What have you done to your car today?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Perfect Balance
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Aweseme driveway that day, haha! I'm a huge fan of the Z3's styling.

My Mugen knockoff hood. Notes: yes, I noticed the obnoxiously large windshield nozzles aren't placed properly when I bought it and I don't mind for now - I'll fix that when I eventually get the thing paint-matched. The gap on the passenger side is a headlight/bumper issue from the last owner. I'm getting HID projector retrofitted headlights in a couple months and will address that then. The upper headlight tabs are broken, and the bumper should be a simple matter of bending mounting points back in place.

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Some of you might throw this in the "questionable mods" thread, but I like the styling and, for now, the contrast of the bare carbon look.
 
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Waxed the Supra today, as it turns out it's a tremendous pain in the ass to do. But hey, now it's nice and shiny so it was all worth it. :D
 
Finally had a chance to take the Escape to the car wash and wash all the salt and winter dirt off.

Car seems much happier now.
 
It's warm enough down here in socal to start work again on the 1972 Datsun 240z - slowly ( every part was taken out, some rebuilt, some re manufactured )

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Before pics :

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The Irony :

The 1973 Datsun 260z we bought for $500.00 as a parts car turned out it just had a faulty Ignition wire and a broken ignition rotor so it erm ran flawlessly and is now the daily driver. ( it was also sporting some original Enkei rims that turned out to be around 600 bucks a pair ... )

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Been doing a bit of work on one of my dad's Subarus; 2000 Subaru Legacy GT-B manual. Recently replaced the front bumper and driver's side guard, and put a new wheel arch cover, and while doing that, found out the side skirt clips were broken, so my dad fixed them. There was a gouge in the side skirt, so we assume the previous owner hit something. Just as we nearly had the bumper on, I decided to check if the fog lights were working, as we had to transfer them onto the new bumper as it didn't have them. And low and behold, one of the bulbs had blown on the side light. Parts car was to the rescue. :D
 
I washed the wheels. Here's a before and after of the dirtiest one.

Before:

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After:

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There's a lot of crap that I can't get off with what I had. Some heavier duty stuff is needed.
 
A stressful day, I parked my car to meet a client in Los Angeles' Korea town, when ... a bunch of delinquents made off with my Stuttgart Wheel centerpiece logo ..

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I had to put in the trackday rims and wheels when I got home, Money don't grow outta my butt, and not all porsche owners are loaded with money - $100.00 is what it cost me to order a new set, in the meanwhile the trackday rims will have to do ( excuse the bolts, they oxidized from having been taken on and off a lot the last month and a lot of brake dust from my runs up n down topanga canyon in the wee hours of the morning )

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A message to the idiots who jacked it : I had it coming, in my youth I fell for peer pressure and knicked someone's H off their Honda,and this is just karma giving it back ... maybe someday you will understand how it is to love a car like it's your first born.
 
^^

I feel ya. One day my dad stopped by a public library real quick to checkout a book and when he got out some idiot keyed the crap out of the BMW emblem on the hood :banghead:
 
Slash
Money is what's needed.
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Fixed that for you. :p


Today I cleaned out the interior and polished all of the chrome. I also used an old carpet cleaning foam stuff my grandma had on some bad stains and it worked like a charm.


And I still don't have my car washing things. So I have shiny wheels and chrome and a clean interior, but dirty paint...
 
I've been having a problem with my car for the past couple of weeks, I'm posting this in here in case anyone can help out or knows what's wrong with it.

Its a 2014 Ford Escape, 4500 miles on the clock, 2.5L Duratec engine. I've bought it new in January.

Here's a vid of the problem:


Basically when the engine is cold, it really struggles to start as you can see in the vid, and idles irregularly for the first 5 seconds or so. Once the engine warms up it works fine, there are no problems at all when driving. It also starts up normally when the engine is warm. It does it regardless of temperature though it seems to be worse when its very humid.

So far I've been to the dealership once to get it checked out and they haven't found anything apparently. Other then that I've tried using different brands of fuel, and switched to 0W-20 Synthethic oil on my first change, none of it made any difference.

If anyone has any ideas or advice it'll be greatly appreciated.
 
Soda01
I've been having a problem with my car for the past couple of weeks, I'm posting this in here in case anyone can help out or knows what's wrong with it.

Its a 2014 Ford Escape, 4500 miles on the clock, 2.5L Duratec engine. I've bought it new in January.

