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

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1500 questions
13
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4 answers

Is it OK to skip gears on a motorcycle?

I'm not sure if this is on topic, but I'd like to know the answer before it comes a repair question. I have a Y2K Triumph Speed Triple - great bike. First gear comfortably takes to 90km/h. Needless to say, in city riding I have to short-shift out of…
dave
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6 answers

What does it mean when I turn the car key, nothing happens for a bit, and then the car revs to life?

Usually, when starting my car, as soon as I turn the key all the way around, the car instantly starts revving and then springs to life. For some reason, today, when starting my car. I turned the key in the ignition and nothing happened. My…
jojo
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7 answers

Why have I had to replace so many exhaust pipes?

My largest car maintenance cost is exhaust pipes, mostly catalytic converters. I do not think this is the case for most people. What am I doing wrong? I tend to buy cheap cars (<£500), change the oil myself, get the brakes changed when they squeak…
User65535
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8 answers

Do cars consume less gasoline when the tank is full?

I noticed While driving my car the fuel refills last me a lot longer when I go for the full tank over the half tank. I feel that it takes a lot longer to go through the upper half of the tank than the bottom half of the tank. I felt that keeping a…
Anwar Elhadad
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13
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7 answers

I drove on a dirt road rougher than my car was designed for

I have a 2007 Toyota Corolla, and following my GPS, I foolishly drove onto an extremely rough dirt road. There was no way out other than to keep going. My car was flopping all over the place and bottoming out. Once I made it out, the tire pressure…
SegNerd
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13
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3 answers

Charging battery with battery charger vs jump starting and running the car

Got a 1998 Toyota Camry that has an empty battery and am wondering what the best course of action is. I have a battery charger that I am thinking of using but it's currently inconvenient to do. My question is: If I just jump start the car and run it…
Vehicular IT
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5 answers

Car won't start after sitting for 2 years even with a jump. Is it a starter or alternator issue?

My parents have a 2001 Pontiac Aztek that's been sitting for two years. Apparently, before they stopped using it, there was an oil leak that caused starter problems (they couldn't find the leak), and they replaced it multiple times. And, the battery…
Christian
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13
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3 answers

Broken wheel studs

A few months ago, I picked up a cheap 2005 4Runner V8 2WD, which had a slight front-end vibration that I wisely ignored until recently. A week or so ago, I felt a pretty severe thunk from the front LH wheel, followed by another thunk per wheel…
3Dave
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2 answers

Is it okay or useful to run heat and AC at the same time?

Most cars that I've seen in my life have a heat slider or dial, which goes from coldest to hottest, and also a button or switch that is labelled "AC". When the heat dial is set to cold, turning on the AC switch makes it even colder. I was under the…
snetch
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13
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2 answers

How should I remove stickers or pinstripe decals from paint?

I want to remove a dealer's sticker from my car. The sticker is on a painted surface. What is the best way to do it? Could I remove pinstripe decals in the same way?
William Cline
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4 answers

Is it absolutely necessary to replace all four tyres on a manual 2008 Subaru Impreza?

I destroyed a back tire on my 2008 Subaru Impreza manual transmission with viscous coupling. The manual says all four tires must be the same size. The spare tire must only be mounted onto the rear axle when applicable. I don't need to pull a fuse…
fuzzybabybunny
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13
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2 answers

How do I drain the brake fluid for a 1999 BMW K1200RS?

I need to drain the brake fluid for my 1999 BMW K1200RS with ABS in order to do some minor service on the Master Cylinder, but I don't have a service manual for the bike. How should I go about doing this, and what are the things I need to watch…
emmby
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13
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5 answers

Why can some cars go through water while others can't?

Why can some cars (mostly old Russian cars on YouTube) seemingly go through water while others can't? I'm talking about situations when the water level is at half the height of the car, so the engine is under the water. What are the differences…
Buksy
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13
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3 answers

What does O/D mean on a dashboard & a button under the transmission button?

My car has an O/D button under the transmission button. When I press it, it turns O/D off. When O/D is off, the revs go up more than when O/D is on. What does O/D mean and what does it do to the car? I assume whatever O/D is, it's on by default…
user9506231
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13
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6 answers

How to deal with a hot turbocharger

A piece of advice that seems to be widely accepted is that after a long high-speed run, when the turbocharger is thoroughly hot, you should let the engine idle for a while before stopping it. The reason given is that this allows the extremely hot…
abacus
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