₦airaland Forum

Damn! I look forward the day this would become a reality here in Abuja. My aggressive Lion is not been fully utilized. It needs to be geared to its full limits once in a while. I need a track road where i can push the stick gear until it starts screaming! Whats the fun in having a RWD V6 stick/manual if i cant put some stunts on the wheels? Abuja car race? Count me in.

Ikenna.

i beg to differ from the position some of you took. Oil of a vehicle driven mainly in cities should be changed frequently, more often than one use for long distance. Use of vehicles in cities or short distances bring more wears & tears on such vehicles than one use frequently on long distance. Reason: story for another day.

Normally, you should refer to your owners manual. As for most Peugeots I know, the manual would instruct: Drain & refill oil (& change the oil filter too) every 7,500 km (5,000 miles) or at least twice yearly (every 6 months). So you are wasting your money changing oil & filter every 3 months, as far as am concerned. I dont know about other brands, though.

Ikenna.

One of the things that gives me joy whenever i stare at my two Lions. I made a good choice, after all.

Ikenna.

gulfer:
@Ikenna351, this is a spam email and i am sure generated by a spam-bot. How is it possible to have this same email on all sections of NL (44) at about the same time? Mods should delete this spam.

Thanks Gulfer. I will run for my dear life!

Ikenna

betty009:
I am Miss Betty Bill, I work with Dell Company here in the United State of America (Chicago Branch)

Sir it have come to my notice that Electronics sell very well there in West Africa, meaning that Nigeria is the place were Electronics is highly required in the Market.

i have decided to look our for God fearing and humble Nigerian, due to i am planning on establishing a Whole Sales and Retailers buying site there in Nigeria, where Nigerians can buy it cheap and easy.

These men are to represent the me there in Nigeria and each will handle each selling site there

But first, i will give each man a try by sending little quantity of the products to them and if you can sell and send the money back, then you have created a trust.

If you are interested you are to forward any required information to my mail
Full Name:
Occupation:
Age:
Sex:
to (bettybill98@yahoo.com)

Betty,

Electronics? You mean vehicle Electronics or Electrical components in Vehicles? Or Electronics like Hi-Fi, Blu-ray, LED TVs,etc? Please, we need clarification.

Ikenna.

Sorry, I stay in Abuja.

Ikenna.

Your mechanic could be right. Your SUV might have only one fuel pump. Its very common with Japanese vehicles. But its weird for him to say the fuel pump is not in the fuel tank. Please, i want anyone here to correct me if am wrong, because am yet to see or hear about a Japanese vehicle, especially cars, that doesnt have its fuel pump inside the fuel tank. Ask those that own Japanese cars here that have once changed thier fuel pump where thye pumps are located. Unless the Japanese SUVs fuel pump position differs from their cars. Well, I may be wrong anyway.

Please, the problem with your car is not an ignition issue. So there is nothing wrong with your spark plugs, unless if the engine rough idles and misfires under load or acceleration. Please, dont let him touch the injectors (by the way, its injectors not nozzles). Your injectors are not causing the fuel starvation, but the fuel pump, unless you have not told us all the symptoms the SUV is giving. Yes, improper spray pattern of injectors could make a vehicle run rich, but it would always show in acceleration. Deal with the fuel pump first. Its what i would do.

Are you sure your mechanic understood what you asked him about the "in-tank" pump? Ask him again whether the pump is inside the fuel tank or bolt into the fuel tank? Or whether is located far away from the tank? If its outside the tank, may be he doesnt know that the vehicle have another pump inside the tank. There are many ways to know if the in-tank fuel pump it still working. But you need to ascertain first if it has in-tank pump first. Google it or check the wiring diagram or workshop manual.

Ikenna.

Your in-tank fuel pump has failed and thats why the fuel cuts off once it reaches half tank. Its a symptom of in-tank fuel pump failure. If i may ask, how many fuel pumps does your SUV have? Most Euro cars/vehicles use two fuel pumps: in -tank & main/external fuel pump. If the in-tank pump fails or loose connection, the main pump will still suck fuel to engine bay, resulting to low fuel pressure. But as soon as the fuel in the tank reaches halve tank, the fuel would cut off. Its called fuel starvation. Thats what your SUV is suffering from. Also, if the in-tank fuel pump fails, the main pump whinning sound would increase/ becomes noisier. It left unfixed, the main pump would die soon, since its overworking itself to do two functions, the in-tank is suppose to assist.

