The Driveway: COBbies talk cars

Sorry about the cross-post/double-post, but I think some of you might like some web-based car news.

Okay, whoever designed the headlights on a 2000 Golf needs to be kicked. The passenger side one is okay; no tools needed, just pop a cover off and boom...there's the bulb. The driver's side one uses the same interface...except there's a plastic cover hiding it and the battery case is less than 2 inches back from it. I swear, you need hands like a ten-year-old girl just to get in there, and there's no way to see what you are doing.

I got it in though, and now both headlights work. I've also decided to start carrying spares (since they burn out so frequently). Spares are $7.99. Tickets are $150. I did the math and decided that spares were cheaper in the long run.

Tomorrow; I replace headlights, check fluid levels and detail the fucker because I'm sick of the grime.

See, the problem is that they did use the same design on both sides, ignoring the fact that the battery is on one side but not the other.

And my little Explorer is in the shop with a dead O2 sensor. They changed it; the check engine light went out; they took it for a test drive to be sure it stayed off, and it did; ...and then it came on again as they were driving over to pick me up. Code came up the same. So either the new sensor is also bad, or there's a bad connection somewhere. Or my "check engine light" module is bad, now.

@maddie: I love how computer-driven sensors merely add another layer of complexity.

Two of the O2 sensors were bad. I don't even know how many the damn thing has. More than two. It still runs rough, but the check engine light is off now. On the list: full tune-up, new filters all around, injector cleaning and carbon blow-out. Those come as I can afford them. First step is to fill the gas tank and see how much the gas mileage improved, if at all....

Typically, you need two sensors so it can compare the difference and tell if the Catalytic Convertor is doing its job properly. Then you might have one for each cylinder bank, on each exhaust manifold, bringing the total up to three. If you have two convertors (some hi-po cars have this as a way to reduce backpressure thus freeing up horsepower), I can even see them using a fourth sensor.

Wiring may be an issue with sensors winking in and out, or, the more insidious thing, you may have a crack in your manifold. You'll then get more oxygen into the exhaust stream and that throws any sensors downstream of the crack out of tolerance. As the car has a more or less general idea of what sort of reading to look for, it goes TILT and trips your SES light again.

But the only way to do that, short of a complete visual inspection of your entire exhaust system, is to hook the tailpipes up to a gas analyzer.

If a scan-tool is showing an error code, then something is wrong. If you have the SES lit up but no codes, then you can blame the SES as being the problem.

(disclaimer: is not a mechanic.)

My advice to anyone who is driving a car with OBD-II computer controls (every vehicle sold domestically since 1996) is to purchase an OBD-II scanning tool. It will spit out the error code and you can look that up to see what the trouble is. Best 100 dollars I ever spent, but they've come down in price in the eight years since I've bought mine.

edited 10th Feb '12 1:47:15 PM by pvtnum11

It appears to be solved, mostly. There were two O₂ sensors, and they were both bad. The mechanic says that it's still not running well, by his standards, and that it could be the ignition coil is failing (apparently a fairly common thing in this model with as many miles as it has — Explorer, 193900+ miles)), or it could simply need a full tune-up and new filters all around. But the check engine light is off, there are no unexplained or unexplored codes left on it, and he doesn't see or hear anything that could cause further damage if left unattended to.

I, however, have already noticed an incredible improvement in the way it's running. It's no longer chugging like a diesel and surging at idle. I've filled the gas tank and will see what the gas mileage numbers look like in ten gallons or so.

edited 10th Feb '12 2:29:01 PM by Madrugada

Glad the problems are slowly getting solved, Maddie.

@Pvtnum: does a VW need a different kind of scanner? I totally want one of those now.

Anyhow, spent today cleaning my car...man, there are times I regret smoking in it. Between the tar residue and the sawdust, it was five hours of scrubbing vinyl that is still not clean. Anyone know a good product that will actually get car interiors clean? Also, is there a good way to take scuffs out of vinyl interiors?

I also discovered today that the drain tube for my sunroof is clogged again and is leaking into my rear foot space. Going to have to dig the manual out tomorrow and find out where the damn thing is, as it's been two years since I did this last and I totally forget.

