Recent content by JoeDirt41

Went ahead and adjusted the valves on the car yesterday after letting it sit overnight so it would be completely cold. Intake side was fine, exhaust side was a bit tight, varying between .008 and .010. I set them all to .012”. I was thrilled to see that the engine was sparkling clean inside...

I got mine in 2022 and drove for about a year, OTR then locally for a very short bit. I don’t hold the medical card anymore but I still keep the license, just certified as EI (excepted interstate) last time I renewed it. But if you let the medical card expire without certifying as excepted, they...

It’s a lot smoother when it’s cold (under 195*, before the fans kick on) and it smooths out a bit when I have an electrical load on it (A/C on, blower motor on high, lights on, etc). Battery voltage is normal at 14.1 volts running. I’m not sure what the issue is. I’m leaning towards a throttle...

The idle is back to doing goofy things today. Keeps fluctuating between 500-800 RPMs. I looked at my scan tool and it says “N/A” next to the Idle Learn live data, which I believe means it has not learned the idle. I plugged off the PCV port and disconnected the purge valve solenoid which made no...

Completed a few more jobs on the car this week. The interior door panels on the drivers side are a bit sun damaged and have some cracking at the top. I went to the junkyard and found a good replacement rear panel for $20, cleaned it up and got it swapped in. I would’ve grabbed the front door...

Yeah it was a very fast job and the TYC blower motor looked to be as nice as the OEM comparing them side by side. Seems to be a common issue with Hondas. My sisters 2011 CR-V has the same clicking noise from the blower motor but she just turns the radio up 🤣

Mazda only offers the Miata and the Mazda3 hatchback on the higher trims ($30k+) as a manual. Until just a few years ago (2018?) they were offering the Mazda3 and the now discontinued Mazda6 in base trim with a 6 speed but that is no longer. And if you go back to 2014, Mazda offered the Mazda2...

That’s how the CDL test works in the US. If you test in an automatic truck, you have a restriction on your license and are not permitted to drive a tractor trailer with a manual. Of course, big rig manual transmissions are quite a bit different than the synchronized manuals in cars and light...

Nice job making the best out of a lousy situation and you should have a great car now to last you a long while. My dad had a 2004 LE that he bought new and I wish that car was still around. Same Lunar Mist Metallic color as yours. It was the car I learned to drive on and one of the best cars we...

I personally don't recall seeing it on the local shelves until the late 00s-early 2010s. I'm not sure if it was a regional thing or not, but my local Walmart doesn't have a TLE/auto center either, so that could've been it too. I remember getting the Supertech air filters shortly after, but it...

Did a bit more work on the car the past few days. On Saturday I drained and filled the cooling system 4 times with distilled water before putting a gallon of concentrated Peak Asian Blue coolant in and cleaning and filling the overflow with Peak 50/50 Asian Blue. Everything I found said the...

All stuff that makes my skin itch 😂 Generally I agree, but these are low pressure return hoses. The spring clamps have pretty good tension still so I’m not too concerned but I’ll keep an eye on them. Thanks!

I placed an order on RockAuto and some of my parts came in. I got a new Denso air filter, some NGK Laser Iridium plugs, and a pack of Dorman air filter housing screws. I tackled the spark plugs first. The old ones really didn’t look too bad. They were Densos which I was happy to see. Just a...

Through with tank one. We have some added variables here, so bear in mind this is not a completely scientific test, but I believe we are seeing some results. I got about halfway through the tank and checked the fuel economy meter, and it was reading 14.5 MPG on this tank, so 0.6 MPG...

Finished up with the paint correction yesterday. Polished the remaining panels, took it outside, washed it with soap and water, dried it and parked it in the sun, and no more holograms! I pulled it back in the garage and put a coat of Collinite 845 wax on it and the paint looks as good as it’s...