Fuel starvation can also make a vehicle run very thirsty.

Ikenna.

jobfront:
I am not apportioning blames to government my dear, but no matter how we see it, life is precious and sacred, and should be handled spiritually, and no matter what, we cannot allow citizens to be committing suicide, it is a waste to our nation, some of them are talents, like my brother that died last month was a huge employer of labor, and because of his death in that accident, many of his staff had been laid off, and the business can no longer stand as it used to be, and all his visa (American business visa, Chinese, Germany, Dubai and Uk) are now waste, don't you see that there's a need to enforce a strict speed limit and the use of handsets (BBM) while driving cos we learnt he was pinging, according to eye witnesses that saw the accident.

And from what I know, and what I am doing presently (my co. new product), there is a device from a well recognized European country that helps to regulate car and tuck speeds at a set speed limit, so that no matter how the driver throttles down his or her throttle pedal, the car will maintain that set speed limit at say for instance you set it at 100 km/hr, there is no god that will make the car exceed this speed limit. In fact, we are installing it in our family cars now, and companies are coming for it too, its really good for safety and asset management.

Meanwhile, government can pass an act or legislation to enforce this through road safety, and it will become a road usage factor that you must have the device installed, and it must not exceed say 100 km/hr for small cars and 50 km/hr for trucks.

You must be joking. Am sorry to say this, but you appear to be here to advertize your device. Sorry for your brother's loss. But its very ridiculous to shift the blame of causes of accident on our hiways to the so called overspeeding. What speed is even overspeeding to you? 120 km/h? Hmm! Let me tell you something, aside carelessness on drivers part, use of phone while driving, inexperience with hiway driving, etc, one of the major cause of accidents on our hiways is FATIGUE. The longer you stay on steering on highway, the more tired you become, the more chances of sleeping off on steering. If you have 14 hrs driving on motorway to cover at 120 km/h, and you decide to speed 80 or less km/h. Believe you me, you are putting yourself in danger. You longer you stay on highway driving, the more tired you become and could lose concentration when fatigue sets in. It has happened to me before.

If you are not well experienced in motorway driving, do not venture. Inexperience is the major cause of accidents on our roads, irrespective of bad roads. Do you think its every driver that knows how steer away from potholes while on speed? Do you think its everyone can handle eventualities on highways? One thing about hiway is" be alert, prepared and couragious to deal with or handle any situation". You can be doing 80 km/h and would still have accident if you are inexperience in driving. People these days just buy auto transmission vehicles and jump into hiways, without properlly learning how to drive or what it takes to drive on highway. The auto trans dont give room for proper learning of driving. It also makes people so comfortable on hiway that they could sleep off.

My brother, there are a lot of things that causes accidents on our hiways, mostly cause by the drivers themselves. Some cars are not suitable for Nigerian hiways, yet people drive them on our hiways and expect miracles to save them. Even the conditions of the vehicles too count. So, yes, inexperienced people would speed the speed they cant control or handle incase of any eventualities on our terrible hiways, but who would you blame? The vehicle or govt? When the driver knows how bad the road is & how inexperienced he is in controlling the speed he is doing?

Ikenna.

@Somorin.

No one is saying it cant be possible to properly modify a vehicle's factory suspension. But i disgree that it can be done in Nigeria properly for now. In western world, there a lot good workshops, dedicted only in modifications, with well trained auto-mechanics. They carryout a lot of test, scientifically or electronically, to be sure it would be safe for the vehicle before embarking on the modifications. But here in Nigeria, all what those clowns do is to remove the suspension springs & put Caterpiller springs, telling that all is well. I was washing the MAKING of PEUGEOT 605 video the other & i saw the suspension was tested before it was certified safe for the car. These guys, the car manufacturers, spend huge amount of money truely in testing the suspensions of the first rollout productions of new products. They use various electronic gadgets to test & re-adjust suspensions untill the desired results are achieved. They also carry out crash test, to see how the suspensions would hold up. So guys, you cant just alter what has been tested with huge sum of money & expect it to be the same.

