Lets talk about cars/motorsports

Then again, IRL the Mark 2 Jaguar has its reputation as a getaway car. And I believe Hannibal Lecter had an XJ of some description.

"Yup. That tasted purple."

Mads!Hannibal seems to prefer a Bentley.

With cannon shot and gun blast smash the alien. With laser beam and searing plasma scatter the alien to the stars.

I do remove snow and ice, but my genius sibling doesn't bother properly scrapping off the ice or snow when using it.

Good question. I assume it is because otherwise I don't know what other part might be failing me there. I know one of my wipers is doing great, but not the passenger one.

^ The obvious solution is to use your brother's face to wipe off the ice until he gets the point.

Oh, yea, I should have said that. It's probably the motor. I don't think anything else would make it only go halfway. Maybe a wiring problem could but I doubt it'd be that.

Also, yea, you need to make them realize this. Could always have a shop fix it, then hand them the bill.

edited 15th Feb '15 5:31:24 PM by Joesolo

I'm baaaaaaack

Somehow I read that as "Mark 2 Jaeger".

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

Totally a giant robot.◊

"Yup. That tasted purple."

Actually, you might be on to something. We do have precedent for giant 'robots' who can disguise themselves as vehicles.

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

Stop, you're tempting me...

I'll consider bringing it to the mechanic, I need to stop by to grab a battery anyway.

I've had the pleasure of needing to boost my car a fifth time this winter. Her age is starting to show, me think. Not sure how old she is exactly, I'm not the first owner, however she's a 2009, so she could be 5 or 6 year old already. Hopefully will last still a bit.

Might just be your battery then. See what it's like with the new one.

I'm baaaaaaack

A 2009 shouldn't be giving you problems so early in its life. That's a young car, if anything.

Have you done a drain test or checked the cells of the battery to confirm that the battery needs to be replaced? My store has made a killing from people who replace perfectly good batteries and other parts when they could have just tightened their cables or cleaned them up a bit.

Can you give us the year, make, model, engine, miles and trim model? And how old is the battery itself? Check it for a date code. For example, C6 means March of 2006. Most batteries have a lifespan of 3-5 years unless you have something heavy-duty like an Optima. If the battery has a bad cell, chunk it ASAP because each time you jump it, you run the risk of causing a rupture. Take a multimeter to it or bring to an auto parts store to have it tested unless you have a warranty with the manufacturer. Depending on your province or country, you shouldn't have to pay to get this checked out and you can probably teach yourself how to do it.

Also (VERY important) check your alternator. A fresh new battery won't do you much good if you have a bad alternator. Most bad alternators have a low charge that will drain your cold cranking amps. Open diodes are a death sentence for alternators. Check the belt on the alternator pulley and see if it's frayed or out of place. A worn belt can and will put stress on your charging system.

@pagad: Yeah, leave it alone as much as you can. It may not necessarily be the clutch, but rather the flywheel or the throwout bearing. Did you order a clutch kit with all of the major components or just the contact plate? Again, what vehicle is it?

edited 17th Feb '15 7:04:39 PM by Aprilla

Ford Focus 2009, around 89,000 kilometers. I think it's a 'SE' but I'm not sure anymore. I don't know the other details offhand either, I'll check it out tomorrow.

I'm not really used to playing under the hood by any stretch of the imagination, but I'll give a cursory look tomorrow to see if the battery is scrap or not.

Is that the original battery? Because I've heard the rule of thumb is about a 4-5 year lifespan.

I've got several we've had for quite a bit long but we use them on a little electric boat motor now rather than a car.

edited 17th Feb '15 7:18:01 PM by Joesolo

I'm baaaaaaack

I don't know if the battery is original. If I had to hazard a guess, it'd be yes. I didn't get the time to look under the hood so I am not sure.

