--------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: F2G00007 Date: 02/11/98 From: BILL REYNA Time: 12:21am \/To: JOHN FAERBER (Read 0 times) Subj: Oily Plugs > What does it mean when a person pulls their plugs andd > they are oily, what would that mean? Big $$ repairs, > or something simple to cure? [----------^^^^ you said the above ^^^^-----------] Likely you blew a vavle seal or have weak valves. Either way, most likely a head rebuild. This is to be expected for high milage or lead foot usage. Oh yeah, then there's piston rings, but that's another thing all together. I would think valve seal if power seems to be there, if not then a ring. -_-_- Bill --- * Origin: Bordertown - Telegram from the Border (1:234/43) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: F2G00008 Date: 02/10/98 From: RON TAYLOR Time: 10:11am \/To: CHRISTOPHER TARANA (Read 0 times) Subj: Re: Brakes CT> I'd be happy to answer any other questions you have, and perhaps you >could be more specific on what was wrong with the RF brake, and what happene >after it was fixed. Christopher... you're just the man I've been looking for :) The vehicle is a 1990 Chevy series 20 (full sized) conversion van. Front disc and rear drum brakes. I have two problems.. The first has been a reoccurring problem since the van was new (currently 260,000 miles and still running great). It seems that the front right disc rotor becomes warped and will create a shimmy with hard braking. The warpage is slight and can be corrected with machining... for a while. I've had the rotors turned several times for nothing else but this. I've replaced both rotors twice. Mr. Goodwrench's only suggestion is that tire changers are over tightening lug nuts. I disagree... I've insisted that they used only hand wrenches and be particularly attentive to torque. The problem always comes back after just about two or three thousand miles. Any suggestions??? Oh yeah... most of the mileage is pulling a 5x8 Wells Cargo utility trailer, about 1500 lbs gw. Second problem. Really a question... the disc pad bracket seems to be loose on the same front right wheel... sometimes. On occasion, it will slip somehow and do a low frequency chatter... more of a thump, thump, thumping.. when braking. After a couple of stops, it corrects itself and is quite, even on panic stops. Braking ability does not seem to be affected. The pads and rotors are less than 10% used... rotors aren't even scored yet (but shimmying away, nonetheless). First... is this a dangerous situation? Then, what causes it?? Bad pad? Bad pad holder/bracket/thingie?? Another rotor symptom? All advice/suggestions welcomed. Ron --- * QMPro 1.02 42-7029 * Junk - stuff we throw away. Stuff - junk we keep. --- WILDMAIL!/WC v4.12 * Origin: Crime Bytes (1:135/5.0) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: F2G00009 Date: 02/10/98 From: RON TAYLOR Time: 10:18am \/To: BILL MITCHELL (Read 0 times) Subj: El Paso BM> JF> Just got back from El Paso a couple of days ago, and the > JF> price of gas is outta sight! Paid 99.9 when I left Dallas, > JF> driving through Abilene saw signs for 97.9 Midland was 99.9 > JF> when I filled up, Van Horn had signs for 103.9 but when I got BM>Prices here in North Jersey are varying from 99.9 to 117.9 for regular 87) >no lead (leaded is unavailable) full serve. And that's for the usually >higher priced 15% MTBE winter mix oxygenated gas. On a trip through Georgia to Virginia two weeks ago, my price range was 83.9 in Atlanta and 117.9 somewhere on I-85 in Virginia. Love that Georgia gas tax :) Average here in Alabama is around 99.9. BTW... are you the Bill Mitchell from the MOTORCYCLE echo? I've lost it, at least temporarily :(. Going to Daytona? --- * QMPro 1.02 42-7029 * OS/2 Virus Checker: MS Windows found! Remove (Y/n)? --- WILDMAIL!/WC v4.12 * Origin: Crime Bytes (1:135/5.0) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: F2G00010 Date: 02/10/98 From: RON TAYLOR Time: 03:47pm \/To: JOHN PUMMILL (Read 0 times) Subj: Honda q's JP>SD> #4: How hard is it to replace the lock for the fold down >SD> rear seat? It seems >SD> to be stuck, or it takes another key (I only have 1 key for >SD> it which so far >SD> operates everything else). JP> Welder, cutting torch, fire extenguisher. Or maybe [whispering] wd-40. On my Honda, the ignition key works on the fold down seat. Otherwise, out with the ball peen. --- * QMPro 1.02 42-7029 * "Moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue!" --- WILDMAIL!