I work on cars. AMA

[Anonymous]

I have a 2007 Saab 9-3 2.0T w/manual transmission and w/76k miles on it which I really love to drive, would like to keep it another 12+ years if I can. Some trim pieces here and there are falling apart, some issues with central locking and window regulator, but mechanically its been solid (minus throttle body replacement and coils failing....latter likely because its tuned to Stage 1 w/20-30 more HPs and bucket-loads of more torque).

What kind of preventive maintenance (in addition to schedule maintenance) can I do to make it last another 12+ years? If its inexpensive, I'd like to change inexpensive parts earlier/before failing to make it run well, like last year I had the O2 sensors replaced, and as for all other sensors, I disconnected them as many as I could and have them cleaned myself. I replace the plugs every 25-30k miles, perhaps overkill, but plugs turn black fairly quickly, perhaps because I don't drive often. Because I don't drive it much, when I do, I've started driving the car much harder (after a full warm-up of course).



Thank you for your contribution.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I used to do it for a living, then I didn’t, then I did again, then I bought a shop, then I sold a shop, and I still work on my own cars and trucks as a hobby now.

So ask me anything. I’ll answer it if can.

how do you change the tires on a 1963 Dodge Dart?

in the 450sl how did they balance weight in rear of car?

What is purpose of STP and who developed it?

How many times it took to created WD40?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a 2007 Saab 9-3 2.0T w/manual transmission and w/76k miles on it which I really love to drive, would like to keep it another 12+ years if I can. Some trim pieces here and there are falling apart, some issues with central locking and window regulator, but mechanically its been solid (minus throttle body replacement and coils failing....latter likely because its tuned to Stage 1 w/20-30 more HPs and bucket-loads of more torque).

What kind of preventive maintenance (in addition to schedule maintenance) can I do to make it last another 12+ years? If its inexpensive, I'd like to change inexpensive parts earlier/before failing to make it run well, like last year I had the O2 sensors replaced, and as for all other sensors, I disconnected them as many as I could and have them cleaned myself. I replace the plugs every 25-30k miles, perhaps overkill, but plugs turn black fairly quickly, perhaps because I don't drive often. Because I don't drive it much, when I do, I've started driving the car much harder (after a full warm-up of course).



Thank you for your contribution.

Wow, I haven’t seen a Saab in forever. They are truly a niche car now, the only people still driving them are people who WANT to. I’ve never worked in them. I do know that the shared a platform with Opel, and being a GM subsidiary, there are probably OTS GM parts (coil packs, lock relays, O2’s etc) that are the same part #. You’re a tuner, so you already know more about it than I do.

The biggest advice I’d give you or anyone with a turbo on a small engine is let it idle for about a minute (longer if you been driving it hard) when you parked, before shutting it down. Reason being, the oil stream that lubricates the turbo bearings also acts as a heat sink, carrying heat away. If you shut down the engine (and oil flow) before this residual heat has been removed, it cooks the remaining oil in the bearings to sludge. Like making a reduction in cooking candy. Thickens the oil up, which clings to the bearings, becomes sludge, and blocks further oil flow. Let it cool off for a full minute. Also, use only synthetic oil. No natural oil at all ever.

Lastly, remember this: there are only so many horsepower-hours in an engine before it fails. It’s like a bucket full of water. You can pour it out all at once, have crazy amounts of horsepower for a brief time, or you can trickle it out slowly, and have an underpowered engine that lasts almost forever. But the amount of horsepower-hours is the same for both cases.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I used to do it for a living, then I didn’t, then I did again, then I bought a shop, then I sold a shop, and I still work on my own cars and trucks as a hobby now.

So ask me anything. I’ll answer it if can.

how do you change the tires on a 1963 Dodge Dart?

in the 450sl how did they balance weight in rear of car?

What is purpose of STP and who developed it?

How many times it took to created WD40?

16.5” bias ply tubed tires? Or 16” with tubeless radials? Specifiy please.

The battery is in the trunk, IIRC. Why anyone is worried about F/R weight distribution in a soft-sprung convertible tourer driven by tennis wives is beyond me though.

STP was invented by Wayne LePard, the father of the kid down the block from me when I was growing up. I know this because he had an STP sticker on his 1965 Falcon hotrod. It was badass.

40 I suppose. Dunno, I dont use it much, since I’m not an electrician. Being that it’s mostly kerosene, it dissolves grease and oils that are currently in place, so it’s not a very good lubricant. Yeah, it makes the squeaking stop temporarily, but when it evaporates, there’s even less lubricant than before. I use it for cleaningg out water from wiring harnesses in flooded cars, but that about it.

