Vehicle Maintenace General

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I literally work on ACs for a living. I use vacuum pumps all the time. I use recovery machines all the time. The recovery machine is comparable to the window unit compressor you suggested. I regularly use compressors to pull down systems as much as possible and measure how low they get.
God's drunkest driver said:
Ok. Whatever you say. I’m not going to engage any further with someone who has never done it let alone done it as many times as I did.
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Anyone got a recommendation for single-piece impact torx bits? I was going to buy Sunex ones since that brand has treated me well for impact stuff I don't use often.

My truck turned out to still have T55 bolts holding the front calipers on, even though most of these vehicles had them replaced with standard bolts long ago. I wrecked a non-impact bit to get them loose. Gay.
 
Not strictly repair, but what diesel EMP-proof trucks are out there? What years and models are you looking for if you want a truck that'll work on biofuel after all computers are annihilated by an act of god?
 
Null said:
Not strictly repair, but what diesel EMP-proof trucks are out there? What years and models are you looking for if you want a truck that'll work on biofuel after all computers are annihilated by an act of god?
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I dont think a car exists that doesn't involve some kind of digital components for controlling the engine (which vastly improves performance mind you), you'd need to just have spares lying around preferably in a grounded faraday cage if you really wanted to be sure (not normally needed for single components like that, the problem is the conductive elements will act as antennas, something like a little computer module is so small it would be really hard to fry it electromagnetically it in any way even with no protection at all as long as it was unplugged).

Pretty sure biofuel is just an octane thing as to whether they would run for you or not so not really a big deal, dunno if diesels would be preferable didn't look into it past that
 
Null said:
Not strictly repair, but what diesel EMP-proof trucks are out there? What years and models are you looking for if you want a truck that'll work on biofuel after all computers are annihilated by an act of god?
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Any mechanically timed and governed diesel runs or can be made to run without any electronic intervention. Basically any old diesel with a mechanical fuel injection pump.

I own a little Japanese commercial truck with a 4-cylinder diesel like this. As long as it has fuel, and 12 volts to turn the starter and light the glow plugs, it will run.
 
An engine running post emp is running by knowledge afterwards, not mindless consooming beforehand. (Be a lot easier for less complex engines, but the principle is the point)
 
Null said:
Not strictly repair, but what diesel EMP-proof trucks are out there? What years and models are you looking for if you want a truck that'll work on biofuel after all computers are annihilated by an act of god?
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ECUs (engine control units ) became standard on cars and trucks in the 1980s, even on vehicles with diesel or carburetors.

It's gonna be tough to find a vehicle without any computer chips but it may not matter.

EMPs and solar flares have very similar mechanisms of action. They push charged particles like electrons along spiral paths following the magnetic field lines of the earth. The end result is induction of voltages into conductors (copper wire, semiconductor junctions, whatever). The effect is transient high voltage spikes in wires, especially long ones like power lines, but also short ones like copper traces on circuit boards. These voltages can break analog circuits (ie. fry capacitors) even though microchips are generally more vulnerable.

Back when the US was testing EMPs in the Pacific during Operation Starfish Prime in 1962, we accidentally fried parts of Hawaii, breaking equipment, disabling vehicles, causing power outages, exploding light bulbs, despite this being prior to the introduction of integrated circuits. There were no microchips around, but plenty of equipment was disabled and damaged. Despite being 1500 miles away from the blast.

During the Carrington Event in 1859, the solar flare caused telegraph lines to act as giant antenna for induction, and it was so severe that telegraph equipment was sparking and chattering, and the relays were clacking and equipment got fried. This occurred not only before integrated circuits were invented, it happened before the transistor or semiconductors existed.

Anyway I'm a bit skeptical of the whole idea that an older car would be immune.. especially because of the widespread damage done during Starfish Prime. Maybe if you got a truck from the 1950s or a vehicle that had no transistors (purely mechanical in operation)?

Or consider making your garage a giant Faraday cage instead
 
Null said:
Not strictly repair, but what diesel EMP-proof trucks are out there? What years and models are you looking for if you want a truck that'll work on biofuel after all computers are annihilated by an act of god?
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I don’t know if you need to worry about an EMP knocking out your diesel truck anyway.

HEMP and solar flares will mostly induce currents in power lines via geomagnetic storm and blow out your fuse box and anything plugged in to an outlet.

If a nuke is going off close enough to your swamp that it’s frying electronics that aren’t plugged in, you probably have bigger problems to deal with, such as an air blast and fallout (iodine pills help with fallout).

The mitigations against EMP I’d recommend are:
1) live far away from cities and/or military bases.
2) a diesel generator.
3) backup critical electronics that aren’t plugged into an outlet.
 
Null said:
Not strictly repair, but what diesel EMP-proof trucks are out there? What years and models are you looking for if you want a truck that'll work on biofuel after all computers are annihilated by an act of god?
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The 6.9 or 7.3 IDI (not to be confused with the 7.3 Powerstroke) in the 83-92 Ford pickups. All mechanical, dead simple, don't make a whole lot of power and don't like starting without glow plugs but are great engines. I think the 6.9's are a bit more desirable, since the cylinder walls are a bit thicker but they are essentially completely interchangeable.
I owned a '90 F250 with the 7.3 and miss it everyday.
 