/WC v4.12 * Origin: Crime Bytes (1:135/5.0) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: F2G00011 Date: 02/10/98 From: MARC GERGES Time: 11:08pm \/To: ALAN MORRISON (Read 0 times) Subj: 225 hp Neon? Salut Alan! MG>> Mmmmh... the last two american concept cars that made it into MG>> prodution were the Viper and the Prowler, right? And both these MG>> cars don't seem to be underpowered to me :-) and their styling MG>> didn't change much as well. AM> True, these were very close to the original concept styling, and the AM> Viper was a total surprise to jump to premium power levels as Americas AM> fastest sportscar. I can't think of any other car that has done this AM> in a long time. As for the Prowler, I don't know how much power the AM> concept vehicle delivered, but it has the same mild V6 supplied in AM> other Chrysler passenger vehicles. Mmmmh... don't know about the power and weight, but someone stated 7.8s for 0-100 km/h, and that seems... very reasonable to me :) AM>> It will probably show up looking somewhat similar with 160 HP... AM>> was it a V6? MG>> Not specified. It said Neon engine and drivetrain put in the MG>> back. AM> OK, that would be the 4 Cylinder. 225 HP is probably stretching it a AM> bit unless they plan on some sort of supercharging. Do they supercharge in the US? Here it's mainly Mercedes who supercharge their 2.3l engine. Most other manufacturers opt for a turbo for that effect. They are used to turbos from their diesel engines. MG>> I tried one a couple of years ago and it seemed a fine car to me. MG>> But there's not that much engineering and refinement in it than MG>> in an A4 or a 3 series BMW. So to sell it for a comparable price MG>> is not really a good idea, and consequently you hardly ever see MG>> one here. AM> I can't emphasize enough that most small US cars won't sell here if AM> they are loaded and priced like a larger model. As is often the case, AM> the price goes up when it gets exported due to costs of delivery, AM> marketing, and tariffs. It's imho in this case a problem of a wrong market position. Chrysler measured the Neon and other cars and found out it's as long as those BMW 3, small Audi, Ford's, Opels etc. So they made it the same price. Export is about $450 from harbour to harbour, marketing wasn't done, tariffs is 10%. IF they would've taken the US base price, add their real costs and a little extra bonus, the price would've been in the range of base Golf's or well equipped Polo's. A four-door 130hp car for that price... that would have been an interesting offer... The korean manufacturers made it so, and they sell quite well. cu .\\arc ... Hey, wake up! It's time for your sleeping pills. --- * Origin: sympathy for the debil (2:270/47) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: F2G00012 Date: 02/10/98 From: MARC GERGES Time: 11:15pm \/To: ALAN MORRISON (Read 0 times) Subj: Active Handling Salut Alan! AM>> Here hatchbacks and wagons have largely been replaced with AM>> Minivans and SUVs... The article claims that this market segment AM>> tripled in sales last year! MG>> Strange people there... AM> Those family types got station wagons in the 60's, Volvos in the 70's, AM> Minivans in the 80's, and now SUVs are coming on strong. I don't understand it... ok, minivans are fine if you really have a lot of people to carry. But SUV's are big, ugly, slow, uncomfortable and expensive. I wouldn't drive one if given for free... AM>> more power combined with a better weight bias. The nose-heavy AM>> Caddy understeers a fair amount when driven hard. MG>> That's what a car should do. Show you when the limit is near. AM> I hate understeer unless you can easily invoke oversteer with a little AM> throttle... Of course, having neutral handling that is forgiving on AM> throttle application is much preferred. I to prefer a nervous oversteering car when the weather's fine, I'm in a positive mood, concentrated and enjoy the drive. But for 90% of my drives, it just has to function and be as simple and easy to manage. Oversteer isn't. AM>> the Eldorado Sport Coupes should be RWD to compete in this AM>> market. MG>> I remember a french TV comparison test a couple of year ago... MG>> the was the old Jaguar Coup, the Mercedes S coup, the BMW 840i MG>> and the Cadillac Eldorado. They found the Eldorado to be most