The Car Thread ... !

[PinkyMacGodess]

Funny how this goes-

I spent about a day and a half on and off working on the driver's side brakes with one hiccup after another. Among other things, I mentioned the C-clip above that holds the wheel cylinder in place. Instead of using the supplied new one, I reused the old one, and got it in place with a pair of channel locks. The springs were fortunately straight forward. I watched a few videos on Youtube, and most showed fitting the bottom spring with the shoes off the car, stretching them to engage the wheel cylinders, then fitting the top spring and stretching to engage the adjusters. It honestly wasn't too bad, and unlike before they're on the car correctly now. The biggest bugger, aside from the anti-rattle springs, was the handbrake spring.

Also, just for the sake of getting the lines to some semblance of clean, while I was still over on the driver's side(which is furthest from the MC), I used the Mightyvac until the line ran dry. Most of the fluid that came out was pretty nasty, so I don't think it was a terrible thing to do on the whole. I left it empty until I could get the other side emptied also.

The passenger side got interesting. Everything went together easily, and by the time I'd opened the line to fit the cylinder, it was completely empty. I refilled the MC, bled the driver's side, and then went back over to the passenger side. The only thing was I couldn't get fluid out of it. With the bleeder open, I could pull 20" Hg Vacuum on the nipple and would just sit there and hold vacuum. I finally pulled the bleeder completely and had fluid drip out of the hole where it was, so the line was clear. Just the bleeder hooked up to the Mightyvac, though, would also hold a strong vacuum. I could poke at the hole in the side with a wire and get a little bit of air through it, so something was blocking it.

I thought about robbing one from one of the old cylinders, but they were both nasty and I didn't feel good about putting that in my clean new cylinder. Finally, I just said down with a set of drill bits(turned by hand) and manage to get out whatever was plugging it up. I still don't know what it was, but at least I got it fixed and have a nice firm pedal.

I'm going to need to order drums also. I finally got a shop to agree to turn them, except that they measured out at 10.05" and the max is 10.06. So, the job still isn't "done".

Brakes...

I tried fixing the parking brake of the first car I ever owned. It apparently never worked, and the previous owner just never bothered to get it fixed. It only operated one wheel's drum brake, and had a separate pad and mechanism. Rather complicated. So by the end of the experience, I had replaced the cable, and had disassembled the mechanism, and replaced most of it and had refurbished the rest with stainless steel bolts and lots of grease. It took all day, and several trips to the auto parts and hardware stores.

6 months later, it was seized up again...

All that work for nothing. If it is broken, and you don't really need it, don't fix it... At the dealer a few months after it seized again, the parts guy laughed. 'They always failed, I doubt theres one ont he road that has a working parking brake'. I wasn't laughing. Brakes...

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

After a bit of research its most likely the sunroof drain holes.

I had an Audi A4 Quattro. I loved that car. It was easily the best car I had ever owned, except that I leased it...

So I was driving to Atlanta for the last COMDEX that I ever attended. It rained the entire first day driving. I drove through torrential rain that whole time. It was a dreary day, and I needed a beer badly. I had a stack of CDs that I put in the rear passenger foot well, and as I reached back to get another CD, my hands hit water. Inches deep water. I was so shocked. I couldn't believe it. I found a decent hotel to spend the night, and pulled in, and tried to swab out the water, and use a travel mug to bail out the rear foot well. I got into the hotel, dropped my stuff in the room, and went to the restaurant for a well earned beer and was informed that I was in a 'dry county'. No beer. If I had only made it to the next exit...

But the next morning, I went to get into my car, and the back was still very wet. I saw someone checking out, and asked if I could borrow a bath towel from their room to get the water under control. They looked at me very skeptically, like I would. I told them they could watch me as I mopped up the water. They, stunned I think, let me go in and grab a towel, and I mopped up the water. The guy looked shocked with the amount of water I got out of the car. Yeah, no kidding... I left the windows cracked in Atlanta, and it didn't rain the entire week, or the drive back.

