Car ?'s

Fifey

Fifey

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Dandai said:
The clear coat at the back of the roof of my Honda Ridgeline is flaking off. I’m fairly handy, so I did a cursory search on how to repair it DIY style, but this looks like a lot of effort and easy to make it look awful.

Anybody got any experience and advice on fixing a flaking clear coat?
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If its flaking, there is no cheap fix. Has your car has been worked on before? They possibly could have blended into the roof, which usually looks good out the repair shop but fails after 5 years of sun/use.

Id say just leave it, any DIY fix is eother instantly gonna make it worse or take about a year before it starts again. Plus if you take it to a shop after, theyll charge extra for the hassle of stripping your work.
 
Dandai

Dandai

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Fifey said:
If its flaking, there is no cheap fix. Has your car has been worked on before? They possibly could have blended into the roof, which usually looks good out the repair shop but fails after 5 years of sun/use.

Id say just leave it, any DIY fix is eother instantly gonna make it worse or take about a year before it starts again. Plus if you take it to a shop after, theyll charge extra for the hassle of stripping your work.
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Hm, ok. Aesthetically, it’s not really bothering me, but I assume there’s a reason to have a clear coat?

I’ve only had this truck for a little over two years so I’m not sure if that area was repaired previously.
 
Fifey

Fifey

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Dandai said:
Hm, ok. Aesthetically, it’s not really bothering me, but I assume there’s a reason to have a clear coat?

I’ve only had this truck for a little over two years so I’m not sure if that area was repaired previously.
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Clear coat is there to make your car shiny and protect the base coat. It's pretty common for cars that see a lot of sun (SW states) to peel on the flat surfaces(hood, trunk, roof) since they take most of the sun. Technically it wont do any more damage to just leave it and get it fixed when/if you try to sell it since it's still got the base coat there, it won't cause any rust/exposure to bare metal.

All a shop will do to fix it is sand it back until the clear coat stops flaking and then base/clear coat it again.

A bad blend from prior work would look like this.

Failing-C-Pillar-Blend-Med.-Blue-Metallic.jpg
 
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Dandai

Dandai

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Fifey said:
Clear coat is there to make your car shiny and protect the base coat. It's pretty common for cars that see a lot of sun (SW states) to peel on the flat surfaces(hood, trunk, roof) since they take most of the sun. Technically it wont do any more damage to just leave it and get it fixed when/if you try to sell it since it's still got the base coat there, it won't cause any rust/exposure to bare metal.

All a shop will do to fix it is sand it back until the clear coat stops flaking and then base/clear coat it again.

A bad blend from prior work would look like this.

Failing-C-Pillar-Blend-Med.-Blue-Metallic.jpg
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Ah, yeah that's pretty obviously not good and exactly how mine would look if I tried to do it myself lol

Thanks for the heads up!
 
GuardianX

GuardianX

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Carried over from the home thread

BrutulTM said:
Whatever you do, don't pay $75 for that stupid 3 pin connector. If you can't find a mating one on amazon, just cut it off and buy something similar. They are plentiful and dirt cheap.

Click to expand...

Trust me man I have been looking, I even bought a housing adapter from a GM model that was supposed to work on this car...didn't work and I had to jury rig it to even get it into the lamp hole...at which point it wasn't even deep enough to reach the reflectors.

the one you linked is a tad too wide for the pins as I can see.

I'm looking at:


as a possible option because it is a tad closer but my final ditch effort is to send the connector off to dad (because he has the removal tools) and then buy the above in prep for the worst which would be soldering direct to the lamp filling the lamp with heat resistant / water sealing material. If they ever need to repair that section they are going to have to replace that whole harness anyhow.
 
a c i d.f l y

a c i d.f l y

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If your clear coat is flaking, best to just scrub it really well and lay down a few layers of wax with a sealant or protectant.

Maguiers is my preferred super wax.

This protectant kicks the llama's ass. It's like RainX for your paint/clearcoat. HydroSilex Recharge

DIY you're just going to fuck it up and make it worse. This will stave off the deprecating process for a long time. Redo it about once every sixish months. I get questioned a lot how my car stays so shiny all the time. Wax, polish, seal. Done well will easily last up to a year or more before a car wash strips it enough for dirt to start sticking.
 
