A couple years ago when everyone was still working from home full time, I parked my car and basically did not drive it for a good 2 months. I eventually came back and noticed that the tree I had inadvertently parked under had dropped sap all over the car and over those 2 months had eaten through the paint right to the metal. I quickly use bug/sap remover to get rid of all the remaining sap, but there was very obvious damage to the paint with many small dots of exposed metal on multiple panels.

Fast forward to today...life has gotten busy and I have not taken care of the missing paint yet. Yes, this is my fault - I should have used touch up paint or something to cover it up back when it happened, but I did not. I am not interested in getting it professionally painted. The car is just not worth that much to justify the cost. However, I would like to do something to make it marginally better. I've gotten the basic supplies like touch up paint, fine grit sand paper, rubbing compound, polish, etc. already. My challenge now is that due to the length of time that the metal has sat exposed, there is very obvious evidence of rust.

What should I do about the rust? Just paint over it? Sand it first? Apply some type of protectant before painting? The rust is just in the small dots where the sap ate away at the paint. The maximum diameter is probably something like a quarter inch and the smallest are barely noticeable so whatever I apply to the exposed metal will likely touch the surrounding paint.

So my Kia Optima 2018 was recently stolen and I’m currently waiting to see if it will be found by the local police.

There are a few valuable items in the trunk (nice hiking backpack, sleeping bag) and I am curious how hard it would be for the thief to access the trunk for my specific car model.

My car was locked and I still have the key so they presumably ripped out the ignition to start my car. My question is can they unlock the trunk with the internal button if they didn’t use my key to start the car? If they start it by hacking my ignition, does that allow the buttons like the trunk release to still work, or do they simply have the ability to drive the car?

Thank you!

P.S. Since my Optima is a 2018 model, it does not have the trunk release tab behind the back seats, which does mean the thief wouldn’t be able to open my trunk that way.

And right after cold starting it.

I have removed the old hub along with the inner bearing race, but the outer race is seized. My bearing puller just won’t grab. Should I dremel notches for my bearing puller to fit in? Should I use a cut off wheel and cut it out? I’m stumped. Any advice appreciated

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Posting this here as well.

Hello everyone, I recently bought a new Ecoboost Mustang off the lot and am wondering what kind of build I should do with it. It's currently my daily but I wouldn't mind eventually taking it to the track to do some casual time attacks or just for fun. Does anybody have any suggestions on basic modifications (cosmetic or performance) that will enhance my experience? I also like it so much that I am looking to buy a higher trim model later on. Thank you for your feed back!

I got this car in March and when i got home with it i tried opening the tailgate window and it didn’t open and i didn’t think it was that big of a deal. A couple weeks ago i was driving on the highway and i had my music going and it pops open on the highway. it did it another time about 15-20 mins later after i shut it. when i got home i looked up on google why it was doing that and someone said it could’ve been because the bass in my radio was up to high. i haven’t driven on the highway or interstate since today after that and it did it again, but i didn’t have my radio going so im guessing now its just because of high speeds. does anyone know a way to fix this and stop it from happening?

Thanks

Had my water pump fail yesterday and replaced with a new one today. Only problem is we cannot for the life of us put the belt that goes around it back on. I have searched almost every YouTube video and cannot find anything about how to install on that side. Or any really for the hybrid. There is one tensioner for the bigger belts but that’s it. Been trying to stretch it and make it work for hours but I’m at a loss now and hoping there’s a hack out there we don’t know about.

Hi..so it’s a 2008 ScionXd with 5speed manual transmission. We’ve always left it in the garage in South Florida but the battery seems to go bad after 3 years. The mechanic suggests we take out the battery altogether as we’re leaving the car for about 6 months. Should we do the trickle charge or take it out? TIA!

I’m new to the whole car scene and recently got a new car (2024 Mitsubishi mirage g4) and want to turn it more sporty looking like a rally car my first thought was I want to wide body for bigger wheels since the stock ones are super tiny and it makes the car feel all wobbly I did my research on what wide bodying does but there’s no kits online for the car I was wondering if there was a way I can sorta “freestyle” it by making my own part or buying parts that are similar to my car or if it just a lost cause atp

Local shop quoted $275 for my truck and said it will help slow down the rust. I plan to keep forever as it wasy grandpa's. It's 20 years old and just mild rust on undercarriage.

I know of similar brands woolwax, etc. I just don't want to deal with the mess for a dyi.

My husband has a 2008 Ford Focus with 132,000 miles on it. He has kept up on maintenance and light repairs (engine mounts, shocks, batteries, light bulbs, brakes and pads, oil and fluids, etc). It runs great and has been reliable.

This weekend he had a oops moment (it's complicated) and caused some front side body damage and damage to his driver's side doors. The doors closeand latch, but there is some forcing to be done there. It still runs fine and drives straight.

At what point do you say goodbye to this car, or do you spend the $ to fix the doors (estimates from $500-1200) leaving the front fender dented, or fix everything, or....?

He's agonizing over this. It seems wasteful to junk the car over damage that doesn't cause it to not run, doesn't make it unsafe....but the car is 16 years old.

Any advice and considerations are appreciated.

Working on my 21 KX450f sorry its not a car but the principle is the same i have an LED light strip for the taillight and signals but my bike puts out more than the recommended voltage for the 12v amazon strip. so I'm trying to put in a resistor in the wiring to limit the load, I'm skilled enough to do it but i know virtually nothing about what resistors to use, ohms law, or how to determine it. so in short how do i figure out what resistor to use or what resistor would you recommend. if I'm wrong about anything or there's something else i should use please tell me, I'm good enough to do most things i just kinda lack the knowledge.

2006 Ram 5.6l 48re 245,093 miles I've got this issue I've been trying to fix for probably a year at this point. When driving in-between 28mph and 32mph the truck jolts between 2nd and 3rd gear repeatedly. Going in and out between the two gears. The transmission is new as of 30,000 miles ago. We've replaced the governor pressure solenoid and transducer, replaced the transmission speed sensor and the rear differential speed sensor. Is it clutch or a band issue, any ideas? I'm lost at this point. Fluid is at the proper level and going by the pan magnets, there is no abnormal wear happening.

I’m tidying up my garage and have several bottles of oil of varying fullness, brands, ages, and ‘features’.

Can I dump all oils that have the sam e weight into 1 bottle?

My car is not starting, made weird noise while I was driving, and my battery looks like this. What does this mean?

I was driving today and heard a snap clutch pedal fell to the floor dead.

I checked out behind the clutch pedal and found a metal bracket/housing of some sort I'm guessing has to be replaced.

Does anyone know what this is that snapped?

Along with the name of the part that I need to be replaced, If multiple parts or just that single broken part.

I couldn't get a good view as it was dark and I was stranded so I cannot see where the metal was attached till tomorrow.

If anyone has any advice on this it's much appreciated.

https://preview.redd.it/zoim45pmug0d1.jpg?width=3056&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e4490fe90734fad711c8755ecdac922fb146febe

Many thanks in advance.

Car: KIA PICANTO 2009 1.0

My AC is blowing hot air but holding pressure so I want to evacuate it legally so I can check for leaks and replace parts on my own. Most shops near me are asking for an hour of labor so around $140. A couple of shops said ~$80.