People die almost on daily basis on our hiways. No one bothers to ask why , how or what caused them because they become insignificant when lives have been lost & the survivors are in critical conditions in Hospitals. Yes, we would blame the govt for the bad roads. But would fold your hands & do nothing to make it safe for you, as much as you can on those roads, because govt has failed us? Yes, on smooth straight road, nothing might happen when on high speed if all things are equal, with that bad modified suspension. But since you know the state of our highways, why would one not protect himself, by making tyhe car safe first? Yes, God protects, but you have to do your bit first, before God comes in, otherwise, you are putting Him to test. You cant see a moving Caterpiller & jump before it, expecting God to send his Angels to pull you away & stop the Caterpiller from climbing you. I tell you, no one will differentiate your head from your legs, after the Caterpiller must have dealt with you! If you must raise your car in Nigeria by the Nigerians, stay away from the Nigerian highways with that car. You use it in the city, but with low speed. Because, even in the cities, speeding with it wont be safe for you, especially for those of us that resides Abuja (smooth sweet expressways all round the city). Imagine what would happen if one of the tyres burst while you are speed with that kind of bad modified suspension. Stop applying logic with your safety/live. Nigeria has not gotten there yet in that kind of proper modifications. Even to convert a manual to auto transmission or I4 to V6 engine in a car properlly is still a major problem for them & we are here talking about something that determines the stabilty of a car on hispeed!

Its your car. Yes. You have the right to do or modify whatever you want in it. But remember that you are placing your live in that car when you are driving it. It can get you to the destination you planned reaching or it can also get you to the destination you didnt plan for: Hospital or Mortuary. Its your call.

Ikenna.

bebrief:
@Wallie, I have done the above on my car and I have used it very satisfactorily to travel to the east and back this Xmas.

It's either you don't understand what i'm saying or you know little or nothing bout a vehicle.

Siena said that your travelling with your car to East & back, in that state, is not an issue. But to me, it is. Road/Car accident does not happen when all things are equal. It happens when all are not equal, unexpected; eventuality.

That you travel with the car to East & back last Xmas doesnt make the car safe on our "safe & smooth" highway. I also drove to East too that Xmas & saw the patch-patch the FERMA did on Lokoja-Abuja expressway. Very safe road indeed! We put our vehicles in good shapes before embarking on journeys, not because the car wont make it to the final destination; not because the engine would fail & strand you if you dont replace the engine oil, but because we want to prevent it from failing & expect the car to behave predictably as it should if there is an eventuality.

Have you ever drove on  the Lokoja-Abuja Expressway at night? If you have done so, you would understand why the suspensions, stability & balance of your car on highway should be a major concern to you. No one wants to drive that road at night, but when things are not equal, you would find yourself at night , driving on that deathtrap. Why? The day i drove on that road at night, i never planned for it. I drove my 605 V6 from Lagos that day, sometime in November last year, hoping to arrive Abuja by 5pm. Before i got to Ibadan, the car started overheating & it was on Sunday. I would drive for 30 mins, park for 30 mins to wait for it to cool & drove off again. I continued this till i got to Akure by 4:30pm. It was there that i decided to trace the cause of the overheating and i then found out that the radiator cap seal had failed, which was causing the overheating. I temporally corrected it & drove off finally , heading towards Abuja. I arrived Lokoja by 8:30pm. By the time i entered Lokaja-Abuja hiway, HELL WAS LET LOOSE! All manners of Long Trucks were already on that road, going to Lokoja. All of them had about 20 - 30 powerfull bright headlights all over. I was been blind by those headlights & I still have 3 hrs journey to cover before i get to Garki, Abuja that night. Before i got to Abaji, one truck blinded me , such that as soon as i passed the truck, one gully, not even a pothole, was just before me. There was nothing i could be but to jump it at the speed i was doing. That incident condemned the wheel right there. And later the hub. If not for the good state of the suspension, i wont be here writting this. So , accident doesnt happen all things been equal. The day you wiould experience similar experience of mine with the state of that your modified suspension, well, i leave that to you to answer.