The dealer found the problem. The drain from the AC was routed into the rear foot well. That whole day, I was trying to stay comfortable and less humid, and all that ended up IN THE CAR! I told the dealer that I expected them to replace the rear carpet, since it was a 'manufacturing defect', and Audi refused. They did spring for carpet cleaning. YUCK, but the smell was still there slightly whenever it got humid. Still, it was a fantastic car. I also drove it nearly 10,000 over the mileage limit for the lease. Oops... Had to sell it to cover the added charge, and was still upside down, but saved a lot compared to paying the penalty.

Flooded car. Not funny...

And CD case inserts tend to weld themselves to CDs when they get soaked and dry. Soaking them in a sink with some dish soap seemed to work. I can't believe that car was built with the drain routed inside the car...

 

[Apple fanboy]

I had an Audi A4 Quattro. I loved that car. It was easily the best car I had ever owned, except that I leased it...

So I was driving to Atlanta for the last COMDEX that I ever attended. It rained the entire first day driving. I drove through torrential rain that whole time. It was a dreary day, and I needed a beer badly. I had a stack of CDs that I put in the rear passenger foot well, and as I reached back to get another CD, my hands hit water. Inches deep water. I was so shocked. I couldn't believe it. I found a decent hotel to spend the night, and pulled in, and tried to swab out the water, and use a travel mug to bail out the rear foot well. I got into the hotel, dropped my stuff in the room, and went to the restaurant for a well earned beer and was informed that I was in a 'dry county'. No beer. If I had only made it to the next exit...

But the next morning, I went to get into my car, and the back was still very wet. I saw someone checking out, and asked if I could borrow a bath towel from their room to get the water under control. They looked at me very skeptically, like I would. I told them they could watch me as I mopped up the water. They, stunned I think, let me go in and grab a towel, and I mopped up the water. The guy looked shocked with the amount of water I got out of the car. Yeah, no kidding... I left the windows cracked in Atlanta, and it didn't rain the entire week, or the drive back.

The dealer found the problem. The drain from the AC was routed into the rear foot well. That whole day, I was trying to stay comfortable and less humid, and all that ended up IN THE CAR! I told the dealer that I expected them to replace the rear carpet, since it was a 'manufacturing defect', and Audi refused. They did spring for carpet cleaning. YUCK, but the smell was still there slightly whenever it got humid. Still, it was a fantastic car. I also drove it nearly 10,000 over the mileage limit for the lease. Oops... Had to sell it to cover the added charge, and was still upside down, but saved a lot compared to paying the penalty.

Flooded car. Not funny...

And CD case inserts tend to weld themselves to CDs when they get soaked and dry. Soaking them in a sink with some dish soap seemed to work. I can't believe that car was built with the drain routed inside the car...

It rains a lot in the U.K. This will be the third or fourth car I’ve had with water in it. I suspect it was the other day. The road was flooded so I was crawling along single file in the middle of the road like everyone else. Then some idiot came through in a lorry. The wave went right over the car. Over the roof and everything. Trouble is with all the rain I’ve not had a chance to deal with it.

 

[Nütztjanix]

It rains a lot in the U.K. This will be the third or fourth car I’ve had with water in it. I suspect it was the other day. The road was flooded so I was crawling along single file in the middle of the road like everyone else. Then some idiot came through in a lorry. The wave went right over the car. Over the roof and everything. Trouble is with all the rain I’ve not had a chance to deal with it.

The U.K. and rainy weather are equivalent in the German language ?

To be fair though, where I live in Germany we have almost as much rain as you do.

 

[Apple fanboy]

The U.K. and rainy weather are equivalent in the German language ?

To be fair though, where I live in Germany we have almost as much rain as you do.

Yes but we’re better at complaining about it! The Lane I walked down earlier was more like a stream. Just as well my walking boots are waterproof.

 

[Nütztjanix]

Yes but we’re better at complaining about it! The Lane I walked down earlier was more like a stream. Just as well my walking boots are waterproof.

Bummer! Prejudice has it you Britons are quite stoic about the weather. Or, anything for that matter. Isn't that true anymore?

 

[Apple fanboy]

Bummer! Prejudice has it you Britons are quite stoic about the weather. Or, anything for that matter. Isn't that true anymore?

Not for the snowflake generation! But we love to complain about the weather. Too hot. To cold. To wet. To dry.

