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General => General Discussion for Everybody => Topic started by: Griffin on December 28, 2015, 10:41:12 PM

Title: Car Trouble
Post by: Griffin on December 28, 2015, 10:41:12 PM
I know next to nothing about cars, I have a 97 honda accord with about 120,000 miles on it. 4 weeks ago it stopped starting, the battery was dead, my breathalyzer would say power weak, before it stopped working. My lights and radio wasn't working either, I thought it might be because the light on the driver side door will occasionally come on because it thinks my door is open when its not I thought it might of stayed on a few days killing the battery. I replaced the battery 4 weeks ago and it immediately started and was working perfectly until 2 days ago.

Before I replaced the battery it would start when I jump started it, and I drove around for about 45 minutes to revive the battery. A few days later it stopped working again and that was when I replaced the battery. On christmas I got in my car to start it and it was completely dead, I couldn't even unlock the doors with the key fob. When it first started happening was when we got our firsts big snow, and on christmas it was snowing too and it has been really cold since then as well.

In Feb. of this year I gave my roommate a jump and I didn't close my hood all the way so it didn't latch. When I was driving to work on the highway it flew up and shattered my windshield and messed the hood up because it bent the hood backwards so it will no longer latch. I got 2 metal plates and put 5 screws in my hood and 5 in my car to hold my hood down for a quick fix until I could afford a new hood, which is one of the things I was going to do in oklahoma when I got pulled over and arrested for my dui.

Since the hood doesn't shut all the way, snow and rain can get under it because it is kind of bent up, I will post a picture so you guys know what I am talking about. I thought that might be causing part of the problem because this time and last time when I replaced my battery it was cold and snowing when it happened. I don't know if there is something electrical that might of gotten wet causing it, I know nothing about cars.

Now it wont even start when I jump start it, it doesn't make any noise at all no clicking or trying to turn over or anything like that. I have no idea what is wrong with it, my guesses after searching the web made it sound like it's the alternator or starter. Does anyone have any ideas of what it could be? Does it sound like I need a new alternator? Any Ideas or suggestions are much appreciated, also if anyone knows how much it costs to have your alternator fixed that is good to know if it is the problem. I am beginning to think that I must of been a terrible person in a past life.


If anyone was wondering about when my hood came up and shattered my windshield yes it was extremely scary, it was the second most scariest moment I have ever had driving a car.(the first was when I was driving down from blackhawk which is way up in the mountains and my jeep was messed up and all of the lights and electronics would go out for a few seconds randomly, so it was pitch black driving down a curvy road ontop of a mountain and every now and then my headlights would go out for a few seconds and I couldn't see anything)

When my hood flew up it covered my entire windshield so I couldn't see anything. It broke the braces that hold it up and completely shattered the windshield, I was going 55 and it was in a construction zone at night and their was no shoulder. It was 2 lanes with the cement median divider things on each side of the road. I tried to stop as fast as possible without getting rear ended, i was using my mirrors to see where I was in the lane and I got so close to crashing into the divider that I scratched my passenger side mirror on the cement divider while slowing down.

I was at the bottom of a hill and I was completely stopped in one lane so people driving on the highway couldn't see my car until they were about 40 yards away. I got out with my flashlight and pushed my hood down, but it wouldn't latch because it was bent, I was literally standing on my hood jumping up and down trying to get it to latch with zero luck, I ended up fastening it with zip ties I had in my car on the highway because the next exit wasn't for 1.5 miles. It was ridiculously scary, the type of thing nightmares and the final destination movies are made of.

so the lesson from this story is always make sure your hood latches when you close it because no good deed goes unpunished.
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Anti-hero on December 28, 2015, 10:45:43 PM
All I know is cold will effect
A battery
That's all
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Guts on December 28, 2015, 11:11:29 PM
Check the leads connecting to the battery... maybe they are loose. Used to happen to me if I slammed the door to hard in my old Accord after I changed the battery. I was too lazy to fix it right so I'd just wiggle the wires everything it didn't work. Hopefully it's that simple for you!
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: rusty puppy on December 28, 2015, 11:14:25 PM
Before you go spend a bunch of
money on a starter or alt. check your cables,
all the way to your starter,they may have corroded.
                                      Good Luck
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Thoms on December 28, 2015, 11:24:29 PM
Money is on the alternator. Autozone will check it for free.
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Guts on December 29, 2015, 12:09:55 AM
If it was the alternator, I'm pretty sure it would still start when given a jump... at least for a little while until the battery dies.
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Griffin on December 29, 2015, 03:07:00 AM
When I hooked up the cables the power came back immediately and my breathalyzer, headlights, and radio were all working. Then same thing happened when I turned the key, it didn't make a sound. I had it hooked up for about 4 minutes but the second I took off the cables after it didn't start all the electronics went dead, it had zero power, I couldn't even use the key fob to lock or unlock it. If that helps any.

When it happened the first time before I replaced the battery it started right up and was good for a few days. After I put the new battery in everything was perfect it would start right up every time. It has been less than a month since I put the new battery in, and it happened both times when it was snowing.

I think the world is actually just shitting on me, and that is the only reason it stops working when it snows. It knows that I will have to walk a mile and sit at a freezing bus stop in the snow, I am beginning to think I was hitler or the guy who killed jesus in a past life. Getting to the clinic is now a bitch, hopefully it decides it wants to work tomorrow, i hope it is a cheap fix, I can't even afford rent how am I supposed to afford a bus pass. I have to pay my insurance no matter what because of the sr-22... fml
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Guts on December 29, 2015, 04:47:06 AM
Thoms is probably right then... most likely the alternator. I'm not sure but I think these newer engines are so wired to the electronics that they won't work without a battery. I mean, in the old days with carburetors and stuff, would a car keep running sans radio with a dead alternator when given a jump? If you're willing to try it Griffin, it'd be interesting to see what happens when you let the battery charge a bit longer. An alternator should cost around $100 and I bet labor is probably close to the same just to give you an idea of what it's going to cost.

Edit: We'll actually, if it's not making that chk chk chk sound, wouldn't that indicate the starter isn't working?

Sorry Griffin, I like cars and like to pretend I know what I'm talking about but I don't really know shit... I'll try to do some googling for yah :)
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: duck on December 29, 2015, 10:09:26 AM
A car with a bad alternator will almost always still start when jumped. 

First thing I would do is to disconnect your battery terminals and clean them thoroughly with a wire brush and some wd40. 

next, make sure you tighten the battery terminals/posts once cleaned really well. I had really strange starting and charging issues not long ago and it is was all because my terminals were dirty/loose. 

if that doesnt fix it take it to OReiileys and have them test the battery. 

If the battery is good then I would suggest having a shop test your starter, which has to be removed to be tested. 


the chk chk chk sound could be from a bad starter or bad battery. 

make sure your shit is real clean and tight and then get back to us.
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Griffin on December 29, 2015, 02:45:53 PM
Okay I will do that today. I got some lube stuff with the battery when I bought it that is used to clean corrosion and acid and protect it, so ill give it a good cleaning and report back. Not having family here sucks! My roommate is the only one I know well enough to ask to jump my car but he is super lazy and I already had him jump it for me twice and drop me off down the road.

His dad is the landlord so I don't want to piss him off or anything being needy. I have lived here since may and that is all I have ever asked him to do and he acts like I am pulling his teeth out. I don't know if he is just joking but there aren't enough places in Denver I can afford to rent so I am going to tread lightly.

 If I was in Oklahoma my friends would have taken my car apart and put it back together twice by now, you can't even hint of needing help or having anything broken or they'll be in your house trying to fix whatever, they are awesome.

I am hoping that it is something super easy because the 30 minute round trip it usually takes for me to get to the clinic took me 3 hours and 45 minutes today. 75 minutes of that was sitting at the bus stop and it is 6 degrees with snow on the ground. If I get my appeal for school approved, I will just have to make it until the end of Feb. and I can have it towed and fixed with some of my student loan money. The world hates me.

Here are some other things that I saw when looking at it today that may or may not be relevant. When I put the new battery in I lifted my hood to high and it cut the tube that my windshield wiper fluid goes through. It is close to the windshield in the corner on the passengers side of the car. It leaked some right there and there is a box of fuses there and also last week the front driver side wheel well cover that is directly above the tire got completely ripped off.

I can see some cables for my driver side headlight through where the plastic wheel well cover was. I don't know if a chunk of snow or ice could of flown up while I was driving and dislodged anything it was working great until christmas, it would start every time no weird noises or anything. Now it has zero power at all, the power came on when i tried to jump off then went away completely the second i took the cables off.

I don't know if my breathalyzer is playing into this as well, obviously it isn't making my car lose all its power and be dead, but maybe it is why when I am jumping it, it wont start. You are supposed to notify them if your battery dies, and you can't unplug it, for whatever reason my lease ended the 12th of this month instead of next month I don't know why.

