Trailer Trash Too

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It's pee.

Just be sure to check your oil regularly: Every day the first week, then once a week. Most older cars leak a little. No biggie, as long as it's just a little: Less than a quart a month, unless it's burning a lot, too.

If you're worried about your parking spaces, they have stuff to absorb and/ or clean up stuff. As an older-car owner, you should get to know your local discount auto parts store. Or get a local boyfriend who's a mechanic.

Good luck!

And thanks for the link, too.

Happy New Years!
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Cosa Nostradamus - I was thinking about taking it in for an oil change. Maybe even transmission flush. I will be checking the levels. Since I already bought it "as is", I figure I'll take it to the regular mechanic and have them give me an idea of what needs to be fixed. I am sure it would benefit from shocks. It's a nice little car, though.

I will have to get some of that clean up stuff. I don't think that's pee, after all. I think someone parked there, while I was away. Probably to visit the next door neighbor. They do that, sometimes.

Happy New Years, back at cha.
 

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Oil change, good idea. If it keeps leaking, try some "STOP LEAK" and/ or motor honey, the real thick stuff --after the Spring thaw. Don't want oil that's too thick in Winter. And don't over-fill.

Tranny flush, not a good idea, according to Click & Clack. Could cause problems, not likely to fix any. Great idea if you own a tranny shop. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Try a little tranny STOP LEAK. Don't overfill the thing, though. Could blow the seals. If it runs OK, leave it alone. A little hesitation or slight slippage is OK in an old car. Unless you want to pay $1500+ for a new rebuilt trans.

Get the suspension checked, front & rear. That's what goes first on older cars: Struts, tie-rods, ball joints, etc. You're lucky if it's only shocks. Can be very dangerous. If it makes loud noises or jerks when you turn, vibrates at 50+mph, or seems really off balance & out-of-kilter, get it checked right away.

It could just be unbalanced tires, too; or wheel alignment. You can tell from the wear patterns, which should be even & centered. If your tires are wearing more quickly on one side than on the other, get them checked & balanced before you blow a tire. Been there, done that, almost bought the farm, didn't like it.

Tell those neighbors to stay out of your driveway. Show them the oil spot. Then kill them. Kill Them!!! KILL THEM ALL NOW!!!

Or, you could put up a sign, I guess.
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Cosa Nostradamus - The vibrating seems to happen, sometimes, when I am sitting at a stoplight, in drive, and my foot on brake. Holding the steering wheel in an tight hand clasp seems to deter it, at times. Yes, I think the shocks should be looked at in the next month, or so. I'm glad I purchased the latest vehicle. First, my other car was supposed to be finished on a Friday, then it was extended to a Tuesday, now it has been extended to, perhaps, Friday. I'm glad not to have to pay the rental, even if it was discounted. I refused to learn most of the features of that rental because I didn't want that to be cluttering up my brain, when I got the other one back. Now, I have the second car, and I can start learning its features. Luckily, one of my friends went for a ride with me and showed me some stuff I really didn't realize the car had.
When that oil spot appeared, the next day, I noticed that the area I had been parking the car was discolored, as though it had been spraying leakage around. I put cat litter down (on the oil spot and in part of the other discolored area) and mashed it into the pavement. I moved the car over it, so I could see if there was a leak. Doesn't look like it. I figured out why the discoloration, too. That day was 60 degrees, and that must have been water seeping from the no longer frozen lawn!
At this time, I don't plan to kill anyone, nor even key their vehicle. No sign, either. I'll wait and see if someone parks there, again.
 

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Ms. OWL, the only reason I can think of for your car to vibrate badly when stopped is loose or broken motor mounts. That could cause real problems. Be sure to tell them to check the motor mounts.

It could also be the transmission or the linkage. Is the car in park or neutral, or drive when it does that? Make sure it doesn't pop into gear, ever. Or out of gear, on the freeway.

It might be idling high, or need an adjustment to the timing if it seems to run rougher when standing still. May need a tune-up.

The main thing is those engine mounts. And if the car vibrates badly at 50-60mph+, have the front end checked. It could just be the tires, but anything else could be a killer. It's cheap enough just to check.

There! Worried, now? Don't it's prob'ly nothing. Gotta be careful with a new old car. Always worth checking. The other guy sold it for SOME reason!

Maybe you just got lucky.
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Cosa Nostradamus - It vibrates in drive, when I am stopped. That is the only time. I can put it into neutral, and it stops. It might be idling too high.

My other car had motor mounts replaced. This one is not doing the same as the other, when the need was found.

The person who owned it, prior to me, had 4 new tires, and alignment done, back last year. I have the paperwork that shows.

I think the previous owner probably decided to get a new car... or not.

When I have the shocks checked, I will also have them check everything else. Thank you for your helpful comments.
 

