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Thread: Do You Know Your Car?

  1. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by Bonny View Post
    There are two manuals in the glove box full of fine print. The battery is under the rear right seat, you would have to take the seat out to get to the battery with jumper gables. Not very handy . Have to take half the trunk apart to get the spare tire out along with the jack. My old Chevy II Nova was less complex. I do live out in rural America so the cell phone is my best bet for an SOS.
    If the battery is buried there are probably jumper terminals in the engine compartment. (frankly it's better that way, with modern electronics, jumping a car the way you used to for years can very easily fry the ECU)
    The one eyed man in the kingdom of the blind wasn't king, he was stoned for seeing light.

  2. #17
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    I carry jumper cables in my trunk. Where I work, there have been times when our guests could not get their vehicles to start so have used them to give them a jump.

    I had a battery die one time while shopping at a local nursery. They guy there had cables & jumped the battery. I drove the car to a local dealer & the needle kept moving around it is like don't die we can make it. I drove into the dealership & parked the car. The battery was deader then dead. Lady Luck was with me that day, thanks to the guy at the nursery, & my car angel.
    The frost is on the pumpkin & I've been BOO'D by two pet talk ghosts.
    Thank you Fritz & Cassiesmom

  3. #18
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
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    At university in Hertfordshire, UK
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    I'm with Alyssa and Bri. I know what everything under my bonnet is, but other than the washer fluid, I don't touch any of them. If there's a problem, I'd far rather wait and have someone with more experience take a look. I am a little obsessive with topping up my tyre pressure, mostly because my cheap tyres go down a lot with day-to-day use, particularly where I'm living now, which is like the capital city of speed-bumps. I do check my lights are working each month too. I've never learned how to change a tyre, although the garage down the road from me runs short courses in general car maintenance. This thread has reminded me that I must book that some time!

    Any of you car gurus know much about gearboxes? My car has had an intermittent gear box fault (it's a manual) for about 6 months now. I've had it looked at twice, although as the damn thing always behaves perfectly as soon as a mechanic is in the vicinity I've haven't been able to get it fixed. Occasionally it will refuse to go into first/second gear. It tends to do this when I've been stuck at lights for a while or have been in crawling traffic. At first I had to restart the car and usually that would do the trick, although now I've grown impatient with it I usually just force the gearstick. Sometimes it'll go weeks without playing up at all, other times it'll do it near on constantly. Mechanic thought it might be sticky gear-pins, but although he had a play around with the gearbox he couldn't find anything particularly wrong. I've searched online for explanations, but as I haven't yet managed to get a mechanic to see it misbehaving, it's difficult to tell exactly what's up with it.

    Zimbabwe 07/13


  4. #19
    Join Date
    Jun 2000
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    Windham, Vermont, USA
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    Make/Model, Miss Z?
    I've Been Frosted

  5. #20
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
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    At university in Hertfordshire, UK
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    Chevrolet Aveo LS, 2009 model (link is the latest model but is otherwise very similar)

    https://www.chevrolet.co.uk/cars/aveo/

    Zimbabwe 07/13


  6. #21
    Quote Originally Posted by Miss Z View Post
    Chevrolet Aveo LS, 2009 model (link is the latest model but is otherwise very similar)

    https://www.chevrolet.co.uk/cars/aveo/

    Manual transmission?

    Could be a few things, but from cheap to expensive:


    1)Nothing is really wrong, just a PITA manual (put up with one for years on an old car, 2-3 did the same thing yours is doing).

    2) needs new tranny fluid (miles/km?) The Ford Contours (your Mondeo) were infamous for this, they had no fluid change for the tranny listed in the manual, but you get to be a PITA to shift until you changed the fluid.

    3) shift forks or synchros, in which case my recommendation would be to live with it.
    The one eyed man in the kingdom of the blind wasn't king, he was stoned for seeing light.

  7. #22
    Join Date
    Apr 2001
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    indianapolis,indiana usa
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    Could be a clutch problem. Do you do a lot of city driving? Stop & go traffic?
    I've Been Boo'd

    I've been Frosted






    Today is the oldest you've ever been, and the youngest you'll ever be again.

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  8. #23
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
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    Litter Box, Greenville, SC
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    Sadly not this one. I used to know them well. I have looked under the hood and really need to do that over the break provided it is nice during the day. The car is almost 4 and now getting to the age where it would be prudent to be aware of the under-the-hood conditions of my ride.
    Anne
    Meowmie to Lucy Lou and Barney, and Aunt to Timmy (RIP)

    Former kitties now in foster care: Nellie aka Eleanor van Fluffytail (at a Cat Cafe), Lady Jane Grey, Bob the Bobtail, and Callie. Kimi has been adopted into another family that understands Siamese. HRH Oliver Woodrow von Katz is in a Sanctuary.

    I'm Homeless, but with resources, and learning to live again.


    RIP Timmy (nephew kitty) May 17, 2018, Mr. Spunky (May 10, 2017), Samwise (Dec 2, 2014), Emily (Oct 8, 2013), Rose (Sept 24, 2001), Maggie (Fall 2003)

  9. #24
    Join Date
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lady's Human View Post
    Manual transmission?

