What are you working on today?

[RAR]

Today - finished up a front brake job on the battered 99 Dodge Ram 1500 5.9 V8 so we can use it for trash runs.

Brakes were burning and dragging on the last trash run, and the heat and smoke coming off the right front told me where the fix was needed. Rather than fix what was there, with melted brake pad material on the rotor, I ordered up new rotors, pads, and calipers.

It all went on, and I found the real issue last evening. The right side brake hose was blocked. No fluid whatsoever. Driver side was ok.

This morning I ran and picked up a new hose assembly and put it on. My guess is that the heavy rust on the hose mounting points crushed the hose shut. Using the brakes after many months of sitting locked up that caliper and burned up the pads.

New hose (I will likely replace the driver side hose later) and a bleed and it’s all good again.

Those brake calipers, they were probably working but they should have been changed out. They looked like they were plucked from the Titanic’s debris field.

 

[D60]

Today - finished up a front brake job on the battered 99 Dodge Ram 1500 5.9 V8 so we can use it for trash runs.

Brakes were burning and dragging on the last trash run, and the heat and smoke coming off the right front told me where the fix was needed. Rather than fix what was there, with melted brake pad material on the rotor, I ordered up new rotors, pads, and calipers.

It all went on, and I found the real issue last evening. The right side brake hose was blocked. No fluid whatsoever. Driver side was ok.

This morning I ran and picked up a new hose assembly and put it on. My guess is that the heavy rust on the hose mounting points crushed the hose shut. Using the brakes after many months of sitting locked up that caliper and burned up the pads.

New hose (I will likely replace the driver side hose later) and a bleed and it’s all good again.

Those brake calipers, they were probably working but they should have been changed out. They looked like they were plucked from the Titanic’s debris field.

Did it use the oddball 9mm hex SHCS for caliper pins? I serviced a '99 that did. They weren't incredibly common on Dodges but some did roll out of the factory that way

 

[supton]

Wanted to get ahead of some rust on my '99 Camry; it has a couple patches popping out in the rear wheel wells. Pulled the wheels and found that the strut tower has a patch too. Oh so much fun to drop the strut. Slapped some Rustoleum rusty primer stuff on, see if that helps. Hated putting in the old strut back in but I haven't ordered new ones yet, would have been a great time to swap in I guess...

 

[AutoMechanic]

Smoke machine to check for leaks?

Good suggestion. I’ll get one and try it. So far no visual leaks but the smoke test will be good because there is a lot of dry rot on the lines.

 

[Dave Sherman]

Spent the better part of the day on my Pilot's timing belt and water pump. The Youtube videos make it seem straightforward. Boy was I wrong. Started at 11 this morning, had to call it a night at 10, and the engine is still on my floor jack. New timing belt and water pump are on, and thankfully the timing marks are spot on after pulling the tensioner pin and rotating the engine twice. That tensioner pin was a huge pain. Apparently, you have to pull it quickly. I was not quick enough, and it got bent to heck. Look down below, and nope, that's not coming out. Ended up snaking the Dremel in there and carefully cutting a notch to break it off and get the fragments out.

What I've learned so far:
-I've never had to use the factory jack. It's terrible. There's no adapter to drive the knob with the rod used for the spare tire winch. Apparently, they expect the user to have phenomenal hand strength, because the owner's manual just says to turn the knob. Guess I'll be looking for a better jack to keep back there.
-The radiator drain plug is in a terrible place, and if it's stuck, good luck trying to get a wrench on it.
-If you unscrew the drain plug a little too far and open the radiator cap, it shoots out and coolant goes everywhere.
-The engine is still full of coolant after this happens, so you can make a bigger mess when the water pump comes off.
-Turns out after making a lake of coolant, there's a drain plug on the back of the engine.
-That Lisle heavy mass impact socket is worth its weight in gold. Wasn't sure my cheapo CH 450 ft lb impact was going to budge the crank pulley bolt even with the special socket. I did have to crank the pressure up to 120 PSI since 90 PSI wasn't doing it, but 5 seconds after, success! Told the wife we can put off getting a 1200 foot pound Earthquake for my birthday.
-Time to call it a night when you have this horrible thought that you've just put the motor mount bracket on out of order, but the instructions confirm the timing covers go on after. I'll have to figure out why the lower cover seems to be running into something tomorrow.