Before it completely lost all power this time, I would blow in it and when I tried to start my car it would reset, which it is not supposed to do. Then it came back on and said sync and about 30 seconds later it said start car again, then reset, and when it came on the last time it said power weak which is what it did when all of this started happening last month. When I jumped it yesterday when I plugged the cables in, it said device unplugged before it said sync and then turned on and that is the first time I have ever seen that.

I don't know if it is not letting my car start when it has power to be jumped but I would think it would say lock out instead of letting me do everything like normal and after passing the breathalyzer test it has said start car each time. Every time I would try to start it while it was hooked up while jumping it, it would do what it did when it was low on power, it would reset, turn back on, then say sync, and then the 2 minute countdown that says passed-start car would continue.

That is what it was doing when it had almost no power left which makes me wonder if it has something to do with it. It shouldn't of restarted like it lost power when it was hooked up while I was trying to jump it. Is there a way that I did the jump start wrong? All the electronics turned on immediately is there something I could of done wrong, to make it not receive enough power to start up??

 Like I said I know nothing about cars. My roommate jumps cars differently then I was taught, he had me hook the cables on my battery before putting the cables on his and his car was on the whole time. I don't know if that would make any difference but i figured I would point all of it out just in case that has something to do with it not starting this time. Because before I replaced the battery it started right up when we jumped it and i put the cables on his car first that time.

That makes me think that something happened very recently that is causing this and more than likely my alternator isn't recharging my battery, and that is why it died after 4 weeks when I replaced the battery. It was the first time I've ever replaced a battery as well, I watched a youtube video to learn, I know that the postive and negative are hooked up in the right spot. Anyway thank you all for all the advice, help, suggestions, and support. This year fucking sucked and this is the cherry on top to finish it off.

On top of all this I owe my breathalyzer company $120 and my lease ended the 12th instead of the 12th of January. I don't know if they stopped recording on the 12th and I will be forced to pay for an extra month iff the dmv even lets me have it out and gives me my license back. Today is the 4 month mark which is when they are supposed to, but I don't know if the expired tag ticket, the lease ending 2 weeks early, and the hot ba from hand soap is going to make me have to keep it in 5 more months which would suck because it's $100 a month.

The time I failed the breathalyzer and blew hot, I blew zero and passed to start it 5 mins. before, and 2 minutes after blowing hot. I didn't know that you are supposed to air out your car, you also can't eat or drink anything, wash your hands or brush your teeth for 30 minutes before driving and if you work with certain chemicals like I do, you can't have your work clothes in the car and are supposed to roll down your windows while driving occasionally. The dough at my job will make you fail the breathalyzer if you eat it within an hour of doing the breath test.

They made me pay $90 after blowing hot to keep my car from locking out even though I had passed 5 mins before and 2 mins. after. They have a camera in my car pointing at my face so they can see me blow in it.

Plus I have to pay the ticket today or it gets doubled, and the bus now costs $20 more a month and .35 cents more per ride. Plus if I am not driving my car I still have to pay for my sr-22 insurance and can't lose it for any time period for the next 3 years or they will suspend my license.

The bus drove right past me when I was at the bus stop trying to goto the clinic at 530 this morning. It was 6 degrees and the bus stop was well lit, plus I had a phone in each hand waving my arms back and forth yelling and he just drove right past me making me wait 30 minutes.  I wouldn't be surprised if he flipped me off on the way by. Then my next bus left 8 minutes early so I had to wait another 35 minutes outside at that bus stop.

If the don't approve my appeal I might actually break. All I know is it can't really get to much worse, unless they take me to jail.

Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Opus on December 29, 2015, 06:30:17 PM
Duck is right that when trying to diagnose battery problems, the connections at the battery terminals should be cleaned really well and checked to make sure they're tight and not acting as a bottleneck for the power. Even a bad ground can cause electrical problems. It's a good idea to take the terminal connections off and use a wire brush to clean them off, also it can help to scuff up the terminal posts on the battery itself so's to increase the connection surface once you put the cables back on. Also, make sure the point where the battery ground cable attaches to the block or wherever has a good connection - a bad ground could easily cause all the problems you're having and those connections get corroded over time.

Do you have or know how to use a multimeter? If so, you can check the standing and running voltage of the battery, the voltage coming off the alternator and also for resistance to ground. Multimeters can be found for really cheap, $20 and under. They're a great tool to have and not hard to learn how to use.

Hero is right that cold batteries don't always function that well. Sometimes they'll put out a bit more juice like in the afternoon when shit warms up.

One symptom of an alternator that's not producing enough charging current is to watch the headlights when the car is running in the dark. If you gas it and the lights dim, it means the charging system can't keep up with the ignition, which would typically point to the alternator. Turn on a few accessories if you can when trying this, the point is to pull as much juice from the system as you can and see if you can detect a voltage drop with the engine RPM - if so, your charging system is weak.

Definitely check the cable connections and make sure the ground is connected to a good, clean surface. Again that could easily be your problem right there - you can't charge a battery that isn't grounded.
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Dustybowls on December 29, 2015, 08:41:10 PM
Most likely a bad alternator. Your battery wasn't being charged at all so it's dead now.  A lot of times as starters die they get flat spots and get sticks you can hit it with a wrench or something and it will unstuck it so it will start.  I bet it's your alternator though. 
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: duck on December 30, 2015, 12:25:55 PM
To those suggesting it's the alternator, why won't it start with a jump?
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Thoms on December 30, 2015, 02:07:47 PM
Because you have to have power to spark plugs, if the battery and the alternator are read than the car will run fine on jumper canes. Take the cables off and it dies. Unless I read the ops post wrong.

Truth be told a message board ain't gonna fix your car. You can get all three possibilities tested at an auto part store for free.

Let us know what happens.
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Thoms on December 30, 2015, 02:10:05 PM
Oops I must the post above yours duck. My bad. I'd guess because the battery has had the fuck juiced out of it for a month and its fried to. He will need a new alternator and 85% chances a new battery as well.
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Daughter of Dionysus on December 30, 2015, 02:26:18 PM
Griffin
Did you by any chance
Google to see if there is
A problem that is common
With your year and model car?
Sometimes it happens that certain cars have issues
Specific to model and year

Like with my VW Beetle
A common problem was the rings
I found that out thru Google

I know y'all may think cuz I'm female
That I don't know wtf I'm talking about
But I would think
You have a problem with your alternator

FTR
I have worked on cars
I started racing when I was 9
And used to manage my Dad's full service station

That's my 2ยข
And a lil info regarding it's basis
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Thoms on December 30, 2015, 02:37:31 PM
Bad ass what did you race HeAd?I had a frienkinstien ex500 and a Honda RS250. (Not the aprilia RS) it was similar to the Yamaha tz250. I miss willow springs!
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Daughter of Dionysus on December 30, 2015, 02:42:12 PM
Bad ass what did you race HeAd?I had a frienkinstien ex500 and a Honda RS250. (Not the aprilia RS) it was similar to the Yamaha tz250. I miss willow springs!
I raced Jr. Dragster
And a couple times
I did the quarter mile in my Dad's
1984 Camero
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Guts on December 30, 2015, 03:02:43 PM
Oops I must the post above yours duck. My bad. I'd guess because the battery has had the fuck juiced out of it for a month and its fried to. He will need a new alternator and 85% chances a new battery as well.

He's saying the lights turn on when it's jumped so the battery is still working to some extent. He said the starter is not making any noise though... would an alternator cause that?

Duck: also something I didn't think about is, if it wasn't the alternator, how would the battery have died in the first place?

On a small side note, check out this sweet tattoo:

https://s3.amazonaws.com/static.carthrottle.com/workspace/uploads/memes/tatuaje_turbo_alternador-54fde1ba5df90.jpg

Dude thought it was a turbo he was getting inked but it's actually an alternator lol... sure you don't got a turbo where the alternator is supposed to be Griffin? ;)
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Opus on December 30, 2015, 03:12:04 PM
I raced Jr. Dragster

That's badass!

Do you remember the numbers you were putting down? 1/8th mile I'm guessing?

Do you remember your reaction times or maybe the 60' times?

I'd be interested to know more about the cars..

@Guts: if the lights come on when the cables are hooked, all that means is the car is pulling enough power from the "donor" battery to power the lights on the "jumpee." It doesn't mean there's necessarily enough juice to crank the starter tho, but that could be caused by a few things.

I have a Honda that will just "click" when it doesn't have the amps to turn the starter -- not sure if I said that already.

