Automotive Addicts Lounge V2- Why we are all broke:
5,003 replies, posted
[QUOTE=cody8295;48246472]I think it's a problem with the alternator, I lose power to everything. But it's been coinciding with the overheating[/QUOTE]
I'd be checking for loose belts
[QUOTE=Code3Response;48246557]I'd be checking for loose belts[/QUOTE]
I checked the serpentine and power steering belt. I'm sure it's an electric problem since I lose power to everything. The battery icon comes on and everything goes off. Although the voltometer shows 12 volts
What year is your vehicle?
[QUOTE=Code3Response;48246733]What year is your vehicle?[/QUOTE]
98
[QUOTE=cody8295;48246566]I checked the serpentine and power steering belt. I'm sure it's an electric problem since I lose power to everything. The battery icon comes on and everything goes off. Although the voltometer shows 12 volts[/QUOTE]
Power steering, afaik, is only electric in very recent cars. Pretty sure that in a 98 Buick it'll be a belt-driven hydraulic pump.
For your power brakes, it may be possible that your car is using an additional vacuum pump, but usually the brake booster uses only the vacuum from your engine's intake.
And even if it were all electrically powered, you'd still have your battery. And there's a warning light on your dash symbolizing a battery that will come on whenever your battery is not being charged.
All in all, it seems rather unlikely that these problems are a) all related and b) all due to loss of electrical power.
[QUOTE=Don Merino;48247124]Power steering, afaik, is only electric in very recent cars. Pretty sure that in a 98 Buick it'll be a belt-driven hydraulic pump.
For your power brakes, it may be possible that your car is using an additional vacuum pump, but usually the brake booster uses only the vacuum from your engine's intake.
And even if it were all electrically powered, you'd still have your battery. And there's a warning light on your dash symbolizing a battery that will come on whenever your battery is not being charged.
All in all, it seems rather unlikely that these problems are a) all related and b) all due to loss of electrical power.[/QUOTE]
As I said, the battery light comes on right as the power steering and brakes go, I also cannot accelerate as the engine also stops working
jaysis crust
[video=youtube;2hlvp4FPAhE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hlvp4FPAhE[/video]
how
[QUOTE=cody8295;48247150]As I said, the battery light comes on right as the power steering and brakes go, I also cannot accelerate as the engine also stops working[/QUOTE]
check all wiring and grounds.
[QUOTE=cody8295;48247150]As I said, the battery light comes on right as the power steering and brakes go, I also cannot accelerate as the engine also stops working[/QUOTE]
Must be some form of ignition issue/bad earth. Any electrical work/electrical items installed/replaced recently?
Had a more knowledgeable friend come look at it. He confirmed that theres a leak where i thought there was and he tested my alternator. He found that its bad (only giving 12volts with no load) and that there was NO coolant in my radiator. What i thought was a resivour for coolant was actually an expansion for excess coolant. There was plenty of excess but none in the radiator, so i went and bought 3 gallons. It only took about 1 and a half before the leak was obvious. Its a rubber elbow that connects the block to something under the alternator (water pump?)
He tells me that i may have caused engine damage by running it so hot for so long
The overflow is an overflow/expansion tank. Under normal conditions evaporation, expansion, contraction(I don't think this word works with fluids?) and the like will use the overflow as a reserve tank to keep the system in equilibrium. If you boil a bunch of coolant out into the overflow, leak/introduce any amount of air/coolant which doesn't "naturally" happen you will need to either rebleed or refill the system.
Some vehicles may also incorporate a swirl tank or some sort of other pressurized part of the system which is a "reserve" tank of sorts. These systems would fill through that being that they are part of the whole system rather than an addition which keeps the system filled and air tight. I don't think those are very common and would most likely be in a car which the radiator is not accessible to fill nor has a cap on it or overflow tank attached.
I valeted some 16 year olds WRX bugeye wagon today. You could tell it was a 16 year olds car without looking at the driver because it was rusted, beat up, had a loud annoying exhaust, and the entire trunk space was taken up by two huge subs, a potato gun, two grey snapbacks that said "WRX" on them, and a bottle of garnier fructis shampoo (?)
yeah I don't get it either
why were you looking in his trunk
"wagon"
[QUOTE=Ninja Duck;48247400]jaysis crust
[video=youtube;2hlvp4FPAhE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hlvp4FPAhE[/video]
how[/QUOTE]
Does this guy have a fuel injector and spark plug in his muffler or something? Why on earth would you want that much afterfire still in the exhaust? I'd hate to be that poor Porsche's Cat.
