Motor Vehicle Maintenance & Repair Stack Exchange
Motor Vehicle Maintenance & Repair Stack Exchange

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1500 questions
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3 answers

What to know before buying and OBD-II reader

I read the features to look for in an OBD-II reader, but I am curious if getting one is the right move. I'm just planning to get a cheap one, which is proving to be interesting shopping local. What I expect to happen is I will read the code, go to…
Jim McKeeth
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How do I repair detatched interior roof fabric?

I have a 2008 Toyota Camry. The fabric above the rear window has come detached and is sagging. I plan to use a spray adhesive (Loctite High-Performance) on the yellow foam after taping the window to avoid spray overage. Is this how I should be…
JoshDM
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What can cause a car to consume more fuel?

All over my long driver career, I had 4 cars (5 years). I always compare my fuel consumption with other people who have the same car. 3 times out of 4, I found out that my cars were consuming more fuel then others (I like buying car in poor…
Jean-François Savard
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How do I apply dielectric grease to my battery?

I recently had a new battery installed in my 2006 Subaru Forester. The shop did not use any dielectric grease, just connected the leads to the terminal and that's it. What is the preferred method of application? remove leads, apply to terminals,…
Pangea
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At what point do you need to replace the calipers?

I bought my car in February 2013 with 49K miles. It now has 61K miles on it and my brakes are starting to squeak very gently, until I apply more pressure on the brake pedal. When I bought the car, I foolishly didn't ask for any service / maintenance…
sab669
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5 answers

How do I determine what type of jumper cable I should carry?

I recently bought a used car, and it didn't come with any jumper cables, so I'm going to buy some. I briefly looked around at a store and online, and there seems to be a wide variety of prices and specifications. These are the particular specs I've…
nhinkle
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6 answers

Finding a possible vacuum leak

One of our cars has a bit of a rough idle which disappears at about 1,000 RPM. After eliminating everything else I concluded that this is due to a minor vacuum leak. This was confirmed by the use of a gauge connected to the system, which showed the…
John Gardeniers
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Is it OK practice to start a car while it's on jackstands?

Just finished putting the transmission and subframe back in after fixing a input shaft bearing, but most of the suspension (lower control arms, knuckles, ...) aren't installed yet. The front of the car is sitting on jack stands (on the jack points…
Unimportant
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9 answers

Is it okay to replace one tire (of four matched tires) with a completely different model of tire?

I have a 2011 Ford Focus, and while the car itself is good quality, I have now ruined two tires in three months by merely driving over a screw. Ford offers no road hazard on their tires, so I am pretty annoyed with Ford. Both Costco and Discount…
Jerry Asher
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Can anyone Identify the make, model and year of this car?

Photo is from the 1980's Found this photo and am now wondering what the make, model and year for this car. THe photo is from the 1980's I am guessing the car is from the 1960's
Jim
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3 answers

Do I need to take special care of my new motorcycle in this particular scenario?

I may or may not be overthinking. I'm new to motorcycles and I bought a new motorcycle. Here's the full thing: So we don't have a showroom in my city. So someone I knew rode it personally to deliver it to me. I was with him as a pillion. The…
Vikas
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10 answers

Diesel vs Petrol motorcars. Pro's and cons?

I realize this may be a silly question to those of you on here who are proper petrol-heads and this may even be a repeat question, but I could not find anything on it on here, so here goes: What are the advantages and disadvantages between cars with…
DeVil
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1 answer

How come full throttle is meaning full speed instead of the opposite?

I am stumbling about full throttle. To throttle usually means to brake down or slowing down. Technically it is a flap which is reducing the air delivery which is important for the combustion process. So my natural understanding of full throttle…
Thomas
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Will snow tire studs get rusty if a tire is washed before putting to storage?

Once snow tires are changed to warm-weather tires in spring it's tempting to wash them before putting to storage so that they don't stain stuff they come into contact with. One concern is that studs might get rusty and thus their lifetime will…
sharptooth
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5 answers

Easiest way to disable the A/C compressor

My A/C system has a leak in it and my compressor is making an awful noise: probably needs replacing. Winter is coming though, and I really don't want to spend any time or money on tracking down leaks and converting to 134a and all that jazz. What I…
vlsd
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