I forgot to mention my work on my 94 Ranger 4x4. I did the front and rear brakes a few days ago. new calipers,pads and one new rotor on the front. New drums, shoes, inside hardware, wheel cylinders and e-brake cables on the rear. Only problem I had was the line going into the wheel cylinders. Luckily I was able to heat the nuts up enough just before running out of oxygen. The flame was getting pretty orange when I finished. The one wheel cylinder had let go several months ago and I drove on just front brakes until I could get my other truck running. A little scary in winter snow. I still have to do the lower ball joints but they will wait for a couple weeks for a payday. Also I must have bumped the connector for the ABS sensor on the rear when I was doing the cables because the ABS light is now on. Too much ice clinging to underneath to fix it now, I’ll wait for it to warm up a bit.
I think that i´m to skip the idea for buying a cheap diesel.
Its very hard to find a reasonablly priced diesel with a reliable engine,
that fit in the right emission norm classifications to drive in the green zone.
The only cars that are reasonablly priced that meet the standards,
are downsized diesels 1.3, 1.4, and 1.5´s and such,
which arguablly arent really that reliable.
I´m probablly just going with a petrol car that more reliable.
Way more choice on the occasion market.
Yes, it’s hard to resign yourself to have to choose reliability over fun. I guess that being an adult, but I don’t have to like it.
Yeah definitelly allthough i do love fun aswell.
But yeah i have to choose wisely this time arround.
I really love Italian cars, and then Alfa Romeo´s especially.
But they are currentlly just too expensive to drive and maintain.
I mean you can buy a car that you love and gives you fun and joy.
But the key word is maintance.
You should also be able to maintain the car properlly.
Yes. I have been driving my 1/2 ton work truck thru most of the winter because the Ranger wasn’t safe to drive. The f150 gets about 20 to 25 liters/100km…the Ranger gets 14 to 16 liters/100km. I have a 98 Neon that can get 7L/100km once I swap a good motor in. I just need to wait for enough cash. It’s also good that I can do all the work myself, I’d be hooped if I had to pay someone else.
Yeah thats definitelly a huge benefit.
I cannot do that unfortunatlly, allthough i´m pretty handy with certain things.
But i´m not able to maintain and repair cars myself.
I have to go to a garage to do such kind of things.
And that is really expensive.
It’s a lot better now with youtube…if you have the tools and a space to work. I first learnt from reading hotrod magazines back in the 70’s and 80’s. Then I took a pre-apprentice program for diesel mechanics after highschool in the early 80’s. I never finished, ran out of money and picked up a job doing siding. I’m now a siding ninja. But I’ve never lost interest in mechanics and have probably 40 to 50 thousand in tools that I’ve bought over the years. And that is used tool pricing…too cheap to buy new. And also have no shop 
Another way to look at buying tools; you can spend the money on tools to do the job yourself, or you can pay someone else to do the job. It can be about the same outlay of cash but at the end if you buy the tools you get to keep them. And you learn something and have the satisfaction of being able to say “I did that”. Start off small, oil changes, tire changes, learn how to jack up a car properly, change light bulbs. Each time something goes wrong, research it and learn about it, even if you get someone else to fix it at least you won’t be as likely to get ripped off. A multi-meter and a 12 volt test light and the knowledge on how to test automotive cicuits can go a long way to fixing newer cars. Hint; most electrical problems are a bad ground.
Yeah i know there is allot of information arround on the internet about how to do things.
And there are definitelly small things that i can do myself.
Like checking fuels and such.
But larger things i cannot really do myself unfortunatlly.
Because my dad probablly doesnt have all the right tools for it.
Allthough i wouldnt mind trying to fix some things myself.
I mean there are more girls arround in the car world. 
I’ve had a lot of people work for me. Probably over 100 over the course of 30 years. Of the top 2 the best was a woman I hired, she was a secretary before. She learned quickly and applied herself. I find that most people want to work, but some are better than others. One guy I hired I fired two days later. I caught him putting a round rock under a ladder to stabilize it. Some people don’t belong on a job site… Then there was a truck driver. he tried sooo hard but he just couldn’t remember. I had to let him go after 2 weeks, it made me sad but I couldn’t afford the time wasted.
