New Stuff on Vehicles likes/dislikes

[dingbat]

The F150 has 3 level, manual seat and steering wheel warming.

The Mazda has heated and vented seats front and back along with a heated steering wheel. All three functions are three level, manually controlled.

 

[Pmt133]

I would describe the seat heat in my current truck as slightly above body temperature... on the flip side my 04 was unbearable on high... like uncomfortably hot.

That being said... my experience with GM heat and air is consistently you need a coat in the summer and a cutoff in the winter. I have watched snow flakes come out of my air vents on more than one occasion.

 

[Scott Danforth]

I think that these sealed bearing idler and tensioner pulleys are not as long lasting as used to be . If possible I usually lift the seal and put a bit more decent grease in there .....but its pointless if you damage the seal .

The plastic pulley has already started eating itself on the belt. The whole assembly is getting replaced under warranty

 

[FLATHEAD]

That's about 5C. which to me is way too Early. Cadillac doesn't, or didn't provide a way to adjust the Temp, only on or off. Even when it was -30c a couple of Months ago, I was turning the Wheel and Seat Heaters off in less than 3 minutes

I can adjust all those setting on my wife’s Cadillac.

 

[Lou C]

I have found that the old fashioned metal idler pulleys last about 100k miles and are pretty cheap to replace. I usually replace the belt & pulleys at the same time.

 

[jimmbo]

I can adjust all those setting on my wife’s Cadillac.

I can adjust the Level of Heat when it is on, but I can't adjust the Temp at which it turns On, which is about 10C(50F)

 

[Mc Tool]

I have found that the old fashioned metal idler pulleys last about 100k miles and are pretty cheap to replace. I usually replace the belt & pulleys at the same time.

Yes ,I have to replace the serpentine belt on my car and ordered new idlers and they are steel with a bearing . Only want to replace belt (100k+kms) but I am doing the idlers and waterpump as well coz they are a proper pain to get at . May as well do it in one hit .

 

[Jeff J]

My idler is coming up on 250,000 miles. Current belt has about 80,000 miles. The first one didn’t look too bad at 168,000 which is when the intake manifold failed. 2008 F150.

 

[Mc Tool]

My idler is coming up on 250,000 miles. Current belt has about 80,000 miles. The first one didn’t look too bad at 168,000 which is when the intake manifold failed. 2008 F150.

Yeah , I have one of them plastic intakes ....with variable intake runners , I cant wait for that to crap out .
I found out that it has to come off to get at the rear spark plugs .
I have been told that water pumps are prone to failure ( Toyota 2gr-fe) so I figured Id fix it before it broke . Apparently I have to remove the whole right side wheel and strut assy to get the water pump out

 

[Lou C]

Yes ,I have to replace the serpentine belt on my car and ordered new idlers and they are steel with a bearing . Only want to replace belt (100k+kms) but I am doing the idlers and waterpump as well coz they are a proper pain to get at . May as well do it in one hit .

The bearings wear but also the friction surfaces that the belt rides on wear as well. Yep I'd prefer to do the whole thing in one job, not to replace the belt and then a month later hear the tensioner/idler start to make noise. Last time I did it was at approx 105,000 miles now I'm at 184,000 miles. 1998 Jeep 4.0. The one on my 2007 Grand Cherokee 5.7 is at about 135,000 miles and still quiet.
The other reason why it's good to check these things out, you can rotate the pulley of each accessory and feel when one is starting to lose the bearing before it leaves you stranded with a bad water pump, alternator or P/S pump. The bearing will feel rough and gritty like a bad wheel bearing on a boat trailer or old school car with adjustable bearings.

 

[racerone]

Plastic pulleys do not get rid of heat like a metal one.----Plastic parts are cheap and cheap to produce.

 

[Jeff J]

Yeah , I have one of them plastic intakes ....with variable intake runners , I cant wait for that to crap out .
I found out that it has to come off to get at the rear spark plugs .
I have been told that water pumps are prone to failure ( Toyota 2gr-fe) so I figured Id fix it before it broke . Apparently I have to remove the whole right side wheel and strut assy to get the water pump out

I got lucky. I have the 4.6 liter. It’s easier to work on than the bigger motor and has always done what I asked of it… even when it shouldn’t have.

 

[dingbat]

Guess I’m lucky.
Only idler I’ve ever gone bad was on a 2001 Chevy 5.3. @ 100k.
The Toyota was OE when we sold it at 199k. The Civic, my daily driver is still OE @ 235k

 

[bruceb58]

I typically change idlers at 60K miles on all my cars. Was on a trip in Big Bend Texas during Covid and there was a Subaru sitting in the campground waiting a week for a new idler for his car...It was just over 60K miles!

They are such a simple change on most cars...not worth having it cause a breakdown when they are so cheap and easy to change.