Have you ever been pushed out of the road by another vehicle on highway on hi speed? The day it happened to me, all things were not equal. In September last year, 2011, i was driving my 505 V6 on Onitsha - Enugu expressway. Before i got to 9th mile, a Toyota 18 Seeter Bus, from nowhere, jump into my lane, two poles before me, heading towards me (head on collusion). Everything happened within seconds. If i remain on that lane, we would collide, face to face. Even if i reduce or brake my car, abruptly on top speed, we would still collide. What option was left? I quickly steered out of the road on that top speed. What happened next is a story for another day. But why i am telling this story is to portray how a good suspension, stable, well balanced & wide sized tyre would save your life someday. While the tyres were making  screeching noise & people around where screeming, i myself thought that was my end. My love for that my car, 505 V6, started that day. While the car was off the tared road & was un bumpy side of the express on top speed (about 140 km/h), this car remained dociled, stabled, predictable,etc. To cut the story short, when i finally stopped the car,I came out unscratched, went round the car & the car was unscratched too! To tell you how serious it was, i lost a tyre, a brand new i fixed few days before the incident.It was when the car was jumping up & down down on the bumpy side road on that top speed that the trye busted. Yet the car didnt swerve or sommersolt, which i thought would happen. Since then, i realised that what matters is how safe a car is, not how beautiful it is on highway.

So, my brother, the stories above are not ferry tales. It happened to me, not what i heard from anyone, but what i experienced. Accident! Is always about prevention that matters. make your car as safe as you can, unless you don't want any business with the highways.

Ikenna.

bebrief:
@Siena, in my own case, I grinded off the welded spring platform like you said, and welding it back about 1" higher to the strut. And to avoid any damage to the tube it was colled off with water as the welding is done. This works perfectly well. As I said, a good mechanic workshop does this well. If you reside in Abuja then visit Apo mechanic village.

Guy, I stay in Abuja too. Unfortunately, Apo mechanic village is the worst nightmare i would recommend to anyone i call a friend. Even though, i do visit them, but with "OPEN EYE" & seriously, the work must be done under my strict supervision & instructions. So, i beg to differ.

Ikenna.

bebrief:
@OP, I think one can justifiably raise the base of his/her car, especially if it was bought fairly-used. For example a 2001 Ki Optima that has been used by the original buyer must have suffered suspension slack over years of use. This wuld have naturally reduced the CofG of the car, making it consume more fuel nd unfit to be driven on bad roads.

One thing you can do if you operate on a slim budget is to pad the shock with a rubber padding. Or better still you can rise the shock by adjusting the welding of the spring to a higher level. This can be done at a good mechanic workshop. However, the best option is to change the entire spring, if you can afford it.

I dont see the reason why someone would go this mile, instead of simply replacing the failed dampers & bushings. Unless you are telling us that Kia springs are inferior like the Toyotas, when compared with Euro cars. I cant recall ever hearing that a Peugeot spring needed to be changed. My cousins Toyota Carina II front suspensions springs broke several times sometime in the past. I kept wondering then what did they manufacture those springs with. A plastic? Lol!     

An Uncle of mine at Awka then was having this raising of a car issue with his Toyota Corolla. In his case, any small climb of bump, the tyres would hit the fenders. It got so bad that he decided to replace the springs with longer ones. In bringing out the dambers/struts, he found out that all the struts were completely dead. In fact, it was only the springs that was preventing & holding the car body from fallen onto the tyres. After he replaced the struts, the issues were gone. The car body that was almost rolling the ground rose up/stood high far from the ground. No need again for the springs replacement.

In my previous post, i was emphasizing on dampers conditions. Most times, that is what it would take to sort out this particular  problem.

But am still baffled why some people would just make such a huge purchase, like a vehicle, without knowing what they want out of the vehicle & the need the vehicle is for.  Why wont someone considers the terrain where he lives before making that choice of which brand, product or model? If it most be Toyota, why not go for their products with higher ground clearances, if the road in your state is that bad? Even if it must be Camry, there are specifications. For example, if am to purchase a 505 of high ground clearance, i either chosse a PAN production or a foreign assembled 505 Dangel. Siena knows the Dangel am talking about. Check online, there could be differences in ground clearance of Camry CE, XL & XLE, considering the factory trye sizes. Though am not sure of Camry, but such specs. are obtained in some brands. The truth is that we dont do our homework well before making such purchase. Also this thing with Nigerians "BANDWAGON PROPAGANDA", is not helping matters. Everyone drives this brand or product, so let me join the chorus, without considering if that suites your need. If you know you have made that mistake, correct it by selling & replacing the vehicle with an SUV. Period.

