Why Chevrolet Spin Phase Out

1998 Daihatsu Cuore Avanzato TR XX R4

RegularCars:

1998 Daihatsu Cuore Avanzato TR XX R4
I apologize for all the mispronunciations that are going to happen here.
[a capella, in the tune of the overworld theme from Super Mario Bros. 2]
🎶 Daihatsu Cuore Avanzato TR XX R4 🎶
🎶 That's the kind of car we're crossing the Atlantic for 🎶
🎶 DO DO DO DO 🎶
This is a cigarette case with a 600cc 16-valve turbocharged inter-cooled 4-cylinder engine
that revs to 8500 RPM
and I love everything about it.
MAR-MAR-MARRY ME.
Mount me!~
Daihatsu is a pioneering engine and car manufacturing company in Japan who
slowly got absorbed into Toyota from the 60s into the 1990s.
Daihatsu's beginnings predate World War One, when they made:
And later:
In 1988, Daihatsu tried to bust into the United States market
but cut their losses in the early 1990s
because Honda, Nissan, Isuzu, Mitsubishi, and Daihatsu's then-growing-shareholder Toyota
had the US well-satisfied with tiny cars.
Plus, as Honda discovered,
a CR-X is about as small as you can go in America
before us Yanks feel unsafe.
And Daihatsu makes almost exclusively kei cars.
And they... just don't work in the United States because they don't have to.
Our roads are big enough
and even our cities are wide enough for mid-sized cars
(With the exception of center city Philadelphia, parts of Manhattan, and ALL OF BOSTON)
But here in the United Kingdom, a car this narrow gives you room to breathe.
It looks like it wants to fall over because of its height-to-width ratio,
bu-but really it's quite stable,
even though it's as tall as its name is long.
1998 Daihatsu Cuore Avanzato TR XX R4
What kind of hubris does a company have to have to give a car name this clunky,
and I suppose this unpronounceable, to Westerners?
Ford focus-group-ed the name "Edsel" for months in the 1950s
before throwing their hands up and just going with a tribute to Henry Ford's son.
And even they didn't come up with a name this unnecessarily long.
It's like every Transformers movie that was 45 minutes too long without any of the goods to justify it.
You're at the bottom of your popcorn for the first time in God knows how many movies,
and you just want it to end so you can go take a hot harmonica in the IMAX bathroom.
And yet, even thoughit looks like the Shrinky-Dinks son of a Suzuki Alto and a Subaru Impreza,
the character of the Daihatsu remains, for the most part.
This has a, well,
659... 600cc 4-cylinder engine that makes 63hp.
I know most kei cars are 3-cylinder but look:
Count the spark plug wires. This one is a 4-pot.
It's part of export version of Japanese kei cars
(which are not to be confused with the Chrysler K-platform. Two different things, just the same pronunciation).
If you like JDM... you're probably going to like this.
Both because of and in spite of its quirks
For instance: Paul, the owner, currently has this in 4WD mode.
But you can change it out, back into 2WD FWD mode
but it requires you to get out of the car, get down on the ground,
and pull a pin down on the differential.
Or is it that? Is that the differential?
Or is that the back of the gearbox?
Everything so packed in here.
The point is, you get stuck in the snow, and you're not in 4WD,
you have to get out of the car,
crawl down in the snow or the mud, and pull or push this pin in.
Tha-That's where you turn the all-wheel drive on and off.
So he just leaves it in 4WD all the time.
Even though redline is 8500 RPM, the limiter is set at 9500 RPM,
which gives this car a top speed of 98 mph.
That's where it's limited by gearing.
And a 0-60 time in the ballpark of 8.5 seconds.
So the lightweight nature of the car adds a bit of punch to it that might not have been there otherwise,
considering the underpowered engine.
But the underpowered engine is the point, but we're going to get to that in a little bit later.
Modifications include: new fog lights and folding mirrors
but make no mistake:
the body length is shorter than Aldo vs. McGregor.
It's got a solid amount of legroom at the expense of trunk space.
But it's a 4WD kei car, so what'd you really expect?
Other quirks include a fob button that will turn the alarm on and unlock the car
but it won't lock the car if it's already unlocked.
No, seriously. This car's right at the apex of 90s weirdness that us Americans never had.
If I could get this in the United States, I'd be the most popular guy at every Sheets meet.
In a sense, it doesn't do any kind of disservice to the name Daihatsu,
which has been around for 110 years now.
But then it doesn't exactly change the game either.
You have to look back at how Daihatsu was performing in this side of the world in its early run.
It wasn't until the 1960s that Daihatsu started expanding to Europe
and even then they didn't see real success until the 1980s with the kei cars.
It's significant to note that by 1998 Toyota had gone from being a shareholder in the company
to gaining majority ownership with 51.2%.
So, in a way, cars like the Cuore were foreshadowing the end of Daihatsu
as an independent company calling its own shots.
Granted, Daihatsu hasn't been entirely independent since Toyota bought in back in the 1960s,
but there still was a certain autonomy to the brand that no longer existed
by the time the 21st century rolled around.
That's when sales dropped like a hot rock.
By 2013, Daihatsu pulled out of Europe entirely
and, in August of 2016, Daihatsu completed its transformation into a subsidiary of Toyota.
Or, more importantly, an emerging compact car company.
I suppose Toyota saw that Daihatsu knew small cars better than just about anybody
and sees the value and what they can bring to the table.
But it's hard to imagine that the Toyota influence won't become more overt as time goes on, rather than less.
But after knowing all this, I'm confident Daihatsu will always exist, in some form or fashion,
as long as they keep building cars people want, even 20 years on, in the middle of Essex.
HOW DOES IT DRIVE?
I would be the KING of scary, tattooed high schoolers in this.
They would say "Yo" at me while I drive slowly,
while revving high on Route 222.
Wait a minute. What would that...
What the hell is happening in this picture?
I took it for a reason... what is everybody doing?!
I don't remember why.
This has got to be like an album cover or something.
I'm sorry if we're focusing on this one shot,
I just like it so much.
Every shift is a sensation.
[Live Mr. R]: "Does it like it when it goes up that high?"
PAUL: "Yeah..."
"The limiter's at 9500."
MR. R: "Wow!"
PAUL: Big power's at about 7000.
MR. R: "Okay, this is a very tall tire with-- tall car with tiny tires..."
PAUL: "But it doesn't turn very well."
MR.R: "but it turns better than the Ford."
"Can I go for it?"
PAUL: "Yeah, sure."
MR. R: "See right now, it feels like it's going to break!
[Mr. R down shifts, very high revs]
"Ooh! Sorry, dude! That wasn't... Shit!"
"Alright, you know what I forgot? I forgot about third. I forgot about... I'm sorry man."
PAUL: "No worries."
MR. R: "It didn't go to the red though!"
"Uhhhh..."
[Post-production Mr.R]: Rrrggg, ughhhh, I was doing so well!
and I missed third...
I'm sorry, Daihatsu.
Sorry, Little Daihatsu.
Let's talk about revs.
WHAM...
The tachometer needle slams its peg anytime you want.
Every stop sign pull out, every acceleration away from a roundabout is Virtua Racing fast.
And the fear is real.
Fear moves blood.
Blood rises COCK.
COCK MAKES BABIES...
UNGA BUNGA
I get what Marty from Mighty Car Mods was talking about.
Ooh, this thing is fun!
I'm reminded of the time I first drove a lawn tractor
And I pretended it was something other than what it was.
Okay, okay, okay...
Driving a Daihatsu LongName is the car equivalent
of riding a Honda Metropolitan, Yamaha Zuma, or Honda Ruckus.
You are at wide open throttle all the time.
Every road interaction is do or die
because you have all the facilities but none of the power.
So you use it ALL. All the time.
This.
This Daihatsu is more fun to drive
than alllllllll of these.
The Daihatsu MetroidSaveCode is one of the most fun cars I've ever driven.
But these things are going to be so expensive when they get legal in the United States.
Because in the United States, all our small cars are for poor people.
They never... I mean, we understand the original Minis.
We understand MGs and even MG Midgets.
But when it comes to modern cars that are deliberately small,
we think, "Oh, those cars are for LOSERS."
And the manufacturers don't help that.
They don't make any nice small cars.
No, "nice" is the wrong word.
They don't make any *desirable* small cars.
Miata? Maybe?
But that's a sports car, not a small utility car that is fun.
Scion tried... Toyota tried with the Xa and the Xb. They tried.
More so with the Xb.
But again, that's America-sized.
Maybe it's a safety thing that we could never get here.
Well, I mean, clearly it is. We have the 25-year rule.
But the Daihatsu is fun for the same reason motorcycles are fun:
Because it's all up to you.
That brain,
that gray matter inside your skull...
that's what's keeping you alive.
The Rolls-Royce Wraith is a penthouse suite and this TR XX R4 is a little tent in the woods.
By yourself.
Which do you think you're going to remember more?
I know I didn't talk about the engine that much
other than that it revs.
The turbo...
I don't really feel it.
It's doing what it can.
But it's fun that it's there.
I would have loved to have this thing on a slick track, or something like that.
But again, still, the height of the car and the narrowness of the car worries me
and, certainly, I don't have the skill to drift this.
Chris Harris, maybe.
So this is the end.
This is the end of RCR UK.
And, uhh, I have to choose which car I like the best
and in most ways, you save the best for last
and it has to come down between this Daihatsu...
or the Rover 75.
Which one would I rather have in the United States?
If I could take one of these home, or buy it and take it home,
which one would I rather have?
Now, of course, this is fantasy because 25 Year Rule.
Both of this things are still illegal to import.
Do I want a kei car or do I want "So British"?
I could see how this Daihatsu would get annoying on long trips.
And if there's a uniqueness [to] the United States, it's that the distances between cites are quite long.
And maybe that also speaks to the Daihatsu.
Road trips to Americans are cultural touchstone,
and small cars, even that Honda Fit that we had, got sore after a while.
They made you sore.
My Aw11?
Mmm. Kind of annoying after an hour on the highway. Just that VVVVVVVVVRRRRRR
As this I think would be, the Vagabond Falcon is more suited to road trips than the Aw11.
We like those long, pioneering, Oregon Trail, legendary, placehold adventures.
And I don't know if a kei car could satisfy that in the United States.
Now both of these cars would be a nightmare to service in the US.
Neither parts are available.
Although, the Rover 75 is, partially, BMW 3-Series based.
So realistically, if I could have any car here,
my favorite car from the RCR UK roadtrip is
the Rover 75.
Ok, we're going to have a thank you video coming out for everybody who helped
and when the reviews pick up again
we're going to be back in the United States, doing our thing.
Thank you very much and thank you for liking RCR UK.
🎶 And all I want to do 🎶
🎶 is come drive your Daihatsu, your Diahatsu... 🎶
🎶 And all my life I promise to 🎶
🎶 Not crash your Daihatsu, not crash your Dai... 🎶
🎶 your Daihatsu... 🎶
🎶 They say that the platform is kei 🎶
🎶 The JDM one, and not the same 🎶
🎶 that Chrysler made to be, the one they sold in '83... 🎶

