Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

Interesting, I've always used the black poly bushings when I can (because I don't build SEMA cars, and the red looks like crap when it's dirty anyway), but it's nice to have an actual useful justification.
 
What does one do when a full kit of body mount bushings aren't available? The Mercury could use with a replacement and I can only find sedan kits which don't include the last 2 for the very rearmost portion of the car.
 
What does one do when a full kit of body mount bushings aren't available? The Mercury could use with a replacement and I can only find sedan kits which don't include the last 2 for the very rearmost portion of the car.
Get a second kit.
If one of the aftermarket companies with good support (energy, prothane) has a kit you could ask them to put together a one off with the extras.
Find something close enough for another application (body mounts usually aren't too dimension critical)
 
Get a second kit.
If one of the aftermarket companies with good support (energy, prothane) has a kit you could ask them to put together a one off with the extras.
Find something close enough for another application (body mounts usually aren't too dimension critical)

Sometimes you can call or email a supplier like Energy or Prothane and they might be able to sell you just the missing/extra bushings. I just worked with a British supplier to get one silicone hose out of a 8+ hose made to order kit, for example - they cheerfully made up just the one hose and sent it over.
 
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Didn't rick have a rental 500 that had a sporadic coolant leak? Also, depending on where it's leaking from, the leak could seal when the engine and coolant heats up and leak only when cold and pressurized by the pump. It might be the radiator - your intercooler was damaged so there's a chance the radiator has a tiny pinhole leak. Only thing to do is keep an eye on it and sniff for coolant smells when you're around it.

As for car malfunctions after, there's quite a lot of good YouTube channels for DIY repairs. You can learn a lot from them.
The leak hasn't reappeared yet so far even after driving it around harder/longer lately. The "stain" in the driveway is gone and there have been no new ones. I will still keep an eye on it though. I checked around and apparently there is a common intermittent leak issues caused by the mediocre plastic hose clamps. Better metal ones were like 2$ so I already have them on hand just in case.

And yeah i have been checking YouTube and other various places for when i actually try to do repairs. God knows I do better with seeing what i need to do then reading about it.

In other news the beetle no longer has a CEL, I assume because it is satisfied by the attention it's getting over it, because it is a large metal cat.

Yeah this is absolutely on brand for me
 
What. The. Fuck. How much money can that possibly save a manufacturer?!
Tbh my overall impression is car manufacturers occasionally make things shitty on purpose because it results in repeated need for repair.

Like why tell mom her transmission was rusted and leaking when if they didn't tell her it would need to be topped off again which means more money?
 
What. The. Fuck. How much money can that possibly save a manufacturer?!

I have been told that it can be a surprising amount on the front end, if they don't care about the warranty costs or long term issues. Or angry customers.

And yeah i have been checking YouTube and other various places for when i actually try to do repairs. God knows I do better with seeing what i need to do then reading about it.

Here are some YouTube channels useful for general automotive repair education.
South Main Auto: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtAGzm9e_liY7ko1PBhzTHA
EricTheCarGuy (tends to do more American/older stuff, but decent basic tech stuff): https://www.youtube.com/user/EricTheCarGuy
Pine Hollow Auto Diagnostics: https://www.youtube.com/user/motoYam82
NGK Technical Training: https://www.youtube.com/user/markjhicks/videos

And of course... Mighty Car Mods: https://www.youtube.com/user/mightycarmods

Tbh my overall impression is car manufacturers occasionally make things shitty on purpose because it results in repeated need for repair.

Like why tell mom her transmission was rusted and leaking when if they didn't tell her it would need to be topped off again which means more money?

Car manufacturers do not get paid money for the repairs other than parts, dealers do. In fact, car manufacturers end up having to pay the dealers for repairs done under warranty (you didn't think dealer labor was free, did you?) It is extremely rare that car makers design or spec their cars to need more repairs than absolutely necessary for these reasons.

It is, however, not at all uncommon for car makers to go cheap on components to save money on manufacture or assembly and have it come back to bite them or their owners in the arse. This is in many cases the things I and others complain about with many marques - brands that are so shortsighted about saving money that they screw themselves out of customers who are fed up with their cars failing.

They told your mom her transmission pan was rusted and leaking because if it didn't get fixed, it wasn't going to just be requiring topping off but a new transmission. Also, rusting like that is a market condition, not necessarily a design flaw. Subarus down here don't generally have to worry about stuff rusting off...
 
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Thanks for youtube links I will check them out

The thing is they DIDN'T tell her there was a leak though, hence my suspicion. The driveway did. She was surprised it was so rusted when i showed her the picture of it. My suspicion is they didn't tell her so she'd have to keep taking it in to be serviced.

That being said it is my suspicion mostly because I have had doctors string me along with tests etc for like a year then refuse to actually do anything once they have collected the insurance money and fixing cars probably work different. ?
 
Thanks for youtube links I will check them out

The thing is they DIDN'T tell her there was a leak though, hence my suspicion. The driveway did. She was surprised it was so rusted when i showed her the picture of it. My suspicion is they didn't tell her so she'd have to keep taking it in to be serviced.

That being said it is my suspicion mostly because I have had doctors string me along with tests etc for like a year then refuse to actually do anything once they have collected the insurance money and fixing cars probably work different. ?

Well, your post rather said they did. -shrug-

More likely they just looked at the pan, figured it was normal for your rustbelt and kept on. Check the South Main channel for what he sees on a daily basis, stuff rusting through is normal up there.
 
What. The. Fuck. How much money can that possibly save a manufacturer?!


If they save 15 cents a part, times several per vehicle, times vehicles made per year, equals a nice chunk of change in the short term. @Spectre pointed out the potential long term costs. But, if they make it through the warranty period, that is a significant savings.
 
If they save 15 cents a part, times several per vehicle, times vehicles made per year, equals a nice chunk of change in the short term. @Spectre pointed out the potential long term costs. But, if they make it through the warranty period, that is a significant savings.

The funny thing is that historically it's a very big 'if'; no few attempts have backfired badly while still under warranty. You'd think the worst offenders would have learned that the up front savings may not be worth the subsequent costs - many of which may be far shorter term than they'd think. However, they rarely seem to.
 
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The funny thing is that historically it's a very big 'if'; no few attempts have backfired badly while still under warranty. You'd think the worst offenders would have learned that the up front savings may not be worth the subsequent costs - many of which may be far shorter term than they'd think. However, they rarely seem to.

I agree. There are definitely ways to save money in the short term, but more often than not, there is a much higher cost to be paid down the road. They may even still save on warranty costs, but that alienation of future buyers is just not worth it.
 
Still looking for a 1990/91 Legacy (or, hell, 92/93/94) wagon shell that isn't holed.

Didn’t know you were still looking. There’s a local junkyard trying to sell one for $1200 as a running car before they give up and throw it in the yard to be picked apart. I currently am stuck home with some form of seasonal plague but I’ll go see if it’s still available once I feel better. They were also desperately trying to sell off a 944 that looked pretty good from 10 meters, maybe it could replace NinjaCoco’s accursed LeMons car.
 
Didn’t know you were still looking. There’s a local junkyard trying to sell one for $1200 as a running car before they give up and throw it in the yard to be picked apart. I currently am stuck home with some form of seasonal plague but I’ll go see if it’s still available once I feel better. They were also desperately trying to sell off a 944 that looked pretty good from 10 meters, maybe it could replace NinjaCoco’s accursed LeMons car.
Probably best for my bank balance if you don't check again until like... March. This ambulance idiocy is gonna be quite consuming.
 
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