Ask GTP About Your Car Problems/General Questions

[niky]

Hey guys. Recently I taught my friend's son to drive stick shift. Now he wants to trade his car for something with a stick shift in it. Its a 2007 V6 Mustang with about 55,000 miles on it. I was wondering if anyone had some advice on trading an auto for a manual. How much would a conversion cost?

Edit: KBB puts his car at about $11,000. He says he'll be okay with switching to a different car that's similar to the mustang

Get him something with front wheel drive, good brakes with ABS and a great suspension.

The first criteria is optional... most new-ish cars understeer like hell, anyway, even if they're "right-wheel drive".

The second criteria helps cope with the exuberance of youthfulness.

The third criteria helps cope with the exuberance of youthfulness and the problems brought about by having more power than sense.

 

[nk4e]

Yes. I'm assuming your turn signals stopped working?

There's a little rod under that middle plastic piece that needs to be properly inserted in it to make the signal stalk work properly.

I also did this for my car, but it didn't fix my lights. My motors have dead spots, as I feared.

I think I broke that rod but rearranging it the wrong way but my high beams and low beams still works. Its just when I am in a rush and want my headlights up. My hi beams stay on..
I wanted to brush off the burned contacts to see if that was the problem, of the headlights sticking but my motor may be the same. I need to check the fuses though.

 

[Eric.]

Get him something with front wheel drive, good brakes with ABS and a great suspension.

The first criteria is optional... most new-ish cars understeer like hell, anyway, even if they're "right-wheel drive".

The second criteria helps cope with the exuberance of youthfulness.

The third criteria helps cope with the exuberance of youthfulness and the problems brought about by having more power than sense.

 

[Paulie]

Are there any conceiveable differences between an internal and external fan type alternator?

 

[mustangGT90210]

Internal may be safer if it gets wet? All I can think of.

 

[skynyrd]

Ok, got another problem.

Not too long ago (like a few weeks), I was averaging around 38 mpg (doing the old 'divide miles traveled by amount of gas put in at fillup') in my '89 Mercury Tracer when driving mostly on the interstate.

Today, I ran out of gas (gas gauge doesn't work) at about 345 miles on a 12 gallon tank, giving me mileage of about 29mpg. What sort of thing could cause a sudden change in average mileage that way? It's a pretty dramatic drop in mileage, especially considering how carefully I've been driving. Maybe I've picked up a bad driving habit without realizing, but it would be nice to have something mechanical to look for just in case.

I'm pretty sure I don't have a gas leak, and I don't smell anything weird when the car is running.

 

[niky]

Were you only driving on the interstate this last tank? And are you sure it's completely empty and it's not a dead fuel pump or clogged filter?

Any amount of city driving or traffic will change that number. 29 mpg is not a bad number to come from a four-banger in mixed driving.

 

[skynyrd]

2 miles from home to the interstate, 3 or 4 after leaving the interstate to work, then repeat to get back home. I did make one 60 mile round trip (half regular highway, half city), but doing so before never had that sort of impact. Then again, I've never driven that particular drive with this car before. City mileage must be terrible if that one trip had that big of an effect.

Pump was okay as of mid august; the filter wasn't in need of immediate replacement at the time, but wasn't the greatest either. I haven't had a chance to check either one since I rolled into the driveway without the engine running a few hours ago. It acted as if it had just run out of gas; standard spluttering for a mile or so, various warning lights flicker, engine dies... I know 29's not bad, it's just that it's not 38.

But anyway you're probably right; it's probably just the conditions I've driven in this past week. I was kind of panicking earlier; the car's got 220k miles on it, I'm wary of every unusual thing it does.

 

[niky]

I know how you feel. Can't be too careful. Ran out of gas for the first time myself last weekend. One of the major pipelines into the city has a leak, so my regular station has been out of high-octane for a month. Good thing I still had enough propane left to make it home... since I hadn't filled my propane tank in two weeks, either.

 

[Philly]

Anybody have any suggestions of what I should be doing to my car to prepare it for winter? I just got snow tires, winter floor mats and I'll wax it one more time before the snow comes. I want to protect it from any winter damage so anything else would be cool.

 

[Joey D]

You could 3M wrap the front of it. Their invisible bra is pretty invisible and a lot of people swear buy it. Oh and get a good snow brush/ scrapper. It's a must in Michigan.

 

[Philly]

I don't really want to wrap it. All of the wraps I've seen on cars look alright at best on brand new cars and horrible on anything more than slightly used. But yes, a scraper will be purchased before the snow.

 

[Thatman]

^you could also see if you cant get a block heater as well....

 

[nobuffalo]

Would it be dumb to try and trade my Kosei K1s for these?

http://houston.craigslist.org/pts/2083488669.html

 

[niky]

If you like them and a little curb rash is the only issue... it's up to you. I have a fondness for old school BBS's myself.

