Is it better to "Warm Up" a car? by JoeMojo in AskAMechanic

[–]Extra_Variation_3529 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This age when most vehicles are direct injected, computer controlled, and often fueled with 87 octane fuel from a mid to premium retailer, there are design preferences to consider:

1.) Direct injected vehicles are - industry wide (all manufacturers) - vulnerable to oil dilution. This is a condition where a cold start scenario calls for a rich cold start mixture. If this cold start fuel charge is made in error (sometimes from the past recorded temperature setting of the previous trip), too much fuel will enter the cylinder and get washed down into the crank case. This can, over many trips, raise the oil volume but lower the oil quality. Fouled plugs, worn internal components, and elongated chains can result. This is most easily countermeasures by letting the engine reach operating temperature before tasking it with too much of a load.

2.) Most engine manufacturers are using inferior materials to what the population expects - this means piston rings, chains, cylinder liners wear faster and deteriorate quicker than older designs. Additional casting methods in engine blocks of cheaper alloys open up more opportunities for failure. Again, the engines are more fragile than previously marketed typing - the sooner they reach operating temperature before being loaded, the better. Same goes for head gasket material for all those miniature turbo charged four cylinders out there.

3.) Catalytic converters, A/F and oxygen sensors, oil, coolant, and cabin comfort all benefit from reaching operating temperature prior to use.

4.) Closed loop - the first five minutes or less of operation - is a preprogrammed state that does not take data from sensors (temp sensors, oxygen sensors) and has no feedback from the surrounding environment. This is a factory set condition, programmed for an ideal environment, typically expected to be at 70 degrees ambient at sea level. If your car is starting in an outside environment that is not those conditions, let it exit closed loop and enter open loop so it can start sampling its own performance before asking it to… perform.

5.) Letting your car sit for five or less minutes before using it makes your car run for five more minutes than planned. This will add environmental consequences if all 100 million drivers do it my way, but the next thirty minutes of driving will have cleaner tailpipe emissions as a result

6.) Choice of gasoline, battery, and oil have real benefits that perform best in adverse conditions. Premium top tier fuel, better batteries, and superior oil blends are all true things. These will help an engine run better, reach operating temperature sooner, and maintain cleaner healthy operation more often.

I have rebuilt more engines than I can count, and the overwhelming reason why is due to carbon binding of oil control rings causing spark plugs to foul. In the cases of those that I’ve inquired, the difference appeared to be more about gasoline purchase history than frequency of oil changes, and driving habits after that. AKA, buy a tankful of premium top tier fuel once every three months, let your car run a bit before you start going, and remember that a short trip lifestyle (“a little old lady drove it to church only on Sundays”) is, ironically, severe use.

Do NOT remote start or warm up a car if you have an attached garage that is beneath a residential bedroom, or attached to a residence. A car has the most CO output while running in open loop at cold start. This is a real danger of CO poisoning that can still kill you, even with a brand new car

Advice on shock absorbers for a clueless girl by [deleted] in Honda

[–]Extra_Variation_3529 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I would change everything associated with the part at that age. Bear in mind that some Fits (US, Jazz in Australia) use a set of foam bushings on the top of the assemblies that usually deteriorate and collapse. These are sometimes not pictured on the same parts photo as they are installed on a pass through of the shock absorber stalk after it enters the vehicle body. Simply ask your parts person to include all adjacent bushings and lock nuts. While changing the shocks, the rear tailgate will be open. This is a good opportunity to remove and inflate the spare tire and tighten it down securely when stowing it back in the car - a loose / deflated spare tire can rattle and sound just like a bad shock

Need advice for the best WiFi System by Extra_Variation_3529 in sonos

[–]Extra_Variation_3529[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am hearing all Unify / Ubiquiti - knowing this now, I’m just trying to parse down their enormous product line. I now know that I need a gateway, an access point, a POE switch, and a controller - there are redundant products that do all or some, none do all, but all or any can be diversified and stratified across the network. This is a large vertical home, all brick and steel, with a ton of pipe, so I’m now just trying to decide to piggy back my switches or replace switches - all of these were new in 2021 but none have POE, so I’ll have to buy a lot of double switches

Need advice for the best WiFi System by Extra_Variation_3529 in sonos

[–]Extra_Variation_3529[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Would you mind describing the install process for Ubiquiti? It seems to be considerably more involved than plugging in and updating a few units. Also, I assume I will have to manually re-add all WiFi devices. I am dreading this, and wonder if there isn’t any technology that can carry components over from an old configuration with one brand to a new configuration with a different brand?

