Volleyball

I occasionally smell coolant and it doesn't appear to be from the engine so I am thinking about opening up the heater core and checking it.

Has anyone done this?

That is what I was looking for. A sealed light. Funny how it is only the passenger side that went out. Just like the coil packs. There would be more puddles on that side though.

And the car is relatively low miles as it does a lot of city driving.

I did that recall many years ago. My problem is that corrosion got to the lights so the passenger side doesn't work. Amazon sells bulbs but they are like the originals.

Corrosion is the bane of living in the Northeast. Just like you need to change the 2 right rear coilpacks, preferably when it is not winter in the 3.6Rs

So to change the bulb to led, what do you need to remove?

On a side note, my puddle lights on 1 side don't work. I pulled the rocker. Is there a replacement leds for that?

My woman needs better lights.

It sounds like vleds may be the way to go unless there are some led tuned replacement headlights.

Not looking for U's or any halos.

What is the latest word?

My main concern is low beam.

We never manual shift. The first time I felt it was taking a highway offramp and then the corresponding onramp so I thought maybe the g force which wasn't high, could mean low fluid. The fluid id full. Then just going down the highway and it happened again. It is not every day, actually maybe twice a week. The vehicle is at full operating temperature.

It is not during a gear change AFAIK.

It does get me thinking that if the torque converter locks up in normal driving then maybe it is disengaging for a couple of seconds.

It feels like a gear tooth is broken so you get a momentary loss of power.

Is anyone noticing a momentary skip while driving? I don't drive the legacy most of the time but did twice recently and felt this slip.

The trans fluid is not burnt and is full. Is is the factory stuff. I've got 72k on the car now.

You cannot get the 3.6r with the 5 speed auto anymore so I am not looking to replace. The woman said that it has been happening for a little while, just never thought to tell me.

how many of you use the parking brake every time you park? just curious..

She used it all the time. She grew up in a manual world and got used to it. Then the module failed and cost over $700.

Now it is rare.

The driveway is a hill but not steep.

Rust is a funny thing. MY Tundra is going in very soon for rust perforation on the frame. I was surprised. Low mileage and most of the frame is still black.

I would coat the replacement with corrosion protection.

Mine came and went for awhile. Then inspection time came and it was time. It could be caps.

I wonder if they plan on rebuilding them. I have my original so maybe they will do an exchange. I guess it depends on what actually goes bad.

They are going to have to cover automatics as well as it is a safety item and required at inspection in many states.

Blizzaks use 2 different rubber compounds. The base tread is lets call normal rubber. Then they add the ice gripper rubber to double the tread depth to make a typical depth tire.

I see ads with tires near half worn all the time as those that need them go buy a new set.

Being cheap when my wear down they just became summer tires and they would be worn out by fall when I got new ones

The problem is that at least in New England, going with the flow of traffic is can often overdriving all season tires.

 

 

 

If you are someone who keeps their cars long term, snow tires can be not that expensive to run. I have been getting 30k miles out of my Nokian snow tires before they reach 6/32nd and I could run them in the non snow months if I wanted to once they are worn past 6/32nd to further extend them. This reduces the miles that you would put on a set of regular tires. For me the additional cost is the upfront cost of a 2nd set of rims, but I have been able to buy used OEM rims for the snow tires and I have recouped most of the cost when I have sold the car. My snow tire probably last longer than my current summers, but that probably isn't true for most tires.

 

BTW Ice tires like Blizzaks with soft tread wear very poorly, it seem like you would be lucky to get 10k miles before hitting the 6/32nd end of snow tire effectiveness.

I have a 10 bought new so I do keep vehicles a long time. And I did buy snow tires and wheels to swap out. Thing is I don't need them. The original tires were replaced last fall and the original tires were sold in the spring to someone who needed legal tires.

The thing about driving fast is really a I95 New England thing. The further from the coast the issue lessens so a good A/S especially like the ones I bought are more than adequate. There are lots of exceptions.

Blizzaks lose their ice rubber at about 8/32nd so that is when they become A/S tires. If you have new ones I don't recommend them for the fast driving either. They are squirrely on warmer days. I have had a dozen sets over the years, I know.

My unused snow tires and wheels are not going to waste, they will go to my kid because the Forrester still uses the 5X100 bolt pattern. And her factory tires are wearing down. So the original will be good for the spring until winter.

What works for me is partly because I am hundreds of miles away. And my weather is quite different than even 50 miles around me. That is why location for this type of thread is very important. And driving styles.

I said in my last post I am a proponent of snow tires. I have shown dozens the virtues of real snow tires. But not everyone needs them.

your best bet regardless of tires is to no over drive the car in said conditions. Sure All seasons are weaker but most accidents are caused by driver error vs. mechanical issues

That is only partially true. A driver who knows how to drive in winter conditions can gain some control with awd over 2wd.

I agree best to slow down but sometimes you hit a patch of frozen water unexpectedly.

Steel wheels isn't much of an option for those of us with the bigger brakes as we need 17" to clear the factory setup.

Snow tires are great. I got some for ours but never put them on. They are going to my kids forester. It is only a few miles of city driving to work and if it is bad, she stays home anyways. We put on conti asymetricals and they are like new and worked great last year. Plus we get far less snow where we drive than you would think for my location. Plus I have a Tundra ready for deep snow.

For those that go to work earlier than most. Live in the country and have twisty roads, and many other issues, snow tires are cheaper than most people insurance deduction. Plus the hassle. Far less hassle to drag 4 tires up and down stairs. Even my over 100 lb each truck tires.

I would think a used laptop is the best way to get started. You can have a double din display in the dash.

I'd put a small ssd for the HD and then go with a usb storage device, easy to move to your main pc for downloads and easier to shock mount.

With the popularity of Ford and now Toyota and others, you will see some aftermarket integrated unit in a year or so.

So it takes a little while to boot up and be ready, unless you are making your living as a getaway driver, you can wait a moment.

A couple of years ago when this thread was started, a carputer made more wow. But today with the built in systems being able to handle most of the tasks, the need wanes. Not to say mobilizing your laptop doesn't make sense. For the day to day, the stock system is fine, and bring in more equipment for traveling. So unless you are a road warrior, building all this stuff in makes less sense.

Having wifi and a mobile interface to give you web access, street and trips to supplement dash nav. With your music and videos on the laptop, you will be able to watch them on a larger screen that is more adjustable. You can even tie the output into screens for the rear passengers. Plus if you go to a hotel or wifi hotspot, you have your laptop. No need to try to park your car close enough to get free access.

Several companies make adjustable laptop mounts that can secure them from flying around. And remove for when you don't need them.

Plus having the two systems means the driver can have the gps going on a screen they can see while the movie playing for the passenger(s) is out of sight.

It is like I see people buying powerful computers, hooking up multiple screens to it to multitask. For a whole lot less money, I have some older computer running side by side doing 1 to a few tasks. I turn on the ones I need and don't have to worry about one crashing and taking everything with it.

I had most parts to do a carputer ready to go but as I planned it, I realized that the reason to do it had dwindled. Technology changes so fast that I don't want to be stuck with a system that no longer wows.