Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with engine

Expression Engine file upload won't work. Why?

davebush — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 16:56:37 -0800

Why won't Expression Engine's file upload work? My first Expression Engine website has gone smoothly, with the exception of the file upload function within the Edit window. The server path and directory permissions are both correct (I've checked and re-checked). The file browser works fine (which I assume confirms the path is right), but attempted uploads give me the error message "An error of an unknown type was encountered."

EE's support staff haven't been able to provide a solution yet (via my forum thread) and searching through past forums threads shows me others have had this problem, but it's normally the result of server path or permissions issues.

I've begun to think the problem might stem from an issue with the host's temp directory. Apparently, uploaded files initially reside in a temp directory before being copied to the final destination (my "uploads" folder).

One more troubling aspect - the host's control panel file upload works fine.

Any suggestions? I'm baffled and frustrated. I'll attempt phone support with the hosting company tomorrow, but I'm hoping to know more about a possible solution before then.

published google doc - autoindexed or hidden until linked?

nolnar — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 04:42:42 -0800

Is a published Google Doc document autoindexed by Google or hidden until it is first linked by another page? I am sure the answer to this is in plain sight somewhere but I've been googling for 30 minutes (!) without finding the answer so I'd better ask for help.

Car Trouble: Can I drive this?

delmoi — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 09:28:36 -0800

So first of all, I'm not exactly sure what's wrong with my car, but whatever it is is definitely not good. I was driving the other day when the engine started making this very loud clanking/grinding noise. Apparently I hadn't checked my oil level and it was basically gone. After filling it up with Oil, the noise is still there, but much quieter. So I'm thinking I might need a whole new engine. The thing is, I found a nearly identical car on Craigslist for $1750, which would probably be just a few hundred more then a new engine, and I could just drive the thing until I get around to repairing my old one. On the other hand, I don't really want to spend that much in a panic. The car is a 1997 Toyota Tercel. Yes, I'm a total idiot for letting my engine run out of oil. I had just gone on a 2,000 trip with no problems at all (before which I had put in a new bottle of oil) so in my mind I had added oil pretty recently, less then a month ago.

Anyway. Someone borrowed my car and left the lights on overnight, draining the battery, so I had to jump it, and of course you need to drive around for a while to charge up the battery. I decided to get on the highway for a mile or two but about 2 or 3 minutes after getting it up to 60 the engine starts making this awful grinding noise, which sounds like it's happening in synch with the engine. I limp home and check the oil levels, which is totally empty. I bike to the gas station and buy some oil and fill up the engine. The noise is a lot quieter now; inside the car I can't really hear it when it's idling, but if you're outside by the engine it sounds like a jackhammer.

There's no obvious smoke or burning, but when I first opened up the hood to add oil, I did smell a slight burning smell, and I had only driven it half a mile.

I don't know too much about auto mechanics, so the only thing I knew of that could cause a problem like this would be a cracked piston head or something. The guy at the gas station said he was a mechanic and that it could be something with the seals too and that it cost him $1,100 to fix a similar problem on his car (he also said he thought it might cost $600 just to go in and diagnose the problem)

I figured the best thing to do would be to buy an old beater off craigslist that I could drive around for a while while figuring out what to do. I thought about buying a pickup truck but when I was looking I saw a car that was nearly identical to mine -- a '97 tercel -- for $1750. That's not too much more then it would cost to fix my car and if I could buy I could drive it around until I decided to fix my old one, or just keep it. I also found a '94 Tercel in the area. According to Wikipedia Tercels from 1991-1994 use either a 3E-E engine or a 5E-FE, whereas mine uses the 5E-FE. Does anyone know how likely it would be for a '94 to have the 3E-E engine, and if it did, would it fit in my '97 Tercel? If so, that would be a much better deal. According to craigslist the '94 has a dent, while the '97 looks pretty nice, and even has a spoiler.

On the other hand, for all I know my old car might still be OK to drive, just noisy. I don't want to spend that much money in a panic. Whatever is wrong with my car might just be something that can be fixed for a couple hundred dollars. Does anyone have any idea what it could be, or how much it might cost to fix?

And finally, assuming I'm going to replace the car in a reasonable timeframe is it possible that my car would be safe to drive around town for now, at least the next few days. What do you think?

