Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

qbrozen

CFLs never lasted long for me, so I just think they did not live up to the hype. I have been changing everything over to LED since we moved into the new house, which has an absurd number of light fixtures. Time will tell if those work out.

jmonroe

stickguy said:

I thought CFLs were outdated now too? I still am nursing my old school ones until I run out. Largely because I have no clue what is the right option to replace them with.

GG, you should write a book. Or play lotto. you really beat the odds!

take whatever they give up (CTS or your loaner), and just go trade it in. You already did the "keep the new one until it has a problem" option, and see where you are now?

I think the CFL's have been discontinued which is why when I got mine a couple weeks ago at Home Depot they were going for 99 cents for a 4 pack of 60 watt equivalent. I got two 4 packs and while I was at it I got the new model. I can't remember what that technology is (maybe Led) but a 60 watter of that model sure is bright. Looks brighter than an old 100 watt incandescent.

I know I'm right about that because I did a jmonroe experiment and had them side by side.

jmonroe

28firefighter

Our whole house was CFL bulbs from the builder to meet code for energy efficiency. I converted the whole house to LEDs for under $100 thanks to local rebates from the electric company. Well worth it. 

oldfarmer50

driver100 said:

Went out in friends 2014 Cadillac XTS. He loves his Caddies, gets a new one about every 2 or 3 years. His favorite was a 1984 Berritz....paid $42000 for it back then. Licence plate said 1 of 91 because there were only 91 sold in Canada. Must have been quite the car.

The 2014 XTS is a nice vehicle to be a passenger in. I don't know about handling, but it is a nice car to ride in.

He can still buy something similar.



http://albany.craigslist.org/cto/5934500396.html

imidazol97

jmonroe said:

but a 60 watter of that model sure is bright. Looks brighter than an old 100 watt incandescent.
I know I'm right about that because I did a jmonroe experiment and had them side by side.

With the LED's there's the factor of color temperature. I think the soft white (2700 deg K) is too yellow, the warm white (3000 deg K) is what I like, and then there are 3500 deg K and others that are bright, sun white suitable for a single bulb hung over the suspect while interrogating him to learn who he was spying for.

Then there's the matter of dimmable versions of each costing more than the nondimmable types, although the premium for dimmable is shrinking.

Reading the packages and comparing pricing from store-to-store makes it seem more like car shopping.

jmonroe

oldfarmer50 said:

driver100 said:

Went out in friends 2014 Cadillac XTS. He loves his Caddies, gets a new one about every 2 or 3 years. His favorite was a 1984 Berritz....paid $42000 for it back then. Licence plate said 1 of 91 because there were only 91 sold in Canada. Must have been quite the car.

The 2014 XTS is a nice vehicle to be a passenger in. I don't know about handling, but it is a nice car to ride in.

He can still buy something similar.



http://albany.craigslist.org/cto/5934500396.html

That doesn't look bad for a car with over 200K miles on it.

When are you going to look at it?

jmonroe

stickguy

one issue with bulbs for us is that the primary ones we use are 3 ways, and that was still incandescent

abacomike

@driver100:

Don't know what a Berritz is, but I have heard of the limited edition Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz.  If you google that model, there's a nice biographical background on that car.

isellhondas

driver100 said:

Went out in friends 2014 Cadillac XTS. He loves his Caddies, gets a new one about every 2 or 3 years. His favorite was a 1984 Berritz....paid $42000 for it back then. Licence plate said 1 of 91 because there were only 91 sold in Canada. Must have been quite the car.

The 2014 XTS is a nice vehicle to be a passenger in. I don't know about handling, but it is a nice car to ride in.

Except that 1984 Eldorado has been put together by a company that did those modified convertables back then. I always felt they may have lacked the structure required to be really safe. Plus in 1984 Cadillac was using that HT 4100 junk engine that almost put them out of business. Between the diesels the one year only problem plagued 4-6-8- V-8's, Cadillac lost a ton of very loyal customers. Dark days indeed!

suydam

We had CFLs in our whole house. Each one should last a couple of years at least. Now we are gradually replacing the ones in the condo with LEDs. Either way the energy savings is tremendous. I couldn't believe how much my electric bill went down. The LEDs are a nice light and both they and the CFLs don't put out as much heat as the incandescent.

fintail

I've seen a few of those Eldo chop-tops. IMO a case where the factory top looks a lot better. I think the 79-85 Eldo is a handsome design if optioned properly, but it doesn't work as well as a convertible, in my eyes - and like others, I have doubts about the engineering.

Talk of Scouts brings back memories. I never did a pinewood derby, but I was in Cubs for about a year. My parents never pressured me into such things, but I had an archery fixation at the time, and my dad talked up the idea that they'd be doing archery. It happened once, the rest of it wasn't as fun for me - I remember jerky older kids and weekly (?) meetings at different kids' houses, one at my house resulted in a broken light fixture, which really irritated my mom . I wasn't thrilled enough to stick around, and I wasn't made to. I think my brother was in it for several years though, I remember the tacky paint on his derby car, and at the race how it was obvious which cars were really engineering projects for dad.

driver100

oldfarmer50 said:

driver100 said:

Went out in friends 2014 Cadillac XTS. He loves his Caddies, gets a new one about every 2 or 3 years. His favorite was a 1984 Berritz....paid $42000 for it back then. Licence plate said 1 of 91 because there were only 91 sold in Canada. Must have been quite the car.

The 2014 XTS is a nice vehicle to be a passenger in. I don't know about handling, but it is a nice car to ride in.