MG>> entertaining of them all when driven hard. AM> Caddy is known for ride and amenities, not handling. It was somewhat AM> whimsical for them to compete on a handling basis with the Beamer and AM> Mercedes. The Jaguar is a little closer to the Cadillac approach to AM> luxury coupes but, I believe still RWD. I don't, except for sports cars. It's personal opinion, of course. AM>> I hate the torque steer, and wheelspin on high-performance AM>> models. MG>> When wheelspin shows, you accelerated too hard. For the torque MG>> steer it shows you how much power you are applying. AM> 'accelerated too hard' ? What is that?? ;-) Well, something that rarely happens to me. I'm used to pay for my tires and clutches myself, so I can live with a little less than maximum. :) MG>> To begin with, an FWD car is inherently stable on the road, not MG>> like AM> Hmm... I think if that were always true race cars would be FWD. Here they are, at least in the close-to-stock series. The FWD Peugeot 406 gave the BMW 3 series a serious run for the money in germany's last year touring car championship. And the BMW wasn't in front when the season ended. (I particularly enjoyed this as BMW said in an ad that there are no FWD race cars a couple of months earlier ;-)) AM> Since it has a higher percentage of weight on the nose it tends to AM> understeer. Yes. Fine. It's still faster. When it's faster with a race driver, it will probably be faster with you or me at the wheel. :-) MG>> an RWD car. And in turns the FWD car shows always the same MG>> behaviour: if you are frightened, step of the accelerator and MG>> everything will be fine. AM> I can see that, if done gradualy and soon enough. It is often a AM> setup you would feel comfortable about your wife or daughter driving. Why shouldn't I drive such a car, too? I know how to drive an RWD car, but I know how to calculate Pi up to 10^-100 too. Both things I prefer not to do daily :) AM> But for me, the performance potential is somewhat lacking, upkeep is AM> more expensive, it's harder to work on, etc... Upkeep isn't more expensive anymore. Most parts are stronger on fwd than on rwd in the last years. AM>> This makes the front tires handle all major forces of turning, AM>> braking, and acceleration, wearing the tires more quickly. MG>> That's no point if the tires are rotated regularly from the front MG>> to the rear. I rotate them every time I change from summer to MG>> winter tires. AM> More upkeep. Hey, I have to change tires twice per year due to the wheather. It's not more upkeep to put last summer's front tires on the rear for this year. AM> And when I see my Mom's tires, I have to tell her to get new ones AM> soon. Better get them yourself and let her pay. Women often buy tires on the fact that they are black and round. They'll get the cheapest and worst ones. I had stopping distances growing more than 10% with really cheap tires... cu .\\arc ... I am Gates of Borg. Speed is irrelevant! --- * Origin: sympathy for the debil (2:270/47) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: F2G00013 Date: 02/10/98 From: MARC GERGES Time: 11:29pm \/To: ALAN MORRISON (Read 0 times) Subj: Buying imports Salut Alan! MG>> Mmmh... here you might have to wait a couple of weeks, but not MG>> very long. Most japanese cruisers and choppers tend to be better MG>> quality at lower prices, so people buy two of those instead of MG>> one Harley. AM> I sometimes hear 'quality' substituted for 'engineering' but I see 30 AM> year old and older Harleys around, and no Japanese models near that AM> age. Harleys are an investment. As a 30 year one will be on the same technical level than a new one, it'll sell good. A 30 year old japan bike will be... just old. AM> So it seems the quality is good. As long as you check the screws all 2000 miles so they can't fall off. AM> Now the basic engine design came from early 20th century radial AM> airplane engines. While it has undergone many improvements, the AM> long-stroke V-twin is technically obsolete. The real curiosity is AM> why the Japanese makers finally gave-up competing in that market here AM> and cloned the V-twin design. Here it works for them. MG>> Harleys are bought by doctors, lawyers etc. AM> Yeah, too bad. You used to have grimy bikers on Hogs but nowadays it AM> seems the owners take off their clean suits on weekends and put on AM> clean leathers. Why not, if they like it. Others prefer Goldwings... AM> Just kidding... [that's a wink ;^) ] I can't find my translator AM> programs; must be on my other computer. How do you say 'Vi der se'? You mean 'Wiedersehen'? cu .