 

[ctechbob]

I'm not doing the work, but at 160k the 3 shaft transmission in the Accord decided to let loose. Not much you can do about it. Its had more regular fluid changes than probably 95% of all cars on the road, filters replaced, etc. They just don't last. Hitched up a car trailer and dropped it at my rebuilder this afteroon. I figure another 150k out of it and we'll look at finally retiring the car. The J30A4 is just as strong and as non oil-burning as it ever was, the suspension is still in great shape, cv axles good to go. Body looks like hammered crap, but the car gets the job done, and besides, my wife works a fairly dirty job, no sense putting her into a brand new car at the moment.

I knew it was coming. It has been making some odd noises for the last few weeks, today it just decided that 3rd gear didn't exist. Completely common with this unit. I guess the sprag and some internal springs let loose on/near the 3rd gear drum and that's all she wrote according to my rebuilder who's done nothing bu Honda transmissions for something like 20+ years.

 

[The Critic]

Spent the better part of the day on my Pilot's timing belt and water pump. The Youtube videos make it seem straightforward. Boy was I wrong. Started at 11 this morning, had to call it a night at 10, and the engine is still on my floor jack. New timing belt and water pump are on, and thankfully the timing marks are spot on after pulling the tensioner pin and rotating the engine twice. That tensioner pin was a huge pain. Apparently, you have to pull it quickly. I was not quick enough, and it got bent to heck. Look down below, and nope, that's not coming out. Ended up snaking the Dremel in there and carefully cutting a notch to break it off and get the fragments out.

What I've learned so far:
-I've never had to use the factory jack. It's terrible. There's no adapter to drive the knob with the rod used for the spare tire winch. Apparently, they expect the user to have phenomenal hand strength, because the owner's manual just says to turn the knob. Guess I'll be looking for a better jack to keep back there.
-The radiator drain plug is in a terrible place, and if it's stuck, good luck trying to get a wrench on it.
-If you unscrew the drain plug a little too far and open the radiator cap, it shoots out and coolant goes everywhere.
-The engine is still full of coolant after this happens, so you can make a bigger mess when the water pump comes off.
-Turns out after making a lake of coolant, there's a drain plug on the back of the engine.
-That Lisle heavy mass impact socket is worth its weight in gold. Wasn't sure my cheapo CH 450 ft lb impact was going to budge the crank pulley bolt even with the special socket. I did have to crank the pressure up to 120 PSI since 90 PSI wasn't doing it, but 5 seconds after, success! Told the wife we can put off getting a 1200 foot pound Earthquake for my birthday.
-Time to call it a night when you have this horrible thought that you've just put the motor mount bracket on out of order, but the instructions confirm the timing covers go on after. I'll have to figure out why the lower cover seems to be running into something tomorrow.

The pin that is included with the Aisin tensioners are garbage. If I remember, I’ll put the tensioner in a vice and replace it with the pin that is included with the Genuine Honda tensioner (which is much more sturdy). Or, you can use vise grips to remove the Aisin pin…it usually works.

They make a radiator drain plug sockets. For the coolant avalanche, I keep a dedicated “transmission funnel drain pan” for this exact purpose.

Lower timing belt cover goes on before the upper ones.

 

[53' Stude]

Good suggestion. I’ll get one and try it. So far no visual leaks but the smoke test will be good because there is a lot of dry rot on the lines.

A smoke machine will show any “visual leaks”. Something that old I’d check every single hose

 

[Gimpy1]

Its hotter than hell here in North Texas so in my infinite wisdom im doing an oil change and an a/c condenser clean out on my 2016 Kia optima. Also fixing the sunroof switch. I use a 20x20 pop up awning to give me some shade but still its hot for May, and Im not acclimated so its going to be a 2 or 3 liter water job.