He can still buy something similar.



http://albany.craigslist.org/cto/5934500396.html

Looks nice, and $3000 with 36000 miles. That should qualify under the $10000 per 10000 miles left rule.
That would make a nice looking car for $3000, but, I have a feeling it will cost more than that to keep it going. Almost looks......too good....to be true.

driver100

jmonroe said:

oldfarmer50 said:

driver100 said:

Went out in friends 2014 Cadillac XTS. He loves his Caddies, gets a new one about every 2 or 3 years. His favorite was a 1984 Berritz....paid $42000 for it back then. Licence plate said 1 of 91 because there were only 91 sold in Canada. Must have been quite the car.

The 2014 XTS is a nice vehicle to be a passenger in. I don't know about handling, but it is a nice car to ride in.

He can still buy something similar.



http://albany.craigslist.org/cto/5934500396.html

That doesn't look bad for a car with over 200K miles on it.

When are you going to look at it?

jmonroe

It says gthe odometer says 36000 miles. Of course it says that is what the odometer says, it doesn't say how many miles are really on it. :@

driver100

isellhondas said:

driver100 said:

Went out in friends 2014 Cadillac XTS. He loves his Caddies, gets a new one about every 2 or 3 years. His favorite was a 1984 Berritz....paid $42000 for it back then. Licence plate said 1 of 91 because there were only 91 sold in Canada. Must have been quite the car.

The 2014 XTS is a nice vehicle to be a passenger in. I don't know about handling, but it is a nice car to ride in.

Except that 1984 Eldorado has been put together by a company that did those modified convertables back then. I always felt they may have lacked the structure required to be really safe. Plus in 1984 Cadillac was using that HT 4100 junk engine that almost put them out of business. Between the diesels the one year only problem plagued 4-6-8- V-8's, Cadillac lost a ton of very loyal customers. Dark days indeed!

Interesting....I didn't know the convertibles were done by an aftermarket company....I don't think my friend knows that. He has bought a Cadillac every 2 or 3 years for decades with no problems, GG gets 3 bad ones in a row!

driver100

jmonroe said:

driver100 said:

jmonroe said:

imidazol97 said:

And polish the insides of the wheels to help reduce friction for the graphite lube.

Today, fathers are allowed to do quite a bit with these pine wood derby cars. I found that out with my two oldest grandsons a few years ago when they were Cub Scouts. I guess they allow this now because when my Sons were in Cub Scouts the parents were not supposed to do anything but some fathers did everything and of course their kids won all the time. I thought it was unfair that some played by the rules but most did not. Since Cub Scouts is supposed to be about "honesty", I thought it was ridiculous that these rules were ignored and it was obvious just by looking at the cars most of the kids were entering for the race. There were paint jobs that would rival show cars but those "in charge" still let it go on and on.

My Sons played by the rules because I did NOTHING on their cars. I did, however, cut up lots of wood for them to practice on and I "showed" them step by step many times how to do things but they were kids using tools for the first time so they were not pros and never won a race. After a couple years of this Son #1 got very disheartened and did not want to compete anymore because he knew if I helped him his cars could have done better. I convinced him to keep doing it himself because that experience would benefit him as he progressed through life. Wala, he came in third place his last year of Cub Scouts.

This is the best part of this story and I told this back in the SFTSFL days a few years ago, probably 10 years ago:

After the race that Son #1 came in third place he is congratulating his fellow Cub Scout and the kid turns to his father and said, "this is the kid that came in third". The father paid almost no attention to him because he was wrapped up receiving congratulations from several other fathers. I was not too far off so I heard what was going on. Eventually my Son says to this great car builder, "Mr. XXXXXX how did you get his car to go so fast". The guy said something like, "it takes a lot of practice. Keep trying, someday you'll get the hang of it". Needless to say my Son was pretty surprised with that answer but I was blistering.

As I said I overheard some of the conversations this father had with the other fathers and he said to one of them, "now that this is over I can concentrate on fixing my carburetor. My car is not running very well". One of the fathers asked what kind of car he had and he said, "it's a 197X (I can't remember now what year he said) Olds V8 with a Rochester 4 barrel". One of the fathers said, "you might be in luck. His father (pointing to Son #1) has rebuilt several of those. In fact, he helped me with mine a few months ago". This car builder wanted to know where I was so the guy points to me and says, "that's him right there".

The car builder comes over, extends his hand and introduces himself and proceeds to ask me how he should go about rebuilding his carb. I said, "it takes a lot of practice. Keep trying, someday you'll get the hang of it". Then I turned and walked away.

I hoped that I might get to pay him back someday but I never could have dreamed it would be that fast.

@driver100, if this post was too long you could have stopped half way through.

jmonroe

I stopped 1/4 of the way through

Then you missed the best part. :@

jmonroe

You're right, I went back and read it and it was a really good story.

I will never understand parents doing their kids projects...it teaches the wrong message and it doesn't teach the kids anything, except that cheating is acceptable.

Sometimes in tennis my opponent will call one of my shots out that is obviously in. I just say, if it means that much to you call it whatever way you want....in the big scheme of things it doesn't matter that much to me.

oldfarmer50

jmonroe said:

oldfarmer50 said:

driver100 said:

Went out in friends 2014 Cadillac XTS. He loves his Caddies, gets a new one about every 2 or 3 years. His favorite was a 1984 Berritz....paid $42000 for it back then. Licence plate said 1 of 91 because there were only 91 sold in Canada. Must have been quite the car.

