Fifth Avenue Forum

Whining could be a power steering pump as well.

As for financing, yeah, they only offer those low APRs for 12-36 month finance terms. We got a 2.9% 60 month on the '22 Accord we bought back in November. Not horrible, and still a couple of points lower than our bank's rates at the time.

Source of the post Whining could be a power steering pump as well.

Had the power steering pump replaced a few years ago. The noise is consistent, and goes up and down with the engine revving, so I'm confident that it's not the steering pump - which sounded much different than this. It also sounds like it's coming from the front where the alternator is, and not the top rear where my PS pump is located.

Welp, zero whining when they looked at it, and when I went to pick it up. They tested the alternator and it was fine, so I guess I’ll just leave it at that unless the issue happens again. Next time, I’ll just drive over to the shop right when I hear it. One of the workers is there most nights, including the weekends, and he told me to swing by any time.

Very strange thing happened to me this afternoon. I went out to my car, and attempted to unlock it. The fob lit up, but completely dead. I'd been out to my car just a couple of hours ago, as I was adding air to a tire with a hole in it. No issues then.

So I go back into work to Google or figure something out. I was thinking dead battery, and I have a jump pack, and I figured out how to get the key out of the fob. I had no idea a key was hidden up in there.

I go back out to the car, and everything's fine. Trunk pops, doors unlock, and the car starts. Probably 10 minutes had elapsed.

Do these keyfobs have a timeout feature? I'm wondering if I was inadvertently pressing the button while walking to the car, as I have a ton of keys on the same ring.

I think my dad's old Mercedes used to do that I think.

Make Tesla disable to crap and continue testing and get back to us when it's safe.

Make Tesla disable to crap and continue testing and get back to us when it's safe.

This is the testing phase. Real world data make for the best stats.

Testing in Production.

Doesn't it cost like ten grand to add autopilot to a Tesla? Seems like some refunds are due.

Testing in Production.

I had to sacrifice my browser’s cache and cookies to get this info because Ford’s order tracking page is a travesty but my Bronco is finally in production and has a blend date for Tuesday. It should be delivered on or adjacent to the day I get back from Europe. I’ll accept that timing

Let us know if the new Bronco offers point-in-time MPG measurement.

Also, I saw a Tesla service vehicle out on Autopilot mode a few days ago. Creepy af, get that ish away from me, do not approve.

Had a brake on one wheel of my camper hanging up. I found that the adjustment mechanism was broken and the shoes were fully engaged. Boy was that fun getting the drum off. Now I need to replace the whole backing plate... To a tune of $174. For one wheel of trailer brakes. Ugh

This Sheetz thing with the $3.99 88 octane: is that stuff really ok for my 2001 or newer vehicles?

I’ve always been like: nah I’ll pay more because I’m not really sure I believe you, Sheetz.

Isn't regular 86 or 87 octane?

If your car can take regular, it can take the octanes above as well.

This is some special formulation that is cheaper than regular 87 octane

Right but if it's a higher octane than what your car accepts, it should be good, no?

I’m not positive, but I think 87 has 10% ethanol and 88 has 15% ethanol.

Edit:

https://www.wearecentralpa.com/news/loc ... -your-car/

Don’t use it for small engines like your lawnmower. Most cars though? Yeah… go for it.

I not positive, but I think 87 has 10% ethanol and 88 has 15% ethanol.

Yep. You’re right on. You’ll see on it “may contain up to 10% ethanol” and since ethanol is pretty cheap compared to gas, you can be sure it’s at the full 10%. The 88 has 15%. You’ll sometimes see it called E15.

E15 use may result in a slight decrease in fuel economy. Ethanol has a higher "octane" level than regular gasoline, so it's used in gas both as an octane booster / antiknock agent and as a political sop to the large corn agribusiness lobby, which lobbies the heck out of Congress to have more ethanol mandated for fuel use.* But ethanol is also less "energy dense" than pure gasoline, so it takes slightly more being burned to produce the same amount of force. I doubt in this case the slight difference in fuel economy would overcome the significantly lower price, however.

Ethanol does attract water and increase chances for corrosion in a car's fuel system. Ethanol is also corrosive to some metals and rubber. But as others have noted, modern cars have been designed to accommodate ethanol-blended fuels for quite a while now, so it's only really a problem for older vehicles and stuff like boats, small power tools, lawn mowers, etc.


* Whether it's a good idea to be turning massive quantities of otherwise-edible US corn into fuel ethanol when there's a global grain shortage brewing from the Russia/Ukraine war is a topical and interesting side question that would probably best be served in the Politics And Current Events thread.

Nothing is best served in the Politics And Current Events thread. That's only for shrieking and gnashing of teeth.

@dodint: My dad's a BMW guy, as you know. 24k miles on his current 535, and the transfer case died. Seems really young, and is par for the course for major issues on all of his previous BMWs. He's actually buying out out of his lease this week (still under warranty), and I personally think it's a mistake.

Yeah, I wouldn't do that either. That is a crazy early failure though.

Fun Saab things.

I need a roof rack to haul a kayak and/or a stand-up paddle board. My Saab wagon doesn't have the long roof rails, just flip up panels to mount two cross bars.
Check Thule's website, and they have aftermarket cross bars, but they are $550-$750 for the set. Yikes, and the kayak/sup carriers are about $250 each.
I spend the evening confirming that Saab bars exist, they must, right? Why else would the holes be in the body? I found a Sportcombi for sale with the Saab cross bars on CarGurus. Then I pick through and search Saab product catalogs and finally find them, success!
The Saab cross bars are $155...and made by Thule. The Saab Kayak holder is $176.

Long live the Swedes.