 

[Dave Sherman]

Finished the Pilot's timing belt job today. All told, probably took me 15 hours. Stubborn, hard to get to bolts, bolts that didn't want to start easily going back together, finding out the timing covers are a little fussy about being perfectly aligned, and discovering the reason the rear one wouldn't lie flat was because there's a groove that has to slide over the lower timing cover.

I just keep telling myself, I saved a lot of $$$, but my back is sore, my arms are bruised from fighting with the AC lines, and thank goodness I won't have to do this again for another 100,000. The old TB was actually in decent shape, no cracks or glazing, but the tensioner pulley bearing didn't sound good when I spun it. Serpentine belt looked okay, but might as well replace it anyway since it has to come off.

 

[wjjones]

Trying to figure out why my frontier trailer tow pigtail has parking lights on the trailer. But no turn signals, or brake lights. I have been through every single relay and fuse. Nada

 

[Timmastertech]

Cam and lifters in a 2019 K2500, roller pitted on cylinder 3 intake lifter and damaged the cam lobe.

 

[RAR]

Did it use the oddball 9mm hex SHCS for caliper pins? I serviced a '99 that did. They weren't incredibly common on Dodges but some did roll out of the factory that way

Probably, but I used one from my hex/Torx sockets that fit. I don’t recall which one.

 

[Rmay635703]

2001 Dodge Ram 2wd blew the brakes again, mom emptied the reservoir, leaking under center of truck (massive) very small amount of wetnes on both drivers side cylinders (which are going on 2 years of light driving after replacement )

Extremely strange, refilled the reservoir for fun tried to make it leak, nothing but sponginess (expected) shut off
Then leak from the center after 5 minutes, looks like a bleeder nut leaking, loosen it nothing leaks put it back starts leaking in 5 minutes

Never encountered this before, rusted or blow lines yes, solid blocks no.

 

[michaelluscher]

Got home from work, hopped out of the xB and right into the shed to go mid-evil on the rear wheel bearing on my Camry

Kroil, MAPP torch, deadblow and random old ball peen, plus half an hour of swinging and burning, it's out

RockAuto is rushing me a SKF unit that's hopefully the Koyo/Japanese unit the picture showed

With the bearings out of the way, the parking brake shoes will be much easier to service

Then I'll be Parking all over the place

No, I'm not spending $275+ for new backing plates

Apparently the wheel bearing hub bolts are one time use, I didn't order new ones

... they'll be getting blue threadlocker and torqued to spec

Probably much farther than literally anyone else would bother to go

FYI, removing the bearing in this way will permanently seize it, destroying it

If you need to remove the hub/bearing unit, and the cars vaugely rusty or old, just buy new ones

You will not be reusing them

 

[Supersonic]

Previous day, which means ~7 days ago, but i took the photo and haven't taken time to post...
2012 Kia Sedona got it's oil change, Super Tech All-Mile Coverage Synthetic Blend 5w-30, immediately after winter season as the short trips built up a lot of humidity as can somewhat be seen on white rag-that's the light brown froth that was on the oil cap, it was like that when previously adding oil too. I also was not aware that the canister filters needed to be disposed of properly, I'd thought without the metal canister they could just be thrown out in the garbage, luckily a local dealer takes filters for free (waste oil too).

Used the Hart cordless ratchet to back out the 17mm drain plug while hot, I can usually avoid dropping it into the drain-pan. I think the oil canister cap was 22mm, just used the breaker bar as it was handy, the cap wasn't very tight and I didn't go past snug tightening this time either. The white plastic tie was used to dip down by the oil sending unit to check for leaks, not yet...

Also pictured is the filter differences, the one I took out is OEM, and the other 2 are Rock Auto options, I went with the Purolator 26127 because the other, Ultra Power was sealed. The Purolator - Rock Auto image was shown as being a Mahle, and it was cheap on close-out, but what I received didn't have Mahle printed on it, and the white end gasket is different. The Ultra Power is similar to the OEM, though the OEM is the only one that has Mahle printed on it. I'm not going to fret about start-up rattle and whether I am using an OEM filter on this one.

