Hello, just bought a opel Astra f 1995, and it needed a head gasket replacement, doing to low compression on cylinders 4 and a lot of smoke.

Turns out it was the gasket was blown between the water chamber and the cylinder.

The head was sent to machining but the block wasn’t removed from the car.

I’m doing the machining of the block by hand, with a machined block of steel to hold the sandpaper and I’m checking for the warping and flatness with another steel machined ruler.

As of today the surface between the cylinder and the water chamber has less than 0.05 mm of deviation and the water chamber to the outside has less than 0.15 mm of deviation. Started as less than 0.15 mm and less than 0,25 mm.

I bought a mls steel gasket and copper spray gasket. What’s your opinion on that, should I stop here, or do I need to go through it all (I’m tired boss).

Any comment is welcome.

do you know how I can get a broken AUX plug tip out of my car stereo? The metal part snapped off inside the AUX port and is stuck all the way in. I can't get it out. Do you know how I could remove it without damaging the stereo?

A new option for the dreaded Pentastar repair. Anyone using these? Should be a better part than the Dorman if it’s using Fel-Pro seals?

This video is of my 2012 Corolla. The vehicle has around 88k miles. Video was taken in the morning with it being around 42 degrees outside. It has happened once before maybe a year ago. After 30 min of trying in 1 minute intervals it finally kicked on.

I was changing the Ac compressor on my 2011 Toyota corolla. Managed to get the compressor off but snapped one of the mounting bolts in half and it’s stuck. My uncle tried to weld a nut on the tip but didn’t do a great job. This job has turned into a nightmare. I just want my car back on the road. Any suggestions? I’m assuming I’d run into issues if I decide to saw it off and use 3 bolts instead of 4. Please help.

My 1996 explorer with v8 and 4r55e transmission is giving me hell. First, it would only go forward with no neutral at all and no overdrive or reverse. Then I replaced the valve body gaskets and i think it still went forward in every gear but I dont remember if it would roll in neutral, still no reverse. Then I bought a whole valve body off ebay that claimed to have the seperator plate with bonded gaskets but when i got it it only had the bottom bonded gasket so I had to use a normal top gasket. And it came with all new solenoids. Well now every gear goes forward but still rolls in neutral. Im not sure if i remember exactly how it changed, but after messing with valve body everytime the car acted different.

Also, when removing the old valve body, we busted the head off a bolt so we welded a new on to remove it. But when doing that we got a tiny bit of slag from the weld on the upper part of the valve body that is part of the tranny. I sanded it pretty smooth so i dont think thats a problem. Also, one bolt that holds the shifter fork on but is also a mounting bolt for the valve body is a little stripped and wont torque all the way to the reccomended setting. But it is on the edge of the valve body so i feel like that wouldnt give me all these problems.

I made sure the rooster tail thing was engaged with the shift plunger thing correctly. Can someone tell me if this is a valve body issue and my transmission isnt shot? Or give me a direction to go to get this on the road? Id hate to junk it over a valve body problem.

I have a 2009 Pontiac Vibe base model, and I'm changing over my summer tires to my winter tires and I thought I'd go check my dipstick to see how much oil is in my car. And when I checked it, the oil level was barely touching the dipstick. So I jacked my car up and went under looked under the engine and didn't see any wet spots or active dripping, then I took off the sound deadening cover off of the top end and didn't see any wet spots or dripping. After that I turned my car on Let it idle gave it a few revs and went to check the exhaust it was spewing out a little bit of white smoke. What can I do to fix this? And yes I know it looks a little wet around the engine oil cap, pretty sure that's just because I forgot to clean it up after I did my last oil change.

I had to refill the oil after a month on my partner's car which indicated an oil leak. Think I've found the source, it drips there when the car is running. I was wondering what your thoughts were before I take it to the garage?

Citroen C4 Cactus - 1.2L

Hi! So I recently replaced the coolant hose on my 2013 dodge dart, because it broke at the tee connection. I just replaced it and went to go fill the coolant, and it started leaking. Any idea what this is or where it could be coming from ?

everything in my car was fine up until i was driving home and felt like my car was shaking harder than its supposed to. Especially when it was in idle, took it to get an engine light check at auto-zone and this is the only thing that appeared. Already ordered new spark plugs and new ignition coils, but I’m anxious and just am curious and wondering if someone thinks it could be something else? I drive a 2019 Kia Optima S. Any help is gladly appreciated thank you!

Hit a pothole NYC. 2023 cx9. Inner tie rod snapped.
I am unable to unbolt it. Tried the inner tie rod removal tool from auto zone but it didn’t work. Also tried a pipe wrench, since the space is limited under the car, it didn’t work either.
Any suggestions would be appreciated, thanks!