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Null said:
Not strictly repair, but what diesel EMP-proof trucks are out there? What years and models are you looking for if you want a truck that'll work on biofuel after all computers are annihilated by an act of god?
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I'm gonna give up some of my power level here: My academic career was focused on electrical physics.
EMPs are EXTREMELY short range, impractical devices. It's more effective to use a bomb 10 times outta 10.
Sun spots / solar storms: While it is possible for another Carrington event, it didn't do as much as people make it seem. You'll likely notice your wifi signals get weaker, and you may get your power cut a couple times, but your car will be fine, especially when it's electronics are shielded by metal.
RF: this is more or less the same as above. while the range of RF is much greater, you're limited in effect. The most advanced Directed Energy weapons that the US military has are struggling to take down simulated mortar drones. You can project a lot of noise to a car, but really you're just gonna cut off cell / HAM communications, you wont fry any electronics.

All in all, if you really want this, go off queen. for me, this sort of thing is snake oil.
 
Seymour Duncan said:
DSGs are kind of varied and depend on the year and application. The worst is the early 7 speed unit with dry clutch packs seen in late 2000's Golfs, A3's and other compacts with weaker engine options, those things were notorious for eating their mechatronics units for lunch and would routinely run up thousands of dollars of repair bills before 100k was up. To make things worse, in European markets it was usually paired with the 1.4 TSI engine which quickly became similarly infamous for a very weak timing system that would eventually skip time and nuke the whole engine for further huge expense, often right around the same time when the gearbox gave up the ghost. The initially super popular TSI/DSG combo became a massive headache for their owners as Total Drivetrain Death was almost inevitable and trying to offer those as trade-ins for something else was a difficult proposition as the dealers didn't want that nuclear waste rotting on their lots either.
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Ah, OK. The DSG in my Jetta is a 6-speed / 2L Diesel, which is wet clutch, so I'm guessing it doesn't face the same issues.
 
Null said:
Not strictly repair, but what diesel EMP-proof trucks are out there? What years and models are you looking for if you want a truck that'll work on biofuel after all computers are annihilated by an act of god?
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emp shield.jpg
You just need one these Null.
Yes this is a real thing that people still get suckered into buying. I guarantee they won't work the day of a real EMP.

I think in-theory, all you need to do to emp-proof a car is to put the control modules or anything with a pcb into a faraday cage box. The control modules made before 1996ish are plug and play and don't require any VIN or anti-theft reprogramming.

Edit: put an extra alternator in your faraday cage too.
 
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NotADrunkLawyer said:
Ah, OK. The DSG in my Jetta is a 6-speed / 2L Diesel, which is wet clutch, so I'm guessing it doesn't face the same issues.
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Yeah, the wet clutch unit isn't nearly as explosive, it's the early dry 7 speeds that got a deserved reputation. The aforementioned 1.4 TSI hell combo is fine to own nowadays as long as someone else's footed the bill for the repair job with the improved parts, but back in the early 2010's you really were fucked unless you caught it early and got it warrantied or repaired under goodwill.
 
Null said:
Not strictly repair, but what diesel EMP-proof trucks are out there? What years and models are you looking for if you want a truck that'll work on biofuel after all computers are annihilated by an act of god?
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Why would you need a functioning truck after an act of god destroys microelectronic components?
 
NotADrunkLawyer said:
Are VW's DSG supposed to be bad? My Jetta has ~151k on it, and the transmission still shifts great. Honestly, the most satisfying automatic I've ever driven, except for the rare occasion it preselects the wrong gear, like when it's expecting to upshift and you slam on the gas and it suddenly needs to downshift... that can be kinda clunky sometimes.
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Some VW DSGs - especially the 7 speed dry clutch - tend to burn through clutch packs and have dodgy mechatronics.
This is partially a skill issue with many DSG drivers, as they don't understand that a DSG is a manual gearbox operated by some clever robotics, so it's very easy to burn clutch packs (especially in slow city stop-start traffic).

It's not entirely the driver's fault, as manufacturers like VW don't do a very good job of explaining how to use a dual-clutch gearbox with mechanical sympathy.

Either way, complexity is the enemy of reliability. Even the most rock solid dual-clutch transmission is still going to be harder and more expensive to fix if/when it breaks than an equivalent epicyclic tranny with a torque converter.

As for CVTs... they're not awful per se, but Nissan has given them a very bad name.
Null said:
Not strictly repair, but what diesel EMP-proof trucks are out there? What years and models are you looking for if you want a truck that'll work on biofuel after all computers are annihilated by an act of god?
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Not a truck, but the closest thing I can think of is an old W123 Mercedes station wagon with one of the OM615/616/617 series diesel engines. Slow as shit, but it'll never die.
 
Pretend To Imagine said:
Compressors aren’t gonna get you down to 29”. You’d be lucky to get 10-15”
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Correct.

If its slow to fill with such little vacuum you can shut off the high side AC valve on the gauges, start the car and turn the AC on. Use the AC compressor in the car to suck the refrigerant into the system. Work smarter not harder.
 
Pee Cola said:
As for CVTs... they're not awful per se, but Nissan has given them a very bad name.

Not a truck, but the closest thing I can think of is an old W123 Mercedes station wagon with one of the OM615/616/617 series diesel engines. Slow as shit, but it'll never die.
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Subaru makes two different types of CVTs now and naturally they both take different types of oil. Subaru only sells the CVT oil 5 gallons at a time. They're way more reliable than those Nissan ones.


View attachment 6174379

This is what the W123 Benz are. I would love to have one, they're just so fucking expensive.

I did a head gasket on one of this last year. The rear head bolt was stripped out so I had to drill out a fucking head bolt. Once we got her back on the road it hasn't missed a beat.
 
Random tip. If you have an older pickup truck and you hear an intermittent chirping sound when shifting between drive and reverse check the differential oil. Otherwise the differential may explode. Also, if it does explode, don't try and put the truck into 4 wheel drive and use the front wheels to move, your wheel and entire axle may fall out.
 
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