The 2014 XTS is a nice vehicle to be a passenger in. I don't know about handling, but it is a nice car to ride in.

He can still buy something similar.



http://albany.craigslist.org/cto/5934500396.html

That doesn't look bad for a car with over 200K miles on it.

When are you going to look at it?

jmonroe

I think you're about 167,000 miles off on that statement. Don't think I didn't consider taking a look at that car. Low miles, low price, that's me all over. But 80s cars are generally problems waiting to happen so...no.

graphicguy

Isell...my uncle was a Caddy lover....got a new one every year until he passed away (about 10 years ago). He had some really good ones. He went awhile there where he had some real stinkers (namely, those with the 4-6-8 engine). My favorite was the Allante he had.

He stayed loyal to the brand through thick and thin.

Cadillac seems to plan to make good cars. It's their execution that needs work.

I have to ask myself..."how do you miss something as basic as routing wiring correctly?"

Maybe I'm patient. Maybe I'm just gullible.

oldfarmer50

isellhondas said:

driver100 said:

Went out in friends 2014 Cadillac XTS. He loves his Caddies, gets a new one about every 2 or 3 years. His favorite was a 1984 Berritz....paid $42000 for it back then. Licence plate said 1 of 91 because there were only 91 sold in Canada. Must have been quite the car.

The 2014 XTS is a nice vehicle to be a passenger in. I don't know about handling, but it is a nice car to ride in.

Except that 1984 Eldorado has been put together by a company that did those modified convertables back then. I always felt they may have lacked the structure required to be really safe. Plus in 1984 Cadillac was using that HT 4100 junk engine that almost put them out of business. Between the diesels the one year only problem plagued 4-6-8- V-8's, Cadillac lost a ton of very loyal customers. Dark days indeed!

And then the Northstars started blowing up. I'd still rather have the old 4.9L. That's about 20 years of undependable engines. How did Caddy survive?

sda

graphicguy said:

Isell...my uncle was a Caddy lover....got a new one every year until he passed away (about 10 years ago). He had some really good ones. He went awhile there where he had some real stinkers (namely, those with the 4-6-8 engine). My favorite was the Allante he had.

He stayed loyal to the brand through thick and thin.

Cadillac seems to plan to make good cars. It's their execution that needs work.

I have to ask myself..."how do you miss something as basic as routing wiring correctly?"

Maybe I'm patient. Maybe I'm just gullible.

What puzzles me is your current CTS is not a first year model, nor is the driveline unique. They have been produced for several years. And the wiring harness needs reworked? Did they revise it in the meantime and get it wrong?
It does sound like they want to keep you happy, so that is promising.

ab348

sda said:

What puzzles me is your current CTS is not a first year model, nor is the driveline unique. They have been produced for several years. And the wiring harness needs reworked? Did they revise it in the meantime and get it wrong?
It does sound like they want to keep you happy, so that is promising.

One of the best-kept secrets in the auto industry is the very rare "graphicguy" model, which all manufacturers produce in very limited quantity. These cars are made with rare undocumented designs and unique parts that are designed to fail and frustrate the hapless owner.

abacomike

@isellhondas

I owned one of those V-4-6-8 Cadillac Sedan DeVilles.  It was, without a doubt, the worst car I have ever owned.  The engine and transmission did not communicate effectively or efficiently.  Sometimes it would stay in 4 cylinder mode too long, and the engine would knock while it seemed locked in that 4 cylinder mode.  It was rarely in 6 cylinder mode - mostly 4 and 8.  Good grief - I wonder which engineer came up with that contraption.  I also wonder how in God's name I could have fallen for that scam.  It sounded logical and fuel efficient - but it was everything but!!!

stickguy

I'm surprised more people didn't just do a fix to disconnect the 4-6 options. Must have been a simple way to bypass a sensor or wire to just default 100% of the time to 8 cylinder mode. Actually, I thought that when they finally failed, that was the result?

kind of like the other great GM idea of the "skip shift" 6 speed manual. Apparently there is a common quick fix that disconnects that gizmo that tries to force you from 1st to 4th.

sda

abacomike said:

@isellhondas

I owned one of those V-4-6-8 Cadillac Sedan DeVilles.  It was, without a doubt, the worst car I have ever owned.  The engine and transmission did not communicate effectively or efficiently.  Sometimes it would stay in 4 cylinder mode too long, and the engine would knock while it seemed locked in that 4 cylinder mode.  It was rarely in 6 cylinder mode - mostly 4 and 8.  Good grief - I wonder which engineer came up with that contraption.  I also wonder how in God's name I could have fallen for that scam.  It sounded logical and fuel efficient - but it was everything but!!!

I had a friend whose mom had a Coupe DeVille with the V8-6-4 and it ran perfectly, a real exception. One of dad's friends had the same, but it behaved like yours. I don't know what he had done but he took it to his local mechanic and they rigged it to only run on all 8.

jipster

driver100 said:

And polish the insides of the wheels to help reduce friction for the graphite lube.