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Yeah. Sorry, don't mean to be a downer, or a busy-body. Just wouldn't want to hear you got hurt, is all. Be careful out there!

It might only need a tune-up. Always worth checking the front end though. Rough roads or bad driving can ruin a good alignment in a year. And, if it's all original parts, other parts in the front end can wear out. Just be sure an honest, competent mechanic checks that all out, to be on the safe side. I'm just sayin'...

Happy motoring!
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Cosa Nostradamus - I found out what the vibrating noise was. It is loud and plastic sounding. Turns out, there is a plastic plating around the steering column. It's loose. I put my hand on it while it was making the noise and it stopped. Everytime it made the noise, I set my hand on it and it stopped. Well, I think that can be tightened and problem solved.

There is a worse concern, though. The only one left... but it's a doozy. The car shifts fine as it drives along from 10 to 30 etc... BUT! Once it hits 60-65-70, it takes too long to shift into the higher gear. I'll definitely have to have that looked at. Transmission? Ouch. Well, this weekend will be a time of checking the levels of fluids. Whowever had it last had the oil changed. The sticker says that if I bring it back within 500 miles of the milage on the sticker, I get $2. off the oil change. It's on the good side of within 500 miles.

And.... guess what??!?!? The other car is STILL in the shop! Even with the discount, I would have to pay $200, at least for the rental, if I hadn't bought this car!

I do plan to have the usual place take a look at the car...I just need to save up a bit for whatever will need to be done... so I am hoping I get the other car back next week! I want to drive it until I can get this one properly checked.
 

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Chewing gum. Get some. And duct tape, a big roll, if the car is over 7yrs old. Maybe some crazy-glue, too. For sniffing.

; )

Do you have an automatic transmission? Does your car have overdrive? It's like fourth gear: You have to push a button, usually on the stick-shift or someplace near it on the console. You may also have a POWER or ECONOMY button: Try pushing that. It could be computer problem: The driver-operated settings are not calibrated right, or not set right by you or just not working, causing you to over-rev in 3rd gear.

Check those settings. If you don't have an owners' manual, check the manufacturer's website for info on settings, etc.

Do you have a fourth gear? Because an automatic should shift up to third from second at 40mph or so, not 60 [and always before 5000rpm, if you have a tachometer]. And third should be good all the way up to your max speed, unless it's a standard-shift manual 5-speed transmission.

You are all the way in DRIVE, or DRIVE 3 or DRIVE 4, whatever it says right before NEUTRAL, right? The indicator could be off. Try shifting into neutral while driving, and see if it's still in gear. DON'T shift into Park or Reverse. Heh-heh. Might be better to do that when you're standing still, come to think of it. Just check where all the gears are, and if they match the indicator on the shifter.

Don't wait to have it checked out: It may be nothing, or something minor and cheap to fix that could get much worse and more expensive if you don't fix it soon. It doesn't cost much to check it out, usually. You can always have the work done later, but at least you'll know.
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Hi Cosa Nostradamus.
I found the overdrive button. Imagine that! My motorcycle has overdrive, but I didn't realize that some cars have a button you push. According to an online page, I can leave the overdrive on, and the reason it may take a while to get there, is because it needs to get up to the warmth with rpms.. something like that, anyway. Now, I need to get out there and drive drive drive, so I can find out what the deal is with the button:)

Thank you for mentioning this to me. I would have gone to the mechanics and they would have thought to themselves, "$$$$$".

One of my friends tells of her daughter's car. It is in the shop, and has been since Dec 9th. The shop has already been paid by the insurance. My friend wants to say to the mechanics, "You wouldn't have made me wait this long, if I had a penis!"

Of course, if she does, she will wait to get the car, first.
 

Oh, yeah. One more thing about the recently purchased car... the speakers don't play right when the sound is loud. The bass is all distorted. Any thought on how to fix that, barring installing different speakers?
 

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Your engine should never have to rev much over 6000rpms in any gear, if you have a tac. If you don't have one, you'll hear the motor revving like you were flooring it like crazy when standing still. Have it checked if it does that. You could blow the engine or the transmission. Stick to lower speeds until you can get it looked at, if it revs like that without automatically shifting upwards at higher speeds.

Can't help you with the penis. Mine came with.

Yeah. Girls get shafted by mechanics. But the same thing happens to guys in knitting shops.

That's why we stay out of them.

Next time, have a guy bring it in. Assuming he knows anything about cars. They'll find out, if he doesn't. Better to do it yourself and show some cleavage.

Stick with personally-recommended local independent mechanics. The guys who work for low wages at all the big franchises are the bottom of the barrel. Even if they know what they're doing, they don't care. There is no sense of responsibility or concern for the customer, and they don't seem to care about customer loyalty or repeat business.