An alternator is simply a generator that pushes AC current instead of DC current. It's sole job is to supply power to the car; for the lights & accessories, ignition and for re-charging the battery while the car is running, that's all it does. If you had a really ass-kicking battery with endless power, you wouldn't need an alternator. Or likewise: if you had an alternator that spun while the motor wasn't running, you wouldn't need a battery.
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Dustybowls on December 30, 2015, 04:05:11 PM
Duck,  when the battery is really low it will take a lot of charge to even turn the motor over. We know the battery is bad because when he puts cables on it the lights work,when the cables are disconnected the lights no longer work. Lights draw very little power compared to the starter so that's why they work and the car still won't turn over.   
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Daughter of Dionysus on December 30, 2015, 04:21:21 PM
That's badass!

Do you remember the numbers you were putting down? 1/8th mile I'm guessing?

Do you remember your reaction times or maybe the 60' times?

I'd be interested to know more about the cars..

@Guts: if the lights come on when the cables are hooked, all that means is the car is pulling enough power from the "donor" battery to power the lights on the "jumpee." It doesn't mean there's necessarily enough juice to crank the starter tho, but that could be caused by a few things.

I have a Honda that will just "click" when it doesn't have the amps to turn the starter -- not sure if I said that already.

An alternator is simply a generator that pushes AC current instead of DC current. It's sole job is to supply power to the car; for the lights & accessories, ignition and for re-charging the battery while the car is running, that's all it does. If you had a really ass-kicking battery with endless power, you wouldn't need an alternator. Or likewise: if you had an alternator that spun while the motor wasn't running, you wouldn't need a battery.

In the camero
The best I ever did was
13 secs

My Dad
Averaged 11.5 secs
He was pretty good

With my dragster
I averaged about 12 secs in the quarter mile
I stopped racing Jr. Drag when I was 13
And only raced my Dad's car
For fun a couple times

I don't wanna derail this thread
Any further
Sorry Griffin

Thanx guys
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Griffin on December 30, 2015, 05:53:28 PM
I cleaned the intervals and put some lube stuff i got with the battery that is supposed to clean it and protect it on their before I reinstalled the battery. The battery has zero juice so I have to try jump starting it again but don't really have anyone who can help me with that because my roommate is lazy and i have zero friends in this state. I hooked up my jumper cables to it and touched the metal tips on the other end to see if it had any power at all and it didn't spark or anything and I still cant lock my doors or anything like that.

I checked the ground wire and it was hooked up good the wires dont like corroded or like they have a bad connection or anything. I looked around and didn't see anything that looked unplugged or anything like that. I am going to try and jump start it one more time, and then I am going to have the battery tested and see if they will replace it because it has no juice left in it at all.

If I can get it started with a jump start or new battery I am going to take it to a shop by my house that is doing free battery, alternator, and starter checks and see if they can diagnose the problem. If I have to tow it then I probably will and see how much it will cost to get fixed the shop is only 3 miles from my house so hopefully I can tow it for cheap. If i don't get it fixed and taken into the breathalyzer place before the 10th then I will have to pay them another $100.

I was supposed to get the breathalyzer out on the 21st but since I can't take it in to get the data off it downloaded, and they can't do it remotely since it has no power I can't have my hearing at the dmv for them to say whether or not I can have it taken out and get my license back. They can deny me and I will have to keep it for 5 more months because I got the ticket, and blew hot once 2 weeks after getting it put in from having just washed my hands at work. According to them it picked up the alcohol in the soap and cost me $90 to not get locked out.

The dmv will probably let me get it out since I passed the breath test 5 mins. before and 2 mins. after blowing hot the time I failed but I have to take it to their shop before the dmv will give me a hearing. If I can't get it fixed I will have to either tow it to the breathalyzer shop, then tow it home, then have my hearing and if they say yes I will have to tow it their and back again to have it taken out. They probably wont let me get the info downloaded until I pay them the $190 I owe them right now, I just don't want to have to pay for it another month if I can get it out.

I will keep you guys updated on what happens and what the problem was. THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH!!! for everything all the advice, ideas, suggestions, and support I really appreciate you guys helping me with this. You all know I don't have many people to talk to and I don't know anything about cars so this helped me a ton!

Hopefully it is something cheap and simple because I spent 5 hours on the bus yesterday and 4 hours today just going to my clinic and back. I am hoping that when I replaced the battery I unplugged something so it couldn't recharge or something like that and that it is an easy and cheap fix. My last battery could of just been bad because it was old, and then when I put the new one in I messed something up on accident. Once I can get someone to help me by giving me a jump I will know a lot more and be able to diagnose it a little better.

Hopefully it starts right up when I jump it so I can take it to get looked at and fixed so I can get the stupid expensive breathalyzer out and not have to take the bus anymore. I am hoping that since it died on christmas that they can send the data they have before that to the dmv so I can get my hearing but I don't know if it is something that downloads automatically or if they have to remotely download it when it has power to get that info.

If it won't start then I may try to have them download the info remotely when I have power to it so I don't have to tow it to their shop twice or pay for 2 $150 service calls. What is dumb is that I could just bring the breathalyzer to their shop so they can download the history but I am not allowed to take it out unless I am at their shop.

I think the breathalyzer is causing some of the problem, because it uses power 24/7 so they know it is always on and where I am at. I only drive short 10 minute or less trips so it might not have enough time to recharge and has power being depleted 24/7 or the breathalyzer could be the reason it wont start when jumped because it hasn't had power so it thinks its been tampered with which you can't do and when I jumped it last time it was the first time it has ever said device removed.

I am just praying that stuff starts going right. I am getting my phase 3 next week so I will only have to goto the clinic 3 days a week and School starts the 9th if my appeal gets approved and if it does I will only have to make it to the end of feb. for my loan money to come in then I can pay all my probation fines, get my car fixed, and pay rent for the next 6 months so I won't have anymore financial stress, plus being in school makes me happy by itself, because I am doing something and working on my future so I am not stuck on min. wage forever.

Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Opus on December 30, 2015, 06:59:52 PM
Quote
I think the breathalyzer is causing some of the problem, because it uses power 24/7 so they know it is always on and where I am at. I only drive short 10 minute or less trips so it might not have enough time to recharge and has power being depleted 24/7 or the breathalyzer could be the reason it wont start when jumped because it hasn't had power so it thinks its been tampered with which you can't do and when I jumped it last time it was the first time it has ever said device removed.

You could be right on about this. If it doesn't have it's own power supply then it has to get power somewhere. Somehow I doubt it's nuclear or solar powered.. It's also very true that if you never or rarely drive more than 10 miles, you're not really ever giving the battery a good charge and that kind of treatment could deplete it fast.

Once you get the car running, make sure you go drive it for awhile -- I'd take it out on the highway and run it with all accessories off for awhile, like a couple dozen miles+ at least.

Again if you can find a multimeter, once you sort the battery, you can tell if you have a parasitic drain happening (like if the breathalyzer is draining it) by checking the voltage every few hours. Just set the dial on the meter to like "20V DC" or something close to 20, so that you get a readout like: "12.45 V DC" - with two places followin the decimal, and check it like every few hours between drives and watch for a drop. Outdoor temp should be consistent when doing this, but the voltage shouldn't really drop much over a day outside of maybe big temperature swings.

IDK if that helps. FWIW I got my last little POS multimeter for like $15 (as clueless as they always were, I'll miss radioshack).
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Anti-hero on December 30, 2015, 07:40:24 PM
I would put my money on a battery
if you can get it to start and then disconnect the battery and it stays running.
its not your alternator its the battery I know that but it sounds to me like it's your battery

And HeAd is better mechanic then me
that girl rocks when it comes to cars and she can drive the shit out of 5 speed
I love girls who can shift manual transmissions they're hot
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Reezy on December 31, 2015, 10:51:58 AM
Check your battery warranty before spending money on a new one. I got mine replaced free like a year later because it was considered "defective" failing that soon


Also I used to have a problem the the wire to my starter would kinda come loose, I believe it was like a plug. It would not make noise but everything else would work so not your issues but I'd just click it on all the way and be good to go
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Smacky-Doodle 2.0 on December 31, 2015, 11:18:11 AM


I think the breathalyzer is causing some of the problem, because it uses power 24/7 so they know it is always on and where I am at. I only drive short 10 minute or less trips so it might not have enough time to recharge and has power being depleted 24/7 or the breathalyzer could be the reason it wont start when jumped because it hasn't had power so it thinks its been tampered with which you can't do and when I jumped it last time it was the first time it has ever said device removed.


Yeah i know a guy that had to use a breathalyzer and he was having battery problems due to it not being hooked up quite as its meant to be.  DEFINITELY get that part checked out.

Other than that get a Fluke on it as mentioned and test it or have someone do it that knows how.  DON'T start throwing parts at it until you've got it diagnosed.

Good luck, having a car that won't start is very frustrating, no?
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: duck on December 31, 2015, 12:00:27 PM
Griffi, not trying to be an asshole, but you will get better responses to a pretty straight forward auto issue if you are a little more concise and clear and don't write a novel for each reply. 

