Uh oh

[themadscientist]

Originally Posted by new2subaru

My first oil change the mechanic left a grease print on my hood.

I thought about suing them...

[new2subaru]

Originally Posted by themadscientist

Thank you! I needed that.

[STV3]

Originally Posted by SquadRon

Who knows it could be a rag but the next time an EXPLOSION... I was thinking of going to the next appointment coming up in the late August and show them the rag. Plus my car battery just needs to have a warning sensor or something at least like a laptop does... I hope the carmakers don't steal my idea and profit off of it... want to know what's crazy? I tweeted to Apple(publicly/twitter) I manipulated my phone to not "charge" while it needs to turn on from a dead battery to turning "on" right away and all of a sudden week later Android comes out with a phone that doesn't need to "charge" anymore. FML

EDIT: It's also fucked up that my girlfriend was there when she saw me pull out this rag from my engine bay and told me exactly what you guys told me too, but as I said... I am just glad that everybody is okay.

Now this is a phone I want!!! A phone that I never have to charge!?!?

God mode battery life FTW

[MuseChaser]

Originally Posted by SquadRon

Toyota care employee leaves rag inside my car. Slightly stationed on the passenger side of the engine in the left metal sitting above the battery section. Just laying on a flat piece of metal I hope...
What should I do?

OK, now that you've got a few flippant answers, I'd be happy to help you out with the real scoop on this "rag," as you call it.

After reading a bunch of "insider" information, it appears that ScioToyoBaru has discovered that at certain speed/engine revolution/torque combinations, a harmonic resonance sets up in that portion of the engine bay. If that resonance builds up enough, it can start to affect the fuel spray patterns from the injectors leading to reduced power at best, or eventual total failure due to hot spots within the cylinders themselves at worst. While the resonance does begin in some of the sheet metal and forged metal components w/in the engine bay, they have seen it transfer to the head and other internal engine components if left unchecked.

The engineers were concerned about this information getting out; if it did, it would require a complete retooling of the engine bay, including a full redesign of the FA20 for our cars. Fortunately, one of their crack physicists discovered that by judiciously placing pieces of fabric constructed of proprietary damping material (the "rag" you referred to) precisely at the point(s) of resonance origination, the resonances can not only be controlled but completely mitigated.

Rather than issue a recall, they've instructed service departments to begin a "keep it quiet" program of simply installing these proprietary fabric-based resonance control damping devices during routine service visits, hoping that they'll catch all of the cars before any real problems become public.

The one catch is that the damping devices ("rags") can occasionally shift out of their original placement, leading to a loss of effectiveness. The best way to combat that, according to the leaked internal documents that I saw someplace on the interwebs, is to coat the rag thoroughly with roofing tar while being careful not to move it from its scientifically chosen location. Warm the tar first so it can be absorbed.. it needs to be almost pourable. Once the tar solidifies again (make sure there's tar between the rag and the metal surface beneath it, too), you can use 7 or 8 coats of spar varnish over it to dress up the look. It may take as many as 12 coats to get that nice shiny, sink-your-arm-in-it-up-to-the-elbow gloss look, but it's worth it. Make sure you wait at least two days between each coat, and rough up each previous coat w/ 0000 steel wool. Obviously, vacuum the entire engine bay after each steel wooling, and do not drive your car between coats.

No matter what, do NOT try to mod your car by adding additional "rags." This could very well exacerbate the original resonance problem. That proprietary damping device's location was determined at your dealership using state of the art equipment, and isn't something anyone can do on their own.

Good luck, Squad. Thanks for being a leader on this one.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by SquadRon

Who knows it could be a rag but the next time an EXPLOSION... I was thinking of going to the next appointment coming up in the late August and show them the rag. Plus my car battery just needs to have a warning sensor or something at least like a laptop does... I hope the carmakers don't steal my idea and profit off of it... want to know what's crazy? I tweeted to Apple(publicly/twitter) I manipulated my phone to not "charge" while it needs to turn on from a dead battery to turning "on" right away and all of a sudden week later Android comes out with a phone that doesn't need to "charge" anymore. FML

EDIT: It's also fucked up that my girlfriend was there when she saw me pull out this rag from my engine bay and told me exactly what you guys told me too, but as I said... I am just glad that everybody is okay.

Oh dude you blew it! They read this, went back in time about 60 years and started putting gauges or warning lights in the cars that will tell you if your battery isn't charging. Now it is just as if they have always done it. In fact they went back so far that it was one of the first gauges/warnings ever installed in cars.

The 13s and up only have an idiot light since they cheaped out but the 17s actually have a gauge that shows you the voltage.


How do you even function anymore?

[wireman957]

God, I haven't laughed this hard in a long time. Sitting here and my wife and dog are looking at me like I'm losing my mind.

Am I the only one who gets a mental image of Bobcat Goldthwaite when I read one of Squaddie's missives?

[mixtape]

Smell it. If it smells like chloroform, get back to us and we'll let you know what to do next.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by mixtape

Smell it. If it smells like chloroform, get back to us and we'll let you know what to do next.

I strongly suspect that if it smells of any chemical Squady is going to put it in a paper bag and take a few good hits off it.

Actually that would explain a lot about him of late!

[themadscientist]

[wireman957]

Originally Posted by themadscientist

Yep. That's the one.

[Tcoat]

[krayzie]

[FR-S 264]

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by SquadRon

Who knows it could be a rag but the next time an EXPLOSION...

Dude, no.