What did you do to your Car today!

[Samir]

That actually sounds normal to me. And that's what made the Honda brand known for reliability. Too bad their newer cars can't compare in that to their older ones.

[BamaMopars]

thats what I heard that they are not as good. Well its not a Mopar but I love the little civic now

[Smyly@TFR]

Its not that honda has gotten any less reliable I dont think... But instead they have just added more components to what was already apart of a simple platform with less chances to fail causing it to have more chances to fail.. Dont know if that makes any sense but thats the way I see it lol

[Samir]

I can tell the quality differences between my 94 Accord and the modern Accord. It just feels so cheap now. And my friend's 98 Accord also had more problems than my 94.

Japanese companies realize the US market isn't where they should send their highest quality products anymore. It's why you don't have cars like the 1984 Accord that were passed down generation after generation. The older CB7/CD5 (90-98 Accord) chassis is one of the most popular cars here in Huntsville.

The American manufacturers figured this out a long time ago. I realized what they were doing when I sat in a Ford in London in the 1980s--night and day difference. They've come up in quality while the Japanese makes have gone down. There's not much of a difference anymore like there once was. Ford's newest cars have really impressed me with their quality.

[Samir]

Broke the top on the Porsche. I hadn't opened it in about two weeks and I noticed that the subwoofer assembly was moving like something was binding there. It's done it before, so I moved the top back up and then back down. It went down, but made a SNAP noise. It never went back up. I was able to manually put it up...but if I wanted a car like that I would have just bought a Miata. Just over 32k miles and the top is broken, 2nd battery may be dead/alternator dead, and the engine may have something broken inside it. This car has had more problems than any I've ever owned.

I've got it on a battery tender now. Let's see if that helps the battery. I'm not even going to bother with the top as I know that's probably at least a grand.

I'm too mad for words right now...

[Samir]

Discovered the reason the top broke on the Porsche with help from my friend Clint on the phone. Parts will be ordered for that. He said he's never seen both arms break simultaneously, so one of the arms must have already been broken.

[ITSFAST]

Samir, I hate to hear that about your car. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help.

As for what I did to mine, I traded it (the wife's car) in for an 8 passenger Saturn Outlook. (same as an Acadia/Traverse)

She's more than happy about it and now we can carry the crew and some without running out of room.

I also ordered WeatherTech mats for it today and bought her new wiper blades in preparation for the rain.

[Samir]

Originally Posted by ITSFAST

Samir, I hate to hear that about your car. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help.

I thought about you today and may have to take you up on the offer. Hopefully this string of bad luck ends sometime soon.

Originally Posted by ITSFAST

As for what I did to mine, I traded it (the wife's car) in for an 8 passenger Saturn Outlook. (same as an Acadia/Traverse)

She's more than happy about it and now we can carry the crew and some without running out of room.

I also ordered WeatherTech mats for it today and bought her new wiper blades in preparation for the rain.

Nice. I loved the room of a minivan growing up.

[GetSOM]

Did a final inspection on the car before it goes to the exhaust shop. Everything checks out fine, no leaks and hitting on all 8!

[Samir]

Yesterday:
Parked the Porsche after inspecting the top frame for correct manual folding, which it failed. Made sure I had the tools to replace top arms, and am pretty upset that there may be some sort of damage to the top itself. Placed the battery in the car on a battery tender, the original desulfated battery on a tender, and researched AGM batteries for the car including the Odyssey 1220, Odyssey 1350, Optima retrofits, and Varta/Mercedes AGM batteries that may be a perfect OEM fit.

Examined the upper timing chain in the Altima closely after consulting the factory service manual. Against Internet advice, left the chain guides in place so I know how much chain slack there really is and how bad its getting. Swapped corded front tire for a rear tire and put the car back in service. Made list of items for tomorrow (today) that will restore car to previous operation.

Today (planned):

• Check coolant level in Altima and radiator for continuing leaks.
• Go by Mercedes dealership to check what AGM batteries are in stock, specs, and cost.
• Go by Johnson Foreign Auto to get oils and filter for Altima.
• Take used oil currently in container to get recycled.
• Get Seafoam for Altima while there at the parts store.
• Add Seafoam to Altima and let idle in preparation for oil change.
• Inspect Porsche battery for bulging and complete charge.
• Drive Porsche and see if it will die again.
• Based on if battery dies or not, change battery to spare Optima to see if it dies after stereo and other aux use.
• If Optima works well, order mounting plate from Yellow Dog Motorsports.
• Change oil in Altima after cooled down and take sample to send to Blackstone.
• UPS oil samples to Blackstone.

[A_Cryer]

You should open your own shop

[Samir]

Originally Posted by A_Cryer

You should open your own shop

I wouldn't make any money, lol. I'd take too long doing things.

I'd rather outsource all this, but it seems everytime I walk into a shop, I walk out with more problems then when I walked in, and a lighter wallet to boot.

