Last week I heard a guy tell some lady complaining that she couldnt get her car started in cold weather that she should check her choke. Not bad if her car was made, twenty years earlier..
I can't tell you how many watercooler discussions I have overheard where the office jocks tell ladies straight-faced what is wrong with their cars, though you can tell that their knowledge is minimal. I know they mean well, and when I was young I did the same stupid thing among many other stupid things I still do even though I consider myself mature now.. I mean I am ignorant about finance and real estate and i catch myself giving stupid advice to others sometimes thats probably equally comical..
Diagnosing a problem is often difficult even after one or two hours under the hood in today's cars. ECU problems can masquerade as vacuum leaks or low fuel pressure ..Temperature sensor Check engine codes may actually be telling you you have ATF in your Radiator..
Whem my Volvo 91 Turbo suffered a plugged Cat in Manhattan, I went up there at 2 am jacked it up and undid the bolts at the exhaust/cat junction and drove it home..where it promptly died in my Driveway and wouldnt run for two months--even after changing the fried/deadAMASS, and the 14 year old O2 sensor and the fuel pump, guess what the real cause was? Dirty, bad gas--a clogged fuel filter...

I have a '94 landcruiser that i used once to tow a car trailer carrying a landrover on it for a few hundred miles......When I was returning the empty trailer that I had borrowed to the owner I was happily motoring down the hifghway and I heard a reproducible noise coming from the front end. It was a destinct clicking that varied with speed. I was certain I had dignosed a bad front wheel bearing. I decided to overhaul the front axle with new wheels bearings and kingpin bearings....$400 in parts later (I did all of the work myself) I had eliminated the noise and was very proud. Two weeks later the noise returned I realized this time what the noise this time was (and also realized DOH!) what the noise was the first time around.....I had been puching trailers around on both instances when the noise occured....To push trailers I have a front mounted reciever hitch which I cleverly hid behind a liscense plate mounted on a spring loaded fuel tank cover from an old muscle car.....Anyhow...With the drawbar in the recciever the plate at certain speeds would catch enough wind to bounce up and down and rythmically hit the drawbar......Anyhow. My front axle needed rehab anyway.....Your fuel filter reminded me of this tale.....Now if I could just procure an old diesel MB....Rob Concord, MA

This is the noise maker I was trying to describe.....Rob M

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What a great idea!!!

Better traction, a birds eye view, you can watch your boat as you back up the ramp, back up into the telephone pole!!!

I've done similar before...2 many times..

..i realize how little i know...I think the year I learned the most was this when I did my Manual, My ECU on my Volvo and my Fuel Pump on my 85...this was the year this Forum taught me the most and other members showed me how much of a knowlege curve I still need to acquire...

There is an old saying, maybe Emerson or someone.

"Every man is my superior, in that I may learn from him."

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1984 300D Turbo Sedan (Hilda) 272,115 miles.....
Anthracite Gray/Palamino Leather, I am 3rd owner

2001 Dodge Stratus (Silver) (wifes) 55814 miles...

1982 280TE Wagon Astral Silver Metallic/
Anthracite Velour
260,512 miles (Eva)

1969 230 Sedan Olive Green/Black MBTex
4 Speed Manual
84,213 miles ????
Haus Frau


2004 Boreem Ninja Pocket Bike
Highly Modified 49cc (Ling Ling)

Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit

A coworker was driving his POS Probe over the summer and took it to Midas for a screw-over (oil change and "fluid check"). They told him his tires were dangerously low and could blow out at any time, planting visions of explosions and 70mph rollovers in his head. He cancelled his summer vacation plans and bought their overpriced crap tires instead, even after I told him his tires weren't THAT bad and could be driven on for several thousand miles yet.

Oh well...

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1992 300D 2.5T
1980 Euro 300D (sadly, sold)
1998 Jetta TDI, 132K "Rudy"
1974 Triumph TR6
1999 Saab 9-5 wagon (wife's)

Guys around the water cooler tend to talk about a lot of things they know nothing about. I've given up on arguing about things, even when I really do know what I'm talking about, because I know they'll try to contradict everything.

It's called "man-facting." Not just talking about something one knows nothing about, but arguing strongly about something of which you have no knowledge.

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Aaron
'84 300D 267,000 - Running WVO - Rice Bran Oil - Mmmmmm, fishy...
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Sounds like a typical scene...a Toyota towing a Land Rover.

Tell me about your Land Rover!

Wow, glad that has a name.. I get made fun of at work when I occasionally refuse to present an opinion on something. Someone will bring up something they heard on TV news, and tell people one or two tiny things about it, and everyone will have a 'discussion' about it, even though no one, not even the person who brought it up, really understands the situation involved. They ask what I think, and I'll say, "Well, I don't really know enough to make a real opinion, there are too many variables." And I get accused of being wishy-washy.

Americans have a very strong respect for freedom of speech, which lets us have whatever opinion we want. Unfortunately, that means we have a tendency to feel like we should take advantage of our ability to have opinions on everything by formulating an opinion on everything, regardless of how much we actually know about it. The idea of reserving judgment until one knows more about the situation is almost sacrilegious around here. It makes 99% of all political discussions useless, because a bunch of people are all arguing about different topics, none of which any of them fully understand. At the end, no one learned anything, no one convinced anyone else, and everyone is more resolutely set in an opinion they don't understand about a topic they are ignorant about. Thats why I avoid office-jocks and the Open Discussion forum.

peace,
sam

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"That f***in' biodiesel is makin' me hungry."

1982 300TD Astral Silver w/ 250k (BIO BNZ)
2001 Aprilia SR50 Corsa Red w/ 5.5k (>100 MPG)

"I find it curious that those people most willing to share their religion with you are usually the same ones not willing to let you share your religion with them!"

I forget who authored that saying. You can just as easily substitute the word "politics" for "religion" in that saying.

Some of the smarter folk I work with make a point not to talk politics or religion, especially with someone they've just met.

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95 E320 Cabriolet, 159K

I refer to it as "MAS". This is an acronym for "male answer syndrome". Many males have this disease and it is evidenced by the male providing a detailed answer for any question that he is asked, regardless of the amount of knowledge that he has on the subject. It is especially severe in those individuals with ego problems. Contradicting such individuals is an exercise in futility.

I mean as much as I try to keep quiet, I tend to proffer advice on subjects on I know nothing about, from raising a teenager to raising a puppy. But you know why i am irked--probably the same reason You are too, Working on Cars is sometimes a very deep and personal thing to me. for 18 years I have grinded my mind and body and soul on cars, from intricate sanding of panels where no one looks to at times solving some complicating technical problems; all of this was done on 100F days as well as 20 degree days;Sometimes I stayed up all night!
Its kind of like when someone grabs your puppy when you are walking him and starts kissing him--outside you smile and laugh, but inside you are UPSET,, i mean that puppy is very DEAR to me--so is being a Auto Mechanic..and if they drop my puppy, i am going to be very hurt

at a dealer who has known me thru the years once said to me " You are as good as they come, you will fix it..." It ranks up there with being a good father, a good employee and a good family man...even higher