Piston Slap: Mad Vulcan Powah? (Part II)

Tony writes:

Sajeev,

My new wife brought to the marriage her ’07 fleet-queen Taurus. She’s not a car pamperer by any means, but she does change her oil. This car got flogged like a racehorse in its previous life. Its body tightness is well-nigh gone, it unpredictably emits a strange unidentifiable groan from the depths of the dashboard center on moderate acceleration, the dime-size floormats are practically ground into dust, and the trunk barely agrees to open even when unlatched.

Read more
Piston Slap: Mad Vulcan Powah? (Part II)

TTAC commentator Felix Hoenikker writes:

Sajeev,
Thanks for the post. At the end of March, I bit the bullet and replaced the right cylinder head with a rebuilt one from Advance Auto. With my on line discount and a new head gasket, the total parts cost was under $200 plus a day’s labor.

Read more
Piston Slap: Mad Vulcan Powah?
TTAC commentator Felix Hoenikker (yes, really) writes:

Dear Sajeev,

As a fellow Panther owner, I am seeking advice on the disposition of another Ford product. My 24 year old son just bought a new to him car and returned my 2000 Ford Taurus with the 3L Vulcan overhead valve engine to me. At 206K it runs great, but has one issue. Combustion gases are entering the cooling system and periodically venting through the coolant de-gassing tank.

Read more
  • KOKing Unless you're an employee (or even if you are) does anyone care where physically any company is headquartered? Until I saw this story pop up, I'd forgotten that GM used to be in the 'Cadillac Building' until whenever it was they moved into RenCen (and that RenCen wasn't even built for GM). It's not like GM moved to Bermuda or something for a tax shelter (and I dunno maybe they ARE incorporated there legally?)
  • Fred It just makes me question GM's management. Do they save rent money? What about the cost of the move? Don't forget they have to change addresses on their forms. New phone numbers? Lost hours?
  • SilverHawk It's amazing how the domestic manufacturers have made themselves irrelevant in the minds of American consumers. Someday, they'll teach this level of brand disassociation in marketing classes as an example of what "not to do". Our auto interests once revolved around these brands. Now, nobody cares, and nobody should care. Where did I put the keys to my Studebaker?
  • El scotto Will it get GM one mile closer to the Gates of Hades? This is a company that told their life long employees not to sell their stock until the day of bankruptcy.
  • 28-Cars-Later I'm curious, is the Maverick in "EV mode" when its towing?"There's still car-like handling -- no punishment because you're driving a truck." That's because its not a truck, its akin to the earlier Ranchero - a literal car-truck hybrid now with an available gasoline hybrid drivetrain (that's actually hilarious and awesome, hybrid-hybrid FTW).