What Did You Do To Your Car Today?

[Blueprint]

I had a first last Monday: a stay-behind car that won't start. Granted, it was -19°C and the Crosstrek had been sitting for a week (because press car), but still - 2.5 y.o. First time it ever happened, and that includes the Accent sitting for a month in front of the T-Can during Covid, in January.

Weird thing is that it started with the remote app while I was refueling the presser nearby. Saw the plume of exhaust coming near the place. It stopped after 10 mins, as usual, but barely cranked and did a lot of beeps and flashes when I tried to start it. A booster pack got it to crank. Colleagues there told me Subaru batteries were weak and often too small. Interwebs mention 3-5 yr lifespan for the oem units.

This morning I had "B" service, which includes a battery check, and sure enough they replaced the battery on warranty. So I'm good for another 3 years, will have it tested before the warranty runs out!

On the way back, had one wheel rebalanced for free at Costco - one of the stick-on weights had fallen off and I could feel a front-left vibe.

Now standing at ... 16,144 km.

[Blizzard]

Washed the inside and outside of the Bolt's summer rims last night. I should have done it back in November but I procrastinated so they've stayed dusty in the bags since then   It'll be going to the garage next Monday for its tire change and a brake service.

The Subaru will wait until mid-April in case we go to the cottage. Early April snowstorms are very common there and snow plowing is generally lousy.

[Careener]

Alternator finally died on my son's Corolla after that WD40 emergency "fix" I did a few weeks ago.
I had ordered a new one at the time and I installed it yesterday and everything is good to go.

[RRocket]

Alternator finally died on my son's Corolla after that WD40 emergency "fix" I did a few weeks ago.
I had ordered a new one at the time and I installed it yesterday and everything is good to go.

Nice..it's nice when things go smoothly.

[Bubba]

Alternator finally died on my son's Corolla after that WD40 emergency "fix" I did a few weeks ago.
I had ordered a new one at the time and I installed it yesterday and everything is good to go.

I suspect the alternator on your Corolla is similar to my 2013 model.  Any issues getting the bottom bolt out?

[Firm]

DTS made a 400mile round trip to Nashville and back flawlessly, nice because I've put a fair bit of time/effort into it recently. I maintain that there are only a handful of cars out there that can compare when it comes to just killing highway miles.

Broke out my A/C equipment on Sunday...The Silver Trans Am had a leak at the connection from the hoses to the compressor. When I replaced the compressor last year it came with a few different sealing washers for the hose connection, and no instructions on which to use...I guessed wrong. So took it apart, new combination of washers seems a lot better. Pulled vacuum and it held, so recharged it. Hopefully it'll be the last time I need to mess with AC on this car for awhile.

While I had the equipment out I hooked up the SLK, which had zero charge in it. It wasn't holding vacuum, so I tried listening for a leak but couldn't find anything. I put about half a can of charge (enough to get the compressor going), and some UV dye in it, ran it for while and then went over everything with the UV light and my freon sniffer. After about 45 minutes of that, still no sign of a leak, and it's holding pressure....Very weird. I noticed when taking apart my equipment that one connection was loose, so maybe that's why I was losing vacuum. Anyway, now I know how much charge is in it, I'll monitor it a couple weeks and see if it leaks down at all, if not, I'll charge it properly. If it does leak down, hopefully I'll be able to see the dye. All the AC components in the car are buried down low, so I don't want to start throwing parts at it without knowing where the leak is.

[Revelations]

I'm constantly on the lookout for a clean DTS. Love to have one in the exact spec as yours. One came up recently on the coast with 81,000 km, looked absolutely mint but it had that horrible brougham roof package, Rolls Royce style grill, and gold ornaments. That stuff might fly on a 1988 Cadillac Fleetwood, but not a 2009 DTS.

[Careener]

Alternator finally died on my son's Corolla after that WD40 emergency "fix" I did a few weeks ago.
I had ordered a new one at the time and I installed it yesterday and everything is good to go.

I suspect the alternator on your Corolla is similar to my 2013 model.  Any issues getting the bottom bolt out?

The bolt wasn't bad. It was a bit of a pain wiggling the alternator out of there.

[Firm]

I'm constantly on the lookout for a clean DTS. Love to have one in the exact spec as yours. One came up recently on the coast with 81,000 km, looked absolutely mint but it had that horrible brougham roof package, Rolls Royce style grill, and gold ornaments. That stuff might fly on a 1988 Cadillac Fleetwood, but not a 2009 DTS.

Yeah, they're getting scarce....Rust belt units are getting pretty rusty at this point, and down here in the south the mods you mentioned are super common, which ruins a bunch of them. One can fix an aftermarket grille/emblems, but those brougham style vinyl roofs pretty well kill it.

[Bubba]

I suspect the alternator on your Corolla is similar to my 2013 model.  Any issues getting the bottom bolt out?

The bolt wasn't bad. It was a bit of a pain wiggling the alternator out of there.

That's good.  I tried changing the belt on mine and could not get that bolt loose.  I had to take the car to the shop to have them do it.

[Blizzard]

The little plastic piece that covers the bolt holding the rear wiper assembly together on the Crosstrek mysteriously fell off last week, so ordered and received a new one from Amazon. We could've gone without but I don't like missing/damaged pieces like that   Gotta love paying $20 for a 3-inch long plastic part that probably cost 20 cents to manufacture.

Tire change and annual synthetic oil change are scheduled for this coming Monday.

[Bridgecity]

Fifteen years ago today I brought the Tundra home. It's been my daily ever since. Should cross 300k this year/early next year.

Quick number crunch. I've put about 40,000 litres of gas into it.   I should add it's a 2007 and had 46k when I bought it.

[Johnnymac]

Fifteen years ago today I brought the Tundra home. It's been my daily ever since. Should cross 300k this year/early next year.

Quick number crunch. I've put about 40,000 litres of gas into it.   I should add it's a 2007 and had 46k when I bought it.

That is certainly an impressively long ownership experience for a car enthusiasts daily driver.  Here's to another 15 years and 300,000kms.

[Firm]

That's awesome, love a good long-term love affair.

[blur911]

I just finished putting new front driveshafts and wheel bearings on our '05 Outback.   I've been waiting for warmer weather to do it and it's finally here.
PITA with sticky fasteners and rust.  Broke the bolt that holds in the lower ball joint, just left it and took it apart at the strut above instead.   It's getting up there, 388k on it now.