Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

My guess: too many miles on the WRX, harder to insure, almost 10 years old, and general wear and tear forcing him to downgrade in size.

I am partial to the 500 Abarth, but BlaRo speaks the truth.
 
My guess: too many miles on the WRX, harder to insure, almost 10 years old, and general wear and tear forcing him to downgrade in size.

Miles: 67,000 Insurance: $66/mo neither of those are incentives to get rid of the car. I want another WRX in the future just one that has been less molested and is a manual. Also I commute 50 miles a day for work and the car does is highway commute so I'm not even enjoying its true potential.
 
I would go with the abarth because the regular is my car slow and if you find yourself without a highway on ramp in my car you loose years off your life.
 
Wait for the Abarth, I really like that car....

though I'm one to talk, my RX is similarly "wasted" on an entirely highway commute.
 
Coolant Temp Sensor
Thermostat
Oxygen Sensor
(those three are probably the reason's why the thing gets Excursion like gas mileage, I got gas on Monday morning and I'm already half empty...what the fuck?!)

Spark Plugs + Wires

I've had the car for 4.5 years. And I'm sure I've traveled more than 30k miles. Whoops...:|

Let me enlighten you a little bit. Only the oxygen sensor is causing your poor gas mileage. The coolant temp sensor and thermostat would only need changing if the car is overheating.

About the spark plugs - I call bullshit, but that's my personal opinion. Many people say that you should change them every 30k, and that's probably a good idea on an enthusiast's car. On a daily driver - hell no! You change plugs and wires when it starts misfiring. Contrary to popular belief old (but still working) spark plugs do not affect gas mileage.

If I had these same problems on the Volvo I would just fix them (they don't cost that much), but in your case I understand your desire for a new car :)
 
The coolant temp sensor and thermostat would only need changing if the car is overheating.

Many new cars use the coolant temperature sensor as a reference to know which fuel map needs to be selected for a given timing curve. So there is some validity to his statement. :)
 
Many new cars use the coolant temperature sensor as a reference to know which fuel map needs to be selected for a given timing curve. So there is some validity to his statement. :)

That's what the forum post said but I didn't quote it to save space:

Saturn Forum said:
This is one of several ?hearts? of the system, which helps maintain fuel economy. The original ones from 1991-mid 2001 (it?s virtually impossible to tell when the changeover happened) were made of resin/plastic, which liked to crack, causing incorrect readings to the PCM.

Oxygen sensor:
Saturn Forum said:
Whilst not a common issue, it?s worth mentioning, as it?s the third ?heart? to maintaining good fuel economy and emissions, as this also controls the open/closed loop operation. It is the last to warm up as part of the car?s normal operation. If it goes into open loop when it should be closed, you can experience rich running; if it goes closed loop when it should be open, it will run lean.

And finally, thermostat:
Saturn Forum said:
This is another ?heart? to maintaining good fuel economy. It can also help with having good, toasty heat in the winter. Old thermostats like to fail in one of two positions: Open, which doesn?t allow the engine to reach normal operating temperature (at best the gauge will peg at ? line or ~160 degrees F or LOWER ? BAD NEWS for your engine and heat!), or closed, which will allow for the kick-butt fuel economy AND heating, but has one downside: it can cause your engine to overheat. More often than not it will fail open though.

Yay for having all 3 symptoms! /sarcasm
 
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Pft, my car is 10 years old and has never had a sparkplug change.

t219721_fry%20i%20see%20what%20you%20did%20there.jpg
 
Let me enlighten you a little bit. Only the oxygen sensor is causing your poor gas mileage. The coolant temp sensor and thermostat would only need changing if the car is overheating.

About the spark plugs - I call bullshit, but that's my personal opinion. Many people say that you should change them every 30k, and that's probably a good idea on an enthusiast's car. On a daily driver - hell no! You change plugs and wires when it starts misfiring. Contrary to popular belief old (but still working) spark plugs do not affect gas mileage.

If I had these same problems on the Volvo I would just fix them (they don't cost that much), but in your case I understand your desire for a new car :)


I've never overheated so this could very well be the case. Spark plugs, I thought those were changed during a tune up *shrugs* the hell if I know :lol:

If they aren't changed then it's reassuring that i haven't managed to fuck those up as well.
 
Let me enlighten you a little bit. Only the oxygen sensor is causing your poor gas mileage. The coolant temp sensor and thermostat would only need changing if the car is overheating.

About the spark plugs - I call bullshit, but that's my personal opinion. Many people say that you should change them every 30k, and that's probably a good idea on an enthusiast's car. On a daily driver - hell no! You change plugs and wires when it starts misfiring. Contrary to popular belief old (but still working) spark plugs do not affect gas mileage.

If I had these same problems on the Volvo I would just fix them (they don't cost that much), but in your case I understand your desire for a new car :)

There is so much wrong with this post, I almost don't know where to start. I'll cover the CTS down below.

