Agreed. I have had 4 Jeeps in my life, 2 of them brand new... but the most recent one was most definitely a project Jeep. Pics here: <a class="postlink" href="http://imgur.com/a/yVGSm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://imgur.com/a/yVGSm</a> But the last one was not only a project Jeep, it was someone else's unfinished project Jeep. That is the big thing you have to be careful of. There are, in my opinion, two reasons someone sells their project: either they're in over their head and are giving up on it, or they've gotten to a point where they realized the Jeep is fucked beyond reasonable repair. Think frame rot, tub rot, electrical rot, etc. Expensive, and not worth the effort for a casual guy to fix himself, they'll try and flog it off on someone else with a bullshit excuse of "girlfriend was getting pissed", or "no more parking", or something other than the "I don't have $6k or a month of work to fix the frame" that is the real answer. Probably the biggest thing you'll have to worry about, with no car knowledge or experience of your own, is an improperly done project. You won't be able to recognize something that's fucked if it's not totally and obviously FUBAR. For instance, my latest project Jeep had a lift kit on it, but it was done wrong (aka cheap and ignorantly). This meant that the drive shaft was too short and the drive-line angles weren't correct, so while that Jeep looked nice and jacked up for the next 2,500 miles, it blew up the rear differential and a bunch of other stuff. And let's not talk about the electrical. It was a rats nest. ALWAYS look under the dash for fucked up wiring bundles that have been cut and just zip-tied out of the way, waiting for the next guy to handle. If they can't show you a current "road worthy certificate" (in my area it's called AirCare), then be very leery, and get it checked out by a shop to be sure it'll pass inspection. The guy could have bought the Jeep himself a few months earlier, then realized it was going to require an engine rebuild to get it to pass emissions. Look to see how long the guy has owned the car, and how much it was driven by him. If he bought it and it sat, there are probably bigger issues than he's letting on (unless he just couldn't afford insurance, etc). So, I say all that to get to the real point. If you're looking for a project car, either spend the money to buy a really nice one that's been done properly that you can casually tweak yourself, or look for something that is as bone-stock and clean as you can, and go from there. If you buy anything in between, be on your guard, and assume everyone is lying to you about why they're selling the vehicle. (They may not be, but I've found they're not quick to tell you the truth about what's wrong with the thing). And like Slappy says, stick with something that is cheap and easy to buy parts for. Range Rovers aren't known for their inexpensive parts. Good luck, and have fun.
Part of the reasoning for this was that post you'd made on Reddit Nettdata. I appreciate the advice guys. I'll let you know how I get on and what I can come up with here. Thanks again for the advice.
Anyone had any experience with Geico? Just got my State Farm insurance bill so I'm shopping around and Geico is coming in at less than half the price for the same coverage so I'm a little skeptical. Just seems to good to be true.
have been with geico for over 15 years now. any time i have had to deal with them, it's been great. i have shopped rates a couple times, including with the company that has my homeowner's, and geico is better. i've had two weird claims during that time, and both times, no troubles, excellent service. from talking to other people, apparently geico's area where they are really good, is for no wreck, no ticket drivers over the age of 25. if you're not in the low-risk category, geico is not competitive with their rates from what i've heard.
good to hear. i haven't had a ticket in about 4 years now and that was for <10 speeding, so i guess i do fit into that group. have one wreck claim, but was not at fault. looks like i'm going to make the switch then.
too late to edit. gieco took my card number and then "adjusted" my bill to within 50 bucks of my previous one. luckily i was smart enough to transfer all of my money out but the quote before i submitted so it didn't get anything. that is fucking bullshit right there. i understand that a quote isn't the final price, but you don't change it after the fact. so when exactly does stuff come off your driving record? they asked for last 5 years and then brought up a ticket from 2005.
shegirl can probably answer that for you, but a friend of mine that works for state farm said they actually will look back for 10 years for one thing and 5 for another. i don't remember what, though. i didn't follow exactly what you were saying there, but that does sound like some bullshit, though. (i don't do autodraft, i pay online when the bill is due, so that's not been my experience.) did you complain? are you in sc? each state is different, but you can file a complaint with the insurance commissioner if they were being dishonest or predatory in some way.
the online quoting process is not accurate because, as the consumer, you are not allowed to pull the (for my co anyway) three reports that show past claims made, driving record and the credit related info. all three, as i'm sure you can imagine, are very heavy factors into developing the rates. long and short of it is that your online quote is never going to be spot on until you speak with the company. the normal timeline for driving activity is 3 years but carriers are using up to 5 now for rating reasons. they say it's a predictor of things to come. i don't really agree with that and think 3 is fair but since i haven't opened "shegirl's insurance company", no one asked me.
just going to stick with the current insurance. i'm sure i missed some fine print somewhere, despite not being an idiot about it usually, just shady to me that they would attempt to charge the adjusted rate without me knowing the dollar amount. basically put my info in for quote x, then was told my adjusted total and to enter different payment info as the card didn't go through since i put just enough to pay the quote on it. thanks for the info y'all. 1 more year and that ticket is gone. don't ever flip a car.
a couple of suggestions: 1. start with a running, drivable vehicle and make changes one at a time. a vehicle with its entrails scattered across the garage floor can strike panic in the boldest souls. 2. when you are about to disassemble something you are not intimately familiar with, take a few pictures from various angles. and, as you disassemble put all the little bits in a plastic baggie and tape it to the main piece you have removed. also, find a website for the vehicle you choose that is technically oriented. have fun!
