Piston Slap: Stumped by Starter Woes?

Bob writes:

Dear Sajeev,

I have a 1996 Nissan Pathfinder that I bought new and has since accumulated 90,000 miles . I plan on driving it until it dies because I still enjoy it and it gets me to all the great fishing spots, plus I have a “fun” car in the garage (’74 TR6) for when the weather is nice. My issue is about the starter (I think) on the Pathfinder.

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Piston Slap: Making Masala of a Jetta Parking Brake?

Gaurav writes:

Hello Sanjeev, (oh dear…*facepalm*- SM)

I am writing you from India. I have a Jetta MkV 1.9 TDI with automatic transmission. It has done about 74,000 km. About a month back, I got the the brake fluid replaced as the service adviser suggested it should be replaced once every 60-70k km. After I got the car back, it felt like the brake efficiency had decreased. I was told its normal and after driving for some time it would be okay. Unfortunately, it never improved.

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The Truth About Tesla's Charging Stations

Tesla has officially launched their long-awaited “Supercharging” network last night to a star-studded crowd in Southern California. (We assume it was star-studded since our invitation got lost in the mail.) The EV network promises to enable Model S and Model X owners to charge 150 miles of range in 30 minutes. What about your Roadster? Sorry, you aren’t invited to this charging party. Have a Tesla and a LEAF? You’ll have to be satisfied with separate but equal charging facilities as the Tesla proprietary charging connector restricts access to Tesla shoppers only. Is this class warfare or do we parallel the computer industry where connectors come and go with the seasons?

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  • Redapple2 Like the color but would never buy. Gladiator? Love them. (but some say they drive super wonky?)
  • Redapple2 Note to layman. Lifts change the resting angles of suspension components. Then add full length of travel in the duty cycle and now you are repeatedly doing things to the suspension was never design for. Failures are very common and fatal. Do it only if you are stupid.
  • Redapple2 Stampings vs castings>? If you go casting, you ve entered one of the most complex corners of manufacturing. In aluminum? 30 different popular alloys. 8 Core methods. 10 Casting methods. 5+ Heat treat options. Then we can talk about what metal to make the mold out of. The layman has no idea how complicated this gets.
  • BlackEldo Anal grotto is NOT going to be happy about that H/K engine quip...
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