I went a little off topic but what I meant to say is that women are just as capable as men when given the opportunity to learn properly. And I think they probably try harder because their has been a bias against women working since forever. WW2 [maybe WW1 as well] helped change that as the women had to work while the men went to war.
Oh yes definitelly.
Looking at myself as an example, i can build pc’s.
i think that i have a reasonable knowledge about hardware.
Because that allways interested me allot, especially motherboards and vrm circuitry stuff.
But yeah its just cool to have some technical knowlegde in general.
I also know some car stuff 
I definitelly do my research.
My sister always wants to learn when I’m fixing something on the car.
Anyway, @MisteryAngel good call not going for a diesel, there’s too much going on in Europe surrounding them at the moment, and the EGR and DPF is killing those little 1.4 liter engines anyway.
I regret getting the Citröen C3 1.4 HDi for my GF to practice drive in, and now I can’t seem to get rid of it, cause no one wants a small diesel car.
Yeah indeed but not only that.
Fuel pumps on diesel cars are really expensive.
Exhaust filters are expensive and tempt to fail at times.
Then there is the Turbo, especially with the Ford 1.6Tdci engine from psa, which is the same as the 1.6D in Volvo, Peugeot 1.6Hdi etc,
which have a serious issue with killing turbo’s.
And the list goes on for potential issues with smaler diesel engines.
The 1.3jtdm from Fiat GM group has timing chain issues etc.
All potential very expensive repairs that you might run into wenn the milleage goes up.
With petrol engines that dont have a turbo, you will have less expensive potential repairs i think.
But of course its also a matter of luck a bit.
The bigger diesel engines like a 1.9jtd, Tdi and all those, are pretty decent.
But finding one that meets the euro 4 norms means that,
you have to buy one from 2007 and newer.
Which are pretty expensive.
Those downsized diesels can be found for reasonable prices.
But yeah they are just less robust.
When I get a new diesel pickup/SUV which I’ve been eyeing the first order of business is to block the EGR, I’ll probably leave the DPF in cause I know how to keep it unclogged.
Also I do advocate for EV’s so I don’t want to be an ultra hypocrite.
If its a 4 door you can probablly sell it for export.
But if its a 3 door, then its indeed very hard to get rid of.
I’m exally currious about how reliable the 1.4Hdi in particular is?
I know it only has 70HP, so its not really fast.
But other then that, i dont really read that manny issues on that particular engine.
I’ve heard of no issues on the engine.
It’s a nice engine to drive, good torque range and quick enough for what it is.
I’d suggest selling it to you but I suspect you don’t want an automatic.
The car only has 36.000kms on it and interior looks almost brand new.
I’m exally suprised that its so hard to get rid of,
especially with only 36K on it.
But its probablly the automatic transmission that does it.
Allthough that depends on the country your in.
But yeah automatic transmission isnt really an option for me indeed.
Also EGR is an issue i read allot on diesel engines.
Manny people seem to block it, it makes the car even run better.
Downside of that is that it will produce more smoke from the exhaust,
which potentially with cause issues with the exhaust filter (not sure how that thing is called in english) in the long run.
Unless you also gonne take that filter out and replace it for a empty dummy, which is also done allot.
But you might run into problems according mot then according measurements.
It’s called DPF or diesel particulate filter.
Blocking the EGR normally doesn’t cause to many issues with the DPF unless it’s driving tons in the city or never rev the engine.
There’s just tons of cars for sales atm in Norway, cause everyone is buying Tesla Model 3’s and Nissan Leafs, so the used market is kinda flooded, good time to buy though.
Catalytic Converter? (improves emissions)
Yeah i saw that on television this weekend.
The EV’s are a serious thing in Norway.
Isnt Norway going to ban all petrol and diesel powered cars from the citties in the future?