What have you done to your car today?

Installed a 3 jack extension for my 12 V outlet. Mounted with double adhesive tape.
Installed the FM transmitter in one of the extensions and the phone holder/charger in the other. All cables tucked away under lists.
 
The fun of brittle plastic GM parts, damn thing pretty much disintegrated while replacing it.

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I test drove it because there is a knocking sound coming from the left hand side of the drive train (FWD). It's not the engine nor is it the clutch.
 
kikie
I test drove it because there is a knocking sound coming from the left hand side of the drive train (FWD). It's not the engine nor is it the clutch.
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Does it only sound when you turn full lock? If so look at the CV joint

I changed two xenon bulbs for my light, but the ballast can't turn them on. Need better bulbs
 
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RacingGrandpa
Does it only sound when you turn full lock? If so look at the CV joint

I changed two xenon bulbs for my light, but the ballast can't turn them on. Need better bulbs
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I have to try that out. Strange thing is that it is not always very loud. Even when driving in a straight line I can hear it but not always.

I was thinking about two things:

  1. As you said, the CV joint
  2. Ball Bearing
 
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I got my car back. The ball bearing has been fixed and the difference is huge. No growling sound, no knocking anymore and the car drives better.

I'm pleased with my almost 19 y.o. Mondeo.
 
MOT.

The car got a few remarks but nothing serious. It passed MOT. I have to replace one tire. Something wrong with one of the car windows. It's supposedly damaged or tinted which is utter BS. And a very small oil leak (sweating) which has been a problem for a few years and only now they mention it.

At least I don't have to go back and besides the left rear tire that I have to replace my 19 y.o. Mondeo (as of today) is still in good health. :P
 
Removed the intake resonator box
Unplugged the throttle body
Removed the throttle body
Cleaned the throttle body
Sprayed some intake cleaner down the intake.
Reinstalled the throttle body
Reinstalled the intake resonator box
Unplugged the MAF
Removed the MAF
Cleaned the MAF
Reinstalled the MAF
Replugged the MAF
Drained the old oil
Removed old Oil filter
Added new oil filter
Added oil
Started the car
Realized I made an whoopsie.
Stopped the car
Fixed whoopsie.
Started the car
Everything working fine.

I forgot to plug the throttle body back in.
 
Project I've been working on. Swapping a sedan rear lip onto my wagon, because the wagon's offset exhaust gap requires you to snake piping off the exit of the muffler and I want to be able to experiment with simpler, more readily-available options. It's looking a bit patchwork-quilty right now, but it's coming along. Sadly, it doesn't bolt on, so I'm having to cut and plastic-weld, and then there's going to be a whole lotta blending before I can paint...

Before:




Current:

 
Had to replace a blower motor resistor. Blower motor would only work on full blast or nothing. Replaced it and have all 4 fan settings again.

Easy job except for mostly working blind inside the dashboard up under the passenger side airbag.
 
Replaced the horn on my Escape, it no longer sounds like a clown car. Also went ahead and replaced the fog lights with LED's while I had the entire front end off the car.
 
Speaker on the left was the original one coming out of the drivers seat door of my 2006 SLK. Probably never replaced before. Speaker on the right is a brand new one.

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I'm doing the first differential and transfer case oil change on my van (I believe). It has 77k mi, which is a bit long for that kind of service. I think the previous owner had probably never had it done. Judging from the look of the transfer case oil, it was definitely time. A bit of sludge had built up on the drain plug, and the oil came out a nasty color.

I'll definitely get on this one again before it hits 150k.
 
This might be a first in this thread's history but, not a "What have YOU done to your car today?" but rather "What has your car done to you?"

The son of a 🤬 tried to cremate me.

Heating element in my seat failed, the copper wiring Mercedes used in these seats tends to overheat and burn through the foam, as per their position in the class action lawsuit they had to settle in 2018.

Thankfully I had a very short trip from my house to the convenience store. It was a cold night and the leather seats were ice cold so I turned on the heated seats for myself and my mother. I turned my mother's on to the 1st position and maxed my seat out.

On the way there i felt the left side of my waist give me a sharp pain. I've never felt this kind of pain but I still put it down as my back injury flaring up again in the cold. When we got to the store I smelled burning and saw a lot of smoke. The smell was a mix of the scent a skunk leaves behind and that of burning pork meat. I guess thats what the faux leather that Mercedes uses smells like when melting.

When I hopped out, the cabin was filled with smoke, my jacket had caught fire and the seat bolster was glowing red hot. I threw my jacket to the grown and stomped it in a panic.

I couldn't tell if it was an electrical fire or not but I immediately turned off my heated seat and then turned the car off. Thankfully it wasn't a burnt fuse as it immediately stopped applying more heat and started cooling down. I threw some water from a bottle (again, not the smartest move if it's an electrical fire) onto the glowing hole and let the seat cool off.


