The Automotive Thread

[Supe]

OBD needs power, to my knowledge.  In a lot of cases, the OBD port has pins that power the scan tool.

 

[Supe]

Swapped starters on the Porsche - no dice.  Solenoid clicks, but no crank.  WTF?  Jumped solenoid terminals with screwdriver, starter motor spins.  Hoping just a bad solenoid, except... solenoid costs just about as much as a new starter does, and has been discontinued.  WTF?  New starter on the way, fingers crossed I don't have to start trying to dig through 30 year old Porsche wiring...

 

[Ship Wreck PE]

Some solenoids are serviceable. I remember years ago flipping a round copper disk in an old GM solenoid and it worked like new.

 

[Supe]

Most GM ones are with a little sandpaper or by just flipping the little contact ring over.  This one is a stamped housing with a crimped end, rather than bolted together like GM ones, so no dice.  

 

[jeb6294]

So Wed. I was able to swear off my failed Regulator/Rectifier assembly on the bike. Then swore on the new one. Put things mostly back together and turned the key. Nadda, nothing. No lights or any clicking, just still dead in the water. All fuses are in tact as well. I'm at a loss for what might still be the issue. And I really don't feel like going over each and every electrical connection to try and find the problem. Might bite the bullet and take 'er to the dealer so they can over-charge me for work I've already done.

Maybe I missed it, but you haven't done anything to the bike recently have you? I'm on a forum for my bike and generally whenever someone has an electrical problem over there it ends up getting traced back to some mod they've done.

 

[knight1fox3]

Good suggestions.  I have no idea where to start to locate/disassemble the alternator assembly but I will investigate. The wiring on this bike is crazy. It looks like one of those memes from India and how some of their residential utility wiring looks. This is the replacement R/R I got on Amazon. There were (2) different connectorized cable assemblies. I didn't do anything else with any of the other wiring (including grounds).

Would an OBD indicate the problem or does that require system power to function properly?

Maybe I missed it, but you haven't done anything to the bike recently have you? I'm on a forum for my bike and generally whenever someone has an electrical problem over there it ends up getting traced back to some mod they've done.

I found the problem. In addition to the auxiliary device fuses, there's a main 30A fuse isolated from the others and located elsewhere on the bike. That fuse was clearly bad and once replace, the bike came back to life! Feels good that I didn't have to bite the bullet and take it to the dealer. That would have been an expensive fuse replacement. LOL  Going to replace the air filter and re-assemble everything later this week.

 

[Supe]

Next question - why'd the fuse pop?

 

[knight1fox3]

Next question - why'd the fuse pop?

Did you see my earlier posts on the issue that started all this? It's from a few pages back. But the R/R completely fried. I'm guessing that caused some type of electrical surge and I'm actually glad the fuse was there to thwart any further damage. Same thing happened to my buddy's Ducati and he said he had to replace every damn bulb on his bike. Others have said their battery was also fried. Neither of which happened to me on this one.

 

[Supe]

Did you see my earlier posts on the issue that started all this? It's from a few pages back. But the R/R completely fried. I'm guessing that caused some type of electrical surge and I'm actually glad the fuse was there to thwart any further damage. Same thing happened to my buddy's Ducati and he said he had to replace every damn bulb on his bike. Others have said their battery was also fried. Neither of which happened to me on this one.

Was wondering if you had just swapped the R/R thinking it was that, but it was the fuse in lieu of.

 

[jeb6294]

Rode the bike to work the other day. We had a meeting at Contracting that afternoon. It's only about a mile away so we usually walk but since I had the bike I figured I would ride. After the meeting it was strangely difficult to back out of the spot where I had parked...!$#%^&, back tire was flat. It wasn't fun, but I was able to limp back to the parking garage at work. Aside from being a little more secure, the garage is also where they keep the golf carts they use to shuttle patients around so they have a hose reel hooked up to the compressor. I was able to air it back up before I headed back to the office. I figured if it still had air when I got home I would ride it home. If it was already flat again I'd get a ride home and grab the trailer. Half hour later when it was time to leave there was still enough air that I topped it off and headed home (it's only 12 miles).

The tread in the rear was getting a bit thin anyway so I actually already had a new tire sitting in the garage. I was just hoping I could wait long enough to get it put on the next time it was due for service. Aired it up again and rode up to the dealer on Tuesday. They called yesterday so I went to pick it up after work. The rear tire on my motorcycle is now almost AS BIG AS THE TIRES ON MY TRUCK. The bike is a 240 and the truck is a 245...for now. The truck is in need of new tires too so I'm going to bump it up to some more respectable 285's.

 

[Supe]

Photographer has great timing!  Pic of me lifting the inside tire at the last hillclimb in the slooooow 944.

 

[Supe]

Porsche has a misfire off idle when cold.  Think it's a bad temperature sensor, need to order one.

