chit chat thread

[GunMetalGrey]

"Do you have a tow strap?"
"Yeah, I've got something"

He didn't have something.

I will never forget using jumper cables to pull @Ryan...'s car out of a snowbank.

[B C]

Jdesign said:

Tested my sanity this past weekend helping a friend strip a MK6 GTI and put the motor from that in a MK6 jetta. Doing jobs like this really make me realize how much I am thankful for:

1. Not owning a VW
2. Not working on cars for a living.
3. Sorry for any of you that part take in either of those

 

1. 

What the flyin?!

The only scenario where this makes sense is if the GTi is wrecked and the Jetta has a bad engine and both cars were acquired on the cheap.

[Jdesign]

Snap said:

What the flyin?!

The only scenario where this makes sense is if the GTi is wrecked and the Jetta has a bad engine and both cars were acquired on the cheap.

DING DING DING.

[B C]

Today sitting in traffic while swaddled in the rich faux leather of my infiniti I was absolutely bombarded with rotten egg smell from a catalytic convertor. Ho lee jeez.

This was like 12 rancid egg mcmuffin’s worth of flatulence. It was so bad that I gagged and had to roll the window down.

Traffic started to move and I turned left. The smell dissipated but I couldn’t figure out if the smell was from my car or from one of the other cars in traffic.

I had replaced one o2 sensor in august but could not get at the other one

I got home and started working on replacing the other sensor. Surprise! It was awful, just like my previous failed attempt.

I finally succeeded after what has to be my biggest automotive repair pet-peeve (besides rust) which is the sensor wire screwing up your every move.

You get the sensor loose, but you can only get 1/8th of a turn with a wrench or by hand before having to reposition your hand/ the wrench. Oh! But guess what happens when you remove your hand/wrench to reposition it!?!? The sensor wire acts like a spring and rotates the sensor back to the position it was in before.

When you finally manage to withstand the pain to contort your hands against sharp corners hard enough to get the sensor out, you get to face the same fun with the install. [emoji1361][emoji1361][emoji1361][emoji1361][emoji1361]

[m42b32]

Snap said:

I finally succeeded after what has to be my biggest automotive repair pet-peeve (besides rust) which is the sensor wire screwing up your every move.

That's the worst... My new go to is, if I have a replacement already, to cut the wire once its loose so I only have to deal with it on the way back in

[jc43089]

Yea if it is going in the garbage I just cut the wires.

[B C]

But then there’s no turning back [emoji79]

[HipMF]

Deep, introspective life thoughts right there bro. Time only travels one direction, so you can never go back.

Question is, is it better to not be able to go back and cut the wires, or better to not be able to go back and not cut the wires?

[patsbimmer1]

When i've run into this I either unplug the sensor or cut the wire.  This is more frustrating to me when i'm trying to install a sensor.  Then I'll either keep it unplugged or preload the wires so they are unloading in the direction I want to turn the sensor.

[B C]

I thought I invented the preload trick!!!

[GB-335xiCoupe]

patsbimmer1 said:

When i've run into this I either unplug the sensor or cut the wire.  This is more frustrating to me when i'm trying to install a sensor.  Then I'll either keep it unplugged or preload the wires so they are unloading in the direction I want to turn the sensor.

Snap said:

I thought I invented the preload trick!!!

In a truly circular universe where time is a complete continuum and one could take a shortcut through said continuum, we would all in fact know about the pre-load loading theory. However, Pat and Snap are clearly from the future, and much wiser than any of us mere mortals. Just kidding of course, we all know that Al Gore invented the preload trick. Afterall, he invented the Internet. One smart cookie.

[P_Roloff]

Winter storage mode is activated. 

Also, Merry Christmas everyone!

[KaiserRolls]

If the mirrors are folded in, then it’s stored

[B C]

Congratulations, the car has turned into a wasp’s nest

[Jdesign]

Would you congratulate someone if they turned a wasp nest into a car?

[Jdesign]

Thats creative. I had to share it with someone....

[m42b32]

My girlfriend bought a new car maybe two weeks ago, (She bought it in Ohio and drove it back) and yesterday she came home and said her windshield washers weren't working. I thought this was weird since the car is a 2016 with only 11k on it, so we went down to the parking garage to take a look and they're working again, we figured maybe she just didn't pull the lever correctly. Well this morning she was on her way to work, went to wash the windshield shortly after leaving the garage and the washers worked, but the fluid instantly froze on the windshield and she had to stop and scrape it off! Turns out the lines had frozen yesterday and then thawed when it was parked inside and we tested it. The car started life in SC, and it turns out the washer fluid tank is likely filled with "summer" washer fluid that has a much higher freezing point than what they sell here, so I'll be flushing it out and refilling tonight. Pro tip if you buy a new daily from somewhere with a warmer climate: flush your washer fluid before it gets cold!

[KaiserRolls]

I’ve heard stories of people buying CA cars in the winter and having them shipped to WI and they show up with the freeze plugs pushed out of the block

[patsbimmer1]

m42b32 said:

My girlfriend bought a new car maybe two weeks ago, (She bought it in Ohio and drove it back) and yesterday she came home and said her windshield washers weren't working. I thought this was weird since the car is a 2016 with only 11k on it, so we went down to the parking garage to take a look and they're working again, we figured maybe she just didn't pull the lever correctly. Well this morning she was on her way to work, went to wash the windshield shortly after leaving the garage and the washers worked, but the fluid instantly froze on the windshield and she had to stop and scrape it off! Turns out the lines had frozen yesterday and then thawed when it was parked inside and we tested it. The car started life in SC, and it turns out the washer fluid tank is likely filled with "summer" washer fluid that has a much higher freezing point than what they sell here, so I'll be flushing it out and refilling tonight. Pro tip if you buy a new daily from somewhere with a warmer climate: flush your washer fluid before it gets cold! 

It took her two weeks to drive back from Ohio?  Talk about taking the back roads... Whew! Now that I got that out of the way, I had never heard of "summer" washer fluid.  That's really stupid.  I thought all washer fluid was the same, learn something new I guess!

[m42b32]

patsbimmer1 said:

It took her two weeks to drive back from Ohio?  Talk about taking the back roads... Whew! Now that I got that out of the way, I had never heard of "summer" washer fluid.  That's really stupid.  I thought all washer fluid was the same, learn something new I guess!

Haha I wouldn't be surprised if there were some back roads on the way home! I'm guessing it just wasn't cold enough till this past week to actually freeze it. Maybe 'summer' is the wrong word, probably a different formula for warmer climates since it wouldn't need as much anti-freeze/alcohol/etc.