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

Most Popular

more tags
1500 questions
11
votes
8 answers

Can one slightly charge a dead car battery with a portable battery jump kit?

The other week, my friend was trying to jump start a friend's very dead car battery with one of the portable power bank car jump starter kits. It looked something like the below: Image source If I were to have been jumping the dead car with…
Intrastellar Explorer
  • 375
  • 1
  • 3
  • 15
11
votes
2 answers

I hit a curb and something got dislocated from under the vehicle. I wonder what is it

I was driving one day and accidentally hit a curb. When I check the damage, I see that this thing is now dangling from the bottom. It's located almost directly beneath the engine to one side. The other side also has one. When I touch it, it feels…
starleaf1
  • 275
  • 3
  • 6
11
votes
4 answers

What is the cold engine light really telling me?

My 2013 Honda Fit has been for the past few weeks or so invariably showing me the cold engine light (a blue thermometer with the letter C) when I start it up before or after work (or most other times). I looked in the manual to see what exactly this…
Garrett Albright
  • 213
  • 1
  • 2
  • 6
11
votes
3 answers

How do these similar engines differ so much in power output?

I have a question that is bugging me for a long time. I will take a BMW E46 (3-Series) as an example so that it's easier to ask. Comparing M3 and E46 330 engines: S54B32 and M54B30, they are both petrol inline six engines where the M3 engine has a…
Max Urbanowicz
  • 111
  • 1
  • 5
11
votes
3 answers

RPMs too high on freeway?

I just bought a 2006 kia rio sedan with a manual 5 speed transmission. During the test drive I couldn't go over 55mph (wasn't near any freeways) My first time on the freeway the rpms were around 3300 at 65 mph and the car sounded like it needed to…
Dexter74
  • 121
  • 1
  • 1
  • 5
11
votes
1 answer

2005 Subaru 2.5 RS - Engine-wise, how damaging is burning oil?

Assuming that an engine always has enough oil to be lubricated properly but burns quite a bit of oil, can it cause any damage in the long-term because it doesn't belong in the combustion chamber? I have a 2005 Subaru 2.5 RS. The engine is known to…
Simon
  • 333
  • 1
  • 3
  • 10
11
votes
2 answers

Brakes make grinding noise during stops at low speeds

I've got a Mazda B2300 pickup that's started making a grinding sound whenever I come to a stop. Braking at a high speed doesn't make any noise, but once I get under 25-30 MPH, the grinding sound gets progressively worse until the truck comes to a…
Doresoom
  • 508
  • 5
  • 9
  • 22
11
votes
2 answers

how can I measure the amount of fuel injected into a diesel engine in real time in a purely mechanic pre-OBD vehicle?

This is a Mercedes-Benz 308D van, year 1992, model 602.316. Pre-OBD, no electronics of any sort, everything is purely mechanical. I would like to retrofit a system which would measure the precise amount of fuel injected into the engine in real…
ria
  • 1,344
  • 4
  • 14
  • 23
11
votes
5 answers

What colour should power steering fluid be?

Recently started shopping for first car, so want to know as much as possible when going into a sale. Car I looked at recently has a brown dirty colour in the power steering reservoir, but the stuff I put in my fathers car recently was pink. Is this…
Mild Fuzz
  • 285
  • 1
  • 2
  • 9
11
votes
6 answers

Motorcyle Chain needs to be cleaned every time you lube it?

I lubed my motorcycle chain yesterday I used a little too much that it was dripping.At a fuel station a guy told me you should not lube it too often also you should clean it every time with diesel you lube it and use gear oil instead of the costly…
DhKo
  • 1,155
  • 3
  • 15
  • 37
11
votes
3 answers

What could be a likely cause of unusual "torque steer" after repairs?

I have a 2012 Dodge Avenger SXT. Recently, I had a collision with an inanimate object which damaged my front-right tire and rim and also caused some very minor body & paint damage. Immediately after the accident, I put the (not full-size) spare tire…
Iszi
  • 2,621
  • 10
  • 34
  • 39
11
votes
4 answers

Controlling door locks via CAN bus

I'm trying to figure out how to lock and unlock the doors of a 2010 Toyota RAV4 using the CAN bus via the OBD-II port. I have a microcontroller attached via an CAN controller and a CAN receiver, and I've written some firmware to capture and replay…
Isvara
  • 261
  • 1
  • 2
  • 8
11
votes
9 answers

Durability of automatic transmission boxes versus durability of manual transmission boxes? Their lifetimes?

My friend is against cars with automatic transmission because he thinks that they break easily and that their repairing cost a lot. He thinks that it is impossible to maintain an automatic transmission box. Hence he is avoiding all cars with…
hhh
  • 451
  • 3
  • 8
  • 19
11
votes
4 answers

Why don`t we use extremely thin oils in engines

I understand that lower viscosity oils are way easier to pump and move around engine parts, also they form a thinner "film" on friction surfaces which could improve parts measurements precision etc. Is it only due to increased piston rings leakage…
kokobill
  • 1,005
  • 1
  • 9
  • 28
11
votes
2 answers

When I step on gas pedal, the engine revs up but there is no acceleration

When I step on gas pedal, the engine revs up but there is no acceleration. When step off gas a bit it car starts to accelerate again. It's a manual transmission. 2005 Toyota Corolla. This is happening more and more frequently. Is this a problem with…
josi
  • 111
  • 1
  • 1
  • 3
1 2 3
…
99 100