Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations

tjc78 · June 24

@kyfdx said:
93+ here today, with heat index well above 100. The house A/C is fine, but the GTI is struggling to keep me cool. It's parked outside, which doesn't help.

I’ve been pretty critical of the newer car air conditioners (my Volvos just ok as were the Enclaves) but both my Rams remind me of the freezer my 79 Continental was. I’d wager vent temps were 30 degrees or so with 100 degree ambient.

I just ran out in my wife’s Mercedes and it was not nearly as cold but did the job - 99 out currently

kyfdx · June 24

Leaving from my garage would make a big difference.

You could hang meat in my 2006 BMW..

explorerx4 · June 24

@stickguy,
I did wipe off the sensors and checked to see that they were lined up.
Once in a while they get jostled, ao maybe that's what fixed it.
Thanks for the tip.

ab348 · June 24

kyfdx said:
93+ here today, with heat index well above 100. The house A/C is fine, but the GTI is struggling to keep me cool. It's parked outside, which doesn't help.

Remind me of the paint color again?

kyfdx · June 24

ab348 said:

kyfdx said:
93+ here today, with heat index well above 100. The house A/C is fine, but the GTI is struggling to keep me cool. It's parked outside, which doesn't help.
Remind me of the paint color again?

Dark Iron Blue.. Basically, the same as charcoal gray. Cloth interior, which helps.

I usually back in to the driveway, which leaves me pointing west. Going to have to start pulling in. Windows have fairly heavy tint (legal)

ab348 · June 24

The car carrier Morning Midas, which caught fire on its EV deck about 300 miles off the coast of Alaska three weeks ago finally sunk today. Apparently it was no longer on fire but had been weakened to the extent that a storm was too much for it.

https://maritime-executive.com/article/burned-out-car-carrier-sinks-in-pacific-three-weeks-after-fire-began

xwesx · June 24

mjfloyd1 said:

They are almost 23 yrs old

Oh, I misunderstood. I thought you had said they were only a year and a half old. My mistake!

xwesx · June 24

ab348 said:
The car carrier Morning Midas, which caught fire on its EV deck about 300 miles off the coast of Alaska three weeks ago finally sunk today. Apparently it was no longer on fire but had been weakened to the extent that a storm was too much for it.

https://maritime-executive.com/article/burned-out-car-carrier-sinks-in-pacific-three-weeks-after-fire-began

that's a heck of a thing.... electric battery fires on a ship! Seems like they need to devise some sort of vacuum suppression system to keep such fires in check, as normal methods of control just don't have enough oomph to deal with the intensity of lithium battery fires.

mjfloyd1 · June 24

@corvette said:
When I bought this house in 2015, the A/C unit looked really terrible--rusted and barely any paint left on it, but it ran fine. It was so old that the home inspector's database didn't go back that far. Same failure, on that one--the fan motor locked up. I didn't know about the Liquid Wrench trick, but I had a spare window unit and was able to stay comfortable for the couple of days until I got the entire unit replaced. They offered to order the fan motor and just replace that for around $1k, but then I'd still have a 30+ year old unit that was cosmetically awful. No issues with the new Trane! It's definitely gotten a workout the past few days.

I put in a new condenser fan motor and contactor today. Really a struggle to get the old fan blade off the old motor. Down to 73 degrees this am

I’m not sure there is any liquid wrench trick - it was a desperation move to try to get it going again. The super lube worked better.

mjfloyd1 · June 24

@xwesx said:
Oh, I misunderstood. I thought you had said they were only a year and a half old. My mistake!

One system is a year and a half old and working well. The other three (ouch - it seemed like a good idea at the time) are 23 yrs old. One new system is going in tomorrow.

corvette · June 24

@stickguy said:
On the door opener clean off the photo eyes and make sure lined up.

Or, do like some of the car YouTubers do, and mount them on a wall a couple inches apart, facing each other, not that I would condone such a thing.

mjfloyd1 · June 24

kyfdx said:
Leaving from my garage would make a big difference.

You could hang meat in my 2006 BMW..

That would be really messy though…😎😎

mjfloyd1 · June 24

ab348 said:
The car carrier Morning Midas, which caught fire on its EV deck about 300 miles off the coast of Alaska three weeks ago finally sunk today. Apparently it was no longer on fire but had been weakened to the extent that a storm was too much for it.

https://maritime-executive.com/article/burned-out-car-carrier-sinks-in-pacific-three-weeks-after-fire-began

I find it interesting that there are always worried about sea levels rising, but no one ever says “yep, but a lot of crap has sunk in the ocean”

jmonroe1 · June 24

stickguy said:
You people jinxed my son’s AC with all this talk. We were there a week back and they put it on (first time this year I think) and it didn’t generate much in the way of even cool air. They had someone out today to check it. New system going in tomorrow. Not sure of exact diagnosis but it’s from 1999 and still on Freon. Surprised it lasted this long and not going to be fixable. Not what they needed with all the new baby expenses.