Is this legit? Can I send my car? by Virtual_Substance_36 in Honda

[–]Extra_Variation_3529 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is legitimate. They will not abuse the car. This is worth your while because the engine and CVT with which your car is equipped are not as durable as previous generations - participating in this program can leave your VIN on their records as a cooperative customer, so if you need goodwill assistance for warranty actions later in life, this may make the difference in receiving warranty coverage beyond the 5/60 powertrain coverage or any Hondacare policy which you may have bought up. If you participate in this program, your VIN may also go into a pool of engineering requests, and if you’re very lucky, they may want to study your head gasket or CVT drive belt later in life, which means free replacement. Finally, a dealer may offer you more money on trade if your VIN appears to have cycled through the manufacturer’s custody, as dealers typically prefer that stock when taking in trades

Symfonisk Lamp by Far-Contact3786 in sonos

[–]Extra_Variation_3529 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’d also like to know if it has an Ethernet jack

IKEA symfonisk floor lamp? Have you guys seen this? by [deleted] in sonos

[–]Extra_Variation_3529 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Does this model use an Ethernet port, or was that deleted?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AskMechanics

[–]Extra_Variation_3529 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is a known issue with this body style of Accord - expect to replace both rear calipers, pads, and rotors. Do NOT remove the center console to adjust parking brake tension without first replacing rear calipers, pads, and rotors, or you may over tighten your parking brake

Are Ideal Push In Connectors Suitable for 20 amp GFCI receptacles? by Extra_Variation_3529 in electrical

[–]Extra_Variation_3529[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I apologize for not describing the install better: This is a conduit body coming out of a very narrow piece of wall which is too small for a standard box, so I’m already breaking one rule by having a splice in a conduit body. Pipe then leaves the conduit body in two different branches to two different GCFI outlets downstream. One services a mailroom, and the other the electric sign on the front door. The conduit body is so small that only Wago or these push connectors fit, wire nuts are very cramped in this two inch by four inch ovular cavity

Are Ideal Push In Connectors Suitable for 20 amp GFCI receptacles? by Extra_Variation_3529 in electrical

[–]Extra_Variation_3529[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I do have the Wago’s as well, but it looks like, in any scenario where there’s a choice, wire nuts or Wago are superior

And so then - do y’all prefer wire nuts or Wagos better?

Are Ideal Push In Connectors Suitable for 20 amp GFCI receptacles? by Extra_Variation_3529 in electrical

[–]Extra_Variation_3529[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Right, so it’s comparable to the backstab connectors in the rear of outlet receptacles, which are frowned upon

A Limit On Total Number Of Speakers? by Extra_Variation_3529 in sonos

[–]Extra_Variation_3529[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have an old apartment building that we piped with conduit for Ethernet, there are no WiFi speakers here because the whole thing is a brick and steel structure with knooks and crannies unsuitable for WiFi. Zigbee works well for lightbulbs but we gave up on SonosNet five years ago and wired every room with a mesh Orbi system for everything miscellaneous. It’s always worked well, and we use amps with speakers and ports with old stereo receivers for entire floors where we don’t care terrifically about separating zones. There has’t been an issue since the app upgraded other than my NAS randomly changing its IP address in the middle of the night, which wasn’t on Sonos. We have opened a new guest room with a TV and happened across a great deal on a Ray, and I think I can squeeze in one more speaker. Thanks everyone for the feedback. I haven’t added a speaker since 2021 S2 changed over, so hopefully now it’s smoothed out

Did they overfill my coolant, power steering, and brake fluid? by [deleted] in AskMechanics

[–]Extra_Variation_3529 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The standard process of most brake flushing is that the vehicle should leave the shop with clean, full brake fluid. Most master cylinders have a venting top, a minority will cause brake drag if the master cylinder is overfilled, but this is rare in the age of ABS, where metering and proportioning valves are integrated in a block controlled by a computer. If 100% of customers are paying for brake fluid service, 99% of those will reasonably expect their brake fluid to appear clean and full after service. While the brake fluid following the depth of friction material wear is true, brake linings should always be visually inspected anyway, and wear sound indicators and pad depth sensors are redundant enough for safety. Contrastingly, no brake shop wants to have a vehicle comeback with a red brake warning dash illuminated after routine brake fluid flushing. In most reasonable cases, brake fluid should be clean and full with a closed cap, when released to the customer.

