TheWizard

Can you describe the problem with the remote start that is being attributed to the hood switch? Is it something like the remote start won't work without the Viper alarm armed and it won't arm without knowing if the hood is closed? Most hood switches are simple one-wire spring loaded plungers that just provide a ground to signal when the hood is open or closed. The Edge has a slightly different arrangement in that the hood switch is built into the hood latch but the Viper alarm is only expecting a ground/no ground signal so it should be easy to wire it so that it thinks the hood is always closed. IOW, if the Viper system expects ground when the hood is closed then just ground the wire from the alarm module that would normally go to the hood switch. If it expects ground only when the hood is open then just tape up that wire to prevent it from grounding. You lose the protection of the alarm activating if the hood is opened but that isn't a common problem anymore.

Just about any remote start that is not part of a security system (i.e. remote start only not an alarm with a remote start option) will work without a hood pin switch. The purpose of the hood switch is to trigger the alarm if someone opens the hood while the alarm is armed and that is an unnecessary function for simple remote start operation.

ChrisFix also has a video on changing blinker fluid:

Seriously? Your excuse is that you know it's illegal but it's not often enforced so who cares? You yourself admit that you find cell phone use while driving annoying and dangerous. Most states have laws restricting to varying degrees the use of electronics while driving but those laws aren't consistently enforced. By your logic, that makes it okay to text while driving because it's just a "legality" and the driver is unlikely to get a ticket even though they are endangering (and annoying) other drivers on the road.

That's not just an opinion... if the tractor trailer (or any vehicle for that matter) was already stopped then a flashing brake light could not have made any difference because it wouldn't have been flashing at the time - it only flashes at the start of braking. And that's part of what makes them so very annoying... so many fools are stabbing at their brakes on the highway when simply maintaining a safe following distance and backing off the throttle as necessary would be quite sufficient in most cases. In fact, I'd venture to say that the inappropriate use of brake lights (especially flashing ones) is a significant factor in many highway slow downs because everyone behind hits their brakes causing a chain reaction slow down.

That's true - installing inferior components of any type is never a good idea. But a quality HID kit (such as Diode Dynamics), properly installed, is no more hazardous than any other electrical accessory. It is unfortunate that there are so many low quality kits on the market, not to mention unqualified installers (whether driveway mechanics or even some so-called "professionals" - I've seen some pretty horrific electrical work in cars).

Why would that be? HID bulbs run cooler than halogen and, other than initial startup, the ballasts draw less current.

The coated tip is generally added to bulbs for use in reflector housings. It has no real impact on a projector housing because the optics are designed around the size, orientation and position of the bulb filament as the light source rather than the capsule (globe) of the bulb. The lack of a coated tip will allow somewhat more unreflected light but the beam focus is provided by the front lens and the cutoff shutter so the extra light is part of the beam and not at all blinding for other drivers. As for the difference in wattage, both the 55W H11 and the 65W H9 bulb draw less than 5 amps at operating voltage (13.7V - 14.7V) so your wiring will be fine. Even a small 16 gauge wire can handle 5A for up to about 50 feet without being a hazard (although at that length there could be as much as a 10% voltage drop). The 14 gauge wire commonly used for headlights would not be affected at all by the 10W increase in the bulb. Going from an H11 to an H9 in a projector lamp is by far the easiest and most productive way to increase light output without changing to HID.

Yes, but wiper blades usually die due to environmental conditions not wear. 303 is great stuff that might protect tires from dry rot but it certainly isn't going to stop tread wear (not that I would dream of putting anything slippery on my tread).

Agreed... there are definitely times when manual control is desirable. Your example of hilly/mountainous driving is a good one although I found that the simple overdrive override on our '13 Edge was quite sufficient for that. Going through North Carolina and West Virginia with the OD off made a huge difference both up and downhill - almost no kick-down shifting going up and much less brake usage going down. And, as I mentioned, in stop-and-go traffic it's nice to be able to control speed with the throttle in a lower gear rather than being on and off the brakes all the time. But neither of those (or most other driving situations) necessitate manually and sequentially rowing through the gears regularly. As you mention, automatic transmissions are much better than they used to be and will generally respond appropriately without the need for manual control.

