Car Enthusiast Club [Now Motorcycle friendly!] - First thread to 150k! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Thirdgen89GTA]

23 hours ago, bcredeur97 said:

Why did so many GM cars have (or still have?) transmission issues? 

The GranPrix GTP has a glass transmission barely adequate for the job, and it was easy for people to change the supercharger pulley to increase boost.  The extra torque was just too much for the 4T60 and 4T65s.

 

Its also the first generation of Electronic slush boxes so it's prone to poor valve body and solenoid design.  GM's 700r4 which became the 4L60E was also prone to failure behind modified V8s.

 

Basically, the transmissions were adequate for the service life of a stock car if you maintained them.  If you failed to maintain them, OR modified the power output they just couldn't reliably handle it.

 

The biggest killer of these transmissions is people who NEVER change the fluid.  It turns into a black sludge over time.  So when they start slipping or acting funny people have them flushed which just breaks the sludge up and sends it through the transmission causing the already failing transmission to self destruct. Its why car guys have that adage where the transmission fluid has never been changed, you do not touch it.  You just pray to it every night for one more mile.

 

On a neglected high mileage transmission you never do a full FLUSH.  You do need to change the fluid, but you do it gradually by draining the pan and replacing the filter only.  This way you only replace some of the fluid.  The new fluids detergents start to break down sludge/varnish.  You repeat this process every 1-2 months for as long as it takes for the fluid to remain pink and fresh looking.   At that point you just change the fluid annually and the transmission will last as long as it can after a harsh life.

 

Unless the manual states "Fill for life" (which is a lie). You should change the fluid every 30,000 miles.  If its fill for life, you should probably change it every 50k.  Fluid breaks down and loses its ability to protect components under high heat loads.  Stop N Go is nasty on a transmission since the torque converter is constantly slipping.  Slipping TC's make heat.

 

Transmission fluid does not like going over 180°F for extended periods.  Road Racing, Towing, extensive stop n' go will all cause that temperature to soar and accelerate break-down.

 

[PlayStation 2]

12 minutes ago, Thirdgen89GTA said:

-snip-

It still baffles me that there was a time in the 2000s that we threw mediocre 4-speed automatics onto V8s intended for performance cars. Like WHAT made us think it was a good idea on any objective?

[handymanshandle]

man I've really been wanting a Pontiac G8 with even just the V6 because I feel like I could play around with it if I wanted to maybe some sorta turbo set up, I don't think I could really tune it much but at least slapping a turbo or two on it and upgrading exhaust and what not and calling it a day might be enough for me.
Unless getting a LS3 with an auto trans would be worth it if not expensive to make my own G8 GXP.

[Bitter]

We've got an 84 300ZX at the shop with a 'no spark' problem, that digital dash is pretty cool.

[Azerafel]

Opinions on the "tuners can do this and that" approach for the new Supra?

[bcredeur97]

3 minutes ago, Azerafel said:

Opinions on the "tuners can do this and that" approach for the new Supra?

great but after you're done tuning the car to you're liking it'll be $100k+ probably.

Just too expensive for the average person

[bcredeur97]

56 minutes ago, vinyldash303 said:

Run over enough curbs and you can for sure jack up your alignment

or you know, hit a big enough pothole and shear your control arm straight off

[bcredeur97]

1 hour ago, vinyldash303 said:

I don't know how people manage to screw up alignments so bad. I had the S10 aligned once right when I got it at 130,000 miles. It never drifted from where it was set at all. I did have them give it some more negative camber when it got its new tires so it wouldn't burn off the outside edges like it had been with zero degrees either way. -0.8* seems to be perfect. Sold it to GF at 197k and you know what? Alignment it still dead right where it was set.

this happened last time I got the miata aligned. Its been like perfect ever since.

I mostly just haven't aligned it again because I want to replace all the suspension lol

[bcredeur97]

I'm sort of tempted to buy this for probably a few hundred dollars and then drive it all the way home
https://www.copart.com/lot/35528859

 

edit: since its in Cali it would require a broker which makes it more expensive than it needs to be so nahhh

[Real_PhillBert]

So I'm always banging the drums in my crusade against cheap tools, and today my drive got even stronger.

 

Four or five years ago I was gifted a set of Krutch (Northern Tool, china) impact sockets and have hated them ever since I first used them. When used with a reasonably strong impact, they flex and lock the fastener in and you have to put the socket in a vise and beat the fastener out. I hate them with all the fiery passion I can muster. 

 

Welp, today I was at my desk not getting a whole lot done and thinking about how those suck, so I ordered a new set of Proto impact sockets, and I cannot wait to liberate my toolbox of these pieces of Chinese horseshit. 

 

So in short, don't buy cheap tools, you'll just end up throwing them away or breaking them and buy good tools, so you might as well jump to the end and buy good tools. 

[Bitter]

8 minutes ago, Real_PhillBert said:

So I'm always banging the drums in my crusade against cheap tools, and today my drive got even stronger.

 

Four or five years ago I was gifted a set of Krutch (Northern Tool, china) impact sockets and have hated them ever since I first used them. When used with a reasonably strong impact, they flex and lock the fastener in and you have to put the socket in a vise and beat the fastener out. I hate them with all the fiery passion I can muster. 

 

Welp, today I was at my desk not getting a whole lot done and thinking about how those suck, so I ordered a new set of Proto impact sockets, and I cannot wait to liberate my toolbox of these pieces of Chinese horseshit. 

