No this one is beyond me... it needs all new rear brakes and rotors, including one caliper replaced, and the e-brake is rusted out to boot.

disc or drum? don't forget to push back the calipers while the old pads are in there. sometimes you can do it by hand or use a c-clamp. keeps you from having to bleed'em.

I can't merge with the other car threads, that would be wrong.

I'm facing the hardest of all car problems... the electrical. I thought maybe summing it up here would get all the facts in order. But first a little history!

The Cellar Car was delivered with the issue of the right rear window being unable to roll all the way up. It was stuck 2.5" (4 cm) from the top.

This was solved in the short order: with duct tape. Put tape across the opening until no air or water will get in, and that's good enough. The only time the duct tape failed was during the folk fest, when it was left in direct sun all day, and the adhesive melted. To resolve this issue, I located a duct tape that was rated for high temperatures, as if when used on actual ducts. This higher temperature tape proved to work well when the next folk fest rolled around, and I was satisfied.

Then one day J's kid was looking for something to do, so I thought I'd be generous, and give him the work of opening up the door and putting the window in the full upright position. I figured maybe he could jam a 2x4 in there to keep it in place. I didn't care whether it went up and down.

But then the kid's friend comes around, and they're both wrenchers; so they get interested in fixing the whole thing properly. So I give them $40, and they go down to the junkyard and fetch the right window motor to actually move the window up and down.

They come back and fix the goddamn thing 100%, a fine day's work. But in the process of doing all this, they somehow run the battery down; and so at one point they jumpstart it and leave it running awhile to charge the battery.

But the next day, I find that the stereo is just dead. Display won't light up, it's just dead.

Online, people say that sometimes a dead battery does seem to kill this model of stereo, and jumpstarting might just make things worse. I check the car's fuse marked AUDIO, and it's fine, and I check the two fuses running into the stereo as part of the wiring harness, and they're both fine. So I figure the thing is just dead and I have to replace it.

Six months later and I finally find on eBay a "factory refurbished" unit cheap, not my model but one that uses the exact same wiring harness. So I figure this'll be great, I won't have to change out the harness, just slide this new unit in and it'll all work great.

So I get this new unit, and plug it into the old harness... DEAD! Except for one thing: when I hit the CD Eject button, it makes that little eject sound even though there is no CD in it.

Weird. Goddamn.

So I unplug it, and the next day I try it again. And this time when I plug it in, the car tries to raise the rear antenna with its antenna motor. It can't accomplish that, the antenna is bent and won't raise. But it tries for a moment. The whole thing is still dead, and now it won't even make the CD Eject sound.

One other clue. Located just above the stereo are the controls for heating/air conditioning. These controls are lit and a little LED lights up under each button to tell you whether your vents are pointing at your legs or at your face, and such. Well at some point those buttons stopped lighting. The LEDs work, but the lights for the icons are not lit. I don't know whether that has anything to do with it all.

bad ground ??
loose connection

If it's a Honda, ya need a radio code if batt dies. Hell I think.

that's my guess.

I have a multi-meter, so how to diagnose?

OK. Failing that, I have a pair of very nice front speakers that aren't doing anything. Can anyone think of a way to use the lighter socket to power something to then drive those speakers? I just want some sound.

Today the Cellar Car has gone into the shop. Bad wheel bearings. That's something I won't try to do. Hope it's not worse... tomorrow morning will bring the news.

How many miles are on it now?

Like 187k

wheel bearings are actually pretty easy to do. not unlike replacing the bearings for your skateboard wheels. the axle stub, wheel bearing, retaining nut, disc/drum, wheel, hubcap, working from the inside out if you will.

good luck. however they're replaced, you gotta replace them.

Wheel bearings on most vehicles now require a special tool to press them in. No more hand packing..

Well the guy called around noon to ask more questions about the noise I heard, and it seemed like they didn't find bad bearings because why else would he ask?

But the thing is, it's now three hours later, no call. Is that good news or bad news? I'm dyin' heah, I'm dyin!

I'm DYIN I TELL YOU

*giggling*

Give the man some help here folks, he's dying!

It's like waiting for the doctor to call. When my CRX died my car place went to get the owner to break the news it was irretrievable. I knew I was in trouble when they said "um, hang on a minute, let me get Mark."

Maybe you could pawn the Cellar car and get something nice.

heresy!

what was the noise like? a constant hum, or a clunking?

Wheresy? :unsure:

We were in the CVS parking lot, and I was turning 5 degrees right when it first happened. J looked at me and said did you just run over a grate? Because that's exactly what it sounded like, running over a grate. Except that there was no grate, and it was coming from only one tire, the right rear one.

