Ongoing General Automotive Thread 2.0

[speede5]

Originally Posted by curves2000

Anybody using Penzoil Ultra Platinum synthetic oil in their car? I have done a ton of research through various channels and it seems to be a very very high quality oil with a ton of additives. I did a few oil changes and have noticed a slight improvement in fuel mileage but looking for longer term users. How does the oil look upon first changing it? Bonus is that it's made with Natural gas and it seems to be made in Alberta at the Shell plant.

Good promo going on where you buy 10 liter's of it and you can get $30 back in a pre-paid card.

I've used it, use lots of Pennzoil in different vehicles. Never had an issue but I wouldn't know if it made my mileage any better. Looked like any other oil on removal.

[Ironhorse]

As our vehicles are aging, I need to buy an ODB2 code reader to see what is going on with check engine lights. I'm considering the ANCEL AD410, or maybe even the Bluetooth version. Does anyone have any experiences?

[Nufy]

Originally Posted by Ironhorse

As our vehicles are aging, I need to buy an ODB2 code reader to see what is going on with check engine lights. I'm considering the ANCEL AD410, or maybe even the Bluetooth version. Does anyone have any experiences?

I use a Veepeak OBD2 BT dongle found on Amazon and the Torque Light App.

Works well enough to read / clear codes. You can update to the paid app if you want to do more.

[TorqueDog]

I recommend getting the ThinkDiag. It's a really good two-way diagnostic tool, and I swear by mine. If you have a newer vehicle that requires CAN-FD support, the ThinkDiag 2 is the one to get.

[bigrangy]

Ugggh. Finally got the 996 out to my new place, but popped a check engine light after bogging down while climbing a big hill on the way here. Kind of ran in limp mode for a few hundred km until home, couldn’t generate any power but otherwise ran ok enough. Used the code reader to find it was seeing misfire on cylinder 4, 5, and 6.

Did a bit of reading and etc, figured i should reset the codes and see if they pop up again, and now it’s not responding to throttle properly at all. Idle is a bit rough but not massively changed from before, but pressing the pedal in park/neutral doesn’t seem to have any predictable response from engine rpm. At least it’s in the driveway I guess.

[Table 5]

That's no fun. On the upside, at least it doesn't sound like a IMS or bore-scoring related issue?!

Which model do you have btw? I just sold my Targa this summer. Such great bang for buck cars (as long as they run!).

[Fuzz]

Don't know much about those engines, but could be something like a camshaft position sensor, or something kinda simple like that affecting one side.

[Sliver]

Have you tried taking it for a big rip and bagging the #### out of it to 'clean it out'?

[bigrangy]

It’s a 996.1, 1998. Basest of the base model, tiptronic. Probably the least desirable 911 ever made haha

Yeah reading up on it it’s either fuel injectors, ignition coils, or else the variocam actuators. Ever since I bought the car a couple years back it’s always kind of been lazy through the lower revs and only developed decent power above like 4k rpm, I don’t think it’s ever been well. But it’s never thrown a code prior to just now. Now with the throttle issue I honestly can’t even safely take it off the driveway, gonna need to do some more troubleshooting tomorrow.

[DownInFlames]

Originally Posted by bigrangy

It’s a 996.1, 1998. Basest of the base model, tiptronic. Probably the least desirable 911 ever made haha

I'm still jealous.