How to repair your Jeep

Heh.

-- Badtux the Wrenchin' Penguin

Been busy

I'm working on a cargo shelf / cargo cover for my Jeep. Just lots of drilling and measuring and cutting and drilling and grinding and shit. I'm the world's slowest fabricator, sigh!

I would gladly buy one of these things. But nobody makes one. Siiiiiigh!

-- Badtux the Handy (but slow!) Penguin

If you stand still you will be passed

Just for fun I went to fueleconomy.gov and did a search for cars with best fuel economy and... hold it. What's this? A Hyundai Accent? A Hyundai Elantra? 30mpg city, 40mpg highway? WTF is going on here? Did they put a 20 horsepower engine into these things to get that kind of mpg?!

And the answer is... no! The 1.6L engine in the Accent produces more power than any other competitor's subcompact car engine, while the 1.8L engine in the Elantra is makes more power than even Honda's 1.8L engine while having better fuel economy because it's mated to a 6-speed dual-clutch transmission rather than a 5 speed conventional automatic transmission. What's going on is that that Koreans have matched, and SURPASSED, the United States when it comes to automotive technology. For the Accent they just released a GDI (Gas Direct Injection) engine that produces more horsepower than any other normally-aspirated (non-turbocharged) engine of its size on the planet. Direct injection is the technology that diesel engines use to squirt diesel fuel into cylinders to precisely meter how much fuel goes into the cylinder. It requires special fuel injectors that can take being in the middle of an explosion 3000+ times per minute, but gives much more precise fuel metering. Doing it to a gasoline engine brings that same precise fuel metering to the table, but because gasoline burns faster than diesel fuel does, you get horsepower, not just torque. GDI has been used in some high-end engines for performance prior to now, but this is the first large-scale application in a low end car for the purpose of getting fuel economy.

Furthermore, they introduced a 6-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission which also happens to be their "manual" transmission too. Normal automatic transmissions lose power in the "torque converter", a sloshy thing that uses vanes on one side to slosh fluid around to push on vanes on the other side. A dual-clutch transmission has a pair of clutches like a normal manual transmissions and simply uses electronics rather than cables or hydraulic fluid to actuate them as well as to shift the gears. So they basically created a way to get the fuel economy of a manual transmission out of an automatic transmission. This isn't a new concept, VW's been doing it for a few years now (but for performance reasons rather than fuel economy reasons) and ZF has a dual-clutch transmission that Chrysler is in the process of building a factory to build here in America that's currently used in a number of high-end European makes (again, though, for performance rather than fuel economy), but Hyundai appears to be the first manufacturer to do it across their entire low-end line.

What this basically says is that you can't stand still. You can't refuse to innovate. You can't mark entire realms of science off-limits because they are "un-Biblical" and de-fund the schools because they're "liberal". Or else you're toast. South Korea has 1/6th the population of the United States. 25 years ago, they were a third world assembler of other people's parts, creating cheap piece of shit cars that fell apart almost as soon as they got off the boat. Today, 25 years later, they are world class, producing designs of their own making that are as good as or better than anybody else in the world. They didn't do that by de-funding their schools. They didn't do that by proclaiming that Jesus prohibits teaching of physics and biology because they contradict the Bible's creation story. They did that the old fashioned way -- by valuing education, innovation, and hard work. You know... like America used to be, before we started worshiping ignorance and started electing Presidents based on whether we'd like to have a beer with him rather than because he was, like, smart and shit.

-- Badtux the Car Penguin

Woodies on the Wharf

A parade of classic cars mostly from the 30's, 40's, and 50's. Shot yesterday in 1080p on the Santa Cruz Wharf but unfortunately iMovie choked on making a video of this length in 1080p.

Fifty years from now, we won't see a parade of classic cars from the 2010's. I'll discuss why, later.

-- Badtux the Car Penguin

Back from Santa Cruz

When I went out to the Wharf to eat lunch, I ended up in the middle of a classic car show -- the North American Woodies Club doing their annual Woodies on the Wharf event! I shot video of the parade as the classic cars left the wharf, iMovie is currently generating thumbnails and will let me patch it all together shortly, then I'll upload it to YouTube. Given that I'm using American Internet rather than, say, South Korean Internet, expect it to actually make it to YouTube sometime next week. (Well, actually, maybe later tonight, it all depends on how long it takes to patch the video together, it was shot in three pieces due to the way they staged things).