I told them to move before the baby but didn’t listen!

————————————————-
I never knew babies planned on moving.

jmonroe

stickguy · June 24

baby will just go along for the ride.

stickguy · June 24

the AC in our Acura is OK, nothing special, but the Ford really gets cold quick. Can freeze in that thing. actually probably helps not having to cool the cargo area!

jmonroe1 · June 24

mjfloyd1 said:

@corvette said:

When I bought this house in 2015, the A/C unit looked really terrible--rusted and barely any paint left on it, but it ran fine. It was so old that the home inspector's database didn't go back that far. Same failure, on that one--the fan motor locked up. I didn't know about the Liquid Wrench trick, but I had a spare window unit and was able to stay comfortable for the couple of days until I got the entire unit replaced. They offered to order the fan motor and just replace that for around $1k, but then I'd still have a 30+ year old unit that was cosmetically awful. No issues with the new Trane! It's definitely gotten a workout the past few days.

I put in a new condenser fan motor and contactor today. Really a struggle to get the old fan blade off the old motor. Down to 73 degrees this am

I’m not sure there is any liquid wrench trick - it was a desperation move to try to get it going again. The super lube worked better.

————————————————-
I’m sure you saved yourself at least a couple hundred bucks by doing the work yourself. Too bad that savings is going to be plowed into new units.

jmonroe

oldfarmer50 · June 24

qbrozen said:

@oldfarmer50 said:

Have any of you heard the story about Stellantis offering retirement buyouts to 60% of its US workers force? That sounds ominous.

Where did you see that? Last retirement buyout I saw was back in March.

It was some random YT video.

oldfarmer50 · June 24

tjc78 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

mjfloyd1 said:
Well craptastic, main floor ac crapped out. I changed the capacitor but the contactor was stuck (thankfully on) and fan motor seized. A little Liquid wrench and we are back in business until it can be repaired.

Must be the season for that. Last night my son’s window unit crapped out on the cusp of a string of near 100 degree days. Luckily, I had an extra unit since I replaced the downstairs AC a few weeks ago.

The infuriating thing is that his unit was only going into its second season. Well past the 90 day cheapo warranty.
Did it just stop turning on at all? If so ... the new units use ultra cheap GFCI plugs and they often fail. Solution is to install a new plug. $4 at Lowe's / HD.... won't be GFCI but we survived for many years without GFCI on window ACs.

Fan worked but the compressor doesn’t come on. These things are so cheap that they are not worth fixing but I bet it’s a bad switch or loose connection. Not something I want to fuss with at 100 degrees after a 12 hour shift.

stickguy · June 24

oldfarmer50 said:

qbrozen said:

@oldfarmer50 said:

Have any of you heard the story about Stellantis offering retirement buyouts to 60% of its US workers force? That sounds ominous.

Where did you see that? Last retirement buyout I saw was back in March.

It was some random YT video.

I saw that too. maybe the same one!

oldfarmer50 · June 24

xwesx said:

ab348 said:
The car carrier Morning Midas, which caught fire on its EV deck about 300 miles off the coast of Alaska three weeks ago finally sunk today. Apparently it was no longer on fire but had been weakened to the extent that a storm was too much for it.

https://maritime-executive.com/article/burned-out-car-carrier-sinks-in-pacific-three-weeks-after-fire-began

that's a heck of a thing.... electric battery fires on a ship! Seems like they need to devise some sort of vacuum suppression system to keep such fires in check, as normal methods of control just don't have enough oomph to deal with the intensity of lithium battery fires.

I don’t know if even that would work as I’ve seen videos of EVs burning under water. What’s the current protocol for battling battery fires? Blankets, foam, 50,000 gallons of water?

ab348 · June 24

oldfarmer50 said:

xwesx said:

ab348 said:
The car carrier Morning Midas, which caught fire on its EV deck about 300 miles off the coast of Alaska three weeks ago finally sunk today. Apparently it was no longer on fire but had been weakened to the extent that a storm was too much for it.

https://maritime-executive.com/article/burned-out-car-carrier-sinks-in-pacific-three-weeks-after-fire-began

that's a heck of a thing.... electric battery fires on a ship! Seems like they need to devise some sort of vacuum suppression system to keep such fires in check, as normal methods of control just don't have enough oomph to deal with the intensity of lithium battery fires.
I don’t know if even that would work as I’ve seen videos of EVs burning under water. What’s the current protocol for battling battery fires? Blankets, foam, 50,000 gallons of water?

