How bad is the oil filter shortage going to get, I wonder? I know it hit General Aviation pretty hard and some plane owners have been waiting months for filter orders. Last night, I went to buy what is probably one the most common filters, it fits our Element and Titan. I had to go with a brand that is backup of a backup of a backup of a backup, a last resort really, the Walmart branded filter. Typically, I would have waited for new stock, but we have a road trip Friday.
For the record, those Supertech oil filters at Walmart are made by Champion Laboratories, and are actually really good.
For our industrial filters right now it isn't too bad. We have only had 1 or 2 items that were on a bit of a back order. During covid a couple of filters from our main supplier(Donaldson) we just couldn't get for a while.
Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck backordered parts. I have 3 cars in the shop right now that are just sitting with no ETA on when parts will be available.
I've read that before. No doubt my brand loyalty has more to do with marketing I was exposed to than anything else. I still use Havoline oil because dad was a Davey Allison fan in my most impressionable years before I got my first car.
Thank God for Donaldson. I used to use an obscure spin on fuel filter from them on our Isuzu marine diesel. It met all the specs but was smaller than the OEM one. If not for that filter I had to take off a bunch of other shit to swap the filter.
We use them because of some corporate thing. I don't know how they get there prices but before i started this job and sold this stuff, i couldn't buy them from my supplier for what we are paying.
I finally got around to installing new (used) tires and wheels on the Suburban. As a bit of backstory, Jungle Julia's dad GAVE us this '90 Suburban (which was running like hot dogshit), but he had recently put new tires on it, which he wanted back. I have several sets of good, used 17" truck tires that I'd saved up after years of working at my old employer; I just didn't have any 17" wheels to put them on, much less some 17" wheels with the old Chevy 5X5" bolt pattern. I determined that the best/ cheapest course of action was to get some 6-lug wheels from the '99-up Silverados, and run adapters. I found a listing at a nearby tire shop selling a set of steel Silverado rims for cheap, so I jumped on the deal. Believe it or not, these were just the style I wanted. The tires are Firestone Transforce All-Terrains; all of them came off of phone-company trucks. Spoiler Before: Spoiler After: Spoiler First half of the adapter/ spacer (2" spacing) Spoiler Second half. I chose this brand of spacer over the others because this one is held together with six Allen-head bolts, instead of five (like most of the others). In other news, just one day after I got the new wheels and tires on, the starter crapped out! I used this as an opportunity to get rid of the big, ugly, HEAVY Delco direct-drive starter, and upgrade to the later style gear-reduction starter. For anyone else wanting to update their starter on a Gen I Chevy engine, this is the factory replacement starter for a '98 C1500. Spoiler
I hate my anxiety. A crazy good looking MR2 popped up 25 minutes from me. Turbo, Leather, rare color I really like. Reasonable private sale price that will assuredly be turned around to Bring a Trailer shortly. Should have dropped everything yesterday and went and seen it. By the time I contacted the dude last night he had a buyer lined up. Ive been pestering him to come see it and he's been semi open but has since taken it down. Let that pit in my stomach win again.
Can you share any pictures of it? I think any guy moderately interested in cars in the 90s loved the MR2. I've been wanting to get an Acura Legend (sedan) for a couple years, but they rarely show up, and when they do I always talk myself out of spending the money. Being a cheap ass is generally good for me, but sometimes I hate it.
The second gen Legend was a phat car in its day. The right wheels really made that car. I actually preferred the sedan over the two-door, also. I had a 1991 Integra sedan my last year of highschool. It was one of the nicest cars in the school parking lot. A real step up from my first car, a 1987 Subaru GL, the paint was the color of cardboard.
Don’t need you poaching it if it comes back up!!!!! Or you’re the guy from Chicago that was supposedly coming to get it. He took the listing down so I can’t see it now. I have a beater I bought thinking I’d fix it up but like everyone else it just sits not being worked on. I was driving it until the alternator went out. MR2s are coming back down to earth a little bit. Back to about 2019 levels. I’m cheap, and anxiety ridden, and chickened out on a real nice daily driver level mr2 on BaT a few years back. Sold for 500 more than what my top bid was. Went for 10500. Sold a year or two later for 16 on the same site. One I saw on Facebook was 12500. Still needed to look at it. If it was sound it’d probably go for 20 plus at auction. They had shot up and primo ones were getting into the 40s and 50s. Dailies were mid-upper 20s. Every shitbox on Craigslist was asking 15.
Scrolling through BaT is one of my morning routines. Definitely seeing a lot more Reserve Not Met lately. Especially on run on the mill cars. Blue Chip cars still go for mega bucks as rich people aren't feeling the squeeze like regular folks. There are a few members who have bought over $5,000,000 in cars just this year.
Had I won that billy lotto the other week Id have probably been one of them too. 90s stuff. NSX, 911 Turbo, Supra, and the 80s Countach.
Just wanted to throw this out there in case I can get any useful feedback: I own a 2014 RAV4 with about 130,000 miles on it. Recently the check engine light and AWD light came on so I brought it to a local mechanic. He said the codes he read indicated an emissions issue that related to the EVAP canister. Apparently the AWD light going on at the same time is a quirk of RAV4s. They replaced the canister, I got the car back, and the lights were back on after driving a few days , maybe 100 miles. Since then they have replaced the canister two more times, the last time using a canister sourced directly from Toyota because they suspected faulty parts. When the check engine lights came on after the third replacement I took it to the local Toyota dealership (today). They are telling me it’s the fuel pump - it’s old and leaking slightly, triggering the emissions code. They are quoting me more than 2K to replace it. That price seems very high to me so my plan is to take it back to the local mechanic (who comes recommended by neighbors who are car knowledgeable) and ask him for a quote to replace the fuel pump. I’m wary of course since they didn’t fix the original problem- but they also haven’t charged me for the last two sets of parts or labor. I think having them replace something specific is fairly low risk. I guess my questions are- might there be something else that all parties are missing, and is my approach a sound one?
I should have those on my paperwork which of course is in the car. I’ll post it in an hour or two when I pick it up.