Fixes, Maintenance and Fleet Upgrades - Carmudgeon Show feat Jason Cammisa & Derek Tam-Scott Ep. 169

[@lipks7jh]

Every time you guy do an 'state of the fleet' episode, It reminds me why I stick with Japanese cars.

[@sp129]

Unrelated: The public demands to see DTS in a GR86/BRZ asap. Perhaps that results in another fleet upgrade/update.

[@myrontomlinson4736]

Absolutely. I need his commentary on the platform!

[@redlion145]

I'd watch that. Somehow I don't think it'll happen though. DTS seems like a bit of a brand snob. All Ferraris, Mercs and ancient British imports. Nevermind that an 86 has about as much peak HP as those old cars, and DTS might actually enjoy himself...

[@sp129]

@@redlion145 I think it's more like he's into older cars, as he's confessed before. After all, he did say the CT4 Blackwing is a better sports sedan than Giulia Quadrifoglio.

[@brandonsever2576]

Agreed. Also I'd love to hear both of their thoughts on a first-year FR-S vs a new GR86 back to back. I think the new car is better overall, but the steering and throttle calibration on the first car was actually best imo. It would be a great conversation

[@redlion145]

@@sp129 That's a nicer way of putting it. I mean I'm somewhere on the same spectrum as he is, I don't enjoy the silent operation of EVs, I like a bit of theater in my driving. Not all innovation is for the good. But he basically doesn't drive cars made after he was born, so it's a bit frustrating when an episode of Carmudgeon is about a modern car.

[@kyleglasgow007]

The irony is the best Saab mechanic in the US is in a town two hours away from me in rural Iowa in a town called McIntyre.

[@jimiverson3085]

Just below Minnesota. Maybe the mechanic is a Swede who decided to move south to get out of winter.

[@co88jo]

Shout out from Des Moines, Iowa

[@davidraezer5937]

Jason DME cars have control over ignition timing. On cars with a distributor its function only distributes spark. There is no advance mechanism built in to control timing. Porsche used a timing belt to connect both distributors. High voltage creates ozone which was attacking the rubber belt so fresh air was introduced to reduce the effects. Old engine ECU’s have been suffering from leaking capacitors and capacitors that short becoming resistors. I have been repairing LH control units for the early Mercedes M119 cars. Models 92 and 93 were affected the most. As far as ignition timing on 16V cars you are looking for an average at hit idle after raising the RPM over 3400 3X. If you remove the vacuum line to the knock Box and raise to 3400 RPM timing should advance 13 degrees beyond the 6 degree base.

[@therealandrewwilliam]

I got up to 10 cars earlier in 2024, and that was too many. Down to just 5 now. Cars are needy and always need something. Not sure how these guys do it.

[@bluetoes591]

Jason, you can and potentially should time your cars at high RPMs. This is where an adjustable timing light comes in. Set it to 36° or whatever your total timing should be, rev to 3500rpm and see what you get. As a fellow 80s VW operator, I can confirm the pulses are more consistent there

[@vercingetorige400]

Ladies and Gentlemen I think we got the best ever hyphen's clap, keep it going with those freebies on mars

[@mistreku]

I love the new lighting setup, very cozy and warm!

[@williamgechtman9287]

"pterodactyline." Excellent new adjective. Thanks!

[@Jadawin-kk3fz]

Great episode. This is one of the few channels i recommend if asked. You two and the team behind are doing a brilliant job.

[@Epacheco]

I just bought a ser of vredesteina because of you!

[@Gawain7826]

Listened to this driving around on vacation, stopped for lunch and looked up the head unit Jason was talking about. Went to the local Wal-Mart - they had it, in a glass case that NOBODY at Wal-mart had a key to! Drove to the next town’s Was-Mart and they had one too, and it wasn’t in a glass case. I now have a little project when I get home!

[@Gawain7826]

Update- install was super easy - if you have a harness adapter and some wago wire connectors. I now have a fully built in CarPlay head unit instead of an add on screen. Love it.