Also, I get that the alternator is PROBABLY bad, but in auto repair you work easiest to hardest. A bad alternator will not directly prevent starting. It may wear down a battery, yes, but then the reason it's not starting is the weak battery. 

It's silly to jump to alternator before thoroughly checking connections and battery.

In this instance I would probably test the alternator before the starter as O'Reillys can test the alternator on the car while the starter must be removed to be tested which usually costs about 50 bux

Also the breathyzer would be high on my list as things to check as a draw on your battery that could be causing this problem.  It is a very good idea to get a multimeter (5.99$ from Harnor freight).  Then just Google how to test certain components.  The test process is different for different electrical components. They are very simple to use if you follow instructions fron YouTube or Google
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: puppy on December 31, 2015, 05:03:20 PM
I would put my money on a battery
if you can get it to start and then disconnect the battery and it stays running.
its not your alternator its the battery I know that but it sounds to me like it's your battery

And HeAd is better mechanic then me
that girl rocks when it comes to cars and she can drive the shit out of 5 speed
I love girls who can shift manual transmissions they're hot


I prefer to drive a manual ...taught both my boys to drive them...people never ask to borrow my jeep lol...I'm surprised by the amount of people who can't drive a manual ...
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Griffin on December 31, 2015, 08:57:33 PM
Yeah you are probably right duck i should put my woe's about the world having me over a barrel in another thread so i dont derail this one so i can get something figured out.


Little update after reinstalling the battery and cleaning intervals and checking all wires and fluids in the car i tried to jump start it again with the exact same results. It didnt try to turn over, it didnt make clicking or any noise at all, i think i may have heard the fuel pump kick on but that is all. Within a minute of taking the jumper cables off it was completely dead and no lights or electronics etc would turn on.

I am going to see if the battery is fucked right now if it is a dead cell or bad battery I read somewhere that can cause this. They said they will charge it and if holds a charge then they wont replace it. So depending on what happens there i might no a tiny bit more. Could this be a fuse that is blown and not letting the car know to do start or something. Or an electrical issue causing the same thing. Could it be both the starter and alternator? if the starter wasn't working and the alternator was wouldn't the battery not of died if it is good?
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Opus on December 31, 2015, 09:28:39 PM
Have you jumped cars before? Sometimes it takes awhille to get enough juice in the battery to crank the starter. I've had it take as long as 10-15 minutes. It's important that the cables are connected to the terminals really well. Electricity is like water, it can't have bottlenecks or else it won't flow very fast. So make sure the cable clamps are on there really solid.

When the donor/jumper car is hooked up, it should be running and it helps a lot to have someone sitting in the donor car revving the motor or trying to keep the revs up, this spins the alt. on the donor car so it can push more juice into the battery. Make sure no other accessories on either car are running as well - no lights, radios, heaters, or other power drains, close the doors and rev the motor for 5ish minutes if it doesn't crank in the first minute; again: sometimes it takes awhile.

Also, you should check the water levels in the battery, just pop the caps on top and peek down in the holes, the water should be very near the top. If not *distilled* water is all it needs, this is important tho..

HTH
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Sand and Water on December 31, 2015, 09:40:43 PM
@puppy--i can't remember which it is (faulty alternator or starter), that'll still start if you have a manual transmission & push it then pop the clutch, but totally agree. Haven't been able to drive stick shift since injury but miss it. (Yeah i know w/computers today, ya don't get better mileage, but its just fun imo lol).

 Lol i remember my very first boyfriend gritting his teeth but very patiently teaching me not to ride (aka burn out) his clutch. He was a saint :D

@griffin--the warranty thought above is great idea--maybe even if the battery doesn't end up being the culprit, you'd at least have a reliable one for later?  I know from my mom that y'all have been having ridiculously cold weather (it's like you're getting the polar vortex weather we had last two winters!) so maybe that's contributing?  Whatever it ends up being, I hope its an "easy" fix & you're back behind the wheel soon.
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Opus on December 31, 2015, 10:20:59 PM
@puppy--i can't remember which it is (faulty alternator or starter), that'll still start if you have a manual transmission & push it then pop the clutch

Compression/bump starting can bypass the starter, not the alternator or electrical system tho..

With more and more electric vehicles and dual-clutch transmissions out there, bump starting is a dying art!
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Sand and Water on December 31, 2015, 11:02:57 PM
Compression/bump starting can bypass the starter, not the alternator or electrical system tho..

With more and more electric vehicles and dual-clutch transmissions out there, bump starting is a dying art!

Thanks for the clarification-i just remembered it was crucial to NOT turn it back off until i got it fixed or could do it again (like got to work etc) & be sure to park where i could get it to roll lol.  Too true it's a dinosaur method, but it was a great feeling to get it started when no $$ for a repair ;)  I miss uncomplicated cars lol. Huge respect to all our car guys (& girls too!)
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Griffin on January 01, 2016, 12:31:51 AM
I took my battery in and they are giving it a full charge and then going to test it. They said they will give me a new one if it doesn't hold the charge but if not the battery will be fully charged which is good. When I replaced the battery after I first bought it, it started right up and worked perfect until christmas day. So hopefully if it's fully charged I will have the same result and can take it into get tested.

Is it likely that something else became messed up the day before christmas making it not be able to start even if it has plenty of power? I am assuming the alternator is messed up or the battery since the battery died very quickly but that doesn't necessarily explain why it won't start when jump starting it does it? I guess I will know more when I plug in a fully charged battery. Thanks for all the help so far though!

My landlord was the one who tried to give me a jump start, he has a 2015 camaro which is pretty snazzy. We left it on for 10 minutes and he was revving his engine frequently but I had the same exact results. No noise when starting no clicking or anything and within a minute of taking the cables off it was completely dead again. S&W is right it was 6 degrees Monday morning when I was waiting at the bus stop to goto the clinic and the bus drove by me without stopping making me wait another 30 minutes. It took 5 hours to get there & back instead of 30.


**This doesn't have anything to do with getting my car fixed but just want to say I am getting railroaded by the breathalyzer company and if anyone has to get one do not go through Intoxolock. They put my car in a lockout so I have to pay $90 to get my car to start again and pay for a new device too. If I can't get it to their shop before Monday then I will have to pay them $150 for a service call.

It doesn't matter that i called and told them about it being dead because they don't care same reason I had to pay $90 when I had a hot blow 5 minutes before and 2 minutes after passing the breath tests. They even said it was more than likely alcohol from hand soap that it picked up I still had to pay the $90 to keep my car from locking me out.

I called to talk to them today to see if they would download my data remotely while I had power when I was trying to jump start it and the lady said they don't do that and I can't talk to the department that does. She said they won't just get data when I ask them too I would have to wait until they had 30 days of data before they would download it and send it to the dmv. I was supposed to get it out the 21st but the dmv wont let me have my hearing until they send them the last few weeks of data. Having another lockout greatly affects my chances of getting it out early.

They have terrible customer service I was on hold for 35 minutes this time and it is usually an hour before I can talk to an actual person. My insurance company just sent me an update too saying that my payment from the 18th that they received successfully got reversed so they charged me another 20$ on top of the payment that i now owe them and if my insurance has any lapse my license will get suspended for 3 years. I am having some terrible car luck, what are the odds a few days after I spend $230 on a new tag and battery my car dies.**
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Thoms on January 01, 2016, 01:15:26 AM
One thing that you need to do after all the jump starting is to look over your fuses. If you aren't getting any response from the starter when it's being jumped than the fuse prolly blew. Cars can get a pretty good jolt from being jumped. Each time you do it the chances increase. They are easy to check and cheap to replace. I think you are going to have multiple things that will all need to be addressed to get your car running tip top. Good luck.
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Griffin on January 01, 2016, 01:34:53 AM
Luck was on my side tonight... turns out the battery i bought a few weeks ago was defective. They charged it and it held a charge and they brought it to me and said it was good and i asked if they would test it for me and whne they tested it it was already down to 65% it went down 35% from them walking it over to me. Put it in and she started right up, i am still going to have the alternator, new battery, and starter checked tomorrow just in case but i really hope that this was the only problem.

Thanks again everyone for the advice and support i am glad that i am not going to have to take the bus tomorrow! Now just gotta pay the breathalyzer people 90 bucks to keep my car from getting locked down and hope that the dmv gets my data soon so i can get that thing out hopefully. It feels like a 100 lb weight has been lifted off me i am so much happier now i dont even give a shit about all the money they are taking from me if they let me have it out before i have to pay for another month.  I will let you all know if anything else was the problem.

