What did you do to/with your vehicle today?

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by freebeard

With alloy wheels you can employ a step drill, else a machined ring.

Spent what time I have for cars today on my daughter's BMW, which is almost all I do for cars right now. Next in line is my wife's Subaru. Then mine. Third in line, the Black & Green Civic does not get much love.

My daughter smacked a curb and bumped the rear passenger wheel over a curb corner at a stop sign. By the time she got home this infernal machine was throwing "BMW codes" for the TPMS and the traction control real loudly on its stupid 2006 dashboard computer screen. Then it started sqwaking a bout the ABS, too. I recently bought a multi platform scanner that is also special for the E90 BMW, so I am sorting this out. Yesterday's victory was confirming that the car is safe to drive. Today was clearing codes and finding what comes back and I found the "Intelligent Battery Sensor," which is right over the wheel she wacked into Orange County infrastructure, had come unplugged (probably in the "impact"?). Pluggin it in made some marginal progress. If I have to replace all these parts it could run me $1,000, assuming I can do the labor. Have I said before how much I hate this car? Tomorrow, I think I will do a battery reset of the ECU, see what that does. And when that inevitably fails, maybe Friday I'll try checking wheel speed sensor connects and some other relevant nonsense. BMW is an acronym for stupid vanity.

[California98Civic]

I appear to have fixed multiple codes through methodical diagnostics. Cost me a $198 scan tool, which is mine to keep, and I avoided the $120 diagnostics fee my daughter was quoted. The tool works on all my cars (and my old scan tool was stolen last winter anyway). Also cost me a roughly fifty-cent, 40-amp fuse. I avoided the risk of the shop using fault codes to talk up repairs and replacements of the ABS, the traction control module, the tire pressure monitoring system, and the steering geometry sensor... what would THAT have cost from BMW?!

Hopefully the codes do not come back. I think they won't, most probably.

I want to thank this EM community for this... I began serious auto repair learning on this forum 10 years ago. This is my primary car community. Almost all of my teaching-peers were/are here.

Have a good eve, guys. I am back at my writing.

[M_a_t_t]

Originally Posted by California98Civic

How large/small is the center bore? Online you can find lists of rim sizes that include center bore... I have downloaded lots of that info (in case sites disappear as they have in the past).

I didn't take the wheel back off, just used a set of calipers on the stub axle/protrusion, but I measured 59mm. The wheels might be 60mm.

Anything helps in the search.

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by M_a_t_t

I didn't take the wheel back off, just used a set of calipers on the stub axle/protrusion, but I measured 59mm. The wheels might be 60mm.

Anything helps in the search.

The list on bolt-pattern.com is really good and international. They list a ton of old Fiats as having 4/98 and 58.1 Center Bore, so I bet that's the number you are guestimating. If you got a set of center bore spacers of a couple milimeters, you would have more selection of rims with larger centerbore.

There are Dacia rims there listed as 4x100 with a 60.1 center bore... there are other makes with 58.1 mm centerbore....

The second gen Ford Ka (2009-2016) has precisely your specs: 4/98 & 58.1 center bore. Ditto lots of Lancias, including relatively recent models. The Peugeot Bipper and Bipper Tepee 2008-16 is listed with exactly your patterm and bore.

Lots of Ladas have had the 4/98 bolt pattern with center bore 58.6. A few Nissans are very close. A bunch of Renaults are close.

The Subaru Trendy/Justy first gen (84-88) is listed at 4/100 and 59.1 center bore. With a spacer... that fits.

Clearly a hard match to make!

[nemo]

Originally Posted by California98Civic

I appear to have fixed multiple codes through methodical diagnostics. Cost me a $198 scan tool, which is mine to keep, and I avoided the $120 diagnostics fee my daughter was quoted. The tool works on all my cars (and my old scan tool was stolen last winter anyway). Also cost me a roughly fifty-cent, 40-amp fuse. I avoided the risk of the shop using fault codes to talk up repairs and replacements of the ABS, the traction control module, the tire pressure monitoring system, and the steering geometry sensor... what would THAT have cost from BMW?!

Hopefully the codes do not come back. I think they won't, most probably.

I want to thank this EM community for this... I began serious auto repair learning on this forum 10 years ago. This is my primary car community. Almost all of my teaching-peers were/are here.

Have a good eve, guys. I am back at my writing.

Congratulations! Hopefully it does not return or you may be looking for what shorted to cause the blown fuse. Another extra fuse in the glove box and showing your daughter which it is might be worth the effort.

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by nemo

Congratulations! Hopefully it does not return or you may be looking for what shorted to cause the blown fuse. Another extra fuse in the glove box and showing your daughter which it is might be worth the effort.

Good points. I did explain the failure fully to her, and she has a set of extra fuses in the car. She has done lots of the work with me, so she could do this if it failed again, probably needing me oon the phone with her.

I have assumed that the failure scenario was like this: she rode pretty hard over a curb with the rear passenger wheel. Inside the trunk, above that wheel, is the battery. The battery has an "intelligent battery sensor" on it that helps the car monitor and regulate power flow (lows and highs). I found the sensor unplugged because the car was throwing "BMW specialty codes" as if it were "missing." My daughter said the failure of traction control, ABS, and the tire pressure monitor system occurred about 7 miles after the impact, when she was almost home. My theory is that the curb bump detached or almost detached the battery sensor, and when it detached it set up the possibility of a power surge at some point. When a surge happened in the traction control while driving, it finished off a possibly already failing fuse. Bad theory?

[nemo]

Originally Posted by California98Civic

Bad theory?

Not if that is indeed the function of the intelligent battery sensor and its function is not a battery saver function, to shut down items to save the battery especially on long period without driving.

You would have a better idea as to the cause as you probably researched the codes, sensor function and others having similar problems.

[California98Civic]

Finished installing a new, stitched steering wheel cover for my wife's Subaru Forester. Required removing the airbag and the steering wheel button assemblies. No biggie, but it did take 3 or 4 hours total. The old wheel cover was ok, but there was some minor peeling at the top where the sun shines most often. I wanted to stop that and give her car a fresher look. If it don't look worn, and it keep running great, should does not care to get a newer one. To me, that's an ecomod. And gooder for the wallet.

[dremd]

Installed High Resolution instrument cluster so I could stop seeing the distorted power meter caused by using to AutoPilot configuration on an Pre-AP car. I know it’s petty, but man is it nicer.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by California98Civic

Finished installing a new, stitched steering wheel cover for my wife's Subaru Forester. Required removing the airbag

Did you trigger the airbag/SRS fault light?



I took the bag out of the Mirage last week and triggered mine. I mistakenly thought (don't believe everything you read on the internet!) that as long as the key was off, it would be fine. Nope, I needed to disconnect the battery.