Thankfully the damage is only the size of a quarter and I only have pictures of the "aftermath". The pictures don't do the situation justice but trust me when I say the amount of smoke and flames I saw is not exaggerated.

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Damage to the jacket. Was really close to burning through the last inner layer.

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As I mentioned above, Mercedes had to settle a class action lawsuit regarding seat heater failures of this caliber. They settled the suit in 2018 and it covers ML models from 2000-2007, R Class models from 2006-2007 and the 2007-2008 GL.

Unfortunately I'm in Canada and not in the U.S. so I doubt MB Canada will uphold it and offer a goodwill repair. I'll escalate it and contact them directly after contacting my local dealer. In the meantime I'll avoid the seat heater and look for a replacement seat from the junkers.
 
I had one of my olight flashlights do that while i was wearing my jacket at work. I started to smell a septic like smell and ran all over the office, the hangar, checked outside and back at my office again. Asked coworkers and no one smelled it, but even I who has TERRIBLE smelling abilities noticed it, and had to scratch my head over it. I sat in my chair, did a pit check and noticed nothing, sniffed down my jacket and couldn’t smell anything. Then quickly i realized that my shirt was awfully white for being a red shirt i put on in the AM and checked again, seeing my light was on. It melted about a dollar sized hole in one of the pockets on the inside 😅
 
My wagon came with a very tired single-DIN stereo and it sounded like all the speakers were blown, so this week I gave the car an entire budget stereo system. Double-DIN really lifts the interior of the car for me. Kenwood deck, combo of Kicker and Alpine speakers. Got a suction cup platform to stick the GPS on the dash as well. From the perspective of the driver's seat, I just prefer it there to hanging off the windshield. A big part of this build is to road trip around the country in it, so I had to have a proper GPS; the stereo is mounted too low in these cars for one built in to make sense imo.




And, since I'm all about the details, a little something to compliment my hot-rodded engine:



 
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Yay, more wiring, yaaaaaay. I love soldering, yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay.

There was sadly no room to hide these Hella Sharptones behind the bumper with all the a/c and power steering mess, so I stuck them in the only bit of empty space available... behind the grille :ouch:. Rally Armor mud flaps incoming, as soon as I lower the car, haha. I at least attempted to hide them by spraying the originally-yellow cages with some truck bed liner I had on hand...



 
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Last night I was unhooking the battery charger.
Noticed the overflow container was empty.
Removed the radiator cap, It was low.
So added about 400mL of coolant, which was enough to fill the radiator but not the overflow.
Checked the oil as I have an Impreza and Subarus are known for headgasket issues(Dont know if these issues also apply to the EJ204) but oil looked fine.
On my way to work, I picked up a 1L bottle of premix.
At lunch time I checked the fluid again, it was a little low but since the car was in a carpark couldn't diagnose fully.
I add 100mL or so to the radiator and 300mL to the overflow.
Now I am in a slight panic, but engine temps are hovering around 90
Come home, pop the hood to see if coolant is leaking from the top of the radiator, nothing.
Look below.
Found a few drops on lower hose
Now need to look for replacement radiator, lower hose and clamps.
And will need to get several bottles of distilled water, radiator flush in addition to the 5l of coolant.
But at least its not a headgasket.
2022-11-25 17.11.05.jpg
 
Grayfox
Last night I was unhooking the battery charger.
Noticed the overflow container was empty.
Removed the radiator cap, It was low.
So added about 400mL of coolant, which was enough to fill the radiator but not the overflow.
Checked the oil as I have an Impreza and Subarus are known for headgasket issues(Dont know if these issues also apply to the EJ204) but oil looked fine.
On my way to work, I picked up a 1L bottle of premix.
At lunch time I checked the fluid again, it was a little low but since the car was in a carpark couldn't diagnose fully.
I add 100mL or so to the radiator and 300mL to the overflow.
Now I am in a slight panic, but engine temps are hovering around 90
Come home, pop the hood to see if coolant is leaking from the top of the radiator, nothing.
Look below.
Found a few drops on lower hose
Now need to look for replacement radiator, lower hose and clamps.
And will need to get several bottles of distilled water, radiator flush in addition to the 5l of coolant.
But at least its not a headgasket.
View attachment 1210680
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As someone with an older, crapbox Impreza that had issues like this, I feel your pain.
 
Obelisk
As someone with an older, crapbox Impreza that had issues like this, I feel your pain.
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I was thinking headgasket because I do have 100,000mi/169,000km on it.
But when I started in the morning I did not see any white smoke, so no coolant was pooling up in the cylinders, oil looks fine.
Its just the radiator.
Already ordered the Radiator, upper and lower hoses(not taking chances), radiator flush, coolant(coolant is a bit brown) hose clamps
 
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