[@photon4280]

As an R129 owner, thank you for glazing the R129 it makes me feel good :)

[@Official_MikeyT]

These guys have ruined me. They have made me so interested in Sacco-era Mercedes-Benz's that owners of Sacco cars have began to question why I think their car is cool. 😂

[@Mcandmar]

The distributor belt vent kit isn’t to reduce heat, it’s to evacuate ozone generated from the sparking in the distributor cap which is corrosive to the rubber belt. Also, i believe the ignition timing on each distributor is slightly staggered to help propagate the flame front across the piston. Dereks car will go noticeably better when firing properly on all 12 plugs.

[@mikecarlson9743]

The timing belt conversation is my favorite part of having an older Ducati, for a while you could buy a running monster 900/750 that was maintained meticulously by the previous owner for the cost of having a shop do a timing belt/desmo service. Also for anyone with a Becker radio as of July they sold a Bluetooth dongle that was compatible with the CDR-220 in the 996 and also had similar models available. Cost about $70 replacing the port for the optional cd changer I didn’t have. Took about 10 minutes to install and I’d 100% recommend to anyone who wants to keep the factory aesthetics.

[@drewwrobel564]

Getting Vredestein Wintrac Pro for the winter! Thanks guys!

[@Iamthestig42069]

My toxic trait is thinking I can find one of those lower market transverse engine Ferraris but in terrible shape. Northstar swap it and run aftermarket brake and suspension stuff. 32 valve v8 with racing heritage at Lemans and Indy, available in every junkyard in America. They sound fantastic and make up to 300hp. The Oldsmobile version only makes 250 but that is the version that was used for racing and you can put "powered by Oldsmobile" window banners on it

[@nicholasc1781]

You've got a bright future. This is the thinking I like to hear.

[@jasonlepak1173]

I'm 100% with the "if it has an item, that item needs to function" sentiment. I probably would have spent 1/3 the time and money on my current DD, an E90 330i, and my last DD, a Fiero GT, if just "drive-able" was the only requirement. It's too much fun showing people that an 18 year old car with 206k miles on it drives and functions almost like new (minus a slight vibration I've been chasing for over a year and a half, you guys covered those too)

[@pashkaS54]

Belt drive is ok in a distributor because there is a long period where the rotor can transmit power into the cap, the engine computer is what actually sets the timing. Rotor must always only cover the absolute minimum and maximum angle, so it’s not very critical.

[@tferrer6096]

What they do is reheat (in a very specific fashion) the solder to "re-flow" it and close the teeny cracks or disconnects in the connections. It's a fairly common practice on D-jet E9's as the ecu's (cough) are built with transistors....circa 60's tech...at best. Keep up the great work guys.

[@JB-spoke]

A trick to help locate hard to find vibrations or noises in a car is to use a stethoscope. An extra long 1/2 extension applied to components and rested against the ear will also do the trick. The other trick is a thermometer gun. If there is metal on metal grinding, for instance with a bad wheel bearing, it will generate more heat. A cheap laser temp gun from Amazon is a great diagnostic tool for that. After a short drive, compare the temperature of the right and left wheel bearing housing for example. Love the content!

[@adoruss]

Jason to make the matte finish for your head unit you can use an anti glare desktop or laptop screen film instead of the phone or tablet ones and cut it the right size

[@mach1man23]

Vredestein Wintrac Pros seriously deserve a look. They're arguably the best value for a performance winter tire. I ran them all winter in the Rocky Mountains on a GR86 and just picked up a second set for my newest car.

[@lilairstrike535]

thank you for the bit on the motronic issue, i have an e36 that does the exact same thing. always wondered what it was

[@NoClassic]

You can get custom cut anti glare screen overlays made for the carplay head unit if you wanted it to be matte.

[@jonathanolsgaard5697]

thats why I love Jason, no hot water heater out of principle

[@SirPierreSe]

Perfect! I'm ordering that stereo for my R129 now

[@AliBaba-vh9ni]

@2:06 : OMG! Derek referenced my comment from the ID Buzz episode!!

[@aprtur]

44:52 - one of the most iconic Toyota engines (1UZ V8) actually has twin distributors, and run directly off the cam gears for both. That reminds me - a show on the development of and aviation connection on the 1UZ would be pretty cool.

[@austinpahl4295]

You guys discuss twin distributor cars in this ep. It must not have only been a performance car thing because my 1973 Datsun 610 had twin distributors on its L18 engine. Operative word "had" because my great-uncle who purchased the car new removed one of the distributors probably 45 years ago.

