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1500 questions
15
votes
5 answers

How difficult is it to rebuild a transmission?

I have a 1984 Toyota Supra that is now exclusively a track car. The last round out we let some less experienced drivers take the wheel and they basically destroyed the transmission. Nothing but 4th gear works now. We've been making the rounds at…
Mike Deck
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5 answers

Automatic transmission: Is shifting to neutral while approaching stops bad?

This is not with the intention of saving fuel (as I have seen many answers assuming savings in fuel while doing this). But I have this habit of putting the vehicle into neutral before approaching stops (red lights). The main reason behind doing this…
Rafi
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15
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6 answers

Why would you need a crank sensor if you had a cam sensor?

The only thing I can come up with is timing belt / chain flex which can cause a very small amount of timing difference. I guess they could detect if the belt was put on wrong, skipped a tooth, stretched, or broke. Everything but stretched you would…
Cc Dd
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15
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4 answers

How does the BMW M4 GTS achieve low water consumption in its water injection system?

Bosch recently made waves when it announced plans to offer the M4 GTS' water-injection system to other mass-produced vehicles. Now water injection isn't a new concept; Bruce Crower put the six-stroke engine in the limelight about a decade ago, but…
Zaid
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15
votes
7 answers

Everytime I go to change my oil filter it's extremely hard to remove. Any way I can make this easier for me in the future?

I always run oil around the rubber rim of the new filter, and screw it in by hand, maybe a couple of twists with an oil filter strap wrench. But when it comes to removing it, it's a massive ordeal. It just wont budge. I've broken strap wrenches and…
MeltingDog
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15
votes
3 answers

Why do Internal Combustion Engines have specific "Firing Orders"?

What's the point of having a firing order? I read that it helps balance out the power so as not to be too much on one side if the crankshaft, but why do we have such a specific order? If that was the case could I have the firing order in a 4…
user15938
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15
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6 answers

Why is the speed of a motorcycle measured at the front wheel?

I have been thinking about this, from quite long ago. Why is speed always calculated from the front wheel? Let's just consider the following situation:- You are in a race, and you have given full throttle in 1st gear and you have ended up in a…
15
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11 answers

Why does stopping and starting a car in heavy traffic burn more fuel?

Why does stopping and starting a car in heavy traffic burn more fuel than simply coasting on a highway at 55 mph?
user18889
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15
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6 answers

What to look out for when buying a car that hit a deer?

I'm looking at buying a car that is only 2 years old, has good miles, a price about a third lower than I would expect...but it had an accident listed on the CarFax. The previous owner hit a deer and the dealer tells me that the car was likely…
Luke
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15
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2 answers

Does the brake bleeding sequence really matter?

We've all heard this tip - "start with the wheel furthest from the brake master cylinder and finish with the closest one". Why? Does the sequence really matter? What exactly happens if we don't keep this sequence? Does this tip even apply with…
15
votes
4 answers

Strange overheating behaviour

My 10 year old Litchfield Forester STi needs a bit of maintenance to sort a minor oil leak but other than that has been behaving well for the past year with regular oil top ups. This week on the drive home I first noticed there was no heating in the…
Rory Alsop
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15
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6 answers

Turbo equivalent on electric motors

Is there anything functionally equivalent to a turbo for electric motors? Obviously, I am not asking for something that reuses exhaust gases to force in more air, because there are no exhaust gases nor the need for air. What I am asking is if…
sergiol
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15
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3 answers

Why does GM still insist on push rod engines?

GM continues to design and produce push rod (Over Head Valve or OHV) engines while most of their competitors have gone to over head cam (OHC) configurations for their performance engines. Is there a known reason for this? Their smaller engines…
Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2
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15
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4 answers

What's the cause of Diesels' typical clatter noise?

I guess it's related to their basically running off knocking, but if I were to explain it to someone like this, it wouldn't convince me neither. [Edit] From http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/369700-what-exactly-causes-the-diesel-noise.html The Loud…
Arch Stanton
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15
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1 answer

Safe way to drill through the engine bay firewall

I need to run cables through my firewall (the wall between the engine bay and the seating area) but I can't seem to find any factory placed holes to pull cables through. Now a lot of people told me its pretty easy to find a place to drill through…
Marco Geertsma
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