I have been spending my time lately getting ready for major spinal surgery. And that means I have to spend some time away from here. My post today is very short, but has the info to help.
If you need any auto advice, please email me at madtube.acura@gmail.com. I will have limited access to my email and will endeavour to answer any concerns that anybody has. Wish me luck!
Friday, November 12, 2010
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Well I got my first comment and I figured this is a good place to start.
dranyam writes:
I have a 97 honda accord EX sedan with around 280,000 miles on it. Yeah I realize its old... but it still runs great, and is in good condition body wise. We had the timing belt changed a few months back, along with some other maintenance ie new muffler, new brakes etc. My problem is, it doesn't seem to be getting as good of gas mileage as it should be. Where would you start looking. I changed the air filter, because it was indeed dirty. That didn't seem to help. And someone suggested that maybe the timing belt was not installed correctly, but it seems to idle perfectly.... Just curious for input here, any advice would be greatly appreciated.
First, let me say welcome and I do my best to answer all your issues. Let's go ahead and tackle this.
One of the reasons I have stuck with Honda and Acura cars is because of their longevity. I have owned 2 cars made by them with well over 200K miles. My Acura TL is my wife's daily driver and is in fantastic shape for a vehicle with 203,100 miles. As long as the body holds and you maintain the mechanical components, she will last quite some time.
Before I dive into a few things, a little general info about fuel needs to be brought up. The rising costs of crude oil has changed the way we get our gas and diesel. The most egregious example is evidence of fuel designed for use in northern climates being shipped to warmer tropical area. We have a problem a couple of years ago in our shop that had a particular model of car not wanting to start after a hot soak. A hot soak is shutting off the engine and having everything actually getting hotter for a brief period of time because the methods of keeping everything cool relies on the engine running. Our problem was the fuel in injector rails boiling into vapor and causing starting problems. Back in the days of carbs this was known as "vapor lock." The root cause we later found out was that cheaper fuel was being shipped into area of Florida where I worked. This cheaper fuel had different additives to prevent the fuel from freezing. Those additives lowered the boiling point enough to cause problems in one particular model.
Upon learning this, I did some research into the fuel and discovered a large issue. That issue was ethanol. Almost all gas pumps in the US dispense E10, gasoline with up to 10% ethanol added to it. The problem with ethanol is that it has significantly less energy in a specific volume. The easiest analogy I can make is if you had 2 identical newer cars that can run on ethanol. If you put pure gasoline in one tank and ethanol in the other, there will be a substantial decrease in fuel economy in the ethanol car. Essentially, it takes a higher volume to achieve the same amount of energy. That translates to cars getting lower fuel economy using fuel with ethanol added. But it is the standard now so we must get used to it.
Fuel economy is a touchy issue across the board. The age and miles on the car can be itself an explanation. As parts begin to wear down, the computer cannot fully compensate for some things. Like the fuel injectors, as one instance. They could be spraying a touch more fuel to result in lower economy. The PCM will compensate, but it can only rely on the accuracy of the components giving the inputs themselves. In some aspects, it is a paradox. That is why older vehicles tend to not have the fuel economy as they did when they were newer.
I really doubt your timing belt is off. If it was off a tooth, you would get a major difference in drivability. There would be decreased power or a major change in the delivery of the power. If you really wanted to check, let me know and I can get detailed PDF's on how to check your valve timing.
I hope this helps out in your situation. Let me know what you think and/or give me more specific information if this does not help.
Good luck!
Chad
dranyam writes:
I have a 97 honda accord EX sedan with around 280,000 miles on it. Yeah I realize its old... but it still runs great, and is in good condition body wise. We had the timing belt changed a few months back, along with some other maintenance ie new muffler, new brakes etc. My problem is, it doesn't seem to be getting as good of gas mileage as it should be. Where would you start looking. I changed the air filter, because it was indeed dirty. That didn't seem to help. And someone suggested that maybe the timing belt was not installed correctly, but it seems to idle perfectly.... Just curious for input here, any advice would be greatly appreciated.