Worn spark plugs DO affect gas mileage. See: http://www.gnttype.org/techarea/engine/plugs.html for a visual representation.

Among other things, as spark plugs wear, the gap increases. This means that more voltage is required to bridge the gap with an arc; it also means that your spark will be thinner and weaker. Your flame kernel will therefore be smaller, lower temperature and perhaps even delayed by the coil having to charge up more to fire. Delayed fire is effectively a timing change and can throw off your fuel economy. A smaller flame kernel can result in less complete combustion, also throwing off your fuel economy. A lower temperature flame kernel can slow the rate of combustion, effectively delaying spark timing.

In theory, you can pull out the spark plugs, clean and regap them then reinstall. However, since you're pulling them out anyway and sparkplugs are cheap you might as well just go ahead and replace them at the interval specified by the manufacturer.

Many new cars use the coolant temperature sensor as a reference to know which fuel map needs to be selected for a given timing curve. So there is some validity to his statement. :)

This. It's not newer cars, and it's not just selecting between maps. Anything that's fuel injected with a coolant or cylinder head temperature sensor uses that sensor to determine fuelling - whether it needs to run full rich because the engine is cold and just being started, or lean it out because the engine is up to temp. More importantly, it's used to constantly adjust anywhere between those two points. The CTS/CHTS is your primary sensor for determining the base fuelling mixture in EFI systems.

Oxygen sensor:
Whilst not a common issue, it?s worth mentioning, as it?s the third ?heart? to maintaining good fuel economy and emissions, as this also controls the open/closed loop operation. It is the last to warm up as part of the car?s normal operation. If it goes into open loop when it should be closed, you can experience rich running; if it goes closed loop when it should be open, it will run lean.

Actually, the O2 sensor is the most common of the set to fail. However, it is not the last to warm up - many have a heater element in them to get the temperature up to operating range in 30 seconds. It's exposed to the greatest range and highest temperatures of any sensor you have, and you're supposed to replace them the most frequently.

Yes, it does control open/closed loop and it serves to allow the system to trim fuelling based on reality instead of a map. However, really gross fuelling error is usually CTS.

That said, if your thermostat fails open and the engine runs too cool, the CTS will never tell the computer it's time to shift into closed loop mode because essentially your car's engine never gets to the specified operating temperature! Basically, the computer thinks your engine is cold all the time and therefore runs around with (in old-school terms) the choke on all the time.

A car in such a mode can ruin an O2 sensor in no time flat. The course of repair here would be thermostat and O2 sensor, then see if the CTS is necessary. A CTS can be tested in a heated pot of water with a thermometer - electrical resistance at given temperature points is checked against the spec chart.
 
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My guess: too many miles on the WRX, harder to insure, almost 10 years old, and general wear and tear forcing him to downgrade in size.

Or maybe high gas prices broke his wallet?

Oh wait, fuck. Nevermind.
 
Went and got my new truck tires unmounted today. Now it's going to take me two damned trips to get the new tires onto the old wheels (I can't fit 10 tires in a Ford Focus. 6 in one trip, 4 in another is going to have to do.)

Anybody want to buy some 5x5.5 15x9 (maybe 15x8, at some point I'll go take a ruler to the bastards) steel wheels? SFI certified tags present, if you want to drag race them or some shit. They LOOK like Pro Comp model 82's - manufacturer's tag suggests otherwise. They're rattlecan olive drab on top of white powdercoat. Fits every pre-Chrysler jeep, a bunch of pre-90's halftons, and oddly enough a bunch of modern Kias. No centercaps. Price is "make an offer".

Looks like these, except rattlecan olive drab.
http://www.procompusa.com/productli....00&Bolt+Pattern_PQ=5+on+5.5#filter_qualifier
 
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This. It's not newer cars, and it's not just selecting between maps. Anything that's fuel injected with a coolant or cylinder head temperature sensor uses that sensor to determine fuelling - whether it needs to run full rich because the engine is cold and just being started, or lean it out because the engine is up to temp. More importantly, it's used to constantly adjust anywhere between those two points. The CTS/CHTS is your primary sensor for determining the base fuelling mixture in EFI systems.

Yeah my bad this has been around since KE-jetronic...derr
 
Was it a dealer plate? The Tacoma could've been bought at a Mazda dealer that have "Zoom-Zoom" on their license plate frames.

Nope. It had no dealer name anywhere on the back or anywhere on the frame. It was blank except for at the top where it said Zoom-Zoom in that Mazda-y way.
I would've understood if it had a dealer name on it, but it just didn't. That's why it was an oddity and I said something. :blink:

edit: Also all of this speak of Spark Plugs reminds me that mine are questionably old (I was going to have them replaced, but a certain relative who owned the car before me complained about how they can go on for 100k miles etc). Old as in they have probably been on the car for more than 5 years, and are probably why I only get about 13-16 mpg driving in the city amongst other things.
 
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