To summarize the key questions are:

●If I got the '94, would I be able to pull the engine out and put it in my '97 if I needed to?

●what are the possibilities for what could be wrong with it?

●How bad of an idea is it to drive the car currently? I filled the engine up with oil, and the sound isn't too bad now. What could happen if I drive it slowly and carefully around town, like to a car repair place

●Oh, and is there any way to tell which engine the '94 has by looking at it?

Thanks!

Ducar 124cc (125cc) engine rebuild

jakubsnm — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 05:43:42 -0800

I want to rebuild my 125cc dirt bike engine, never done it before but I want to learn. I recently purchased a 2nd hand dirt bike and would like to rebuild the engine (something to do). I've never done this before, I'm good with cars though (pretty much everything except gearbox and bottom end). I need a workshop manual or something like that, looked everywhere but have been unable to find anything useful even youtube is useless.

This is the engine Ducar 124cc (China) designed in japan.

I've tried contacting the manufacturer and got no reply.

Is it safe to drive without an engine cover?

4ster — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 09:58:37 -0800

Is it safe to drive a car without an engine cover? I damaged the engine cover of my 08 Scion xB, so I removed it to install a new one from the factory. However, it is now apparent that I won't finish the job today, and I need to drive my car. When I say engine cover, I mean the piece of black plastic that attaches to the bottom of the car to keep rocks and other road debris out of the engine compartment.

The reason I won't finish the job today is due to the fact that, upon removing the damaged pieces, I discovered that there are two separate pieces instead of one, and the second piece won't arrive until morning. It's also raining here now, so it makes getting even the larger piece on even harder.

So if I stay off the dirt roads, am I risking harm to my car if I drive it for a day without these parts installed?

Thanks for your help.

Car won't start

unsurmountable — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:11:48 -0800

Help Me find out what wrong with my car, or find a mechanic i can trust in Laguna Niguel, CA. So i bought a '91 Ford Areostar that had the engine rebuilt on '01 for really cheap. It overheated on a big hill and now it won't start although it does turn over like it's trying to, it is also very slowly leaking water after the overheating incident. If it's something i can go in and check myself I'd prefer to do so but if not help me find a mechanic that's not out to gouge me.

SEO Filter: My boss has asked me for a blue sky list of SEO tools. What are your favorites?

DrDreidel — Wed, 06 May 2009 09:08:24 -0800

SEO Filter: My boss has asked me for a blue sky list of SEO tools. What are your favorites? (more details inside) I work for a firm that does online marketing and PR. I started with them as an intern, but got hired to help out with our search practice. I've been apprenticing, so to speak, doing mainly organic search for the past year or so.

A lot of the work I do is keyword research, where I will take a term relevant to our client and give them insights on what people really mean when they search for this term. To do this, we subscribe to keyword discovery. This lets us plug in one main term and will return up to 1000 actual queries containing that term along with their relative popularity.

We also do optimization by page, where we will take a set of pages and find the best relevant unique keyword for each. We then pepper that keyword into the different tags and meta info on the page in an attempt to rank highly for that keyword in Google.

My boss approached me asking for a blue sky list of SEO tools, assuming no restrictions on price. As I haven't been in the industry long, I'm really not sure what to ask for. Some quick and dirty searching has led me to software called SEO Elite. Not sure if that's really for me. I also am considering a subscription to SEOmoz to learn best practices and such. So finally, my question to all of you MeFite SEOs: What paid tools make your job easier? Or, what tools do you wish you had access to but don't due to budgetary restrictions?

What is causing the whining sound in my car engine?

markblasco — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 10:05:19 -0800

What is causing the whining sound in my car engine? 2001 Honda CRV with about 68,000 miles on it. I purchased the car about 6 months ago, and a few months after that noticed a slight whining noise coming from the engine. It sounds similar to a remote control car or small electric motor, and the pitch raises up when the engine speeds up. It doesn't happen all of the time, but seems to be louder when going up hill.

A few days ago I was driving on the freeway for about 20 minutes, and once off of the freeway was driving on hilly side streets. For the first time the noise started to be very noticeable, and got progressively louder and louder. I shut off the car, went away for about an hour, and when I started driving again the noise was gone.

Any suggestions as to what the problem might be? I plan on taking it to a mechanic soon, but I'm pretty handy and have a fairly well stocked toolbox, so if it is something I can do myself I would prefer to go that route.

