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Grex > Cars > #121: The Winter '02 Car Care Item |  |
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| Author |
Message |
| 25 new of 184 responses total. |
gelinas
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response 23 of 184:
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Jan 3 16:13 UTC 2002 |
I suspect my Saturn may be doing something similar: at 70, people blow by me
like I was doing 60.
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gull
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response 24 of 184:
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Jan 3 16:16 UTC 2002 |
Re #22: Technically, mine is miscalibrated at *all* speeds...it's just
that below 45 mph the error is small enough to be negligable. People
will certainly notice if you're going 65 in a 70 zone, though.
This would have other benefits for a car maker: Gullible people will
think the car is faster than it is. Also, if the odometer also
advances faster, people who lease will return their cars more often or
pay higher milage fees.
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brighn
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response 25 of 184:
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Jan 3 16:21 UTC 2002 |
I would think that deliberately miscalibrating the odometer (in either
direction) would be a violation of federal law. Deliberately miscalibrating
the speedometer, in contrast, could be taken as a safety feature.
It's also possible that Honda just doesn't calibrate its speedometers well,
or that your specific speedometer is messed up. (Ditto for Saturn.) And
certainly with all meters there's an acceptable amount of play.
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gull
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response 26 of 184:
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Jan 3 17:15 UTC 2002 |
I think the law says that odometers have to be within +/- 10%, which is
a pretty wide range. I remember way back in _Unsafe at any Speed_,
Ralph Nader noted that somehow they all manage to end up near the top
end of that range, and almost none end up reading *less* than the
actual milage. Kinda makes you go "hmm..."
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brighn
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response 27 of 184:
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Jan 3 17:18 UTC 2002 |
I know my Yugo was way off, maybe even over that 10% mark (it would register
1.1 miles every mile marker, when I was watching). But I took that as
incompetence more than anything else (Val has to have her speedometer/odometer
cluster replaced three times, and even then, it didn't work quite right, in
her Yugo).
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n8nxf
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response 28 of 184:
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Jan 4 03:40 UTC 2002 |
If you want a real accurate speedometer on your ride, get yourself a Sigma
Sport BC 800 bicycle speedometer. You can enter the wheel circumference to
within 1mm and it will read in either MPH or KPH. It will also give you
odometer function, trip odometer, max speed, average speed and time. You
can't use any bicycle speedometer as most of them stop working around 50MPH.
For some reason Sigma decided that the BC 800 would go up to 183 MPH! ~$25.
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other
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response 29 of 184:
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Jan 4 07:13 UTC 2002 |
And how does it sense the periodicity of rotation in order to calculate
speed?
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danr
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response 30 of 184:
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Jan 4 13:13 UTC 2002 |
There's usually some kind of magnetic sensor which gives one pulse per
rotation.
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gull
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response 31 of 184:
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Jan 4 19:04 UTC 2002 |
I suppose you could mount the magnets on one of the half-shafts
somehow, and rig a bracket for the coil, if it works like I'm thinking
it does. Car tires flex a lot, so you'd want to find the circumferance
by doing a 'roll-out' instead of by measuring the wheel.
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void
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response 32 of 184:
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Jan 4 20:59 UTC 2002 |
Drew, if you haven't done the work already, go with the 195-degree
thermostat.
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drew
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response 33 of 184:
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Jan 5 04:28 UTC 2002 |
I've got the 'stat - 195 degree as recommended. I made a try at installing,
stopped and put everything back together after having problems disconnecting
the heater-core hose. It's impossible to get decent leverage in there...
I might try again in a couple of weeks.
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mvpel
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response 34 of 184:
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Jan 7 05:06 UTC 2002 |
If the hose is a touch warm, it's a lot easier to work it off. You can
get some large-mouth pliers, like channel locks, and wrap some newspaper
around the hose and gently squeeze right where the end of the sleeve
the hose is mounted on ends, and it'll usually ease its way off.
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gull
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response 35 of 184:
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Jan 7 17:35 UTC 2002 |
If all else fails, buy a new hose, then slice the old one lengthwise
where it goes over the fitting and peel it off. (Try not to gouge the
fitting, though.) I've seen rubber hoses practically glued to their
fittings before.
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drew
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response 36 of 184:
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Jan 10 07:06 UTC 2002 |
I've gotten the hoses off and the housing removed.
Now is there any good quick way to clean off the remains of the gasket?
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bdh3
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response 37 of 184:
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Jan 10 08:13 UTC 2002 |
Razor blade.
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scott
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response 38 of 184:
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Jan 10 13:37 UTC 2002 |
Sandpaper.
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gull
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response 39 of 184:
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Jan 10 14:47 UTC 2002 |
In other words, no, there's no quick way. You gotta scrape it off. ;>
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void
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response 40 of 184:
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Jan 10 18:07 UTC 2002 |
Be very careful if you use sandpaper. It doesn't take much to alter the
surface so much that the new gasket and sealant won't seal (though if
that does happen, you could try two gaskets and no sealant).
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gull
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response 41 of 184:
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Jan 10 20:26 UTC 2002 |
Right...that's why I prefer to use a paint scraper.
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vidar
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response 42 of 184:
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Jan 14 03:29 UTC 2002 |
My serpentine belt and my blower motor needed to be replaced recently.
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bhelliom
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response 43 of 184:
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Jan 17 15:49 UTC 2002 |
This item is giving me a headache. I'm pretty much up to adding the
right amount of coolant and windshield washer fluid. Since I just
recently got my car, I'm in the process of learning from the manual
where all the fluid resevoirs are located, and then I can keep them at
their proper levels myself, as I used to do with my Honda. And then
there's that pesky air filter, which, in the new car is in a akward
position and may be an absolute pain to replace. Got to make sure I
grab some heavier-duty screw drivers, now that I think about it. They
may come in handy fo the air filter when I have to replace it.
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bhelliom
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response 44 of 184:
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Jan 17 15:49 UTC 2002 |
And what's a serpentine belt?
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tpryan
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response 45 of 184:
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Jan 17 18:14 UTC 2002 |
It goes all over tha place. One belt, many things to move.
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void
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response 46 of 184:
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Jan 17 23:09 UTC 2002 |
A serpentine belt is a single belt which drives the water pump,
alternator, power steering pump, air conditioning, et cetera. The
single belt replaces all the separate belts which used to drive those
devices. On one hand, it is more efficient to have several devices
driven by a single belt. On the other hand, while it was possible to
keep driving your car if the air conditioning belt broke, because vital
components like the alternator and water pump kept working on their
separate belts, if the serpentine belt gives out then none of those
components will work and driving your car anywhere is a bad idea.
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tpryan
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response 47 of 184:
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Jan 17 23:16 UTC 2002 |
One belt to rule them all!
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