First, let me say welcome and I do my best to answer all your issues. Let's go ahead and tackle this.
One of the reasons I have stuck with Honda and Acura cars is because of their longevity. I have owned 2 cars made by them with well over 200K miles. My Acura TL is my wife's daily driver and is in fantastic shape for a vehicle with 203,100 miles. As long as the body holds and you maintain the mechanical components, she will last quite some time.
Before I dive into a few things, a little general info about fuel needs to be brought up. The rising costs of crude oil has changed the way we get our gas and diesel. The most egregious example is evidence of fuel designed for use in northern climates being shipped to warmer tropical area. We have a problem a couple of years ago in our shop that had a particular model of car not wanting to start after a hot soak. A hot soak is shutting off the engine and having everything actually getting hotter for a brief period of time because the methods of keeping everything cool relies on the engine running. Our problem was the fuel in injector rails boiling into vapor and causing starting problems. Back in the days of carbs this was known as "vapor lock." The root cause we later found out was that cheaper fuel was being shipped into area of Florida where I worked. This cheaper fuel had different additives to prevent the fuel from freezing. Those additives lowered the boiling point enough to cause problems in one particular model.
Upon learning this, I did some research into the fuel and discovered a large issue. That issue was ethanol. Almost all gas pumps in the US dispense E10, gasoline with up to 10% ethanol added to it. The problem with ethanol is that it has significantly less energy in a specific volume. The easiest analogy I can make is if you had 2 identical newer cars that can run on ethanol. If you put pure gasoline in one tank and ethanol in the other, there will be a substantial decrease in fuel economy in the ethanol car. Essentially, it takes a higher volume to achieve the same amount of energy. That translates to cars getting lower fuel economy using fuel with ethanol added. But it is the standard now so we must get used to it.
Fuel economy is a touchy issue across the board. The age and miles on the car can be itself an explanation. As parts begin to wear down, the computer cannot fully compensate for some things. Like the fuel injectors, as one instance. They could be spraying a touch more fuel to result in lower economy. The PCM will compensate, but it can only rely on the accuracy of the components giving the inputs themselves. In some aspects, it is a paradox. That is why older vehicles tend to not have the fuel economy as they did when they were newer.
I really doubt your timing belt is off. If it was off a tooth, you would get a major difference in drivability. There would be decreased power or a major change in the delivery of the power. If you really wanted to check, let me know and I can get detailed PDF's on how to check your valve timing.
I hope this helps out in your situation. Let me know what you think and/or give me more specific information if this does not help.
Good luck!
Chad
Email correction
Good Sunday morning,
I have been told that the email is not working. The address that put in my previous post was incorrect. My auto-fill entered the wrong text.
Here is the proper email address: madtube.acura@gmail.com.
My apologies.
I have been told that the email is not working. The address that put in my previous post was incorrect. My auto-fill entered the wrong text.
Here is the proper email address: madtube.acura@gmail.com.
My apologies.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
I'm starting to get things working here.
Well here it is on a Saturday night and I took some time to come up with a game plan. I am going to lay out how to get in touch with me and get your car/truck/motorcycle/ATV/Segway advice that you need.
Suppose you would like to ask a question about your car. To get in touch and get your question to me, all you need to do is send me a email. My email address is: madtube-auto@gmail.com. Feel free to ask whatever may be bothering you. I will post questions on the page here with my responses attached. Not all questions may be posted on the site, but I will answer every single email.
Allow me to take a moment and ask a reasonable request. Please do not solicit or spam my inbox with male enhancement or narcotic prescription offers. I find that practice a waste of internet resources and would not reciprocate, so please, save it for someone else.
Another point I need to disclose is my impending medical concerns. I have major spinal surgery coming in a few days to correct a ruptured vertebrae. There is gonna be about a week that I will be out of contact. (To be honest, the pain meds they are going to put me on will make me out of contact with reality, yet alone the internet.) I will be back in force around Thanksgiving. Please feel free to submit anything of the sort at any time. It will give me focus after my surgery.
