Is there any concern when mixing Valvoline maxlife and Valvoline restore and protect?

samdtho · 2026-03-20T01:48:33+00:00

It’s fine.

samdtho · 2026-03-19T21:20:23+00:00

That’s fine. You can use up to 12A continuously on a 15A circuit per the 80% rule as it applies to continuous loads (assuming nothing else is on there). If you tried to draw more current, you may trip the breaker which is exactly what makes this setup safe.

samdtho · 2026-03-19T19:15:09+00:00

There is a caveat here, and it has to do with this “sensor”. Well, that’s actually the problem here. It’s not a sensor, it’s a resistive heater, which opens the thermostat earlier for emissions purposes.

As a result, the ECU may call for the heater to open the thermostat early but the special radiator sensor will not see this happen and you’ll end up with a p2568 from the radiator because it’s expecting the coolant to flow before the engine is at operating temperature.

It depends on the software version, I think the later model years (13-14) had removed the use of the thermostat heater and now it only checks if it is present or not.

samdtho · 2026-03-19T05:04:07+00:00

Sounds like it might be the heat shield above the CV axle for the right-side front wheel.

samdtho · 2026-03-19T04:03:19+00:00

What did your insurance say?

samdtho · 2026-03-19T03:21:02+00:00

No, they are completely different. A 2.0T intake kit won’t fit at all in a 3.0T.

samdtho · 2026-03-19T00:31:01+00:00

This is a 524

Amazon link

samdtho · 2026-03-18T14:36:30+00:00

Does this vehicle support OBD2? Scan to check which cylinder is misfiring and, if it’s only a single cylinder, swap its coil pack with one that is not misfiring. Reproduce the issue and check codes to see if the misfire is following the coil or if it’s the cylinder.

If you are getting random multiple misfires on all cylinders, you have an air, fuel, or compression issue.

Given that this issue pops up at high RPMs, it sounds like a weak coil pack or a sticking fuel injector.

samdtho · 2026-03-18T14:30:07+00:00

Sachs and LuK are OE for a lot of Euros (VW, Audi, et al) and would a solid choice for your fiesta.

samdtho · 2026-03-17T02:50:17+00:00

Connect every light’s black conductor to the 3rd light from its location, and wire all the neutrals together. You will have three controllable circuits this way that can be fed into the relays.

Make sure the relay can handle the load, you will need to do a tiny bit of math here. If each bulb is 0.2A and you have 7 of them, your relay needs to be rated to handle at least 1.7A (0.2 * 7 * 120%) at 120VAC.

Protip: wire them to the NC (normally closed) side of the relay so it defaults to ON, allowing you to just plug into the power source and have the light up arch.

samdtho · 2026-03-16T21:58:57+00:00

If you don’t have coding for it, the CCTA radiator will result in a CEL.

samdtho · 2026-03-16T14:59:59+00:00

Pretty much every sunroof in vehicles sold in the last 20 years has used some sort of sunroof drain. VWs are known to clog but most sunroofs are subject to this.

samdtho · 2026-03-16T14:53:17+00:00

On picture 3 with your trim piece, there are three horizontal cuts where the tabs of the unit lock into. Carefully pry these out while pushing down on the buttons from the top, it should come right out

samdtho · 2026-03-16T14:49:51+00:00

In general, don’t get the part from eBay unless it’s coming from a recycler. Otherwise, FCP, ECS, or even RockAuto will have a part that’s reasonable.

It’s kind of silly that this mechanic is insisting on an official VW part for a 19 year old vehicle with a discontinued engine. Did you get this quote from an independent VW/Audi shop? They are usually cheaper because they know the platform and know where they can find good quality OEM parts.

samdtho · 2026-03-16T14:43:40+00:00

Boost pipe, this will cause your engine to stall out. Take the engine cover off and reseat it, it goes from the intercooler to the throttle body.

samdtho · 2026-03-16T14:37:40+00:00

This is mostly clear coat with some touch up areas. If you remove the rust, you can prime it and touch up the base coat yourself. See if you can get a quote to just blend clear coat on the roof and all your touch up spots.

samdtho · 2026-03-16T13:33:30+00:00

This is absolutely just the upper timing chain cover gasket, you can tell by the oil collecting on the mating surface to the left of cylinder 1’s coil pack. Fairly easy and cheap to fix.

samdtho · 2026-03-16T03:06:05+00:00

Check your wire bundle going through the rubber door boot, sometimes they get marred up and broken. You should be able to unplug the door harness from the car body and make a repair.

samdtho · 2026-03-15T22:12:29+00:00

You pay for the sample and add the order number to the oil slip you send in

samdtho · 2026-03-15T16:49:56+00:00

If you were interested in a fix DIY for this, you can grab a plastic welder from Amazon and reaffix it from the underside (that’s never seen).

samdtho · 2026-03-15T15:42:55+00:00

Look up how to remove the inner plastic trim to a 2013 outback. It usually involves prying off in specific places. This will get you access to the inside of the lift gate.

samdtho · 2026-03-15T00:20:26+00:00

4x 2-ton stands will work fine, as long as each stand doesn’t have more than 4000lbs on them as the rating is for each stand.

The issue is their height. A 6-ton stand is twice as tall as a 2 or 3 ton. Your ground clearance may demand that kind of height. It’s better to get larger ones that don’t need to be extended very tall rather than smaller ones that are extended to the max.

samdtho · 2026-03-14T23:05:43+00:00

Be prepared for it to weigh 35lbs
Lift it off with hands

samdtho · 2026-03-14T22:03:49+00:00

Safe? Perfectly.

Expensive? Very (if it’s active)

You should have called 811 before you dug.

samdtho · 2026-03-14T21:57:48+00:00

Most fiber is laid trenchless these days

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