Frankly, I think the whole idea of manually shifting a "slush box" is a marketing ploy aimed at overgrown teenagers... the ones who put baseball cards in the spokes of their bicycles so they could pretend to be on a motorcycle. For most people there are only very limited situations where manually shifting an automatic is useful and those can be accomplished by moving the normal shift lever (e.g. using second gear in stop-and-go traffic). Otherwise, "spirited driving" in a CUV (especially an unmodified one) is something of an oxymoron.

In general, there is no reason to increase following distance to a motorcycle compared to a car - the 2-second rule works in both cases. There is a common misconception that motorcycles can stop faster than a car but that's only if they fall over. Yes, they are lighter but they also have less than half the tire contact patch for traction not to mention that a significant number of riders (particularly on large V-Twins... without mentioning any names) don't know what the front brake is for or deliberately avoid using it for fear of going over the handlebars. Of course it's always a good idea to increase following distance in poor weather conditions - bikes can be especially sensitive to aquaplaning. Also, increase following distance if the rider appears inexperienced or unstable... it can be really annoying to have to pull a bike (or a Miata for that matter) out from your undercarriage. As far as distance when stopped, I was always taught to be sure I could see where the rear tire meets the road on the vehicle in front when stopped at a light. That applies to both bikes and cars. It ensures you have enough room to go around without backing up if the vehicle in front stalls or doesn't move for some other reason. It also provides buffer space in case someone hits you from behind and pushes you forward.

Yeah, I know what you mean about the inconsistency of state laws. Up until a year or two ago, Florida still had a law on the books that prohibited headlight modulators on motorcycles despite the fact that they have been legal under federal law for many years. We all took to carrying a laminated copy of the federal law in case we got pulled over. Yes, I know it seems contradictory that I would use a headlight modulator but complain about how annoying a flashing brake light can be. The difference is that a headlight modulator makes a small vehicle like a motorcycle more visible when other drivers are actually looking (such as when they're turning on to a street or across traffic). Rear end collisions are caused by distracted drivers or following too closely - neither of which would be affected by whether the brake lights flash or not (although I love the idea of flashing under extreme braking only). I can't tell you how many times I've seen a driver about to turn in front of me and then suddenly stop when seeing the modulating headlight. Here is a site with links to the various state vehicle codes: https://www.motorists.org/blog/vehicle-code-by-state/

That's a new one to me. There are rules about distance when using high beams (not within 500 feet oncoming or 300 feet following) but here in Florida the only restriction on fog lights (other than mounting and aiming) is that there can't be more than four total forward facing lights of more than 300 candlepower and that they may be used with low beam headlights. I am curious why there would be distance restrictions on fog lights as they (like low beam headlights) are required to be aimed in such a way as to prevent their light from being in the eyes of other drivers.

True, although there are vehicle models that turn off the fog lights with high beams despite not having discrete high beam lamps (i.e. bi-xenon projector lamps that switch to high beam without illuminating additional lamps) where the high beams and fog lights would amount to only four lamps. Presumably this is because fog lights make little sense for use with high beams - a fog light is designed to illuminate immediately in front of the vehicle at a low level to cut under fog and precipitation whereas high beams are designed for completely opposite use (higher up and greater distance). Many of them are controlled by the simple trick of having the fog lights ground through the power side of the high beam circuit... when the high beams are on, there is no ground available to the fog lights so they shut off.

I agree with akirby... adding flashing to an already distinct third brake light is not going to make any difference. Stupid drivers behind you aren't going to see a flashing light any more than they would see any of your brake lights if they are looking at their phones. And if they are looking at the road then then they'll easily see your brake lights even without them flashing. We used to put brake light flashers on motorcycles (that's what the Signal Dynamics kit is intended for) because they generally have much smaller tail lights and the flashing made them more visible from a distance (up close it made no difference) but cages (four wheel vehicles) have sufficient brake lighting to be easily visible to anyone who is looking. The flashers are simply an annoying gimmick with no real value.

