As long as it's sunny or partially sunny you can use it for either.
Although the greenhouse effect works to heat when it's cold and sunny.
I think I killed my car..
- Thread starter Enmos
- Start date
As long as it's sunny or partially sunny you can use it for either.
Although the greenhouse effect works to heat when it's cold and sunny.
I would agree. The engine will soon be dead as you will either throw a rod or crack a piston head. I'm seeing an engine replacement in your near future unless you do something about this immediately.
What you have is termed, "Mississippi Mud" and it will kill the engine, soon.
Good luck.
It is caused by a crack somewhere in the system and water is getting into your oil. Say goodbye to your engine while you still have one, my friend. It won't be long now.
No need to freak him out or piss on him while he's down.
Condensation can build up but Q's right that if you have water mixing in the system, then the engine will continue to overheat and it has to be repaired to avoid a blown engine. Water doesn't compress so it doesn't work well in an engine obviously.
It can be in the head, belt or chain cover on some engines. Most likely the head is the culprit and could have been the initial cause of the higher temps or a result. Usually, something causes it to over heat like a thermostat or pump failure, then during the over heat it blows the head gasket.
Once that is blown, it has to be replaced. Somewhat costly repair.
But if you get it back and the car runs fine, no more higher temps etc etc, then you don't have a leak and the engine should have plenty of life.
If the leak is there, then you will have a consistent temp increase and it won't take long for it to get hot. Were talking a matter of minutes or tens of minutes.
Good luck.
He needs to freak out and get it looked at immediately. I'm trying to save the guy some money. A costly repair now isn't as bad a pill to swallow as a new engine will be later.
Really? I guess I just figured that if it could power a house, a car would be easy. Especially as the first solar powered cars were in their infancy decades ago IIRC. Alright so those things are pretty big and still need a little work but what if they used an extra battery for storage? I mean how quickly does a battery drain while driving compared to recharge rate + recharging when stationary? I'll admit we haven't invested anywhere near the time and research into this as we should have done, but there must be a way to make it possible. :shrug:
Edit - Are there other things we can do, such as dynamos on the axels/wheels?
Enmos
Valued Senior Member
Well, I got it back from the shop and it runs fine. It cost me 358 euros, so I got a break there.
I'll be keeping my eyes open for any good secondhand cars though. And I'm going to save more to be able to buy a new one when the time comes.
I think it'll be fine though. At least, they said it is fine.
I'll be keeping my eyes open for any good secondhand cars though. And I'm going to save more to be able to buy a new one when the time comes.
I think it'll be fine though. At least, they said it is fine.
If there is anything serious it will show up soon.
Glad to hear things are going ok so far, good luck.
Enmos
Valued Senior Member
Thanks J.
The thing is, I don't trust it anymore. I feel it could break down at any time. So I'm hesitant to make long trips.
Yes, if you don't trust it go with your gut and sell it while it's running good. You have only poured a little money compared to a major repair later.
The trick is not getting a new car that has it's own problems.
What is making you not trust it anymore ?
Enmos
Valued Senior Member
Yep, that thought goes through my mind.
True, but you can never truly know.
That it ran on low oil. It's a bit irrational of me because they said at the shop that everything looked fine.
If you buy used, you can get an independent inspection. Have them test the engine compression level because most of the other things can be repaired. If the compression level is low in any cylinder then I wouldn't buy it.
They can't find all of the issues but you want to eliminate the big ones, the rest are serviceable.
Like a home inspection, a good inspector will give you a list of things that need repairs or will in the near future, worth the money unless you have a friend that is really good with cars.
Get the engine results, because you don't want some guy who will tell you the car is bad just so he will have you back again.
Not irrational because you did damage to the engine, just how much is unknown, it may have a minimal effect on it's life, who knows. So again, I would go with your gut and make a change so you can trust it.
The thing that I find funny with people, me included is how we get emotionally attached to the car, like a person, if it breaks down we don't trust it. Cars, even bad ones are incredibly reliable. Some go 100,000 miles without any problems. That's pretty damn good.
Cars don't run into each other. People are far less reliable.
Enmos
Valued Senior Member
That's good advice. But I'm kind of leaning toward buying a brand new one.
Only problem is, I can't pay one cash. So I will have to borrow and I won't do that.
I've got my eye on a cute little (read fuel-efficient, low vehicle excise duty, low insurance) car. I just need to save up for about six more months and I can buy it cash.
All true.
My last car almost hit the 200k mark (km) before I ditched it.
This one has 170k on it and apart from breaking it myself I didn't have any major problems with it.
Get an old 2CV.
Enmos
Valued Senior Member
Ugh, no! lol
That's pretty good. Hopefully it will make it at least 6 more months.
I only bought used cars until I had kids, then I went new and got a loan for the balance. You can get very low interest rates on cars here in the states, not sure how it is there.
Good luck in whatever you do. Car buyings a pain in the ass.
Enmos
Valued Senior Member
The dealer of the car I looked at uses (can't find the right word) an interest rate of 11.9%. I think that must be high compared to what you can get.