My old 1985 LTD had to have its idle set at 25mph to keep from dying.
When going through a school zone I had to ride the brake.
Brings some memories.
I used to own this 1996 Golf MK3 with 1.6 engine. It was by far the worst car I ever owned and driven. One of a tons of problems it had - cant hold RPM on idle. Had to drive like this for two weeks.
My friends Mustang would stall on speedbumps. Just speedbumps, no matter how fast or slow. We tried rebuilding the carb,and a bunch of other things, but we figured it’s probably more complicated than something we could fix in an afternoon, so anytime we went over a speedbump we’d throw it into neutral and get ready with the key.
Chances are you’ve considered this, but does that car keep running if you disconnect the battery? I know some older cars do, but if the 'stang doesn’t, perhaps it’s a loose battery terminal. I’ve seen that before.
*“Because you think your exhaust sounds cool”
I have a theory that people who do this and people who ride really loud motorbikes do so because they have not received enough attention and validation from their parents and are now seeking it elsewhere
This study suggests those with intentional loud exhausts are sadistic, narcissistic, and psychopathic. Some of those traits could definitely stem from a shit upbringing.
https://www.psypost.org/psychopathy-and-sadism-drive-preference-for-loud-vehicles-study-suggests/
I… just like loud exhausts. On some cars. I hate it on my diesel A6 (I didn’t make it loud! Previous owner did, I bought this thing for under 2k EUR), but IMO things like the MB M156 engine or the BMW S85 deserve a louder-than-stock exhaust. Not full straight pipes of course, a proper custom exhaust.
I’m not typically a fan of overly loud exhausts, but when it’s sensible I can make an exception. My WRX is, to my knowledge, all stock. When I start out up, it’s slightly louder than the average car, but the tone is very low and smooth. From inside the car, it sounds beautiful. Nothing like the typical Infiniti muffler-delete that makes my eardrums bleed.
The unequal length header rumble on a boxer engine is always amazing and best enjoyed with a modest exhaust - either what the WRX has stock, which as you said is just slightly louder than the average car - or a sensible custom exhaust. Again, NOT straight pipes or a hack job of a muffler delete.
Is it really a theory when it’s obviously true?
also theoretically for safety
Sounds and smells like your car just sharted, imo
Pour one out for this guy’s 350.
Its already pouring itself one out via the rear main seal lol
If it’s not leaking oil then it’s not a Chevy smallblock.
if there’s no oil under it, then how do you know there’s oil innit?
You leave my Land Rover’s proprietary oil check system out of it!
Ooh, what Land Rover? Those nasty leaky finnicky things look so awesome to me, I’m so tempted to get an L322 or a Disco 4. Preferably the L322 because V8 diesel, baby!
I was joking unfortunately, I don’t have a Land Rover. However a close relative of mine has a Discovery 2 (2.8L i5 Diesel, TD5 engine) and sure, it’s a damn solid and capable vehicle, when it’s running.
My god, doing any work on it requires custom tools (that relative fabricated his own spanner tool to hold the radiator fan while undoing its locking nut), a custom aftermarket computer to do basic functions you’d typically do via OBD (talking about the proprietary Nanocom, car isn’t compatible with OBD2) and extra effort for the odd engineering choices made (coolant system runs through the oil system, separating some part of the motor to service this immediately mixes your oil and coolant).
When that relative bought it I was pretty onboard with getting a Land Rover, maybe a Freelander or Discovery 1, but after his experiences I’d never touch one. No thank you, I will stick to my small Japanese cars.
Ah I think the newer ones are slightly better in that they have OBD2 and there’s an affordable aftermarket solution that gives near-dealership level capabilities… But the downside is all the electronics. But then another upside is that they get ZF transmissions which are widely used so easy to acquire maintenance and repair knowledge on. And the engines apparently aren’t TOO bad when it comes to the V8s. The V6 diesels have a worse rep, as does everything in the Ingenium family which… let’s just say plenty of people have brand new engines courtesy of JLR! Ironically they’re back to their most reliable engine being a BMW one, and now it’s the BMW V8 lol
If you’re into cars, you may find the YouTube channel LR Time, which is made by a lovely German couple that maintains and repairs their Land Rovers together.
Personally my current idea is to have a reliable daily driver (currently thinking of Lexus GS, the S190 generation with a V6 with no hybrid system in particular) and then a Land Rover that it’s OK if it’s down for a couple of weeks or even months because I can just drive the other car. I do my own repairs, so I’ve maintained plenty of cars that people would think to be money pits, without going bankrupt on account of any of them.