I am almost worried to leave the battery plugged in tonight i just dont want to wake up to a non starting car because that is a horrible way to wake up. I am going to take my chances though i am going to drive it around for a bit tonight and pray that this was the only problem and that i never have to take my hood off again.
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Thoms on January 01, 2016, 01:36:52 AM
So they replaced the bunk one?
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Griffin on January 01, 2016, 02:39:25 AM
Yeah they replaced it with a new one and I put it in and it started beautifully right away. I drove it around for a bit and noticed that when I am driving my glove compartment light doesn't turn off when its shut, and i still have the problem with the driver door light, that comes on when it opens if I don't close my door hard it thinks it is open i think it is because the rubber at the bottom of my door that seals it ripped off and i glued it back on so i may rip it off to see if that fixes the problem. Cause the door ajar and little light at the bottom come on frequently.

Hopefully when I take it in tomorrow for the free check it doesn't have any problems. They said because the battery had a bad cell and that is what was preventing my car from starting when I was jumping it. Glad to be mobile again, my cars a/c doesn't work so i was burning up all summer but my heat works great and i thought that was some kind of cruel joke my car was playing on me. Working perfectly in the summer and then breaking down when winter starts.
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Illadelph215 on January 01, 2016, 04:02:50 AM
@Griffin, good luck tomorrow bud I hope it was just the battery and your whip runs perfectly for the rest of winter and so on. Before my new truck I got this year I had a 2000 Acura Integra that this post reminded me of. Everything gave me problems except for the good ol reliable engine it had. I had the same issues with the glove box light staying on and such, wasn't fun worrying about that shit all the time. Sounds like it was a faulty battery tho so I'm hoping you should be good for now on man!
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Narkotikon on January 01, 2016, 05:08:53 AM
Congrats on the fixed battery, Griffin. Hopefully everything will go smoothly tomorrow. Car problems definitely suck. Not knowing if you'll be able to go somewhere when you need or want to is the worst IMO. The unreliability. I'm so glad I don't have to worry about that anymore either.

I hope your car holds out and runs problem free for the rest of the winter. Also, sorry to hear of all the problems with the breathalyzer company. Places like that shouldn't be permissible IMO. Especially since their primary goal is to extract every drop of money from people who are already marginalized. Good luck.
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: DeadCat on January 01, 2016, 07:06:04 AM
Is there a community college that teaches auto repair near you? When I was in Las Vegas I had perptually leaking power steering fluid line. I would buy the epensive Lucas stop-leak for power stearing and it would slow but not stop the leak. Not only was it expensive and annoying it would leave puddles wherever sparked the car and they a slippery has hell.

A friend of mine had a brother in law who taugh auto repair at the community college there and he go them totake my car in a diagnisticrepair teaching excecise for the students. They fisxed the whole thing in a a couple of days, gave a loaner car in the meantime and I only had to pay for the part. That exact option may not be available to you but the point is you want to enlist as many friends and friends of friends for advie and you may very well find yourself pleasantly surprised.

Also, you can buy inxpensive battery chargers that will charge your battery fully overnight. And, if you have AAA or even have a friend who has it, they will come to your car and do a load test on your battery on the spot. If you need a new one they will sell you wone and install it right ther s well.

And, don't forget slvage (junk) yards. you often don't have to pull the part off the junk car yourself, they will have them in the office on the shelf. So an alternator thatcosts, say $100 in the store might cost $30 used. A lot of the replacement ones parts storessll are just rebuilt anyway.


Speaking of cars and electricity, have you seen the new roads being built using interlocking solar panels as the road service? They gathr poer all day and light run all the signs and streetlights all day. They warm themselves up to stay free of ice and snow and if one dies ofr gets damaged they just pop it out and replae it with a new one. I suspect they will be evenutally powerful enough to run /charge elctri cars. That is if big oil and the Kock brothrs don't get cCongress to cut all the R&D funding and otherwise sabotage their development.
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Sand and Water on January 01, 2016, 08:53:14 AM
CONGRATS griffin!! That's wonderful news :)  Now be sure to check fuses & all the other great advice (its crazy how cold it its been there--like DC mentioned, my mom had to get one of those external battery chargers too). 

A big thanks to Opus for the easy to understand battery instructions. I realized that tho I'd gotten my daughter the extra long cables & *told* her what to do, the reality is, its not always easy to think straight when stranded (& jumping/troubleshooting a battery isn't something i do on a regular basis), so I asked her to print out copies to keep in glovebox. Made me feel better given her rural winter driving. Much appreciated Opus :)

ETA: we don't have them here, but Harbor Freight per my mom has had them on sale really cheap. Unsure what price is but she found them with a coupon for less than $39.95
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Griffin on January 01, 2016, 12:46:44 PM
Thanks for all the kind words and advice everyone! My car started right up this morning and it looks like that was the major problem. The last battery was old and needed replacing so I don't think it is the alternator but I am going to have it tested just in case. I am definitely going to invest in a battery charger, because they seem pretty handy to have and don't seem to expensive.

Opus thank you very much for putting the step by step and giving me ideas of what I need to look at and do, your help was much appreciated and it was quite useful! Deadcat, I will find out in a few days if I am allowed to go back to school I just checked and they do have some auto repair classes and they even go towards my associates as electives, like my wilderness survival class was.

I have all my classes picked for the spring semester but I will try to enroll for some during the summer semester so that I can get all my electives finished and hopefully graduate after the fall semester. I really hope they let me start school the 9th I have a lot riding on that as I really need it for multiple reasons.

I have a bunch of stuff to do today, gotta get my car checked out, then take it to the breathalyzer people and pay them a bunch of money so they don't put my car in a lockout. Then I have to run by school and see if anything has changed with my appeal. Hopefully everything gets worked out and my car is all good so I can stop worrying about it, and that the breathalyzer people don't ruin my day by charging me a huge amount of money.

I know it is going to be at least $120 to keep it running but they may make me pay the $120 I owe them on it too. I already talked to them and they aren't going to drop the $90 charge for keeping it out of lock out and however much the new device is. Even though I told them my car was dead when it happened and put in a report with them saying it will be having work done for the next few weeks. It is stupid but that is just how it goes.

Then I have to see if the breathalyzer company sent the data to the dmv so I can schedule my hearing soon and hopefully get that thing out before I have to pay for another month. It will really suck if this last lockout from my battery being dead is what ruins my chances of getting it out early. I will have to keep it 5 more months if they deny me. If the breathalyzer company hasn't sent my data I am going to write the top people at the DMV and tell them what is going on, so that maybe they will contact the breathalyzer people and get the data for me.

I also have to call my insurance and see how much I have to pay them and make sure they didn't stop my insurance and there was no lapse of coverage because that would result in a 3 year license suspension. Because I have SR-22 insurance from the bs DUI. I am hoping everything works out and that I have much better luck with the new year if these few little things work out I will definitely be setup for a much better year.


Thank you everyone for all the wonderful advice and support helping me get through all of this shenanigans. I am very appreciative that I have so many people willing to help me out so much so thanks everyone! Hope you all have a safe and happy new year!
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Griffin on January 01, 2016, 02:14:02 PM
Deadcat, I haven't read or heard about the new roads that are being built to generate solar power. That is really cool, and probably cost effective in the long run. I really hope the koch brothers don't try to ruin this or any of the other people making money from the way things are. I hope that we continue on that route, I can't wait till we are done with gas cars, and are on something better for the world and cheaper.

I am also looking forward to self driving cars, and flying cars, I have a few ideas of how self driving cars could work at speeds up to 200 mph and would more than likely be a much safer way then how it is now. It isn't to complicated either and seems completely do able. Has anyone seen the flying car prototypes or heard of wing boarding? Wing boarding is like wake boarding but behind a plane on a board thing that has wings. They have done successful scaled down flights without real people and are working to begin human testing.

The light rail in Denver is being finished next year, it is really cool and will more than likely help a bit on the crazy traffic we have. The train to the airport will be finished by March so it will be like the bart in San Francisco. You will be able to fly in and then jump on the train to take you downtown or wherever you need to go.

They are making the trains go all the way north to Brighton, west minster, longmont, and boulder. Northwest to Wheat ridge and arvada, They are extending the one south to go to littleton, and the other south one to lone tree and castle rock. They are finishing the one that goes all the way through aurora right next to I-225 that covers the whole length of the highway that connects to I-70 and also to I-25 down south. Here is a map of it.       http://www.rtd-denver.com/Fastracks.shtml

The trains system here is really nice to, I think it goes up to 60mph. Idk if the new ones will be faster since it has less stops and goes a lot further between stops. When it is completely finished it will be so much better, it is nice to be able to go downtown, or to a broncos, or rockies game and not worry about parking or driving. They have stops at lots of colleges like CU Denver, and at the pepsi center/6 flags, 16th street mall, Jeffco courthouse and jail, and union station is where they all connect. The new tracks will definitely make it better.

