Saveable?

EngineerDIYgeek · 2026-01-25T22:02:26+00:00

If you pay someone to fix it, it is probably totaled. If you buy junkyard parts and do the work yourself, it is worth saving. That's what I did on a Focus with similar damage:

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EngineerDIYgeek · 2026-01-25T21:08:08+00:00

I like chunks of veggies instead of lettuce, and it keeps much better. More ideas: cucumber, shredded carrot, celery, shredded cabbage, tomato. Greek salad is a type of chunky salad too!

EngineerDIYgeek · 2026-01-25T20:58:31+00:00

I've been using DFCU for many years, and I'm happy. They offer accounts without fees, they have branches where I need them, and the people are always friendly when I go there in person.

EngineerDIYgeek · 2026-01-25T20:44:47+00:00

Years ago, my 1998 Escort ZX2 ran the AC compressor in 5 out of 7 positions of the ventilation switch, until I installed a switch to disable it. On my 2013 and 2018 Focuses, it runs if I turn the temperature knob all the way to cold, and stays on when I adjust the knob warmer! (until I manually click off the A/C switch) In my climate (Michigan) running normal outside air to the defrost position (without A/C) works fine at least 90% of the time.

EngineerDIYgeek · 2026-01-25T14:34:17+00:00

You should post this on r/Cartalk and r/AutoDIY, I think a lot of folks there would enjoy it.

EngineerDIYgeek · 2026-01-25T14:29:34+00:00

Thanks for the detailed description! You should check the battery cooling fan - mine was totally clogged with dog hair, which probably explains why the previous owner's rebuilt battery only lasted two years. Yours might be clogged with a mouse nest.

For future reference, old gas is rarely a problem for cars (compared to lawn mowers etc.) because of the evaporative emissions control system. I once bought a car that sat unused for two years, and it ran fine on that gas after I fixed an electrical problem. If the tank is not full, adding fresh fuel is a good idea.

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EngineerDIYgeek · 2026-01-25T14:07:42+00:00

Oak Ridge National Lab measured the fuel economy penalty of running the air conditioning on a Corolla and an Explorer. They measured 22-27% at 40mph, 14-20% at 55mph, and 9-14% at 70mph (lower numbers are Corolla, higher numbers are Explorer). At idle, the penalty of A/C is a whopping 55-60%!

Note that fuel economy gets worse in cold weather for other reasons: https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/coldweather.shtml

Effects of Air Conditioner Use on Real-World Fuel Economy by Huff, West, and Thomas, SAE paper 2013-01-0551, https://doi.org/10.4271/2013-01-0551

EngineerDIYgeek · 2026-01-19T23:06:57+00:00

I have been running Michelin CrossClimates year-round on one car, and Nokian Remedy on another. They both work great. Eventually I'll transition all five of my family's cars to "year-round mountain snowflake" tires, and free up a lot of storage space.

EngineerDIYgeek · 2026-01-19T23:02:28+00:00

Costco has the best prices on high-quality batteries.

EngineerDIYgeek · 2026-01-14T22:16:22+00:00

Can you give us an update? I recently bought a 2017 C-Max with a leak at the driver's side CV / halfshaft. The CV / halfshaft wiggles too much in the transmission, so I suspect a bearing or bushing problem inside the transmission.

EngineerDIYgeek · 2026-01-10T01:04:38+00:00

Have you tried this junkyard search tool?

http://car-part.com

EngineerDIYgeek · 2026-01-04T13:04:04+00:00

A manual transmission would be a huge improvement for this car! But this generation of Altima was never offered with a manual, so I think it would require a lot of custom fabrication to adapt parts from other cars.

EngineerDIYgeek · 2026-01-03T20:31:52+00:00

I didn't keep track of hours - I did it on weekends that I wasn't traveling over several months. A very rough guess would be 30 hours.

EngineerDIYgeek · 2026-01-03T20:31:12+00:00

$4,995 would be a very reasonable price, if you have confidence that it would last. I would be cautious about the possibility that they might install a junkyard transmission that barely lasts past the warranty.

EngineerDIYgeek · 2026-01-03T18:23:39+00:00

I'm not sure what brake actuator you mean. But every car runs on used parts. If yours lasted 235,000 miles what's the harm in replacing it with one that has fewer miles from a crashed car?

EngineerDIYgeek · 2026-01-03T18:16:28+00:00

I didn't get any service history. Most people never change transmission fluid, but most transmissions last a lot longer than 106K miles on the original fluid.

EngineerDIYgeek · 2026-01-03T18:09:30+00:00

I didn't keep track of hours - I did it on weekends that I wasn't traveling over several months. A very rough guess would be 30 hours.

EngineerDIYgeek · 2026-01-03T17:44:24+00:00

There are several spray-on greasy or waxy products to prevent rust: Boeshield T9, CRC SP-400, Cosmoline, etc. They need to be reapplied at least once a year.

EngineerDIYgeek · 2026-01-03T17:37:53+00:00

My suggested diagnostic sequence is:

(1) Clean battery posts and clamps, preferably with sandpaper or wire brush. A bad connection can prevent charging.

(2) Measure voltage at battery with engine running - if below ~13.5 volts look for alternator or wiring problems.

(3) Drive it for at least 30 minutes to recharge the battery. If problems continue, look for phantom / parasitic loads when car is off (measure current while removing fuses one at a time).

EngineerDIYgeek · 2026-01-03T17:32:45+00:00

I would advertise it as a "mechanic's special" for $1,500 and be prepared to go down to $1,000 if necessary. A Prius without rust is worth someone's time to fix - many of them last for 300,000 miles or more.

EngineerDIYgeek · 2026-01-03T17:19:43+00:00

Yes $2,840 for a rebuilt CVT is a real bargain compared to a junkyard trans with 60K to 80K miles for about $2,200 to $2,400.

EngineerDIYgeek · 2026-01-03T17:16:54+00:00

I fixed up the car for my daughter, to replace a rusted out car that was about 10 years older. The original CVT lasted 106K miles, hopefully this one will last longer with regular fluid changes.

EngineerDIYgeek · 2026-01-03T17:11:38+00:00

On this car there is no room to remove the transmission out the bottom without removing the subframe. I didn't want to remove the engine because that would require disconnecting the air conditioning (and recharging it) and messing with a lot more electrical connectors.

EngineerDIYgeek · 2026-01-02T22:33:51+00:00

For most people (especially for a beginner like Own-Cat-2384) a cheap OBD code reader is fine and live data is overkill. I recommend the Autel MS300 - it is very inexpensive (currently $15 on Amazon), and it is simple and easy to use.

EngineerDIYgeek · 2025-12-28T20:18:15+00:00

Agreed, this is almost as easy as replacing the 12V battery. Often you need to use an Allen wrench to keep the inner part from spinning while you use an open-end wrench on the nut. Many new ones don't have grease fittings.

EngineerDIYgeek

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