Ikenna.

Siena:
Frizzy, I have been in the automobile game for very may years, longer than some people on here have been alive. Besides doing regular servicing and maintenance, I also cater for the aftermarket sector, where a lot of custom / bespoke work is carried out. Between 1994 and 2003, I worked closely with Leda Suspension. Now Leda is a suspension outfit, up there with the likes of Lotus, when it comes to handling, they're up there with the best. Both are consulted by the main auto manufacturers in the world. They also build and design suspension for Motorsport Teams.

I have built systems both for road and off-road use. Raising the suspension of any car, above the stock (non-Sport version) is a recipe for disaster. You raise the ride height, you alter the roll axis, you increase the centre of gravity. On a ratio, a raised VW Golf II will be higher than a Range Rover Sport. Because the RR is wider, if both are compared on a pre-determined scale, the RR will be lower than the Golf, which is a lot narrower. In simple terms, divide the height by the width. SUV manufacturers do their best to counteract the effect of the vehicle's height on handling, by making the track wider and the engine / transmission mounted as low in the chassis as possible.

When a car is lowered, the suspension becomes stiffer. You raise it artificially, it becomes softer - lots of bounce, body roll, not good. Bear in mind, these "raised" cars driving on Nigerian roads have stock anti-roll bars. A VW Golf II 1,3 does NOT have anti-roll bars, raising this is dangerous. We're talking of a lot of metal and weight above the axles. Drive such a car, and have to take evasive action at speeds as low as 25 mph. Then compare the same action with a similar car, with the standard suspension, at a higher speed of 30 mph. Big difference. The "raised" car will have lots of body roll in corners, very unstable. The lower car will handle the altered path better.

I understand the reasons for raising cars in Nigeria - bad roads. But at the same time, the roll-over risk on bad roads, with lots of adverse camber (sideway tilt) is great. All cars have a set "tilt angle". This is how many degrees the car can tilt before the risk of roll over becomes an issue. Raising a car reduces the tilt angle, so assuming the natural tilt angle is 57 degrees, you've effectively reduced it to about 45. This is based upon a car with just the driver. In Nigeria, 6 in a car is common, the risk factor is higher.

What dampers (shock absorbers) will be used on a raised car? The rams are designed to work within a set scale. If the car is raised, the dampers stop working, period. This is why these raised cars have such a harsh, bouncy ride, there's simply too much travel in height for the rams to work. At this increased height, you could remove the dampers, and you wouldn't notice they were gone, it's that bad.

A raised car driven on a fairly smooth road, on a windy day will feel unstable. I don't know how high TMB is, but the effects of cross-winds on a high bridge are greater, even with a standard, or lowered car. With a raised one, the car will have a tendency to "wander", not hold a straight line. Lastly, in Nigeria, the majority of drivers want a car that has as low fuel consumption as possible. A lower car is more streamlined, so less drag at motorway speeds. A raised car will lift at the front at motorway speeds, causing drag and increasing fuel consumption (the steering will also feel light and vague).

Sorry to get technical, but this is what I do, and I'm getting my points across. To cap it all, with a raised car:

01) Higher centre of gravity, greater roll-over risk.
02) Altered roll axis / tilt angle, greater roll-over risk.
03) Less aerodynamic, more drag, front end lifts at motorway speeds, greater fuel consumption.
04) Lateral stability at motorway speeds is reduced, especially if driven in cross-winds.

Tell them biko! Abeg, Siena, where i go fit get "HALF" of the training in auto industry wey you get. If I can gather bit of your knowledge in auto industry, then, my have accomplished more than enough.

Most times, people that complain about how low (ground clearance) there cars are dont bother to check the conditions of the dampers. Dead, most of them. My 505 V6 has a low ground clearance & i have travelled with it several times, yet it never got stucked on our terrible highways. And i still maintain the factory tyre spec/size: 195/60 R15. People would argue that 195/65 would be better for Nigeria road, but am keeping to the factory (195/60) & it has never been a problem to me.

