Vehicle Maintenace General

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Smar Mijou said:
As long as it's properly filtered and treated, a diesel will run on anything that will burn under pressure with the proper cetane rating. Cooking oil, used engine oil, fish oil, etc.
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Reminds me of how around late 00s running your diesel on gutter oil was really taking off over here, but was completely brought to a halt as new regulations required restaurants to dispose of their gutter oil by handing it only to specialized disposal companies, so you could no longer just waltz into your local fast food joint and ask for a barrel of their finest gutter oil. I did notice a funny coincidence when that came into effect, how one of the more prominent local sellers and installers of "biofuel" conversion systems conveniently transformed their business into one of those disposal services... lol.

Also, from first hand experience I can state that a 1.9 TDi engine will have no trouble running on used transformer oil (it's best to pre-mix it with diesel just to be safe though).
 
Spruce Supremacist said:
Reminds me of how around late 00s running your diesel on gutter oil was really taking off over here, but was completely brought to a halt as new regulations required restaurants to dispose of their gutter oil by handing it only to specialized disposal companies, so you could no longer just waltz into your local fast food joint and ask for a barrel of their finest gutter oil. I did notice a funny coincidence when that came into effect, how one of the more prominent local sellers and installers of "biofuel" conversion systems conveniently transformed their business into one of those disposal services... lol.

Also, from first hand experience I can state that a 1.9 TDi engine will have no trouble running on used transformer oil (it's best to pre-mix it with diesel just to be safe though).
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In a similar vein, there's a pretty substantial cottage industry in the Eastern Bloc region where the Slavs make a habit of filtering the dye out of diesel to skirt government regulations.

For anyone who doesn't know, "Undyed" diesel is taxed by various levels of government and designed for on-road use. "Dyed" or "off-road" diesel had a coloring added, usually red in the US, for easy detection by local additional revenue generators law enforcement to make sure that the government is getting their cut untaxed fuel isn't being used on-road. Mainly designed for fuel oil furnaces, diesel generators, and other non-vehicle machines. And God help you if you have a commercial vehicle and some particularly bitchy DOT official pulls you over, dips your tank and catches you with dyed fuel. We're talking fines in the thousands of dollars.

And yeah those older pre-DPF/DEF diesel VWs are damn near indestructible. In fact, one might suit @Null 's requirements for an EMP-proof post nuclear apocalypse war wagon. I had a coworker years ago with a 5 speed TDI golf that regularly bragged about getting 40+mpg easily. Of course, the newer post-2007 diesels with the DPF and all the emissions bullshit regularly get 4-6mpg less on average...🙄
 
You can put DPF/DEF vehicles on a "diet", and people very regularly do. It also increases transmission life since it is no longer going into derate to regen the filter(i don't really understand the mechanics of why, so if anyone knows please explain), it's much better (imo) to take advantage of incredible advances in IC, design, tolerances, and metallurgy with a newer engine freed than an older engine.
 
Smar Mijou said:
And yeah those older pre-DPF/DEF diesel VWs are damn near indestructible. In fact, one might suit @Null 's requirements for an EMP-proof post nuclear apocalypse war wagon. I had a coworker years ago with a 5 speed TDI golf that regularly bragged about getting 40+mpg easily. Of course, the newer post-2007 diesels with the DPF and all the emissions bullshit regularly get 4-6mpg less on average...🙄
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I had a mk5 jetta TDI and loved it, even though it had 250,000 miles when I bought it. The door windows stopped working if the door was closed too hard or on humid days, had to repair the turbo vane actuator, but the rest of it was flawless.
 
KateHikes14 said:
You can put DPF/DEF vehicles on a "diet", and people very regularly do. It also increases transmission life since it is no longer going into derate to regen the filter(i don't really understand the mechanics of why, so if anyone knows please explain), it's much better (imo) to take advantage of incredible advances in IC, design, tolerances, and metallurgy with a newer engine freed than an older engine.
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The regen cycle basically puts the engine under a heavy load and injects extra fuel to superheat the exhaust to "burn out" the carbon soot and other deposits from the particulate filter. So not only are you using more fuel during the regen cycle, you have an entire lifetime of the engine essentially being choked off and not running optimally. The exhaust fluid on the newer ones is a urea/water mixture used as a catalyst to bind to Nitrogen Oxide (NOx), and chemically convert it to water and Nitrogen. But if you've ever been around a newer diesel during a regen, it smells like absolute shit, and they're known for plugging, and since the DEF is water/urea, the injection nozzles are known to plug up or freeze in cold conditions.

TL/DR: It's all a big clusterfuck, and removing the entire DPF system is overall better for fuel efficiency, engine longevity, and lower maintenance costs.
 
Another pro I neglected to mention with "newer" diesels is having EGR which allows you to cruise with a lower effective displacement, like turning off cylinders but more dynamic. If you're made of money/looking for max power 24/7/very strictly looking for as low complexity as possible(better ways to do that than most any diesel imo) EGRs are a con rather than a pro, but imo the savings are well worth the pains they can bring.
 
KateHikes14 said:
it's much better (imo) to take advantage of incredible advances in IC, design, tolerances, and metallurgy with a newer engine freed than an older engine.
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We were able to make engines that outlasted most other parts of the vehicle 50 years ago, if it wasn't for environmental laws I'd daily drive a 40 year old shitbox diesel running on gutter oil until the day I'd die.

Recent advancements in IC have been focused almost solely on emission standards.
 
