Car thread

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Factorial
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Re: Car thread

Post by Factorial »

Question about manual transmissions. Mine becomes, at times, difficult to get into first gear. VW says the transmission fluid is in a closed system and is for a "lifetime" and should never be changed. The car is now 14 years old with 130K miles. Reading over at vwvortex, some posters say you can change it but others say don't do it as the transmission will "fall apart" when the fluid is drained.
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Re: Car thread

Post by Sigwolf »

Factorial wrote:Question about manual transmissions. Mine becomes, at times, difficult to get into first gear. VW says the transmission fluid is in a closed system and is for a "lifetime" and should never be changed. The car is now 14 years old with 130K miles. Reading over at vwvortex, some posters say you can change it but others say don't do it as the transmission will "fall apart" when the fluid is drained.
Of course it's a "closed system"... the gearbox oil is not circulated among any of the car's other systems. 8-) As for "lifetime", I know that term only came to exist with BMW's when they started paying for routine maintenance, and I suspect the same is true for VW. Absolutely nothing changed with the fluids used, and the owner's manuals previously called for regular fluid changes, but suddenly when the dealers started paying for them they became "lifetime" fluids. Change the gearbox oil within the first 2000 miles for break-in service, and at least every 30,000 miles thereafter, and that transmission will last a lot longer than treating it as a lifetime fluid. If it's a lease, or a car you plan on dumping before you hit 100,000 miles, by all means, leave it alone. In your situation, if changing the oil is going to cause harm to the transmission, then likely the damage is already done. Metals and contaminants are going to build up in a transmission, regular fluid changes will help minimize the damage caused, just like any other lubricant based system in a car.
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Re: Car thread

Post by OutofFoil »

I'm not sure about VW, but I "fixed" a notchy Mitsubishi transmission by replacing the fluid with Pennzoil Synchomesh.
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Re: Car thread

Post by PghSkins »

Manuals of both my Mazda and Subie say oil changes every 7500 unless you're basically driving them like a taxi.

Amusingly, every oil change sticker I get gives me either 3000 or 5000 till the next one.

Believe I will stick with the manual.
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Re: Car thread

Post by dodint »

Sigwolf wrote:
Factorial wrote:Question about manual transmissions. Mine becomes, at times, difficult to get into first gear. VW says the transmission fluid is in a closed system and is for a "lifetime" and should never be changed. The car is now 14 years old with 130K miles. Reading over at vwvortex, some posters say you can change it but others say don't do it as the transmission will "fall apart" when the fluid is drained.
Of course it's a "closed system"... the gearbox oil is not circulated among any of the car's other systems. 8-) As for "lifetime", I know that term only came to exist with BMW's when they started paying for routine maintenance, and I suspect the same is true for VW.
Bingo. This happened around the same time BMW stopped putting dipsticks in the engine bay. Also, 'lifetime' in this situation is pretty much to be interpreted as 'lifetime of the lease/BMW paid maintenance schedule." You'll eventually have to change those fluids and the car will last longer if you establish your own interval sooner.
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Re: Car thread

Post by Firebird »

Factorial wrote:Question about manual transmissions. Mine becomes, at times, difficult to get into first gear. VW says the transmission fluid is in a closed system and is for a "lifetime" and should never be changed. The car is now 14 years old with 130K miles. Reading over at vwvortex, some posters say you can change it but others say don't do it as the transmission will "fall apart" when the fluid is drained.
There's a theory on transmissions, unproven, of course.

But the idea either change the transmission fluid early on (50-80k miles) or, if you don't then, never do it.
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Re: Car thread

Post by dodint »

haha, wanker:

Image
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Re: Car thread

Post by Firebird »

dodint wrote:haha, wanker:

Image

That takes skills....props.


This act should doom someone to burning in hell for eternity:

https://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motoramic ... 58950.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: Car thread

Post by dodint »

hah, the pelican guy. Yeah, he probably didn't count on being filmed every moment he drove it. Also, letting the car run submerged until it died was a dead giveaway to fraud.
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Re: Car thread

Post by tifosi77 »

I think the Veyron is stupid, and very ugly.
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Re: Car thread

Post by OutofFoil »

tifosi77 wrote:I think the Veyron is stupid, and very ugly.
As do I, but I wouldn't turn one down. I'd prefer a Ferrari 458 or I'd even settle for a GTR if I were in that market. Alas, it's a pipe dream.
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Re: Car thread

Post by MWB »

Tomas wrote:For about 1 month, I have been experiencing an annoying problem with the AC in my car (BMW). When I start the car and the AC kicks in, it emits really bad smell (almost like cow manure) for about 5-10 seconds. After that, the smell goes away, but the whole issue still bugs me a lot. I don't think I have done anything to cause it (other than instead of daily driving, I have been driving the car maybe twice/week on average). It does not matter where I start the car (home garage, outside...).

