The last 24 hours have been tense and nervous, and to be honest, I needed some help to relax. You see, a group of four of us are going to be traveling with the NYC Taxi we bought for $800 off of Copart from NYC to Los Angeles. All of this starts with Jason taking the cab from North Carolina, where it’s been “fixed” and sent to a cab museum, where we’re all supposed to meet up with it before our early morning departure tomorrow. Is this a bad idea? It might be a bad idea, and we’re going to live blog it, because if we don’t liveblog it, it didn’t happen.
Let’s start with the obvious. Jason called me this morning to tell me he’d just started driving the car to begin his journey with his son Otto in tow. Somehow, Jason managed to install a vintage arcade in the rear seat, but no one in the chain of command considered driving the car above 40 mph. As soon as Jason did, the car began to stall and throw up every light known to man.
Here’s a good example of what that looks like:
Hold on, let’s just enhance that:
That seems bad. – MH
6/18/25 – 09:41 AM
The good news is, we’ve got an Autopian in the Richmond area who is happy to loan an OBDII reader and a little love to the cab. The even better news is that we’ve already made $650.
6/18/25 – 11:25 AM
That’s a lot of codes. – MH
6/18/25 – 11:57 AM
Thanks to some excellent help from reader Jay, many people in our Discord, and SWG, we’ve got a plan for what comes next. It seems that the exhaust gas temperature (EGT) sensor is throwing a fit, either because it’s not functional or because it doesn’t exist. Either way, it seems like a cheap resistor shoved into the ECU will solve the issue, which is causing the car to resist acceleration at certain moments. With that cheap resistor, we should be good to go. A cheap 10A fuse should solve some of the other issues and, just to be sure, we’ll make sure that gas cap is nice and snug.
Jason has also found a solution to the A/C potentially draining the battery, and it’s… something:
Also, quick update, the cab isn’t going to make it to the Taxi Depot, but Griffin and I will be there! – MH
11:00 PM – Jason Made It!
Better late than never. We had an awesome time at the Taxi Depot and I’ll have a lot more to share about that soon.
END OF DAY ONE
I’ve made a radiator waterspray for less than $20 at Walmart. So you know if you need help as the Rockies combo you with a climb in heat, you too can do so.
I recall Mighty Car Mods doing similar for a water-chilled intercooler. Hand pump op though, using one of those bottles you pressurize for bug/weed spray.
With some extra hose, you can re-plumb the windscreen washer to spray the radiator, making use of the existing reservoir and pump.
Walmart sells the pumps cheap, along with wires and a switch so no need to use the factory pump. Didn’t have a good spray idea so just poked holes in swamp cooler pipe. Kept my car alive over hoover dam in 100+f heat.
Uhhh. It’s 10pm. Do you know where your Torchinsky’s are? We need updates…
I too find the lack of updates concerning…
I see what you did in the intro, but “the cab isn’t gonna make it to the Taxi Depot” seems like an inauspicious start. I shall pray to St. Gianni Agnelli and ask him to talk to the Nissan gods for you because I don’t know who those guys are.
Aww, I couldn’t follow along because I had to do actual work things today.
(._. )
With that hood AC toggle, I feel like this thing is morphing into a 90s Little Rascals movie go-kart in real time.
This think is peak jank. And I will be checking this live blog 5x a day.
As always, best wishes & bon voyage!! I’d say something like ‘Godspeed’ but this whole endeavor is already giving some pretty strong ‘Man Proposes, God Disposes’ vibes: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0c/Man_proposes_god_disposes_-_Edwin_Landseer_-_RH.jpg/1280px-Man_proposes_god_disposes_-_Edwin_Landseer_-_RH.jpg
At least you all don’t have to worry about running into any polar bears.
And since you’re not driving through the State of Franklin you also don’t have to worry about escaped zebras on the loose: https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/davidson/2025/06/08/escaped-zebra-captured-rutherford-county-week-on-the-loose/84102600007/
If there’s one thing you can be sure won’t give you any issues, it’s the bombproof Jatco Xtronic CVT with its lifetime fluid that’s only 380,000 miles young!
Was it you all along and you just forgot to sign into your alt?
Godspeed to you both, Torch & Otto.
That hood AC switch deserves an equally highly crafted remote to activate while driving. Dollar store yardstick with a hole in it seems right.
*Must Be Attempted by Copilot Only*
So it may be overly optimistic at this point, but where are you planning on meeting up in Denver? Love to check you guys out.
Imagine you’re a cab. You spend two lifetimes worth of miles getting beat on, farted in, bashed around, puked upon, driven aggressively, and overall crushed while boiling over in Manhattan traffic.
It finally comes to an end. Your tired carcass is parked in the hospice that is CoPart so you can die in peace, knowing the pain is behind you. You filled out your little Taxi Organ Donor card so if anything on your carcass has life, another van can continue to endure that punishment.
The relative peace of the CoPart yard overtakes you, as you experience one last sunset…
Then you’re shlepped to North Carolina, bounced of a tree, JB-welded back together, get the AC-wiring equivalent of a catheter and begin a cross-country marathon that STARTS in the same hellscape of New York that put you in the CoPart yard to begin with. The soundtrack of the same three minutes of “TV content” and message from the mayor is replaced with an Atari. The meter returns and clicks back to life.
Friends, if you get a chance to meet this cab. Give it a hug. It just wants a hug.
Seriously, this is The Autopian content we all came here for. GO GO GO!
I still can’t believe that POS van that was immobile and leaking a river of oil down my driveway a few months ago is doing 75mph at the moment on an Interstate. Bravo, Jason and David!