Most of these national company & franchise managers move on in a couple of years, and have no mechanical training. They're just salespeople: Their job is to jack up estimates and do as little actual work as possible.

I know, I used to work for one of them. First thing they teach you is "Keep the customer out of the pit: We don't want him to see what we're doing, or not doing. Just says it's cuz of insurance reg's." Second thing was how to do nothing and then charge the customer anyway: "Everybody Pays," is their motto, all of them. They're just rip-offs: Sears, Walmart, JiffyLube, Meineke, Aamco, Goodyear, Firestone, etc, etc, etc. That last one just almost got me killed, with an OIL CHANGE!!! I'll email you about it.

The moral of the story is, marry a mechanic. Or learn basic maintenance yourself, at least enough to guess accurately what might be wrong. There's nothing a mechanic loves or hates more, depending upon whether he's dishonest or not, than a lady who comes in and says "I don't know what's wrong, but my car is making a funny noise." That's like saying, "Here's a blank check."

Get an owner's manual and at least learn how and where and when to check and add fluids, etc: Oil, antifreeze/water, transmission fluid, power steering fluid, brake fluid, window-washer fluid, air for the tires and water for the battery. Don't wait for an idiot light to come on. The name says it all. Just pop the hood and start pulling dipsticks. I'll post instructions soon.

As to the sound not working when you play it loud: Don't play it loud!

Check to see if you have a bass-booster of some kind, on the player or under the dash, maybe even in the glove-box or trunk. Turn it down or off. Also, some BASS/TREBLE controls are hard to figure out or adjust. Try fiddling with them. Sometimes you have to push in or pull out to adjust one or the other. If there are any other funny little buttons on the radio, try all of them.

The speakers could just be blown. If you have more than one set of speakers, try adjusting the FADE (front/ rear) and BALANCE (left/ right) on the radio.

Also, check for loose wires, if you can see where they connect to the player or the speakers. Contact spray or vacuum/ blower cleaners might help.

If you're plugging a CD or MP3 player into an old cassette deck with an adapter, try adjusting the sound & tone controls on the CD or MP3 player.

Or just listen to mellower music, you head-banger, you!
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Cosa Nostradamus - Thank you for all the good comments in helping me with my car. I'm enjoying the car, but it will definitely go to the shop to be looked at. As for marrying a mechanic, I probably would if one would give me a second look... and asked me... It seems as though men only look at the thin, cute, juicy, succulent, young women. I'm giving up. Years ago, Linda Ronstadt sang a song called, "I Never Will Marry". That seems to be my song. Stupid men.

Headbanger music, sure. Good stuff such as Get My Rocks Off by Dr Hook and the Medicine Show. So raunchy it's great! And Queen. Lots of Queen.

I'll play the music softer. However, some of that music is so darned good, I'd like to hear it over the rpms.. hahahahahha.
 

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Don't worry, Ms. OWL, as they say in the car business, there's an ass for every seat. Or vice-versa. I understand "cougars" are big with the younger guys, now. And then there's always older men. Check the obits for widowers, preferably with their own oil company. Hey, it worked for Anna Nicole!

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You might also check the speakers to see if they're loose or obstructed, up against something or full of dirt or bugs or loose screws, inside or outside the speaker cones, if you can get at them without taking the car apart.

After-market speakers are usually easier to get at than factory installed ones. See if you can just lift or unscrew the grill/ covers on them. You'll see if one is cracked or out of whack. You should be able to get at the rear ones, at least, through the trunk.

Try to figure out which one(s) is/ are rattling by isolating each one with the FADE & BALANCE controls. If it's just one, you could just leave that one turned down.

See if turning down the bass helps. You should be able to play it louder with the bass turned down.

Try adjusting FADE & BALANCE until it seems louder in the driver's seat, too.
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Cosa Nostradamus - Well, I didn't buy a Cougar, so I guess no younger guys will be eyeing my cars.

I don't often read the paper, so no obits to view. However, that does remind me of one of my friends at the parttime job telling me the places to meet widowers. He was saying how he was going to start hanging out to catch rich widows:)

You are good! I figured how to lower the bass, and change the balance. Freddie Mercury's voice sounds great! Thank you!
 

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Good. Glad we got everything fixed. Don't forget to have the front end checked. And the rear end, if it's rear-wheel drive.

You know what? You WORK too much! You need to get out more! Let guys buy you drinks and food and stuff. Didn't you get the owners manual when you were born a girl? Well, read it, then!

Happy hunting!
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Cosa Nostradamus - I'll have to wait until I have more money. The windshield of my old car needs to be replaced. It's funny how different the two cars are. The old one gets nice and toasty warm. The new one gets warm, but not toasty!
I know I work too much. This past weekend was a work weekend. It was not fun, but at least it will help the paycheck. Hopefully, I can put aside a bit, there, to get things fixed.