TTAC Commentator PG writes:
Sajeev, my 2008 Subaru WRX is like a hot girl with a coke problem – lots of fun, but I can’t keep up. Now a few months back, Piston Slap gave me some great advice on my parents’ BMW X5. They haven’t unloaded it yet, but I think they will soon. Thanks again! Now, I was wondering if you and the Best and Brightest could help me out.
Janet writes:
Please be patient. I know nothing about the internal workings of cars. Is there a difference between a head gasket and valve cover gasket or valve gasket cover? My mechanic tells me my head gasket is leaking slightly and needs to be watched: I was down 1/2 gallon of coolant since August. Back in 2008 a different mechanic replaced the valve cover gasket (or valve gasket cover?) because the car was hesitating and running rough: I had tried Dry Gas thinking it was a bad tank of gas but that did not alleviate the problem.
Are we talking about 2 different parts? Would you please explain the function(s)? Is it/are they visible when I open the hood of my car? Thank you.
Steve writes:
My wife’s beloved ’04 Lexus RX330 has a decided pulsation when the brakes are applied at highway speed coming down from the mountains. Do understand that I try not to overuse the brakes in mountain driving– I will downshift the 5-sp AT whenever it will help. I figured it has warped rotors. It did this at about 30k and they replaced the rotors under warranty. I’ve not noticed this on flat ground, but given the car I’m not into aggressive driving with this vehicle.
Andrew writes:
I’m a 21-year-old college student with a 2001 Chevy Cavalier with the 2.2L and 5-speed. I bought the car when I started college with 40,000 miles on it and I have driven it to 70,000 miles without any problems, despite not always being nice to it. But now the suspension — I think it’s coming from the front — is starting to make a good bit of noise.
Alex writes:
I have a 2000 Honda Accord Coupe EX-V6, 253k miles, original automatic transmission. I’ve had 2 motor mounts replaced, a heater core, and otherwise just standard maintenance (transmission service every 50k miles, new belts every 100k, along with new water pump; new alternator whenever I burn the old one out). Last year, the tranny started whining, giving the inevitable death wail of the Honda slushbox. But it’s still going strong, the wail has stopped, and the transmission fluid looks and smells as clean as ever. My wife and I are looking into buying a 2009 Honda Fit Sport to replace it. The question: do I sell this bad boy or keep it, and do I wait till it dies to buy the Fit (or Pontiac Vibe, or something else)? Full disclosure: my father in law is a GM mechanic, who would love it if I bought a GM.
Drake writes:
Sajeev,
I have a 2007 Fusion with the 3.0 Duratec V6, with 83,000 miles on it. I have owned it since new and 90% of the miles are long highway drives. I have recently discovered that there is an engine oil leak. I have put the engine oil dye from Ford in it to try to pin point where the leak is coming from. It is a small leak, takes a while to get noticed (when the oil finally makes it’s way to the exhaust and smokes a bit).
Local Ford dealer does not have a clue, I have called other larger dealers in the area and had them check for service bulletins and asked if anyone has come across a similar problem and what it may be. No luck. Best that I and a couple of very good mechanic friends can figure is that a head gasket might be leaking.
So, I have traversed the Internet looking for and information about this problem when I came across one of your articles. Thanks!
TTAC Commentator dastanley writes:
Well here I am again on Piston Slap about my 2006 Corolla w/ about 44k miles. This isn’t a burning question (no pun intended), I’m just curious. This time it’s the exhaust – it stinks. I know that the rotten egg smell comes from the catalytic converter, but why? Is the engine running rich and overloading the converter?
The check engine light isn’t on and the gas mileage is about the same, so the computer (apparently) hasn’t detected a problem. I use regular 86 octane fuel (high altitude), mostly Conoco-Phillips with “Pro-Clean”. I’ve been told that the fuel in this region of NM has a high sulfur content, although I can’t confirm that.
The exhaust odor doesn’t bother me when driving around (I’m not following my own car), but every time I pull into the garage, it smells pretty obnoxious and my wife thinks I’ve farted. WTF?
A top speed of over 140mph. Zero to sixty in less than 7 seconds. A composed suspension and jellybean-sleek sheet metal that still looks handsome after all these decades. That’s the 1989 Ford Taurus SHO, but Sergio Perfetti’s example is more than the sum of its historically relevant parts. And not just because it’s won […]
It may not be ready to take on the old Honda tagline, but our 1983 Ford Sierra Ghia is strengthening our ties with our car nutty friends from across the pond. While Capt. Mike’s UK connections are stronger, here’s the story of how our Sierra made it from the seller’s house to one of the Captain’s friend’s homes: a strong group of Nürburgring-fiends who claimed our lovable Air Force Yank as one of their own. But that’s for the next installment in this series because, as the Panther-intensive pictures show, I’m telling this portion of the story.