Today, fathers are allowed to do quite a bit with these pine wood derby cars. I found that out with my two oldest grandsons a few years ago when they were Cub Scouts. I guess they allow this now because when my Sons were in Cub Scouts the parents were not supposed to do anything but some fathers did everything and of course their kids won all the time. I thought it was unfair that some played by the rules but most did not. Since Cub Scouts is supposed to be about "honesty", I thought it was ridiculous that these rules were ignored and it was obvious just by looking at the cars most of the kids were entering for the race. There were paint jobs that would rival show cars but those "in charge" still let it go on and on. My Sons played by the rules because I did NOTHING on their cars. I did, however, cut up lots of wood for them to practice on and I "showed" them step by step many times how to do things but they were kids using tools for the first time so they were not pros and never won a race. After a couple years of this Son #1 got very disheartened and did not want to compete anymore because he knew if I helped him his cars could have done better. I convinced him to keep doing it himself because that experience would benefit him as he progressed through life. Wala, he came in third place his last year of Cub Scouts. This is the best part of this story and I told this back in the SFTSFL days a few years ago, probably 10 years ago: After the race that Son #1 came in third place he is congratulating his fellow Cub Scout and the kid turns to his father and said, "this is the kid that came in third". The father paid almost no attention to him because he was wrapped up receiving congratulations from several other fathers. I was not too far off so I heard what was going on. Eventually my Son says to this great car builder, "Mr. XXXXXX how did you get his car to go so fast". The guy said something like, "it takes a lot of practice. Keep trying, someday you'll get the hang of it". Needless to say my Son was pretty surprised with that answer but I was blistering. As I said I overheard some of the conversations this father had with the other fathers and he said to one of them, "now that this is over I can concentrate on fixing my carburetor. My car is not running very well". One of the fathers asked what kind of car he had and he said, "it's a 197X (I can't remember now what year he said) Olds V8 with a Rochester 4 barrel". One of the fathers said, "you might be in luck. His father (pointing to Son #1) has rebuilt several of those. In fact, he helped me with mine a few months ago". This car builder wanted to know where I was so the guy points to me and says, "that's him right there". The car builder comes over, extends his hand and introduces himself and proceeds to ask me how he should go about rebuilding his carb. I said, "it takes a lot of practice. Keep trying, someday you'll get the hang of it". Then I turned and walked away. I hoped that I might get to pay him back someday but I never could have dreamed it would be that fast. @driver100, if this post was too long you could have stopped half way through. jmonroe

I stopped 1/4 of the way through

Then you missed the best part. :@ jmonroe

You're right, I went back and read it and it was a really good story. I will never understand parents doing their kids projects...it teaches the wrong message and it doesn't teach the kids anything, except that cheating is acceptable. Sometimes in tennis my opponent will call one of my shots out that is obviously in. I just say, if it means that much to you call it whatever way you want....in the big scheme of things it doesn't matter that much to me.

The group of guys I play tennis doubles with are usually pretty good with line calls. But, most people are going to miss calls from time to time. The deep high topspin ball, that I've thought a foot out, my partner called good. Speed, angle, spin of the ball in relation to how hard you are running and where you are looking can influence a call for the worse. 

jmonroe

driver100 said:

jmonroe said:

oldfarmer50 said:

driver100 said:

Went out in friends 2014 Cadillac XTS. He loves his Caddies, gets a new one about every 2 or 3 years. His favorite was a 1984 Berritz....paid $42000 for it back then. Licence plate said 1 of 91 because there were only 91 sold in Canada. Must have been quite the car.

The 2014 XTS is a nice vehicle to be a passenger in. I don't know about handling, but it is a nice car to ride in.

He can still buy something similar.



http://albany.craigslist.org/cto/5934500396.html

That doesn't look bad for a car with over 200K miles on it.

When are you going to look at it?

jmonroe

It says gthe odometer says 36000 miles. Of course it says that is what the odometer says, it doesn't say how many miles are really on it. :@

You can bet your bippy it has more miles than the 37,777 that the add says.

jmonroe

tjc78

Thanks for the notes on the bulbs. My suspicion is correct, convert to LED as I need to.

Here is one for @roadburner and @graphicguy

Yesterday I put on some music in the living room while we we were getting the house together for a party. Kids were in the playroom so I turned it up a little. First thing I notice is my subwoofer (an older 12" Klipsch) is way off. So I go to adjust it, junior must have been fiddling with the controls. After I dial it back in I crank the system up and it's rattling something fierce.

WHAT? It couldn't be blown as the system never gets a workout anymore. Nope, reach into the port and pull out a toy... I wonder what else is I there now. Lol. I couldn't help but laugh.

driver100

Jipster The group of guys I play tennis doubles with are usually pretty good with line calls. But, most people are going to miss calls from time to time. The deep high topspin ball, that I've thought a foot out, my partner called good. Speed, angle, spin of the ball in relation to how hard you are running and where you are looking can influence a call for the worse.

That's why the professionals rely on cameras like Hawkeye....but call them the best you can, with a bias for the other team.

The rule I like is............if you are 99% sure the ball is out.....you have to call it in. To call a ball out you have to be 100% sure you saw it out, otherwise it is in.. And only the side receiving can call it.....unless they ask for an opinion from the other side.

roadburner

tjc78 said:

Thanks for the notes on the bulbs. My suspicion is correct, convert to LED as I need to.

Here is one for @roadburner and @graphicguy

Yesterday I put on some music in the living room while we we were getting the house together for a party. Kids were in the playroom so I turned it up a little. First thing I notice is my subwoofer (an older 12" Klipsch) is way off. So I go to adjust it, junior must have been fiddling with the controls. After I dial it back in I crank the system up and it's rattling something fierce.

WHAT? It couldn't be blown as the system never gets a workout anymore. Nope, reach into the port and pull out a toy... I wonder what else is I there now. Lol. I couldn't help but laugh.

