Recent content by CBR.worm

My '06 FX45 had a lot of piston slap when cold. It always bugged me, until I sold it at ~220K miles. If it was below freezing, I'd let it warm up for probably closer to a minute, just because it seemed like the right thing to do. Honestly, it doesn't matter what I'm driving, if it's freezing...

On my cars, I typically do it ~ every 80K, or if the valve covers have to come off for some reason. I worked in a garage in the late '80s for a bit. It seems like we spent a lot of time cleaning or replacing PCV hoses that had filled with gunk to the point of restricting flow. That, and...

That's actually shocking. I've bought over a dozen new vehicles and I drive them into the ground, I can only think of one that needed a warranty repair in the first year that was built after 1991. I've never had a vehicle not make it to the first oil change. I was disappointed when one of my...

I've had better luck with Redline MT-85 than with the Nissan fluid. It is still stiff to shift on winter mornings and it will still grind going into 5th or 6th if you push it too hard when cold. I think that is the nature of the beast. I bought this car new, and previously had another G35 6MT...

I've been using the StopTech Sport brake pads for a few years on three of our cars and the've been good. Akebono, EBC NDX blues, ProjectMu B-Force and NS, endless were all good before that. I ran some other pads that I had to file down the ears on for these same cars. I don't remember which...

I had trouble with my FX50S a while ago where in heavy mountain driving the pump would make noise and the fluid would foam and overflow. I was using the OEM Nissan power steering fluid. I replaced it with Dex 6 which was supposed to be compatible, same problem. I replaced the pump and suction...

We don't really have winter where I live, but we do have hot and rainy summers, so I pick summer. My primary concern is sun damage, so the cars are in the garage as often as possible and parked in shaded spots when possible if not at home.

That's interesting. My two Nissans, a V6 and V8, keep the oil at least as hot as the coolant once it is up to temp. The oil temp will rise under extreme duress, but it generally stays between 95c and 105c while moving, regardless of ambient temp. If it is really cold out, it might drop to 85C...

FWIW, we had a '10 E60 w/ the N52, the car was fairly solid to 100K. The usual oil leaks, broken 'head' bolts - bolts in the head, inside the valve cover, but not actual head bolts. The valve cover had to be done at 40K and 85K. At ~100K the wiring harness was disintegrating, the insulation...

I will reinforce your choice. I’ve run both on my FX50S, which is a heavy, stiff, sporty SUV. I got about 30K miles out of each set. I ran the Conti DWS06 first and thought they were great. I push the car hard in the curves and spend a lot of time in it. When the Conti’s wore out, TR was...

I know of a number of people that have disconnected, or cut, that wire to disable the smart charging on the Infiniti QX80, which is probably also an Armada. Probably not a proper fix, but it appears to be common.

I run most tanks to E and fill up completely. My current fleet has 80K, 175K, and 220K on the OEM pumps. Current car ages, 19, 12, and 8 years old. I say this only to curse myself as I prepare for my annual 5K mile summer trip in one of the high-mileage cars. I typically buy cars new or...

FWIW, my oem dual mass flywheel was fine when I pulled it out at nearly 200K miles and ~16 years. They can last for a long time.

I swapped out a dual mass flywheel for a standard flywheel, and switched back within a week. What I found is that with my reasonably smooth V6, anything below ~1,500 RPM with the single mass flywheel made the transmission sound like it was being hammered to death, combined with significant...

The first time I had an alternator pulley clutch fail, on an Audi at 47K miles about 20 years ago, I was amazed. Alternator pulleys were never an issue, now they have sprag clutches in them that fail.