How to Aim and Align your Headlights Correctly

1A Auto Parts:

- Hi, I'm Mike from 1AAuto.
We've been selling auto
parts for over 30 years.
We're dedicated to delivering
quality auto parts,
expert customer service,
fast and free shipping,
all back by our 100%
satisfaction guarantee.
So visit us at 1AAuto.com,
you're trusted source
for quality auto parts.
- In this video we're gonna be showing you
a universal procedure for checking the aim
on your vehicle's headlights.
Now this is not a specific
or precise measurement
for inspection purposes
but more a way of making
sure that your new headlights
are functioning and at
the appropriate heights
to get the best performance out of 'em.
So if you've replaced your headlights,
the vehicle's been in a collision
or you plan on carrying a lot more weight
in the vehicle than you normally would
it may be necessary to adjust
the aim of your headlights.
I have a homemade
headlight aiming board here
but this process can easily be done
on any flat surface with 25 feet of room
from a vertical straight wall.
What we're going to do
since we can move our
headlight board fairly easily
is this center line needs to line up
with the center of the
front of our vehicle.
In this case it's going to be
the badge on the front of the car
and I wanna make sure that I'm straight
and parallel to the nose of the vehicle.
Some other good indications
would be the body lines,
license plate brackets or a hood ornament
centered in the hood.
So we'll now back our
vehicle up in a straight line
25 feet to the front of the headlights.
It's important that you make sure
all four of your tires are at
the appropriate air pressures,
your vehicle has about a
half a tank of gas in it
and it should also have any loads
that the vehicle regularly carries,
such as tools, equipment
or any type of supplies
that may weigh down any
part of the vehicle.
Check the marking on your headlight.
Ours is a DOT VOR which is
a visibly amiable headlight
as well as DOT VOL and DOT VO.
Also depending on your
vehicle and location
you may have an ECE or E CODE headlamp,
all of these are visually
aimable in similar ways
to the one we're going to show you.
If your vehicle is older
and does not have a US DOT marking on it
then it needs to be aimed with
a mechanical aiming device
that's pretty hard to come by
so your best bet is to do the best you can
visually aiming it with a board or a wall
like we'll show you here.
If you're not familiar,
turn your headlights on
and check which are
the high and low beams.
On our vehicle the
outside are the low beams
and our inside are
gonna be the high beams.
After you've checked all your other things
like your air pressure and
the weight in the vehicle
you'll want to jounce your suspension.
And what we mean by that
is grab a firm part,
either the bumper or the
radiator support here
and rhythmically bounce
it up and down a few times
and allowing the suspension to settle.
This will make sure that it's at
it's appropriate ride height
and isn't stuck in an odd position,
it'll just set everything level
into the proper ride height.
So we have a little dot in our
lens that you can see there
and I just used a dry erase marker there
to you show you where it is.
We're gonna put a little dot over that.
You don't need to do this
but I feel it makes it a lot easier.
Take a tape measure and
measure from the ground
to the center of that dot.
On our vehicle it's just about 32 inches.
The next thing you'll wanna locate
is your headlight adjusters.
Now these are gonna be in
different places on every vehicle
but ours has a toothed wheel
down here with a hex on it
so we can adjust that
with either a ratchet
or putting a little screwdriver in there
and clicking it clockwise
or counter-clockwise.
You may also have horizontal adjustments
but for our vehicle it's just these.
With our headlight on,
we've shut off the lights in our shop.
If you're doing this outside
you'll wanna do it at night.
This line here is our headlight cut off.
That's what we'll be using to adjust from,
above that is dark and below that
is where the brightest
portion of the headlight is.
Now what we're gonna wanna do,
and I'm just gonna stand in
front of it for this purpose,
we now know where are
right side cut off is
and from here it looks to be
just about 27, 26 inches which is low.
We wanna be generally,
two to four inches below
the center line of our headlight.
In our case 32 inches.
So we'd wanna be somewhere
in the 30 to 28 range.
Our left one is actually right about at 32
so it's pretty much dead level
and we want that to be
actually a little bit lower
than the right side.
So what I'm gonna go for here
is getting the left side to
about 28 inches, 29 inches.
And I'm gonna go right to the 30 mark,
on the right side so we'll
have our left cut off
a little lower to prevent
from blinding drivers
on the other side of the road.
And our right side will be a little higher
to still gives us a good view ahead of us.
Block the headlight that you aren't aiming
with a piece of cardboard,
you could use a chair
with a jacket over it
which is what we're going to do.
So we have our socket and
ratchet on the adjuster
and we're gonna see which
way moves the headlight.
Right now I'm turning
clockwise or to the right
and the beam is going up.
It's also very important
you don't wanna lean
too much of your weight
onto the vehicle while you're doing this
and you also don't wanna push
against the headlight in any way.
So clockwise is bringing it up.
We're going to rotate it counter-clockwise
until we get down to 28 inches.
And again we're using a
headlight aiming board
but you can easily do
this with a piece of tape.
I'm marking everything off.
So our cut off there is right at 28 inches
just where I wanted it.
I'll move our chair
in front of the driver's headlight.
And you can see there,
that they are pretty
much level at this point
which isn't a bad thing.
But just a couple of turns can get us
a little more visibility.
And that's why we're here.
So I'll rotate this one clockwise
up to 30 inches.
Till that cut offs right here.
So we're now two inches
below the center axis
of our headlight on the passenger side.
And four inches below
on the driver's side.
And that's what your
headlights should look like.
If adjusting fog lights as well
you'll usually find
something similar to this,
like our 2011 Camaro
where it's a Phillips head screw
or possibly a hex bolt or
just a little thumb screw
or something you move with
a flat blade screwdriver
or pry tool.
Really it's going to be very similar
to the style of adjuster and procedure
of adjusting a headlight on any vehicle.
So now we're gonna show you a method
you can use to aim your headlights
assuming you don't have
a headlight aiming board
or access to one and
can't justify making one
just for aiming your headlights one time.
So we already know the center line
of our headlights are at 32 inches.
I have my vehicle pulled up to the wall.
So we wanna mark where the
center of our vehicle is
just as a reference.
In this case I'll be using
the badge on the front of the car.
So mine's a little awkward
because I have this beam here.
You'll be using a flat board.
There's my center mark.
Now I'm gonna go over in
front of the axis dots
in my headlights.
And I'm gonna put it just about straight
and level with 'em.
And this doesn't have
to go all the way down
or all the way up,
just keep it right about in
line with that headlight.
And I'm going straight
to this axis as well.
We'll now back our vehicle up 25 feet
to the front of the
headlights from our wall
or in our case the back of our board.
So I know the heights of my
headlight axis is 32 inches.
So I'm gonna make a mark on my tape
32 inches up from the ground.
Now I already know that I'm gonna want
to adjust my headlight
four inches below this line
on the driver's side.
We'll then make our 32 mark
on the passenger's side.
And on this side,
I know I wanna be two
inches below my axis.
Just to make this a little
easier to see at distance
I'm going to another piece of tape,
I'm gonna put my bottom edge
flat with my 30 mark here.
So my cut off is gonna sit right here
in putting the tape above that line
makes it's easier for
me to see a difference,
if there's any lighting shining up there.
And we'll do the same
thing with my 28 mark
on the driver's side.
Again this isn't super precise
but we're just doing
this to make the vehicle
safe to drive.
Your local inspection station
will have to do a precise measurement
if your state does a
headlight aim inspection.
Now we know roughly
where our headlights are.
You can sort of see the two cut offs here.
Let's make things easier,
I have a jacket on the back of a chair
that I'll be using to
block each headlight.
My driver's side is a good ways higher
than it should be.
And the passenger's side
is quite a bit too low.
So what we're gonna do now
is use the appropriate tool
to adjust the headlight.
And it's important that
you don't put your weight
onto the vehicle while you do this.
I'm gonna start clockwise
which brings my headlight up,
that's good, that's the way we gonna go.
Counter-clockwise would bring it down.
And I'm gonna bring that cut off line
right to the bottom of my tape
so it's light and the brightest part
is just below the tape.
But the tape line is still dark.
Slide the chair over
to the passenger's side
and now I know counter-clockwise
should bring my driver's
side headlight down.
So I'll bring that down, same thing,
until my cut off line,
you can see the tape getting darker there,
right there my brightest point
is at the bottom of the tape.
You can see now that our passenger's side
is about two inches higher
than the driver's side
which is exactly what we want.
So our driver's side won't blind
drivers coming the other way.
And our right side will
stay nice and far out
so we can keep an eye
on the side of the road
for animals coming out of the woods
or pedestrians on a sidewalk.
So we performed this
with a 2009 Nissan Rogue
but the basics of this procedure
are going to be the same on any vehicle.
Your only major
differences are going to be
where that center axis
of your headlight is,
your specific state's
inspection requirements
for headlight height
and the exact location and tool
you'll need for your adjusters.
But what we've done here
is gotten a nice new
set of headlights aimed
so we can drive safely
and still get the best
performance out of our product.
- [Mike] Thanks for watching.
Visit us at 1AAuto.com
for quality auto parts,
fast and free shipping
and the best customer
service in the industry.