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3301

3301

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Honda Odyssey has headlights and interior dome lights randomly pulsating (dash and touchscreen radio are unaffected). Alternator checks out, right headlight bulb went out tonight and was replaced. Battery is okay. Honda service guy says it could be a bad ELD. Most of the time the pulsating is not that bad but there have been a couple times it’s quite noticeable while driving at night.

Lights work just fine when the engine is off.

Any ideas?
 
BrutulTM

BrutulTM

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Any time electronics are acting bizarre, the first thing to look for is a ground problem. Finding it is easier said than done though.
 
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a c i d.f l y

a c i d.f l y

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mcdj22 said:
Honda Odyssey has headlights and interior dome lights randomly pulsating (dash and touchscreen radio are unaffected). Alternator checks out, right headlight bulb went out tonight and was replaced. Battery is okay. Honda service guy says it could be a bad ELD. Most of the time the pulsating is not that bad but there have been a couple times it’s quite noticeable while driving at night.

Lights work just fine when the engine is off.

Any ideas?
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LED bulbs have built in ballasts, and if they don't have strong, consistent power, they will pulsate. Your alternator may be good, enough to keep the car running, but the juice its spitting out isn't consistent. The longer you have inconsistent power to a ballast, the life is drastically shortened. You can buy another bulb, but that one will eventually go out, too. Would have them double check your alternator and the connective belts.
 
3301

3301

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a c i d.f l y said:
LED bulbs have built in ballasts, and if they don't have strong, consistent power, they will pulsate. Your alternator may be good, enough to keep the car running, but the juice its spitting out isn't consistent. The longer you have inconsistent power to a ballast, the life is drastically shortened. You can buy another bulb, but that one will eventually go out, too. Would have them double check your alternator and the connective belts.
Click to expand...

Pretty sure the headlights are halogen. Alternator has been checked twice, belt is fine, proper tension etc.
 
BrutulTM

BrutulTM

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LEDs in a car wouldn't require a ballast/driver. That is to convert 120v AC power to DC and an appropriate voltage for LEDs. In a car the LEDs could run directly off of the 12v DC from the car battery.

I've often wondered if all light bulbs eventually become LEDs if houses will start to be built with a central power converter and then just low voltage DC lines run to all the light fixtures. That would make the individual LED bulbs extremely inexpensive.
 
Ronaan

Ronaan

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BrutulTM said:
LEDs in a car wouldn't require a ballast/driver. That is to convert 120v AC power to DC and an appropriate voltage for LEDs. In a car the LEDs could run directly off of the 12v DC from the car battery.

I've often wondered if all light bulbs eventually become LEDs if houses will start to be built with a central power converter and then just low voltage DC lines run to all the light fixtures. That would make the individual LED bulbs extremely inexpensive.
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That would also probably kill a lot less people and set a lot less houses on fire. Maybe.
 
Axiel

Axiel

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120V is hardly lethal. Lower voltage means more amps and hotter wires, so more houses on fire. Well, it'd be offset by the lower power consumption of led bulbs.
 
Ronaan

Ronaan

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Axiel said:
120V is hardly lethal. Lower voltage means more amps and hotter wires, so more houses on fire. Well, it'd be offset by the lower power consumption of led bulbs.
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Us non-plebs on 240 live life the dangerous way!
You're right though and I dun goofed.
 
BrutulTM

BrutulTM

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Axiel said:
120V is hardly lethal. Lower voltage means more amps and hotter wires, so more houses on fire. Well, it'd be offset by the lower power consumption of led bulbs.
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I've seen a 600 lb heifer electrocuted by 120V. It can definitely happen. Whatever you're doing if your wire is getting hot you aren't using the right wire.
 
Frenzied Wombat

Frenzied Wombat

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I have to say the move to touch screens in cars sounded cool, but in practice it's proven to be pretty dumb imho. Had a new A6 loaner while my car is in the shop and the whole thing is touch screen, which looks cool, but not being able to use muscle memory and tactile feedback like you would a knob forces you to take your eyes off the road for every little thing.
 
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ver_21

ver_21

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Frenzied Wombat said:
I have to say the move to touch screens in cars sounded cool, but in practice it's proven to be pretty dumb imho. Had a new A6 loaner while my car is in the shop and the whole thing is touch screen, which looks cool, but not being able to use muscle memory and tactile feedback like you would a knob forces you to take your eyes off the road for every little thing.
Click to expand...

Analog steering wheel controls for the win. A programmable steering wheel might be interesting...
 
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