Want to get rid of my Audi, it leaks oil somewhere between the engine and transmission and I ain’t taking that transmission out, fuck that. It’d go something like “oh while I’m in here, let’s replace the chain tensioners and guides” and “oh, let’s also replace these gaskets” and “hmm well the starter is pretty old and access is good right now, let’s replace that too” and then “oh look, it’s been 2 months and 2000€ worth of parts since I picked it apart and it’s my only god damn car” lol
My Chevy doesn’t leak; it marks it’s territory
(This is *actually* a joke about my E46)
Me revving the engine of a Ford Fiesta
Let’s party, motherfucker.
I revved mine because I don’t know how to drive a manual and had no business buying this 1980’s F-250 built like a Sherman.
1980’s F-250 built like a Sherman.
Hah, those things loaded up off the line pretty much no matter what. Took some skill to not have it jerk a couple times.
I have to do the same thing for my EV.
Man I hate it when those electric motors won’t stay idling right
I wish I could still make a cool sound with my ev they should add a button that revs the space ship sound up
There are sets for that so your EV can produce all kinds of sounds, revving the engine like a V8, laugh like a witch, … It’s a bit silly that manufacturers start asking subscriptions for heated seats, while people would put real money down for skins for their dash and custom engine sounds.
I would pay some amount of money for my car to laugh like a witch if I had an EV. Not a lot of money, but a little bit for sure.
For example: https://thor-tuning.com/eu/thor-pro/
It does involve some hardware to make it loud.
I actually bought a skin for my dash and when I got a software update it broke and went back to the default. I called support and they had no idea what I was talking about lol
Oops, I forgot for a moment how notoriously terrible car manufacturers are with software.
I can’t remember who, maybe audi or Lexus, but they are engineering their electric engines to make a pleasant base noise instead of the regular spaceship noises.
Hyundai. Fake ICE noise. And Dodge with the new EV charger. They sold tens of them.
At least the charger’s got a good name for an EV
I hated the Ford Mustang Mach-E for not simply being the Ford Mach-E (since it’s an electric crossover, not even an electric sports or muscle car), but the Charger’s such a brilliant name for an EV, I don’t even mind. And at least they didn’t make it a crossover. Still wouldn’t buy one because lol Stellantis product, hell no
I drive around playing a YouTube ASMR of Harleys revving for ten hours.
People will suffer through anything to avoid cleaning a carburetor
Even spending 45 years buying cars with fuel injection
Once the rubber diaphragms perish, cleaning won’t help much. ('85 Bluebird)
if your chevy 350 doesn’t sound cool, you are doing something very wrong with it.
i think it might finally be maintenance time, eh?
oh yeah its been doing it for a couple weeks but I just went through the ignition stuff (cap, rotor, ICM, coil) and reset the timing last night. Still something funky with the idle that’s prbably related to the TBI caked in 20 years of oil vapor from the poorly located PCV tube, but it runs way better on the road now.
cleaning the tbi out is easier than going through the ignition system.
you are gonna feel a massive difference in the functioning of your engine after you clean it out, especially since you just did the ignition.
I had a late 80s Plymouth that I had to keep my foot slightly on the throttle and revving about 1000rpm because if it dipped to idle speed (around 600rpm) it’d just crap out. So I’m sitting at the light with my foot on the brake and feathering the accelerator.
My carbureted v-8 feels called out
I rev mine (lightly) because my v8 is cold and experiencing morning sickness with fluids - dont have the time to let it idle before leaving in the am.
I do not want to race you through this light, I do not want to turn first into a new neutral, i do not want to run my rpm so high on freezing cold fluids, but I will absolutely gap your soccervan if you want me to I guess because I will not sit behind your ass as you drive 10 under and then come to a fucking stop to turn into a parking lot in 2 blocks for the school.
My car’s a V6 diesel and it idles at 777 RPM according to OBD2. It takes 20 minutes to start blowing warm air at idle. Obviously driving is better and idling too much is bad for the engine anyway, but if I have to wait behind a light or I’m waiting for someone else to get in the car, I’ll do 1200 RPM or something.
Honda coolant controlled Idle control valves require the same procedure when they go bad.
Funny you mention that because my other car is a 91 accord and it has that thermostat idle valve… About once a month in the winter I have to get under the hood and hit the stupid valve with a hammer to unstick it else it does the surging idle schtick when hot.
In high school I had a straight piped 91 Accord, it got idle surge and it was the most embarrassing thing ever haha
My friend, have you considered cleaning the valve ~once every 10 years as opposed to beating it monthly? It’s not hard to do!
Assuming you have already done normal maintenance (and this meme is based on any form of reality), the first thing I would check is the air intake at the throttle. It gums up at the opening and not enough air can get through at idle.