\\arc ... I am Borgs Bunny. What's assimilation, Doc? --- * Origin: sympathy for the debil (2:270/47) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: F2G00014 Date: 02/12/98 From: PETER KURZBACH Time: 02:59am \/To: ALAN MORRISON (Read 0 times) Subj: Re: buying imports PK>> this year only some cadillac and chevrolet models are sold here. PK>> however the camaro convertible is lower price as that ugly boring tiny PK>> golf convertible. > Here a Camaro convertible is about $22,650 or $27,975 for the Z28 version. > A VW convertible (Cabrio) is $18,475 base model and 22,790 for the GLS. the stupid germans like paying too much.... no other way to explain it or why should vw drop the price if the germans pay any price? 18,000$ about 30,000dm, we have to pay more than 50,000dm for golf convertible. some people here re-import a golf cause this saves a lot money. i'll keep on driving american cars PK>> i bought an edelbrock 600cfm carburator, performer intake and headers. PK>> it runs really fine > Hey, same as mine. A 75 Monza, which also has a 5.7 liter (350). It's a > bit smaller than a Cutlass, and the lightest body GM ever put the 350 in. ^^^^^^^^ ^^^ sounds like this combination is fun! PK>> in germany we have to pay a yearly tax -only for owning a car. PK>> how much i have to pay depends on cubic capacity of the engine. PK>> i pay about 1500 dollar tax (2500dm) > And you'd rather have a big-block?? :-) having fun allways has been extrem expensive in germany PK>> thats why we have take up with this small engines, 2liter and smaller. PK>> this system truly sucks! -this is the meaning of my origin line. > Ouch, enough to eliminate a lot of US performance car sales, no doubt. > It would be nice if they would go by published mileage figures, it would be nice if we pay the same for any car. if my car has low mileage i pay enough tax for gas. here 1liter gas costs 1.60dm. 0.35dm the gas and 1.25dm tax. > but Vipers might not be much better that way. Some of the other late-model > performance cars with overdrive transmissions may do better. if i had the money i would buy a viper. it's great muscle cars stay alive peter phone: +491773332616 fax: +49407226350 --- CrossPoint v3.11 R * Origin: 8zylinder 8liter 800ps 8000dm kfzsteuer! (2:240/5701.2) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: F2G00015 Date: 02/11/98 From: JASON WEDEHASE Time: 08:12am \/To: ANDREW GRILLET (Read 0 times) Subj: El Paso Andrew Grillet told the story like this: AG> Well we in Europe pay $1 per LITRE, and there's five litres to a AG> gallon. Try 2. 2 and change. not 5. AG> And that is at the major discount places. In a motorway service AG> area, you would pay a good $1.15 and even more if you use leaded. AG> So lets hear no more griping please :-) You're paying a little over $2/gallon, and it's been around $1.89 here at times. Not that big of a deal. Jason Wedehase strife66@Psynet.net http://www.Psynet.net/strife66 ... The problem with the gene pool is that there is no lifeguard. ___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.20 --- QScan/PCB v1.19b / 01-0154 * Origin: MicroLink BBS * Dinuba, CA 209-591-8753 (1:214/80) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: F2G00016 Date: 02/11/98 From: JASON WEDEHASE Time: 08:12am \/To: SEAN DUNBAR (Read 0 times) Subj: Mileage Sean Dunbar told the story like this: SD> Finished a full tank of gas (finally) tonight. SD> Just shy of 250 miles out of it. SD> 9.099 gallons to fill it up ($9) Wow. Small tank! Mine's 20 gallons. SD> About 27-28 MPG or so, hey? I'm impressed, specially when you SD> consider I've been rodding it a little bit (just seeing what it's Rodding + Honda. =) I like your terminology! SD> capable of.. yeah.. that's the ticket... 80 in 3rd @ 6000 RPM anyone?), SD> and most of that 250 miles were city miles That's not bad at all! When you're done with the car.... sell it to me. I want something to drive so I can park my car and build it the right way. Jason Wedehase strife66@Psynet.net http://www.Psynet.net/strife66 ... Black holes are where God divided by zero. ___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.20 --- QScan/PCB v1.19b / 01-0154 * Origin: MicroLink BBS * Dinuba, CA 209-591-8753 (1:214/80)