Smoking in the car-tar? The cheapest vinegar window cleaner you can find. Not ammonia — vinegar. Or just use vinegar and water. If it leaves streaks, add a tiny bit (really tiny — no more than 1/2 a teaspoon) of dish soap to the mix. The streaks are residue from the window cleaners you've used in the past, and the soap will take care of that. Then you can go to straight vinegar and water in the future. Buy a couple rolls of cheap paper towels as well. Go through them freely, you don't want to be wiping a newly clean area with a towel that's already got gunk on it.

For the sawdust, use a vacuum first. Adding cleaning liquids to a dry substance like sawdust just makes it a worse mess. If you've got carpet in the car rather than rubber floor mats, use a whisk broom or stiff-bristle brush in conjunction with the vac to get the stuff that's dug into the pile out.

For scuffs, the best you can do is cover them or fill them in. Neutral shoe polish or armor-all both work. If you use the shoe polish, be sure to buff it in really well.

edited 10th Feb '12 7:38:16 PM by Madrugada

Cheap can of enamel spray paint carefully applied can work pretty well too.

Use some cheap paper based tape and news paper to protect what you don't want painted. Spray a single light coat over the scuff. Voila gone.

Also try gently rubbing a gum eraser against the scuffs sometimes they come out.

edited 10th Feb '12 7:44:09 PM by TuefelHundenIV

Scrib: What year is your car? If it's 1996 or newer, it should be OBD-II compliant; unless one of two things happened - you are driving a specially-imported car (usually illegal), or someone ripped out the computer system for something aftermarket or - even worse - stuck a carb on top.

Example: The 1995 Nissan 300ZX is the better car than the 1996 model, as they could not make the car run properly using the new mandated computer system, and thus is more desirable to collectors now. The '96 cars took a power hit, they basically detuned it to run right.

@pvt: my car is a 2000, imported legally. So I guess it should work.

Ok, this is ridiculous. I have long since gotten in the extensive habit of browsing used car websites for fun, and sometimes details provided don't match up with what the car clearly is, but I've come up against something I can't explain.

It's this car. The description says it's a 2002 Mercedes C230 Kompressor hatchback, and it looks exactly like that's what it is...except on the back, as you'll see in the pictures it says CLK320. The CLK320 of that time looked completely different than this, and there was no such thing as a CLK320 Kompressor. In every way but the labeling on the back, this car is a C230 Kompressor.

So what the hell is happening here? Was it labeled wrong? Did some eccentric owner have the letters and numbers changed for some reason? One odd little clue was that I looked at official photos of the 2002 C230 Kompressor and the "C230" is on the left with "Kompressor" on the right. Which is the opposite of how it is here. But still, what gives?

edited 14th Feb '12 7:30:57 PM by frog753

Mis-badging a car is not an unknown trick.

If I understand Mercedes terminology, the number denotes engine displacement, so that 320 is 3.2 liters. Letter denotes class - E is better than C, M is their small SUV, size, and that's about as far as I know.

Somebody may have wanted bragging rights and swapped numerals. Maybe to price their used car for more cash. I'd ask the seller pointedly on it, they might have bought it like that...

You'll find this happens on domestic cars - guy has a Camaro RS, but really wanted a Z-28, so he buys the stuff needed to up-badge the car. This can get expensive, and real car enthusiasts don't fall for it, anyway. A simple check under the hood or looking for less-obvious trim option pieces can give this away real quick.

The flip to this is de-badging or under-badging a car, so it becomes a sleeper. You have a Fox-body LX 5.0 Mustang? Easy. Take off all the 5.0 call-outs and give it a quiet exhaust. Maybe find some base LX rims, and bam, you got what looks like a four-banger base model LX Mustang. Add exhaust cutouts so if you want it to be nice and loud, you can. Even better if it's one of the turbocharged four-bangers; get rid of the SVO badging and put a plain hood on it versus the vented one.