[@Apexseal1]

49:30 that sounds like a great idea for an episode, looking forward to it! Also I'd kill to see that SD1 turn into a 300hp, 5.0l, n/a, cammed monster.

[@aseheavyindustries798]

it's hilarious that this is filmed while theyre sitting face to face, 6 inches away like a job interview

[@carsonj4031]

The thing about living somewhere with qualified people to work on specialized cars is so real. Its kinda tough here in Michigan, I can barely get someone to put my subaru from 2005 together let alone something like kei car or a old Volkswagen. There are tons of shops that will do anything you could possibly dream of to a classic muscle car as you would expect.

[@Neil4Speed]

I’ve always had a soft spot for the R129, but it wasn’t until last year that I finally took one for a spin-a 2001 model, not in excellent shape but decent enough. What struck me was a bit of a letdown; it’s downright humbling to realize just how little we've upped the ante in driving pleasure since 1989. This car was pure magic to drive, the stereo hit all the right notes, and the styling-timeless, a masterclass in design. It felt modern without sacrificing character, a refined vintage statement that didn’t scream ‘look at me.’ Some say you shouldn’t meet your idols, but this one shattered all my expectations in the best way possible

[@PoliPantev]

Jason, you can get a matte screen protector for the carplay thing, either search for matte or anti glare screen protector. Also if you go to a phone repair shop they should be able to provide you with one aswell since usually screen protectors now are cut from a bigger sheet to account for so many different models.

[@Pats-Garage]

That was a good clap 😂🎉

[@philarends7555]

ECU rebuild involves swapping most of the caps. They leak over time.

[@nirfz]

19:19 Not a Ferrari by a long shot, but a working collegue of mine and her husband had a timing belt giving up on them this summer. It was a Ford Galaxy (the european one, that is the same as a VW Sharan). Their mechanic called them that he had 4 of the same of these cars with a broken timing belt at less than 120 000 km at his shop, and theirs was close to that number. Her husband contacted Ford, and the person he reached told him that they didn't need to worry and just keep the recommended intervall. 2 weeks later the car died on the german autobahn. With a broken timing belt. They contacted their lawyer and he told them, "isn't worth the try", so they had to pay the engine rebuilt on their own money, and had no car for some time. (as their mechanic already was working on the other same cars.) Btw.: according to my collegue (what the mechanic told her), their belt did not show anything you would see from outside. (otherwise he would have suggested it at the last maintenance already instead of calling them when the evidence piled up on his yeard) As for the ECU's: While i am not that familiar with car ECU's, in most electronics it's the capacitors that give in over time. Not by burning, but there are different forms of capacitors, and one form has a liquid inside that dries out or goes bad over time and heat. Sometimes visible when looking at the capacitor, sometimes not. When a resistor burns through, then something went terribly wrong and that would be easy to spot.

[@Milkmans_Son]

I'm not familiar with that Ford but I'll just assume it has a wet timing belt... avoid like the plague.

[@cgmoog]

During the pandemic I changed the original timing belt on my sister's VW Beetle that she purchased in 2000 (70,000 miles). It was long but looked good.

[@richarddando-d9b]

That SD1 looks beautiful, always thought a TVR breathed on Rover V8 would make an interesting update, obviously with euro bumpers!

[@V12BRO]

Jason i have the Blaupunkt Bremen 46 in my E31 and it's amazing. Could dm you some pics of it in the car with it on too.

[@TwoDollarGararge]

Running quadtracks on my focus ST very good value for money tires.

[@6rimR3ap3r]

Regarding the ignition timing, please correct me if I'm wrong: when you change the camshaft to an aftermarket tuning piece - aren't they sometimes timed differently compared to stock? That's what I think I've seen on OHV V8 cams, they measure the intake valves with a timing wheel I think. Could it be that aftermarket cams need different ignition timings compared to OEM stock cams?

[@gerardmasnou9148]

For the matte screen the best option might be to order online a custom cut one, searching for "custom matte screen protector" and a few cheap options will pop up, enter dimensions and done!

[@ukwan]

R129 work on track, absolutely fine.