Thanks!

Is SEO worth paying for?

man down under — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 15:58:40 -0800

Is SEO worth paying for? A friend of mine is considering paying a company to improve his SEO standing. I've read about some shady practices that have been explained on Me-fi in the past, but are their any redeeming qualities of SEO techniques?

What negative or positive experiences have people had dealing with these SEO improvement businesses?

Finally, should said friend embrace these SEO wizards or run a mile?

CHECK ENGINE LIGHT!

slowtree — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 06:15:05 -0800

Check Engine light is on and there is a ominous whirling sound coming from my engine? Preface: About two months ago i had to have my alternator replaced due to leaky Valve covers which i had replaced.......

2 months later ( 2 weeks ago) i took a 100 mile trip on the highway. When I got off the exit i heard what sounded like a lifter knocking (tick tick tick). I checked the oil and found that it was low (needed an oil change anyway) After the oil change the ticking only occurred when i started my car and lasted for about 10 seconds and went away if i let it idle for a few. Last night on a quick run to the store i found that my Check Engine light was on and there was a whirling sound coming from my engine. It seemed to be running ok but it did not sound good. Its a 2001 Hyundai Santa Fe with about 116,000 miles on it. What is happening?

How to add Google search engine back to Firefox?

rintako — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 13:50:40 -0800

I deleted the Google search engine from my Firefox search engine bar. How do I add it back? You know the bar beside the address bar in Firefox? I removed Google and went to the search-engine page to search for Google."com" since my results were showing up as Google."ca

What happened was there was no Google search engine! Now I'm stuck with yahoo. Please tell me how I can add Google back to the bar. I miss it. Thanks.

Oli Heater that uses Waste Engine Oil

franklen — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 11:39:38 -0800

What are the pros and cons of trying to switch heating systems from a traditional furnace to a waste oil heater that burns used gasoline engine oil, particularly for an automobile repair garage? I work with small businesses in my city, and recently, two auto shops have raised the question of trying to facilitate the use of burning waste engine oil to heat their spaces. We live in Syracuse NY where the Winters are long and cold, and paying for oil can be quite expensive).

And p.s. if anyone knows of a good manufacturer, distributor, etc of these types of units, I'd love to know.

Cheers ~Frank
www.alchemicalnursery.org

OilFilter

ghost of a past number — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 12:49:55 -0800

Is too much oil in a car engine something to worry about? I got an oil change in my 1997 Citroen Saxo today, and they managed to overfill it by about half a centimeter as measured on the dipstick. I am wondering if there might be any negative side effects, apart from the waste of oil, as there must be a reason for having both MIN and MAX markings on the dipstick.

In general, the engine runs along nicely without any perceptible oil loss, so I do not expect the extra oil to go away until it's time for the next oil change.

new car - which engine?

mitocan — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 08:01:20 -0800

Buying a new car: Is it reasonable to spend 1500$ on a more powerful engine? With a powerful engine, I could probably save 30 seconds every day on my way to work.
On longer trips, I might even save 30 minutes.
Fuel consumption is just about the same.
I don't plan to move heavy objects or pull caravans.

Are there other reasons I am missing here?

How to Get Rid of Other Search Engine Links on Google Pages

decathecting — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 21:16:55 -0800

How do I get Google to stop putting the "Try your search on *other search engine links*" bar at the top of all of my search result pages? I use Google as my main search engine. However, they appear to want me to try their competitors. Every time I search, a line of text appears at the top of the page that invites me to:

Try your search on Yahoo, Ask, AllTheWeb, Live, Lycos, Technorati, Wikipedia, Bloglines, Altavista, A9, GoodSearch

The problem is that the bar appears a few seconds after the actual results, pushing them further down the page. If I click too quickly on the first result of the page, I often find that Google has loaded that bar while I was clicking, and it takes me to one of those search engines instead. This annoys me mightily.

There's nothing in my Google preferences about getting rid of this. I've also looked at userscripts.org, and I can't find a fix. Is there any way to solve this problem.

