Car Talk

[Tibbs]

Message from the mods: This thread is for general car talk - car stories, car problems, and, if we're lucky, hopefully car answers, too.



Tibbs' original post is below.

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Kittens:



Tonight, I dragged my friend to see " American Wedding". Movie was funny, and fun times were had. Upon entering our car to go home after the film, we noticed that we somehow got a flat tire.

Now we thought, " Hey changing a tire can't be that hard, we can do it." First, we couldn't find anything to jack the car up, then we couldn't figure out how to get the tire undone from the car. After waiting on hold for AAA assistance for 30 min, my friend was able to flag down some local sanitation guys who happend to be driving by.

Not only did they laugh at us for not knowing where anything is ( I didn't know there was like ' secret compartments' in the trunk that had all the tools and stuff ) But they had it done in under 5 minutes.

So my question to you kittens.. If you had a flat tire could you change it yourself? Are you familiar with everything in your car? After tonight, I can honestly say I know Jack squat.



On the plus side.. WOO and HOO I got to watch Aly for almost 2 hours and she looked great!







Night All,





Tibbs

Edited by: maudmac  at: 8/2/03 2:28 am

[xita]

My father was a mechanic for half his life and so I was around car stuff all the time growing up. I am not really knowledgeable but with guidance I did a lot of things. I'll never forget working on my isuzu impulse, that was the hardest car to get the transmission out of. My brother and I must have changed the clutch twice on that sucker. I really cannot forget spending all that time under that car, that transmission would just not go back in, i had to shove it back with all the force of my legs and I have pretty strong legs. Bleh.



Nowadays, if I have a flat tire, I will call AAA and sit in my car like a good little girl! However, I do know how to personally patch up a tire that's been punctured by a nail, been through that too many times with my brother.

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"The suspense is terrible. I hope it'll last."

-Willie Wonka

[oneyedchicklet]

Being a good little new car ower, I've read the manual to find out where everything is in the event of a slight mishap. I owned a GMC Jimmy prior to this car and twice I had to change the tire on it. The biggest problem for me was getting the spare off the hitch in the back. I had locking lugnuts and the service station put the spare on with the gun after fixing the first flat and I think they thought it was NASCAR or something cause they were put on so tight that I broke the keylug wrench. I had to get my friends husband to come and help me. After that I got AAA.

I remember my dad changing a tire for me in my first car and put the jack right through the floorboard. My mom warned me to wait for my brother to come home. But "daddy's little girl" wanted it fixed right away. I learned my lesson after that.

Have a good weekend everyone!!

Love to All,

Barb

I'll just put it in a bubble and blow it away!!!.

[cattwoman98111]

Growing up dad thought that us girls, (mom sister and i) should know the basics, how to change a tire, checking fluids, and what to do if you threw a belt. i tell you my sister and mom could care less, and just were not mechanicly inclined, me on the other hand, picked it up really quick. dad never had a son so i became the "boy" of the family. dad taught me cars, how to drink beer, hunting, fishing and how to swear like a sailor. (so coming out was not a big suprise to him)

I recomend to anyone at least learn the basics, even if you dont do it yourself it will pay to know how to do it, that way you can tell if someone is screwing you over on repairs.

now that i am a bit older, i have gotten less gung-ho on fixing it myself. (lazy) but every once in a while the little butch comes out and suprises people. (im kinda girlie) i can twist almost anyones arm to do work for me.

recently i installed a cb, and fog lights in my truck as well as changing the headlights and air filter in preperation for my move to California, but paid someone $10 to change the oil. hee-hee anyway if you want "words o wisdom". at least know how to even if you choose not to.



Catt

[mscheckmate]

Maybe we could re-name this old thread "Car Rant."



My car has been misbehaving. It has an intermittent high idle, (more annoying than hazardous) and the mechanics at the local dealer can't figure out what's wrong with the car, even though they've hooked it up to every diagnostic tool in their shop. Now, they want to have the manufacturer's service engineer look at the car to see if he can "figure out what to do." And the car has had other problems: the factory satellite radio/CD player has been replaced (twice so far,) and so have the O2 sensor and some front-end bushings. I'm glad that all the work has been paid for by the manufacturer (the car's barely 20,000 miles old and is still under the factory warranty), but to say I've been inconvenienced by all of this is an understatement.



The car is attractive, fun to drive, gets decent mileage, and, according to my ex, is a way more comfortable car than my previous impractical little sport coupe. But, all-in-all, I wish I'd bought an Acura.



Any other Kittens having car traumas?

