Ask GTP About Your Car Problems/General Questions

[nd 4 holden spd]

We have been getting a lot of threads/posts in other threads where someone is asking about some problems they are having with their car, or wanting to know something about their car (myself included), so I figured we need a thread just for all these questions. GTP is quite a knowledgable source when it comes to cars, I think that's why we get so many questions.

I'll go first. The roof lining on the interior of my Ute is starting to sag a bit in some places, will this mean I need a new roof lining, and would that be expensive. (I'd only do it if it starts getting worse). I was also wondering how difficult it would be to change the pedal setup in a car, as mine was bult with workers with big boots in mind, not car enthusiasts, and it makes heel-toe breaking rather hard.
As I also just posted in another thread, my engine is starting to sound and feel a bit wheezy, could this be carbon build up?

 

[Troux]

All of those questions require seeing the car in-person and really digging into it to answer properly. For instance, I'd have to see how the headliner is attached to know where it's coming apart, and how easy it would be to reattach it or replace it.

As for the pedal, you might be able to do something creative to put it to your liking. I've seen some people physically bending the pedal arm. I've seen plates that strap onto your existing pedal that stick further to the left for heel-toeing.

As for sounding wheesy, could be a number of things. Engine sounds can sometimes divulge a lot of info, but describing them, or even videotaping them, almost never works that way. It could be as simple as a vacuum leak.

 

[archangel62]

With the engine... Need a LOT more detail. I've built two performance engines and blown up two stock ones - there's a billion things it could be.

Lets get started. What kind of engine is it? Size? EFI/carby? Petrol/diesel? Age? Does it smoke? If so, what colour? Does it make the noise at a specific RPM? Does the noise seem to come from any specific part of the engine? Would you describe it as a metallic tapping, a deep knocking, air/liquid leak, or something else entirely? Does the engine eat oil or coolant? And lastly, how long has it been since the last tune up (new oil+filter, check coolant, new air filter, fuel mixture tuned, timing set, valve clearances etc)?

As for the pedals, I'd advise taking lots of pics of the pedals as they are, including how they interact with the steering column etc. Remove the whole pedalbox (often easier said than done), and take it to someone with a welder. Heat up the metal pedal braces and bend them to taste just make sure it'll fit back in eh?

 

[nd 4 holden spd]

It's no specific sound, it's so minor someone who didn't care would tell me I'm dreaming. I'll just do a carbon blast some time. The pedals sound more difficult than I hoped, but the sedan's pedals are closer together. Given they are the same engine and front end, do you think the sedan's pedal box would fit in my Ute?

 

[slidesquad#1]

Lets get started. What kind of engine is it?

Haha you can tell a member is new when they need to question n4hs about his car.

Also I find it really surprising that Holden would bother with seperate pedal boxes given that everything in the drivetrain is pretty much the same. Just seems like added cost for not much (any) gain.

With the engine, how do you mean it "feels" wheezy? I'm gonna second the 'when was the last time you serviced it' question? New oil/filters etc. can make a pretty big difference.

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

A power steering hose went out, where can I get a new one?

 

[Slick Rick]

You could try getting a used one at a scrap yard....

 

[Rotary Junkie]

It's no specific sound, it's so minor someone who didn't care would tell me I'm dreaming. I'll just do a carbon blast some time. The pedals sound more difficult than I hoped, but the sedan's pedals are closer together. Given they are the same engine and front end, do you think the sedan's pedal box would fit in my Ute?

More likely than not yes.

About the headliner... My grandmother's 1990 Park Avenue just got the headliner redone for $150 which isn't expensive at all IMO. Figure you gotta get your profit margin somewhere, y'know?

If you can get it done under $200 go for it. And yes, it will just sag more and more with time.

 

[Duke]

A power steering hose went out, where can I get a new one?

A) Dealer.

B) Auto parts store.

C) Junkyard (Why bother? It's a PS hose.)

D) Surely you could have thought of these yourself?

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

A) Dealer.

B) Auto parts store.

C) Junkyard (Why bother? It's a PS hose.)

D) Surely you could have thought of these yourself?

I thought of the first two, but forgot about the junkyard. Just making sure I have enough places to go.

 

[Pupik]

A) Dealer.
B) Auto parts store.
C) Junkyard (Why bother? It's a PS hose.)
D) Surely you could have thought of these yourself?

I thought of the first two, but forgot about the junkyard. Just making sure I have enough places to go.