Just got this thing today with the knowledge it stays in 1st but im new to nissans and not very knowledgeable on their transmissions or transmissions in general

my car wont switch to any other gear (stuck in 1st), it goes into park and reverse with ease and accelerates quick but wont shift. I looked at the trans fluid and it was a dark brown(noetal confetti on it), could bad fluid keep it from shifting? And if the trans is bad how hard would it be to manual swap it or switch the trans myself

Car: 2014 Audi A4 B8.5 2.0 TFSI (EA888 Gen 2), US-spec, FWD, 224 hp, mileage 99,000 miles

HOW IT STARTED
Car went to a shop for an oil pump replacement (cam phasing wasn't adjusting correctly) plus general diagnostics. The mechanic didn't torque the crankshaft pulley bolt. During the test drive the timing slipped and the valves hit the pistons.

The shop rebuilt the entire top end (cylinder head fully reconditioned) and timing chain. Nothing below the head was touched – pistons and rings are original, never inspected or replaced. His shop insurance specialist decided it’s not necessary.

CURRENT SYMPTOMS
- Heavy white smoke, mostly while idling/standing still
- Oil consumption: ~1 L per 700 km
- Coolant level: stable

WHAT I'VE CHECKED

1. Compression (dry): all 4 cylinders 195–200 psi, very even

2. VCDS misfire counters:
   - Cyl 2: 3 misfires during cold start
   - Cyl 1, 3, 4: 0

3. Spark plug cyl 2:
   - Ground strap caked with thick crusty whitish/tan deposits with black spots (looks like oil ash) (check photo)
   - Center electrode clean, light tan
   - Threads look wet/oily
   Other plugs: clean

4. Borescope: poor image quality, but one piston might have a chipped edge on the raised part of the crown next to the valve relief. Could also be flaking carbon.

MY THOUGHTS
Compression is good, so compression rings and valve sealing seem OK. But oil is clearly getting burned, at least in cyl 2. Possibilities I'm considering:
a) oil control rings stuck/damaged
b) valve stem seals not seated properly during the head rebuild
c) turbo seals

QUESTIONS
1. Based on the smoke and the plug, what's most likely?

1. Planned next steps: wet compression test and leak-down on cyl 2. Anything else before I go after the shop / tear the bottom end down?

2. Could the valve strike alone have damaged the pistons/rings enough to cause this?

Thanks!

the cheaper the better i am poor but something that still reads all the codes. doesnt necessarily need to be able to reset or log them

Any recommendations for what tool I need to get these fork clamp bolts out? They're Torx T45 torqued to 20NM.

I have a T45 socket but it's too big to get in there with the rachet attached. The biggest gap available is about 2 CM.

I'm thinking maybe a 1/4 inch T45 bit with a bit ratchet maybe? Or a T45 L key - although not sure I'll be able to shift them with something like that.

Any ideas / recommendations?

I'm trying to identify the ticking/rattling noise from this 1.2 kappa engine in my 2019 I20 CVT 33000kms. AC is off. There also seems to be an oil spot on the plastic tray in the bottom. Do not know if both are related.

2019 VW Jetta, 1.4 TSI, 6 Speed. 67400 miles

Recently had the oil sensor fault light come on. I scanned the car and got these codes. I was wondering this would be a sensor problem or a wiring problem. I did a brief inspection of the wire and found a very small kink. I’m not sure if this is the problem. Any help would be great.

I have a Jetta se it drives perfectly fine but after driving for 10-15 minutes my ecm light and engine light come on. I have codes P0697 P0343 P0341 P0299. I’ve replaced both my camshaft sensors I’ve checked my map sensor and my VVT solenoid. My oil is fine and I don’t hear any strange sounds while driving or starting my car. I just finished a 10 hour car ride last week and only had one instance where I was driving and pressing heavily on the pedal but I was not going above 40 mph. That lasted for about 25 minutes and I turned my car off and waited about 10 minutes and I was fine. 

The very first time this happend the ecm light came on and then about an hour later ok the highway I was no longer able to excelarate for around 15 seconds. My engine light came on and I pulled over on the side of the road but after I parked my car it was fine but the lights stayed on.

I plan on driving 15 hours next month so I’d like to try to fix it before I go if anybody knows anything about this issue and could help it would be much appreciated

Renault laguna 3 1.5 dci k9k 782 . So yeah , ive cleaned the egr , ive solved the dpf , map maf cleaned , reads well . This is my last try... The car has shit fuel econ , tempomat fuel econ is amazing , the second i touch the accelerator even a little it jumps up badly. Is this clear enough to assume it leaks boost here? I know the turbo might not be in an amazing condition due to all that oil but yeah..

Do i need to replace the whole hose or just orings ? Also does anyone know the diameter for it?

I’ve attached a video where you can kind of hear the rattling noise! It only happens when the AC is on and stops if the air speed is all the way up (definitely not just drowned out by the sound of the air). Is this just an AC issue or could it be something more major? If it helps, it’s a 2020 Honda HR-V with an in line 4 cylinder engine and I haven’t had any major issues or repairs to it outside of standard things at mileage thresholds