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Author Topic: What did you do to your car today?  (Read 3012382 times)

Offline valuator

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Re: What did you do to your car today?
« Reply #3800 on: February 20, 2015, 09:42:42 am »
Quote from: Weels on February 20, 2015, 08:59:06 am
Quote from: valuator on February 20, 2015, 08:34:51 am
I'll be looking for new wiper blades for the BMW....I don't feel like paying through the nose at the dealer, from what I've read online the Bosch Icon are a good substitute. Anyone with a better suggestion?

Costco.  Costco rules.
I replaced the Subaru factory junk wipers with the Michelin blades.  $20 for the set. 1,000x better.

Awesome! This is exactly what I was looking for....thanks!!
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Offline PJungnitsch

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Re: What did you do to your car today?
« Reply #3801 on: February 20, 2015, 10:00:39 am »
Quote from: SeaBlueS4 on February 20, 2015, 08:36:20 am
Disassembled them, tested, cleaned and repainted and installed LED lighting in them.

 :thumbup: :thumbup: Nice job!
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Offline Fobroader

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Re: What did you do to your car today?
« Reply #3802 on: February 20, 2015, 10:11:34 am »
Quote from: SeaBlueS4 on February 20, 2015, 08:36:20 am
Getting withdrawal symptoms as the TR6 is still in storage. All my gauges are in pretty rough from age, so I decided to clean them up. Since mine is in storage (and I don't want to risk breaking the originals), I've picked up replacements on eBay over the past few weeks.

Disassembled them, tested, cleaned and repainted and installed LED lighting in them. The old ones, with dim bulbs, corroded / flaking paint inside and discoloured lenses were all but impossible to read at night.

The fuel and temp gauges are an interesting design - fed by 10V from a regulator so as not to be impacted by changing battery voltage, they are basically a heating element around a bimetallic strip. As resistance from the fuel tank or temp sender changes, the current through the heater rises (or falls) and the needle moves. Anyway, all recalibrated and I now have a new set of gauges to install in the spring.

I have also done the speedo and tach, recalibrating them with a power drill, speed controller and optical tachometer. Have those to reassemble next. Try doing that on an S4 (on any modern car)!

A pretty fun project, and cost effective too. New gauges range from $150 - $300 each and professional rebuilding is roughly the same. I picked up these for $20 - $40 each, plus about $50 in materials for all 6 gauges. I actually ended up with some spares as which I might also clean up and sell on to fund the project.

Here's some example "before" and "after" pics - will have to wait for spring to see them in the car.

Awesome work man!!! They look great.
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Offline Solstice2006

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Re: What did you do to your car today?
« Reply #3803 on: February 20, 2015, 10:37:26 am »
Quote from: valuator on February 20, 2015, 09:42:42 am
Quote from: Weels on February 20, 2015, 08:59:06 am
Quote from: valuator on February 20, 2015, 08:34:51 am
I'll be looking for new wiper blades for the BMW....I don't feel like paying through the nose at the dealer, from what I've read online the Bosch Icon are a good substitute. Anyone with a better suggestion?

Costco.  Costco rules.
I replaced the Subaru factory junk wipers with the Michelin blades.  $20 for the set. 1,000x better.

Awesome! This is exactly what I was looking for....thanks!!

Didn't like the Michelins, found them noiser, and streaky.
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Offline KD

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Re: What did you do to your car today?
« Reply #3804 on: February 20, 2015, 10:41:52 am »
Quote from: Solstice2006 on February 20, 2015, 10:37:26 am
Quote from: valuator on February 20, 2015, 09:42:42 am
Quote from: Weels on February 20, 2015, 08:59:06 am
Quote from: valuator on February 20, 2015, 08:34:51 am
I'll be looking for new wiper blades for the BMW....I don't feel like paying through the nose at the dealer, from what I've read online the Bosch Icon are a good substitute. Anyone with a better suggestion?

Costco.  Costco rules.
I replaced the Subaru factory junk wipers with the Michelin blades.  $20 for the set. 1,000x better.

Awesome! This is exactly what I was looking for....thanks!!

Didn't like the Michelins, found them noiser, and streaky.

I don't like the Bosch Icons either.  I bought a set at the beginning of winter for the truck and not impressed.   Definitely not worth the premium imo.  :thumbdown:  I have Costco Michelins for the car and they are fine.
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Offline Fobroader

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Re: What did you do to your car today?
« Reply #3805 on: February 20, 2015, 10:48:42 am »
Quote from: valuator on February 20, 2015, 09:42:42 am
Quote from: Weels on February 20, 2015, 08:59:06 am
Quote from: valuator on February 20, 2015, 08:34:51 am
I'll be looking for new wiper blades for the BMW....I don't feel like paying through the nose at the dealer, from what I've read online the Bosch Icon are a good substitute. Anyone with a better suggestion?

Costco.  Costco rules.
I replaced the Subaru factory junk wipers with the Michelin blades.  $20 for the set. 1,000x better.