Has anyone ever experiences something similar? I will eventually take the car to a shop, but I will be able to do it in 14 days or so. In the meantime, is there any short-term fix (putting theAC on inside circulation, yelling at it... :) )?
What about the air filter?
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Re: Car thread

Post by Shyster »

My car occasionally gets the "locker room" smell from the HVAC system in the summer. I've found that turning the heat on high and setting it to recirculate can help the smell. The mold living in the system doesn't seem to like being roasted.
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Re: Car thread

Post by CBear3 »

Cabin air filter.
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Re: Car thread

Post by tifosi77 »

OutofFoil wrote:
tifosi77 wrote:I think the Veyron is stupid, and very ugly.
As do I, but I wouldn't turn one down. I'd prefer a Ferrari 458 or I'd even settle for a GTR if I were in that market. Alas, it's a pipe dream.
I'd take a Veyron, sure. If only to immediately sell it to someone else.

But now that you say it, there are not very many cars out there I'd take over a GTR. The thing is a beast, but it's still totally practical. The 458 is my favorite car, but......

Was beside a GTR in traffic maybe five months ago, the first two cars at a red light. Saw driver guy begin flicking switches and stuff, then revved the engine up and held it. Launch control! Oh, goodie, I thought. Light changed, off he went...... and he short shifted his way up the 'box. Seriously, he was in 4th gear by the time he traveled 100 feet. I felt cheated.
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Re: Car thread

Post by mac5155 »

Supposedly there's an ECU mod for my TDI Jetta that will give it launch control. Not sure if it's there or not but would be pretty friggin awesome.
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Re: Car thread

Post by tifosi77 »

I'd be wary of using launch control unless you have a double clutch system.
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Re: Car thread

Post by dodint »

The GTR is a really fast toaster to me. I know it's cliche to call japanese cars appliances, but the GTR is just so uninspiring next to anything made in Italy. Most German cars even pull ahead of it in that department. Cool piece of gear, though.
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Re: Car thread

Post by mac5155 »

tifosi77 wrote:I'd be wary of using launch control unless you have a double clutch system.
It's a DSG automatic so it is there.
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Re: Car thread

Post by OutofFoil »

Had launch control on my DSM AWD through an ECU piggyback. Launched at 3700 RPM. The Tilton twin disc clutch and built transmission could take it, but the 30mm output shaft on the transfer case didn't like it too much. I miss that car. Best 60' time, 2.7 on street tires.
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Re: Car thread

Post by Sigwolf »

Firebird wrote:There's a theory on transmissions, unproven, of course.

But the idea either change the transmission fluid early on (50-80k miles) or, if you don't then, never do it.

I could probably believe some truth in that in regards to an automatic transmission, but find it unlikely to be true of a manual.
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Re: Car thread

Post by Willie Kool »

Sigwolf wrote:
Firebird wrote:There's a theory on transmissions, unproven, of course.

But the idea either change the transmission fluid early on (50-80k miles) or, if you don't then, never do it.

I could probably believe some truth in that in regards to an automatic transmission, but find it unlikely to be true of a manual.
:thumb: This is what I'd always heard. I don't think it would apply to a manual trans.
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Re: Car thread

Post by mac5155 »

My TDI DSG needs fluid change every 40k miles, which I do religiously. Sucks.. but I'm shooting for 300k miles out of the car at a minimum.
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Re: Car thread

Post by tifosi77 »

Sigwolf wrote:
Firebird wrote:There's a theory on transmissions, unproven, of course.

But the idea either change the transmission fluid early on (50-80k miles) or, if you don't then, never do it.

I could probably believe some truth in that in regards to an automatic transmission, but find it unlikely to be true of a manual.
Yes, advice on this please. According to the well-meaning employee of the national car service chain which may or may not have 'Jiffy' in its name, I did this once at 40k. It was due again at 70k, but I didn't do it. I am now at 126k. Should I, or should I not?
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Re: Car thread

Post by Shyster »

The manual for my Hyundai says to occasionally check the level of the manual gearbox oil, but it never calls for changing it. I'm not sure if it's ever actually been checked, and the transmission still shifts fine. I don't recall anyone in my family ever changing the gear oil in their manual transmissions, and we all regularly keep our cars for 10 years or more each.