 

[Nütztjanix]

[…] we love to complain about the weather. Too hot. To cold. To wet. To dry.

Sounds like me. Seems I would fit in perfectly ?

 

[Apple fanboy]

Sounds like me. Seems I would fit in perfectly ?

Well your welcome anytime. Just not until COVID is done!

 

[Nütztjanix]

Well your welcome anytime. Just not until COVID is done!

Thanks a lot, but - will I need a passport now? A visa? ?

 

[Apple fanboy]

Thanks a lot, but - will I need a passport now? A visa? ?

No visa. Just a passport and a crate of German beer to give to the border guards.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

It rains a lot in the U.K. This will be the third or fourth car I’ve had with water in it. I suspect it was the other day. The road was flooded so I was crawling along single file in the middle of the road like everyone else. Then some idiot came through in a lorry. The wave went right over the car. Over the roof and everything. Trouble is with all the rain I’ve not had a chance to deal with it.

I new a guy, actually an ex-boss of mine, who had a car that had a leaky sunroof. It was where the glass rested on the gasket. A friend of his had the same problem, and found a company that made a metal ring that fit around the gglass panel, and added about a sixteenth of an inch to the thickness of the glass, and stopped all the leaks. He knew about the ring, obviously, but kept pushing the car company to 'fix the leaking roof' and I think they ended up declaring it a 'lemon', and gave him a new one. I left shortly before me received the replacement car, and I hope it leaked like it had a hole in it. He was such a jerk for whining to the car company when he knew there was a 'fix'. And he was my boss. The day I quit, I was so relieved... Bye bye, jerk...

But a leaky car really sucks. I had a new car that whistled when the wind came from the right side. The dealer said to always drive with the wind from the other side. Nice. They were joking. New gasket, no more problems.

Hope it can be fixed.

Speaking of sunroofs: A kid in my high school got a sunroof that someone else in the auto shop had bought, and didn't want to use. They sold it to him with no instructions. The guy was ecstatic that he could put a sunroof in his Camero. Can anyone guess what happened next?

He measured the sunroof, and cut the hole for it. He was holding the sunroof over the hole he had just carefully cut, and went to set it down on the roof. It fell straight through. He had to take a class in welding the next semester to use his car as a project to braze a steel sheet the size that the hole should have been to install the sunroof. At that point, repairing the hole wasn't really a possibility. Then he had to do the autobody repair class to learn how to sand, fill, undercoat and paint car bodies. I felt so bad for him. Yikes... Measure twice, cut once.

 

[cyb3rdud3]

Last week I drove my wife's car in the snow/ice to a detailer locally to us. Glad I arrived with the car in one piece, it was an interesting journey to do on summer tyres and rear wheel drive...But they've done an amazing job, a picture doesn't show enough how good it is, but considering it is a light silver colour it was very good.

As expected, and I noticed on first wash, the BMW dealer did not decontaminate this car very well. But it is now, just need some better weather to enjoy it...

It got the full works; in/out, wheels off, protected with Titan Zeus.

 

[44267547]

View attachment 1722091
Old photo, but here you go. Sadly since moving to the country I've added a lot more stone chips.

Red has easily become one of my favorite colors on cars. What car do you think you would get next when you’re ready to trade in/sell, another VW or something different?

 

[Apple fanboy]

Red has easily become one of my favorite colors on cars. What car do you think you would get next when you’re ready to trade in/sell, another VW or something different?

I think more of the same to be honest. I’m not in the market for a while though. Not enjoying having a mortgage again after all these years.
I won’t be considering electric anytime soon either. Not a great idea in a cold climate with limited charging.

 

[CYB3RBYTE]

I can't remember if I've posted this or not - I sold my annoyingly problematic 2009 Volvo C30 R-Design (with full transparency) and picked up a 2005 NB2 Miata. The Miata was meant to be temporary. I had plans to drive it for a few months, fix a few things, and sell it off for a down payment on something slightly larger / more reasonable. Having been in and out of work due to government restrictions (my work has been deemed non-essential) that hasn't happened. I'm still driving the Miata around. It's a blast to drive, it's similar but way better than the NA6 Miata I owned last year, but it's a really impractical daily driver. I wish my C30 wasn't so problematic, but all I can say about that car was good riddance.