Its not about how low a car is, but how careful & sensible the driver is. I dont just jump into or steer my low ground car into any spot. Rather, i do it carefully. Even spots or terrible gullies on road you would think my car wont enter and drive out without been stucked or scratching the bottom of the car, i would gently climb in and out, no scratch, no noise and would fire on with my journey. Even travellling to my village with the car has never been a problem for me. i would manage the situation of the road by carefully knowing how & where i steer in my tyres. The suspension of the car & size of the tyres are ok to me. Because you know why? The balance and stability of the car on high speed on highways is more important to me because of the factory low ground clearance & wider sized tyres of the car. Disrupting the car factory ground clearance by raising the suspensions or changing to higher/tall tyres (195/65) would deifinitly put my life at great risk on highway, nothwithstanding the high fuel consumption that would take effect henceforth the modification is done. I had an accident at Awka, Anambra state, in 1998 with my mom's car, which sent the car to it early grave. Thank God i survived. But do you know why it happened? Because Dad raised the suspensions ( put longer springs). The car lost control when trying to steer away from a pothole. What happened next is a story for another day. Dad  made that mistake & see what it lead to: loosing the entire car . Now, the car was gone because dad wanted to save the floor of the car from hitting the bad roads. I wont live to put myself in that risk again. If you dont like your existence, go ahead & raise your car. If you live or survive to tell the story when it eventually happens , thank your God.

Ikenna.

@Nissparts,

When you said ". Ask someone you know in America driving a car like, let's say Honda EOD on 98 octane what his mpg is and how many miles they manage to get per tank and then compare it with someone driving that same car in Nigeria(both cars in perfect condition and no CEL), the difference will be huge!",  honestly, it made me laugh. Please, point at an EOD that is still perfect condition in Nigeria. If any, very very few. Why? How many vehicle owners in Nigeria still maintain the use of coolant only in their cooling systems? How many still maintain the recommended factory tyres psi? How many keep to factory recommended oil grades? How many keep to factory recommended tyre sizes? How many still have their thermostat in the cooling systems? How many still have their Radiator electric cooling fans run as factory? See, i can go on & on, but the truth is that you can hardly get a vehicle in Nigeria that is in perfect condition to give the room for the comparison with vehicles in western world. So CEL or no CEL on instrument cluster, if any of the above mentioned has taken effect in a car, it will guzzle fuel like Hell!

Ikenna.

nissparts:
I dont see how you can compute mpg the way you have stated, it's completely inaccurate.
21mpg with Nigerian fuel?? Only in dreams my friend

What is wrong with Nigerian fuel? I dont see anything wrong with it. I believe PMS use in Nigeria is 98 octane or so. As long as you buy from major marketers like AP, Mobil,TOTAL,etc, you shouldnt worry about the fuel quality. I dont even trust the NNPC Mega stations PMS. Their pump guages might be ok, but the quality nko?

Even if his calculation of his SUV MPG is inaccurate, it has nothing to do with quality of fuel in Nigerian market.

Ikenna.

maxxy:
@ platinumricky - Am using this car in Lagos and Lagos traffic is generally 'stop and go' from Lagos Island to Mainland. You should check out 3rd Mainland Bridge and Agege Motor Rd (my daily route) between 5pm and 8pm every evening.

@ Siena 'da expat' - if my car is already doing great (as fueleconomy.gov also supports), do I need to replace the catalytic converter? Does it have other benefits aside reducing fuel consumption? My car should have two converters attached to the exhaust system, and according to the technical guy, both are absent.

If I were you Maxxy, I would leave the SUV as it is like Siena suggested, considering that your SUV MPG is even better than the Fuelyeconomy.gov stated MPG of what the vehicle should give. Have you ever considered that the removal or absence of the Catalytic converter(s) could be the reason for the improvement in the fuel economy of the vehicle? No go carry your hand and money create wahala for yourself! After all, since you said "The CEL light, ABS, and others light up with the ignition on and off thereafter," which sounds ok or normal for me.

Ikenna.

Have you scanned the car or has the issue been sorted out? Is the possible for you to bring the car. For me to have a look, in case its something minor i can detect?

Ikenna.

While you guys are draining & refilling water with coolant in the cooling system, make sure you remove airpockets after doing so, to avoid airlocks. Airlock in the system will terribly overheat the engine. Siena has explained/guided how to bleed cooling system in the first page of this thread. Refer back.