 

[Feral Pigeon]

ok, I have a question... sorta:

2000 Acura 3.2 TL, Mom gave it to me after she got a 2011 Hyundai Sonata, and now the car is giving me crap. the driver's seat squeaks when I freaking BREATHE, it putters as if half the cylinders don't work(which they all do, I check every chance I get, because it's starting to make me paranoid), and only half the brake lights and night-time running lights work(right side brake lights work, and left side night-timelights work. vice-versa = nada). either I'm just unlucky, or I'm missing something here.

--EDIT--
also, I got an engine rebuild a week ago, which I did myself...
what's my car's problem?(hope I'm not it)

 

[DOUQA]

 

[Philly]

Sounds like it might be time for a new car....

Anybody know what the best position to leave windshield wipers in is for the snow? It's annoying having to dig the snow out from under them and I hate the icy wiper blades that ruin my visibility. I can either keep them down, up on the windshield or out from the windshield.

 

[Joey D]

Leave them straight up and down. I've been through enough Michigan winters to know that works like a charm!

 

[Philly]

Alright thanks!

 

[Adamgp]

Don't know if it's a problem yet, more annoying. It's been going on for a long time but is really starting to bug me now that its 5°F outside.

When idling, the blower motor is pretty weak, if I got the blower on level 5, it blows like I got it set on level 2 or 3.

When I start moving and raise rpm's over 1200-1500 rpms, the blower works normally.

I got plenty of heat, and the blower motor is brand new. I'm guessing it's electrical, but not sure.

Any thoughts?

 

[niky]

Sounds very electrical. Alternator problem, possibly.

 

[Biggamehit]

check the relay for the blower motor. It could be partially inop.

 

[Adamgp]

Relays can be partially dead? I'll have to check that out.

I assume they checked/replaced the resistors when they installed the new motor.

I think the alternator might be ok, as I've noticed no other loss of power, and headlights don't go dim.

I'm thinking of buying a voltage booster after the holidays to see if that helps.

Thanks,

 

[Philly]

Something's up with the GTI and the dealer here can't figure it out. It threw a CEL a week and a half ago and I was hearing a fairly loud ticking coming from the engine at idle. Turns out the timing was over-advanced. The dealer told me that it was because I was running premium fuel (VW recommended) and the winter blend was causing misfires which was messing with the timing. Okay, I've been noticing misfires since the summer. They said run regular and that should fix it.

I was driving around last night and heard a sort of grinding noise coming from the engine, louder than the stereo. It did it again this morning, but it was whenever I let off the throttle like to stop at a stop sign. Any ideas? Should I check my cam follower? That's a known weak part on these cars.

 

[Stigsblkcousin]

Two questions:

I have a 2008 BMW 525i, bought it used and it came without an owners manual. How in the hell do I get the radio to default on AUX?!? Its like when you turn the car off and turn it back on, it just picks a source!

Also I have a 2008 Suzuki Verona and it does this shutter thing. If I stop at the light, the whole car will shutter. You can see the lights kinda dim when that happens also. I thought it might have been the spark plugs but I replaces those and it still happens.

Can anyone provide some insight(on the second question more than the first, lol)?
Thanks

 

[DKLion3s]

For the Bimm, see if you can order a manual or get a knock-off, like Chiltons or Haynes. Sometimes they carry operations for audio & info systems. If not try googling.

For the Verona, remove the ground cable from the battery, while the car is running. If it cuts-off, then you need to replace the alternator. If it stays running, then the regulator, that regulates charging the battery, may be questionable. Just some possibillities.

 

[Duke]

Something's up with the GTI and the dealer here can't figure it out. It threw a CEL a week and a half ago.

Well, there's your problem right there:

Seriously, though, I think running regular gas in a turbo car (I assume yours is a turbo?) is a poor band-aid and is going to cause problems in the long run. All that will do is force the ECU to retard the timing to eliminate the preignition when the knock sensor hears it. Running regular makes the knock that much louder and worse, so the ECU retards the timing that much more. Preignition is b-a-d and should be avoided.

I would take the car to a different dealer or an independent VW specialist and get a second opinion. But I've known several VWs with CELs that just could not be gotten rid of. Good luck.

 

[Philly]

Yeah it has the 2.0T, so I was pretty skeptical about putting the regular in. I'm wondering if I should get some octane booster to keep it from knocking. I was thinking about calling a different VW dealer or going to another place too. Crowne (the dealer in Holland) doesn't fill me with very much confidence, especially after they told me they didn't know how to change my HID lights or hadn't done them before.

Also, if anybody in the Grand Rapids area has any suggestions as to which VW dealer would be best to ask in order to look further into this, that would be great.

 

[AlexGTV]

I have severe problems on most lighting instruments onboard. Most of them are either off or semi-lighted. For example the speedometer is lit only on one half. The readings on the stereo are practically unreadable. Are these problems independent or a central failure in the electronics is causing this? I don't want to be fooled by a technician and pay him extra.