Piston Slap

Piston Slap: I’m Pickin’ Up Good Vibrations Edition

By Sajeev Mehta
November 4, 2009

Chris writes:

I have an ‘04 Chevy Silverado 2WD pickup with the 4.3 6cyl and auto tranny. Between 1100 @1300 rpms I get a strong vibration that you can feel in the floor of the truck. It happens mostly while coasting or decelerating. It feels like the vibration you get driving a manual transmission in a high gear at too low RPM, therefore “lugging” the engine.

The trans fluid looks fine and is at the proper level. The truck has 45000 miles and a fluid change is probably in order as I bought the truck used with 36000. Any ideas? The truck runs and shifts well otherwise.

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Posted in News Blog | Piston Slap | 25 comments

Piston Slap: On a Sunny Day You Can See a Dodge Caliber in Focus

By Sajeev Mehta
November 3, 2009

A TTAC reader who wishes to remain anonymous writes:

I have to buy a 2nd car to be used mostly in the city with short highway trips, my problem is that I have a budget of $7,500.00 since a car payment is not an option at this time.

Clear title, no accident, reasonable mileage and low maintenance cost are high priority, after 2 weeks of detailed search over the internet, I’m down to three cars that I never thought I would be thinking about: 2007 Ford Focus Sedan, 2007 Nissan Sentra and (believe it or not) a 2007/8 Dodge Caliber. The mileage I have seen on this budget varies from 18,000 up to 45,000 miles. By the way, some cars don’t have power windows, which was a shock for me and almost a deal breaker, however, some of these cars have the best mileage and lowest price.

Any thoughts on which would be the best bet?

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Posted in News Blog | Piston Slap | 56 comments

Piston Slap: Pounding the LaCrosse Super with Too Much Air?

By Sajeev Mehta
November 2, 2009

Jim writes:

I just got new wheels and tires on my 2008 Buick LaCrosse Super, 245/45R19s to replace the stock 18s. The tire dealer put in 40 lbs of air, and when I said “is that a little high?” they pointed to the sidewall and said “look, it can take up to 51 lbs.” I’ve never run more than 36 lbs in my tires, but I’ve never had a profile this low before. Am I just behind the times?

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Posted in News Blog | Piston Slap | 38 comments

Piston Slap: Change Batteries Like Oil. Or Not.

By Sajeev Mehta
October 28, 2009

Jonathon writes:

Sajeev, I grew up and still live in Chicago. Following the habits of my parents, I always replace a battery after four Chicago winters. Can modern batteries withstand the cold climates better than their predecessors, or should I replace that 4 year old battery this fall?

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Posted in News Blog | Piston Slap | 42 comments

Piston Slap: May The Best Car Lose, Mr. Lutz: Mehta challenges Cadillac’s HT4100

By Sajeev Mehta
October 26, 2009

Yours truly, Sajeev Mehta writes:

Hello Piston Slappers, this S.O.S. is for anyone GM-savvy enough to tango with a 4.1L Cadillac. And live to diagnose another day: are you up for the challenge?

I acquired a 1986 Fleetwood 75 Formal Limousine (1 of 1000), which made me reconsider my stance on wrong-wheel drive GM products of the mid 1980s This was a $0.99 eBay purchase from a frustrated shipping company in the Houston Ship Channel who lost their overseas buyer. It didn’t run, until we installed a $20 ignition module. Which brought the less-than-a-buck Caddy back to life. Almost. So what’s the problem?

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Posted in News Blog | Piston Slap | 27 comments

Piston Slap: Diplomatic Immunity

By Sajeev Mehta
October 19, 2009

TTAC Commentator ajla writes:

Hi Sajeev, I recently overpaid on my purchase of a 1986 Dodge Diplomat SE in order to save the car from meeting a grim end in the Cash 4 Clunkers program. The car is in good shape and has 98,xxx miles on the odometer. My question is this: The Diplomat has a 2bbl 318 V8, but every single gas station in my part of Florida only sells E10 fuel.  I’ve read that running E10 in a carbureted engine can cause some big problems. If this is true, what kind of trouble should I be expecting, is there anything I can do to mitigate the negative effects of E10, and how long do you think I have until issues start to crop up? Would I be better off just searching out a station that sells pure gasoline even if it’s fairly far away?

