What Did You Do To Your Car Today?

[Firm]

Kicking off another revival thread...This was last week, but put a new set of Continental TerrainContact AT tires on the ole Escalade, replaced with exactly the same tires that came off...I figure 7 years and ~80K kms is pretty good. I probably could've stretched another 6-12 months out of them, but they had some radial cracking and I didn't like worrying about a blow out with Mrs. Firm and the kids in it. Purchased and installed at Discount Tire, but went across the street to Firestone for their 'lifetime alignment' after the fact, figure we'll be keeping the truck so it'll come in handy.

Also gave it a good wash and a coat of wax.

[Bubba]

Still looks great.

[Bridgecity]

Agree Bubba.

Firm, didn't this unit spend some time in northern Alberta or NWT or something like that?

[Firm]

Yeah, sold new in Grand Prairie AB, and spent the first ~9 years of its life out there. Those owners sold it to a friend of theirs in Keswick ON, which is who we bought it from in 2016. Then it moved down here to TN with us in 2023, and we've driven it as far south as Destin FL...She's been around the block a few times, lol. It's got around 293K kms on it now, and really the only part that shows it is the front bumper which is pretty heavily road rashed and has a couple little cracks in it. I recently found a really nice, color matched, bumper for sale locally and grabbed it...one day when I have time and the ambition I'll swap it on. 

[TheHire]

Since Firm moved away, I still look twice at every white Escalade I see in the neighbourhood, and not a single one is even close to how clean his is - let alone one with nearly 300K on it!

I've been splitting winter daily duty between the LS460 and LC500... honestly using the LC more simply due to factory remote start.

Mrs. Hire's Mom-Wagon has been claiming centre spot in the garage during the cold months, so I'm relegated to the driveway.

[Bubba]

That wagon is a thing of beauty.

[TheHire]

That wagon is a thing of beauty.

Thanks! Hard keeping it clean inside with a newborn, but I had the piano black bits wrapped in PPF and have all-weather rubber mats all over the cabin and trunk area.

Mrs. Hire has said that it's the best car she's ever had and she wants to keep it for a long time.

[Careener]

My son has had a 2005 Corolla for about a year. Last week the charging system light came on and the battery wasn't charging.

We couldn't afford down time so I ordered an alternator immediately but before it arrived I cleaned the battery terminals, checked the grounds and and charged it.

I sprayed a bunch of WD40 into the alternator and (for fun) gave it a whack with a mallet, then cleaned the throttle body.

Car works better than when we got it a year ago. Better idle and much smoother at low speeds.
I guess I'll leave the new alternator on the shelf until the battery light comes back on.

Tip: I bought a USB phone charger that plugs into the cigarette lighter that shows voltage when the car is powered on. That should provide and early warning if the issues occurs again.

[Tortoise]

I have one of those in the Highlander, I agree they are a great addition.

I'd never have thought to spray WD-40 into the alternator, what made you think of that?

[TheHire]

My son has had a 2005 Corolla for about a year. Last week the charging system light came on and the battery wasn't charging.

We couldn't afford down time so I ordered an alternator immediately but before it arrived I cleaned the battery terminals, checked the grounds and and charged it.

I sprayed a bunch of WD40 into the alternator and (for fun) gave it a whack with a mallet, then cleaned the throttle body.

Car works better than when we got it a year ago. Better idle and much smoother at low speeds.
I guess I'll leave the new alternator on the shelf until the battery light comes back on.

Tip: I bought a USB phone charger that plugs into the cigarette lighter that shows voltage when the car is powered on. That should provide and early warning if the issues occurs again.

Nice to see you back here! Whatever happened to my old Jetta?

[Blueprint]

My son has had a 2005 Corolla for about a year. Last week the charging system light came on and the battery wasn't charging.

We couldn't afford down time so I ordered an alternator immediately but before it arrived I cleaned the battery terminals, checked the grounds and and charged it.

I sprayed a bunch of WD40 into the alternator and (for fun) gave it a whack with a mallet, then cleaned the throttle body.

Car works better than when we got it a year ago. Better idle and much smoother at low speeds.
I guess I'll leave the new alternator on the shelf until the battery light comes back on.

Tip: I bought a USB phone charger that plugs into the cigarette lighter that shows voltage when the car is powered on. That should provide and early warning if the issues occurs again.

I say the mallet cured it 

[Careener]

I have one of those in the Highlander, I agree they are a great addition.

I'd never have thought to spray WD-40 into the alternator, what made you think of that?

YouTube videos. Very scientific approach...

[Careener]

My son has had a 2005 Corolla for about a year. Last week the charging system light came on and the battery wasn't charging.

We couldn't afford down time so I ordered an alternator immediately but before it arrived I cleaned the battery terminals, checked the grounds and and charged it.

I sprayed a bunch of WD40 into the alternator and (for fun) gave it a whack with a mallet, then cleaned the throttle body.

Car works better than when we got it a year ago. Better idle and much smoother at low speeds.
I guess I'll leave the new alternator on the shelf until the battery light comes back on.

Tip: I bought a USB phone charger that plugs into the cigarette lighter that shows voltage when the car is powered on. That should provide and early warning if the issues occurs again.

Nice to see you back here! Whatever happened to my old Jetta?

I had texted you about that. I sold it to a guy in Ottawa who promptly got into an accident with it. He gutted the interior bits and put them in an 04 Jetta that he ended up selling to someone in Mexico.

[Firm]

Got past 2 weeks of very 'Canadian' temperatures down here so I spent the day outside doing some automotive jobs and exercising some of the cars.

Rebuilt the hydraulic cylinder for the top latch on the SLK, and washed it.

Investigated an intermittent passenger side blend door actuator on the DTS - turned out to be old dried white grease on the mechanism that was causing it to bind up.

Took the 85 Trans Am, and then the 96 Formula out for some exercise.

It was a good day.   

[blur911]

My son has had a 2005 Corolla for about a year. Last week the charging system light came on and the battery wasn't charging.

We couldn't afford down time so I ordered an alternator immediately but before it arrived I cleaned the battery terminals, checked the grounds and and charged it.

I sprayed a bunch of WD40 into the alternator and (for fun) gave it a whack with a mallet, then cleaned the throttle body.

Sounds like it just had a brush hanging up.  On many alternators you can just buy a brush set, sometimes comes with a voltage regulator too.  On a Bosch you usually didn't even have to remove the alternator to replace them.