Tho I didn't get to pop the hood open, I think I know what is the issue: It seems to be two-fold. Firstly the pivot of the wiper is loose and the wiper can be rotated rather easily. Secondly, there seems to be a nook where said wiper embeds itself way too deep into. If I had to take a guess, the motor forced the pivot to loosen every time the wiper would get 'stuck' and eventually the pivot gave up and went home, making it impossible for the motor to apply force.

Sounds like a superficial problem to me. Don't know how to fix it ATM however.

"If it's not supposed to move, and does, use duct tape. If it doesn't move, and is supposed to, use WD-40"

I'm baaaaaaack

So I apply duct tape to the pivot and WD-40 to the arm?

Gotcha.

After consulting with my neighbour (a mechanic (I'm not sure why I didn't go to him first)) I could get the wiper fixed. For those curious about the issue: The wiper is anchored to a cog-like stick that is turned by the motor. My wiper's connection was dulled so much that there was no dents on the mobile part to embed into the intact part. The ghetto fix was to hammer the dents back into the mobile part. The 100$ question is if it will last and whether it the free fix will turn out to need costly repairs. To continue...

As for the battery, I tried looking into it but as far as I could tell, it was fine. There was some of that blue dust caused by the contact on the ground part that I cleaned off partially, so this could possibly help. After talking with the aforementioned neighbour, I am under the impression that the joy rides I give my car are too short to actually charge the battery but still uses juice. My daily commute is about 20 minutes to get to the train + the ride back. Current plan is to leave my car to my sibling who has hockey practices/matches at the city next door so that it gets a couple good charges per week. I know not if one of my piece is faulty or if it's just a problem of energy in/out. To continue...

If there was corrosion on the battery terminals, that could have been the problem there. That adds a lot of resistance that's not supposed to be there.

As for the wiper, that should probably hold. And if it doesn't, he hasn't damaged anything that you wouldn't have needed to replace if you were just going to get it fixed at a shop. They'd probably have replaced the cog.

edited 20th Feb '15 11:11:12 AM by Joesolo

I'm baaaaaaack

^^ Regarding the battery gunk, pouring Coke onto the terminals will strip a lot of that crap away, with relatively little effort on your part.

Just so long as it's not absolutely important that you Must Have Caffeine.

All your safe space are belong to Trump

Had a container of kerosene spill all over my trunk. This is gonna be a fun weekend. -_-

I'm baaaaaaack

Uh, Cola actually kinda worked. I say kinda because I had removed most of the gunk with an old toothbrush I keep for cleaning small and dirty surfaces on my car.

Here's hoping that the cleaning helps.

Beyond that I'm glad I didn't rush to the garage to get that fixed. Saved meself at least 40$, if not much more in inspection and new pieces.

Thanks for the help Aprilla, Joesolo and Nohbody.

No prob marc

I'm baaaaaaack

Coke works temporarily, but you need to purchase an actual anti-corrosive agent designed for batteries. And make sure it's specifically designed for batteries, not electrical wires. The solutions are different. Baking soda works fairly well, but you'll want to remove it after you use it.

If you have to clean it again, be sure to use a wire brush or one of the conical types with a detachable brush. After the initial cleaning job, apply a corrective gel via spray or jelly pack to keep further corrosion from building up around the terminal.

One other thing. Check your battery's physical dimensions. Make sure it doesn't have a "pregnant" look because a bulge on the sides often indicate a ruptured cell.

edited 21st Feb '15 5:35:47 PM by Aprilla

Noted.

I meant to go for a thorough clean with what I had on hands, but I couldn't properly remove the cap that kept me from reaching the gunk that was more out of reach. See picture of final result.◊ I realized just now how weird the angle is, I can't really find any orientation that feels right.

Anyway, other than that the battery square as intended.

Take it off if you have to. It depends on how badly you need to clean it. If it looks decent right now, you're probably in the clear. Looks okay from the picture you showed us. I personally wouldn't do much more than what you've already done.

If you do disconnect the battery to further clean the terminal, make sure you don't have any security features that need a code to be reactivated (e.g. your radio). Hondas are notorious for that.

edited 22nd Feb '15 1:24:58 PM by Aprilla