Our son's two red letter rules in our house were don't even THINK about touching the home theater equipment and STAY AWAY from Dad's cars when he isn't around. Still, my kid had the knack of being able to hit button combinations on the remote that would take a deep dive in the equipment manuals to undo...

driver100

Nobody has mentioned that now Chrysler Fiat is accused of cheating on diesel emissions:

The U.S. government is accusing Fiat Chrysler of failing to disclose software in some of its pickups and SUVs with diesel engines that allows them to emit more pollution than allowed under the Clean Air Act.

The Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday it had issued a "notice of violation" to the company that covers about 104,000 vehicles including the 2014 through 2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee and Ram pickups, all with 3-liter diesel engines. The California Air Resources Board took similar action.

"Failing to disclose software that affects emissions in a vehicle's engine is a serious violation of the law, which can result in harmful pollution in the air we breathe," said Cynthia Giles, EPA assistant administrator for enforcement and compliance.

FOX NEWS - CHRYSLER ACCUSED OF CHEATING DIESEL EMISSIONS

imidazol97

roadburner said:

Still, my kid had the knack of being able to hit button combinations on the remote that would take a deep dive in the equipment manuals to undo...

That sounds like my wife's problem with her laptop. If it doesn't do what she wants it to do, she presses more buttons and keeps repeating presses. Sometimes the computer is slow to start or it's doing maintenance, so just press another button to get it work faster? Latest was it wouldn't print to either of my two new $39 wireless printers (from Microcenter). Findings: the wireless key had been turned off during the button pressing. The printers worked fine from 3 other laptops.

venture

driver100 said:

jmonroe said:

driver100 said:

jmonroe said:

imidazol97 said:

And polish the insides of the wheels to help reduce friction for the graphite lube.

Today, fathers are allowed to do quite a bit with these pine wood derby cars. I found that out with my two oldest grandsons a few years ago when they were Cub Scouts. I guess they allow this now because when my Sons were in Cub Scouts the parents were not supposed to do anything but some fathers did everything and of course their kids won all the time. I thought it was unfair that some played by the rules but most did not. Since Cub Scouts is supposed to be about "honesty", I thought it was ridiculous that these rules were ignored and it was obvious just by looking at the cars most of the kids were entering for the race. There were paint jobs that would rival show cars but those "in charge" still let it go on and on.

My Sons played by the rules because I did NOTHING on their cars. I did, however, cut up lots of wood for them to practice on and I "showed" them step by step many times how to do things but they were kids using tools for the first time so they were not pros and never won a race. After a couple years of this Son #1 got very disheartened and did not want to compete anymore because he knew if I helped him his cars could have done better. I convinced him to keep doing it himself because that experience would benefit him as he progressed through life. Wala, he came in third place his last year of Cub Scouts.

This is the best part of this story and I told this back in the SFTSFL days a few years ago, probably 10 years ago:

After the race that Son #1 came in third place he is congratulating his fellow Cub Scout and the kid turns to his father and said, "this is the kid that came in third". The father paid almost no attention to him because he was wrapped up receiving congratulations from several other fathers. I was not too far off so I heard what was going on. Eventually my Son says to this great car builder, "Mr. XXXXXX how did you get his car to go so fast". The guy said something like, "it takes a lot of practice. Keep trying, someday you'll get the hang of it". Needless to say my Son was pretty surprised with that answer but I was blistering.

As I said I overheard some of the conversations this father had with the other fathers and he said to one of them, "now that this is over I can concentrate on fixing my carburetor. My car is not running very well". One of the fathers asked what kind of car he had and he said, "it's a 197X (I can't remember now what year he said) Olds V8 with a Rochester 4 barrel". One of the fathers said, "you might be in luck. His father (pointing to Son #1) has rebuilt several of those. In fact, he helped me with mine a few months ago". This car builder wanted to know where I was so the guy points to me and says, "that's him right there".

The car builder comes over, extends his hand and introduces himself and proceeds to ask me how he should go about rebuilding his carb. I said, "it takes a lot of practice. Keep trying, someday you'll get the hang of it". Then I turned and walked away.

I hoped that I might get to pay him back someday but I never could have dreamed it would be that fast.

@driver100, if this post was too long you could have stopped half way through.

jmonroe

I stopped 1/4 of the way through

Then you missed the best part. :@

jmonroe

You're right, I went back and read it and it was a really good story.

I will never understand parents doing their kids projects...it teaches the wrong message and it doesn't teach the kids anything, except that cheating is acceptable.

Sometimes in tennis my opponent will call one of my shots out that is obviously in. I just say, if it means that much to you call it whatever way you want....in the big scheme of things it doesn't matter that much to me.

I admire your attitude. Many people would make a big deal out of something like that - which, I agree, really doesn't matter.

imidazol97

Printer problem. Replaced an HP printer that had its printheads in a carriage and the ink was replaced with 4 ink cartridges without individual printheads. Problem, the printhead setup clogs eventually and can't be cleaned and don't work by replacing just the holder with the printheads (I had a spare).
Solution: buy a replacement printer with printheads in cartridge which means the tricolor cartridge and black cartridge. The 4-cartridge setup without the printheads was not cheaper even though you weren't buying replacement printheads in each cartridge.

Shopped Microcenter. Salesperson figured out what I wanted and I bought a cheap laser printer that works great and a cheap Canon with scanner on top that was cheap for my wife's need for color occasionally.

