much so that I was told it would require a new engine and $3,000 in labor ALONE.

  • SonorousSonorous F@H Fanatic US Icrontian

    Not to steer this thread even further off the road (fuck you I like puns), but did you happen to have a second mechanic look at the Ford, @aspieRommel? On crazy estimates like that, I'll sometimes get the second opinion and even a better price sometime.

    GHoosdum
  • aspieRommelaspieRommel Icrontic politico Indianapolis, IN Icrontian

    @Sonorous said:
    Not to steer this thread even further off the road (fuck you I like puns), but did you happen to have a second mechanic look at the Ford, @aspieRommel? On crazy estimates like that, I'll sometimes get the second opinion and even a better price sometime.

    Well, I could try to get a friend of mine, who is a mechanic, to look at it, but I need to get in touch with him.

  • @aspieRommel said:

    @Sonorous said:
    Not to steer this thread even further off the road (fuck you I like puns), but did you happen to have a second mechanic look at the Ford, @aspieRommel? On crazy estimates like that, I'll sometimes get the second opinion and even a better price sometime.

    Well, I could try to get a friend of mine, who is a mechanic, to look at it, but I need to get in touch with him.

    I'd suggest that. Although the Ford 4.0 is an interference engine (pistons and valves occupy the same space during their respective portions of the timing cycle) and can thus be severely damaged by a bad timing problem, you would likely have a vehicle that is incapable of running if it came to that. If your Explorer is still running, it's likely not as severe as the first mechanic states.

  • AlexDeGruvenAlexDeGruven Wut? Meechigan Icrontian

    Additional to this, timing (whether it's chain or belt drive) doesn't just get out of sync. This is something that is critical to the function of the engine, even more so in interference type engines. Skipping a tooth on a chain or belt drive typically involves a traumatic event, and consequently will create its own trauma on the engine. Everything I'm seeing about skipped timing says that anything more than 1 tooth in either direction is enough to make it practically not run at all.

    Now, your SPARK timing could be way off, causing lots of problems with misfiring, etc, which is much more logical.

  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited October 2016

    Thread 100% fully derailed, good work team IC

    Massalinie
  • doabarrellrolldoabarrellroll San Jose, CA Icrontian

    Ok, two schools of thought here. Are you going for racecar or hypermiler? I've modified 3/5 of my cars and usually pick a direction first.

    Racecar (meaning fast):

    If you want any real power increases, you're looking at an engine swap or an aftermarket FI (forced induction) setup. That means either an eBay turbo or supercharger. That might get you at most another 100 hp.

    Handling you can do a lot. Bigger sway bars, stiffer shocks and struts, polyurethane bushings (they squeak if you don't oil them), stickier tires, wider wheels, take some weight out of it, etc.

    But, if I'm honest the best thing would be a driver mod, learn to drive fast first, then modify the car.

    Hypermiler:

    HAI, this is like a cold air intake except designed to suck in hot air. This effectively leans out the mixture slightly and causes the fuel injection system to use less fuel and run more efficiently.

    Narrow wheels and tires. Find the most narrow, low profile tires (use the BMW i3 as an example) for maximum rolling efficiency. Get a set of LRR (low rolling resistance tires too).

    Weight reduction. Anything you carry around is going to impact your efficiency.

    Push button starter: this is handy when rolling downhill and you don't want to run the engine. Free mpg essentially.


    However, if I'm honest, if you want to a modify a car in either direction, your current vehicle won't do either very well. If you sold it and got an E30 325i or a first-gen Honda Insight, those are great cars to modify for either purpose at a very entry-level cost.

    GHoosdum
  • TheRedburnTheRedburn Spaceman K Detroit, MI Icrontian

    @doabarrellroll said:

    However, if I'm honest, if you want to a modify a car in either direction, your current vehicle won't do either very well.

    Oh yeah, I've already known this. The Toyota 4A-E engine that my car has, has almost no room for improvement. The direction I wanted to take with my mods was more towards efficiency, with hopefully a little boost to HP. But I never expected much. Mostly, I'm looking for mods that will make my car last longer.

  • aspieRommelaspieRommel Icrontic politico Indianapolis, IN Icrontian

    @primesuspect said:
    Thread 100% fully derailed, good work team IC

    I was just trying to help by mentioning making sure the timing chains were proper. It's @GHoosdum and @AlexDeGruven 's fault for taking it off the rails. :P

    GHoosdum
  • Does anybody have experience with the coolant additives that are supposed to help with minor radiator leaks? I wonder if that would be a good low hanging fruit to check off for the mystery coolant leak but I don't know if they are worth trying.

  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian

    Yeah I thought about recommending Bar's. I used to work at the auto parts store that became O'Reilly's eventually, and we sold a lot of that stuff and never heard any complaints. I have heard first-hand that for weird tiny micro cracks and leaks, Bar's does the job.

    https://www.amazon.com/Bars-1150-Cooling-System-Repair/dp/B00753MZWG

  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian

    @TheRedburn go to O'Reilly or Autozone and pick yourself up a bottle of that stuff. See if it works.

  • SonorousSonorous F@H Fanatic US Icrontian

    Does egg still count as a solution or has that been debunked?

  • TushonTushon I'm scared, Coach Alexandria, VA Icrontian

    I believe that should only be used as an emergency, temporary measure, but it does "work".

  • TheRedburnTheRedburn Spaceman K Detroit, MI Icrontian

    Lol car died

    Snarkasm
  • RyderRyder Kalamazoo, Mi Icrontian

    I thought you got a new car?

  • TheRedburnTheRedburn Spaceman K Detroit, MI Icrontian

    @Ryder said:
    I thought you got a new car?

    Yeah, but I still had the Geo. Geo exploded last night

  • RyderRyder Kalamazoo, Mi Icrontian

    I hope it was spectacular.

    TheRedburnLincCliff_ForsteraspieRommel
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