Awesome! This is exactly what I was looking for....thanks!!

Ive had Reflex from Can Tire on every vehicle Ive owned since the early 2000's. They work great out here in Alberta winters.
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Offline random006

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Re: What did you do to your car today?
« Reply #3806 on: February 20, 2015, 10:58:47 am »
Quote from: PJungnitsch on February 20, 2015, 10:00:39 am
Quote from: SeaBlueS4 on February 20, 2015, 08:36:20 am
Disassembled them, tested, cleaned and repainted and installed LED lighting in them.

 :thumbup: :thumbup: Nice job!

+1 from me!   :thumbup: :winner:
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Offline Arthur Dent

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Re: What did you do to your car today?
« Reply #3807 on: February 20, 2015, 11:02:20 am »
Those refurbished Smiths gauges look fantastic! Undoubtedly the brightest they have even been.
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Offline Firm

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Re: What did you do to your car today?
« Reply #3808 on: February 20, 2015, 11:30:30 am »
Quote from: Arthur Dent on February 20, 2015, 11:02:20 am
Those refurbished Smiths gauges look fantastic! Undoubtedly the brightest they have even been.

Agreed. I didn't think I was going to like the LEDs, but the green LED you've got in there looks great, looks like a brighter version of the factory color.
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Offline SeaBlueS4

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Re: What did you do to your car today?
« Reply #3809 on: February 20, 2015, 11:52:52 am »
Quote from: Firm on February 20, 2015, 11:30:30 am
Quote from: Arthur Dent on February 20, 2015, 11:02:20 am
Those refurbished Smiths gauges look fantastic! Undoubtedly the brightest they have even been.

Agreed. I didn't think I was going to like the LEDs, but the green LED you've got in there looks great, looks like a brighter version of the factory color.

Thanks all, yes, very happy with how they have turned out. I tried a few different LED's and am still debating the green vs white since the green colour doesn't light the orange & red part of the tach so well. Overall, I think I prefer the green look though.

Can't wait to install them!
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Offline KD

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Re: What did you do to your car today?
« Reply #3810 on: February 20, 2015, 09:11:53 pm »
Just noticed the odometer on the truck as I was shuffling it around the yard to get rid of some snow...
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Offline wing

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What did you do to your car today?
« Reply #3811 on: February 20, 2015, 09:30:06 pm »
 I never buy full blades anymore..  $20?   Toyota replacements are  $7.

Ask the dealer you may be surprised.
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Offline Solstice2006

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Re: What did you do to your car today?
« Reply #3812 on: February 20, 2015, 09:30:41 pm »
Damn! Lot of km's in less than 2 years, lots of gas too!
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Offline KD

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Re: What did you do to your car today?
« Reply #3813 on: February 20, 2015, 09:41:39 pm »
Quote from: Solstice2006 on February 20, 2015, 09:30:41 pm
Damn! Lot of km's in less than 2 years, lots of gas too!

That is since July 2013 and computer states 17l/100km. 
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Offline 2JDM

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Re: What did you do to your car today?
« Reply #3814 on: February 20, 2015, 10:04:29 pm »
Quote from: wing on February 20, 2015, 09:30:06 pm
I never buy full blades anymore..  $20?   Toyota replacements are  $7.

Ask the dealer you may be surprised.

This. OEM wiper inserts for me...none of the junk aftermarket stuff.
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Offline mmret

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Re: What did you do to your car today?
« Reply #3815 on: February 21, 2015, 10:13:07 am »
So for some reason the Volvo blades are kind of junky. Maybe just a bad one on my car but I don't see why a blade should be streaky after 800km.

Already had a bad experience with those Bosch blades from CanTire so don't want to go there again. Other than the Costco Michelin ones is there any other good ones out there?
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Offline HeliDriver

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Re: What did you do to your car today?
« Reply #3816 on: February 21, 2015, 07:10:42 pm »
Funny, I've never had any issues with Bosch or Reflex wipers from CT. I just buy whatever's on sale at the time and it always works out.

But I've also been just as happy to pick up OE blades from the dealer (VW and GM) and they're always great, too. About the same price as the CT stuff as well.

Honestly, I can't ever remember having a bad set of wiper blades. ???
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Offline mmret

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Re: What did you do to your car today?
« Reply #3817 on: February 21, 2015, 07:12:58 pm »
Might have been lucky with the blades or the shape/curve of the windshields you've had are...easy? ???

Anyways it seems like the Volvo blades got better once I cleaned them. There was a bunch of grime on it...probably from sitting in the underground parking lot for a week.
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Offline DriverJeff

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Re: What did you do to your car today?
« Reply #3818 on: February 24, 2015, 09:44:40 am »
Wait, you can replace wiper blades?  I thought when the wipers started streaking, it was simply time to get a new car.  Huh...   ???   
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Offline mmret

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Re: What did you do to your car today?
« Reply #3819 on: February 24, 2015, 11:35:59 pm »
:censor: I get rid of mine whne the gas runs out.
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