Problem: the Canon did not have ink cartridges inside the box.
Solution: return to Microcenter. After the [non-permissible content removed]'t manager opened the third box and found Canon was not putting the ink cartridges inside, she was going to give me ink cartridges off the shelf. Then the store decided that was too expensive since they only stocked XL size cartridges. Just wanted me to return printer. I decided Okay, but I wouldn't find another low cost printer in brand I thought was trustworthy. It showed in my body language. Eventually I was given a refund for the printer, and told to take it as a free printer. I bought the two XL cartridges for 140% of what the printer had cost and went home happy.

Tired of HP's ink and cartridge games.
Tired of Canon's change to no cartridges without noting such on the box and literature. They do note that they don't incude a USB to printer cable which is a $5 item, but fail to mention the $30 ink cartridges missing.

Is there a printer brand that's inexpensive to run with color ink, and doesn't lose connection on wireless setups meaning it won't wake up on print demand? The failure to wake on print by wireless was the most common negative of many printers.

stickguy

Driver the FCA diesel issue was mentioned here. I recall seeing it. I'm sure it will get more press once details come out. Of course, they claim they are within the rules, so the debate will have to play out. Even VW situation was not discussed much at first, not until the whole thing snowballed, and the media got interested.

my guess, this is just like EPA testing. Or racing. Or doing your taxes. Or anything else with a thick, arcane, rule book. People are going to push the envelope with the way they interpret things. Becomes a gray area often though between pushing the envelope, and shredding it. VW shredded it with flat out cheating, not "creative interpretation of the rules".

driver100

Stick, true, at this time it seems to be a he said (EPA) she (CFA) said situation.

Fiat Chrysler said it believes its emission control systems meet the applicable regulations.
It said the software on its engines is an allowable way to meet emissions rules. The company said it is not there to cheat on emissions tests, but rather to protect the engine from damage.
But the EPA said that since the software had not be disclosed to the EPA, that puts Fiat Chrysler is in violation of the Clean Air Act, even if it wasn't seeking to cheat on emissions tests

It's like a situation for Perry mason.

oldfarmer50

jmonroe said:

driver100 said:

jmonroe said:

oldfarmer50 said:

driver100 said:

Went out in friends 2014 Cadillac XTS. He loves his Caddies, gets a new one about every 2 or 3 years. His favorite was a 1984 Berritz....paid $42000 for it back then. Licence plate said 1 of 91 because there were only 91 sold in Canada. Must have been quite the car.

The 2014 XTS is a nice vehicle to be a passenger in. I don't know about handling, but it is a nice car to ride in.

He can still buy something similar.



http://albany.craigslist.org/cto/5934500396.html

That doesn't look bad for a car with over 200K miles on it.

When are you going to look at it?

jmonroe

It says gthe odometer says 36000 miles. Of course it says that is what the odometer says, it doesn't say how many miles are really on it. :@

You can bet your bippy it has more miles than the 37,777 that the add says.

jmonroe

Maybe it was in the shop for most of the last 30 years.

graphicguy

Laser printers have dropped in price so much, that I won't buy ink jet printers anymore. Lasers cost more initially. But, they're more reliable (no clogged jets), will last longer, are quicker, among a host of other advantages. In the long run, they end up being cheaper as you don't have to replace them nearly as often.

qbrozen

driver100 said:

You're right, I went back and read it and it was a really good story. I will never understand parents doing their kids projects...it teaches the wrong message and it doesn't teach the kids anything, except that cheating is acceptable.

I want to briefly speak to this one point because I have been guilty of it. The reason? The teachers. They have a very bad habit of blaming the parents these days. I get nasty notes and emails when my kid fails to do homework or an assignment. That I have to make sure he does his work. So when a big project came due (that specified it was to be done "with a parent's help"), I wound up doing almost the entire thing the day/night before because I did not want to listen to his teacher bitching at me. Pretty much the same solution when dealing with my wife. Whatever shuts them up and gives me peace.

stickguy

graphicguy said:

Laser printers have dropped in price so much, that I won't buy ink jet printers anymore. Lasers cost more initially. But, they're more reliable (no clogged jets), will last longer, are quicker, among a host of other advantages. In the long run, they end up being cheaper as you don't have to replace them nearly as often.

only caveat though is the lasers are black ink only, right? Not that I print color much, but sometimes the wife prints a picture or something.

jwm40517

I agree about the newer laser printers being the best way to go if you print very much. I have a Brother 8710 black and white that prints 42 pages per minute and gets 8000 pages from an $83 toner. I usually print over 20,000 pages a year.
Also have a Brother 9340 for color that does 23 pages a minute in great picture quality. It went for a year with the toner that came in it .

Each of these cost about $300 on sale at Office Depot and are 2 years old, so there may be newer versions.

graphicguy

sda said:

graphicguy said:

Isell...my uncle was a Caddy lover....got a new one every year until he passed away (about 10 years ago). He had some really good ones. He went awhile there where he had some real stinkers (namely, those with the 4-6-8 engine). My favorite was the Allante he had.

He stayed loyal to the brand through thick and thin.

Cadillac seems to plan to make good cars. It's their execution that needs work.

I have to ask myself..."how do you miss something as basic as routing wiring correctly?"

Maybe I'm patient. Maybe I'm just gullible.

What puzzles me is your current CTS is not a first year model, nor is the driveline unique. They have been produced for several years. And the wiring harness needs reworked? Did they revise it in the meantime and get it wrong?
It does sound like they want to keep you happy, so that is promising.