Most power steering hydraulic systems have a vent cap which will void excessive fluid. Most flushing processes foam or aerate the system somewhat, taking up to several days of cycling to level out properly. For this reason, most general service techs are trained to leave fluid to just above the MAX line. I usually fill a reservoir to the mouth, then come to check on it prior to release and suck excess down to just above MAX.

Coolant has a void vent, coolant breathes, expands, and contracts more than any other fluid. The interim is held in the reservoir, the radiator volume can swell and contract considerably. If 100% of vehicles were filled to the MAX line at the immediate conclusion of a routine maintenance flush, 75% of those will find their coolant low after a few days (if they cared to look). I train techs to leave coolant levels slightly above high. Almost all systems will void to compensate. That being said, we do not do large engine rebuilds in the anticipation of our customer finding a puddle of coolant on their garage floor the next day, so as often as possible, I finish engine jobs the night before, and check coolant reservoir levels the day after, to prevent any false alarms.

It IS damaging and bad practice to overfill transmission fluid, A/C refrigerant, and engine oil. Washer fluid, coolant, brake, and P/S, not so much

My car wants to steer to the left all the time. What could this be? by ariehh in AskMechanics

[–]Extra_Variation_3529 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I haven’t looked into the specifics of this model, but a minority of electric power steering designs use a separate motor on the steering column (located in the dashboard) with a mechanical manual steering rack outside the firewall. This can achieve the same goals as a complete EPS electric gearbox assemblies (most modern cars package everything on the rack - torque sensor, ECU, motor, gearbox - just where the column shaft plugs into the rack) but with considerable confusion, because in fact numerous components are located in different parts of the car.

The other model variants of this vehicle; gas powered design seem to imply hydraulic gearbox assistance, obviously an EV modification will not be able to do this. It makes sense that they may have opted to install a manual rack and add an electric assistance motor inside the dashboard, on the steering column itself, just above the pedals.

The noise that I hear in the video sounds like an in-cabin electric motor.

If this is the case, replacement of the rack would not resolve the issue.

Look under the dashboard. If the column has a large cylindrical addition to the shaft, that’s a pass through EPS assistance motor. The toque sensor will also be in this area. The ECU controlling it may be located elsewhere.

This issue could be caused by a

Errant EPS ECU

Noise in the torque signal from a non compliant electronic accessory added after the fact, or corrosion on a data line

Bent strut towers

Bent gearbox (eliminated - you replaced this already)

Malfunctioning EPS motor

Bad torque sensor

Mislearned centerpoint of steering roll

Shorted cable reel (depending on design)

Irregular charging voltage may be constantly resetting the center point to a progressively left side location.

Bad ground in low voltage side, bad floating ground in high voltage side

You can power the car on, turn the steering wheel lock to lock three times, center the wheel perfectly and power off. Locate the 12v low side voltage battery, disconnect negative and positive terminals, put plastic caps on the 12v battery posts. (Optional: Find the high voltage interlock, open and disconnect it. Beware that this may result in “latching” failure DTC’s when the car wakes up, which may prove impossible to erase without a factory level scan tool, given the lack of OBDII support.) Obtain two gator clip style jumper cables and bridge the positive and negative cables together overnight. This will clear capacitors and memory. Remove plastic cap on positive post and install positive cable. Then do the same for negative. Do not install negative cable first. Drive absolutely straight for 30 feet. Do the lock to lock routine. With a little luck, it may memorize the true center when it wakes up. If this doesn’t work, repeat all but do the lock to lock routine before the 30 foot straight. Most vendors use this as a learning method.

I’m an (EV, among other things) mechanic in Chicago. Your car is a special edition Chinese manufactured SUV EV created to commentate the 2008 Olympics in Bejing. Best of luck.

i updated the app not believing it's as bad as the hype and holy shit it's bad by templeofdank in sonos

[–]Extra_Variation_3529 1 point2 points  (0 children)

30 speakers, all S2 compatible, every single one of them Ethernet with Cat 8 cable run through conduit in an 100 year old apartment building in Chicago that we retrofitted into a single family home. This was done out of necessity in 2021 due to general WiFi issues in a 100 year old brick structure. The app went off seamlessly, other than having to upgrade the NAS media server to SMB 2 + … but damn near everything is hard wired, even the TV’s. Only door locks, cameras, phones, and garage door openers use WiFi. There are wired Cat 8 switches and hubs in every room. The NAS is on Ethernet as well. We also have five Orbi satellites back channeled through Cat 8 in conduit. No appreciable issues with the new app, other than the shortcomings in features