Recent content by brages

I have had pretty good success with junkyard a/c compressors. You can get them from ebay. OR - our local lkq self-serve junkyard had the cars just sitting there with fully charged a/c systems... I'm sure they would be shocked, shocked to find customers releasing 134a into the atmosphere as they...

How about getting something like a pickup truck - if it's just a backup vehicle, it can be useful to have a vehicle that can do things your regular car can't do. Alternatively, you could get something fun to drive, maybe a convertible.

He got it in California and I didn't look at it before he bought it. Paint isn't great looking, has a small peeling spot on the hood. Interior isn't that clean. Somebody cut off the muffler (he had the part in his trunk but got rid of it before driving back). Cracked windshield. Missing two...

I feel like NSK gets overlooked, but I think they are good quality Japanese bearings

I think a lot of the FAG bearings are now branded as Shaeffler

I go for HIGH miles. Got a 230k mile Prius for $3k that did great until it got totaled. Replaced it with a $3.5k 250k Prius but I think it may need a head gasket sooner or later. My son bought a Crown Vic with milage in the low 100k range a few months ago for $3k. I don't love it, but it seems...

Regarding window quality, the power window actuator on our bird failed.

Married into a 1990 3.8. Replaced the head gaskets when we were still dating. (Pretty easy job though). GF had bought it from a dealer who charged the AC (R12) but it leaked out quickly. Only about 100,000 on the clock but rear suspension felt sloppy. Big rattly doors, which were the fashion at...

I had one of these. mpvclub was a good resource. 1. I had the misfire with a coil on the rear bank. Put new coils on the rear bank. Front bank is easy. 2. There's a PCV elbow on the back of the engine that goes bad and starts leaking, causing a misfire 3. Mine leaked a lot from the timing chain...

Is your VTEC spool valve leaking oil on the front bank of cylinders? (of course it is, it's a Honda)

Seems like it could - home ACs have hermetically sealed compressors but typical car compressors have a shaft seal.

My first car as a 16 year old did not have AC. I bought another car a couple of years later that did. I'm willing to drive a car that's slow, ugly, rusty, etc but no AC is a deal breaker for me.

I've seen the same thing on my Prius and HAH. I did front brake jobs on both when getting vibrations braking. I don't think it's stuck pins, just that corrosion eats the rotor faster than the pads can clean it up.

He ended up getting a 2024 Edge ST-Line. I guess his budget was bigger than I had thought. Hope it's good for him.

I have heard the 3.5L has a troublesome water pump location and I think the fuel economy with the 2.0T would be quite a bit better. Maybe the 3.5 would be the more reliable engine, though. Any reasons why you are recommending those? Seem like they are both subcompacts. He tried a 2020 CR-V...