Wondered that myself.....while I didn't get recall bulletin (I did get a brief email about the recall) but the Service Manager quoted it on the service ticket. It says..

"For release 11/28/2016-Certain 2016 model year Cadillac CTS and ATS vehicles with RPO F46 and RPO KL9 and a 2.0L Turbo Engine (RPO LTG) may have an engine ground cable (EGC) that could come in contact with passenger side half shaft assembly which may cause the EGC to wear or burn through the insulation over time (my notes...apparently this was happening over time and I did not notice it. Cadillac didn't acknowledge the issue until the end of November). If the insulation is worn through the EGC to bare metal, arcing might occur between the half shaft and the EGC."

The Service Manager said that not only has this occured on my CTS, but it looks like there was some sort of limited "heat related event". That's jargon for the fact there was a small fire in my engine compartment. Funny, I remember smelling something like burnt rubber at a stop light a little while ago, but thought it was someone else's car around me.

In brief.....apparently it's a very narrow production run that this affects.

Dealer has pics of the results of this fire in my car. I asked that he send them to me.

jwm40517

Forgot to mention, they are a bit bulky, about an 18 inch cube. Besides printing from your computer or phone they also copy, scan and fax. Mine are wired to my desktop but they work very well wireless also.

tjc78

roadburner said:

tjc78 said:

Thanks for the notes on the bulbs. My suspicion is correct, convert to LED as I need to.

Here is one for @roadburner and @graphicguy

Yesterday I put on some music in the living room while we we were getting the house together for a party. Kids were in the playroom so I turned it up a little. First thing I notice is my subwoofer (an older 12" Klipsch) is way off. So I go to adjust it, junior must have been fiddling with the controls. After I dial it back in I crank the system up and it's rattling something fierce.

WHAT? It couldn't be blown as the system never gets a workout anymore. Nope, reach into the port and pull out a toy... I wonder what else is I there now. Lol. I couldn't help but laugh.

Our son's two red letter rules in our house were don't even THINK about touching the home theater equipment and STAY AWAY from Dad's cars when he isn't around. Still, my kid had the knack of being able to hit button combinations on the remote that would take a deep dive in the equipment manuals to undo...

My son is three in March and he is fascinated by putting a CD/DVD in the player. My mom bought him a little CD radio and he can put the disc in and get it playing. Apple doesn't fall far from the tree, because at age 4 my mom said I hooked up my own stereo and was playing albums and tapes.

suydam

imidazol97 said:

Printer problem. Replaced an HP printer that had its printheads in a carriage and the ink was replaced with 4 ink cartridges without individual printheads. Problem, the printhead setup clogs eventually and can't be cleaned and don't work by replacing just the holder with the printheads (I had a spare).
Solution: buy a replacement printer with printheads in cartridge which means the tricolor cartridge and black cartridge. The 4-cartridge setup without the printheads was not cheaper even though you weren't buying replacement printheads in each cartridge.

Shopped Microcenter. Salesperson figured out what I wanted and I bought a cheap laser printer that works great and a cheap Canon with scanner on top that was cheap for my wife's need for color occasionally.

Problem: the Canon did not have ink cartridges inside the box.
Solution: return to Microcenter. After the [non-permissible content removed]'t manager opened the third box and found Canon was not putting the ink cartridges inside, she was going to give me ink cartridges off the shelf. Then the store decided that was too expensive since they only stocked XL size cartridges. Just wanted me to return printer. I decided Okay, but I wouldn't find another low cost printer in brand I thought was trustworthy. It showed in my body language. Eventually I was given a refund for the printer, and told to take it as a free printer. I bought the two XL cartridges for 140% of what the printer had cost and went home happy.

Tired of HP's ink and cartridge games.
Tired of Canon's change to no cartridges without noting such on the box and literature. They do note that they don't incude a USB to printer cable which is a $5 item, but fail to mention the $30 ink cartridges missing.

Is there a printer brand that's inexpensive to run with color ink, and doesn't lose connection on wireless setups meaning it won't wake up on print demand? The failure to wake on print by wireless was the most common negative of many printers.

We love our little Canon Pixma iP110. It's quite reliable. I can print from anywhere in my house from either laptop or iPad. It did come with the cartridges too. I had to get it from Amazon as Staples is always out of stock, but Staples has been pretty good about troubleshooting it if we need to (we had a problem interpreting the pictures only set up sheet). It's very cheap but it doesn't scan or fax. Just prints which is fine for us.

abacomike

driver100 said:

Nobody has mentioned that now Chrysler Fiat is accused of cheating on diesel emissions:

The U.S. government is accusing Fiat Chrysler of failing to disclose software in some of its pickups and SUVs with diesel engines that allows them to emit more pollution than allowed under the Clean Air Act.

The Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday it had issued a "notice of violation" to the company that covers about 104,000 vehicles including the 2014 through 2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee and Ram pickups, all with 3-liter diesel engines. The California Air Resources Board took similar action.

"Failing to disclose software that affects emissions in a vehicle's engine is a serious violation of the law, which can result in harmful pollution in the air we breathe," said Cynthia Giles, EPA assistant administrator for enforcement and compliance.

FOX NEWS - CHRYSLER ACCUSED OF CHEATING DIESEL EMISSIONS

It's interesting to string a few items together to fully understand how the EPA, FIAT/CHRYSLER's being called on the carpet for some software re: their diesel engines, FIAT/CHRYSLER's decision to invest about 1 billion dollars in the U.S. in new facilities and jobs, and the fact that TRUMP is being sworn in as the next President at the end of this week.