RCR goes to Coventry Transport Museum

RegularCars:

Kitty cat...Kitty cat...Kitty cat...Kitty cat...Kitty cat...Kitty cat...
Kitty cat...Kitty cat...Kitty cat...Kitty cat...Kitty cat...Kitty cat...
Surprisingly not afraid of the GoPro.
Kitty cat...Kitty cat...Kitty cat...Kitty cat...Kitty cat...
Coventry.
I don't get that I can't get a normal cup of coffee anywhere. It's all Americano.
Is it...am I just batting zero this entire time? Like, just not a regular cup of coffee.
I don't get it. Been here for a week now.
And I thought WE put bacon on everything...
Everything has mayo on it.
Touching me means I will not survive for others to enjoy...
Bah bah bah bah bah
This week on "Roadkill":
A chair?
Jeeps only recently got away from these shocks.
These early motorcycles used brakes
exactly the same as bicycles.
Just little friction pads that rubbed on the rim.
These engines had areas for one or two
spark plugs.
And also, what the frick is up... is that a...
double barrel carburetor in an inline?
How the hell does that work?
Austin Metro.
Like, all that stuff back there?
You know right, in front of people?
Austin Metro? Behind glass.
Gearbox? What Gearbox?
Aww yeah, war!
Awesome! Awesome!
Economy! Gruel...
Hey - hey Alex Roy. I got something better than your Morgan.
Brandish... nope, the Coventry Premier Tri-Car.
This car gets 12 miles per mustache.
Sweet Detroit Steels, bro.
[Mr. R makes weird, stuck-up British noises]
India.
Hnnnnnng....
You say you build big American cars. Holy moly, this thing is massive.
1935 Queen Mary's Daimler. Oh wait. Oh wait, that's before the merger. Never mind
It's like a house.
Like, the entire thing is a bus stop.
Get her drunk enough, and he'll let you perform the Armstrong Siddeley.
Look: jobs.
Yeah, gun car.
I mean, all it is is a tank with wheels.
Looks freaking cool though, it's like all proportional. And there's no light here.
Welcome to the job museum
Alright! Shell-shock experience!
I'm both austere and posh.
How is this possible?
Cars and Coffee.
And by the way: this
is probably worth around $20,000 in the United States.
u wot m8?
I remember seeing the Triumph Stag from Top Gear.
It uhhh...
It's got a weird back end but not that bad looking.
Oh, there it is.
One in the museum.
Just get me one of these back home, and I'll be happy as a clam.
Does that mean it I should buy one?
Ahhhh....
It's like a lowrider tank?
This is fricking cool!
1960 Maud- Marit... Oh, I'm sorry. 1968 Daimler Ferret Scout Car.
That thing's bitchin' looking! Like it's... I'm taller than it is.
Here's my toy caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar.
I wonder if the DeLorean traces some of its roots to the TR7. It's like that + MR2 + something.
I wonder if this was the Jaguar that
Holden Caufield's brother had.
Because that thing takes place that...
"Catcher in the Rye" takes place in what? Late 50's? And they say the older brother bought a Jaguar? "Jag-u-are"?
Because yeah, that's 1967 that book was written.
Yeah, it had to be something like this.
Brown.
Positive camber. Just like Silicon Sally.
This [???] interests me, like in a real rally car.
We don't get to get up close to these things.
And the whole back engine - back end of this thing's an engine.
It's a Group B rally car. It's a frickin' death machine.
Ohhhhhh....
It's just made to just fly through the air.
Nice.
Well yeah, but how faster would it be with an LS?
What are these, train wheel?
Like, like, the disc brakes are an inch thick and they're just solid.
Wait, why does it have breaks in them to begin with?
Man...
And this is the one that broke the sound barrier.
Hope you can understand how big this thing is.
It's just two...
jet engines.
That's all it is.
Of course the idea that if this thing went faster than the speed of sound, you know it's like mach
1.2 or something like that, then that means how fast with these fricking wheels going?
I wonder if it was just... were there even tires on them? Or was it just metal on the on the desert floor?
I'm just so in awe with this. There's really no jokes to make -
Ohhhhhh....
This entire plaza is a Tony Hawk Pro Skater level.