TTAC Commentator SupremeBrougham writes:
Hey Sajeev, I decided that I want to try my hand at throwing a Piston Slap topic your way: my grandparents gave me a 1995 Mercury Mystique LS that has been passed around our family since new. The car has 121k on it, but the motor (V6) has about 40k fewer miles and the trans (auto) now has around 15k total.
Here is my issue. When pulling out from a stop, the engine revs to almost 5000 rpm before shifting gears, regardless of how gentle I am with the gas. I want to have it looked at, but here is where it gets tricky for me. My grandfather, who worked for Ford in Transmission Engineering, and my uncle decided to take on the task of replacing the engine and trans in this car four years ago, as a final hurrah for my grandpa, as he is getting up in years. It took them six months, but they did it. The car went on to two more uncles before coming back to my grandparents, and then on to me. My grandpa gave me the car with the stipulation that I was not to put any more money into it. And if anything was to go wrong with it I am to bring it back for repairs. But I live almost 200 miles away, so that isn’t so easy.
Todd writes:
Hello Sajeev, I have a 2001 Audi TT (225hp) that cranks but wont start, not even a sputter. Thus far I’ve checked for fuel and spark and both seem to be in working condition. I verified fuel by unplugging the return line and watching fuel come out as the motor was cranked. I can hear the injectors ticking so it seems they’re working as well. I popped off a coil pack and grounded it to a screwdriver to verify that I also have spark. At this point I’m thinking the fuel in the tank has gone bad because the car has not been significantly driven in 18 months. I literally haven’t started or driven it in nine months, and when I did drive it nine months ago it was for about 3 miles. There was less than a 1/4 of a tank of gas in it while it sat for those 18 months and I just added about 3 gallons of premium to the tank with no result. There also seems to be an odd smell coming from the exhaust when I crank the car, almost like a paint remover or super glue smell. Is this bad gas? I’m really stumped here because I feel like even if the gas is bad it would at least sputter or run rough.
BG writes:
Hi Sajeev! I am a big fan of TTAC and visit it almost every day. I have a question for you, so here it is:
We’ve heard so much about the goodness of wide wheel tracks, where the wheels are pushed to its corner. And the benefit of this seem natural and easy to comprehend for me, better handling, better looks, perhaps even better interior room if the wheel wells can be made less deep. It’s the other end of the spectrum, the narrow wheel tracks, that I can’t understand. What could possibly be the benefit of having a narrow wheel tracks? For some reason it used to be so popular, nearly all cars featured them. Even after the wide tracks was popularized by Pontiac in the 1960s, most cars still came with wheels that are placed well inside its openings. The only reason for them I can think of to justify that is if you want to use wheel skirts or low, “barely there” wheel openings, the Bathtub Nash being a good example. But most of these cars with narrow tracks have full wheel openings, at least in front. Why the narrow tracks then, I wonder?
TTAC Commentator Halftruth writes:
Hey Sajeev, maybe this has been covered before, but as I read thru new car reviews here on TTAC I see that every car maker has left out one of my fave features: the bench seat! I see these huge, gaudy, dust collector consoles in between the two front seats taking up leg and knee room! Am I the only one that misses the bench seat? And column shift? Say it ain’t so! I know they still exist on trucks to some degree but for me, my pref is a good ol’ bench seat. I prefer the 60/40 split and do think they are quite comfy (I am reminded of my years in a 96 Intrepid). I am sure the manufacturers are simply responding to market demands but what do you think? What does the B&B think? Am I sounding like a dinosaur here?
TTAC Commentator Azure Ape writes:
I’ve got an odd one compared to the normal repair/fix stories. I’m a twenty-something in the Midwest with his first real job and a mountain of graduate student debt who is currently driving a 2002 Chevy Tahoe LT 4WD. I’ve been borrowing it from my parents because I couldn’t afford my own car and they just gifted it to me as my own. It currently has 72,000 miles and has been in the family since 24,000; I’ve been driving it since about 52,000. I recently had leaking front axle seals and a lower ball joint boot replaced. I change the oil when the oil life indicator says so and otherwise maintain it well.
I’ve read that the transmission on these is prone to failure. Should I have the transmission fluid changed before the recommended 100,000 miles? How often thereafter? Anything else I should keep my eye on/do preemptively? Oh yeah, my current commute is 120 miles round trip every day (when I’m not able to carpool or it’s my turn to drive). I’d like something more fuel efficient but it’s hard to argue with a free car, even if it is one that swills gas.
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