Bobby MSME

After 5 months of driving the Spark with tinted windows, never been stopped by a cop. As I explained in a previous post, I used darker tint for 2 rear windows and a lighter tint for front 2 windows. The tint film has not come lose even after rolling the windows up and down several times. Before this glued on tint film, I was using a screen attached to the window with a suction cup. But that was no good when window needed to be rolled down, and had to be detached every time.

Is your A/C system checked out for normal operation? Is there enough refrigerant in the system? Is the compressor functioning properly? The belt which drives the compressor in good condition? I am in North-East Florida, and it is 90+ high every day now with lot of humidity. My 2017 Spark is always parked outside and the A/C keeps comfortably cool inside. When first getting into the parked car in sun, I turn up the blower fan one notch higher, and after a few minutes it is down to minimum blower speed.

Thanks for clearing that up, since I have not opened a car manual in 20 years. Without actually studying the mechanics of how the friction bands work, my guess is they may not be transmitting full load of moving the weight of whole automobile from standstill to match engine speed in the next gear, which is what the clutch in a manual transmission has to do. I am amazed with all the cars I have owned and driven from new to 100k miles, never had a problem with the automatics. I think even the A/C has a mechanical clutch to engage and disengage. That is why I avoid engaging A/C at hig

lol I wanted something on top of the hood so I can see where the end of hood is. When parking, I have a hard time guessing where the front of car is. I can not see the front end of hood because it slopes down so much. So my purpose was purely functional. And no racing stripes or fancy hub caps for my Spark...I want the car to look inconspicuous Anyways that hood ornament does not look bad and it was cheap on eBay.

Let us hope the new design is a genuine improvement. I never had to design any plastic components during my 23 years working for an outfit which designed and manufactured machines subjected the most brutal loads in machinery world. So I know nothing about designing parts made from plastic. But physics is physics no matter what material is used. Our machine structure was put together by welding together mild steel plates upto 12" thick. One category of machines we designed and built were cold extrusion presses. You start with a cold rolled steel bar and whack it between 2 dies made of tool

I had frequent problems with clutch wearing out and throw out bearings wearing out on manual transmissions. DO not recall a single problem with automatics in all the cars I have owned. The automatic transmission is basically a fluid clutch and fluid does not wear like 2 friction disks rubbing with each other.

Me too. Within my family have Owned 12+ different new cars and 6+ used cars, but never had a coolant tank leaking or cracking. Can't believe the designers do not learn from history or try to cheapen the design to save a few pennies.

Eric, if children are NOT traveling in front seats, the airbags are not an issue. The problem is not that the airbags won't deploy, it is opposite. They deploy with too much force for a child in front seats.

If your power train warranty is alive, by all means have the dealer fix it. Any GM dealer can repair it, if under GM warranty. I prefer local Cadillac dealer because they have better customer lounge and free breakfast.

Thank you so much old gear head, for your service! I come from a family of career military, but I skipped the chance. Career & marriage issues took precedence. Yes, do not give up a car which works as good as you describe. Never divorce a working car or a working wife hehe. I retired early but wife worked full time for 15 years during my retirement. Gave me lots of time to play golf haha. I am encouraged to hear Spark power train can last with proper maintenance. So far I have zero issues with my 2017 LS. What I like the best is instant response to gas pedal operation and the very precise

dear RoG, I know my memory is no longer what it once was, but I do remember that 1967 snowstorm because many of my co-workers were stranded at work place for almost 2 days. My own car (1964 Corvair) got me home but then the snow drifts buried it for 7 days until city crews plowed our street. I traded the Corvair for a 1967 Chevy Impala in early 1968.Here are some pictures and links.. https://www.google.com/#q=chicago+record+snow+storm+1967 "The Chicago blizzard of 1967 struck northeast Illinois and northwest Indiana on January 26–27, 1967, with a record-setting 23 inches (58 c

I have problem with rear seat headrests blocking some vision through the smallish hatch window. I should just remove them. The kids are grown up and gone, so back seat is used more for placing groceries, left overs from restaurants, beach chairs etc. I have no issues with front seat headrests. The front seats are more comfortable than my previous car.

But does your grandma's Equinox have a hood ornament? My Spark does (see photo above)

I loved looks of Karmann Ghia in 1960's! Just could not afford it, so bought a new Corvair 1964. It was a tiger in snow & icy conditions. We had this huge snow storm in 1967 in Chicago (60" snow in 3-4 days) few people made it home from work, but my Corvair was like a snow plow and got me home! My 2007 Pontiac G5 was not all that different from my 2017 SPark. The G5 was fully computer controlled with fuel injection, had remote start & lock/unlock. It was front wheel drive with ABS & traction control. In fact after 9 years I got P301 & Traction control show up on

My new Hood Ornament

My 2017 Spark LS has factory A/C, CVT and 1.4 Liter Engine. I feel better in control of car acceleration than any slush box I have driven before. The car responds almost instantly when I press the gas pedal. Like I posted before there is a range between 5 mph & 15 mph, when pressing gas pedal the CVT rev's up without accelerating car in proportion. So, I have learned to not rush across busy highway. When traffic is safely clear, I accelerate gently and the CVT seems less confused. This situation occurs most frequently when approaching a red light, and my foot is off the gas pedal to coast

I ordered a lighter shade for the front 2 windows, and a slightly darker shade for the rear 2 windows. IThe Hatch window in rear of car I left alone because it is almost vertical and seems to have a light tint from factory. Here in Florida where I live, there are no emission inspections! For the windshield, I bought a tint strip from Walmart and it almost makes the sun-visors unnecessary. Besides, the factory sun-visors are so puny and small.

I had the same symptoms in my 2007 Pontiac G5 after 50k miles and 9 years. It was burned, cracked, gummed up or carbon deposits on valves.

You are beginning to worry me ChevyBeat! Why would try to try to accelerate while making a full turn? My wife does the same thing and annoys me to hell. She burned out the constant velocity (CV) joints on my Ford Probe with that habit. Now I never let her drive my car. She has her own car.

No worries, my money is now safely buried in the backyard under the banyan tree The hatch was just too small for storing all those worthless inflated one $ bills!

There is no formal handle on my 2017 Spark LS, but there is a notch under the trunk lid which works same as an external handle. After I unlock the trunk with a key, I hear a clicking sound, and then stick my hand in that notch to open the trunk lid.

Your post along with oldGearhead's post is good indication that any decent car does not rust due to living near ocean. I am 7 miles from ocean as the crow flies, and I see no rusty cars in my sub-division with about 300 cars in the parking lot. What will cause rust is salted roads. During my life in Chicago area for 37 years, I washed my cars thoroughly focusing on under the car and under the fenders. In spite of that almost all my cars developed some underbody rust after 5 years. I spent money on undercoating one car, but that did not stop minor rust. Chicago salts the heck out o

Kudos to you for being able to find all those sensors! I would not know if one hit me on the head. I think there are too many sensors, to control too many things in cars now-a-days. I would just as soon control A/C manually. Less things to fail and go wrong. The one thing which is really useful is engine temp. And guess what, there is no old fashioned temp gauge in my 2017 Spark. I would trade that for the Tach in a minute. I can tell from the sound how fast my engine is revving. But I would not know if the car is overheating until a hose goes bust and steam is everywhere