The car carrier ships have some sort of CO2 system under pressure that they use to somehow displace the regular atmosphere on the decks below. But apparently it needs a rethink to be more effective against lithium battery fires.

explorerx4 · June 24

90+ degrees today.
Had my appointment for the A/C annual checkup.
Guy said everything was ok.
He recommnded some upsells. An ionizer and a soft start device.
I had him install the soft start kit.
Hopefully it gets me a little more time because the startup was pretty abrupt and loud. Seems quieter now.
He showed me screen shots of the startup voltage. 85 volts before and 46 after.

roadburner · June 24

I was going to cut the grass close to sunset last night but it started to rain. This afternoon I said screw it and stared mowing at 1:00 pm at 95F. The mower had been down while I replaced a couple of belts so it had been about two weeks since the last cut. It took a bit under two hours but at least I had my earbuds and was able to listen to the Missed Apex F1 podcast.

xwesx · June 25

ab348 said:

The car carrier ships have some sort of CO2 system under pressure that they use to somehow displace the regular atmosphere on the decks below. But apparently it needs a rethink to be more effective against lithium battery fires.

Makes sense. I think the issue with the battery fires are that they are so, so hot, yet they still need oxygen to combust. Just theorizing here, but carbon dioxide and water both have it... a lot of it... so if you can get it hot enough to break that bond, then something that normally suppresses now becomes something that feeds. And, even if these do suppress, the reaction, once started, is spontaneous.... as soon as oxygen is more readily available, the reaction will resume as before.

A vacuum removes the oxygen, probably not entirely in practical applications, but enough that you could, theoretically, suppress the intensity/rate of the fire, thereby reducing the heat and the likelihood of a chain reaction. That said, these ships are vast, and they fill the hulls with these cars. I imagine it would take a heck of a modified ship to be able to accommodate that sort of suppression system successfully.

tjc78 · June 25

xwesx said:

ab348 said:

The car carrier ships have some sort of CO2 system under pressure that they use to somehow displace the regular atmosphere on the decks below. But apparently it needs a rethink to be more effective against lithium battery fires.
Makes sense. I think the issue with the battery fires are that they are so, so hot, yet they still need oxygen to combust. Just theorizing here, but carbon dioxide and water both have it... a lot of it... so if you can get it hot enough to break that bond, then something that normally suppresses now becomes something that feeds. And, even if these do suppress, the reaction, once started, is spontaneous.... as soon as oxygen is more readily available, the reaction will resume as before.

A vacuum removes the oxygen, probably not entirely in practical applications, but enough that you could, theoretically, suppress the intensity/rate of the fire, thereby reducing the heat and the likelihood of a chain reaction. That said, these ships are vast, and they fill the hulls with these cars. I imagine it would take a heck of a modified ship to be able to accommodate that sort of suppression system successfully.

imidazol97 · June 25

The lithium battery fires are actually runaway events. They don't need oxygen from other sources.

"Regarding the need for oxygen, lithium-ion batteries can generate oxygen during thermal runaway. When the metal oxides in the battery's cathode are heated, they decompose and release oxygen gas. This oxygen can sustain a fire, making it more challenging to extinguish.
However, it is important to note that the initial fire is not dependent on atmospheric oxygen, as the reaction is self-sustaining once thermal runaway begins.

"In summary, lithium-ion batteries can catch fire due to thermal runaway caused by factors such as overcharging, physical damage, or manufacturing defects. While they can generate oxygen during thermal runaway, the initial fire does not require atmospheric oxygen."

All that can be done is to cool the reaction.

https://search.brave.com/search?q=what+causes+lithium+auto+batteries+to+catch+on+fire%3F+Do+they+need+oxygen%3F&summary=1&conversation=234b8a7542b129022c7034

mjfloyd1 · June 25

How is my work? I even zip tied the wires. I turned the system to off inside the house and pulled the disconnect. The fan was really a hassle to get off the motor but there were no new 2 blade ones available except a 4 blade with a higher pitch but I was worried it would cause too much drag on the 1/8 hp motor.

I did get the yellow wire off of the top of the capacitor.

ab348 · June 25

What could possibly go wrong?

jmonroe1 · June 25

imidazol97 said:
The lithium battery fires are actually runaway events. They don't need oxygen from other sources.