 

So in short, don't buy cheap tools, you'll just end up throwing them away or breaking them and buy good tools, so you might as well jump to the end and buy good tools. 

Sunnex stuff is good on a budget.

[Real_PhillBert]

1 minute ago, Bitter said:

Sunnex stuff is good on a budget.

I can't say that I've ever heard of Sunnex. 

[MadyTehWolfie]

Welp I just failed inspection due to "monitors not ready" after I just drove the car 50+ miles. Flm sometimes inspections can be annoying

[bcredeur97]

1 hour ago, MadyTehWolfie said:

Welp I just failed inspection due to "monitors not ready" after I just drove the car 50+ miles. Flm sometimes inspections can be annoying

why waste your time? use a scan tool to check your monitors prior

 

my dad's G35 would take forever for it's monitors to be ready after clearing I remember. Some cars just do... not sure why

 

... not that we have emissions here. I just remember watching them

[bcredeur97]

PSA:

 

Had a lady at work bring her husband's hard drive in that apparently had all their life on it. Was an old 320GB seagate drive they've had for years. No backups. Asked if we could help her...

Plug in drive, light would flash, disk would not spin up. Computer would see the USB device, but not the disk inside.

 

Had to be the bearer of bad news to tell them the drive was dead. Recommended a local company and drive savers as potential people to rescue the data, but warned it would be very expensive.

Backup your data people!

[PandaCopyRight]

1 minute ago, bcredeur97 said:

PSA:

 

Had a lady at work bring her husband's hard drive in that apparently had all their life on it. Was an old 320GB seagate drive they've had for years. No backups. Asked if we could help her...

Plug in drive, light would flash, disk would not spin up. Computer would see the USB device, but not the disk inside.

 

Had to be the bearer of bad news to tell them the drive was dead. Recommended a local company and drive savers as potential people to rescue the data, but warned it would be very expensive.

Backup your data people!

cloud storage

or just not have important info ... 

[Real_PhillBert]

10 minutes ago, bcredeur97 said:

PSA:

 

Had a lady at work bring her husband's hard drive in that apparently had all their life on it. Was an old 320GB seagate drive they've had for years. No backups. Asked if we could help her...

Plug in drive, light would flash, disk would not spin up. Computer would see the USB device, but not the disk inside.

 

Had to be the bearer of bad news to tell them the drive was dead. Recommended a local company and drive savers as potential people to rescue the data, but warned it would be very expensive.

Backup your data people!

Its a lesson most people have to learn the hard way. Myself included.

6 minutes ago, PandaCopyRight said:

cloud storage

or just not have important info ... 

I'm weird and don't like the idea of my data on someone else's drives.

[TVwazhere]

2 hours ago, Real_PhillBert said:

Welp, today I was at my desk not getting a whole lot done and thinking about how those suck

[Real_PhillBert]

Just now, TVwazhere said:

Ever have one of those days where the pile of stuff you have to do is so monumental that you just cant find the motivation to do any of it? Yeah, that was me today.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, MadyTehWolfie said:

Welp I just failed inspection due to "monitors not ready" after I just drove the car 50+ miles. Flm sometimes inspections can be annoying

I once failed because my indicators weren’t orange enough. 

[Thirdgen89GTA]

I need those lego sets!

[byalexandr]

21 hours ago, bcredeur97 said:

be careful with 4th gear. thats the weakest point of the 6 speed trans

 

the diff.. I'd get some better mounts than OEM for sure. Maybe get that kit that reinforces where they notch it out.. I believe the diff itself can take a lot it just tends to move around a lot and also that notch they cut out for safety if you get rear ended becomes a weak point

I just finished installing new calipers rotors and pads on all four corners. Recently replaced the front ball joint and UCAs along with the outer tie rods, plus the coilovers which for $200 I have no complaints, still rides very well for the 5 months I have had them.

 

Still have to get poly bushings especially for the diff and fix my rear subframe brace. I get a lot of wheel hop which will destroy the Torsen at higher power, AND my CV axles are shot; previous owner didn't care for the car so now I'm paying for it 

 

I eventually want to swap a ZF/Getrag 260 and Getrag diff. Only thing is that it's hella expensive. Maybe an F-body T56 but I hate how sloppy those shifters are.

[iDeFecZx]

On 5/15/2019 at 5:42 PM, spwath said:

 

 

Weird, I wonder why. Just bought last year with 8000 miles on from old lady, then I put it up to 23000 miles, seems early for tires to be this worn...

Especially for just stock car, nothing changed at all...

15k is a lot of miles for a set of tyres.

 

[MadyTehWolfie]

2 hours ago, bcredeur97 said:

why waste your time? use a scan tool to check your monitors prior

 

my dad's G35 would take forever for it's monitors to be ready after clearing I remember. Some cars just do... not sure why

 

... not that we have emissions here. I just remember watching them

What makes it bad for me is that every time I start my car up for the first time it gets misfire codes in 2 to 4 cylinders. Because the hpa manifold has no flaps in the intake manifold so I have to go through this shit every single time. 

[MadyTehWolfie]

19 minutes ago, vinyldash303 said:

you have a tune right? depending on software you might be able to go into the tune and disable those cel codes?

Wouldn't want to disable the misfire cell codes. Only happens when it's a cold start and not 100% of the time. I learned to live with it