Depends if it's a high-pressure hose or a high-pressure line, of course. Usually, the hoses are cheap, the labor much more; might as well get a new hose, since it won't be as prone to leaking, and make sur you get a new $1.00 clamp to go with it. Plenty of cars would come in with a new hose and a clamp at some shop was that was ol and/or distorted and mysteriously re-used.

As for a metal line, you can usually get 8-12 years out of them and then they corrode or get pin-hole leaks. The line is probably best if new, or not too old. But there's no sense in getting a 10-year-old high-pressure line.

 

[nd 4 holden spd]

Haha you can tell a member is new when they need to question n4hs about his car.

Also I find it really surprising that Holden would bother with seperate pedal boxes given that everything in the drivetrain is pretty much the same. Just seems like added cost for not much (any) gain.

With the engine, how do you mean it "feels" wheezy? I'm gonna second the 'when was the last time you serviced it' question? New oil/filters etc. can make a pretty big difference.

Like I said, they were probably thinking of tradies with big ghastly wide boots on when they designed the Ute's pedal box. Everything serviceable has been done not long ago (a couple weeks).

A power steering hose went out, where can I get a new one?

I recommend going genuine. One at a junkyard will only crap out soon again anyway.

More likely than not yes.

About the headliner... My grandmother's 1990 Park Avenue just got the headliner redone for $150 which isn't expensive at all IMO. Figure you gotta get your profit margin somewhere, y'know?

If you can get it done under $200 go for it. And yes, it will just sag more and more with time.

Thanks for the help, I'll keep an eye on it.

Edit: How much would you guys expect to pay for a car seat out of a car at the wreckers? Thinking about making me some car furniture.

 

[Duke]

Anywhere from $20-$100USD. Junkyards are a very assorted lot, but in the days of modern computer connections, they know exactly what stuff is worth.

 

[Joey D]

Don't forget the "anything you can put in your pocket or throw over the fence is free" statement so many people live by. Although I don't think I would want to get caught stealing from a junkyard since the owner would probably just haul off and shoot you.

Car seats should be fairly cheap though like Duke said. If you have flea markets in Australia (big junk sales) try going there. The one around here had all sorts of car seats for $10-$20 in decent shape in both cloth and vinyl. Leather seats were more $50-$100 and in pretty rough shape. Just look around, you'll be able to get them cheap. I've been thinking about doing the same thing though with the furniture idea, I just don't think Kate would go for it though.

 

[nd 4 holden spd]

Thanks guys, I need it for my room, now I know what price I'm looking at so I don't get ripped off.👍

 

[nd 4 holden spd]

I got to thinking today as I was driving a Focus like a mad turkey through a big one lane round-about. I was able to go around 10km/hr (55km/hr and she was sliding towards the outside) faster before understeer in the Focus than my Ute, and at higher speed corners it felt more stable. Not wanting to kill myself though I wasn't going fast through faster corners, so here's my question. Generally speaking (aerodynamics etc aside), would a car capable of higher cornering speeds be able to go proportionately faster through faster corners?
Eg.
In round-about
Focus: 55km/hr
Ute (with stock suspension): 45km/hr

Higher speed corner
Focus: 10km/hr faster than Ute, or even higher/lower difference in speed?

 

[ExigeEvan]

I don't think it's that simple. Because weight, suspension at the limit, grip at the limit and aerodynamics (that you chose to exclude) would play a huge part.

Kinda like saying if a go-kart could do 100mph would it handle better than a formula 1 car.

 

[nd 4 holden spd]

So it would be random?

 

[TheCracker]

Tyres would probably be the biggest factor.

On the same tyres, if the Focus has a shorter wheel base it may prove quicker around tighter corners. The Ute with what i presume to be a longer wheel base may prove a bit more balanced in a lower radius quick corner. It doesn't mean that it will be quicker, it just means that theoretically the ute may feel more stable giving the driver more confidence to go quicker.

To be honest there are so many different factors at play it would be near impossible to theorise.

 

[Duke]

No, it would be based on the design of the car, not random. But some cars are faster in slow corners than others, but those cars might not be faster (or as much faster) in high-speed corners.

Case in point would be a highly-dialed-in autocross car. Because autocrosses are held on parking lots or taxiways, and typically have a 30-to-40 second lap time, the turns in an autocross come much closer together and much tighter than on a road course. So an autocross car is almost never in a steady state, either cornering or straight. It's going to be set up to make lighting-fast and very accurate transitions.

This setup would very likely make it way too twitchy to be a successful road course car without suspension (or at least alignment) changes. So it would be slower around a road course than a car dialed in for road courses, and vice versa.