    Could be a few things, but from cheap to expensive:


    1)Nothing is really wrong, just a PITA manual (put up with one for years on an old car, 2-3 did the same thing yours is doing).

    2) needs new tranny fluid (miles/km?) The Ford Contours (your Mondeo) were infamous for this, they had no fluid change for the tranny listed in the manual, but you get to be a PITA to shift until you changed the fluid.

    3) shift forks or synchros, in which case my recommendation would be to live with it.
    Cheers. My guess is that it's probably the latter! Transmission fluid ought to be OK - no problems noted at its last service, but I will give it another check. It's only done 13,700 miles despite its age and is a good little car in all other respects. I know that little hatchbacks haven't got the best gearboxes in the world - the mechanic told me the Aveo's is effectively salvaged from an old Daewoo model. 2.5 more years and (hopefully) finally having a salary will mean that it can find a nice new home with a learner driver and freak them out at traffic lights instead.

    Quote Originally Posted by lizbud
    Could be a clutch problem. Do you do a lot of city driving? Stop & go traffic?
    Clutch is good I hope - it was replaced in 2011 shortly before I got it. I'm the only one who drives it and I don't think that I give the clutch a lot of whack. At the moment it has been doing a lot of nip-outs into town, and as I live in a commuter town for London it does have to deal with a lot of sluggish traffic. I would hope that it can cope with that, though - it's not exactly a car designed for long journeys either so it has to be good for something.
    It is a funny little machine, but I do like it, warts and all!

    Zimbabwe 07/13


  10. #25
    Roops, forgot one.....

    And thanks Liz.

    It's a hydraulic clutch setup. Have someone bleed the slave.
    The one eyed man in the kingdom of the blind wasn't king, he was stoned for seeing light.

  11. #26
    Join Date
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    Admittedly I had no idea what 'bleeding the slave' was, but some swift googling has just set me straight on that one...

    Zimbabwe 07/13


  12. #27
    Quote Originally Posted by Miss Z View Post
    Admittedly I had no idea what 'bleeding the slave' was, but some swift googling has just set me straight on that one...
    Before someone else reads the above and thinks I've completely lost all social awareness....

    The clutch is disengaged by a small hydraulic cylinder that is linked to the master cylinder for the brakes. (The brake master cylinder is the larger, hence master, and the one which drives the clutch is smaller and linked mechanically/hydraulically to the larger, hence master/slave nomenclatures)

    Over time, hydraulic fluid gets contaminated and can get tiny air bubbles in the fluid for a variety of reasons. Hydraulics work because fluids in classical physics do not compress. Air, however, does compress quite nicely. If the bubble of air is large enough, it will interfere with the movement of fluid in the system due to the movement of the piston, compressing the air rather than moving the fluid.

    Removal of the air and other contaminants in the system is referred to as bleeding the system.

    In the case of the clutch, the entire hydraulic system doesn't need to be bled, just that tiny part of the system.

    Hence the term "bleeding the slave". I'm not referring to using a barbaric medical practice on uncompensated household help.
    The one eyed man in the kingdom of the blind wasn't king, he was stoned for seeing light.

  13. #28
    Join Date
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lady's Human View Post
    Before someone else reads the above and thinks I've completely lost all social awareness....

    The clutch is disengaged by a small hydraulic cylinder that is linked to the master cylinder for the brakes. (The brake master cylinder is the larger, hence master, and the one which drives the clutch is smaller and linked mechanically/hydraulically to the larger, hence master/slave nomenclatures)

    Over time, hydraulic fluid gets contaminated and can get tiny air bubbles in the fluid for a variety of reasons. Hydraulics work because fluids in classical physics do not compress. Air, however, does compress quite nicely. If the bubble of air is large enough, it will interfere with the movement of fluid in the system due to the movement of the piston, compressing the air rather than moving the fluid.

    Removal of the air and other contaminants in the system is referred to as bleeding the system.

    In the case of the clutch, the entire hydraulic system doesn't need to be bled, just that tiny part of the system.

    Hence the term "bleeding the slave". I'm not referring to using a barbaric medical practice on uncompensated household help.
    Is that like pumping the brakes?

  14. #29
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
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    I only have two rules concerning transportation.

    I refuse to get on ANYTHING that does not have a hand or foot braking system. That includes animals.
    They don't want to ride me, so I pay them back by not sitting on them.

    Two? I have to be able to get whatever I am using, home.

    I have nursed cars and motorcycles home on wings and prayers.
    I think that calling for a tow is above me.

    If you are creative you can..

    Bump start a manual transmission car, by yourself.
    Change a tire in 10 minutes.
    Use a piece of wire to replace a fuse
    (Not recommended for extended use, just to get off the center median of the freeway.)
    Make a funnel out of discarded trash.
    Figure out that the idiot light on the dash is a loose gas cap.
    Change your sparkplugs/air filter/wipers.
    Figure out why the door doesn't close correctly.
    Get a motorcycle home with a throttle cable.
    Find a short in a wiring system. (Too bad newer cars are all computer BS)
    Change a hose, flush a radiator or belt.
    Program the radio.
    Hang an air freshner.........

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