Recent content by djb

I do agree that automobile controls should be standardized and placed consistently. But historically that hasn't been the case. The starter on many early electric start vehicles was activated by a foot pedal. Its mechanical movement acted directly to close the starter contacts and engage the...

Just to add to the thread: I've been helping a friend with his WGen9500df. His first and most serious problem was that the compression release on the camshaft failed, with some corresponding internal destruction. The automatic start system didn't recognize that the starter motor was under...

Most of these news stories are ignoring the elephant in the room: a year ago every new car was wildly expensive, with $10K-$20K over MSRP common. Used cars were similarly high priced, with some going for over MSRP. Interest rates near zero were making those prices look reasonable. That bubble...

The high performance cost very little extra in an EV designed for efficiency. Consider house wiring or an extension cord. In almost every circumstance the wires are oversized for efficiency and minimal voltage drop. The same is true for the traction motor wiring. The battery needs to support...

The contactors (part of the High Voltage Junction box) has been a common failure for over a year. The part was backordered, resulting in multiple month repairs for some owners despite the factory continuing to build with the known-deficient part. When a revised part was introduced for the...

Castile soap is made with vegetable oil and lye. Originally it was made with olive oil, but now most often less expensive palm or coconut oil (Dr. Bronners uses mostly palm oil). Traditionally "regular" soap is made with animal fats (usually tallow) and lye, but now is made mostly with...

That's easy to answer: the increased supply needed is well within the traditional increase in electric demand. It's easy to forget that electric demand rapidly increased with the addition of electric lighting, electric appliances, air conditioning, and increased electric heating. Many areas that...

The Model S used to be very popular for heavy Uber drivers. It included free charging in the price, and had plenty of range to allow planning the charging time as a break. The high purchase price doesn't make sense for the lower-hour Uber driver, where the Prius was ubiquitous. But for someone...

In my experience, rotor hold-down screws have a black oxide finish. They are also hard to the point of being brittle, making them extremely difficult to drill out. Pros usually just take a sledge to the brake rotor, breaking off the head, then leave the screw stub in place. People like me are...

OBD2 introduced the requirement that emissions status be retained across power failures. This requirement was a combination of experience with the original OBD, where disconnecting the battery was used as a quick cheat, and the new availability of inexpensive high-cycle-life EEPROMs. That...

Several 1980s-1990s Getrag and ZF manual transmissions, typically used on European cars, had neutral safety switches. They used the same type of switch as the reverse circuit. Sometimes it was exactly the same switch connector, which could lead to mistaken wiring. (Only starts in reverse...

In the late 1990s, almost a quarter century ago, BMW switched to an initial oil change interval of 15K miles. Oils have improved since then.

The classic advice of using a wire wheel or wire brush is simpler and better. Electrolysis cleans the surface to bright metal, but leaves embedded hydrogen. That's bad on a stressed stud -- you don't to risk crack formation

They look rough but likely serviceable. I would replace them and use new lug nuts if inexpensive. Edit: Dorman 610-390 looks like the equivalent. Amazon has them for $20/10. Old-school part stores might have them for individually for about the same price.

Since there is already 120 VAC, there is little reason to be especially concerned about power consumption as you might be with a solar powered light LEDs are typically 1/8 to 1/10 the power for the same light output. For a security light the inherent directionality of LEDs adds to the...