UPDATE @ 9:38PM: Movie is stitched together. iMovie is saying it's going to take an hour to export it to a mpeg, then it'll probably take another hour to upload it to YouTube. So try back tomorrow for the Woodies on the Warf parade.

-- Badtux the Beached Penguin

Why I can't have a diesel Wrangler

Diesel Jeep Wranglers are sold everywhere but the United States. Wah, I want one! But I can't have one. Why? See my latest long technological explanation at Moto-Tux.

-- Badtux the Auto Geek Penguin

A waste of time

Do you have some of those "wheel locks" on your wheels that have a serrated set of teeth on the outside that a "key" fits over to allow you to remove the wheel? Guess what: Those things are nothing but a waste of time. They certainly won't stop anybody from removing the wheel if they have access to tools. I know, because I just did it.

So I go to rotate my tires, head into the console to get the wheel key, and... err... no key. And no idea where it went. I cleaned the car out so I know it's nowhere on the floor of the car, but it's not in the glove compartment, console, nor in the coin cup, the map pocket, or the door pockets.

What next? Well... first I tried hammering a 16mm socket onto the head of one of these things. It went on okay, but didn't bite deep enough and stripped out. So next thing I did was hammer a 5/8" socket onto the head of one of these things and... success. Removed it like it was intended to come off that way. Getting the 5/8" socket off the "wheel lock" took a large bench vise and two large prybars, but if I were intent on stealing the wheels I would have just brought a handful of 5/8" sockets with me... not that anybody is going to steal rusty steel wheels in a size that fits almost no vehicles anyhow, sheesh!

So anyhow, now I've replaced these so-called "wheel locks" with lug nuts from my stash of random junk (what, you don't have a stock of random stuff like lug nuts, tie rod ends, and so forth? Sheesh, next thing you tell me is that you don't even have a torque wrench!). So I'm good to go tomorrow on rotating my tires. But sheesh, what a PITA.

-- Badtux the Wrenchin' Penguin

What I spent today doin'

Over at Moto-Tux, I redneck-fix a broken motor mount on my Jeep.

-- Badtux the Wrenchin' Penguin

I love my angle grinder

One of the nutserts for installing the rock rails on my Jeep spun out when I tried to bolt it on. Solution: Drop the rock rail, drill out the nutsert, and put another nutsert in there. Problem: How can I drop the rock rail when the bolt is stuck in the spinning nutsert? Answer: Grab my angle grinder, slap a cutting disk in there (as vs. a grinding disk), and whiiiirrrr! Sliced through that bolt like butter :). No bolt head, no problem, heh.

Best $40 I ever spent on a tool, heh. Just remember to wear your welding gloves, long sleeve welding shirt, and eye protection when doing this, because it sends sparks shooting out big-time, and that hot metal *will* burn a hole in your arm if it lands on it. (Yes, I was wearing all my gear, I ain't a stupid penguin, heh!).

- Badtux the Tool Penguin

Tired penguin

Installed the driver's side Savvy rock rail today. Installing the nutserts into the blind holes was a friggin' workout, it takes a significant amount of force to make those friggin' things collapse and grab the hole, and then there was the fact I had to keep testing my placement and figuring out how to get it tight against my Jeep, relocate the wiring (all the wires to the back of the Jeep were behind the holes under the driver's door and I had to rip out the plastic guard there and shove them out of the way, I'm going to have to wrap them back in a large piece of plastic loop to protect them once I'm finished), figure out how to modify my fender flares to fit over the new rocker armor, figure out how to modify the rear fender liner to fit under the new rocker armor... I'm beat. Once I get the other one installed, I'm then going to have to go get some new bolts to replace the bolts that want countersunk holes but I don't have countersunk holes in mine and am not willing to give up the strength to countersink them.

So anyhow, I'm going to put some clothes on washing, then hit the hay. See ya tomorrow!

-- Badtux the Tired Penguin

Over at Moto-Tux...

Toyota is the new Philip-Morris.

Discuss over there...

-- Badtux the Car Penguin

I have been remiss

I haven't been writing up much on what I do to (or with) my Jeep lately. So from last month... Gimme Heat. Heater heat, that is.

-- Badtux the Wrenchin' Penguin

WTF is going on with cars?!

I talk about the Honda and Toyota recalls over at MotoTux.