In the evenings I shall read to you while you work your cross-stitch in the firelight. And then we shall go to bed, our bed, my dearest girl...from "Sisters," by Lynne Cheney

[oneyedchicklet]

Well since we're ranting about cars. 10 days ago, I was driving the two miles home from work. I was stopped at a light and BAM, some little old man rear ends me. The cops came and made a report and all. But my poor bumper guard was hanging off. I couldn't get it "clipped" back on so the cop being a friend of mine helped me get it off. We put it in my back seat and I went home. When I took it for an estimate, they checked everything and it seems that my bumper wasn't the only damage. The rear corner panel had some and I noticed the alignment was way off. To replace the bumper guard and rear corner panel, $2500 and one of my rear rims was bent since I "fishtailed" into the curb, $600 for the rim. I knew I had custom rims on my car but $600 per rim? So in a nut shell, I have $2400 worth of rims on my car not including the tires but I have a stupid donut spare. You'd think for that money, they could throw in a full sized spare. And people wonder why I treat my car like its a baby.



So now its in being repaired and I'll have it back hopefully by Monday. I have a rental that I would not tell my worst enemy to buy. Thank God that my insurance isn't paying for this.



Love to All,

Barb

Now serving Bitter, party of one. Your table is ready.

[Kieli]

What kind of car do you have, Ms? I might be able to help. I've had three Honda CRXs, a Ford Mustang II (piece o' shit that it was) and a K car (Plymouth Reliant K series, one of the sturdiest vehicles I've ever seen besides a late 60s Mercury Comet...now that was a battleship!) I learned how to fix them all as a poor college student that couldn't afford repairs. I've replaced brakes, head gaskets, alternators, generators, spark plugs, distributor caps, tires, electrical harnesses and many more. *bleh* You'd think they'd pay ME money nowadays!

We kissed for hours, wrapped around each other in the dirt, immersed in the heady, religious world of deep sex.
Love is just a different form of ego. It's nothing but a flatteringly worded form of possessiveness.--Kannaduki no Miko

[mscheckmate]

Kieli, I have a 2004 Saturn Ion3 Quad Coupe. (Unfortunately, the faster supercharged Ion Redline wasn't yet available when I went car shopping.) The dealer informed me today that they will be replacing the ECM, but that the service engineer still wants to study the car for another day or so.



What's been funny about the whole situation is that when the engine is idling too high, it's not setting a code in the ECM. All of the values are within specs, and they can't find any vacuum leaks or anything else that would tend to cause the car to act like it has an old carburetor with a choke that you can't kick down. It tends to act up more when the weather is foggy. I don't know if the moisture in the air is somehow fooling various sensors into thinking that the car hasn't warmed up yet, or if the dampness is screwing up a ground somewhere.



My former cars, a Saturn SC2 and a Mustang GT, were a lot simpler to deal with. I used to do brakes, VC gaskets, and other mechanical stuff on those cars, but never got into electrical/diagnostic work beyond replacing batteries, ignition coils & modules, and using a code scanner to read the ECM trouble codes. I will be very interested to see what the engineer finds. And I sure hope that they can resolve this before the car needs a smog test: that would be a really bad time to have the idle out of spec.

In the evenings I shall read to you while you work your cross-stitch in the firelight. And then we shall go to bed, our bed, my dearest girl...from "Sisters," by Lynne Cheney

[Urn of Osiris]

I recently took a trip to Australia. I stayed in the very busy city of Sydney. It was exciting to see all of the compact cars, some so small you could carry them on your back, if you had a strong back. I suppose most city dwellers find the smaller cars more convenient. As a country girl I love my van and truck, load 'em up and get it all done in one shot. So to get to the point of my ramblings... I was standing at the bus stop, when I heard a familiar sound. I closed my eyes and it was moving closer. I sighed at the comforting sound and smiled when it sat idling before me. In this world there is nothing that compares to the pit, pat, ping, sputter of original Volkswagen Beetle. It reminds me of my childhood and as long as I can remember I've always had one in my life.



They're like tinker toys in simplicity. It was the first engine I ever worked on. In my wild 20's I owned one out in Colorado. It vapor locked just about every place I went. It never kept me warm in the winter and couldn't go fast enough to keep me cool in the summer. But I love that car more then any other I've owned. It lives in my barn now, waiting for restoration. One day I'll have the time to reward it for so many great years. That's my car story. I'm not a car lover but I just adore the sound of that old VW Beetle.

Urn of OsirisA new idea is delicate. It can be killed by a sneer or a yawn; it can be stabbed to death by a joke or worried to death by a frown on the right person's brow. Charles Brower