[@TwoDollarGararge]

Those 944 motors tend to be pretty resistant motors when I got my 944 it was parked in 2013 with a belt from 1995.

[@anthonydietmeier6524]

Pulled mine out of a field in 2022, it had been there since 97-99. Got it running pretty easily and put quite a few miles on it during around the block diagnostic trips before I finally changed the belt.

[@air-headedaviator1805]

Inside every car enthusiast there are two wolves: the guy who wants a generations garage showcasing various instances of one model name, and the one who wants every flavor of car.

[@lewiseig5432]

Very curious about the vendor who did the ecu rebuild. I’ve got very intermittent stumbling and stalling on my 89 964 motor 3.6- installed in my 79 911 SC. The ignition modules are fairly universal, even my old Saabs used the same ones as these cars.

[@swatmann7541]

Wheel Bearing, hold the spring and spin the wheel, you can feel it in the spring.

[@IamTheOppressor]

Wow Jason might have just solved a problem I've been having with 1 of my cars during his rant about timing around 48mins. I have a car that does the exact same thing under light throttle/low speeds that's do for a timing belt service. I will have to make note of it and see if the timing is off at all when everything is opened up. I know some stuff but it never occurred to me that the timing being off could cause those specific problems lol.

[@ateamfan42]

The Wintrac Pro are excellent amazing winter tires. But only available in 17" or bigger! Please tell Vredestein to make them in smaller sizes! I'm trying the standard Wintrac (in 15") this season, but I fear they are going to be soft and slow.

[@dustinjefferies8482]

Hey I have two front wheel bearings to do on my Subaru too! Wheel bearing month!

[@alexguay660]

just thought I'd offer an option that's worked well for me. I currently have a 1983 golf cabriolet euro import with a ABA 16v swap running motronic 5 from a 2l 1998 beetle. It does away with the distributor and even with my 276 cam and 13:1 compression, runs like a top. Anyway, if you ever consider it, I've done all the leg work.

[@Carameldelight77]

The vredestein sponsorship let's goooo

[@TheZzziggy]

In twin-dizzies the second dizzy is just a dizzy, it only distributes the spark, only the first of them is an ignition sensor (capacitive or hall-effect), which drives ignition coils.

[@stevemartegani]

You know what I want as a radio for old cars? A quick removable single or double din Bluetooth speaker. That way you can just ditch the entire stereo, mount your phone and have one good speaker. Would be good for racecar too!

[@ianwynne764]

Hello Derek: It sounds like you have a cold. Get well soon.

[@diztroy1]

1:04:35 google "12V Bluetooth audio out module" .... like $15, I wired one of these into the AM tube radio in my Nash Metropolitan with a switch so I can swap between AM and Bluetooth 😂

[@davidhepp1903]

Many years ago, I hankered after an LHD Rover SD-1 a colleague had purchased in the UK and shipped to the U.S. Prior to my purchase, a specialist mechanic who estimated cost to repair something on it dissuaded me from purchasing it, but offered me $100 as a "finder's fee", which I accepted. In retrospect, it was a fortunate turn of events.

[@rainsilent]

I'm very scatter shot in general when it comes to interests. There are three major themes to my major interests. Hatchbacks/estates, 4WD (Sorry Jason but I love rally and what Lucid did with their 4WD is driving perfection in my mind. Though I do at least borderline hate turbos or superchargers.) and lightweight coupes. I really like a lot of the every day cars that were at least set up well enough to get some recognition for being a good car. Ford Probe and the Chrysler Cirrus for two examples. That said if I had a car collection I would be entirely guilty of having almost every variant of the 924/944/968 family. I learned to drive with a 924 and also got to drive a 944. Of all the cars I have gotten to drive those are my two favorite cars I have driven. I've driven a Cayman too and while really nice for a modern car some of the driving feel is noticeably lost compared to the 924/944. I've yet to drive a 968 but I really want to.

[@dallasbrown-ew8yk]

My wife’s first car had a similar issue with dying randomly while driving. Now I’m wondering if that was an ECU.