Here's a vid of the problem:


Basically when the engine is cold, it really struggles to start as you can see in the vid, and idles irregularly for the first 5 seconds or so. Once the engine warms up it works fine, there are no problems at all when driving. It also starts up normally when the engine is warm. It does it regardless of temperature though it seems to be worse when its very humid.

So far I've been to the dealership once to get it checked out and they haven't found anything apparently. Other then that I've tried using different brands of fuel, and switched to 0W-20 Synthethic oil on my first change, none of it made any difference.

If anyone has any ideas or advice it'll be greatly appreciated.
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I think it's safe to say, at least from my perspective that this is a starter issue, you may have a bad starter (which is weird since this is a new car), though with the bad idle that sounds like the car has excess fuel it may be a pump issue MAF or O2 sensor problem as well.

The reason I think that is because I had a 08 Taurus before the car I currently own and the start up issue sounded nearly the same as the one you have minus the hard idle. The issue I found was a starter going bad and I really didn't have the money at the time this was happening since the battery and alternator also went out. However, the idle part is making me second guess myself, there are places that can check codes on your vehicle to make sure it's not a sensor failing. I'd suggest looking into that.
 
Sometimes it's just the oil, I change oil viscosities as the season changes, as stated above on the "worst" side MAF and O2 sensors can throw you in a bind with similar symptons though MAF and O2 problems tend to manifest itself when the engine gets warmer not when it's cold. oh and for the battery use a load tester to see if it's that, most of the new cars have pitifully bad 'generic' battery, a good one will run you up to 80 bucks or so and will come with a good warranty.
 
Cleaned the hell out of the van. Tore all the rugs out, garbage etc and vacuumed it out with the shop vac. It's still not perfect, but if you saw how it was before, you would know that it looks amazing now. Didn't do the trunk because I need to fix the hatch first so I just left it. Also wiped down the dash, various cup holders and cubbies to clean all the dust, dirt and ash from it. And in the process, I slapped on a Sunoco sticker :D

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Yay Sunoco sticker! And my "FUBO" sticker at the bottom. See if you can figure that one out :D

Also, yay for Ford hat in my reflection. "It's Ford time!"

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Obligatory photo of my extremely dirty I need to wash it Minivan. :D




And the rust one the shock tower. Got the reinforcement plates for it today. Just need to be installed. :)

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LMSCorvetteGT2
I think it's safe to say, at least from my perspective that this is a starter issue, you may have a bad starter (which is weird since this is a new car), though with the bad idle that sounds like the car has excess fuel it may be a pump issue MAF or O2 sensor problem as well.

The reason I think that is because I had a 08 Taurus before the car I currently own and the start up issue sounded nearly the same as the one you have minus the hard idle. The issue I found was a starter going bad and I really didn't have the money at the time this was happening since the battery and alternator also went out. However, the idle part is making me second guess myself, there are places that can check codes on your vehicle to make sure it's not a sensor failing. I'd suggest looking into that.
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Thanks for the help.

I've been to the dealership today, they ran the computer for codes and checked other simple stuff like the battery, and expectedly did not find anything.

But what really pissed me off is that they refused to even look at the video of the problem that I posted in this thread, telling me it wasn't sufficient proof for a diagnosis. I also suggested to them that I could leave the car at the dealer overnight, so they could replicate the problem in the morning, and they flat out told me that even if they could replicate it, they wouldn't do anything because they don't have any TSB's from Ford on the subject.

Basically they can't be arsed to dig deeper into the engine and just want me to deal with it until the car becomes undriveable.

I'n getting in touch with Ford Canada so hopefully they can help me out. Also looking into the lemon laws for Canada to see if I might have a case, because between this idle/startup problem and the clunky transmission, I'm really starting to wish I bought something else.
 
Soda01
Thanks for the help.

I've been to the dealership today, they ran the computer for codes and checked other simple stuff like the battery, and expectedly did not find anything.

But what really pissed me off is that they refused to even look at the video of the problem that I posted in this thread, telling me it wasn't sufficient proof for a diagnosis. I also suggested to them that I could leave the car at the dealer overnight, so they could replicate the problem in the morning, and they flat out told me that even if they could replicate it, they wouldn't do anything because they don't have any TSB's from Ford on the subject.

Basically they can't be arsed to dig deeper into the engine and just want me to deal with it until the car becomes undriveable.

I'n getting in touch with Ford Canada so hopefully they can help me out. Also looking into the lemon laws for Canada to see if I might have a case, because between this idle/startup problem and the clunky transmission, I'm really starting to wish I bought something else.
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Not to be harsh, but I had the same experiences when I owned my ford, and that is why I will not mess with Ford for a very long time.
 
