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Never hose out a Honda Element

fifthelementcamping.com

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Re: Never hose out a Honda Element

#191

Post by Bancakes »

mmaunder wrote: post #34
chrisseaton wrote: post #4

I don't get it - would you would think you can hose out a consumer car like this, with the fabric seats and all that plastic trim? I've hosed out Land Rovers, but they're clearly an off-road vehicle designed for wading.

Only time I hosed out a car is my uncle's car when it ended up in the ocean. Was low-tide and tons of seagrass on the boat launch. Lost traction and just slowly slid all the way into the ocean. Actually turned out OK after a serious fresh-water bath and carefully drying out everything. Hosing out a car under normal circumstances is insane. I recently worked on a Dodge 12V diesel 1994 truck. Removed all interior carpe…

What is a high-end sound system anyways? I've always wondered, and now I ask. How do you measure it - just frequency response and power draw?

Re: Never hose out a Honda Element

#192

Post by Tabular-Iceberg »

uuyi wrote: post #186
iancmceachern wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Aren't most parts of land rover bodies aluminum? https://www.thrillist.com/cars/9-things-you-didn-t-know-abou...

Yeah. They chassis and bulkhead is made of steel though. This tends to rust very quickly when bonded to aluminium parts.

> This tends to rust very quickly when bonded to aluminium parts

Isn’t it the other way around? Aluminium has a lower reduction potential than iron, so the aluminium should be the first to go. Even lower than zinc, which uses the same mechanism in sacrificial anodes and galvanisation.

I once had the idea of attaching “sacrificing cathodes” made of iron to aluminium beverage cans to make them go away faster when discarded in the environment, but that just causes more problems than it solves, so it’s better stick with container deposit schemes.

Re: Never hose out a Honda Element

#193

Post by madaxe_again »

mmaunder wrote: post #34
chrisseaton wrote: post #4

I don't get it - would you would think you can hose out a consumer car like this, with the fabric seats and all that plastic trim? I've hosed out Land Rovers, but they're clearly an off-road vehicle designed for wading.

Only time I hosed out a car is my uncle's car when it ended up in the ocean. Was low-tide and tons of seagrass on the boat launch. Lost traction and just slowly slid all the way into the ocean. Actually turned out OK after a serious fresh-water bath and carefully drying out everything. Hosing out a car under normal circumstances is insane. I recently worked on a Dodge 12V diesel 1994 truck. Removed all interior carpe…

You’d be amazed at what you can hose out. My house flooded in 2019 - river flood, filthy silty water up to the roofline. Everything got dunked.

I decided I’d at least try hosing everything down. PC, NAS, TV, headphones, you name it, it got hosed, and then left in the sun to dry. Mud and silt had filled most of it, and I’d little hope any of it would survive.

Turns out, bar two hard drives, everything survived. The TV had water trapped in the screen for a few months, but it dried without any residue or mark, and was perfectly usable while the thin film of water between the screen layers evaporated.

But the car was a write off. There was no going back from an engine full of silt, and 100% cooked electrics.

Re: Never hose out a Honda Element

#194

Post by Tabular-Iceberg »

ungamedplayer wrote: post #47
uuyi wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really. The wolfs suck. 24v electrics and stripped bare of everything even remotely nice. And yes they go rusty too. They mostly tend to survive in desert climates longer as they are surrounded by desiccants and clever engineers who can weld things that fell off back on again.

Stripped bare is a feature. Less shit that can go wrong.

> Stripped bare is a feature. Less shit that can go wrong.

I don't understand this attitude. Stripped bare also means you have less shit that can go right. Don't just do a cost analysis, do a cost/benefit analysis.

Better cab ergonomics leads to less driver fatigue, which leads to less accidents and therefore less downtime. Sometimes it actually pays off to have a higher maintenance workload, especially since most of it is planned downtime, or features that don't have fixed urgently. And sometimes this idea of radical simplicity only shifts maintenance workload from one component to another. One example that gets a lot of pushback in US trucking is steering trailer axles. They are indeed more "shit that can go wrong", but not having them and constantly dragging your tires means you're going to have to spend more time changing and re-treading your tires. Look at the whole system, not just one feature in isolation.

Re: Never hose out a Honda Element

#195

Post by londons_explore »

theshrike79 wrote: post #162
SmallBets wrote: post #140

Funny seeing this as an Element owner, who is just dealing with the hell of having the catalytic converter stolen. With the relatively high ground clearance, these are absolute magnets for catalytic converter theft. Estimate to fix it with OEM parts ~$6k! Waiting to see if insurance totals it.

This is one of the things I enjoy as an EV owner. I don't need to worry about low-lifes stealing parts from my car. I do worry about the time when the same people figure out that a regular-ass Type 2 charging cable is up to $300 and completely untraceable if stolen. A "granny-charger" can be up to $1k for the really fancy models. And most EV's have at least one of those onboard at all times.

With a battery powered disc cutter you can have the $15k battery out inside 10 minutes.

Re: Never hose out a Honda Element

#196

Post by theshrike79 »

londons_explore wrote: post #195
theshrike79 wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is one of the things I enjoy as an EV owner. I don't need to worry about low-lifes stealing parts from my car. I do worry about the time when the same people figure out that a regular-ass Type 2 charging cable is up to $300 and completely untraceable if stolen. A "granny-charger" can be up to $1k for the really fancy models. And most EV's have at least one of those onboard at all times.

With a battery powered disc cutter you can have the $15k battery out inside 10 minutes.

Theoretically. In practice there will be a crispy fried battery thief under the car in the morning.

I'm not seeing a huge market in stealing batteries from EV any time soon. Most are literally built into the frame and would require taking apart the whole car.

Re: Never hose out a Honda Element

#198

Post by cplusplusfellow »

tlavoie wrote: post #166
cplusplusfellow wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In 2003/2004, when the Element was initially marketed to the US market, I specifically recall seeing ads that indicated I could do such. Nearly bought one for that reason. Bought a Civic SI instead.

Well, and it's hard to beat a Civic Si for fun driving, if that's your thing. (2009 here!)

Mine was an 03, hatchback model. Very fun to drive and the stick shift was on the dashboard basically.

I only wish I had spent more time driving it more interesting places, instead of to work in that wretched city.

Re: Never hose out a Honda Element

#199

Post by wil421 »

chrisseaton wrote: post #4

I don't get it - would you would think you can hose out a consumer car like this, with the fabric seats and all that plastic trim? I've hosed out Land Rovers, but they're clearly an off-road vehicle designed for wading.

Designed for wading usually means it keeps water out. It doesn’t always mean water proof. If the windshield is removable I would think the inside would be more water proof than a vehicle that can wade, like a Wranger (water resistant inside) vs my Grand Cherokee (multiple seals to keep water out).

Re: Never hose out a Honda Element

#200

Post by koolba »

Bancakes wrote: post #191
mmaunder wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only time I hosed out a car is my uncle's car when it ended up in the ocean. Was low-tide and tons of seagrass on the boat launch. Lost traction and just slowly slid all the way into the ocean. Actually turned out OK after a serious fresh-water bath and carefully drying out everything. Hosing out a car under normal circumstances is insane. I recently worked on a Dodge 12V diesel 1994 truck. Removed all interior carpe…

What is a high-end sound system anyways? I've always wondered, and now I ask. How do you measure it - just frequency response and power draw?

> How do you measure it - just frequency response and power draw?

Same way you measure any other high end consumer good: price

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