What we have here, ladies and gents, is a case where the geeks who programmed these cars have forgotten what the wrenches knew years before the geeks finished kindergarten: cars ain't a place to experiment with shit that could kill people if it goes wrong.

-- Badtux the Auto Penguin

Jeep Repair

This is in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart in Ohio, shortly after the owner of this Jeep was told that his headlight wasn't working. He had to make a quick Wal-Mart run to get a new battery for it.

-- Badtux the Appreciative Penguin

Suspended animation

Over on MotoTux, I talk about Death Wobble and steering engineering as I fix a mysterious shimmy.

-- Badtux the Wrenchin' Penguin

Working the numbers on the Toyota Prius

Okay, the Toyota Prius costs around $25K and gets around 45mpg in real-world driving on California freeways. The Toyota Yaris costs around $15K and gets around 35mpg in real-world driving on California freeways. So how many hundreds of thousands of miles at $4 per gallon would you have to drive the Prius in order to make that $10K worthwhile? What price would gasoline have to be to make a Prius more cost-effective than a Yaris over the typical 150,000 mile timespan that most people have a car?

First of all: let's look at the fundamental equation. C=G*M/E+P That is, total costs is number of miles divided by mpg, multiplied times the cost per gallon, plus the purchase cost.

So for the first question at 4mpg, we can model it as a 2x2 linear equation and for simplicity set the purchase cost at 10k for the Prius and 0 for the Yaris.

Prius: C1=4*M/45+10000
Yaris: C2=4*M/35
C1=C2 at: 4*m/45+10000=4*m/35... 10000=4*m/35-4*m/45... 2500=m/35-m/45... 2500=45m/1575-35m/1575 ... 2500=10m/1575 ... 3937500 = 10m ... 393750 = m.

So, working the math, at $4 per gallon you would have to drive the Prius for 393,750 miles over the course of its lifetime to make up the $10K cost difference over a Yaris.

So now let's find out what the cost of gas would need to be in order to make the Prius pay off at 150,000 miles:

Prius: C1=G*150000/45+10000
Yaris: C2=G*150000/35
C1=C2 at: G*150000/45+10000=G*150000/35 ... G*150000/35 - G*1500000/45 = 10000 ... 45 * G * 150000 / 1575 - 35 * G * 150000 / 1575 = 10000 ... 10 * G * 150000 / 1575 = 10000 ... 10 * 150000 * G = 15750000 ... G = $10.50.

In other words, gasoline would need to sell for $10.50 per gallon to make the Prius pay off over the Yaris over the typical 150K miles that most people keep a new car after buying it.

The Prius has some slight advantages over the Yaris. It's roomier, and much quieter inside under typical city driving conditions. On the other hand it also has some significant disadvantages. I'm fairly tall for a penguin, so I get a good view of the top of the windshield bezel if I have the seat fairly upright so I can see well around me (darn those beady little penguin eyes!). The performance is absolutely awful in mountains, once you exhaust the batteries while heading uphill you're basically limited to 45mph or slower. The handling is reminiscent of an old Volkswagen Beetle, in that the weight of all those batteries in the ass end make it want to trade places with the front end and the skinny tires have all the traction of black ice. All in all, once you get pass the gee-whiz factor, there just isn't any compelling reason for a single penguin (who doesn't care about the back seat kneeroom) to buy a Toyota Prius rather than one of the small 3 or 5 door hatchbacks now available for $10K less on the U.S. market. Assuming that the numbers on the cost sheet are similar to the amount of energy needed to create the vehicle, even the environmental argument doesn't work -- if it cost $10K more in energy to build the freepin' thingy at current energy prices, you'll be over 400,000 miles before you'll recapture that energy due to lower fuel use, and who the hell keeps a car for that long anyhow? It'll be at the crushers long before then... well, except the battery pack, which will be at a toxic waste dump (huh!).

-- Badtux the Numbers Penguin

In which the penguin is very rude

I don't like half-ass crap that ain't worth a shit. If you've ever worked on a car, read my rant and you'll probably nod your head, because you've encountered cheap-ass aftermarket parts that ain't worth puttin' on your worst enemy's car too. Otherwise, avoid, I use bad language on something that won't interest you.

-- Badtux the Wrenchin' Penguin

Over at Moto-Tux...

I explain why C-clip axles are evil.

-- Badtux the Wrenchin' Penguin