What repair fixes a misfiring 4-Runner?

carsonb — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 08:42:47 -0800

Why does my uncle's 1998 V6 Toyota 4-Runner misfire at highway speeds? Last month we drove from Los Angeles to Tucson and back, and at what seemed to be random points while we were driving the engine would buck repeatedly. Once it started, it would continue at all speeds, with the engine running particularly rough at low/idle RPM. We took it in to 3 different Toyota dealerships along the way, and to it's home dealership once we got back. They were all happy to service the vehicle, but none were able to fix it and two insisted they couldn't find any problems with the vehicle. Before we go on, my uncle has always insisted on dealership service. His 4-Runner is in pristine condition, to the day on all of its tune-ups and servicings, and only has 130,000 or so miles on it.

The problem first started near El Centro. We limped south along hwy 86 to the dealership there, where they diagnosed a misfire on 'cylinder one'. They 'made some adjustments' but didn't replace or repair anything, and as we left the truck ran fine. In fact, it ran great all the way through Yuma and Casa Grande, but by the time we were passing Picacho (just north of Tucson) the problem had started again. Throughout this leg of the trip we didn't see any instrumental indication that the engine had a problem. (No check-engine light.)

Then Christmas came, and all the dealership service bays were closed. Eventually we got it into a dealership in Tucson, where they couldn't find a whit wrong with the vehicle. Since it was due up, my uncle went ahead and sprung for a full tune-up while we were there. He didn't test the truck at highway speeds after getting it back though...

And sure enough, a few days later as we were rounding Gila Bend on the way back to LA, cruisin' along at a stately 70mph, the engine started bucking again. The check engine light came on occasionally. This time we limped further, all the way to Yuma, where the young salesschmuck told us after 3 hours of diagnostics that they could start by replacing 'the coil', that the distributor needed replacing as well but since they were in the middle of nowhere they didn't have the part on hand. Fine, said unc, so they replaced 'the coil' and sent us on our way. We weren't 20 miles outside of Yuma before the engine started misfiring again.

We make it home (14 hours, Tucson to LA) and my uncle takes his truck into its home dealership, where it's been serviced since he bought it new. According to him, they can't find a single thing wrong with it, including the distributor. There's nothing they could do, apparently.

So what the hell? What could be causing the misfire? Why won't any mechanics diagnose the problem? What are they, what are WE missing? My poor uncle has poured thousands of dollars into repairing his beloved vehicle, and it's still not fixed. I'd love to be able to help him get it running right again.

Is the mechanic ripping me off?

fogster — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 04:54:05 -0800

What would you charge to diagnose a check engine light and replace the thermostat in a 2003 Toyota Highlander? My check engine light came on, and I worried about damaging my engine, so I'm going late to work while I wait for repairs.

They charged $89 to "diagnose" the check engine light, and $189 (parts and labor) to replace a faulty thermostat.

It seems to me that it would take 2 minutes on an OBC-II reader (which, coincidentally, cost $89), and that a thermostat would be a $5 part. But then again, I'm the one at the dealership because I have no idea what was wrong.

Is $275 reasonable for this, or is this $265 profit on $10 parts an work?

What caused my engine to shut off?

I_Love_Bananas — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 10:07:34 -0800

What caused my engine to shut off? I was driving at about 65 mph and was resetting the cruise control on my 2006 Pontiac Torrent. The last thing I did before losing the engine was hit the "minus" button two times in a row by mistake (the button that would normally reduce your speed a bit while still keeping the cruise engaged).

The speedometer and tachometer needles immediately dropped to zeo and the engine lost all power. I made it over to the breakdown lane and stood on the brakes to stop. I lost no electronics though- all lights, the radio, etc. all remained functioning through the whole thing.

I turned on my flashers and freaked out for a few minutes. Then I restarted the car, got back into the flow of traffic and nothing else happened the whole trip. (I did not attempt to re-create the incident, however.)

I found info on "kill switches" online but I don't think this that... Would it be possible that some sort of combination of button/control pressing would purposely cause the engine to shut down? If so, why? Or was it maybe just a short circuit?

pondering Honda quandary

wsg — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 12:52:47 -0800

Is it reasonable for a 1995 Honda Odyssey engine with 150K miles on it to have a compression of 179? My old '95 Honda Odyssey's engine is worn out. I either need to buy another car or put an engine in the one I have. I'm not real car-savvy, so need to lean on the wise counsel of my friends here at ask mefi.

