DIY Auto shares

[subaro]

Re: DIY Auto shares

Let's hear your opinion on this one. very interesting indeed. You can save quite a few bucks ????.

[qbert69]

Re: DIY Auto shares

Let's hear your opinion on this one. very interesting indeed. You can save quite a few bucks ????.

Replace your damn engine air intake air filter!

I personally use a K&N filter which is cleanable and reusable!

Just this last weekend, I changed the oil in my vehicle:

More Fuel Economy.1 More Wear Protection.2 More Engine Life.2 More Performance.3 | Quaker State

Used a Baldwin oil filter which is slightly longer than OEM:

Baldwin Filters | Home

and cleaned the K&N air filter!:

K&N Performance Air Filters, Air Intakes & Oil Filters

I use Regular gas and every now and again, about half a bottle of SeaFoam per tank!:

https://seafoamsales.com/

BEWARE!!!...you have to be careful with the K&N air filters!....sometimes the oil in the filter material can affect the sensing of a Mass Air Flow (MAF) Sensor in your intake!!!

I just wish more companies would research and implement HHO intake supplementation for more efficiency and cleanliness!

HHO = Brown's gas.

Maybe I should do some personal research on this!

Just to re-iterate, if the fuel can't get the air to burn during combustion, your driving and acceleration is going to SUCK!...keep your intake air filter CLEAN!

[Iowatech]

Re: DIY Auto shares

About this Marvels Mystery Oil. I have researched this a bit and found it has been around for a very long time, since 1937 or so. It is claimed to do many things, like clean fuel system,injectors, and even add to your engine oil and gas tank. Anybody out there has good results for this product and if so, what kind, better fuel consumption ect.
I would think for a product that has been around for this long, mechanics would have picked up on this and since you can get this stuff at walmart for about 8 bucks a liter cnd, then car buffs would have rated this highly. But like sea foam and the name of the product it remains a real mystery for me anyway?

Let me be clear. I am not promoting any manufacturer products or using this forum to do so. But as a consumer, it is in my interest to try to use products that work efficiently and thus save wasting money on substandard products that eats away at the cash and pollute the enviroment . So these are the reasons i post these questions and mentions brand names, and of course sharing our knowledge of proven products.

Also i know there a lot of car guys out there with valuable tips. share them please.

I used Marvels Mystery Oil once, and I have nothing bad to say about it. However, for an oil treatment I have to say Slick 50 is better. I have used that since the second car I ever owned.
Apparently, it got really cold in the tropics of Iowa when I was probably away for Reserve Basic, and my brother told me that car was the only one that started then, and they used it to jump everything else.
Something to keep in mind though - back in the late '70s when I first saw Slick 50 they claimed one treatment would be good for the life of your car, but now they say you need to use it every 50K miles. I suppose that could be because the overall quality of car engines has improved since then, I barely got 110K miles out of the second car but any more I usually get over 300K.

[subaro]

Re: DIY Auto shares

BEWARE!!!...you have to be careful with the K&N air filters!....sometimes the oil in the filter material can affect the sensing of a Mass Air Flow (MAF) Sensor in your intake!!!

Those MAF sensors are not cheap and yes must be looked at when doing tune up. A clogged or poorly performing PCV valve[positive crankcase ventilation ] would cause sludge to go through the hose that feedback from the valve cover to the air intake. Well, so i have seen in my previous car. There is a product specially formulated to clean the MAF sensor and should be done at every tune up. It's CRC SENSORKLEEN.

Below is a half minute explanation of what gas to use, which i have come to be my own conclusion. BTW, i have to say Full Synthetic oil, does make a difference in your automobile performance. this is my opinion of course.

[Iowatech]

Re: DIY Auto shares

Premium gasoline is primarily for engines with high cylinder compression ratios, say 10.5 or 11 to 1 or so for example. The higher octane rated gas prevents premature detonation of the fuel/air mixture in those engines.
When I was paying attention to such matters, most consumer grade automotive engines had around 8 to 1 compression ratios or less, and regular gas is fine for those.

[qbert69]

Re: DIY Auto shares

BEWARE!!!...you have to be careful with the K&N air filters!....sometimes the oil in the filter material can affect the sensing of a Mass Air Flow (MAF) Sensor in your intake!!!

Those MAF sensors are not cheap and yes must be looked at when doing tune up. A clogged or poorly performing PCV valve[positive crankcase ventilation ] would cause sludge to go through the hose that feedback from the valve cover to the air intake. Well, so i have seen in my previous car. There is a product specially formulated to clean the MAF sensor and should be done at every tune up. It's CRC SENSORKLEEN.

Below is a half minute explanation of what gas to use, which i have come to be my own conclusion. BTW, i have to say Full Synthetic oil, does make a difference in your automobile performance. this is my opinion of course.