Why Not to Put Wheel Spacers on Your Car

Scotty Kilmer:

rev up your engines, today I'm gonna talk
about why not to use wheel spacers on
your car, now lately quite a few people
have been asking me, Scotty is it
alright if I'm gonna get bigger wheels
to put wheel spacers in my car and some
guys say, hey I'm gonna get a wider
traction so I want to put wheel spacers
so my tires are out further, well it's
not a good idea and here's why
using spaces is basically just a rig, you
get the spacers they go over the hub and
bolts on over that, it's just a cheap way
to get bigger rims to fit on a car or to
make your wheels go out further, these
are really cheap ones here
they make ones that actually have in
sets, where they bolt to your hub and
then they have new studs sticking out
that the wheel goes on, but they all do
the same thing, they push the wheel out
further, it's basically a cheap way of
modifying the suspension system on your
car, guys do it because maybe they got a
wheel that doesn't fit right,
so they'll put spacers to make it fit or
they want to have their tires out
further, so that it handles differently
or has more acceleration with bigger
tires, but it's just kind of a cheap way
of ringing things and it's not a smart
idea, in that sense it's just like the
video I made a while back about why not
to change the muffler on your car to
one that makes more noise, the engineers
have designed these things, they spent
decades perfecting suspension systems,
they created them so the tire rides
perfectly and will wear evenly but still
can corner are really well and
accelerate in corners without skipping,
and guess what, when your tire is bolted
onto the stock hub, all that geometry is
correct, from the angles of the top to
the bottom, to where the tread contacts
the road, this was all carefully designed
so if you get a spacer and stick it on
here, it's gonna make the wheel sit out
further and the theory is, a wider track
you're gonna get better grip, but really
from what I've read from the engineers,
the most you're going to get better
doing that is one two maybe two,
which isn't much and since doing this
moves the tire out further, that changes
the entire geometry of the suspension
system, which often leads to more tire
wear, it can make your steering effort
harder, it can make your steering
somewhat unresponsive under harsh
braking because of the change in this
geometry, and lets face it, if you modified
your car to go faster, the last thing you
want is unresponsive steering when
you're braking hard, and because it's
changed the way that the tire sits, it
also can wear your wheel bearings out
faster, they're loaded differently and
they weren't designed for that load they
were designed for a load that was closer
to the center of the wheel bearing, so
the wheel bearings can wear out faster
now you have to use your head when it
comes to trying to modify your car, come
on, these engineers have been designing
these things and they started with basic
wagon technology in the stagecoach days
and got into the sophisticated cars that
can break handle and be a nice ride, you
start modifying it by sticking your
wheels out further, hey it's just a dumb
idea really, now big wide tires are
fantastic for drag strips, because you want
the most contact you can, to get all that
power to the ground, so that it takes off
and doesn't just sit there spinning
skinnier wheels, but hey we don't drive
quarter mile races, we drive all
over the place in our cars and you're
gonna ruin all other aspects of it just
to get one thing of, going in a straight
line a quarter of a mile faster, now I do
admit that spaces are better made than they used
to be, these are the cheap ones, the
actual expensive ones look like this,
they are quality made, they bolt on and
then they got their own studs and nuts
to hold your wheel in, it's not like
they're gonna fall off if you put them
on correctly, because again decades ago when
I was a young mechanic, some of these
kids I actually saw the wheels fly off
because they were just using cheap ones
and not bolting them on right or they were
so thick that there wasn't enough for
the nut to go onto the stud
so it wasn't holding it much and they
would just fly off when they took off
fast, that's not a problem with modern
vehicles with these well-made hub
centric
really quality products, but still it's
ruining the original design of the
vehicle, and sure guys are always gonna
do those kind of mods on jeeps and stuff
especially ones that they take off-road
I mean if you've ever been in a Jeep,
they ride like crap anyway if you're
gonna put these giant wheels and you're going
rock crawling, it's a specialist vehicle
that you're having fun with, it's not
something that you drive every day on
the road, because if you do all the
fillings in your teeth are gonna fall
out, so now you know the truth about
wheel spacers and why you should really
stay away from them, unless you're going
to the drag strip or rock crawling, so if
you never want to miss another one of my
new car repair videos, remember to ring
that Bell!

The Fatal Flaw of Subaru Cars

Scotty Kilmer:

rev up your engines,
Camden, Scotty thoughts on newer Subarus
and CVT reliability if you heard their
cars not of the 90s I'm looking to buy a
Forester okay, Subarus one main big flaw
was their automatic transmissions were
garbage over time and they cost a
fortune to rebuild, their CV
transmissions are no different, they
still have problems and they cost a
fortune to rebuild, you want something
that you're gonna drive forever do not
buy one, if you want a Subaru and
you want it to last a really long time
get a standard transmission and they
are well-built, there are actually
standard transmissions, but do not buy an
automatic transmission Subaru and think
it's gonna last forever, if you have to
buy an automatic transmission go Toyota
they make the best ones, there's no if
ands or buts about it, but if you like
Subarus and you can drive a standard, go
ahead and get one at standard but never
by any of the Subarus with automatics or
CVT s, because they have lots of problems
I rented a Subaru with a CVT and it had
like 8,000 miles and the transmission was
already shifting crappy, so there's no
way that I'd ever buy one of those
things, I'll run them because if it breaks
it's not my problem it's the rental cars
company, and I always do rent different cars
when I go on a business trip or
vacation because I like trying out all the
different cars to tell people what I think
about them, Kevin
rank says, my parents bought
me a 2006 Nissan Altima in October with over
with over 150 thousand miles they bought
it for $2,800 did they pay too much, yes
they did that's a 13 year old Nissan
Altima with 150,000 miles on it, now $2,800
doesn't buy what it used to buy, but I
wouldn't have paid that much for it for
sure because Nissan's are notorious for
having problems, now let's say it doesn't
burn much oil and the transmission
shifts good, if it does, then at least
it's still a decent car but those
engines are notorious for burning oil
and blowing head gaskets for having bad
automatic transmissions, so baby that car
now I know you can drive them fast but
don't take off Jackrabbits and don't do
burnouts on that thing, because then
you're pushing your luck, it's like
playing with fire, they have weak engines
and
weak automatic transmissions, so baby it
change the oil every four or 5,000
miles and you never know, you know
$2,800 these days for car isn't that
much money, but they did pay a little bit
too much for it with that mileage
knowing those, if it had been a Toyota no
but for the Nissan yes that's a bit too
much, Shatty says is high
mileage full synthetic beneficial or is
continuing full synthetic fine if you
have no leaks or burning off, oh yeah
you can just stick with full synthetic
if you've been using that, the high mileage
stuff you know, they claim oh it's
gonna do this, it's gonna do that, there's
no miracle additives, if an engine is worn
an engine is worn, and if you're
not burning or leaking oil and you're
using full synthetic just stick to what
you're using, the reason people go to
these, Oh for an older engine and it
helps them out high mileage is because
maybe they got bad seals and it's
leaking oil, it can maybe rejuvenate them
a little, and it might have additives that can try to lubricate the engine a
little bit better, but if you're not
leaking or burning oil
my advice is stick with the oil that
you've been using and it's working why
change something it works,
Greg D says, I got a 2013 Honda with a
CVT transmission it went out at 125,000
miles, we want to replace it what do you
think is the most reliable car out there,
you had a Honda you didn't say what kind of
Honda you had, let's say you had a Civic
well then go get a Toyota Corolla
they're much more reliable or are you
saying you've had an accord get a Camry
the Toyota Camrys costs more but they're
very reliable cars and they're much more
luxurious, depends on what kind of money
you want to spend you know, I mean
sometimes people ask me, should I buy
this car or that car, sometimes they're
completely different cars, I say it
depends what you want, do you want a
luxury ride a lot of acceleration or do
you want a car that's gonna last forever
and get better gas mileage, you got to
decide what kind of car you want and
then go from there, but regardless of
what type of car you want look for it in
a Toyota, because their still the most
dependable cars out there, and I'm not
being paid by Toyota, I wish I was you
know, they probably got a lot of money
because they make really good cars but, fool
proof
eske says, Scotty I bought a 1993 Honda
Accord with a manual
transmission when I'm shifting gears it
takes a while for the RPMs to drop and
the lag in RPMs can be noticed, car
has two hundred sixty eight thousand
miles on it, okay if you shift and
that takes too long for the RPMs to drop
odds are you need a new clutch and it's
just slipping, any mechanic let them road
test it they'll tell you if the clutch is
slipping, the clutch could just be
slipping and wearing out, it winches inside
the disc and as it's worn, the pressure
isn't enough that the disc gets too thin and
it'll start to slip and then the RPMs
won't go down, so odds are you just need
a new clutch in it, it's you know two
hundred sixty eight thousand miles, the
thing is just flat worn out, so if you
never want to miss another one of my new
car repair videos, remember to ring
that Bell!

2014 Chevrolet Captiva: How to Connect Bluetooth

Bachman Chevrolet:

In this video we'll be showing you how to
connect your Bluetooth to the 2014 Chevy
Captiva.
Start by powering up for
entertainment console and making sure
that the Bluetooth is activated on your
smartphone. Next, press and hold
the speech button on the right side of
the steering wheel's hand grips. When the
system responds "ready", say "Bluetooth" then say "Pair". Open up the Bluetooth menu on
your device and select your vehicle, or
hands free, then enter the PIN given to
you by the voice assistant. It will then
ask you for a nametag to store the device
under. Once they're successfully paired,
you can use the system to make a call.
This system allows you to stay safe on
the road without sacrificing your
productivity. For more news, reviews, and
how to's on the 2014 Chevy Captiva and
other Chevrolet models please subscribe
to our channel.

