The "Questions for Spectre" thread

Pretty sure all my TPMS sensors are dead by now, question is do I replace them all with OEM or aftermarket (somewhat cheaper) and if so which brand? Rock Auto has: Dorman, Standard motor, Schrader and Denso.
 
I believe the original ones were Denso, so that would seem to be an obvious choice.
 
Is there something in a differential that wears out in older vehicles? Both my 93 flareside and the wagon have this shake that feels like it's coming from the rear of the vehicle (steering wheel does not shake, putting in neutral does not change it). It's also just something I've noticed as rear wheel drive vehicles seem to age. The flareside had it's drive shaft re-balanced which reduced the shake some. The shop who re-balanced it said the drive shaft had a slight twist in it and that it's not as bad as GM products with aluminium drive shafts. Would the slight twist cause the back end to shake? The flareside had new u-joints put in at time of balancing. The wagon's drive shaft hasn't been touched by me. Worn out bearings perhaps?

I should mention it's 50mph and up to 70mph. I've never gone faster in either vehicle to know if it would go away at higher speeds.
 
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93Flareside said:
Is there something in a differential that wears out in older vehicles? Both my 93 flareside and the wagon have this shake that feels like it's coming from the rear of the vehicle (steering wheel does not shake, putting in neutral does not change it). It's also just something I've noticed as rear wheel drive vehicles seem to age. The flareside had it's drive shaft re-balanced which reduced the shake some. The shop who re-balanced it said the drive shaft had a slight twist in it and that it's not as bad as GM products with aluminium drive shafts. Would the slight twist cause the back end to shake? The flareside had new u-joints put in at time of balancing. The wagon's drive shaft hasn't been touched by me. Worn out bearings perhaps?

I should mention it's 50mph and up to 70mph. I've never gone faster in either vehicle to know if it would go away at higher speeds.
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Bearings, gears, clutch packs - yes, they can all wear out. Usually it's bearings - people always forget to replace those in stick axle vehicles.
 
A 1990 Honda Accord that "just needs a harmonic balancer" would be a terrible purchase wouldn't it?
 
Why are you looking at buying another car? Did the engine in the Jeep grenade?
 
93Flareside said:
Why are you looking at buying another car? Did the engine in the Jeep grenade?
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Nope, I'm not looking, my dad is looking at replacing his late 90's monte carlo winter beater.
 
rickhamilton620 said:
A 1990 Honda Accord that "just needs a harmonic balancer" would be a terrible purchase wouldn't it?
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Yes. Not because the harmonic balancer needs replacing, but because often idiots keep running the engine with a screwed harmonic balancer - i.e., out of balance - and that does baaaaaaad things to the inside of the engine more often than not.
 
So I have a weird thing with my Z, it's a bit difficult to describe but I'll try. This is mostly pronounced on the highway due to speeds involved but does happen at just about any speed above 20-30 or so. Staying in gear say 3rd and going a constant speed I nail the throttle and the car reacts somewhat like a turbo or an auto, there is a noticeable delay before there is a kick in the back and the car surges forward. I need to double check if the RPMs are rising when I do this (I *think* they are) to rule out the TPS/TBW being tarded.

My guess is vLSD takes a second to warm up and lock (I haven't been able to deliberately test due to some medical issues preventing me from driving) other possibility I seen on the forums is clutch slipping but I haven't noticed any other symptoms that I'm aware of. Googling usually points to clutch or TPS/TBW issues but the symptoms are not 100% fit.
 
Not too sure, figure around 40-50 so upper half of RPMs, this might also happen in 4th like I said haven't been able to drive :( I may try to go on a shakedown run tonight.
 
Did a few test runs, I'm thinking it's very likely to be the clutch, happens in any gear (well except for 6th but I suspect I just wasn't going fast enough to replicate in 6th), it is more pronounced at lower RPMs (under 4500 or so) it's still there at higher but not as obvious, what happens is I see the RPMs quickly rise by about 200-300 then drop down and that's when I feel it "catch" and push the car forward. This is all without shifting, if I'm rowing through the gears I don't notice it, whether I am flooring it or not but then it's likely just not as obvious.

Also my passenger side headlight was off but then came on again so that's likely balast grr. Aaaand the airbag light is blinking, not that I personally care but the wife does drive the car from time to time.
 
Now here is the question do I go uprated or stay stock, on the one hand if I wanna do supercharger uprated would be better on the other I been having a lot of foot problems and a heavier clutch is not going to do me any favors there...
 
I've got some tech questions here, actually.

Has anyone here ever had a pleasant experience selling broken computers to people on Craigslist? There are a few listings that I've found. Is this a thing people do? Or is it a one-way street to getting your kidneys stolen?

My local Best Buy has some 1TB SSHD laptop drives on sale. They say they're Macbook-compatible. Should I get one of these and install it myself?
 
BlaRo said:
I've got some tech questions here, actually.

Has anyone here ever had a pleasant experience selling broken computers to people on Craigslist? There are a few listings that I've found. Is this a thing people do? Or is it a one-way street to getting your kidneys stolen?

My local Best Buy has some 1TB SSHD laptop drives on sale. They say they're Macbook-compatible. Should I get one of these and install it myself?
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I'd say go for it. There's always a bargain hunter who's willing to buy. I'd go to a public place (some places are cool with you doing the deal in the police station lobby) to complete the deal if you're worried.

As for the drive, on the Windows side, Hybrid drives have always been a difficult sell. I know Apple offers Fusion Drive though so maybe it performs better there? In any case, the laptop drive should work just fine in your Macbook. I also checked the reviews/questions & answers section and several people report success installing it in various "year" MacBooks.
 
BlaRo said:
I've got some tech questions here, actually.

Has anyone here ever had a pleasant experience selling broken computers to people on Craigslist? There are a few listings that I've found. Is this a thing people do? Or is it a one-way street to getting your kidneys stolen?

My local Best Buy has some 1TB SSHD laptop drives on sale. They say they're Macbook-compatible. Should I get one of these and install it myself?
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As long as you meet in a public place and specifically advertise the machine as broken, there shouldn't be a problem. It's pretty common - I have bought and sold broken items like that for years. Of course, whenever I do a Craigslist deal I'm armed so that's less of a concern for me.

You never got back to me on the MacBook Pro, is it one of the ones Apple is recalling for the nigh-identical video problem? Also, said drive is not going to solve your logic/motherboard problem. Yes, you can install it but it won't do much good.
 
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I wouldn't be installing the drive in my old MBP. I'd be installing it in any new Macbook I buy, if I can that is.

Apple says this about my 13-inch MBP (apparently just the 15- and 17-inchers* fall in warranty):

Screen Shot 2015-10-02 at 11.56.44 AM.png

*:wicked:
 
There are people out there who buy defective components, whole laptops or PCs cheap and try to repair whatever is defective. When they succeed they sell for much higher prices so they can afford buying things which aren't salvageable. As long as you are meeting in a public place it should be fine.
 
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