So on the drive home it makes this sound a few times. So when I get to my street, I open the windows and drive at about 15 mph, and gently zip-zag so I'm turning right and left. And it happens during the right-turn sway, repeatedly.

The thing is, I needed the money from the pawn shop shift, so the next day I boldly drove it down the expressway and into North Philly. And it didn't make the noise once.

To my mind, this meant the entire assembly had gone completely, and that the entire wheel might now fly off at highway speeds, on the most dangerous road in the state. And then I would be "that guy" who fucks up the Schuylkill at rush hour by driving a car he knew was in disrepair.

But as we know, the Cellar Car is often self-healing.

Still no call... ugh, does their shop close in 25 miinutes?

Did your check wheel bearing light come on? If so, please provide the codes.

:lol:

My check engine light is on, and my right back quarter panel and wheel well and bumper are off.

What are the codes for that?

grr called them got no answer left message

Ah returned! It turned out to be a sticky brake caliper, which they replaced under warranty since they had done the break work last time. So it is less costly than I thought! Victory!

WIN !!!!

yeah, i was thinking maybe a strut or the mounting tower. free is much better. go go cellar car, go!

Phew!

yeah, i was thinking maybe a strut or the mounting tower.

I was thinking CV joint(s)

I was thinking something stuck up in there that fell off at high speed on the highway.
meh - Good win! ;)

Sorry, I can't answer that until you answer the Camaro Mullet question in that other thread.

The Cellar Car has car cancer. Rust. (Fuck car cancer!)

I had seen one of the seven warning signs around on the of the bumpers, but it didn't occur to me that it could have spread more widely.

My mechanic, who is awesome, gives it a year. They rust-proofed it (undercoating!!) with a can of some spray to give it the last year run.

That's all fine, it's about what I expected. I'm going to get it to 200k and then plan my next ride.

If all goes well with foot's get rich quick scheme, you'll be able to drive anything you want!

I know where there is a VW vanagon for $1200. brown and tan. dunno if runs... i just see it on the way to disc golf at french creek. looks like you, bro.

I may need AWD to leave home in the winter

Vanagon is home dude.

what kind of 4x4 says UT?

First thought is Impreza WRx

An R32 would be better, but they are too damned much money. Top 5 in resale value. Sucks. I want one....

I give props to my SX-4. I don't know what the used market looks like.

My mama is considering giving me her Forester when she gets a new vehicle

There is almost nothing UT about it.

Big enough for band gear though.

He needs a full-blown hummer.;)

yeah, I'm against that.

You'd have guys hitting on you daily.

How else do you think he'd get his hummer blown?

The Cellar Car is in for wheel alignment as it's pulling to the right. When a car has cancer it can go at any time, so if she has to be junked today...

None really available at the $5000 price point

It's gonna be the 1999-2001 Pathfinder?

Should I be keeping an eye out then?

Dunno yet - still waiting on the wheel alignment news!

And with that he called. Thinks my wandering is due to unevenly worn tires. When they rotated back to front, the wheels were in spec and the car stayed in lane.

Hold off on the funeral just yet

That's a good mechanic, just rotating your tires when he could have charged for unneeded work.

I think so! Good sign. He detailed that the rust hadn't gotten to the suspension yet, and said I should probably change out the two bad tires, and we even agreed on which tire place to use. (Creamery Tire. Sweet, Creamery Tire.)

Ok, cool. Well I'll let you know if we trade anything good just the same. Might be able to get a few $$ in trade for the cellar car. (thanks for not naming it, btw)

awright cool!

score

http://cellar.org/2013/200000.jpg

Nice! Do you remember how many miles are yours?

The last 28K

That makes me smile. Awesome.

YAY! :)

Go cellar.car, go!!

The Cellar Car electrical system has always been slowly dying but yesterday's failure is comical. We were driving in the hot afternoon yesterday when suddenly the AC fan quit.

Like a lotta car interior fans, this one works on a knob and has settings from 0 to 4 to vary how hard the wind is blowing. Well the fan only works on "4" now. If you set it from 1 to 3 there is no fan. Set it to 4, and the fan is on, at speed 4.

The knob still controls the AC condenser, because you can hear it turn on when you move it from 0 to 1.

Also I think one of my rear tires is dying. So now we have a race to see whether the Car dies before its appointed end of life in October, when it will fail inspection.

How many miles have you gotten out of it?

30K

It is such a POS now that it's really just funny. The paint is in the worst condition you can imagine. J and her daughter removed snow from it 3 years ago with shovels, and of course they left big scratches in the paint on the hood and trunk hatch. Well those scratches expanded as a layer of paint chipped off. It looks terrible! But I just laugh!