Why Not to Buy a Honda Element - The Worst Starter Design

Scotty Kilmer:

Rev up your engines!
today I'm going to show you how to replace
a starter on this poorly designed Honda, where
you have to take the engine apart in order
to replace the starter,
boo on the Honda engineers,
now I know it needs a starter because I checked
the battery and the charging system and that
works fine, but the customer was complaining
that once the engine was warmed up and she
tried to restart it, the engine would start
really slow or wouldn't start and then eventually
it would start,
which is a sign of the starter wearing out
and on this it's because it's hidden deep
inside the engine and it gets a hear soak
and then it just burns itself out,
now the first thing we do is take off one
of the battery terminals so we don't short
anything out when we're working on the electronics,
get it out of the way,
and then use an old pan to put nuts and bolts
in because we have to take all this plastic
crap off to get to the intake manifold,
the you have to remove the intake hose to
the manifold,
get it out of the way,
then we unbolt the throttle assembly and pull
it out of the way,
so all the wiring won't be in the way when
we take the intake manifold off, then we take
the six bolts off the intake manifold,
then you slide the manifold, and there's not
much room but you got to get enough room to
get to the starter,
all I have to say is, curse the engineers
that built this,
starters use to be, you just jack the car
up, it would be a couple of bolts, or on the
top, you take the air filter off and it would
be there,
these guys are idiots designing a car like
this,
now there's no working room so in order to
get the stupid manifold out of the way we're
going to have to take all this plastic crap
off,
off that comes,
and we're going to have to remove the stupid
brace too, so all this has to come off,
then you pull the crossmember out of the way,
and now you got enough room to get to the
starter,
and as we look inside here, here's the stupid
starter,
now we can unbolt it,
then you move all the stupid wires out of
the way,
and take the two bolts off that hold the starter
off,
and then you wiggle the crap out of the starter
and finally, there it is, the stupid thing,
then of course compare the new starter to
the old one,
make sure the plugs are the same, the angle
is the same,
and it has the same amount of teeth, because
if anything is wrong, it's a lot of work to
take it all off again,
then you slide the starter and you put the
top and the bottom bolt on and get them nice
a tight,
then you bolt the electronics on and plug
in the little starter wire,
and then comes the fun of putting all the
crap back on,
I could strangle those engineers,
we wiggle the intake manifold, and we wiggle
it and line it up,
then bolt the throttle assembly back on,
the put the air intake hose back on the air
filter and back on to the throttle and connect
all the hoses that you had to take off,
and before we put all the superficial stuff
back on start it and make sure it runs,
success,
so now you know what a pain in the butt it
is to change the starter on a Honda Element
and why maybe, hey you shouldn't buy one in
the first place,
so if you never want to miss another one of
my new car repair videos, remember to ring
that bell!

How to unlock a car door (without a key)

Make It Easy Mechanic:

locking your keys inside the car sucks
in this video I'm going to unlock three
different vehicles using different
methods and tools to help you figure out
what method works best for your car.
First make sure you have proof it is
your car or whoever you're helping can
prove it is their car. Check every door,
window, trunk or tailgate, and glass! You
just might get lucky. Our first vehicle
has a vertical knob on top of the door
panel and the most accessible tool
you're most likely to have on you is a
shoelace or a string. Make sure it is
long enough to cover the window
diagonally. Step number one - slide the
string in through the top corner of the
door. Tip: now when you go to fit the
string in you might run into weather
stripping and rubber molding that
doesn't let you get past it, so use a
thin object to guide the string in over
the rubber molding. Step number two: once the string is inside move it to one side
of the window and make a slip knot
here's a better view of how to make one:
basically it's like tying your shoe - you
pull on one side it tightens your knot
you pull on the other side it tightens
your loop. Now pull the slip knot into
the window area and try to fit it over
the knob
Here is a tip: if your loop is pointing away
from the knob you can twist the string
and slide the twisted part into the
window area and then pull back to make
the loop point in the right direction,
like this! Once you put the loop over the
knob
pull the string ends apart to tie the
knot and pull up and there we go the
first car is unlocked
next tool we can use is a wire hanger or
any long wire you can find very helpful
tool you can use it in many different
applications unwind the hanger and
straighten it out leaving a hook on one
end. Now let's take a closer look at our
knob - all it really is, is just a rod
going down to the latching mechanism
so what I'm gonna do is let the hook
down between the window and the
weatherstripping
which I do recommend removing to get a
better visual of what's inside the door
catch the rod or the part of the
latching mechanism it is attached to and
pull up and the door is unlocked
another useful tool is a slim jim basic
concept: Pull on one side and push on the
other to navigate the loop that you
would slide over a vertical knob.
Same basic steps you may have to pry the door
a little bit
slide the slim jim down, fit it over the
knob and pull up. I personally don't
really care for this tool, I think it has
very limited application.
However the door is unlocked and let's move on to
the second vehicle this vehicle does not
have a vertical knob, the locking knob
moves horizontally and is significantly
harder to get to but take note - pulling
the door handle unlocks the door!
And we also have a manual window which could be used to our advantage
And now again let's take a closer look
at our locking knob: all it is - is just
another rod that goes to the latching
mechanism moving horizontally instead of
vertically here
I took the latching mechanism out of the
door so you can see that there is a
black piece moving up and down as I move
the rod back and forth. So all we need to
do is pull up on it and the door will be
unlocked. While I'm trying to catch the
mechanism I wanted to mention that your
wiper blades (except curved ones) have
metal rods in them that you can use for
this method just pull the blade end down
to get them exposed. You may have to use
pliers to pull one out, bend it to make a
hook and you're ready to go!
Now back to our board:
I finally caught the mechanism and all I
need to do is pull up and the second car
is unlocked
Now since the inside handle unlocks the
door, we can try to utilize that too
let's grab the other end of our wire
hanger and make a loop about a finger in
size
make sure to twist it a few times so
that it doesn't unwind when you pull on
it
next pry the top corner of the door and
fit a wedge in it. I am using a small ice
scraper to get it started and a wooden
wedge you can use a doorstop or some
wooden kitchenware like spatulas and
such try not to use screwdrivers as they
will damage your paint. Basically you're
just trying to create an opening just
big enough to fit in the wire
once the wire is in throw the loop over
the handle and here I want to share
another tip with you: once you're on the
handle - bring the wire down so that
you're pulling straight back, instead of half up - half back

And there we go! That sweet sound of the
door finally opening. And let me play this one more time!
And finally our third
and most difficult car: It has no
vertical knob, it does have a "lock/unlock" button but pretty hard to get to
the locking tab is cone-shaped and the
door handle does not unlock the door
- pretty tricky. On top of it, it has cables
instead of rods, so nothing to really
grab on to. So the easiest thing to do
here is to use an actual lockout toolkit
used by professionals which consists of:
a long reach tool, inflatable bag, and a
wedge tool. Since this door doesn't have a
metal frame around the glass I'm going
to use the inflatable bag - wedge it in,
inflate it, give yourself some room to
fit the metal rod through. Don't pry it
more than you have to - you don't want to
shatter the glass, obviously.
then just fit in the rod and here you
have two options: you can either push the
unlock button or turn the locking knob.
Now while I'm trying to get it unlocked
I wanted to mention even though most of
you probably don't have a tool kit like
this handy you can try to imitate it
with something like an antenna or a hood
prop rod from another car of course I've
seen people use golf clubs the bottom
line is there are options so don't get
discouraged and use your imagination.
And there we go, our third car is unlocked!
now I am going to try to turn the
locking knob
Thanks to the rubber tip, it takes no time to execute. And again that sweet sound of the door opening
You can also use this tool to open manual
windows, push locking tabs, and pull on
door handles. Now this should be enough
for one video, if it was helpful please
give it a thumbs up in the next video
I'm going to talk more about unlocking
this Subaru and other cars using a less
conventional approach and about
preventing yourself from being locked
out thank you for watching good luck and
take care