220,000 people moved here in the last 23 months if not more, so the housing market is bananas and it has made the bad traffic here much worse. Especially when it is snowing, before my car died a few weeks ago we got about 6 inches of snow. There were 3 cars that were stuck at the very bottom of the on ramp to get on the highway blocking the road completely. I had to drive through the grass part in between the onramp and highway to get on and didn't have any problems.

It did make me happy that my car was able to get around where so many others couldn't and got stuck. The cars stuck on the bottom of the on-ramp were a new honda accord, a van, and a ford explorer it was awesome that I could drive just fine where they were and go through a worse area without getting stuck or having problems.

I saw 2 huge f250 trucks wreck at different times that day because they thought having a big truck meant they could drive the speed limit when the roads were awful. I am very cautious when driving and some of the Colo. natives hate it. I grew up driving on straight ice, we had ice storms in Oklahoma not snow storms. It still looks crazy their, tons of flooding the roads are complete ice, everything is covered in ice if you haven't seen pictures you should look it up it is crazy looking.

There was a large hill that a ton of cars couldn't make it up, and I had no problems at all and I had to maneuver around all of them too. They were all stuck trying to get up and people were pushing them and they would slide back down.  I attribute it to buying new tires at the beginning of the year it's definitely not my driving ability. The only thing I do is try to pick up speed before I get to the really bad parts so that I can hopefully make it through.

I try to put as much space between me and other drivers as I can. I always try to drive in the middle of the road just incase I lose control I will have space each way to not go off road, into oncoming traffic, or on a curb. I don't trust drivers here at all, they will drive by me really fast and crash. It seemed that all the drivers that were going fast on the highway I would pass them eventually because they would lose control and be in a ditch trying to get out.

 I am very surprised at how well my honda does, it's a 4 door, v6, and has front wheel drive which I hear is better then rear wheel. I always wanted a subaru because they're awd. They are the most common car in Colorado. When I was looking for cars before buying this one, the only subaru's I could afford were the early 2000 late 90s models.

Those cars are known to have bad head gaskets and replacement for them can be $2000+. The ones in my price range were right at the mileage or past where it usually happens, and the ones that had them replaced already were charging an extra $1500 taking them out of my price range. That is why I started looking at hondas my goal is to get mine to 300,000 miles. My best friend has had two hondas that he got past 300,000 miles and it seems hondas and subarus are the only ones that will last that long.

I got a killer deal I think on my car its a '97 accord EX, leather interior, power everything, and had 107,000 miles when I bought it for $2000 last year. The guy I bought it from told the dmv he gave it to me for free so I didn't have to pay the taxes on it which would of been another couple hundred. The kelly blue book for it was $3100 and would of been higher if the a/c worked.

I knew the owner he was an older guy, and took immaculate care of it which was the biggest reason for buying it, He was my neighbor for 18 months and had the car 16 years with only one owner before him. He got it at 12,000 miles. His daughter bought a new subaru and then moved to NYC so he took over her lease a month after I moved next to him but he still drove it twice a week to keep it up and running.

It had rust on the top and hood but other than that it didn't have one single scratch, the inside was perfect too, not one stain. He got the oil changed every 3000 mile. He had all the 100k mile work done like new timing belt, spark plugs, new brakes and brake fluid. He even got a brand new air conditioner motor, and compressor. He had the whole thing replaced, but it went out again before I bought it. When I got the a/c looked at the guy filled it with freon, and said it needed a few things I forgot what but he estimated it would cost $600.

That is why I was suprised when it stopped working, I knew I needed to replace the battery because it was about 5 years old but when the new one died on my it worried me. I think it has got a lot of life left in it, and that the shop tells me that nothing is wrong with it when I take it in, I need to change my brakes, but I have only done it twice and both times I was with my ex-gf who knew how to do it because all 3 of her parents are mechanics.  I have only done it on a jeep, and durango so I am assuming it is probably a lot different on a sedan.

I watched a few youtube vids to learn how and had her coach me. I am hoping I can figure out how to do it on my car, because it saves so much money and is one of those things that you should know how to do, along with jump starting a car, and changing oil and tires. When I changed the brakes on the jeep we took it to midas who quoted us at 240$ plus tax to do it, and with the tools and all the parts we were able to do it for $50. I also changed my dealers durango's brakes for 10 oxy 30s, which was pretty cool.
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: puppy on January 01, 2016, 03:22:15 PM
We don't get much snow in virginia...I used to tease my mom who refused to drive in it...until one snowy morning I was hit head on by a numb nut who lost control...so it's not my ability I question when it snows...its all the other  dumbasses who speed etc...like Griffin seems like Portland had more ice than snow when I was living there...but I wasn't driving then so it mattered not...it was 70 degrees on Christmas here and 55 today...I doubt we get my snow this year...sigh...
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: DeadCat on January 01, 2016, 06:14:31 PM
Griffen, Imissd the part where you said thebatery was only 4 weeks old when it started to act up. It sounds like now it has and is holding a charge but if it acts up again, have them replace it under warranty. IIRC, most batteries have 4-6 years warrantees but are pro-rated. SO, if it fails in the first year you can probably get a brand new one replaced for free but after that you get a discount on a new battery that reflects the % of thime left on the warrantee. So 2.5 years into a 5 year warrantee they would charge youhalf price for a new one.

And, you don't have to be a student at the community colllege to get your car fixed there. You just go to the auto shop/class ofice and ask if they will take it on as a project. The students do the work under the teacher's instruction. you just pay for the part. It's a not so well know benefit to having a community college or vo-tec school in the area.

I hope you are done with the interlock but if you aren't, at least look into changing to a vendor that uses Drager brand equipment. for that additional few months. Everybody hates Intoxalok and from what I hear they hate their own customers. I don't know if this has changed or it a is a regional thing but they used to make you Fed-Ex your unit's "head" to their office once a month and they would send you a new one. Naturally, late deliveries on both ends were frewuent enough to cause real problems. Their company philosophy seems to be that they are junior deputies sworn to make your life difficult becaause you are a "bad" person.

I had a friend from Denver and in or about 1990 there was a huge hailstorm and all the cars parked outside looked like golf balls. The insurance comapnies had to write off hundreds or thousands of cars as total losses but the damage was all cosmetic (except for broken windshields). Then there was a free for all in people buying the good but dimpled cars for dimes on the dollar

Get that sticker taken care of and then see about getting the fine erased if you haven't already. Maybe your boss will give you an advance that you can pay back a bit out of the next several paychecks.
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Opus on January 01, 2016, 06:39:43 PM
We already have self-driving cars, they're called "trains."

NFW would I get out on the highway with a bunch of computer operated cars -- it's already possible to hack certain (self parking) Priuses and the Telsa S (Teslas run Ubuntu Linux, until just recently there was an ethernet port, IN the car & hanging under the dash that gave fucking root! Tesla *JUST* fixed this!!), and I'm sure there are more, those are just the examples I've seen.

Christ I can't even stand the thought of having the accelerator as "drive by wire" instead of having a simple throttle cable, which works just fucking fine and is trivial to fix.

NFW. This is the problem with Capitalists, they always think they have to fix shit that isn't broken, they can't just leave well enough alone and go find something that actually needs fixing to work on.
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Griffin on January 01, 2016, 09:36:02 PM
I will definitely look into that deadcat thats a really good idea thanks! Opus I could totally imagine the first few years of working out the "kinks" and a terrorist attack or two causing every car to drive into oncoming traffic. I just found out that the new trains we are getting here in Denver can go 80 mph and hold 300 people, the ones we have now only go 55 and hold 140. It is going to be quite nice to have that option, it will make going to college at CU boulder, MSU, or CU Denver a lot easier as well as living further away from Denver where it is much cheaper.

I just watched a video on youtube showing stupid rich people wrecking their lambo's and other expensive cars. It was funny but kind of hard to watch those cars get destroyed. I totally agree on not fixing it if it ain't broke, it is so stupid that 50 years ago they had prototypes of cars making it 100 miles on a gallon and 10 years ago you would be lucky to get 20 mpg.

Now people have complained about it enough the average is probably 25 or 30 mpg but in the 70s and 80s that was the average. When the 90s hit every year the cars became less efficient and I am not sure on this but probably started having a much shorter life. Which is the exact opposite of what should of happened. The oil companies have been buying all the patents for efficient car technology for the last 100 years and sitting on them so they don't lost their precious money.

I watched a documentary about a few people who made cars or modifications to engines in the 50s and 60s that could run 4000lb station wagons on 100 mpg. They all had the same story, someone basically said you continue making it or tell anyone about it you are a dead man. They went on to talk about a very mysterious suicide from one of the guys outside of vegas in the desert who they thought was murdered for telling people or continuing to build it.