[Samir]

Today's plans:

• Get Altima Amsoil oil filter from Johnson Foreign Auto
• Put Porsche battery for charging and inspect other Porsche battery for bulging and complete charge.
• Check coolant level in Altima and radiator for continuing leaks.
• Verify that Altima upper timing chain tensioner is frozen, and see if it can be unfrozen using spray cleaners.
• Take used oil currently in container to get recycled.
• Add engine cleaner to Altima and let idle in preparation for oil change and tensioner repair.
• Change oil in Altima after cooled down and take sample to send to Blackstone.
• UPS oil samples to Blackstone.
• Order desulfators/tenders for batteries.

[Samir]

Completed today:

• Get Altima Amsoil oil filter from Johnson Foreign Auto
• Put Porsche battery for charging and inspect other Porsche battery for bulging and complete charge.
• Check coolant level in Altima and radiator for continuing leaks.
• Verify that Altima upper timing chain tensioner is frozen, and see if it can be unfrozen using spray cleaners.
• Take used oil currently in container to get recycled.
• Add engine cleaner to Altima and let idle in preparation for oil change and tensioner repair.
• Change oil in Altima after cooled down and take sample to send to Blackstone.

I discovered that the upper timing chain tensioner on the Altima is frozen. It's only a $50 part, but replacing it isn't easy. So I'm going to see if I can figure out what's gone wrong with this one and how to possibly fix it. Manually un-sticking it and then doing the engine flush helped for a while, but then it came back. There's got to be a way to unstick it.

Plans for tomorrow:

• Fix Porsche top arms, and top if possible
• Run Durametric diagnostic tests to check for variocam timing fluctuations indicating a bad intermediate shaft bearing.
• See if we can figure out what the engine noises are
• Adjust valve lash on Accord and listen to its noise and try to figure that out
• Ask Clint about Altima AC/Radio short
• Ask Clint about frozen tensioner.
• Research Mercedes VRLA battery technology
• Research Altima upper tensioner repair/fixes
• UPS Samples after one more Porsche oil change
• Order battery desulfators/tenders

[ITSFAST]

Ran by WoodsAutoWorks for a bit of 2500 grit wet sanding and buffing on the Outlook.

Ran by The Speakerbox to get her rear view camera set up on order.

Time to give the Mercedes a bit of attention by checking it's fluids.

[Samir]

Completed today:

• Fixed Porsche top arms, and we think we've got the top too. It's yet to be determined
• Ran Durametric diagnostic tests to check for variocam timing fluctuations indicating a bad intermediate shaft bearing and found them to be perfectly in spec.
• Figured out the engine noises are probably coming from the exhaust system, but that's not a concrete determination
• Adjusted valve lash on Accord and listened to its noises and determined that it's coming from the upper part of the head transmission side, probably cam wear. Nothing on the bottom end.

I'm pretty happy with all we accomplished today. The Porsche got a total look over from top to bottom, and we think we've fixed the top. The Accord was started for the first time in years with some freshly adjusted valve lash, which quieted down the upper part of the head enough to determine where some of the noise was coming from. I finally feel like half of my cars are halfway working, which is much better than where they've been in the last few years.
Still yet to do:

• Adjust Accord valves one more time using cam markings
• Research Mercedes VRLA battery technology
• Research Altima upper tensioner repair/fixes
• UPS Samples after one more Porsche oil change
• Order battery desulfators/tenders

[Outlaw77lt]

My son and I replaced the heater fan motor in my '81 z28 yeaterday. To get to it the front passenger's wheel, battery, and fenderwell has to be removed. While testing it we found that the a/c box was leaking alot of air around it, so some silicone took care of that. I may not freeze this winter like I did last year.

[Outlaw77lt]

After working on mine, my son flushed the coolant and installed a new 195* thermostat in my wife's '91rs. As i suspected the car had no stat in it and her heat wasn't working much at all. I let him do all the work himself and it turned out great, no leaks, and some killer heat for momma! He is only 15yo, but turning into a good mechanic already.

[Samir]

Originally Posted by ITSFAST

Ran by WoodsAutoWorks for a bit of 2500 grit wet sanding and buffing on the Outlook.

Ran by The Speakerbox to get her rear view camera set up on order.

Time to give the Mercedes a bit of attention by checking it's fluids.

That's going to be one nice Outlook.

Originally Posted by Outlaw77lt

My son and I replaced the heater fan motor in my '81 z28 yeaterday. To get to it the front passenger's wheel, battery, and fenderwell has to be removed. While testing it we found that the a/c box was leaking alot of air around it, so some silicone took care of that. I may not freeze this winter like I did last year.

Originally Posted by Outlaw77lt

After working on mine, my son flushed the coolant and installed a new 195* thermostat in my wife's '91rs. As i suspected the car had no stat in it and her heat wasn't working much at all. I let him do all the work himself and it turned out great, no leaks, and some killer heat for momma! He is only 15yo, but turning into a good mechanic already.

Great stuff!

[RatTrap]

I tested out the brakes and plowing ability on
my 50 RatRod when all 3 lanes on the Parkway
stopped on YELLOW.

Locked em up, slid from the center lane into the
dirt, punched it and threw dirt everywhere.

Manual brakes are NOTHING like power brakes!