How to Vinyl Wrap Interior Trim | DETAILED GUIDE |

Boost & Shutter:

what's going on I went ahead and wrapped
the interior trim of my WRX with a
brushed steel textured vinyl and I
wanted to share my installation this is
gonna show you what you can expect and
how to make your own installation go
smoother let's get to it
here you can see everything we're gonna
need to get this job done these are all
the trim pieces that I'm going to be
wrapping and I'm gonna be wrapping them
with this brushed steel vinyl this brush
steel vinyl has brushstrokes running
vertically on the vinyl itself and
that's important because if you're
wrapping a long piece like this and you
want the brushstrokes to run
horizontally on the piece then this is
not going to reach because it's not long
enough so you have to either get a piece
of vinyl wide enough to cover the
longest piece that you want to wrap or
you have to get a piece of vinyl that
has the brushstrokes running in the
direction that you want it in this
case it would be horizontally that's not
going to be a problem if you're using a
solid color now my vinyl came in a kit
and it came with a little tube of primer
I'll explain that in a little bit it
also came with a squeegee with a
felt-tip and this is so that you don't
damage the vinyl as you're installing it
you're also gonna need some alcohol and
a rag to wipe the pieces before you
start your installation and x-acto knife
to cut the trim on the back of the
pieces, a heat gun you can do it with a
blow dryer but heat gun is much more
effective for the job and it has a lot
of other uses so it's good to have
laying around and to make the job easier
if you have some painters tape laying
around and a piece of cardboard so you
don't damage the surface you're working
on first thing I'm gonna do is cut a
piece of vinyl to size I'm gonna
anchor it with a piece of painters tape
you don't have to do this it just helps
then you can position the piece where
it's gonna go you're gonna want about a
1-inch border around the particular
piece that you're cutting keep in mind
that if you have textured vinyl to cut
the piece according to which direction
you want the texture to go so in my case
I want it to go this way so I'm gonna
place it just like this with a 1-inch
border around now it'd be nice if the
vinyl had a grid in the back to kind of
show you the line so you can align
properly all it has are these little
markers so that's basically what you
have to go by you don't have to worry
about that obviously if you have a solid
color but if you have textured then you
do have to worry about that
so preparation is going to be the most
important part of this entire job so
when you remove your pieces of trim from
your car if you have any sort of residue
on them any waxy residue make sure you
clean the piece with like soapy warm
water that way you can remove all the
wax and strip it and make the surface s
pure as possible and to get it
completely ready we're gonna give it a
good cleaning with alcohol and this is
gonna get all the contaminants out and
it's gonna get the surface ready to
accept the adhesive on the back of the
vinyl so you're just gonna wipe it down
don't forget to do the edges on the
inside of the piece because that's where
the vinyl is gonna wrap around with the
vinyl position where it's gonna go you
can start getting the high areas you
don't have to do it very hard right now
because you might have to do this right
here that I'm doing all right before I
get much further I want to show you
something this step right here is not
mandatory this primer is gonna help the
adhesive on the back of the vinyl really
really grip onto the piece this is not
meant to go on the entire surface of the
piece that you're covering this is only
meant to go on the very edges where the
vinyl is gonna wrap around basically
is gonna make your installation last
longer you can buy these separate if you
want or like I said these can come in
the kit you don't need them but they do
help if you do get them there's a black
dot right there there's a capsule inside
with a primer so you have to crush that
black dot to release the primer onto the
applicator right there also another
thing to keep in mind if you take off
the vinyl in the future the primer can
leave a residue behind okay you crushed
that piece this smells very strong okay
so this inside edge is gonna be the
hardest part of this piece so I like to
start with the hardest part I'm doing is
taking the applicator and going around
the perimeter of that inside edge
by the way this applicator is a one-time
use is not going to last more than a day
because it'll dry out so just keep that
in mind too
we'll let that dry there's a lot of
tension in this middle part right here
and that's because of this gap in here
there's a bridge going on from this side
to this side you can see that right
there there's a bridge right when you
have situations where there's a bridge
like that what you want to do is
minimize the tension on the corners and
the way you do that is by starting down
the middle and then working your way
outward if you started on this side
you're gonna cost too much tension on
this side and vice versa
so we're just gonna heat the piece in
the middle it's important to apply a lot
of pressure on this that way you can
prevent air bubbles so you can see what
I'm talking about now you have all of
that tension in these two edges right
here when it comes to vinyl heat is your
friend but you don't want to over
stretch the vinyl so make sure you only
use the heat when you absolutely need it
and if you're working like I am with
your fingers make sure that your nails
don't scratch up the vinyl you can scratch it so I'm being very careful
here
and we're basically gonna do the same
thing going around the piece so I'm gonna
heat it in the middle and kind of work
my way that way and back this way so I'm
gonna turn the piece over here in a
second but before I do I want to make
absolutely certain that there's no
trapped bubbles of air anywhere so I'm
gonna give it a good look especially in
the corners where there was a lot of
tension so I'm really paying a lot of
attention to this corner here and that
corner there and these corners and I
don't see any air anywhere
so what I'm gonna do now is I'm just
gonna cut out a hole down the middle to
relieve some of that tension in here so
I can finish wrapping the corners these
corners are nice and rounded so I
shouldn't have a problem stretching the
vinyl over them without having to cut
deep slits in it when you cut to relieve
the tension make sure you leave yourself
about an inch working surface because
remember you're gonna have to wrap the
vinyl around
it's better to be conservative with
these slits rather than overdo it and
find out later so if you want to cut
more after you start heating then you
could do that but if you cut too much
and you bring it to the corner then you
can't fix it I'll start with this
surface here because I have a good way
to hold it on this side you want to pull
a little bit and stretch just a slightly
stretch not too much you don't want to
overdo it with the stretching if you get
to the point where there's too much
tension we'll cut a slit again so I'm
going to cut a little slit here because
there's a little tension there so we're
gonna end up wrapping that around but we
just have to be patient and do it slowly
from this point it's basically rinse and
repeat keep applying heat so that the
vinyl remains pliable if you try to
stretch it while it's cold you can
easily rip it the goal here is to wrap
the vinyl around the rim and then
once we're done we can trim the excess
this requires a bit of patience so take
your time and you'll be okay once you're
satisfied you can go ahead and use the
exacto knife to cut all that excess off
make sure you use your fingernails to
kind of push the vinyl tightly around
that edge there where we put the primer
a lot of people don't show the backs
when they're doing these on videos and
it's probably because it just never
looks good but it doesn't matter the
back is the back you're never gonna see
the back just make sure that you don't
end up covering the clips because
obviously you need to put the piece back
on the car so what matters is how it
looks from the front and that looks
great so we're gonna go ahead and do the
outside of the outside corner is easier
than the inside corners now the corners
are the hardest part to do we're gonna
heat it up and then we're gonna kind of
spread the corner out neither side it
has too much material so we're gonna
basically spread the material evenly on
both sides so I'm just heat it up and
I'm gonna grab it and at an angle pull
it over this heat is your friend it
doesn't look good you can pull it back
out and do it again see right there it
doesn't look bad at all already when you
hit it with heat it kind of wraps around
the corner and that's when it wraps and
it doesn't you know come off that's when
you know you're good so that's you know
that's that's good right there especially
with a primer that's not going anywhere
see there so that doesn't look bad and
that doesn't show anyways but it doesn't
look bad I'll do the same thing on this
if you got too much material just cut
it to make it easier to work with
so all I'm doing is pushing the vinyl onto
that edge make sure we have a solid
connection there and then we'll cut the
excess off
I hope this video at least motivates you
to take on your own wapping project I've
done this a handful of times and every
time it comes out better with a little
patience you can transform your car to suit your own tastes be sure to leave the
video like if it was useful to you and
consider subscribing for more content
just like this thank you so much for
watching and take care

How to Replace a Clock Spring (airbag light & horn not working)

ChrisFix:

Hey guys, ChrisFix here and today i'm going
to show you how to replace a clock spring
in your car or truck!
And were going to be working on this 2007
Toyota Prius, but don't worry, replacing a
clock spring in most makes and models is the
same process or at least very similar so after
you're done watching this video,you'll know
exactly how to replace a clock spring in your
vehicle.
And so you know this job shouldn't take you
more than an hour, MAX, even for beginners,
and its completely worth it to do this yourself,
I contacted the local Toyota dealership, asked
them for a quote to see how much it would
cost to replace a clock spring, and they quoted
me $650, parts and labor, to replace the clock
spring.
Now if you were to buy this part yourself,
and aftermarket part just like this one, was
$20, and if you wanted to get an OEM part
like this, this is around $220.
So either way, you're saving a ton of money.
So let me show you where the clock spring
is located, and what it does!
So the clock spring is located behind the
steering wheel right back here, so in order
to get it out, we have to remove the airbag
and we have to remove the steering wheel,
but don't worry, its not difficult to do.
So what does a clock spring do?
Well this is actually pretty important, what
a clock spring does, is it connects all the
electronics on the steering wheel, the airbag,
the horn, all the buttons here, and it allows
you to spin the steering wheel, and maintain
that electrical connection, so no matter where
the steering wheel is, the horn, airbag, all
that stuff is going to work, if you had regular
wires in there, they would just twist up and
break off.
So how can you tell if you clock spring is
bad?
Well it's actually really simple to figure
out and diagnose!
Basically anything the clock spring connects
to you want to test out.
For example, the horn, you can see the horn
doesn't work here, you could test all the
buttons on the steering wheel, and the last
thing to check, is on the dash, you want to
look for an airbag light, and you can see
there is an airbag light on.
So because our horn isn't working, the buttons
aren't working, and we have that airbag light
on, i'm very confident our clock spring is
bad.
Now you might have one, or even all these
symptoms so you have to try to figure it out.
Another thing is, when this car is driven,
sometimes, when you turn the steering wheel,
the connection in the clock spring gets connected,
and the airbag light shuts off, the horn starts
working, Oh, there we go!
The horn starts working, you can see like
that.
So as the wheel turns, the connection in there
is just making enough contact so it starts
to work.
Obviously, we don't want an intermittent connection,
we want to have a connection that works all
the time!
So we have to replace that clock spring.
Since our airbag light is on, and this car
is newer then 1995, that allows to use a OBDII
scanner like this, so we can scan the computer
and see if that airbag light is telling us
the clock spring is no good.
And most of the time, the OBDII port where
we need to plug this in, is going to be underneath
the dash on the drivers side.
So if we take a look underneath the dash,
right there you could see where the OBDII
port is, so were going to go and plug this
in.
Now we need to get the car into the run position,
so if your car uses a key to start, put the
key in the ignition, and turn it all the way,
right before the car starts, to that last
click, that's the run position.
Don't start the car.IF your car has a push
button start like this, take your foot off
the brake, and sometimes you need to press
this once, and sometimes you need to press
it twice.
And once you see your dash lights come on,
now your car in in the run position.
Now we could grab our phone, and click on
the app, and we are going to go to "read codes",
and we want to read the "SRS", the airbag
light, so we want to click on read common
dash codes, so click that right there, and
let it do its thing let it scan the computer
and check for all the codes.
Alright so its showing 2 airbag codes, "B1801"
and "B1811", both are saying squib circuit
is open, and what a squib circuit is, is that
clock spring airbag circuit in here, so its
letting us know its open, its not connected,
there's a break in it.
So if we click on this to check the code,
again squib circuit is open, it is a common
code, so this is actually a common problem
on these priuses, and its telling us the most
frequently reported fix is to replace the
clock spring assembly.
So, that's what were going to do, its amazing
what technology could do to help you diagnose
a car.
We knew pretty much that the clock spring
was bad.
The horn wasn't working, the airbag light
was on, the buttons weren't working, it makes
sense, and we just verified it with the OBDII
scanner, now that we know we need to replace
our clock spring for sure, you know how to
diagnose it, lets go and replace it!
And here are all the tools you'll need to
get the job done, were using common hand tools
so you could follow along at home and get
this done yourself, so we have a ratchet,
some sockets, a T27 Torx bit, sometimes you
have Torx bits to get the airbag out, sometimes
its just a regular socket, we have an extension,
we have a wrench, we have a Flathead and phillips
head screwdriver, we have a marker, some black
tape, and a torque wrench, now some steering
wheels don't come off easily you might need
a puller set like this, so don't worry you
can rent one of these for free at your local
parts store.
this is very inexpensive to buy, and then
you can keep it.
I'll link all of these tools in the description
so you could easily find them, anything here,
that you see, that you're like "Oh i need
one of those", right down in the description
so you don't have to worry about it.
And finally, the last decision you have to
make, is wether or not you want to go OEM
or aftermarket on your clockspring.
That decision is up to you!
I am using an aftermarket one because this
was $20 versus $220, and, the OEM is known
to go bad on the Prius, so why spend all that
money for something that's just going to go
bad again?
If it does go bad you don't have to worry,
it will let you know, the airbag light will
come on, or your horn wont work, so you'll
know this is no good.
And it's so easy to replace, its not worth
spending all that extra money in this case.
If you have a nice car, or you that, it's
not common for it to go bad, then it's probably
worth it to go OEM but in this case, aftermarket
is fine.
Now the next thing to do, after we get all
our tools, and our parts, we want to make
sure that we park the car straight, you want
to make sure that your steering wheel and
your wheels are straight.
So the wheels are good, now lets go in the
car, good, and our steering wheel is straight,
and that's important because our clock spring
is going to go in, one direction.
If it's off to the side, it won't go in properly,
you could also break the clock spring if it's
not straight.
So having everything straight now is going
to make our lives a lot easier after we remove
the steering wheel.
So with the wheel straight, now we could go
and remove the negative cable from the battery.
Now in most cars, the battery is located under
the hood, but in this car, the battery is
located in the trunk.
So let's pop the trunk, and the battery is
located in the passenger side, so lets remove
the carpet, lift up the floor that covers
this bin, then we have to lift the bin out
so we can remove this cover that covers the
battery.
Now we have access to our battery, and we
can unscrew it and then we could disconnect
that negative cable from the post. and make
sure you push it off to the side so it doesn't
touch the post at all.
And with the battery completely disconnected,
now we want to wait about 10-15 minutes for
the capacitors in the car to completely discharge,
that way there is no power going to the airbags
at all.
And that makes it completely safe to work
on.
Okay so 15 minutes later our airbag is safe
to remove and in order to remove it, there
is a screw on this side, and a screw on that
side holding it in so lets move around to
the side of the steering wheel.
You can see this trim piece right here and
it looks like we have a little bit of damage
from someone trying to take this off in the
past so I wonder if the clock spring was already
replaced.
So now is actually a good time to bring up
a quick tip, your going to be using something
like a flat head screwdriver to remove this
plastic trim, and so you don't damage it,
like this person did, what you could do, is
get a little bit of electrical tape, and you
could cover the tip of your screwdriver, so
its less likely to cause damage.
Now we get in here, and pop this out like
so.
And that gives us access to our Torx bolt
right in there there.
So lets break this bolt loose, good!
And many times these bolts don't come out
all of the way.
You can see it's held in by a little plastic
piece to prevent the bolt from coming out.
Good, so with the bolt unscrewed all the way,
now we could go to the other side of the steering
wheel, and do the same thing.
Carefully pop the plastic trim out, unscrew
the Torx bolt, and now the airbag is free
to removed, and make sure you do this carefully,
because it's still connected to some wires.
Now to remove the airbag wires, get a small
flathead screwdriver under the plastic tab
on top of the connector, and pry it upwards.
Do the same for the other connector.
And now we could pop both of the connectors
out of the airbag.
Then we could set that aside, and remove the
ground cable.
So with the airbag removed, a safety tip when
working with airbags, always place the airbags
somewhere facing up!
Never face it down, if you face it down and
it goes off, for whatever reason, it going
to shoot out, but if you face it up, and it
goes off, the airbag will just explode, and
you'll be fine, but we don't have to worry
about it, the airbags not going off, it's
disconnected, you'll be fine!
So next what we want to do is remove the wires
that connect to the different buttons on the
steering wheel.
So just press down on that top clip of the
plastic connector and pull it outwards, and
make sure you pull for the plastic clip, and
not from the wires themselves, which could
damage it.
Good, so were going to keep the yellow airbag
wire attached, and just move the steering
wheel button wires out of the way, and now
we want to remove our bolt.
That's what holds the steering wheel in.
But before we remove it, grab a marker and
we want to mark this so we know exactly how
it goes in.
So use the paint marker to mark the center
steering shaft, the nut, and the steering
wheel all in one line, just like that.
And the steering whee; and nut and the shaft
here all being marked all in line is going