 

[nd 4 holden spd]

No, it would be based on the design of the car, not random. But some cars are faster in slow corners than others, but those cars might not be faster (or as much faster) in high-speed corners.

Case in point would be a highly-dialed-in autocross car. Because autocrosses are held on parking lots or taxiways, and typically have a 30-to-40 second lap time, the turns in an autocross come much closer together and much tighter than on a road course. So an autocross car is almost never in a steady state, either cornering or straight. It's going to be set up to make lighting-fast and very accurate transitions.

This setup would very likely make it way too twitchy to be a successful road course car without suspension (or at least alignment) changes. So it would be slower around a road course than a car dialed in for road courses, and vice versa.

I guess I should have known that So it's probably likely then that my Ute might not be so much slower in the higher speed corners.

 

[Stevisiov]

I guess I should have known that So it's probably likely then that my Ute might not be so much slower in the higher speed corners.

It's likely, esspecially with a fairly long wheelbase, that said a long wheelbase is only a factor, how wide the car is, the tyres, the suspension etc. If the suspension is poorly setup the Ute may be dangerously unstable on faster corners and that would considerabely lower its highspeed cornering capablilties.

Whats important to remember and this is along the lines of what Duke was saying. Some cars are setup to be nimble at low cornering speeds, this can obviously have an effect on the car at high cornering speeds making the car twitchy and unstable. That said just because your car isn't nimble at low speeds doesn't mean its going to be stable at high speed corners either. So essentially your Ute might be rubbish at both low and hig cornering speeds compared to the focus.

 

[nd 4 holden spd]

New springs and shockies at lower height soon, that will fix a lot.

 

[nd 4 holden spd]

What's so good about electric throttles? The only advantage I can tell is you can have a shorter pedal travel meaning easier control I assume. When I drive the Focus diesel (which I presume has an electronic throttle) you have to give it some time before the throttle reacts to your input.
Eg. I can sit at the lights and push it down and let go really fast and the engine won't change so much as 50rpm at best, when it should have revved its head off.
This makes throttle blipping literally impossible as blipping doesn't change the rpm, because the computer needs to have a think about things and by the time it gets the message I've already let go. Or is this just a diesel engine thing?

 

[ExigeEvan]

Lag is something I've heard mentioned in several car reviews with drive-by-wire throttles. Probably made worse by it being a diesel.

 

[nd 4 holden spd]

Drive-by-wire throttles are the electric ones eh? It's really annoying to drive it, I've stalled it a few times because I was too quick for the computer, and let go of the clutch before the revs actually built. Don't fall for that any more.

 

[Duke]

Drive-by-wire throttles are not better for the driver (at best they are the same as mechanical throttles). But in these days where everything in the car is controlled by computer, it's the best way to get input to the ECU so it can decide what to do for the engine.

Both my currently DDs have drive-by-wire throttles, and you can blip the throttle on both. It's mostly a matter of the manufacturer programming the ECU properly. On the Escort Focus diesel, it's probably programmed to ignore small or quick applications of throttle, in order to maximize fuel economy. In fact, one of the main things that aftermarket "chips" do for a modern engine is crank up the throttle response programming so the car feels faster, whether it is or not.

 

[TheCracker]

Probably made worse by it being a diesel.

It's probably just because it's a diesel. I've had two Ford diesels in the past and it's just a characteristic of the diesel engine. They don't rev very quickly or have much torque just above tickover. At a guess, it's probably because of the nature of the diesel combustion cycle which is the biggest difference between a petrol and diesel engine. If anything, an electronic fly-by-wire throttle could probably be programmed to eliminate that initial slugish take off that most diesels suffer from.

 

[///M-Spec]

My car has a drive by wire throttle. In sport mode, it's too responsive. Like Duke said, it all depends on how the manufacturer sets it up.


M

 

[nd 4 holden spd]

Drive-by-wire throttles are not better for the driver (at best they are the same as mechanical throttles). But in these days where everything in the car is controlled by computer, it's the best way to get input to the ECU so it can decide what to do for the engine.

Both my currently DDs have drive-by-wire throttles, and you can blip the throttle on both. It's mostly a matter of the manufacturer programming the ECU properly. On the Escort Focus diesel, it's probably programmed to ignore small or quick applications of throttle, in order to maximize fuel economy. In fact, one of the main things that aftermarket "chips" do for a modern engine is crank up the throttle response programming so the car feels faster, whether it is or not.

Thankyou very much, that's very informative.👍 I also learnt today that in this Focus diesel if I crawl along in 1st gear with the clutch out, it will give spurts of the throttle all on its own to stop from stalling, it's a wierd feeling in a manual.