LMSCorvetteGT2
Not to be harsh, but I had the same experiences when I owned my ford, and that is why I will not mess with Ford for a very long time.
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New ones are just a PITA to work on in general. I don't like messing with new cars for very long either.
 
The most frustrating thing is that I really love this car. It genuinely drives very nicely for a small CUV, the handling is very good, there is little to no body roll, the engine is not too powerful but peppy and responsive, its nicely equipped and the quality of the interior is very good...I could go on and on, if I had to replace it I don't even know if there's anything out there that would be better.

EDIT: And now since the car's been serviced yesterday it has developed a ticking noise coming somewhere from the rear end. Have I accidentally bought an Alfa Romeo that's been badged as a Ford?:lol:
 
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I was sitting in it.... Then I realized something awesome was happening... So here's a video!
 
Soda01
I've been having a problem with my car for the past couple of weeks, I'm posting this in here in case anyone can help out or knows what's wrong with it.

Its a 2014 Ford Escape, 4500 miles on the clock, 2.5L Duratec engine. I've bought it new in January.

Here's a vid of the problem:


Basically when the engine is cold, it really struggles to start as you can see in the vid, and idles irregularly for the first 5 seconds or so. Once the engine warms up it works fine, there are no problems at all when driving. It also starts up normally when the engine is warm. It does it regardless of temperature though it seems to be worse when its very humid.

So far I've been to the dealership once to get it checked out and they haven't found anything apparently. Other then that I've tried using different brands of fuel, and switched to 0W-20 Synthethic oil on my first change, none of it made any difference.

If anyone has any ideas or advice it'll be greatly appreciated.
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I had almost the exact symptoms on my '97 Grand Prix. It would start, run like a old farm tractor for 5-10 seconds than be fine. No codes or SES lights ever showed.

What happened was I nailed a huge pothole pretty good once and it actually knocked out my EGR tube. I repaired it but it wasn't sealed correctly when the engine was cold. After 5-10 seconds the little metal tube heated up and expanded enough and the problem went away.

Do you remember hitting a big pothole or curb before this issue popped up?
 
Took it to a track morning to test out the improvements I made to the cooling systems:
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Good news! They work brilliantly. More info in my thread (in my sig).
 
Getting onto a highway this evening, my clutch cable snapped. I probably should have kept going in the current gear until I found a safer place to stop, but all I knew at the time was that I heard a snap and the clutch went to the floor, so I pulled over halfway up the on-ramp.

I actually replaced this cable a few months ago, attempting to fix a problem with the transmission. It didn't fix the problem, and actually made the pedal feel worse, like something was binding. I now have to old cable back on and am able to drive the car and it feels a lot better.

I'll be having a word with the cable manufacturer. :grumpy:
 
Soda01
I've been having a problem with my car for the past couple of weeks, I'm posting this in here in case anyone can help out or knows what's wrong with it.

Its a 2014 Ford Escape, 4500 miles on the clock, 2.5L Duratec engine. I've bought it new in January.

Here's a vid of the problem:


Basically when the engine is cold, it really struggles to start as you can see in the vid, and idles irregularly for the first 5 seconds or so. Once the engine warms up it works fine, there are no problems at all when driving. It also starts up normally when the engine is warm. It does it regardless of temperature though it seems to be worse when its very humid.

So far I've been to the dealership once to get it checked out and they haven't found anything apparently. Other then that I've tried using different brands of fuel, and switched to 0W-20 Synthethic oil on my first change, none of it made any difference.

If anyone has any ideas or advice it'll be greatly appreciated.
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So I finally heard something a bit more conclusive from my dealership tonight. Apparently the problem with my car is that there is a defect with the ECU, which causes the engine to run rich during the first 5-10 seconds after a cold startup.

The problem is that Ford is still in the process of "identifying" what's causing the problem, there are no TSB's on the subject and basically the dealer cannot fix anything at the moment.

Now I don't know that much about engines, so what I'm wondering is, can this actually cause damage to the engine? Is it safe to wait indefinitely until Ford finds how to fix the problem or should I force their hand to try and do something right now?
 
If it's rich, but only for a bit, I'd say you're okay. Excess fuel can foul spark plugs and the like, but not enough fuel can cause overheating/detonation/engine blowing/Vin Diesel telling you that "me and the genius gotta rip apart the block and replace the piston rings you fried".
 

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