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| bio | website | stackoverflow.com/users/5812/… |
|---|---|---|
| location | Rhode Island | |
| age | 45 | |
| visits | member for | 2 years, 2 months |
| seen | 12 hours ago | |
| stats | profile views | 133 |
Computer scientist working at [A Facility] developing [Systems] that [Do Stuff] at [Places].
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Mar 16 |
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2007 prius premium gas or not? @Larry, I'm not stipulating that the units fail before the warranty period. Warranty periods and the associated engineering problems are an exercise in expected value, though. The manufacturer is trying to minimize the expected cost to them: (probability of failure before X miles * cost of replacement) + (probability of working fine after X miles * cost of required engineering). The whole issue is a little muddled since batteries don't fall off a failure cliff. They degrade for a while before the customer really notices (which might not be the case for this OP). |
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Mar 15 |
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2007 prius premium gas or not? @Larry, I'll bet it's not most batteries that last much longer considering how warranty duration calculations are done. Regardless, these batteries are older. They won't have the efficiency that they did when new. On the third hand (!), it's the driver's car: she has to make the call what works best. |
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Mar 15 |
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What modifications need to be made to an engine to enable higher safe RPMs? Moving parts => steady state motion plus torques plus accelerations plus jerk (the first derivative of acceleration). Everything gets much worse much faster as rpm increases. The conversion of linear to rotational energy and back again, the stresses... urgh. The mind boggles. |
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Mar 14 |
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What is recommended way to fix rear station wagon windshield wiper? See Rory's answer below: a picture of the spring part of the arm will make it clear if that's the issue. |
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Mar 14 |
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What is recommended way to fix rear station wagon windshield wiper? Could you add a picture? It would be more clear about what's currently bent, zip-tied, etc. |
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Mar 13 |
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why do engines have so much unused horsepower? In all honesty, this is a classic case of comparing apples to hand grenades. Imagine pitting a Camry against the mission requirements of a HMMVW and then comparing fuel efficiencies. I'm pretty sure I can penetrate the side of a Camry with a BB gun or a thumbtack. |
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Mar 12 |
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Will higher octane fuel improve gas mileage? @Earlz, yes, I would conclude that that 1 mpg difference is arguably within the measurement error bounds. |
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Mar 12 |
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Will higher octane fuel improve gas mileage? The first sentence is unclear: are you stating that your vendor includes less ethanol in the higher octane blends? If so, how do you know? Adding ethanol to gasoline actually raises the octane of the resulting mixture. The lower energy density does imply reduced mileage on a single tank given identical driving conditions, vehicle, driver, weather, etc. However, the OP was asking if octane alone was sufficient to raise mpg. |
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Mar 8 |
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How to fix freezing locks +1 Hand sanitizer is a good tip. In theory, you could coat your key in the sanitizer and use that as the delivery mechanism for your adhoc lubricant. |
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Mar 6 |
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Replacing boot (tailgate/trunk) struts/pistons Good point - the majority of the unbalanced load will hit the strongest spring / damper first and hardest. That's a good reason to assume that they're both aged / poor / bad. |
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Mar 5 |
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Is changing gear to `Neutral` at all possible times a bad practice? The edits have actually made this question more of a duplicate rather than less. Is there something unique that you'd like to cover not previously addressed in other questions? |
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Mar 5 |
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Is changing gear to `Neutral` at all possible times a bad practice? Many of the high level issues have been previously discussed here: Automatic transmission: Is shifting to neutral while approaching stops bad?, Can coasting in neutral damage an automatic transmission? and Does switching to neutral on an automatic transmission improve braking for immediate stopping? |
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Mar 4 |
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Rounded bolt head on possibly broken bolt The reverse direction drill bit might be perfect for this application. |
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Mar 1 |
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How severe is a bad oil seal on a used car? +1 on independent mechanic: pay someone who has no investment in this car to give you their honest opinion. |
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Mar 1 |
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Hazards work but turn signals do not +1 It was the lighting stalk for me. |
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Feb 22 |
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2007 prius premium gas or not? Revisiting this question much later: is this really a hybrid? If so, there's an excellent chance that the batteries are going: they're right at their warranty point. |
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Feb 22 |
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Will the firewall in my car deteriorate such that it will need to be repaired periodically? Might want to point out that one of the pass-throughs might be loose: could be water sneaking past a grommet. |
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Feb 22 |
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Will the firewall in my car deteriorate such that it will need to be repaired periodically? Suggestion: a picture of the area in question would help us make an assessment. I'd recommend a shot from the engine's side and one from the pedal's side. |
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Feb 17 |
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How can I do a cheap but safe and good tuning which will improve the cars performance? @GregLeo, yes, it's possible. The vendors that I found usually reprogram the ECU via the OBD port. I'm not making a specific suggestion because I don't think you'll be satisfied with any of the products that come up in a casual search: they appear to involve spending 100s of $USD for single digit improvements in BHP or torque. |
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Feb 11 |
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How should I remove a paint scuff on my vehicle? Used my random orbital on the wife's car not too long ago for this exact purpose. It seems that a significant swath of garage door paint had managed to get onto the top edge of her hatchback. A mystery.... ;-) |