[@6rimR3ap3r]

Vredestein Wintrac Pro on my GT86 - highly recommended :-D

[@0o0ification]

a grand episode, and nice too

[@Zimmernld]

I had a couple of 156 V6's, the advised timing belt interval is 3 years or 60.000km... And when forums were still a thing, there were a couple of guys that had them snap at >3 years because they were desintegrated. Wasn't cheap either, €1200 if you had it done properly..

[@aaronwenthold2712]

Me, living in Dez Moinezs.... Yeah, no specialty shops here 🙃

[@hduncan2587]

What hurts is how some refurb parts have gone up so much, and replacement parts have gone down in quality. We just went through hell with my girlfriends car chewing through a rear engine mount twice (finally got an okay one in there), then the horror of the alternator going bad... horror as the car spend three years in Boston, and I've snapped four bolts in it thus far. A transmission for my beloved beater (a modified, OEM+ and then some 609,000 mile Toyota Echo) used to be $850 refurbished, but now the same place asks $1,350... that's like buying a running straight example with some seat stains and bad clearcoat. But the transmission has been sounding like a robotic turkey gargling gravel for a while now, so I know it's on borrowed time. Last time I had those transmission guys put the refurb in, they didn't put the washer under the reverse lamp switch, so the lights were always on (easy enough to knock out). On top of that, it never wanted to go into reverse when cold until I shut it off and shifted it (some Redline shockproof fixed that). And if I wanted to upgrade from the stock 3.53:1fd C150 of the Echo (second gear all the way to 63mph) to the beefier Toyota C50 in the Scion xA (4.3:1 fd), that's $1,650 and more likelihood of gear-popout. Buying used from a recycler isn't much better, and an even bigger crapshoot. For reference, the xA transmission used to only be $100 more than the Echo unit, but is now $300 more.... Most shops don't want to work on lightly modded cars... yes, I need strut mounts (apparently Koni STR.T Orange are to blame as fellow Echoes have had similar issues). Yes, it's lowered on progressive rate Eibach's. No, I don't want OE quick struts so I can sit like a Crosstrek and feel like a 2016 Versa through corners. Tried to DIY the strut mounts to realize the progressive coils makes getting the compressor I bought useless. Putting the strut assembly back ended up ripping the CV boot clean off the transaxle, essentially doubling my bill when I send it out. There are things I'm comfortable doing (thermostat on the rustbucket was perfectly acceptable), and others I'll need time on.

[@designplebe]

Probably you will receive 800 messages from 993 Porsche geeks, but have you checked the DME relay? These relays are well known for failure and can cause all sorts of strange running behaviors as it controls the fuel pump among other things. The other item worth mentioning is that the belt between distributors was known for failure and a small vent was added to remove ozone as that is what Prosche found was causing premature belt wear. Finally, 1995 993 do not have varioram, so if your friend has that year he has the simpler setup also with OMD 1, instead of OMD 2 for emissions reporting.

[@Lachiewich]

In regards to timing belts, Alfa 3.2 Busso cars are done at 3 years (and quite an expense)...

[@therocket280z7]

My understanding of the twin Distributor 964, is that when the belt breaks the non driven distributor freewheels to a stop providing random spark delivery to random cylinders, possibly leading to a blowm engine. I don't know why 911s have the rep of having bulletproof engines. There was a magazine, around 12yrs ago that gave a breakdown on buying old 911s, as they were still quite cheap then. Every version had a fatal flaw that could lead to engine failure, and the engines were not cheap. That belt was the 964s weakness.

[@justaddafan]

Regarding making a silly benefit offer - If you'd like to see what happens when you offer rediculous rewards in the name of humor, look up the Pepsi harrier jet debacle. The PowerAcoustik unit is only available at Walmart. That's why it has the w in the PN. The home screen is customizable as well.

[@Nightwalker86]

Hey Vredestein North America! Please bring back the Sportrac 5 in both 195/65R14 and 205/55R15 for all E30 drivers that watch this show, which is literally all of them in the entire US. Yes, that specific tire and in those 2 exact sizes. Right now we are stuck with Advan and Azenis which are not as good. Thank you.

[@christopherjohnston6343]

Azenis RT615K? Would wear pretty fast if you were having to use them as a daily tyre

[@TheCarmudgeonShow]

They’re available again. In 205/55-15!!

[@rjung_ch]

30:29 Swiss car plates?