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Posted in News Blog | Piston Slap | 27 comments

Piston Slap: Dodge Neon’s Vanilla Twilight

By Sajeev Mehta
October 12, 2009

Robert writes:

My wife has a 2000 neon [not shown] that I bought used 4-5 years ago with 125k.  It is just passing 172k and is slowly falling apart:

* The AC no longer blows cold (just an AC flush?)
* Trunk lock broke (We get into the trunk via the back seat now and only store limited/small items there)
* Is burning oil — at 2800 miles since the last oil change I had to add 1.1-1.2 qt to get it to the correct area on the dip stick.
* We have never changed the tranny fluid that I know of, as the mechanic said it does not need it.  Checking it, it is still a reddish color.
* The car is starting to rust on the lower left rear door.

Outside of normal wear items & the above, we have had no major problems with the car.  The interior still looks great and doesn’t have a single tear or stain. We are trying to decide if we should do some/all of the above fixes or simply get a Mazda 5, the “minivan-which-is-not-a-minivan” that my wife likes.

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Posted in News Blog | Piston Slap | 37 comments

Piston Slap: The Full Monte, Revisited

By Sajeev Mehta
October 9, 2009

TTAC commentator SonWon writes:

Hi Sajeev, this is part two of my Monte Carlo saga discussed in an older Piston Slap. I finally had the transmission codes read on my Monte Carlo. Just to remind everyone it is a 2000 with 196,000 miles, engine is a V6 3800, series 2. The transmission lost overdrive. It shifts fine through first, second, and third. The transmission shop said there are no codes and it must be a mechanical failure. They also said it could last a long time or fail very soon. So far there no strange noises except a small faint whine at 70 MPH. So I am actually asking about the engine codes. P0128, coolant thermostat (I know how to fix this); P0440, evap emissions system fault; P0463, fuel level sensor (i can live with this); P0481, fan control 2/3 circuit; P1115, ECT circuit intermittent voltage high. So there is my list: what to fix? Oh, I should add the car runs okay.

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Posted in News Blog | Piston Slap | 11 comments

Piston Slap: Keeping Cool, Saving Fuel

By Sajeev Mehta
October 7, 2009

TTAC’s David Holzman writes:

One of my good friends asked me a question that I thought you and TTAC’s B&B could answer better than I could. “Hey David, We just returned from the beach yesterday. I tried an experiment with the air conditioner in the car on this trip. If we set the A/C at the coldest setting the car usually gets too cold, we usually adjust the temperature higher to keep us comfortable. However, I think the way the A/C works is that turning the temperature up simply allows some hot water from the radiator to heat up the air conditioned air. So we simply turned the A/C on and off as needed. Admittedly it was not quite as comfy since it would get a bit cold and a bit warm. I have two questions. First: does turning the A/C on and off at ten or fifteen minute intervals damage the A/C (such as putting greater wear on the electric clutch)? Second: does manually cycling the A/C save gas? We measured gas mileage after such a trip and got 30mpg, which was the best mileage we’ve ever gotten on the Camry. But we just had the oil changed and the air filter, which was pretty clogged, changed too. So I don’t know if it was the ac cycling that caused the improvement in mileage or the change of the air filter.”

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Posted in News Blog | Piston Slap | 21 comments

Piston Slap: The Vanagon’s a Little Rough Around the Edges?

By Sajeev Mehta
October 5, 2009

TTAC’s very own David Holzman writes:

Sajeev,

My friend Polly’s ‘83 air cooled, fuel injected, VW Vanagon dies at stoplights, and she has to let it cool down before it will start again. It also runs a bit rough, and it’s normally hard to start.

The engine was rebuilt 5 years ago (in Sturgis, South Dakota, where she’d gone from her home in Bethesda Maryland, for a sheepdog trial, by a VW mechanic whom she rousted out of retirement), and she thinks she’s put less than 20k on the clock since. In efforts to solve the problem, the air flow meter, the wiring, and the spark plugs have been replaced.

Any ideas? Thanks!

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Posted in News Blog | Piston Slap | 21 comments