And this is why I hate fucking Dodge's. I am doing an fluid survey for our fleet. When have way to many different years. Our 2011 could have 2 different transmissions, not bad. Our 2012 could have 5 different transmissions and 7 different rear ends. And we have 2013's and 2014's this is going to be a long day.
Here's one that stumped even my father: 1996 F-150 (has two gas tanks). Backstory: Rear tank has a weak fuel pump, so I don't often use it. Tank is about 7/8 full of gas, has not been used in probably a month. Faint smell of gas lately from the back of my truck, which I associated with a small gas can I have in the bed to power tools. Today: Drove today at lunch, no issue. Came out of the office four hours later and there is a small puddle and some oozing out of the rear tank, as though I had overfilled it at the gas station. When I opened the tank and unscrewed the cap, gas literally POURED out. Probably over a litre. It will do that every time I open the cap, now. It does it after it's sat for a time, it does it when it's still hot from running. I'm not talking about a small amount, either. Every time I open my rear gas tank the gas just flows. I have not added gas or changed anything recently. Can anyone explain this?
There's a vent hose in the tank that is usually plumbed near the gas cap / filler neck. Sounds like it has come loose and repositioned itself to siphon gas rather than vent. I'd check that first.
Wife's car has been diagnosed as having a bad ECM. 2007 Suzuki SX4 awd and manual transmission. I bought the car with a spun bearing and swapped the engine for a 2008 model about 40k miles ago. Can I buy a used ECM off ebay and install and drive or do I need to flash the ecm. It will need to be inspected this month, will the new ECM, unflashed with my car's vin, screw that up? Edit:New ECM is $1900.00. As you can imagine I would, like to try a used one off ebay, plenty available.
I have a fair bit of PCU/ECM experience, but only with newer Porsche race cars and my Jeep. (I've programmed/tuned the former and totally replaced the latter). My experience is that there's no tie-in to any VIN, only to the powertrain configuration (6 cyl manual vs 8 cyl auto type stuff). When my old Wrangler blew up its ECU, and I couldn't find an exact swap at a wrecker or online, I found out that the Cherokees are almost identical, just with a slightly different low-end mapping (more torque in the low end). I popped the Cherokee ECU into the Wrangler, did a factory reset, and it's been great for almost a year now. If you can find a used ECU all you should have to do is a factory reset, not a complete re-flash. A factory reset basically wipes out all of the old history in the ECU and puts it into "learning mode", where it figures out how you drive, and how the engine/car reacts, and it slowly recreates what it thinks are the proper settings (shift points, idle settings, advance, richness, etc). It will probably run really rough and rich for the first few miles, and then as you drive more and more it'll refine its settings until finally it's done and you'll get a stable ECU. The setting modification phase won't be that noticeable after those first few miles. I don't know how that will affect your inspection, but as long as you get 20-30 miles in on the new ECU before it, I can't imagine that it'll be a problem (at least from a exhaust analysis context). I think the big thing will be to ensure that the new ECU doesn't throw any kind of a warning/trouble light, as that's usually an immediate fail (or refusal to inspect) where I'm from. I did a write-up of it in a subreddit I mod: http://www.reddit.com/r/shadetree/comme ... id_it_all/ And here's a photo album of the carnage: http://imgur.com/a/Fufy1 Full disclosure, I know nothing about your particular ECU/PCM, so everything I said here might be completely wrong in your situation... just sharing my experience doing the same thing, but with a different vehicle.
That's the only reason I'm shopping for an ECM. The car runs fine. It's throwing an "Evap Solenoid Voltage" code. I've tested the voltage going to it and tested the solenoid out of the car. Dealer also says the recommended repair is an ECM replacement.
Might want to pull the plug out of the PCM, and then inspect the pins on it... they can sometimes get a little loose/corroded and lose connectivity, or sometimes bend. Gently spray the pins a few times with contact cleaner ((let it soak a bit and dry and repeat, maybe even hit it with some low pressure air to remove any shit), throw a bit of dielectric grease in there, and then plug it back in. It might work and save you a whack of cash.
Went camping over the weekend to a high-altitude lake up a local mountain. Fun times, but had some issues coming home. Coming down the mountain I had a brake caliper stick, which boiled the fuck out of the brake fluid, and caused some issues. Needless to say tonight on my way home I picked up new rotors, calipers, shoes, and flex hoses for the front end. Guess what I get to do this weekend.
Definitely going to be a lot of cursing if he is trying to put together calipers and shoes. But joking aside, calipers are easy, only swearing might coming is from changing the hose and the stupid flare fitting is rusted together.