Ikenna.

Wylout:
@ Ikenna

None of the evils you mentioned was done.
If my mechanic had done that and i came online to see ya post----the guy would have been in big trouble.

Thank you very much-----though your posts are scary!!!

Because i want you to be scared, for you to start taking care of your car yourself. With that, you will be more careful with a clown you give your car to fix for you. At least, you start instructing them on the no go areas or dos & donts in your car. Otherwise, they will end up grounding that car for good for you. Sorry if sounded too scary , though. But its better to be scared than to live in Nightmares in the hands of the clowns.

Ikenna.

Wylout:
@ Ikenna the cylinder would go?

Mine was replace today and from the auto mechanics workshop to my house with ac turned on its still at the lower half of the temp. gauge--

If I would understand this post, you mean the engine is now running too cold after fixing the water pump? If that is the case, its obvious that they must have removed the thermostat when the car was having overheating issue right? It would also be certain that they must have bypassed and connected the electric radiator cooling fan(s) to be spinning constantly as soon as the ignition is switched on right? If the two evils mentioned have been done on your cooling system, then your engine is heading to doom.

Ikenna.

pak:
I have not had cause to fill my radiator since I bought the car two years back but recently the hose leaked and I fixed it but after fixing the hose it was filled back with just WATER.
Please have I done something wrong ?
and what are the effects of using just water ?
and how do I rectify the problem ? drain the radiator and refill with coolant, I guess ?
by the way, the car is a 2003 honda accord

You already have the answer in your questions. Drain the damn water & refill only with coolant for improvement in engine fuel economy and long engine lifespan. Period. Depending on your car's size of cooling system, it might take upto 5 0r 7 litres of coolant to fill up. So it might cost you upto 2k coolant to fill up.

Ikenna.

Pls, also remember that if you are changing water pump, also change the timing belt, tensioner & idler. The issue the water pump had must have affected the belt. Its a question of time when that would fail too. And trust me! YOU DO NOT WANT YOUR TIMING BELT TO FAIL ON YOU! Ask Siena what would happen if that happens.

Ikenna.

There are so many of them here on NL that scan car in Abuja. You need to google it. I can get you a number from a someone i know that have scanned his car in Abuja twice. Sorry i dont have any of their contacts. I manually diagnose my car myself, even though my car is not OBD II compliant. I would do the same if it was. It helps me a lot to understand my car better, how its wired & how it functions. Even though its a long process (elimination method), but i gain a lot of knowledge of EFI engine management by doing so. Anyway, get yours scanned, to direct you straight to the area of culprit.

In the other thread, you said the car emits black smoke when accelerated or pedal depressed & that it would be raising up & down on its own while idling. Raising up & down means the engine is hunting like Siena pointed out in one of his post in the thread. It also means the ECU is guessing, hence the up & down or unstady idling. The ECU guess work is what causes the engine's overfueling & emitting black smoke. The ECU must be getting a wrong signal or no signal from a sensor that would make it to guess the amount of fuel & air that the injectors would inject into the combustion chambers via intake valves. What usually makes an ECU to make an engine hunt is IAC, vacuum leak or CTS. I would start with the vacuum leak, if i were you.

Ikenna.

bong4:
Did you say 94 degress. ahh when my own pass 45 degrees, i am already panicking. please what is the best temperature level for a vehicle, ac or no ac

Bong4, Ambyzown is right. Normal operating or optimal temperature of cars i have come accross so far is between 90 & 95 degree C. Your temperature guage needle in the instrument cluster resting or pointing at middle of the guage or 90 is the normal running temperature of the engine. But the clowns that call themselves mechanics & rewires in Nigeria would shout and tell you that your engine overheats. That would make them remove the thermostat in the cooling system, to prevent the engine temp getting to that point, thereby making the engine to always run cold. Mind you, if your engine always run cold, there would be severe wear and tear in the engine, especially the crankcase. It reduces the lifespan of an engine & also increases the fuel consumption. In fact, you have given your engine a death warrant.

Ikenna.

Well, here in Abuja, every TOTAL filling station i have ever ask for the coolant would always have it. TOTAL Coolant is green in color, i think. But not red. In fact, either green or blue.