View attachment 1721737 View attachment 1721738

Sad to see you had such issues with your C30. Mine has a few nibbles that I need to resolve, such as a windshield that's coming un-laminated from the top, and an exhaust gasket leak at startup. Other than that, it's been relatively problem free and reliable. I bought mine from the original owner, with 92,000 miles. It's a 6 speed manual car, so it's been fun learning stick on it.

 

[iLog.Genius]

Last week I drove my wife's car in the snow/ice to a detailer locally to us. Glad I arrived with the car in one piece, it was an interesting journey to do on summer tyres and rear wheel drive...But they've done an amazing job, a picture doesn't show enough how good it is, but considering it is a light silver colour it was very good.

View attachment 1722371

As expected, and I noticed on first wash, the BMW dealer did not decontaminate this car very well. But it is now, just need some better weather to enjoy it...

It got the full works; in/out, wheels off, protected with Titan Zeus.

Nice M2 Competition. I never liked silver paint but Hockenheim Silver is a better Mineral White.

 

[cyb3rdud3]

Nice M2 Competition. I never liked silver paint but Hockenheim Silver is a better Mineral White.

I do like silver, but Hockenheim Silver is quite different. It looks almost primer grey at times when dull, but then has a lovely golden flake in it when the sun shines on it. When next to other silver cars, you can see how much blue hue there is in most silver cars, this definitely got a grey hue to it. We were in-between Long Beach Blue, Orange or Hockenheim Silver. When seeing them outside it was not really a choice, Hockenheim is rather special.

 

[bunnspecial]

Brakes...

I tried fixing the parking brake of the first car I ever owned. It apparently never worked, and the previous owner just never bothered to get it fixed. It only operated one wheel's drum brake, and had a separate pad and mechanism. Rather complicated. So by the end of the experience, I had replaced the cable, and had disassembled the mechanism, and replaced most of it and had refurbished the rest with stainless steel bolts and lots of grease. It took all day, and several trips to the auto parts and hardware stores.

6 months later, it was seized up again...

All that work for nothing. If it is broken, and you don't really need it, don't fix it... At the dealer a few months after it seized again, the parts guy laughed. 'They always failed, I doubt theres one ont he road that has a working parking brake'. I wasn't laughing. Brakes...

I'm not a big fan of the disk-in-drum handbrake design, even though it's common. Fortunately, every car I've had, whether it had disk or drum rears, used the standard service brake as the parking brake, so it gets enough excersize that it shouldn't seize the way drum-in-disk can.

Also, with a manual transmission, to me having a working handbrake is a practical necessity. I don't do handbrake starts on hills(which I know are normal/expected for drivers ed in some countries, and how may people learn to drive) but still, I like the extra insurance of in gear+brake for parking(especially on a hill). Even in an automatic, I prefer to keep the stress off the parking pawl on a hill, plus again insurance if it fails.

 

[bunnspecial]

Ah, a severe case of the dreaded gearbox caries.

I could make a joke about that and the fact that it's British, but I won't

 

[A.Goldberg]

Sad to see you had such issues with your C30. Mine has a few nibbles that I need to resolve, such as a windshield that's coming un-laminated from the top, and an exhaust gasket leak at startup. Other than that, it's been relatively problem free and reliable. I bought mine from the original owner, with 92,000 miles. It's a 6 speed manual car, so it's been fun learning stick on it.

View attachment 1722546

Nice C30- those are fun little cars. My ex-GF way back in high school had an S40 T5 AWD. Unfortunately it was totaled by a police officer responding to a call who skidded out on sand in an intersection.

My fiancée has a 2013 S60 T6 AWD. We bought it a couple years old CPO. We live in Boston and she commutes via subway so it only has like 60k on it. But it’s been very reliable. I just don’t like our dealer here.

She’e finishing her cardiology fellowship in a few months so I’m planning on getting her a new S60 inscription when she’s done.