Yep, I know about being careful with the K&N filter(s)!...I used to have a VW Diesel Jetta!--and used the CRC SensorKleen!...but I'm sure glad I got rid of that vehicle! Diesel is good....you have to run it hot and continuous....not got for stop and go short travels...oil change was NASTY!!!...took a week to get the carbon saturated diesel oil out from under my fingernails! Now I got a nice little Hyundai Tucson Limited that is a Joy to work on and maintain!...even changed some stabilizer bar end links on the rear end!--once I figured out what the popping noise was when I made a turn!...LOL!



PS--I was finished putting up with the VW Diesel Jetta after taking a trip down to Florida to visit at Disney World, arriving at my parents, just getting in their driveway, the Jetta Diesel high pressure pump epicly failed, leading to a repair bill of around $1,600 and a Disney Vacation that didn't happen because of that fuel pump issue!

[subaro]

Re: DIY Auto shares

Don't throw out them aerosol cans that can't spray anymore. Fix em. Here's how.

[Iowatech]

Re: DIY Auto shares

Don't throw out them aerosol cans that can't spray anymore. Fix em. Here's how.

I've got a couple of WD40 cans that prematurely ran out of pressure before I saw the instructions that they need to be shaken before use. I'll have to try this.

[subaro]

Re: DIY Auto shares

I've got a couple of WD40 cans that prematurely ran out of pressure before I saw the instructions that they need to be shaken before use. I'll have to try this.

Let us know how it goes and if any dangers are involved with it.

[allan]

Re: DIY Auto shares

Wished someone told me there is no key-way(key piece) om a Ford fiesta crank timing pulley before i decided to change the timing belt.
Lost the timing completely and found myself in a bit of a spot.

Found out you need a tool to lock the crank in place!!
Then could not find a tool anywhere so i had to make it using a drill and a file.

Helps a lot to understand the 4-stroke motor otherwise i would have been lost.

WTF why not use a key piece on the crank.
Understand the the adjustment is not between gear teeth. Does that really make it that more accurate??
That leaves me paranoid the the crank gear could slip.

[Iowatech]

Re: DIY Auto shares

If you don't have a picklefork, sometimes you can get ball joints on the front suspension of a car to come apart by tapping on the ball joint with a large hammer.
That might only work with older cars, though. When I was in high school, I ran over a log with my '74 LTD, and it bent one of the connecting rods in the front suspension to an unpleasant "U" shape. I'd never even heard of a picklefork then, so I had to remove the damaged connecting rod that way, and also had to remove an undamaged connecting rod from a car at a junk yard so that I could fix my car.

[allan]

Re: DIY Auto shares

I was amazed at how much force it takes to loosen those taper joints.
Tapping with a 4 pound hammer does not always work its more like beating it senseless.
Sometime afraid to use such force were its needed, just feels wrong.

Thanks for the pickelfork tip.
Will probably need that soon as the same car's suspension is already stuffed.

[Lagonda]

Re: DIY Auto shares

I was amazed at how much force it takes to loosen those taper joints.
Tapping with a 4 pound hammer does not always work its more like beating it senseless.
Sometime afraid to use such force were its needed, just feels wrong......

I was once in a workshop and was watching the professional mechanic changing ball joints on a car. He picked up a small sledge hammer, gave the joint a light tap just to line up his aim and swung the hammer back. At the very top of his swing the ball joint popped apart by its self. "See"says the mechanic " You just have to scare them!!!"

[subaro]

Re: DIY Auto shares

I was once in a workshop and was watching the professional mechanic changing ball joints on a car. He picked up a small sledge hammer, gave the joint a light tap just to line up his aim and swung the hammer back. At the very top of his swing the ball joint popped apart by its self. "See"says the mechanic " You just have to scare them!!!"

Seen people over the years, including myself use sledge hammer and most often the ball pin hammer. What tend to happen is sometime when you swing, the head fly one way and the handle remains in your hand. bastard tool, i think they would call that or improper tool maintenance.
Long ago, use to take nails or some objects to act as the wedge between the handle and ball pin. Nowadays, there are repair kits for those type of thing.
The moral here, we still have to pay attention to our household and work tools condition and tune up as needed.

Here it is done red neck style

Here is another way and tool that looks to be a better option as is it should not damage the rubber booth on the ball joint. sometimes you may not be replacing the ball joint.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcCfWmrVQfM

[subaro]

Re: DIY Auto shares

Wished someone told me there is no key-way(key piece) om a Ford fiesta crank timing pulley before i decided to change the timing belt.
Lost the timing completely and found myself in a bit of a spot.

Found out you need a tool to lock the crank in place!!
Then could not find a tool anywhere so i had to make it using a drill and a file.

Helps a lot to understand the 4-stroke motor otherwise i would have been lost.

WTF why not use a key piece on the crank.
Understand the the adjustment is not between gear teeth. Does that really make it that more accurate??
That leaves me paranoid the the crank gear could slip.

Allan, all you had to do was ask. Here is a chap from, sounds like uk doing one of those belts. You can ruin an engine easily by not getting your TDC correct.