"Regarding the need for oxygen, lithium-ion batteries can generate oxygen during thermal runaway. When the metal oxides in the battery's cathode are heated, they decompose and release oxygen gas. This oxygen can sustain a fire, making it more challenging to extinguish.
However, it is important to note that the initial fire is not dependent on atmospheric oxygen, as the reaction is self-sustaining once thermal runaway begins.

"In summary, lithium-ion batteries can catch fire due to thermal runaway caused by factors such as overcharging, physical damage, or manufacturing defects. While they can generate oxygen during thermal runaway, the initial fire does not require atmospheric oxygen."

All that can be done is to cool the reaction.

https://search.brave.com/search?q=what+causes+lithium+auto+batteries+to+catch+on+fire%3F+Do+they+need+oxygen%3F&summary=1&conversation=234b8a7542b129022c7034

————————————————
I knew that.

jmonroe

mjfloyd1 · June 25

If you leqve> @ab348 said:

What could possibly go wrong?

If you leave the 240 attached it could go south. Not turning the system off inside would just be a little zap. It was shockingly easy to replace the compressor fan motor since I bought the OEM. It had the correct snap in thermal and then only attach the ground wire to the chassis. The contactor was plug and play.

The fan required PB blaster and then a puller using an impact wrench and then tap the motor shaft out.

jmonroe1 · June 25

mjfloyd1 said:
How is my work? I even zip tied the wires. I turned the system to off inside the house and pulled the disconnect. The fan was really a hassle to get off the motor but there were no new 2 blade ones available except a 4 blade with a higher pitch but I was worried it would cause too much drag on the 1/8 hp motor.

I did get the yellow wire off of the top of the capacitor.

————————————————
Nice job.

Consider yourself a #1 hacker. HVAC guys really dislike folks like you.

FWIW, my compressors cooling fan motor shaft is 3/8 of an inch in diameter and it spins a 3 blade fan. The whole assembly is mounted to the underside of the top grill (it’s a 3 ton Lennox unit).

jmonroe

mjfloyd1 · June 25

@jmonroe1 said:
————————————————
Nice job.

Consider yourself a #1 hacker. HVAC guys really dislike folks like you.

FWIW, my compressors cooling fan motor shaft is 3/8 of an inch in diameter and it spins a 3 blade fan. The whole assembly is mounted to the underside of the top grill (it’s a 3 ton Lennox unit).

jmonroe

I’ve changed out one like that on a pool heat pump a couple of yrs ago. It was more of a pain

driver100 · June 25

I missed about 4 pages, I have been ultra busy but I am putting in an appearance just for the fans.

This guy as 5 cars you should not buy....short and sweet and kind of amusing:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/hmE-l7xKd9g?feature=share

sda · June 25

🔥HOT, Felt like 109. Thunder storm currently. Ahh, summer storms.

roadburner · June 25

Here is a recent post from a Jeep forum- in all of its unedited glory:

"Hello, I have been driving my new 2025 4xe Summit Reserve Grand Cherokee for 1500 miles. This car makes me want to drive it into a wall. This is my 3rd jeep but the worst car I have ever owned!!!! From the sound of the electric motor to the lack of comfort or layout of the controls and shifter... It is horrible. I about soiled myself today because I accidently spung the drive mode from drive to reverse while on the high way and thought I was about to drop my transition but lucky if just went into a no power neutral and kept rolling with no gas but still, just another horrible feature with no comfort for hand placement and I JUST HATE THIS CAR!!!!!!!! This will be my last jeep!!!"

Which reminded me of a quote from Douglas Adams:

“A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.”

qbrozen · June 25

There is so much wrong with that post that it is impossible to know where to start

jmonroe1 · June 25

qbrozen said:
There is so much wrong with that post that it is impossible to know where to start

————————————————
Usually starting at the beginning is the best way. But, jumping to the end of that story is the best way since you won’t have to read anymore of that sad story.

jmonroe

stickguy · June 25

my son just texted that they now have AC again. Crew finished after 10. He said the guy told him that they have worked that late every day this week.

apparently they would have finished earlier but when they got the unit on, the valve that it fills refrigerant through (king valve?) was stuck shut and they could not get it open. so they had to take that one off while someone went back to the shop to get a new one, bring it back, and install again. Hopefully after all this it is at least reliable!

oldfarmer50 · 2:14AM

driver100 said:
I missed about 4 pages, I have been ultra busy but I am putting in an appearance just for the fans.

This guy as 5 cars you should not buy....short and sweet and kind of amusing:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/hmE-l7xKd9g?feature=share

He has a number of videos like that criticizing the engine or transmission of usually low end cars although he trashes Range Rovers all the time. No details so I find him frustrating.

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