I have a 2009 535i xDrive I’ve been planning on replacing for years. The problem is (amazingly) it’s been very reliable despite now having 140k on the clock and is in very good condition. So I figured I might as well keep driving it. The XC60 is on my list of possible replacements. I’m not thrilled with the complexity of the new 4cyl T6 engines long term. I’d really like a Defender but I’m not sure they’re worth what they cost and I don’t really want to deal with the inevitable reliability issues, and these new Defenders seem to have a lot of problems. My father bought a new Range Rover recently and has already had issues with it (ie USB ports failing).

 

[CYB3RBYTE]

Nice C30- those are fun little cars. My ex-GF way back in high school had an S40 T5 AWD. Unfortunately it was totaled by a police officer responding to a call who skidded out on sand in an intersection.

My fiancée has a 2013 S60 T6 AWD. We bought it a couple years old CPO. We live in Boston and she commutes via subway so it only has like 60k on it. But it’s been very reliable. I just don’t like our dealer here.

She’e finishing her cardiology fellowship in a few months so I’m planning on getting her a new S60 inscription when she’s done.

I have a 2009 535i xDrive I’ve been planning on replacing for years. The problem is (amazingly) it’s been very reliable despite now having 140k on the clock and is in very good condition. So I figured I might as well keep driving it. The XC60 is on my list of possible replacements. I’m not thrilled with the complexity of the new 4cyl T6 engines long term. I’d really like a Defender but I’m not sure they’re worth what they cost and I don’t really want to deal with the inevitable reliability issues, and these new Defenders seem to have a lot of problems. My father bought a new Range Rover recently and has already had issues with it (ie USB ports failing).

Maybe a T6 V90 is in the future , so far I’ve heard only good things from owners save for the VERY early 4 cylinders (2015.5-2016) which had oiling issues. All solved. I still need to drive one myself. Can’t wait to own another wagon, I at one point had an 850 R and it was a blast of a car.

 

[Nütztjanix]

Nice C30- those are fun little cars. My ex-GF way back in high school had an S40 T5 AWD. Unfortunately it was totaled by a police officer responding to a call who skidded out on sand in an intersection.

My fiancée has a 2013 S60 T6 AWD. We bought it a couple years old CPO. We live in Boston and she commutes via subway so it only has like 60k on it. But it’s been very reliable. I just don’t like our dealer here.

She’e finishing her cardiology fellowship in a few months so I’m planning on getting her a new S60 inscription when she’s done.

I have a 2009 535i xDrive I’ve been planning on replacing for years. The problem is (amazingly) it’s been very reliable despite now having 140k on the clock and is in very good condition. So I figured I might as well keep driving it. The XC60 is on my list of possible replacements. I’m not thrilled with the complexity of the new 4cyl T6 engines long term. I’d really like a Defender but I’m not sure they’re worth what they cost and I don’t really want to deal with the inevitable reliability issues, and these new Defenders seem to have a lot of problems. My father bought a new Range Rover recently and has already had issues with it (ie USB ports failing).

As long as it's only the USB ports failing (on a car) - could be worse! Shouldn't happen to a virtually new car, though.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Also, with a manual transmission, to me having a working handbrake is a practical necessity. I don't do handbrake starts on hills(which I know are normal/expected for drivers ed in some countries, and how may people learn to drive) but still, I like the extra insurance of in gear+brake for parking(especially on a hill). Even in an automatic, I prefer to keep the stress off the parking pawl on a hill, plus again insurance if it fails.

I always put my car in first gear when I park whether I’m on a hill or not as an extra fail safe, it’s a habit I do automatically. How do you do hill starts without using your handbrake? You must have a very good knack of not over revving and finding that bite point very quickly.

 

[Apple fanboy]

I'm not a big fan of the disk-in-drum handbrake design, even though it's common. Fortunately, every car I've had, whether it had disk or drum rears, used the standard service brake as the parking brake, so it gets enough excersize that it shouldn't seize the way drum-in-disk can.

Also, with a manual transmission, to me having a working handbrake is a practical necessity. I don't do handbrake starts on hills(which I know are normal/expected for drivers ed in some countries, and how may people learn to drive) but still, I like the extra insurance of in gear+brake for parking(especially on a hill). Even in an automatic, I prefer to keep the stress off the parking pawl on a hill, plus again insurance if it fails.

I have an electronic hand break. It’s great.