[Anonymous]

We have 2010 Honda Odyssey V6 engine with around 60,000 miles, during acceleration, especially with the engine speed is less than 2500 RPM, you can hear rings clanging sound. We've replaced the spark plugs which did not help, but then moved from using 87 octane to 93 octane fuel, plus using a fuel cleaner every 3-6 months, that seemed to have helped (75%) but not entirely. Any idea what is causing this, perhaps its the (lose) piston rings or engine pre-detonating a milliseconds to early, and if so, what can be done to remedy it, if at all?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a 2007 Saab 9-3 2.0T w/manual transmission and w/76k miles on it which I really love to drive, would like to keep it another 12+ years if I can. Some trim pieces here and there are falling apart, some issues with central locking and window regulator, but mechanically its been solid (minus throttle body replacement and coils failing....latter likely because its tuned to Stage 1 w/20-30 more HPs and bucket-loads of more torque).

What kind of preventive maintenance (in addition to schedule maintenance) can I do to make it last another 12+ years? If its inexpensive, I'd like to change inexpensive parts earlier/before failing to make it run well, like last year I had the O2 sensors replaced, and as for all other sensors, I disconnected them as many as I could and have them cleaned myself. I replace the plugs every 25-30k miles, perhaps overkill, but plugs turn black fairly quickly, perhaps because I don't drive often. Because I don't drive it much, when I do, I've started driving the car much harder (after a full warm-up of course).



Thank you for your contribution.

Wow, I haven’t seen a Saab in forever. They are truly a niche car now, the only people still driving them are people who WANT to. I’ve never worked in them. I do know that the shared a platform with Opel, and being a GM subsidiary, there are probably OTS GM parts (coil packs, lock relays, O2’s etc) that are the same part #. You’re a tuner, so you already know more about it than I do.

The biggest advice I’d give you or anyone with a turbo on a small engine is let it idle for about a minute (longer if you been driving it hard) when you parked, before shutting it down. Reason being, the oil stream that lubricates the turbo bearings also acts as a heat sink, carrying heat away. If you shut down the engine (and oil flow) before this residual heat has been removed, it cooks the remaining oil in the bearings to sludge. Like making a reduction in cooking candy. Thickens the oil up, which clings to the bearings, becomes sludge, and blocks further oil flow. Let it cool off for a full minute. Also, use only synthetic oil. No natural oil at all ever.

Lastly, remember this: there are only so many horsepower-hours in an engine before it fails. It’s like a bucket full of water. You can pour it out all at once, have crazy amounts of horsepower for a brief time, or you can trickle it out slowly, and have an underpowered engine that lasts almost forever. But the amount of horsepower-hours is the same for both cases.

Thank you for your reply, that was kind of you, much appreciated. Yes they are rare indeed, apart from my own, I see perhaps 1-2 Saabs on the road every month so. Thank you for the reminder on letting the car idle. The Saab has a variable/on-demand kind of turbo, so by the time I've left the highway, back on local road (where it rarely adds much turbo pressure) and in-parking lot, its normally been around 4-5 minutes. Not sure if you think this is sufficient for cooling, of you think an additional minute or two of idling post-parking would be recommended, would be grateful to hear your input.

Also thank you the horsepower-hour/"bucket full of water" analogy. Yes, I'm kinda aware of that, but was hoping Stage 1 (ECU reprogramming only, no other mods) would be "mild" enough not to "empty the bucket" too early. The failing/cracking coils were perhaps a result of this, but I know people do Stage 2/3 going north of 300 HPs which would stress the engine even more. In general, are there any particular parts of the engine (not specific to Saabs) which are prone to fail in high(er) powered (turbo) cars?

[Anonymous]

NP here. I just bought a used BMW 435i convertible (automatic). I was caught in 1.5 hours of stop-and-go traffic, and my right knee started to hurt. By the time I got home, it was killing me and I was actually hobbling for a day, and it hurt for a few days afterwards.

Since then, I've only used it for short trips or one longer one in good traffic. I feel a little bit of discomfort afterwards, but nothing big.

Sitting in my longterm Toyota Highlander SUV made me realize this is a whole different system for gas/brake. In the SUV, you are sitting as if at a dining room chair and the weight of your leg is pressing on the gas/break (like a piano lever). But in the BMW, you are really extending your leg almost perpendicular to the ground, and pushing out that way. Your bum is lower than your knee.

I googled but don't seem to be able to figure out how to make the seat more user-friendly....should I push the seat back far, or up close to the steering wheel, or what else should I do? I was thinking of putting a towel under my bum to raise me up some, but it moved and was uncomfortable...not sure if there is a product for that.

Anyways, any advice for me? It could be a website for ergonomics, or a product, or just seat positioning advice.

Thank you!

[Anonymous]

How old are you OP and what is your net worth?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have 2010 Honda Odyssey V6 engine with around 60,000 miles, during acceleration, especially with the engine speed is less than 2500 RPM, you can hear rings clanging sound. We've replaced the spark plugs which did not help, but then moved from using 87 octane to 93 octane fuel, plus using a fuel cleaner every 3-6 months, that seemed to have helped (75%) but not entirely. Any idea what is causing this, perhaps its the (lose) piston rings or engine pre-detonating a milliseconds to early, and if so, what can be done to remedy it, if at all?

