Strat-0's Car Corner

[RocDoc]

Thank you for giving me hope guys....

My former 5 speed Honda Accord and 4 speed Cavalier were possible to shift through pretty smoothly, after I'd had tons of day-to-day experience running them...I still liked pounding those cars pretty hard when was by myself though...

..and I actually suspected that about the Audi..

[strat-0]

So my power steering pump took a shit this week. The pump shaft started leaking. Just finished putting the pump on - I'd forgotten what a major mathuso that is. All the belts off, unbolt the pump, use a puller to remove the pulley, take the brackets off, put them on the new pump, press the pulley on, put it all back together, fill, bleed and check... Jeez! Works good, though - that old pump always was kind of rough.

[ScottsyII]

Well, my little Red Nissan just proved it's wort5h all over again... getting close to 200,000km on the clock now and still going strong!

Just spent two weeks travelling in, most of the time fully laden with two kids and two adults and their gear, and the little thing didn't skip a beat! Solid as an ox I gotta say... the thing covered nearly 2000km in two weeks as well, through highway, city and hilly roads, pretty much anything you can throw at a car.

Plug lead problems well behind it, it seems like it could go forever!

[rockkid]

Since having mine I’ve become so pro Nissan its not even funny.
That Titan is next on my owner list.

[Ampage]

Okay peeps, solve this one. Why do my brake lights not come on anymore? No fuse is broken and it’s not the bulbs because the blinkers work and they are the same bulb. Also, the third brake light (the one up by the window) works. So what’s that all about? And can I get a ticket if they don’t come on, but the other one does?

[strat-0]

Congrats on the enjoyable road trip, Scottsy! I'm in the process of putting together a new engine for the Sleeper at this point. The old 400 has been a great one, but after 10+ years, it's getting a little tired. It has a noisy lifter and some valve guide seals that are leaking, causing some smoke for a few seconds after a warm restart. Still runs great and the bottom end seems strong, but it's an unknown quantity, so rather than putting in a new cam and lifters, I'm just going to swap out the whole engine. I'm looking at a 383 stroker that would be a nice upgrade. I might keep the 400 for a rainy day if I can figure out where to put it - they are getting very scarce!

Amp, it sounds like a bad connection - most likely a bad ground, possibly a broken wire. Are the tail lights working? They are usually the same bulb but a double-filliment. Even though it's unlikely to blow two bulbs at once, it can happen, and I'd try that before I spent a lot of time or money tracing down the curcuit. You can check the sockets while you're at it.

In most states, you can get a ticket or at least pulled over for any lights that don't work that came from the factory. In olden days, some vehicles came from the factory with one stop/tail light on the left side (my truck. Someone added another light and turn signals). That's OK, but if it had them from the factory they have to work. At least you're not driving around with no stop lights! That is not a good idea!

[Ampage]

What the heck are tail lights? The blinkers work, the white reverse lights work, I think that’s it back there other than the brakes which are the same bulb as the blinkers. I have no clue about cars. My friend was looking at it and I said “I can’t even see how I am suppose to get to the break lights” and he goes “Um, those are just reflectors.” LMAO! I just put gas in it and go. I will push my luck with them and see if I get stopped I guess. I’m in no mood to pay out the nose for a damn wire being repaired. My dealer gets on my nerves. Maybe I will run it over to the local guy. He didn’t hose me to badly last time as far as I know.

[strat-0]

"What the heck are tail lights?"

You're kidding, right? The tail lights are lit on each corner of the rear whenever your lights are turned on. The brake lights light up when you step on the brake pedal, and are also located on each corner of the rear (and the rear windshield, in your case).

I'd get it looked at, Amp, because if the one in the windshield goes out, then you will have NO brake lights, which is very dangerous because people behind you won't know when you're braking and may run into you.

[patlogi]

Most of the time its simply a bulb replacement. Easy fix.

[Ampage]

Poow wabbit doesnt wead prewvious powsts.

[strat-0]

tail lights: 2, What you see when on the same road with the Sleeper.

[ScottsyII]

I got caught behind a dude with both tail lights out a few weeks back, I was suprised by how much concentration it took to anticipate his braking... and not end up re - tapering the rear end of his car...

So yeah, tail lights, a good thing indeed.

[rockkid]

Yeah you got lucky there Scottsy.
I know here he’d get ticketed but so still would the poor guy behind.
(following to close & undue care) fair? No but all the same.
Strats right on the money (as always).
Amp stay the F*ck away from the dealer unless it’s a. warranty work or b. a foreign car.
Well known fact they over charge on book labor.

[rockkid]

Strat….. query # 2.
Sounds like brake squeal bar but my mech says still 70% left.
Any ideas?
Used to be in dampness now way more frequent.

[strat-0]

Rock, disc brake squeak/squeal has been the bane of mechanics and shops since their invention. Sometimes front disc brakes will squeal no matter what, for no apparent reason. The wear indicators make a rather more distinctive and loud squeal that you would probably recognize or at least say, "What the fuck!" so your mechanic is probably correct. Something akin to fingernails on a chalkboard.

There are various adhesive-type products to apply to the backs of the pads during installation that usually work fine, at least for quite a while. They always come with the pads kit. You have some hills to traverse, no? What often happens is that over time, the pads get shiny and crystalized from heat and that leads to the noise. If it's really annoying, you might try having the calipers unbolted and the pads sanded down a bit and reinstalled with some of the anti-noise stuff. Also lightly scuff the rotors. Not a big deal - or you could just replace the pads, which is also not a big deal.

Another factor is the quality of the pads. If you use Autozone's cheapest pads, you are likely to get noise. On the other hand, you can get NAPA's best semi-metallic pads and still get noise after a while.

If you have the rotors machined or replaced and the pads replaced with high quality stuff and it comes back, rotsa ruck. The only thing you might try is to be sure to use a lower gear going down grades and try not to heat them up too much. Yep, that's what "L1" and L2" are for on your automatic tranny! Yours isn't a manual shift, is it? In any case, downshifting for engine braking will help, and it's good for your engine.

Other than that, you can just turn up the jams...