[@NuxDriver]

No Radwood in Phoenix this year 😢. Why? It was great last year. Detroit Radwood was a lot of fun this year.

[@SuperMcgenius]

Like Keith Richards, you should have your fluids replenished from time to time😂

[@dcanmore]

I'm sure the US-spec Range Rover/Discovery 3.9/4.0/4.6 can be a viable engine swap for the SD1, or at least some parts commonality. These put out 180-230hp standard tune.

[@TheStorkSR]

The new mic stands made me double take because it looked like the Rover had external exhaust pipes for a moment

[@adotbeck]

Sorry not sorry but that green on white looks great.

[@peterpodgorski]

I'm always shocked when Jason mentions he was in law school. If it wasn't for cars, dude would be Saul Goodman...

[@vnitto]

I thought that was a citation x-11 in the background

[@britboy70]

The Rover is British, we don't even do Ice for drinks, let alone air conditioning 🙂

[@rjbiker66]

Get a vintage air system for rover 3500. They never had a decent factory system. Usually aftermarket in early models. Those rubber bumpers have to go.

[@therocket280z7]

The whole timing belt interval conversation is true. In the 90s belt intervals started to be around 100k, for most cars, instead of the 50k prior. I remember many folks saying it was time to get the belt changed in their car, and upon asking them how many miles realized they hadn't read the OM. A lot of shops would also tell people not to trust that. People would just get them done due to fear. I'm sorry but Honda(interference engine) amd Toyota(mostly non-interference engines) aren't taking that kond of reliability risk in their Golden age of manufacturing. Fell on deaf ears most of the time, lol... So, yeah, as long as the belt doesn't sit in the se position for years, and is stored in a relatively stable and reasonable climate, they will last that long 99% of the time.

[@swatmann7541]

you mean "Idle air control valves"?

[@Jo3man96]

Might be the best SD1 in North America, but the best SD1 would be a well looked after Vitesse Twin Plenum

[@tonyclewes8]

Sodder ? Is the word solder?

[@BEGGARWOOD1]

Odd to hear how a CX is hard to service.

[@cayman9873]

Hyphen getting grey on the sides ??? Or joined the marines ??😂😂

[@KostadinDelizhanski]

ahhhh the damn ICV issues ... the problem is that the ECU logic is not "clear" ... ms41 (e36/e39/e38 6cyl m52 cars) have such issues ... any one of the variables can get the car to behave crazy ... the ICV itself, the intake temp sensor, the coolant temp sensor, the throttle possition sensor, the fuel pressure regulator, the MAF, air leaks, oil filled plugs etc...and thanks to OBD1 ... no codes at all in most times ( usa cars are OBD2 but Europe no m52 single vanos is OBD2 as far as i know) so... good luck to everyone ( in my case, years of battle with the stalling when coasting afted disengaging the gear and zero throttle... turns out the TPS cable had bad head ... did not positively contact to the TPS sensor)

[@spencerbrayall8678]

It’s not a NASCAR, it’s a NASCAR Race Car.

[@jimiverson3085]

300HP in a fragile Rover frame. What could possibly go wrong?

[@rsr789]

Derek is of an age that he phones the operator to connect him to the phone he is trying to reach.

[@photon4280]

No episode yet...it's so over bros...

[@verruckt66]

Jake, go back to the other mic stands! LOL!

[@cudak888]

"Mod the shit out of it," Jason. There's nothing on the SD1 that can't be improved by modifying it - unlike, say, perfectionmobiles such as the W201. What's more, unlike an E30, there is no rulebook (or catalog) for modifications. Write the book.

[@llys3742]

*SOHC can have VVT. Just look at LS engines and their one cam VVT!

[@rjung_ch]

👍💪✌

[@ilya__t]

5:55 AsshoIе-ing cars, it just struck me 😅

[@garyonnen7634]

Mars, did I hear a free trip to Mars. Sing me up.

[@Cobble123]

Sound levels are off the scale bzzz bzzz bzzz bzzz

[@bluetoes591]

Ah yes, sponsored by a tire company that doesn't seem to actually have any tires to sell you, and don't respond to messages asking about availability. Very frustrating. I gave up and bought something less desirable.