My funds are limited. I need something I can haul a little gear in, so a wagon or minivan is in order. I like 4-cylinders cuz gas prices are not going to stay low, I have a feeling. I can't get much of a car with my limited budget, but can afford an engine for the car I have.

I've been pricing engines locally. One salvage yard has one with 150K miles and compression of 179 for $500.00 w/90-day warranty. Installation is going to be about $800.00. When it's all done, engine and installation will be about $1500.00.

Another one is $2300.00 installed. This includes an engine with 79K miles and no compression rating available. Parts and labor warrantied for 1 year.

What's the better deal? Thanks.

Do I really need to rebuild this engine?

rossmik — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 16:46:53 -0800

I now have a car with a seized engine. If I can get the engine unseized, what are the potential consequences of not rebuilding it? The car in question is a '93 Hyundai Excel. As long as I have owned it, it has burned a quart of oil every 600-1000 miles (yet it miraculously still passes emissions). The engine seized because it burned too much oil -- someone drove it for a mile with the oil light on.

Getting the engine unseized might be possible, but all the advice I have seen on this ends with "Then, rebuild your engine." Rebuilding it myself, having it rebuilt, or buying a rebuilt engine are all expensive, and I would end up with a crappy car that still needs a lot of other work done. I'd rather save that kind of money for a more reliable car (or bike).

So, the cheap option is to try and get the engine unstuck, but forget about rebuilding it. Is this likely to end in disaster? Burning more oil? Burning less oil? Any advice on this (or on the general situation, like how to get the engine unseized), would be appreciated.

Should I forward relevant domain names for SEO purposes?

letahl — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 21:45:08 -0800

SEO filter: What's this about getting descriptive domain names for forwarding? I run my own website, which is basic for my business. Since I am interested in getting some traffic from Google, I have been wading my way into SEO work, and am learning. Someone suggested I get some descriptive domain names with search terms relevant to my industry in them.

To explain, my website is www.lawyerfoo.com. Under her suggestion I would get some websites like "contractattorneys.com" or "legaloutsourcing.com" (I am just throwing examples out there, doubt these are available), and then forward them to lawyerfoo. I have searched "descriptive domain name forwarding" and similar terms on Google but can't find my way to the right information.

My question is: what is she talking about, and will that help? (Even a heads up as to what I should be googling would be super appreciated).

Thanks, hivers.

Search Engines in Kenya / Nigeria / Saudi Arabia

inquisitive — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 08:19:06 -0800

Which are the most popular search engines used by people in Nigeria, Kenya and Saudi Arabia - other than Google / Yahoo / MSN etc. ? You can also tell the names of most popular "classifieds ad" sites in these countries.

search engine madness

jak68 — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 22:58:19 -0800

is it possible to filter search engine results by date? Google claims it is, but its not working for me. Live.com and yahoo dont even seem to have the option. This sounds like a noob question, but actually I've used the net since its inception and I'm stumped and frustrated. Google claims there is a "filter by date' button in the upper right hand corner of the page. I dont see it!!! Is it just my computer? Is anyone else seeing such a button?

I've never had to filter search results by date before. It only came up because I'm searching for a very recent news event, and the default filter is 'relevance' and they never show the latest links.

Live.com and yahoo dont even claim to offer this ability.

In all three search engines, going thru the advanced search options shows *nothing* to sort by date.

And - is it me, or is it NUTS that the three biggest search engines arent offering really obvious and easy ways for people to sort by date?

Tell me about bicycle engine kits!

borkingchikapa — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 21:04:46 -0800

Hey dudes! I want to mount a big, ridiculous engine to this racing bike I have. Tell me about that. I recently inherited another bicycle. It's a racing/street bike, and I think it has an aluminum frame - it's really light, probably less than thirty pounds. I want to stick the biggest, baddest, most inappropriate engine I can on it. What do I need? I have a motorcycle license, so I'm not concerned about the size. I'm also not too concerned about practicality - I know that it'll be harder to pedal, but as long as the thing is ridable I'm happy.

There are a lot of 80cc kits on ebay for about $150, are these worth buying? Are there better ones for a bit more? What should I look out for?

What's the best open source search engine?

seeminglee — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 10:37:38 -0800

My company is looking to build a search engine to index our web site and I'm wondering if anyone has used any open package to do the task. Names, URLs, experience would be highly appreciated,