Comments | chalavienne: Why My Dad Should Not Be Trusted Re: Cars

chalavienne

Why My Dad Should Not Be Trusted Re: Cars

Oct 12, 2009 14:49

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Comments 8

annodomini October 12 2009, 20:20:51 UTC

http://xkcd.com/385/

(The comment has been removed)

Re: Cars are pains in the asses chalavienne October 13 2009, 02:53:13 UTC

very useful...yeah....I guess we just have shitty mechanics in my area, or need to go to specialists or something like that.

winterlime October 13 2009, 03:02:57 UTC

Do you know what it was ultimately due to, in your mother's case? My old car has had similar symptoms here and there over the past summer.

chalavienne October 13 2009, 12:49:43 UTC

apparently the O2 sensor in the engine is going, so there was vapor lock due to some bad gas, according to my mom according to the mechanic. I don't actually know what that means, but it wasn't as bad as she expected.

"Produce Antimatter" *obnoxiously raises hand!!!* mockingfrog October 13 2009, 20:16:36 UTC

ooh, i know this one from repairing The Deathtrap! The O2 sensor tests your exhaust for hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen oxides in order to tell your engine's computer whether your combustion is efficient. When it fails the engine no longer adjust those things to run optimally so you get a rich or lean mixture. Since you had a bunch of black smoke coming out you must have been burning super rich, ie way too much gas, which had destroyed your catalytic converter, a thing in your exhaust that tries to save the environment by oxidizing the molecules your o2 sensor tests for. Vapor lock is what happens when gas evaporates before getting to the fuel pump, which fucks up the pressure and stalls the engine. The "bad gas" you got was some premature "winter gas," which is more volatile in order to compensate for winter conditions, but when there aren't winter conditions it can cause vapor lock especially when you're running super rich to begin with. So your engine sort of had a heart attack ( ... )

Re: "Produce Antimatter" *obnoxiously raises hand!!!* chalavienne October 14 2009, 23:31:39 UTC

I love your metaphor so much, lol.

I actually all of that from my environmental engineering class I'm taking now...I'd've had no idea that the catalytic converter exploding would physically manifest like that, or that winter gas is more volatile, though it makes total sense now I think about it. Good to know for future reference...

ultione October 13 2009, 21:03:47 UTC

A... a nail. It was a NAIL was causing the tire leak >_<

Lolwtf :D

I know engines!

chalavienne October 14 2009, 23:32:00 UTC

yes you do >.