That aside, the car ran well at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Friday.  I was able to run flat out with good tires/suspension this year on the NASCAR oval, which in this car with the short tires is only 111 mph, but my data acquisition shows 1.34 lateral G's in the banking, which is why I'm still so damned sore today.  

As long as my protest holds up, I'll have won my class.  My times were incorrectly listed, and the guy who should have finished #2 in the class was showing session times of 41, 41, 41, 30, 41.  Having been faster than the guy in nearly every single part of the track, I can safely say there is no f'ing way that guy shaved 11 seconds off his time for one session after being at a 1:41:XX on every single other session that day.  And since I was on track and in front of him, he would have had to pass me like an f'ing freight train.  When I was in front of him, he never passed me.  

That aside, I'm surprised both me and the little engine that could held up.  The heat was BRUTAL.  Nearly 100 degrees and humidity so high that the puddles on the asphalt weren't evaporating.  Coworker's upper radiator hose went off like a bomb, several other cars dropping out with overheating issues, in some cases, their electronics overheating.  I had to come in early for a session once when I started getting tunnel vision near the end of the run from the heat.  The nice thing about having the data acquisition in the car is that it shows me my lap times in real time.  So, if I think the car's performance is falling off (usually when the tires start to overheat), I can glance over at the lap times, confirm, and bring me and the car in early instead of stressing it for no benefit.  I definitely need to invest in a cool shirt setup for next year, though.

 

[MA_PE]

congrats Supe.  Just curious, how did they incorrectly list your times? and You'd think the race organizers would suspect somehting amiss when they see time substantially different from the other 4 times.  I hope the protest comes out favorable for you.

 

[Supe]

congrats Supe.  Just curious, how did they incorrectly list your times? and You'd think the race organizers would suspect somehting amiss when they see time substantially different from the other 4 times.  I hope the protest comes out favorable for you.

It's supposed to be automated, but occasionally weird things can happen, including copy/paste errors to the final score sheets.  Last year, they showed one entry running as two separate cars during the same session with two different transponder numbers.  The reality of it is, they pay far less attention to the Time Trials cars, and are more focused on the Club Racing events that go on that weekend, so more mistakes happen.  

 

[Road Guy]

so my dinosaur Tahoe keeps wearing down. it needs a 4WD Transfer Case Module (**** you auto 4WD button) to make the 4WD work.

The decent mechanic we use quoted me $650.  The part is around $175  but you have to get it programmed & that's the bulk of the cost.

I was thinking to save some bucks just put the module / switch in myself and then see what a dealer would charge just to program it?

I haven't been to a stealer ship in a while, but do they do anything for less than $300 bucks these days??

 

[MA_PE]

so my dinosaur Tahoe keeps wearing down. it needs a 4WD Transfer Case Module (**** you auto 4WD button) to make the 4WD work.

The decent mechanic we use quoted me $650.  The part is around $175  but you have to get it programmed & that's the bulk of the cost.

I was thinking to save some bucks just put the module / switch in myself and then see what a dealer would charge just to program it?

I haven't been to a stealer ship in a while, but do they do anything for less than $300 bucks these days??

RG:  Is this your problem?  This guy seems to indicate it's an easy fix/work-around.

 

[Road Guy]

now that's funny, that's actually the trick I had to use to get the vehicle out of 4WD (found the same video), but it doesn't permanently fix the 4wd (which I need to work). 

I looked around some junk yards for the part but no luck, they have also said If I can find one in another Tahoe or suburban with the same size tires I can exchange without them being "programmed"

Its basically a plug and chug part, easy to install. I will give one of the stealerships a call to see what they charge to "program"

 

[jeb6294]

Have you checked any Tahoe/Yukon message boards? Sometimes it's just a matter of knowing the "secret" way to reprogram something and they may know the secret.

 

[jeb6294]

Poor lil' fella. You already got the saga of getting the rear tire replaced. The guys on the Raider message board said it might be a good idea to take a look at the front tire too. It was a 2010 with a couple thousand miles on it when I got it last year so it had plenty of tread left, but it was 6 years old. I broke down and got a motorcycle lift at Harbor Freight on my way home from work cause I figured I'll use it enough to justify the cost over the next several years. It actually took longer to put the lift together than to get the wheel off.

The sidewalls were pretty cracked up so they were definitely showing their age. With reward points and a gift card balance I didn't know I had, the new tire only cost me ~$40 from Amazon and install shouldn't be very much since I've already got the wheel off so I'm not going ot complain too much. New and old are both in the truck so I can drop it off on the way home from work. I'm usually not happy to see rain in the forecast, but it's supposed to stick around for a couple more days so at least I'm not missing any good riding weather.

 

[Road Guy]

How long do motorcycle tires usually last? I've never owned one? Do they wear like car tires or last a lot longer?

I did check out some tahoe forums- it seems a lot of auto forums are really dying, even jeep forum it takes days to get a response...