A friend of mine told me that his grandfather or someone related to him like his third cousins, brothers, wifes, dogowners, father had built something that could go 100 mpg or could run on water or something like that. He had some people come and tell him that if he continued or told anyone about it he would end up in an oil barrel in the gulf of Mexico. That was the first time I had heard that threat, makes me wonder how many people have been disappeared in the ocean, it has to be a lot.
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Jethro on January 02, 2016, 01:00:10 AM
    Most of those "70's cars getting 100 MPG" prototypes involved 'Heating the gas to vapor before combustion'.
 ( Think. . . "Carburetor on a Hot Plate" )
 With the tech back then, in real production this would of led to fires or explosions.
 It may even be a risky tech today.
              Jethro
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Der Alte Krieger on January 02, 2016, 02:24:30 PM


Christ I can't even stand the thought of having the accelerator as "drive by wire" instead of having a simple throttle cable, which works just fucking fine and is trivial to fix.



Or better yet, an actual mechanical throttle linkage made of 1/4" steel rod that lasts forever and the most bone headed driver can repair themselves.
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Opus on January 02, 2016, 02:36:32 PM
Quarter-inch-rod activated throttles makes me think of mechanically advanced 4 barrel Holleys ;)

Dutch knows the score..

I just had a hydraulic clutch fail on me for the second time in two years - the last time it was a $1600 job and the car wasn't worth it, otherwise perfectly good little car junked over what's basically a linkage problem. Awesomeness. If it was a mechanical link that failed, it'd be something I could probably fix in the street.

I really like the idea of electrically powered cars. But electrically operated cars, not so much..
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Thoms on January 02, 2016, 06:33:26 PM
Yeah the last couple replies have sort of hit spot on the biggest down fall of my Prius I have found. I love the little car but when it comes to transferring driver inputs (i.e. Throttle & braking) to the car they really made it impossible for even a decently experienced mechanic to fix things.

I will try and explain this issue without to much bs in between the facts to make it concise.

The car uses the gas engine to turn the electric motor to recharge the big drive battery(ies). I'll refer to them as the Ni-cd from here forward.

The first portion of braking uses the process of connecting the engine to the motor thereby using this increased resistance to slow the car, the next portion actually applies pressure to the actual brake shoes and pads.

The Prius has three gears to select from "forward, reverse, and braking" the braking selection engages what is basically an engine brake as soon as the throttle is let off fully. It's what I described as the first portion of braking above. It's used to save the little brake pads from getting hot on long down hills as well as helping the Ni-cds to charge.

Of course there is abs as well.

The car has what could be described best as a master cylinder with a built in proportioning valve(s). It controls a lot of said functions using a lot of brake lines and a shit ton of fluid.

There is an issue somewhere with it causing an error code and the abs not to work I have a whole new box but I guess they have a whole big machine and process to bleed the lines. It's not just your standard mechanical brake line vacuum. Toyota wants a shit ton just in labor alone to replace it and finding a decent mechanic that really understands the car is a hell of a chore to say the least.

I have an obd2 code reader to read and clear codes but the braking system codes use a Toyota only machine/computer.

The reason to type all this out was to basically agree with Opus in that it would sure be nice if those fuckers used a little empathy when they designed these systems to make it easier for the owner to fix things like that. On basically any other car it would be a no brainer.

Did I mention it will throw a code for fucking anything! Need to open up the calipers a little to fit new brake pads around the disk? You better disconnect the 12volt battery or it will throw a code only Toyota certified mechs can clear!

I guess I can't complain though  because the thing has 321000 miles on a it but it still runs damn good. The thread reminded me I need to change the oil in both cars.
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Jethro on January 02, 2016, 10:24:13 PM
     One thing I hate is how simple it used to be to replace a fuel pump,
now they put them "inside" the gas tank.
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Griffin on January 03, 2016, 11:42:41 AM
Damn, thoms that sucks, it's so stressful to have car problems. I don't know whats more frustrating knowing whats wrong with the car and not being able to fix it because of bad design, or not knowing whats wrong and letting your mind goto the most expensive thing to replace. This is all good to know, I had no idea about the design flaws that came with hybrids, as well as all of the bad things that could come with new technology and designs.

I don't know much about cars but I was referring to the volkswagon XL1 and why we have had the same technology for so long and not used it. As well as it not being allowed in america to buy and they won't even let them show it here. Even Europe limited their production to only 2000 there so they can't really produce it cheaply and use an assembly line. I don't know exactly what the technology that allows it to be so efficient I just have read what it is and don't fully grasp it. I do believe that we should have no problem making most cars on the road get 80-100 mpg.

If it weren't for big oil buying the politicians and basically making the regulations themselves so they can keep raking in the most profit as possible and not have any competition. We should be using alt. fuel for probably 50% of everything because hemp and other fuel sources can do pretty much everything that petroleum can without being toxic when spilled and leaving a smaller carbon footprint.

I got into a little debate about fracking yesterday and was wondering what everyone else thought about it. What brought it up is the 1000s of earthquakes Oklahoma is experiencing, they had a 4.3 earthquake the day after having a 4.2 and had more quakes last year then the rest of the country combined. They have never had this many earthquakes and never had such big ones that happen frequently.

A lot of people blame fracking and I do believe it has a lot to do with it. However 2 people in the conversation who work in the industry didn't think it had anything to do with causing the earthquakes. So basically the quakes are cause by salt water injections creating lubricity on the fault lines making them more susceptible to earthquakes.

The fracking industry creates tons of salt water and other chemical run off in to the water and have to dispose of it so they inject it. There are other ways to dispose of it and they have created a lot of wells and some reservoirs but the majority just inject it. That is my understanding from the conversation I had.

The people who worked in the industry said it was the injections that cause the quakes but fracking doesn't cause an increase in injections and salt water that needs to be disposed. They said the fracking companies don't inject the water and aren't the cause of creating the excess saltwater. All oil drilling causes it and fracking has not made the amount of injections increase was basically their argument along with our need not to be dependent on other countries for resources.

We would also stop going to wars over oil which would save us money, lower the amount of fuel we use, and we wouldn't be pissing as many counties off. I don't think it is a coincidence that Iraq is the only country in the middle east whose amount of fuel has increased since 2005. Plus if we weren't in war we wouldn't be giving these companies military contracts which makes them much more powerful and able to buy more politicians. They profit a lot of money by going to, and keeping us at war and they own the politician so we are kind of powerless.

I doubt anyone thinks that we need to stop using petroleum oil 100% but the majority of our fuel use could be alt. fuel sources. Also if we didn't have unnecessary regulations that stops us from producing efficient cars then we would use a lot less fuel in general. It would create jobs to get the alt. fuels researched, and produced on the scale we need it. I don't think we would lose more jobs then we would create from doing this.

The way I see it is big oil has made it very hard for us to research, fund, produce, and use alt. fuel sources. They have also made it very hard for the car companies to produce and sell cars that are as efficient and long lasting as they should be. When I look at John and Helen Taylor who were able to get 2500 miles on one 18 gallon tank with their volkswagon and in 2006 get 1800 miles on one tank then we should be able to have very good efficiency across the board without losing power.

I can't blame the fracking companies and big oil solely for all of the problems that come with using and producing oil because it is the people who elect the politicians that are in their back pocket. If we stopped electing people who care more about money then our need to be more environmentally friendly then maybe they would change some of the unnecessary epa regulations. That way the cars we produce are as efficient as they should be and we can start producing alt. fuel sources that are better for the world.

I think it is worth paying a little more right now on fuel so that in the future we aren't relying on oil. I don't think this is how the majority thinks and they are more concerned about the price of things then the environment impact. That is why so many companies outsource so they don't have to pay for their pollution or deal with enviroment regulations so they can produce their products cheaper. The people almost force them to do that because they will buy the cheaper item even if they know that it is effectively destorying the world.

It is kind of why people don't shop local even though it would spread out the wealth gap and create more higher paying jobs. Even if they know and can afford it they will shop where it is cheapest which makes it very hard for anyone to start a business and compete in todays market. It's damn near impossible to open a pizza place and be successful against competing with pizza hut who can make pizzas for $0.04 each.

What do you guys think? Is there good reasons that we shouldn't use alt. fuels or be able to produce much more efficient cars? Do you think that if the regulations weren't in place that are stopping our ability to research and produce alt. fuels and efficient cars that we would still do it? Or do you think that Americans will always go for the cheapest thing and disregard the fact that it's killing the earth? My wish would be that we try to move towards safer and better alt. fuels and that all petroleum oil that is produced must be done so in the most eco-friendly way.

If the standards were brought to big oil companies that they had to drill in the most efficient and environment friendly way that the people would want them if it caused them it to be more expensive. I think if that was the standard that it would become cheaper over time because all of the equipment that goes in to being green and eco-friendly would be able to produce more making it cheaper. If cars are getting 5-15x better gas mileage the price of oil could go up substantially and we would still be paying less. If we could get 100-300 mpg instead of 20.