Note: if you do a Google search for Nissan code P0546, the AI results return an EVAP code P0456, which is a great example as to why you should never trust AI while troubleshooting. I took a quick cursory glance at it while multi-tasking this afternoon and provided the incorrect info to the team, which is my bad. Apologies!
P2081 and P0546 both seem to be for an EGT sensor. Maybe not too bad to fix, but I wouldn’t expect it to cause the engine to stall at speed. I’d be more concerned about the battery and brake trouble lights. Troubleshooting step 1 would probably be to remove the AC clutch ‘fix’ and see if that is causing battery voltage issues. If not that, the alternator might not be charging / charging strongly enough. The ABS light could be from a wheel sensor… the red ‘brake’ light tends to be the kind of thing I worry more about. It is probably worth checking the brake fluid level just for peace of mind. If the pedal feels ok, then it *probably* doesn’t mean imminent death… probably.
You have to *borrow* an OBDII reader? These things have gotten pretty cheap, maybe just, y’know, pop for one before going cross-country in a death trap.
This, I gave my daughter my oldest, simplest one to carry with her in her car. I have since upgraded.
And it’s not like Torch won’t still have the Tiguan and Sienna to look after when he gets home, even if everything else is pre-OBDII
Or, if you’re an automotive journalist, maybe spring for a reader as a business expense. I’m sure even one of those bluetooth ones with a phone app could reveal some interesting things to pass on to readers.
I think Jason said that he accidentally left his reader at home, so it was more convenient to borrow one than turn around.
Buy another on the road? I’m betting there’s a auto parts store somewhere cross-country…
I predict they will be visiting sooo many auto parts stores across the country.
I was about to say, one does not own a VW Tiguan but not an OBDII reader.
Picked up a bluetooth one for under $20 from the “As Seen on TV” section of the local Bi-Mart. It’s great.
The number of times I’ve said “It’s fine” while the narrator was saying “It was not, in fact, fine” is astounding. Godspeed, Torch.
If you’re stuck in Richmond drop by my daughter’s comic book store in western Henrico.
I swear if I see the taxi on the side of the road tomorrow from my Raleigh->NYC train…..
Before you start chasing codes and lights, verify you’re getting enough voltage by having someone use a meter on something like a 12V outlet both while driving and parked. If the voltage drops too low the abs system can go into a failsafe taking out stability control and the ecu can also react weirdly.
Somehow, Jason managed to install a vintage arcade in the rear seat, but no one in the chain of command considered driving the car above 40 mph.
Classic.
I would expect nothing less from this team.
You have to have something to do while it’s broken down on the side of the interstate!
Now now, I would drive this thing 100 mph off-road, break its suspension, peel off the exhaust, and then wonder if the lights came on at 40 mph or when I landed that sweet jump.
Yeah, we know.
Honestly, a decent backup plan would be for you to pick the van up in NY or wherever it is with a GM or Ram 1-ton (with a physical key) and U-Haul trailer to do exactly that while Jason, Otto, Griffin and Matt continue the journey in Matt’s brand-new CR-V.
I like how Ford is not on the list of choices. LOL
On this episode of Roadkilltopian…we drive a $800 cab from coast to coast visiting every O’Reilly’s and Autozone parking lot along the way!
At 38 mph!
Oh yes, this is what us Autopians crave.
Electrolytes?
No, wait, that’s what plants crave. You’re right; Torch’s suffering due to his own janky repairs/modifications, followed by increasingly janky attempts to fix them…that is what we crave.
Schadenfreude?
Hey, it reminds me of my old GTI! Just keep driving, those lights probably don’t mean anything!
If it was really serious there’d be a bell or buzzer or something, right?
Nothing that can’t be fixed with electrical tape…
I was told that Pulitzer Prize-winning electricians prefer painter’s tape.
Non award winning electricians prefer
3M 33+ as our go to electrical tape. lol
“it’s all ball bearings and duct tape these days”
Keeps us posted… I am not driving to Columbus unless I know the taxi will make it…
ROFLMAO. They’re not going to know it if it makes it to Columbus until it arrives in Columbus.
Realistically, things will get “repaired” and it will get more reliable as the trip goes on. (Hopefully.)
Just like Roadkill ™ they ignore what’s not serious and make the sketchiest of repairs to what can’t be ignored.
I was hoping to get down there, but I have to work Sunday early morning so it’s not gonna work out. Bummed.
At what point is Copart going to start paying you guys not to mention their name in these articles?
First thing I’d look at is Jason’s janky wiring from yesterday.
LOL, but seriously go find the exhaust temp sensor and trace its wiring. I’d bet money that it got pinched when the van was lifted by a forklift and no one drove the van long enough for it to warm up. I’d guess the problems don’t start over 40mph, but that they start after the engine reaches full operating temps and the ECU is still getting no reading from the temp sensor.
Since the codes point to bank 1 exhaust temp that feels like a safe bet. Disconnected or broken wire or dead sensor. Part seems to be about $100 and a nissan dealer should have one in stock I would assume.
More alligator clips can fix it, Right?
Yes, but how could Jason fix this with $5, a rock, and a hose clamp?
Right – if the car will run without replacing that sensor, I do not expect them to fix it. I get the feeling that the dashboards of most Autopian core writers cars look like a Menorah / Christmas tree
There are at least two responsible parents as writers. I’m sure Jason’s would but his cars predate warning lights.
I’m going to guess Mercedes is the warning light champion. Both total and average per vehicle (excluding bikes/scooters from the calcs here).
I think the only warning light on a 2CV is the soft glow of an engine on fire.
Not true!!!! If it is new enough, it is:
– oil pressure light
– brake fluid level light
And as for potential engine fires… I am considering writing a piece on spec about a recent Autopian-level wrenching mishap that could have ended in engine fire.