Sigh, they just don’t build em like they used to do they? Case in point the knock sensor I installed roughly a year ago that suddenly seems like it’s suffering from hearing loss..
Luckily these things are pretty easy to test.
DIY
Why you need a test light in your tool kit
Funnily enough I had a test kit in my tool kit way back when but I threw it out because I had no idea what to do with it. Thankfully a very wise father in law (thanks again Baz!) showed me not only how to use one but how easy it was and how much time it saved.
Better late than never I suppose..
Installing a new car stereo into your Subaru Impreza
The first time I bought a car stereo/CD player to replace a factory tape deck, I paid the shop to do it. The second time I paid a good mate with a box of beer…and drank most of them while he worked. This time it was some basic tools, a lazy afternoon and aside from the occasional dropped screw, barely any hassle. Got some new car entertainment for your Impreza? Let’s get it in there!
How to change your Subaru Impreza knock sensor
The tyres been fixed (turned out it was a little screw causing all the headaches – thanks to Jax Albury for sorting it out in lightning time) and while I was on the way to the tire shop, Repco called me to tell me the knock sensor was in a day early! Time to pop this into the Bax the Subaru Impreza, clear the fault codes and enjoy some normal motoring for a time!
Stagea Turbo transplant time!
Well it’s time – after months of sitting under a tree out the front of my place and getting covered in tree sap at an alarming rate, it’s time to swap out the turbos on the Nissan Stagea and hopefully get things back to where they were before the boost disappeared and was replaced by worrying smoke..
Welcome to Stagea Turbo transplant weekend!
Let there be light. AND radio.
So we’re a week away from the wagon turbo transplant, the father in law helping out to swap the smoking unit for one hopefully not so keen to burn excess oil. At the moment though I’m down at the farm giving him a hand with various things, from finding a manual for a MF165 Tractor to working out why one of his favorite radio stations takes a step backwards when his light bar turns super bright..
My wagon has become a bit of a jerk
It doesn’t rain, it pours. And that’s exactly what it’s been doing weather wise here on the Gold Coast. Which explains why my Nissan Stagea has suddenly come down with a strange cough and become very jerky after coming back from holidays. (Insert your own Corona virus joke here)
I’ve fixed it – although I can’t tell you exactly what did the trick. Possibly one thing, possibly a combination. But here’s a list of things to work through if your car has the same problem.
When things get steamy…in your engine bay
‘Smoke? Is that smoke? Oh ffs, what’s going on here?’ my first words spoken rather loudly as I drove up my driveway last night and watched something white and ghost like attempt to snake it’s way out of my bonnet. It’s been a while since Stag hiccups, the last one being the stretched throttle cable a few months ago..
Thankfully it wasn’t smoke, it was steam but it’s still not a great feeling when you lift the lid and half your block has had a coolant related steam bath. And currently resembles some kind of rain forest…
Cleaning the IACV on a Stagea RB25 Neo
Seriously, it couldn’t have happened at a worse time. I’ve taken a week of work to move house twenty clicks down the road (and if you want to read about the torture involved and learning how to work with something French, you can check it out right here) and on my first day back at work the Stagea died an idle death at a busy roundabout right in the middle of school drop off time…
Total eclipse of the spark
Ugh. I suppose it was only a matter of time before my hard working battery decided it was well and truly sick of my antics and threw up the white flag of defeat. It was just annoying that it decided to die in an area where finding a replacement would be a task. Especially when I was already late for work to begin with…
How to tighten up a foot brake at the wheels
The last thing on my list of stuff to knock over before going for a safety certificate and hopefully being able to finally register the Warwagon here in Queensland? The foot brake needed to be tightened. Now there’s a quick and dirty way to do this and then there’s the proper way..
Black coffee and brake pads
It’s a black coffee and brake pad kind of day. Come join me as I get stupidly filthy in changing the pads over.
Troubleshooting a dropped cylinder
The problem: Occasionally my six cylinders in the Stagea will drop down to five with no prior warning leaving me with a shaking engine and a sound like an ill WRX. This comes and goes randomly but usually occurs at low speeds. For a while I’ve suspected the coil packs were at fault but after some reading I’m not too sure. So yesterday it was a half day in the garage for some fine tuning and hopefully a solution…
Brasso – more than just metal polish
If your headlights are cloudy up like a rough looking Monday afternoon and you can barely see the bulb behind the glass/plastic/Plexiglas/acrylic/lexan/whatever – it’s high time to break out the elbow grease and the headlight cleaner. However if you don’t have proper headlight cleaner on hand, we have discovered something that also works well…
Weekend project: Home made back yard soda blaster
Well it was a sound idea – sadly it was also an idea my current equipment couldn’t keep up with…
Killed the pump, but bruised the battery.
It happened in this order: killed the fuel pump sender, then flattened the battery, then had to push my tank like wagon closer to my wife’s car to get it started and finally I got the kill switch working.
But hey, the good news is: The kill switch is working. Now if you want to steal my war wagon you’re going to have to brake your fingers to find the switch or put your back in it and push. And trust me, with this behemoth, pushing it anywhere is the last thing you want to do..
Filter me this
I’ve been sneezing my absolute head off recently without really knowing why. Suspecting something in the car might possibly be doing it, I began the hunt to see if the Stagea cabin filters were actually filtering and not taking the decade off..
Can you use car paint in an airbrush?
So can you airbrush car paint?
Working with Baz the Mechanic today I can tell you the answer is…
A very happy new clear!
While most people wake up on the first day of the new year wondering why their head hurts and where their money went, I instead find myself staring at a great pair of headlights..
Installing a Steelmate 386M Keyless Entry Central Locking kit
One day while attempting to climb into my Soarer for the commute to work, the lock refused to work. It jammed up more than your local freeway when a zombie outbreak occurs. This gave me a couple of options of course (after a week of climbing through the passenger door to drive anywhere)…and eventually a long hot afternoon of swearing at poorly written instructions in a central locking kit..