Cars & Bikes, Driving & Riding

Postby **CBear3** » Tue Mar 17, 2020 12:03 pm

They've got large garage door cutouts in the sides, but I can't remember much in the way of overhead lighting now that you mention it. All cars sitting on crappy old rims.

Oh yeah, it should be a buyers market automotively this summer.

Postby **NTP66** » Sun Mar 22, 2020 8:16 am

Taking the compressor conversation here. It’s out of warranty, so I bought a new pressure switch. And since these use ear clamps, I had to buy end nippers so that I could actually close the clamp. Kinda annoyed at that.

Postby **NTP66** » Sat Mar 28, 2020 1:33 pm

Replaced the pressure switch, and the compressor now shuts off at the expected 150psi. Nice, $16 fix.

Side note: nearly every bolt is friggin Torx, and some of them are buried so deep that I had to finagle an extension that would actually fit in it just to reach the bolts.

Postby **dodint** » Sat Mar 28, 2020 5:34 pm

Hah. Was using mine today and wondered how your situation turned put. Good update.

Postby **dodint** » Mon Mar 30, 2020 11:09 am

The SRT4 needs a suspension refresh for track use. So I bought new outer tie rod ends, control arms, anti-roll bars, and lowering springs (1" drop, modest for track use).

The suspension up front had been really loose. I thought it was just bad toe-in from the worn bushings in the tie rod and control arms.

I start taking it apart and realize the prior owner snapped off all four anti-roll bar mounting bolts. He left the sheared bolts in the frame and just THREW THE BAR AWAY.

So, needless to say, I expect the handling to be significantly tighter once I get it all back together.

Postby **mac5155** » Mon Mar 30, 2020 3:10 pm

what is that gif from? lol

Postby **dodint** » Mon Mar 30, 2020 3:22 pm

*Might* be from The Dude Perfect Show. I don't actually know, just going by the tags that came with it.

Postby **NTP66** » Sun Apr 05, 2020 12:33 pm

I haven't owned a set in over a decade, but I think I'm going to pull the trigger on some Kumho Ecsta PS31's.

I have only driven my car a few miles since swapping on my summer wheels and these new tires, but my initial thoughts on them are that they're noisy as hell going around corners. It sounds like I'm peeling out everywhere, when I'm not. Hopefully it'll quiet down. Ironically enough, 95% of the driving has been done in the rain, and I'm not terribly thrilled with the performance.

Postby **mac5155** » Sun Apr 05, 2020 9:34 pm

I need new tires as well, but I'm glad I thought I'll put it off until the end of March, because now I can put it off until at least memorial day. Lol

Postby **offsides** » Sun Apr 05, 2020 9:39 pm

I put a set of General Altimax in November on my Accord. Got nothing but good to say about them. Nice quiet good handling tires.

Postby **faftorial** » Sun Apr 05, 2020 9:49 pm

White walls?

Postby **offsides** » Sun Apr 05, 2020 10:06 pm

No, the white walls are on my Mustang and Vette. I wouldn't mind white walls on my Accord but they don't make them in that size.

Postby **Shyster** » Sun Apr 05, 2020 10:48 pm

I have a set of Yokohama AVID Ascend GT tires from Tire Rack sitting in my garage that I was going to get mounted and balanced when I took off my snow tires. That's now on hold.

Postby **NTP66** » Mon Apr 06, 2020 7:26 am

I put a set of General Altimax in November on my Accord. Got nothing but good to say about them. Nice quiet good handling tires.

I run Altimax Arctic's on my winter wheels and love them. They're a terrific bang for your buck.

Postby **robbiestoupe** » Mon Apr 06, 2020 8:22 am

Picked the perfect time to buy a dedicated set of wheels for my winters and to purchase a hydraulic jack. Just need to pop the summers back on.

Postby **offsides** » Mon Apr 06, 2020 11:00 am

I put a set of General Altimax in November on my Accord. Got nothing but good to say about them. Nice quiet good handling tires.
I run Altimax Arctic's on my winter wheels and love them. They're a terrific bang for your buck.