Also, I was volunteered today to load up a display and take down to a local fair for work and help set up. Doing so, we used our box truck which is I believe a 2003 GMC Sierra 2500 with a box in place of the bed. And holy crap, was that not fun. Oil pump's probably dying on it and I think it dropped a cylinder. Oil pressure kept jumping from 25 to 60 Lbs while the temp would constantly run at 190 and then skyrocket to 250 and then inch back to 210 while climbing Christiansburg Mountain where I swear it made all of 5 ft-# during the climb at redline doing 35 miles an hour...
First order for a custom roof rack today. Tire carrier style. Doing it for cheap as advertising basically. Still no kickstarter activity. Not really sure what else to do with that. No response on reddit at all.
Gotta expand out and focus. You've got a good product but roof racks are still a fairly niche product at your price point. Hitting the stance communities as well as the rat rod and the SoCal surfer wagons would really help you out. Classic car communities for darts and other antique consumer cars will go for these, someone building their civic to the jdm standard might not.There's big interest in certain subcultures, but with the mainstream focusing on clean metal/plastic stance a good set of wooden roof racks isn't the ideal product for reddit.
Plus they have no money.
[QUOTE=mastoner20;48248646]Does this guy have a fuel injector and spark plug in his muffler or something? Why on earth would you want that much afterfire still in the exhaust? I'd hate to be that poor Porsche's Cat.
Also, I was volunteered today to load up a display and take down to a local fair for work and help set up. Doing so, we used our box truck which is I believe a 2003 GMC Sierra 2500 with a box in place of the bed. And holy crap, was that not fun. Oil pump's probably dying on it and I think it dropped a cylinder. Oil pressure kept jumping from 25 to 60 Lbs while the temp would constantly run at 190 and then skyrocket to 250 and then inch back to 210 while climbing Christiansburg Mountain where I swear it made all of 5 ft-# during the climb at redline doing 35 miles an hour...[/QUOTE]
I can 100% guarantee that thing does not have a cat
[QUOTE=mastoner20;48248646]Does this guy have a fuel injector and spark plug in his muffler or something? Why on earth would you want that much afterfire still in the exhaust? I'd hate to be that poor Porsche's Cat.
Also, I was volunteered today to load up a display and take down to a local fair for work and help set up. Doing so, we used our box truck which is I believe a 2003 GMC Sierra 2500 with a box in place of the bed. And holy crap, was that not fun. Oil pump's probably dying on it and I think it dropped a cylinder. Oil pressure kept jumping from 25 to 60 Lbs while the temp would constantly run at 190 and then skyrocket to 250 and then inch back to 210 while climbing Christiansburg Mountain where I swear it made all of 5 ft-# during the climb at redline doing 35 miles an hour...[/QUOTE]
It's a turbo anti-lag system that's causing the popping.
[QUOTE=A_Pigeon;48248928]Gotta expand out and focus. You've got a good product but roof racks are still a fairly niche product at your price point. Hitting the stance communities as well as the rat rod and the SoCal surfer wagons would really help you out. Classic car communities for darts and other antique consumer cars will go for these, someone building their civic to the jdm standard might not.There's big interest in certain subcultures, but with the mainstream focusing on clean metal/plastic stance a good set of wooden roof racks isn't the ideal product for reddit.
Plus they have no money.[/QUOTE]
Thats a good point. Im obviously going too big rather than focusing oncthe small portio. Of the world that actually wants it. Ill see what kind of civic and lowered community I can find. The price point seems high but the problem is mistly in the hardware. A single piece of wood to build one out of costs me $30 from a direct import limber yard, then the brackets and stainless bolts and nuts are about $80. Spar urethane runs about $20 for a quart to coat thw rack. Then I spend about 2 hours cutting the material. Takes about 2 days to fully coat it. Then about an hour and a half to two hours to mount it to the drill press, get all the holes cut, spray again, and assemble.
I really am not making much off the price point. Thinking $300-$450 depending. I can make them cheaper but quality suffers. It really needs all the 40 bolts that I put in it ya know?
But I also understand the general public wants a cheap thing. I just cant really make it cheaper. Thanks for the guidance though. Im going to try and cater to the actual market that wants it. Im going too broad.
[QUOTE=Serj22;48249505]Thats a good point. Im obviously going too big rather than focusing oncthe small portio. Of the world that actually wants it. Ill see what kind of civic and lowered community I can find. The price point seems high but the problem is mistly in the hardware. A single piece of wood to build one out of costs me $30 from a direct import limber yard, then the brackets and stainless bolts and nuts are about $80. Spar urethane runs about $20 for a quart to coat thw rack. Then I spend about 2 hours cutting the material. Takes about 2 days to fully coat it. Then about an hour and a half to two hours to mount it to the drill press, get all the holes cut, spray again, and assemble.
