That is quite true. I need to re-install the torque app on my phone so I can get the codes with my OBD scanner.
Back when I had wires go bad, that was exactly the case. On the highway, it would struggle just to maintain speed, but if I’d pull it out of drive (slushbox) into the next-lower gear to get the rpm up, it ran like a champ. That’s what I meant about it almost dieseling, that even a weak spark would be enough to push it over, but at lower rpm you need a beefier spark to light it up.
Wires go bad, coils go bad, but not always go-or-blow, but by degrees. Wires get “leakier” as the insulation develops cracks. Coils, too, can weaken over time. Plugs wear, and breakover voltage sneaks up higher and higher.
At least in GM cars, its HEI was great right out of the box, no need for aftermarket ignition systems like Accel or MSD or anything.
And a few quick pictures from my phone to put a face to the car. Not the best by any means but should give an idea of the rust and overall condition:
I am used to toyota ignition systems that are beefy as heck from the factory in most cases. My 4runner COP are so strong the plugs actually die from being eaten away by the strong spark.
I will indeed check the COP but since they don’t throw a code / misfire, not sure the best method to actually check them since I am sure that are firing enough to light up my spark tester.
BTW, thanks for the help everyone. I do miss the good old days of hanging out on Car sites but not really worth finding a good one for this since I don’t think I will actually do much more then get it running properly.
I’ve tested spark by running the engine and slightly unplugging the wires one at a time and seeing how far out I can draw the arc. The cylinders that draw the longest arc and makes the loudest snapping sound are your best performers. I’ve never tried that with COP, but I imagine it would work.
For that I would end up in prison in our country…
Ohio here. That’s not bad for 2006. Either ND uses less salt than us, or it wasn’t up there nearly its whole life.
Did you say how many miles are on it?
Not sure if I said the miles or not. It has 180k miles right now.
Yeah, once I got under there I feel better about the rust. It is there for sure but nothing super worrisome that I noticed. Mostly the door sills and fender wells.
Mostly I want to stop the rust from getting any worse or spreading.
Here are the head units I am considering. Think I am gonna rule out the FM modulator simply because the stock radio even with a CD doesn’t sound that great and add in the modulator and bluetooth adapter on top of that and I am guessing a cheap china radio would be at least the same quality if not better but be easier to use.
For the cheap end there is the basic single DIN head unit:
Then you can step up to the double din touch screen unit:
There are dozens of versions of both of these with minor changes to the design. Just wish I could find a good review of them. The ones I do see are mostly positive but don’t give much info on sound quality.
My ’05 Prius is just over 200k. The underbody rust on mine looks worse, although it’s still just surface rust. Your fenders and wheel wells are worse than anything anywhere on my car though. But, the Escapes and Mariners and Tributes I see from that era all have the wheel well and fender rust problems. Certain models I just always see with rust in certain places.
Yeah, apparently from searching these models had a known issue with rust in the fenders but ford would never do a recall for them.
There’s a guy on YouTube that goes by PS that completely redid a Ford Focus; including an auto to manual transmission swap.
New bumper install and all kinds of other stuff.
Might give you some tips on how to.
I do realize that, but to me Mazda bears just as much blame for not standing by their products, and there are plenty of other car manufacturers I like. This wasn’t a cheap car (premium V6), and it’s not like it took 14 years to rust out. Both rear wheel wells were replaced at great expense just outside the 3 year warranty and the dealer couldn’t have cared less.
This thread inspired me to go check out the current status of the rust bucket. I was taking a few photos and decided to have another peek under the front carpets, and well… yeah. If you’re wondering, the car had all-weather mats installed from the day it was picked up. And yes, that is the driveway you can see through the floor.
Wow, the idea of something like that even being possible is foreign to me lol.
You can have your own Flintstonemobile!
Note to self : Take out an insurance policy on Bob .
Getting a little more work done before work today. Changing the oil and good news! The oil leak is not nearly as bad as I feared. After sitting all day yesterday and driving around it lost just a small spot under the car and the dipstick is the same as yesterday. That could honestly be due to the Seafoam in the oil right now.
I am changing the oil now and will see how things progress with fresh oil.
All of the fluids on this thing are shockingly bad.
Also thinking about just getting a whole set of coils for $25 on ebay and replacing them all. Kinda doubt that the ebay ones would be worse then stock since those are so bad already.
This is a fairly if not totally incorrect assertion; I won’t buy any electronics or things that go in a circle from anything other than OEM providers. Cheap ball joints are probably OK, but cheap coils are not.
See the reviews on Amazon of the knock off coils.
lol, I have actually had the opposite experience. Good luck with most electronic items from aftermarket companies but had an aftermarket balljoint fail on my 4runner (got really lucky with that one).
I have used cheap coils in the past with good luck and the reviews on amazon seems to say they are a good buy as well:
In fact the lowest score I saw for the cheap ford coils was 4 star. That is generally good enough for me considering a single coil from the parts store is $40+.