I am interested in what you guys think and if you have any info making my opinions invalid or unattainable. I like to hear both sides of the story so that I don't have some idiotic opinion, and so I know more about what is going on in our country. I think one of the best things we can do is stop lobbying. If the politicians aren't on these companies payroll they have no incentive to help them profit by destroying the earth. It is a huge problem and I don't see how it's legal because clearly these companies are the ones making the rules and regulations.

Here's the info I got about the Volkswagon XL1.
http://www.whydontyoutrythis.com/2014/04/volkswagens-new-300-mpg-car-not-allowed-in-america-because-it-is-too-efficient.html

And here is the info I got about Hemp oil.
http://www.wakingtimes.com/2012/12/28/everything-petroleum-does-hemp-does-better/
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Griffin on January 04, 2016, 01:14:27 PM
One of my blinkers is blinking fast, does that mean I need to replace it? Is it easy as it sounds to do? Do I just take off the cover and unscrew the light bulb and screw in a new one? Are the replacement lights all the same or do I need a certain one to fit my car or a certain color? Car is still running great, starts up right away I am taking it in tomorrow to get checked out.

Also how much do the code readers for cars usually cost, what would go into making one because I have an idea that involves building one/
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Thoms on January 04, 2016, 04:03:57 PM
If one is blinking fast that means that the other one is burned out. If the front passenger is blinking double time than the rear passenger side is burned out. The blinker relay is still sending the same number of pulses but you only have one light to blink so it blinks at twice the speed of normal. You access most lights from the back with like a quarter turn type deal, some of them have to be gotten out by taking the lines off. The auto parts store will have a reference book that will give you the part number for the specific light on your year make and model car. A cheap code reader is abou 20 or 30 bucks but the codes don't get very specific but can at least guide you to a trouble shooting tree.
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Griffin on February 02, 2016, 05:26:33 PM
You were right thoms, the back driver side blinker light is out, think i need to add some blinker fluid to it ;). My car is acting a little bit weird again and i have been to lazy/busy to get the alternator checked so i am going to do this once this storm blows past, they are saying 6-14 inches could be more were at about 4 inches right now and its snowing really heavy.

When I was driving my car to school this morning, I noticed that when I turn my head lights on my radio and clock go really dim, and when i turn them off they brighten back up. A week ago it was taking an extra second rolling over to start as well. I am hoping it is nothing but I don't think my luck is that good. The last 2 times the battery problems happened were when it was snowing (like today) and also this is about the same amount of time the last battery lasted before it crapped out.

The last battery that I got when this happened had a bad cell and couldn't hold a charge, can my car do that to a battery? I think it could be the alternator and the last time when it wouldn't jump start was because of the bad battery. I am thinking that it could also be because all of the snow and moisture that is getting under my hood since the hood is messed up and snow can get under it in a few spots. My battery isn't wet at all but I am sure all the extra moisture isn't good for it.

I've got a few more weeks until I get my tax return and hopefully my school loan money which I will find out before Wednesday if I am getting that. So I will be able to get a new hood and if it is something electrical or mechanical I will be able to get it fixed luckily. At first I thought it was just my bad luck that it only happened when it was snowing so that id have to sit outside for a few hours for the bus each day, now I think the snow is part of the problem. I am praying that this is nothing and it starts and runs for another 300,000 miles, got my fingers crossed.
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Guts on February 02, 2016, 06:35:59 PM
Such beautiful plastic:

http://www.autofocus.ca/media/08j63xvydwscnr/atom_featured/01_Audi-Q7-V12-Engine-Hood-Open-Cover.jpg?t=bbc387f2b99121454202bcbd2d446374

Sorry I dunno how to imbed images but I'm trying to complain about plastic engine covers hiding all the pretty bits... I guess it looks "cleaner"? Not like people who would prefer "cleaner" would ever open the hood anyways...
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Griffin on March 22, 2016, 12:47:44 PM
So the saga continues... I am the kind of guy who thinks if it's not broke don't fix it, and this annoys me, I was wanting to get better gas mileage out of my car, and my car can get better gas mileage so I put the Seafoam shit in my gas tank. My car is getting between 20-30 mpg usually in the lower 20s and a lot of that is because of the way I drive. I accelerate fast and don't drive as economically as I can or should, but I like to have fun, I use my cruise control a lot of the time though to make up for some of it.

I decided to put a bottle of seafoam engine gas treatment stuff in my gas tank, I put the whole bottle in my gas tank and drove it around the highway. Well now it sounds 2x as loud, it sounds like I put a fart can exhaust pipe on it like the racers in Tokyo drift do to make it sound louder. It really isn't too annoying yet, just noticeable almost to the point where it is annoying.

It sounds more like a small truck with flowmasters on it that kind of "rumble" while driving, but it's a 1997 V6, 4 door Honda accord EX with 121,700 miles. It's been treated pretty great her whole life as far as maintenance goes. All the 100k mile stuff was done, regular oil changes, I want it to get to 300,000 miles because it can and should.

It's a kind of a low rumble when I'm driving when I press the gas it gets louder obviously. It definitely changed and is noticeable now, and it started the day after I put the seafoam in it. I just put it in the gas tank, with a few gallons in the gas tank, I drove it for a while on the highway then later put a half tank or less in. I didn't add it do the oil or vac. line at all.

Is there something wrong? Is this what it is supposed to sound like normally? What happened? It sounded perfect before, very quiet I couldn't hear it at all, especially when driving on the highway. I prefer it that way, it is loud when accelerating even if I have music on its noticeable is there anything I can do, or that I did wrong. Did I mess something up? Is there something I can change to fix this problem, is this the way it should be and the car is running better?

So really any help, ideas, suggestions would be a great help, as I don't know what to do. I am flying to Oklahoma tomorrow and getting the oil changed when I get back at the end of the month. My PO can still deny me Flying to Oklahoma to see my family, I am still going to try to go. She was supposed to tell me Friday when I went in for my monthly meeting but her supervisor wasn't there, and she said she would do it today.

I leave tomorrow, She wants me to bring in a paper that I don't have because I told her I had all my community service done when I don't have any of it done. She said I had to have it done and my classes done to go but the class place didn't have any classes starting until April so all I need is my Community Service hours completed to be approved to go, but I didn't do them.

All the Community Service stuff is going through a different company, and different service, so she is kind of taking my word on it that they are done, but she wants proof. I don't have any proof at all and I haven't started it even, and I don't know what to give her since I have nothing. I am hoping since it is a different company doing all the community service stuff that she won't be able to get any info from them and just okay me to go with out the paper because she likes me.

I haven't seen my family for 2 years, I already bought the non-refundable plane tickets, and she knows how much this week and going to see my family would mean to me and how much it is depressing me that I have been stuck in this state for 3 years on probation without being able to see my family or anything. I have had 3 years of clean UAs, no missed appointments or fees, or anything. I have been perfect pretty much

The only thing I have fucked up was getting arrested over a BS methadone DUI which my PO knew full well, I was driving there on done. She had known I had been driving on methadone every day for the past 3 years. She was happy that I was going to drive to see my family and knew all about me driving there while on methadone. When I originally got my car and insurance my PO was stoked for me and knew full well I was on MMT when I got it and when I was going on my trip. She was stoked I was going she never mentioned once driving on mmt could be illegal.

When I was driving home to see my family in Oklahoma it'd been over 19 hours since I'd even taken my dose when I got pulled over. I had woke up at 5 AM, packed for the trip, worked an 8 hour day, and was driving for almost 4 hours when I got pulled over. Boom DUI on methadone because I couldn't stand on one leg for 20 seconds with one eye closed without swaying for balance. I got ZERO help from her and I MOST definitely DID NOT GET ANY warning from her when she was giving me my license and talking about my trip to make sure I knew it is a dui drive while on MMT. That never happened I shouldn't of been charged fucking crooks.


This is the week I got arrested last year for the done DUI, so I am being extra careful, my dealer is calling me twice a day with super deals that I am staying away from. If my PO denies me flying to see my family I am going to be so pissed. I am going to try and go anyway and deal with it when I get back. I haven't been able to visit my family in 2 YEARS because of her last year when they arrested me for the MMT DUI while trying to drive home to see my family over spring break which really pissed me off because my PO knew I was driving knew I had gotten my car 5 months before and was super happy for me and she knew I was going to be driving there while on methadone but she didn't say shit.

So Please pray that she approves me i am tired of waiting and worrying. i really hope and wish that she doesn't deny me seeing my family again its been over 2 years which is her fault for the most part anyway and I really want to see my family. What should I do about my car, any ideas? and what should I do I'm my PO says yes on no to me going? what should i do??
Title: Re: Car Trouble
Post by: Dog Food on March 22, 2016, 10:29:50 PM
Take it to a mechanic that has the right equipment to figure whats failing. I work on cars everyday and the only way youre gonna get a good answer.  The cars pretty old, and could be a bunch of things
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