Ikenna.

Wylout:
Updates

The cause of the overheating was the water pump. The fans(or blades of the pump) were broken. It had only one blade left out of about 3. Probably as a result of rust (not sure though). I think this has to do with the coolant used in filling up the radiator.

No. It has noting to do with "coolant used in filling the radiator" only,like you said. The rust in the cooling system that affected the water pump shaft and broke the blade was as a result of water you were using. The owner's car manual instruct: USE COOLANT ONLY (instructions in most vehicle owners manual). Coolant is a 50:50 mixture of antifreeze & water. You can only find Coolant in Nigeria, not Antifreeze. So the coolant in Nigerian markets have already been mixed: water & antfreeze. So mixing coolant and water again is a waste of resources. You either use only coolant or you dont. Excess water in the system causes rust in the system & corrodes the engine walls, which would later someday blow up the engine Cylinder head gasket.

I would advice you to stop using the ABRO Coolant. So many fake in the Nigerian markets. TOTAL coolant is good. Thats what i use. It cost N350.00 a litre. Also, mind you, if you do not close the radiator cap well or if the seal on the cap has worn, the system/engine would overheat for various reasons.

Ikenna.

Siena:
2 x 12" electric cooling fans. If I decide to install the radiator in the trunk, I might go bigger:

https://i768.photobucket.com/albums/xx329/NaijaGuy/S8-Powered%20Audi%20A4%20Touring%20Car/080220121094.jpg

Just a few of the wires I'll be getting intimate with, lolz:

https://i768.photobucket.com/albums/xx329/NaijaGuy/S8-Powered%20Audi%20A4%20Touring%20Car/080220121093.jpg

Lucky you! The wiring connectors are stiil intact.

Ikenna.

Auto or not auto, I would like to have your Lion. Its such an immaculate Lion like mine. I can always convert it to manual anytime. The main thing is the car to end up to someone like me that really value such MACHINE & would care for it like a baby, like I care for my BABY, King of Lions, 505 V6 5speed manual. Very unfortunate that it would be going to someone else. Sad face!

Ikenna.

Brake flexible hose failure can make a wheel to bind/seize. From your explanation, it appears the pinion of the front brake chamber in the master cylinder is intermittently not returning after depress. Since the 2 front brakes are binding, it shouldnt be the flexible hoses. Both cant just fail at the same time. The problem should be from the master cylinder. It needs to be rekitted.

But, if you are saying they did a welding job on the brake booster, the booster seal may also have failed. How could someone have done such a terrible job, without realising the effect of the welding job on the booster seal? It really baffles me!

Ikenna.

Sorry for bumping in again Netwalker. I want to get something clear from you. If you what you meant in your earlier post is that you wouldnt mind to exchange your 505 auto  for my 605 5sp manual, then i would be very glad to do the exchange, if you are serious about it. But if what you meant was to exchange your auto 505 with my 5sp manual 505, then you are dreaming. : :    Wish you a good sale!

Ikenna.

The mechanic must be a big time clown.

Please the problem is with the brake booster ( otherwise known as servo). Only two things in servo can cause this: the big vacuum seal/rubber in the booster if broken or the small plastic L-shape pipe where the vacuum hose from the cylinder head is attached to the brake booster.

First, check if the plastic L-shape thing on the booster is still ok. How do you do that? Pull out the plastic thing from the booster ( the peugeot one is very easy to pull out, i wouldnt know of Toyota), remove the vacuum hose from the plastic, blow air into the plastic with your mouth. The air is suppose to come out from the other side or opening. Turn to the other opening and blow in air, it should be blocked, that is, air shouldnt come out from the other end or opening, that is, only one side should pass air. The two openings shouldnt pass air, when you blow air in from both side. If the two sides pass air, replace the plastic thing, thats is the culprit. But if it works fine, then you need to open the brake booster and inspect the big seal/rubber inside. Its likely leaking air or broken. You may have to take it to a brake booster repairer open and replace the seal for you or possibly replace the entire booster if you cant find the seal.

Meanwhile, check to see if the vacuum hose is well attached on the brake booster and also on the cylinder head. Also pull out the hose, inspect the hose & blow air into hose to check if broken or leaking air.

If i may ask, its your brake system ABS?

Ikenna.