Conversely, the seller in question may not have a blessed clue what they're selling. Seen that happen, too.

edited 14th Feb '12 11:25:52 PM by pvtnum11

Thanks a lot. I just wanted to know if badge alteration was actually something that happened, and now I know. That's got to be a C230 that someone was trying to pass off as a much more powerful car for some reason, rather than something down-badged. Having a CLK320 was pretty cool, I think, whereas this C230 seems to me to be the smallest and cheapest C, which was the lowest American Mercedes anyway.

I do find this little car to be quite interesting. They have become somewhat rare in my area by now, although I can recall seeing more than usual in and around NYC, and I do think it might make a good city car.

Unrelated: I'm so into cars that for me, part of what's funny about the "Friday" video, on top of everything else, is that Rebecca Black is riding around in Sebring convertible. Seriously? That's not exactly what I'd call cool. If I directed that music video, terrible as it was, I would have at least tried to get BMW 3-series or something. Or no, maybe a Mustang! That would actually be cool, and make the video suck slightly less to a crazy car buff like me.

edited 15th Feb '12 5:39:11 AM by frog753

1989 TTA Convertible, or go home.

I'll accept a ZR-1 Corvette, though. One with the LT 5 dual overhead cam motors, which led to the development of the Caddilac Northstar engines.

Frog, I think that seller is trying to BS someone. That is the C-Class SportCoupe, and the CLK was a C-Class made to look more like the E-Class.

Well, um, I'd say it's the car that's trying to BS someone, and the seller is just telling the truth and ignoring the deceptive rebadging! I bet that, viewing those photos, most people's brains would skip right over the "CLK320" on the back and see "C230" instead. It's a huge wholesale seller, and their info about scores of other cars seems to be correct and such.

edited 15th Feb '12 8:53:20 PM by frog753

Prettt cheap for a Benz... If it was a CLK, I'd imagine a LOT higher asking price.

So I have seen for sure by now that used Crown Victoria Police Interceptors come up for sale all the time. Many still have the spotlight and that front bumper thingy and I don't see much of a problem with all that. Those are things anyone can legally put on a vehicle. Many also have much of their police-like appearance still intact, by which I mostly mean the ones that were black and white and remain as such, just with any words removed. However, very occasionally you find a used CVPI that also still has lights, siren, and special partitioned-and-can't-open-from-inside back seat. My big question here is, how legal is it for an ordinary person to drive one of those?

An unscrupulous person could take terrible advantage of such a car, and even a good person who acted like there were no lights and siren would still probably be treated like a cop by other drivers, affecting the way they drive. I figure someone abusing a CVPI would be caught eventually, but do dealerships do checks first and only sell a fully equipped car to another actual cop?

You couldn't order an Interceptor, they were fleet sales to local PD's. That said, once they're used up and retired out of local PD fleets and stripped of the lights and sirens, they're fair game for private citizens to own.

Heck, you could already make traffic slow down by simply driving a bog-standard white Crown Victoria, but the Interceptor got a few go-faster goodies and structural reinforcements that the plebian model did not.

I was tempted to spring four grand for one that was listed locally, but the milieage was a bit high and the registration was expired, so I would've had to pay the back taxes on it.

I'm simply saying, I encountered at least two used Interceptors for sale with the lights and siren and partition between back and front seats still all intact. As advertised/displayed through the used car buying aspect of cars.com. Also at least one Impala of the same sort, whatever they call that. And a Charger, although that appeared to be a barely-driven demonstration model. I could dig them up again if you want proof. Most of the large amount of Interceptors for sale were stripped of everything but the spotlight, or even that, but a few seriously weren't.

Also, I found a fully intact fire truck for sale on that site once. And stuff like nearly full-size dump trucks and all sorts of shuttle buses.

I don't doubt that it happens, just that it strikes me as odd - Hawaii has some strict laws about what color of lights you can have on your car, and if you use those goofy ricer blue-tinted driving lamps, prepare yourself for a ticket.

Ugh, ricers.

To be fair, ugh, Third-generation F-body owners... (I happen to be one, lol)

edited 28th Mar '12 5:48:37 PM by pvtnum11

Highfive sir!

F-body owners?