A couple thoughts: it might not be knocking/pinging/predetonation. It could be lifter or valve noise from a stuck lifter or low oil pressure. But the fact that it cleared up partially with increased octane also might mean you’ve got two different things going on, knocking AND lifter chatter. The higher octane cleared the knocking, allowing you to hear the lifter chatter isolated by itself now.

Low rpm knock under throttle happens because you’re dumping maximum fuel air mixture volume into a cylinder that is still undergoing a relatively slow compression and firing cycle, compared to higher rpm. The slower compression stroke at low rpm gives the mixture more time to predetonate. Higher rpm means the compression stroke happens faster, and before predetonation can occur, the spark plug fires

If it’s lifter noise, ultimately that will likely mean a cyclinder head rebuild. It’s not the piston rings, although in much higher mileage engines, the skirts of the pistons can wear and create piston slap against the cylinder liner. But that’s not what this is.

[Anonymous]

What's your take on electric cars from a maintenance perspective? Aging mother drives once or twice a week, and her current car is getting old. I was thinking get her an electric car since for her short trips, the engine will never fully warm up and get lubricated anyway if she had a gas-powered vehicle.

[Anonymous]

I'm into cars a bit and so is DD. What's a good car meetup around here? Katie's in Great Falls or is there something better? I heard Church of the Holy Donut in Burtonsville stopped because of some idiots doing burnouts and so on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP here. I just bought a used BMW 435i convertible (automatic). I was caught in 1.5 hours of stop-and-go traffic, and my right knee started to hurt. By the time I got home, it was killing me and I was actually hobbling for a day, and it hurt for a few days afterwards.

Since then, I've only used it for short trips or one longer one in good traffic. I feel a little bit of discomfort afterwards, but nothing big.

Sitting in my longterm Toyota Highlander SUV made me realize this is a whole different system for gas/brake. In the SUV, you are sitting as if at a dining room chair and the weight of your leg is pressing on the gas/break (like a piano lever). But in the BMW, you are really extending your leg almost perpendicular to the ground, and pushing out that way. Your bum is lower than your knee.

I googled but don't seem to be able to figure out how to make the seat more user-friendly....should I push the seat back far, or up close to the steering wheel, or what else should I do? I was thinking of putting a towel under my bum to raise me up some, but it moved and was uncomfortable...not sure if there is a product for that.

Anyways, any advice for me? It could be a website for ergonomics, or a product, or just seat positioning advice.

Thank you!

I can empathize. I drove a Ford Escape from an auction where I bought it, and it had what seemed like the most comfortable seat I’ve ever sat in. Two weeks later, I bought a Subaru Forester at the same auction, drive home the same distance, and it was agony. Same general type of car, same size, similar ergonomic layout and driving position, but totally different feeling seats.

This is one of the reasons people should ask to test drive a car over the weekend. You need to spend at least a couple hours in the seat to really appreciate whether you fit in the car or not. But dealers won’t usually go for it, and most people never ask.

I’ll freely admit that I’m prejudiced against BMW to begin with, so I’d never own one. The last dealing I had with a BMW was back when I was still a partner in my shop, and I bought a 2001 760iL for literally pennies on the dollar. It was a flood car, I bought it on a salvage title. My plan was to refurb it and sell it, making a tidy profit. I didn’t need to ask for much, as I only paid $600 for it. I figured I could get an easy $10k for it. So I needed to replace all the electronics, ECU, TCU and main wiring harnesses. I figured that would probably run $5000 or so, leaving me still up $4400. Not bad for three days of work. WRONG! The wiring harness itself - JUST - the harness, was almost $15,000!!!! So I parted the car out for wheels, tires, glass, doors and hood, and scrapped the rest. I still made money, but only a third of what I thought I’d make. And I’ve been sour on BMW since then.

I don’t know what to tell you that might help... me, I’d trade the car for something else. I drive way to much to be uncomfortable doing it. It’s not fun being in physical discomfort just because you like a car.

Good luck. Let me know what you end up doing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How old are you OP and what is your net worth?

I’m 51.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What's your take on electric cars from a maintenance perspective? Aging mother drives once or twice a week, and her current car is getting old. I was thinking get her an electric car since for her short trips, the engine will never fully warm up and get lubricated anyway if she had a gas-powered vehicle.

I like them, when they are used in the niches they are designed for. Your situation that you describe is perfect for an EV. Nissan Leaf is the one that c9mes o mind, since I’ve actually been in one. I liked it. And I generally don’t care for Nissan/Infinity, so that’s my highest endorsement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm into cars a bit and so is DD. What's a good car meetup around here? Katie's in Great Falls or is there something better? I heard Church of the Holy Donut in Burtonsville stopped because of some idiots doing burnouts and so on.

I go to Annapolis City Dock occasionally on Saturday mornings during the summer. There’s an informal meet up crowd there, starts around 9. It’s mostly classics, hot rods, bikes. But most Saturdays I’m up in Carlisle at the auctions.