I like bell bottom jeans - they cover my big feet better.

You may have a "helpful" local Kia dealer installing them on new vehicles before delivery but they don't come that way from the factory. We have a local Chevy dealer doing that.

Although that seems to be becoming all the rage lately, a flashing brake light is illegal in most states (it falls under the section of flashing red lights other than turn signals are reserved for first responders). Not to mention they are incredibly annoying in traffic.

The reason you're getting the permission questions is because the car is attempting to connect via Bluetooth as well as the USB connection. If you disable Bluetooth on either the phone or the car, it will ask only once for permission on the USB connection and then not ask again for that vehicle. But you only need USB to provide power for the phone - Android Auto can communicate entirely over Bluetooth. So perhaps you should try plugging your phone into a simple charger rather than the car's USB and let Bluetooth handle the communication. I think you'll find that will eliminate a lot of the issues... start the car with the phone on (why do you turn it off when not in the car anyway?) and it should initialize the Sync system, pair with the phone via Bluetooth and start Android Auto all in the correct sequence automatically. There will be a delay as all that happens but you won't have to do anything manually.

I don't know about Canada specifically but in the US, winter gas consists of a formulation that has a higher RVP (Reid Vapor Pressure) value. RVP measures how easily the gas evaporates. It has some connection to performance issues such as vapor lock in a car's fuel system but mostly it's to keep the EPA happy. Winter fuel with the higher RVP (9.0) costs less but evaporates much more quickly in warmer temperatures and they don't want fuel vapors getting into the atmosphere. Summer fuel has a lower RVP of around 7.8 and costs more. That's part of the reason that gas prices go up in summer. There generally isn't any gas line antifreeze included in the winter formulation (at least in the US, I don't know about Canada). Some brands in the north may add it at the terminal (rather than at the refinery) but generally they would make a point of advertising that they do so... as a selling point.

You have to be a little cautious about assuming the ethanol in gasoline will take care of any freezing problems. Yes, that is true as long as you drive and fill up regularly. The problem comes when your car sits for any extended period of time. Ethanol is hygroscopic (it bonds with water) so it will help flush moisture through your system to be burned in the engine but it bonds better with water than it does with gasoline so if it is left sitting you can get phase separation where the ethanol/water mix will separate from the gasoline, causing problems. The isopropyl alcohol used in gas line antifreeze will actually combine with any free water and remix the ethanol/water mix with the gas to resolve the problems caused by phase separation. So, if you drive enough to cycle your tank fairly often then don't worry about it. But if the car sits a lot then adding gas line antifreeze can be helpful.

There would be no reason to suspend a lifetime subscription... it will be available for life regardless of whether it's in use or not. If one decides not to transfer the lifetime subscription to a particular vehicle and use a monthly or annual subscription instead then the monthly/annual subscription will be added to your SiriusXM account with the lifetime subscription still there but not being used. The portable or aftermarket receiver it is assigned to will still work or it could be left in a box until needed for another vehicle. A lifetime subscription can be transferred three times to other portable/aftermarket receivers but only once to an OEM built-in vehicle receiver. You can transfer a monthly/annual subscription whenever you want. Actually, it's not really transferred... a new subscription is added to your account. The cost works out the same as if it was transferred but your account will just show the old receiver's ESN as inactive and the new ESN activated. That applies whether it's a portable/aftermarket receiver or an OEM one. They generally charge $15 for activation of the subscription on the new receiver but otherwise there is no restriction because you're still paying for it. It's the lifetime subscriptions that they want to limit because they're not making any money from them.

Petro-Canada now has up to 10% ethanol (E10) in all grades of their gasoline. Until recently, their premium grades (SuperClean and Ultra94) were ethanol free but the other grades have been E10 for some time now.

The people who shut down Napster's free music file sharing wouldn't agree with that. Besides, you're just trying to come up with excuses for an activity you know to be illegal... that's a sad commentary on people's moral compasses. I'm surprised that the mods/admins on this forum would allow such illegal activity. This is a moderated forum so they can't claim the immunity that an internet service provider enjoys (i.e not being aware of or monitoring the activity).