to help us out a lot when we remove the steering
wheel and then we have to go put it back on,
because you could put it back on a little
crooked and that could cause damage to the
new clock spring, and also your steering wheel
wont be straight.
So with our steering wheel marked, now we
could get our 19mm socket and get it on there.
And the first thing you'll notice is this
steering wheel will turn as you try to loosen
this nut, so that's not going to work.
So straighten out this steering wheel, and
then jam your legs up against the bottom of
the steering wheel, so the steering wheel
doesn't spin.
And you could use your other hand to help
give you even more leverage so it doesn't
spin.
There we go!
Alright, and now we could remove this nut
the rest of the way.
Alright so lets get that nut completely off,
and beautiful so there we go now that the
nut is removed, we could remove the steering
wheel.
So just wiggle the steering wheel back and
forth as you're pulling just like this, beautiful,
and then it should come loose and then carefully
remove it so you are not pulling out any wires.
Now not every steering wheel comes out so
easily, some of them, you need to use a puller
set like this, and don't worry, it's very
simple, i'm going to show you how to use this
in my mustang where you need a puller set
to get that steering wheel off.
Alright so the first thing you do is make
sure you screw in the bolt or nut that holds
in the steering wheel, but just screw it in
a little bit.
This will prevent the puller from damaging
the threads on the steering shaft.
Next you want to find the right size bolts
that fit in the threads of the steering wheel
holes, and it looks like these black ones
thread in there perfectly.
And i'm going to screw these bolts into these
threaded holes on the steering wheel, which
is designed specifically for a puller.
Now your puller comes with a bunch of different
attachments, in this case i'm going to be
using this attachment, which will fit nicely
over out bolt.
Now we can grab our two bolts, tighten them
down by hand, so we don't cross thread them.
Now we could start tightening this down, which
should pull the steering wheel, right off.
And with that pop, this steering wheel is
now loose, and we could remove the puller.
Also, don't forget about that Torx bolt.
And then now our steering wheel will come
right out.
Perfect!
And now we have access to our clock spring.
Which is this right here.
And I thought that was important to show you
guys, its very simple to use a kit like this,
and you could rent one of these for free from
your local parts store.
Or you can pick one up, they are very inexpensive,
and it's good to have!
Not every steering wheel is going to come
right off, this steering wheel came off pretty
easily, but some, like on my mustang, you
definitely need a puller set like this, ill
be sure to link this in the description so
you could easily find it.
Alright so now you could actually see the
clock spring.
In order to get to the clock spring to remove
it, you need to remove this screw, and this
screw, and then there is one last screw under
here.
So lets use a Phillips head screwdriver to
remove the left screw, and to remove the right
screw, Good!
And finally, the bottom screw under the steering
column, right here.
Now we can pry apart the plastic trim around
the steering column like that, and there are
3 different wiring harnesses that need to
disconnected from the side of the clock spring
before we remove it, so lets get those off.
Good!
So with all our wires disconnected, now we
could remove our clock spring!
And if we take a look at that new clock spring,
there are 3 clips, there is one at the top,
one here, and one here that we need to press,
so that could remove this.
So we could pop that top clip out, and this
simply un-clips like that, and then we could
pop the bottom two clips out, and now this,
will come sliding right out like that!
So out with the old, and in with the new!
And I always like to compare old parts to
new parts to make sure they are identical,
and these look the same, the only difference
is the old part has an angle sensor on here,
not all clock springs have angle sensors,
but Toyota, Lexus, and some other brands have
an angle sensor that we need to take off the
old clock spring, and transfer to new clock
spring.
So the angle senor is this black piece right
back here, and its held in by some plastic
clips on the side, so get a small flat head
screwdriver, and just pry on the clip so that
you could pop this out just like that.
Beautiful! and this all an angle senor is,
its very simple, it just lets the car know
which direction the steering wheel is turned,
so if the ABS activates or the traction control
activates, the cars computer knows how to
use those systems and regain control of your
car.
Now you just take your new clock spring, and
it just fits right in.
It will literally just snap in to place, just
like so.
Perfect!
With the new clock spring all set up, lets
slide it down the steering shaft, and you
press in the two clips at the bottom, and
then the one clip at the top, and then that
is in!
Now you might have noticed this orange tab
down here, were going to have to remove that,
but don't remove it yet, it prevents this
clock spring from spinning, so as we install
all the wires and gt the steering wheel ready,
we want to make sure that the clock spring
doesn't spin, we want to make sure it stays
exactly in this position.
So don't remove that, lets get these wires
installed on the bottom of the clock spring.
And for these wires, its important that you
hear a solid click, especially for the yellow
airbag wire.
That click means this isn't going to vibrate
loose as you drive it, it's stuck in there.
Good!
Now you can snap together the plastic trim
pieces, and screw in the two screws that hold
this in place.
And don't forget that last bottom screw!
Alright, so with everything screwed in, all
connected, we have our steering wheel ready
to get installed, but first, we need to remove
this plastic piece.
And this plastic piece just snaps off.
Now real quick, lets just say, for whatever
reason, by mistake, your clock spring turns,
and you don't remember how many turns it is,
and you want to get it back to center, so
you don't ruin it when you put the steering
wheel on.
Well, on some clock springs, there's numbers
on here, you can see right there it says 5
turns that means 2 1/2 turns is dead center
so you could easily find dead center.
Another thing, see that little glass window
right there?
See how its black?
Keep and eye on it.
When it's orange, that means it's dead center.
So those two things will prevent you from
putting this off center and ruining it, just
in case when you pull that tab, this gets
spun around for whatever reason.
So now you know how to center it.
Now don't turn the clock spring, get your
steering wheel, feed these wires through,
just like that, make sire your clock spring
is centered, beautiful, so our dots right
here are lined up so we know our steering
wheel is straight on that shaft, exactly how
we removed it, our clock spring is lined up
in the middle, our airbag cable is out through
here so we can connect it to the airbag, everything
looks good, so now we can install the nut
which holds this steering wheel in.
Now there's 2 very important things you need
to do when you're tightening down your steering
wheel nut or bolt, the first very important
thing, is using medium strength thread locker.
You want to get this medium strength thread
locker on the threads.
This will prevent vibrations from loosening
up this nut.
This nut holds the steering wheel on, so it
would be very bad if it came loose as you
were driving, so definitely use thread locker!
Good, so with that hand tightened down with
that thread locker on there, the second most
important thing to do is to use a torque wrench
and torque this nut down to the proper spec.
And you guys are always asking me where I
get my torque specs.
And the answer to that is I use service manuals
like this in here, it give you the torque
specs for whatever you are working on!
For all the cars that I own, I like to keep
a hard copy, and for this car, I have an online
copy.
So lets go to the specifications page, scroll
down to the steering section, good, right
here, and now check it out, it says steering
wheel nut, 37 ft-Ibs.
So making sure you guys have the correct torque
specifications is super important that why
I always tell you guys to torque stuff down,
it's important to use thread locker, especially
for something that holds your steering wheel
in.
And now you know exactly where I get my torque
specs.
So lets get the torque wrench on this nut,
and lets torque this down to 37 ft-Ibs.
Good!
Next we could connect the buttons on the steering
wheel, right here, goes right into the clock
spring up there, just like that, and finally,
the last thing to do is connect the airbag
so get the ground wire on first, and give
it a little tug to make sure it is on there
and it wont come off.
Then we could grab our yellow airbag wires
and push the plastic connector all the way
down and then push in that yellow snap on
the top.
And with that connected, we could put our
airbag back into the steering wheel.
And with the airbag in place, the last thing
we need to do is to tighten down the 2 Torx
screws that hold it in to 78 in-Ibs.
So tighten this one down to 78 in-Ibs.
Good! then we could get that plastic trim
back on, and it just clicks into place.
And now on the other side, do the same exact
thing, torque it down to 78 in-Ibs.
And then pop that plastic trim in.
Good!
All right, the airbag is in, the last thing
we need to do is reconnect the battery!
So make sure you push that negative cable
all the way down onto the terminal, and snug
it up so it doesn't move.Then get that battery
cover trim in place, like that, lower the
privacy bin cover, and put the floor mat back
in, All right moment of truth, lets try this
out, see if it works!
So keep an eye on that airbag light.
Every time a car turns on, the airbag system
does a test to make sure that it is all good.
So if we fix this, the light will go off.
Beautiful!
We don't have any lights on the dash, and
we fixed our clock spring, now you would want
to go for a ride, make sure everything works
as at should, all the buttons, the horn, and
make sure that airbag light doesn't come back
on.
But there you go!
That is how you replace a clock spring in
your car or truck and save yourself a ton
of money, we saved over $600 doing this ourselves
in less than an hour.
So hopefully the video was helpful, if it
was remember to give a thumbs up!
Also if you're not a subscriber, consider
hitting that subscribe button for more videos
just like this and as always, all the tools
and products I use are linked in the description.