To everyone out there, let's get this thing going. As of now, I am ready to help you.
Chad
Suppose you would like to ask a question about your car. To get in touch and get your question to me, all you need to do is send me a email. My email address is: madtube-auto@gmail.com. Feel free to ask whatever may be bothering you. I will post questions on the page here with my responses attached. Not all questions may be posted on the site, but I will answer every single email.
Allow me to take a moment and ask a reasonable request. Please do not solicit or spam my inbox with male enhancement or narcotic prescription offers. I find that practice a waste of internet resources and would not reciprocate, so please, save it for someone else.
Another point I need to disclose is my impending medical concerns. I have major spinal surgery coming in a few days to correct a ruptured vertebrae. There is gonna be about a week that I will be out of contact. (To be honest, the pain meds they are going to put me on will make me out of contact with reality, yet alone the internet.) I will be back in force around Thanksgiving. Please feel free to submit anything of the sort at any time. It will give me focus after my surgery.
To everyone out there, let's get this thing going. As of now, I am ready to help you.
Chad
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Welcome to free automotive advice!
Greetings to everyone!
My name is Chad (aka MadTube) and I wanted to set up an outlet for people to get automotive advice. You see, I am an avid reader of consumer right's site The Consumerist and I have noticed a trend as of late. I spent years working at an Acura dealer and eventually earned the title of Acura Master Technician. During my tenure there I realized that while there are honest techs out in the world, odds are many people will wade through a few out to make a quick buck at the expense of the customer. To be honest, good techs far outnumber the swindlers. But good techs come with a price. With the average labor rate in a luxury dealer at $129/hour and climbing, I decided on an alternative. And here goes...
I propose offering out there automotive advice for individuals who maybe want a second opinion or an idea of things pertaining to their car, truck, motorcycle, and other mechanized machines. But I would like to make some things perfectly clear.
1. While I have no problems dispensing information, please understand that without first hand input, a clear diagnosis might not be obtained through email.
2. Every request sent to me will be looked into. If the request goes beyond my purview, I will let you know. I will even try to recommend who/where to consult if I cannot help.
3. As I stated above, I am offering free advice. If I am able to provide help for you, please consider making a donation. It is not required, but would be greatly appreciated and go towards furthering this endeavour.
4. My specialty is Honda and Acura automobiles, as well as Honda motorcycles. But please feel free to ask anything. If I can help you, I will.
This is my opening salvo and more information is to come. But please allow me to say hello and I hope I can be of service to you.
The MadTube
My name is Chad (aka MadTube) and I wanted to set up an outlet for people to get automotive advice. You see, I am an avid reader of consumer right's site The Consumerist and I have noticed a trend as of late. I spent years working at an Acura dealer and eventually earned the title of Acura Master Technician. During my tenure there I realized that while there are honest techs out in the world, odds are many people will wade through a few out to make a quick buck at the expense of the customer. To be honest, good techs far outnumber the swindlers. But good techs come with a price. With the average labor rate in a luxury dealer at $129/hour and climbing, I decided on an alternative. And here goes...
I propose offering out there automotive advice for individuals who maybe want a second opinion or an idea of things pertaining to their car, truck, motorcycle, and other mechanized machines. But I would like to make some things perfectly clear.
1. While I have no problems dispensing information, please understand that without first hand input, a clear diagnosis might not be obtained through email.
2. Every request sent to me will be looked into. If the request goes beyond my purview, I will let you know. I will even try to recommend who/where to consult if I cannot help.
3. As I stated above, I am offering free advice. If I am able to provide help for you, please consider making a donation. It is not required, but would be greatly appreciated and go towards furthering this endeavour.
4. My specialty is Honda and Acura automobiles, as well as Honda motorcycles. But please feel free to ask anything. If I can help you, I will.
This is my opening salvo and more information is to come. But please allow me to say hello and I hope I can be of service to you.
The MadTube
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