Since Trump is going to have some major control over the EPA now says volumes about how the Federal Government is going to treat FIAT/CHRYSLER re: the allegedly "cheating" software and the potential 4.6 billion dollar fine that might be levied against that corporation. But then, FIAT/CHRYSLER announces huge investments in the U.S. auto industry for new plants and/or upgrades to existing plants as well as the increase in employment opportunities for U.S. workers. Do you see where I am going with this???

driver100

Yes, they have color laser jet printers from under $200.

BEST BUY COLOR LASER PRINTERS

abacomike

stickguy said:

graphicguy said:

Laser printers have dropped in price so much, that I won't buy ink jet printers anymore. Lasers cost more initially. But, they're more reliable (no clogged jets), will last longer, are quicker, among a host of other advantages. In the long run, they end up being cheaper as you don't have to replace them nearly as often.

only caveat though is the lasers are black ink only, right? Not that I print color much, but sometimes the wife prints a picture or something.

I bought an HP Laser printer about 2 years ago. It works great! you are correct in that there is no color, but I don't need color printing. I recently ordered and received a replacement toner cartridge for the printer because I felt I should have a back-up cartridge considering the printer has been used for 2 years now as well as the fact that I saved 30% when it was on sale at HP. Well, the cartridge is still in the box and my printer keeps printing. I wonder how long it will take before I have to change cartridges.

carnaught

imid. said: "Tired of Canon's change to no cartridges without noting such on the box and literature. They do note that they don't include a USB to printer cable which is a $5 item, but fail to mention the $30 ink cartridges missing.

Is there a printer brand that's inexpensive to run with color ink, and doesn't lose connection on wireless setups meaning it won't wake up on print demand? The failure to wake on print by wireless was the most common negative of many printers."

I've personally been through my collection of printers. Epson's have always been proprietary on the need for their expensive oem print cartridges. My current all-on-one Canon MX922 accepts generic cheap cartridges I buy on Ebay. I've had great luck with their performance and longevity. Two sets of (6 colors including 2 b&w) cartridges cost a total of $6-$7, and for 1/20th the price of the oem, have lasted me just as long. That's not to say that eventually they will clog and cause the need for a replacement printer, but oem cartridges do as well, all for the privilege of paying a price premium for them. I guess printers are becoming a throw-away device. Anyway, this has been my current experience over the last ~5 years with printers.

driver100

qbrozen said:

driver100 said:

You're right, I went back and read it and it was a really good story.

I will never understand parents doing their kids projects...it teaches the wrong message and it doesn't teach the kids anything, except that cheating is acceptable.

I want to briefly speak to this one point because I have been guilty of it. The reason? The teachers. They have a very bad habit of blaming the parents these days. I get nasty notes and emails when my kid fails to do homework or an assignment. That I have to make sure he does his work. So when a big project came due (that specified it was to be done "with a parent's help"), I wound up doing almost the entire thing the day/night before because I did not want to listen to his teacher bitching at me.

I did teach elementary school at one point in my illustrious career. I would occasionally ask a parent to make sure a kid was doing his homework. If the parents are concerned for how a child is doing they have to take some responsibility.

But, I would never ask that a parent should HELP a kid with a project, supervise maybe, help buy items to make it, possibly discuss it....but, not to help to make it. I have seen to many projects that were 90% parent and 10% child....and that really teaches the wrong message.....which is, let your parents do everything for you.

explorerx4

One of the sticking points with the FCA diesel issue is that they didn't inform the EPA that the various strategies had been programmed, so they were not reviewed for approval.
FCA is shaky financial ground and my now survive the next economic downturn.
Jeep will ok, maybe Ram, but probably under new ownership.

houdini1

abacomike said:

driver100 said:

Nobody has mentioned that now Chrysler Fiat is accused of cheating on diesel emissions:

The U.S. government is accusing Fiat Chrysler of failing to disclose software in some of its pickups and SUVs with diesel engines that allows them to emit more pollution than allowed under the Clean Air Act.

The Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday it had issued a "notice of violation" to the company that covers about 104,000 vehicles including the 2014 through 2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee and Ram pickups, all with 3-liter diesel engines. The California Air Resources Board took similar action.

"Failing to disclose software that affects emissions in a vehicle's engine is a serious violation of the law, which can result in harmful pollution in the air we breathe," said Cynthia Giles, EPA assistant administrator for enforcement and compliance.

FOX NEWS - CHRYSLER ACCUSED OF CHEATING DIESEL EMISSIONS

It's interesting to string a few items together to fully understand how the EPA, FIAT/CHRYSLER's being called on the carpet for some software re: their diesel engines, FIAT/CHRYSLER's decision to invest about 1 billion dollars in the U.S. in new facilities and jobs, and the fact that TRUMP is being sworn in as the next President at the end of this week.

Since Trump is going to have some major control over the EPA now says volumes about how the Federal Government is going to treat FIAT/CHRYSLER re: the allegedly "cheating" software and the potential 4.6 billion dollar fine that might be levied against that corporation. But then, FIAT/CHRYSLER announces huge investments in the U.S. auto industry for new plants and/or upgrades to existing plants as well as the increase in employment opportunities for U.S. workers. Do you see where I am going with this???

I certainly agree with your thinking Mike. That, in combination with the treatment VW got by confessing their guilt, is probably why Fiat/Chrysler is proclaiming their innocence and not pleading guilty.