Oat Milk Matcha Latte said:
Recent advancements in IC have been focused almost solely on emission standards.
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There's some stuff outside that. In the aviation world we have no emissions. But modern stuff like fuel injection and electronic ignition are pretty cool. Some cases even upgrading to fancy "liquid" cooling, I'm mixed on that one. Most of our engines are designs from the 1950s or before though. So pretty much anything is a good upgrade.
 
Oat Milk Matcha Latte said:
We were able to make engines that outlasted most other parts of the vehicle 50 years ago, if it wasn't for environmental laws I'd daily drive a 40 year old shitbox diesel running on gutter oil until the day I'd die.

Recent advancements in IC have been focused almost solely on emission standards.
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It depends on your winters, if you wanna DD a shitbox from the 80s in the worst of NAs winters you are either not aware of what advances in TC you are missing out on and going 20 mph while everyone else cruises at 60 or so or suicidal. Either way move to a state that doesn't have commie emission control checks and you can join the fun people in actually driving old cars maintened exactly how you want to instead of just talking about it.
 
So as of now we are what, 11 going on 12 years after this 2013 mark. Trucks don't last forever, either the rust gets you or the parts are discontinued or the truck just....dies.


Is there ANY modern built car left which we can trust? I use to drive older trucks (early aughts/90s/80s) and one by one each has died, despite being babied (to the extent a truck can be babied)/regular maintenance. What true EMP offerings are left in the USA?


I was in the Sahara recently and I noticed people were driving diesel Mercedes cars, land cruisers, some hiluxes, and some ancient Jeep. Everything barring the Jeep were all cars you can't easily get in the usa. What do Americans have? Should I go through the process of importing a diesel?
 
I know some people swear by the 7.3 powerstroke, but they don't have to contend with winter weather nor salt in the Sahara, so it's not really an apt comparison unless you are in a similarly arid region.
 
KateHikes14 said:
I know some people swear by the 7.3 powerstroke, but they don't have to contend with winter weather nor salt in the Sahara, so it's not really an apt comparison unless you are in a similarly arid region.
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It's shocking seeing how long some cars last by sheer will, good weather and love. I bet you somewhere in the Middle East there is a guy who daily drives the same car his great grandfather got for supporting the British during WW1.
 
Older stick-shift subarus are alright, though the switch to an electronic throttle really fucked with them. Head gaskets leak, but if it's not an internal leak, just leave that bitch alone, they tend to be slow, and you can run the car forever. The old 2.5s also can run sans water pump if you live in the colder climates, knew a few guys that ran their subies in the winter just on air cooling alone.

I just bought a tired forester as a beater to last me till next year and it's the biggest shitbox of a car I've ever owned, but the one that's also gotten me off my ass to learn how to weld, how to do brakes, how to deal with rust-welded bolts while working on the suspension, etc, etc. To quote a certain arizonan youtuber, if you aren't having fun, you're doing it wrong.
 
I recently got a base model (4x4) ‘23 Tacoma. I know the headline of this thread says “don’t buy anything made after 2013” but I’m hoping this thing will hold up as long as I hear Toyotas/Tacomas do. No sunroof, no leather seats, no electronic parking brake, no “smart key”. Just the way I like it.

Yes it’s an automatic and no im not happy about that but otherwise I’m very pleased.
 
Today I cleaned the MAP sensors on my decade-old 3.5L ecoboost. The one installed in the exhaust outlet wasn’t that dirty, but the one installed in the manifold was absolutely filthy. All I had to do was blast them clean with brake part cleaner and reinstall after it dried. Before I did this my turbo generally didn’t kick in until 3rd gear or so when I was accelerating. Now it kicks in in 1st if I’m going up a hill. I changed my spark plugs too and that got the bitch going REAL fast.
 
Nate Higgers said:
I recently got a base model (4x4) ‘23 Tacoma. I know the headline of this thread says “don’t buy anything made after 2013” but I’m hoping this thing will hold up as long as I hear Toyotas/Tacomas do. No sunroof, no leather seats, no electronic parking brake, no “smart key”. Just the way I like it.

Yes it’s an automatic and no im not happy about that but otherwise I’m very pleased.
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Toyota's newer trucks (2022+ Tundras and 2024 Tacomas) have been having major issues, since they both were given new drivetrains. Toyota had to recall 100k Tundras because of engine failures, and the Tacoma has had issues with both its Automatic and Manual transmissions. So the Toyota of today is definitely not the same as the rock solid Toyotas of old.
 
Getting an odd warning light in my 2007 Civic. Sometimes under heavy breaking the "brake" warning light on the dash lights up and goes off after a few seconds. Rebuilt he brakes almost entirely 2 years ago (new pads and rotors on all 4 corners and new rear calipers). Fluid level is fine, no leaks and brake performance feels fine. Do I have a dirty/failing sensor? Can it be cleaned/serviced moderately easily?
 
VorpalAnvil- said:
Getting an odd warning light in my 2007 Civic. Sometimes under heavy breaking the "brake" warning light on the dash lights up and goes off after a few seconds. Rebuilt he brakes almost entirely 2 years ago (new pads and rotors on all 4 corners and new rear calipers). Fluid level is fine, no leaks and brake performance feels fine. Do I have a dirty/failing sensor? Can it be cleaned/serviced moderately easily?
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Your ABS light?
 
What is the general consensus on Subaru here? I have personally had good experiences with mine but my sample size is non existent
gildersleeve said:
HTTracker
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I know this is absolutely not the thread for this, but I keep having issues where httracker doesn't grab all the links or work quite right out of the box on the capture. Agree there done default settings that generally need to be changed? Also have you posted those forum rips anywhere?
 
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