I really am not making much off the price point. Thinking $300-$450 depending. I can make them cheaper but quality suffers. It really needs all the 40 bolts that I put in it ya know?
But I also understand the general public wants a cheap thing. I just cant really make it cheaper. Thanks for the guidance though. Im going to try and cater to the actual market that wants it. Im going too broad.[/QUOTE]
Did you just advertise in the general car thread(?) on Reddit? You'd be a lot better off, like Pigeon said, to go for niche subreddits on all kinds of car cultures. Like he said, dedicated forums for: 50/60s classics, rat rods, surfer rods, and maybe even specific cars!
I love your product and if I had me a California special, I'd buy one of your racks for the trunk.
ALSO there's definitely something to be said about the craftsman who makes a quality product and doesn't make concessions to make more sales. If people don't want to pay for quality, they just get shit and learn for next time.
The old conundrum of how to make someone pay money for a quality service vs. them spending significantly less on some piece of junk.
It's hard to answer, and these days I run into people who would rather spend *hours and hours* trying to install even a simple radio and almost burn their car down vs paying me $65 and having it back in an hour with no drama.
That's the part where you'll bang your head against the wall. For stuff like you do you need a well off demographic. A kid with a stance Civic wants a roof rack for $20. Not worth even talking to him, lol.
A 65 year old man with his pride and joy wants a roof rack to complete the look.. he's the one willing to pay. It almost runs on the same logic as the boats you restore. There's nothing plebeian about that process. Hell, there's no money in plebeian dealings at all these days unless you want to sell mass loads of shit products for small profit margins.
[QUOTE=butre;48248211]why were you looking in his trunk[/QUOTE]
the back has a window because it's a hatchwagonback. the potato gun caught my eye so I stopped and looked more closely to see what other strange magic was in there
Had my first issue with electronic steering and throttle. Shit needs more feedback.
[QUOTE=clutch2;48249591]The old conundrum of how to make someone pay money for a quality service vs. them spending significantly less on some piece of junk.
It's hard to answer, and these days I run into people who would rather spend *hours and hours* trying to install even a simple radio and almost burn their car down vs paying me $65 and having it back in an hour with no drama.
That's the part where you'll bang your head against the wall. For stuff like you do you need a well off demographic. A kid with a stance Civic wants a roof rack for $20. Not worth even talking to him, lol.
A 65 year old man with his pride and joy wants a roof rack to complete the look.. he's the one willing to pay. It almost runs on the same logic as the boats you restore. There's nothing plebeian about that process. Hell, there's no money in plebeian dealings at all these days unless you want to sell mass loads of shit products for small profit margins.[/QUOTE]
Good luck finding a rack for less than 150, those Yakima racks are worth their weight in gold and hardly depreciate even but I suppose starting at $300 is a difference. Subaru dudes love racks also.
I'd probably look for places you can cut corners really, labor is rarely considered worth money to most people anymore and expect things to be made at sweatshop rates. I'd try to source cheaper hardware and find ways you can spec up and down your products as many people will pay stupid amounts of money for blingy bolts and washers with spikes on them and shit.
I dont remember which sub I out it in reddit. It felt wrong but I put it up. Its ok thought. Live and learn. I agree that most cheap ef guys wont want to pay. I could possibly make a "rat rack" for them from the planks we pull off of 80 year old boats. They have screw holes all over the place but are stable and still durable. They also have random paint and varnish and various stains. Some are gray. I usially throw them away. Maybe that would be popular. I could crank one of those for $100 maybe.
It really is thr hardware. Stainless is pricy. I can do it in steel but then I have to coat with $10 more of spar urethane. If I sold enough to order mass quantities of stainless, that would make it a lot cheaper. Tomorrow morning im going to start polling through forums.
Try imgur, they can be a bit finicky but I've seen some stuff get catapulted to the front page and there are a surprisingly high number of classic car owners on there. They really like DIY projects so if you post a picture series of you making one of the racks you've got a good chance.
I would also lead in with the picture of your wife's dart with the roof rack on it and loaded with active-people gear. The roof rack by itself doesn't look nearly as good as it does on a car. More pictures in general would be nice.
[QUOTE=Serj22;48248883]First order for a custom roof rack today. Tire carrier style. Doing it for cheap as advertising basically. Still no kickstarter activity. Not really sure what else to do with that. No response on reddit at all.[/QUOTE]
Try posting it on /r/projectcar, /r/classiccars, /r/vintagejapaneseautos /r/adventuremobile and /r/carmodification. Right now there's a post about a guy DIYing it on a Mini on the last one. Also, maybe post pictures from when you're doing installs on /r/cars and such, with links to your kickstarter of course.
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