Mine are all-season tires. I think they are called RT43. Not sure how they are on bad winter roads. Being retired and the amount of snow we been getting, I don't need winter tires.

Postby **Shyster** » Mon Apr 06, 2020 8:23 pm

I run Altimax Arctic's on my winter wheels and love them. They're a terrific bang for your buck.

I have those snow tires too. Agreed on the bang for the buck.

Postby **dodint** » Fri Apr 17, 2020 3:02 pm

The MINI threw codes for the first time in 40k miles. It's up to 97k. Not bad for an English car overbuilt by Germans.

Drove out to Linn Run yesterday to do some hiking. When we got there and shut the car off the fans kept running for about 5 minutes. They run continuously now whether the motor us running or not, up to the 5 minutes. Check engine light came on.

Scanned it today and it looks like the coolant temp sensor has ceased reporting temps and the thermostat thinks the coolant is perpetually below normal operating temp.

The sensor is easy to get to and about $30 or so. Hoping that's the issue. These cars are known for water pump concerns. We'll see.

Postby **NTP66** » Fri Apr 17, 2020 3:17 pm

My car hasn't been started in 2 weeks, so when I went to start it this morning, nothing. Battery seemed to be completely dead. Had to use my handy dandy portable jumper - which worked beautifully (thanks @shafnutz05). Still, something has to be up with that battery.

Postby **Shyster** » Sat Apr 18, 2020 7:44 pm

Swapped off the snow tires and put the mismatched set of summer tires back on. I still need to get the new Yokohamas installed, and I could use an alignment, but I'm barely driving so that's not a priority. Took a 20-minute drive or so to get the car heated up and circulate all of the fluids. Also got some gas and filled up the little gas can for my mower. Came back and put on my battery charger to top off the battery. It felt nice to drive again.

Postby **NTP66** » Sat Apr 18, 2020 7:57 pm

I definitely need an alignment. It’s pulling to the right pretty noticeably. I have a charger for my generator, but need to see if it’s good for 12v batteries, too.

Edit: Works on 12v batteries, too. Gonna charge up tomorrow.

Postby **shafnutz05** » Sun Apr 19, 2020 12:43 pm

My car hasn't been started in 2 weeks, so when I went to start it this morning, nothing. Battery seemed to be completely dead. Had to use my handy dandy portable jumper - which worked beautifully (thanks @shafnutz05). Still, something has to be up with that battery.

Glad to hear that man. Funny you mention it, my Gooloo suddenly won't charge--I plug it in, the charging light comes on for five seconds, and then shuts off. Really annoying because my riding mower battery is on the outs, and I've had to hook it up to my car to jump it a couple of times since I haven't been able to get out to Autozone yet. But yes, those things are a godsend.

Postby **Ad@m** » Mon Apr 27, 2020 12:34 pm

Postby **CBear3** » Mon Apr 27, 2020 1:17 pm

The MINI threw codes for the first time in 40k miles. It's up to 97k. Not bad for an English car overbuilt by Germans.

Drove out to Linn Run yesterday to do some hiking. When we got there and shut the car off the fans kept running for about 5 minutes. They run continuously now whether the motor us running or not, up to the 5 minutes. Check engine light came on.

Scanned it today and it looks like the coolant temp sensor has ceased reporting temps and the thermostat thinks the coolant is perpetually below normal operating temp.

The sensor is easy to get to and about $30 or so. Hoping that's the issue. These cars are known for water pump concerns. We'll see.

How'd I miss this. Was it just the sensor? I had to replace the whole thermostat, not the most fun thing I've done in the garage.

Postby **dodint** » Mon Apr 27, 2020 1:46 pm

Still waiting on the sensor. Shipped on Friday. Hoping that's it because I don't want to dig into that car right now. I still have the SRT-4 apart; though I did put the new subframe in yesterday. Just have to bolt everything back onto it, including the lowering springs.

*edit* The mailman just walked up and left it at the door while I was typing that. Weird. Guess we'll find out.