Locate an Auto Repair Shop in Fargo, North Dakota

Fargo, ND Car Consumer Discussions

Re: The conspiracy spreads.... [gagrice]

by Mr_Shiftright on Tue Oct 28 08:45:54 PDT 2008

You know, I have had my mind changed about certain aftermarket products, after linked evidence was presented to me and I could digest it and make my own judgments (*some* types of chips, *some* types of cold air intake systems, *some* types of additives) but as soon as I hear extravagant claims rather than sober and modest ones, or balanced ones, that have plausible plus and minus effects,--if I don't hear the sober and the balanced part, I'm immediately on my guard. Skepticism is a good thing---it's the "proof" that tests an idea. A skeptic CAN have his mind changed, that's the whole idea, to force the claimant to be all that he can be. Some of my personal rules for spotting a Dubious Claim: 1. Mention of a conspiracy 2. Offer to bet millions to disprove something 3. Presentation of credentials that have nothing to do with the product (e.g., "the inventor of Gas-A-Lot is a professor of sociology at Western Fargo State Junior College"). 4. Anecdotal evidence (it's interesting that people regard the term "anecdotal" as insulting, when in fact all it means in the English language is 'not having been subjected to scientific testing') 5. Claims based on "pseudo-science" or table scraps of real science, like "electro-biological" or "energy waves" or "chemical re-distribution". In other words, using terms without defining them. 6. Claiming that your opponents are fools, Nazis or merely spoilers of some sort. 7. Claims using all CAPITAL LETTERS. :P

Re: new TL [strokeoluck2]

by habitat1 on Tue Oct 14 12:11:24 PDT 2008

Dollar cost average and buy like crazy at these levels. I'm not sure you came to the right place for financial advice. And the "buy like crazy" suggestion is, IMO, worth about what you paid for it. I was just at lunch with an executive from one of the largest financial services companies in the world. His take is that there are several more shoes to drop before this mess is even close to over. We haven't seen hardly any commercial mortgage defaults....yet. There are probably some good stocks to buy now, but there are also some that could be lethal. I myself am getting hammered on Wachovia which looked like a screaming deal when it went from 60 to 20. Unfortunately on it's way to 6 - and only 6 because Wells Fargo beat out Citibank to keep it from being worth NOTHING. My advice - find someone as passionate about stocks as I am about manual transmissions. And then get their advice.

Re: more frequent changes... [eashley]

by zman401 on Sun Sep 28 02:20:16 PDT 2008

The more often the better.. this is a quote from a Carb bible or possible an engine builders bible. it is about how often to change oil. This should help others assuming they read this frequently.." You can never change your engine oil too frequently. The more you do it, the longer the engine will last. The whole debate about exactly when you change your oil is somewhat of a grey area. Manufacturers tell you every 10,000 miles or so. Your mate with a classic car tells you every 3,000 miles. Ole' Bob with the bad breath who drives a truck tells you he's never once changed the oil in his car. Fact is, large quantities of water are produced by the normal combustion process and, depending on engine wear, some of it gets into the crank case. If you have a good crank case breathing system it gets removed from there PDQ, but even so, in cold weather a lot of condensation will take place. This is bad enough in itself, since water is not noted for its lubrication qualities in an engine, but even worse, that water dissolves any nitrates formed during the combustion process. If my memory of chemistry serves me right, that leaves you with a mixture of Nitric (HNO3) and Nitrous (HNO2) acid circulating round your engine! So not only do you suffer a high rate of wear at start-up and when the engine is cold, you suffer a high rate of subsequent corrosion during normal running or even when stationary. The point I'm trying to make is that the optimum time for changing oil ought to be related to a number of factors, of which distance travelled is probably one of the least important in most cases. Here is my selection in rough order of importance: 1.Number of cold starts (more condensation in a cold engine) 2.Ambient temperature (how long before warm enough to stop serious condensation) 3.Effectiveness of crank case scavenging (more of that anon) 4.State of wear of the engine (piston blow-by multiplies the problem) 5.Accuracy of carburation during warm-up period (extra gook produced) 6.Distance travelled (well, lets get that one out of the way) If you were clever (or anal) enough, you could probably come up with a really clever formula incorporating all those factors. However, I would give 1, 2, and 3 equal top weighting. Items 1 to 3 have to be taken together since a given number of "cold" starts in the Dakar in summer is not the same as an equal number conducted in Fargo in January. The effect in either case will be modified by how much gas gets past the pistons. What we are really after is the severity and duration of the initial condensation period. All other things being equal, that will give you how much condensate will be produced and I would suggest that more than anything else determines when the oil should be dumped" :) In short even conventional oil last a good while if you have ideal conditions. Synthetic definately flows better and lasts longer no doubt. The article also pointed to a BMW enthusiast site talking about how some of them are having sludge problems. So If you are going to keep your MINI forever Change it often, IF it is a lease or if you know you are going to trade it in use manufacturers/dealers recommendations

Re: Main Reason [kernick]

by gagrice on Fri Sep 26 15:51:17 PDT 2008

They spin a good tale of pending economic disaster if any of the Big 3 fail Just look over the last few weeks how the media moaned about WaMu the largest banking failure in history. When they hit bottom from poor lending practices a real bank bought the pieces and will carry on banking like nothing ever happened. Proof, I went into my WaMu this morning and it was very light traffic for a Friday. I talked to several of the ladies. They knew it would happen sooner or later. They are happy that Chase bought them and not B of A or Wells Fargo. One of the ladies has worked that branch long enough to remember 3 prior names on the building. She says the 4th will go up in a few weeks. No big deal except for the stockholders that let the bank run amok. a decently run business should be able to get loans from banks or issue stock? If they can't get a loan and no one is willing to invest in the stock - what does that tell you? It is time to shut the doors and let someone sell the product that knows what they are doing. I am not sure if anyone wants any of the Big 3 brands except maybe Jeep. The rest all have competitors that are as good or better. The Truck brands will probably survive. One of the largest Chevy Dealers went bust. So they don't have to pay him. I think I miss Studebaker & Packard more than I will miss any GM or Ford product.

Re: Bill Heard Chevrolet shuts down [explorerx4]

by volvomax on Fri Sep 26 15:44:15 PDT 2008

kind of like 'Fargo'? Yep!