Is there a (US-centric*) equivalent to alt.home.repair for car maintenance
questions? Didn't seem appropriate to post here, but all the alt
car groups I can see seem to be nearly all spam, suggesting
that the real car questions are all on a ng that I haven't found yet :-)

* something akin to uk.rec.cars.maintenance, but for US models...

cheers

Jules

"Jules" wrote in message

Is there a (US-centric*) equivalent to alt.home.repair for car maintenance
questions?...


There are plenty of "forums" on the internet for auto repair. Search
google.com for the name of your vehicle manufacturer along with the word
"forum". Examples...

GM forum
Toyota forum
chevy forum
etc.

Auto repair types tend to not be electronic or computer savvy, so most of
the discussion will be on web site "forums" and not on Usenet.

Also these days vehicles are quite complex with all the electronics. You
pretty much need a factory service manual set, a computer code reader, and a
multimeter for many repairs/troubleshooting. You can order factory service
manuals from your dealer.

These books are quite detailed. For example a 1999 GM truck factory service
manual set I have is about 6000 pages long total and has 4 books to the set.
These tell you exactly where things are for your specific vehicle as opposed
to those little books sold at auto parts stores (useless these days).

On Wed, 21 Oct 2009 08:50:55 -0700, Bill wrote:
Auto repair types tend to not be electronic or computer savvy, so most of
the discussion will be on web site "forums" and not on Usenet.

Urgh, that's sad to hear; I've always found web-based forums extremely
inconvenient compared to usenet groups. Mailing lists aren't quite so
bad, but they still have the disadvantage of needing yet another
account and introducing yet another service to manage (particularly
annoying when it's a one-off question!)

Also these days vehicles are quite complex with all the electronics. You
pretty much need a factory service manual set, a computer code reader,
and a multimeter for many repairs/troubleshooting. You can order factory
service manuals from your dealer.

Yeah, I've stated before that I aim to never own a vehicle that's newer
than I am, so I tend to avoid a lot of those issues :-)

This is for the wife's car though (a baby at '97 vintage), so what you
mention does become a factor for certain types of problems. "thankfully"
the issue with hers is a vibration-related fault, so I can hopefully
avoid a lot of the (diagnostic) expense.

These books are quite detailed. For example a 1999 GM truck factory
service manual set I have is about 6000 pages long total and has 4 books
to the set. These tell you exactly where things are for your specific
vehicle as opposed to those little books sold at auto parts stores
(useless these days).

Yep. I've tried to always have proper service manuals for my vehicles
(although I still need one for my old F-100). I did wonder what the "parts
stores" - Chilton etc. - books were like, as I suspect they might be
better used as toilet paper... they probably seal them in the stores so
you can't browse them before purchase and realise how bad they are ;-)

Having said that, if they list torque wrench settings and other
"mechanical" details that can be enough in a lot of cases, I suppose - but
I still don't like 'em vs. having the "real thing" (although I've found
errors before in factory manuals, so they're not always perfect either).

cheers

Jules

Jules wrote:
Is there a (US-centric*) equivalent to alt.home.repair for car
maintenance questions? Didn't seem appropriate to post here, but all
the alt
car groups I can see seem to be nearly all spam, suggesting
that the real car questions are all on a ng that I haven't found yet
:-)

* something akin to uk.rec.cars.maintenance, but for US models...

I've had good luck with alt.autos.dodge for my caravan.

Jules wrote:
Is there a (US-centric*) equivalent to alt.home.repair for car maintenance
questions? Didn't seem appropriate to post here, but all the alt
car groups I can see seem to be nearly all spam, suggesting
that the real car questions are all on a ng that I haven't found yet :-)

* something akin to uk.rec.cars.maintenance, but for US models...

cheers

Jules


Search the newsgroups for the brand of vehicle that interests you and
you should find an appropriate newsgroup.

Don

On Wed, 21 Oct 2009 10:27:35 -0500, Jules
wrote:


Is there a (US-centric*) equivalent to alt.home.repair for car maintenance
questions? Didn't seem appropriate to post here, but all the alt
car groups I can see seem to be nearly all spam, suggesting
that the real car questions are all on a ng that I haven't found yet :-)

* something akin to uk.rec.cars.maintenance, but for US models...

cheers

Jules

rec.auto.repair

On Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:21:45 -0400, wrote:

On Wed, 21 Oct 2009 10:27:35 -0500, Jules
wrote:


Is there a (US-centric*) equivalent to alt.home.repair for car maintenance
questions? Didn't seem appropriate to post here, but all the alt
car groups I can see seem to be nearly all spam, suggesting
that the real car questions are all on a ng that I haven't found yet :-)

* something akin to uk.rec.cars.maintenance, but for US models...

cheers

Jules

rec.auto.repair

correction rec.autos.tech

On Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:26:15 -0400, tnom wrote:
correction rec.autos.tech

Awesome - that looks like the critter! Thanks

J.

On Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:24:26 -0500, Jules
wrote:

On Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:26:15 -0400, tnom wrote:
correction rec.autos.tech

Awesome - that looks like the critter! Thanks

J.

For your "old F-100" there is alt.trucks.ford

Threads are few, but plenty of people check the group and reply.

Can't recall seeing any spam to speak of.

Jules wrote:
Is there a (US-centric*) equivalent to alt.home.repair for car maintenance
questions? Didn't seem appropriate to post here, but all the alt
car groups I can see seem to be nearly all spam, suggesting
that the real car questions are all on a ng that I haven't found yet :-)

* something akin to uk.rec.cars.maintenance, but for US models...

cheers

Jules

I've always had pretty good luck with rec.autos.tech, and the
brand-specific groups in that tree. (ie, rec.autos.tech.honda)



--
aem sends...

Jules wrote:

Urgh, that's sad to hear; I've always found web-based forums extremely
inconvenient compared to usenet groups. Mailing lists aren't quite so
bad, but they still have the disadvantage of needing yet another
account and introducing yet another service to manage (particularly
annoying when it's a one-off question!)

Also these days vehicles are quite complex with all the electronics.
You pretty much need a factory service manual set, a computer code
reader, and a multimeter for many repairs/troubleshooting. You can
order factory service manuals from your dealer.

Yeah, I've stated before that I aim to never own a vehicle that's
newer than I am, so I tend to avoid a lot of those issues :-)

This is for the wife's car though (a baby at '97 vintage), so what you
mention does become a factor for certain types of problems.
"thankfully" the issue with hers is a vibration-related fault, so I
can hopefully avoid a lot of the (diagnostic) expense.

There are some very well run automobile repair forums, with vast amounts of
resources and experience behind them, that make repairing certain makes of
newer vehicles a piece of cake.

Unfortunately though, you have decided to keep the make and model of the
vehicle a secret from us, so I can't suggest one of them for you.

Jon

On Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:47:25 -0700, Jon Danniken wrote:
Unfortunately though, you have decided to keep the make and model of the
vehicle a secret from us, so I can't suggest one of them for you.

It's a Toyota (Avalon).

1) I'd already found a Toyota group under the alt.* hierarchy. It was full
of spam and appeared to be next to useless.

2) As the issue's related to drivetrain/suspension vibration, I highly
suspect it's more of a generic problem not specific to the make/model at
all, so I figured I'd have more luck asking in a more generic maintenance
group before trying one specific to the manufacturer/car.

cheers

Jules