Other photo is the owner's manual discrepancy between fill volume, under the Specification Capacities it say's 6.02 US qt - 5.7l, while at the back page it say's with filter 5.81 qts -5.7l, just thought that interesting enough to take note of...

U

 

[clinebarger]

Had a 1979 C10 with a LQ9 6.0L/4L65E swap dyno tuned yesterday, Initially had it dyno tuned a couple months back & was running out of fuel at @ 5,200 rpm even though I was running 33 Ib/hr L59 flex fuel injectors opposed to the stock 25 Ib/hr LQ9 Multec Injectors.

Swapped in a set of Bosch 44 lb/hr in the parking lot before it got strapped on the rollers. It belted out 389 RWHP & 412 RWTQ @ 6,500 rpm which I was quite happy with considering the stock Intake Manifold & Ported Throttle Body.

Mods.....
Rebuilt short block with .020" over LQ4 style dished pistons, Gen IV Rods, LS6 oil pump
Lightly ported "241" Cylinder Heads with Cam Motion dual valve springs.
Cam Motion Titan 4 LS1 camshaft
GM "Bowtie" Lifters
Cam Motion hardened pushrods
1 7/8" long tube Hooker Blackheart headers, 2 1/2" duals with Magnaflows

I could've tuned the AFR.....But there's NO WAY I'm taking this death trap over 130 mph on the highway which is what it takes without a dyno.

 

[clinebarger]

Got back to the shop around noon, Needed to tear down a TH350 core for a 1969 K5 Blazer that's has a mild 427 big block, Customer has no core so I had to scrounge one up...TH350 cores are getting hard to come by!

Bought this one from a fellow builder I've known for quite a while, He had recently removed a TH350 for a 700R4 swap......Shifted okay, It just leaked. Had Street/Strip written on the case & a date of a little over a year ago. Can I really be that lucky to buy a well built unit I only need to freshen up?

The answer would be a loud NO, The core is complete JUNK.....
*Case is cracked where someone had overtightened the 3rd clutch pressure port plug. Case is trash.
*Direct Drum has sealing ring wear, Trash!
*Reaction Carrier heavily worn where the Forward Clutch Hub Bushing runs, Also heavily work Pinion Gears.
*Governor Head loose on the Stem, Governor Stem "Lands" worn up too .008".....Bet it would fall out of high gear "Hot"!
*Pump Gear Pocket worn, Pump Gears heavily worn.
*This is V6/I6 TH350!! 3 Forward Frictions, 3 Direct Frictions, 2 Intermediate Frictions, & 4 Lo/Reverse Frictions. A V8 model would have 1 more friction in each clutch "4, 4, 3, 5"

Unit Endplay wasn't all that bad, Thrust washers look new, And quite a few bushing were replaced. The frictions were in okay shape but mismatched & appear to be used.
The Intermediate & Direct Accumulator Springs are missing & all but one checkballs were missing. But the Pressure Regulator Spring is stock.....This would cause firm shifts, But with the worn out pump & a stock PR Spring it wouldn't of held ANY amount of power for very long!

Called my buddy back & said I need another core, It isn't Street & Strip.....It's Street & Slip He gave me 2 cores that he had stashed back.....One is a "kind of" rare Multi-Case that fits both Chevrolet engines & BOP/C engines. I could tell he didn't want to part with them, But I said....How many TH350's have you built lately?
He replied with.....None.

I'm certainly not blaming him as he had no idea what shape it was in, But for someone to build this unit is atrocious to say the least!

Picture of the Reaction Carrier.....

 

[53' Stude]

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Got home from work, hopped out of the xB and right into the shed to go mid-evil on the rear wheel bearing on my Camry

Kroil, MAPP torch, deadblow and random old ball peen, plus half an hour of swinging and burning, it's out

RockAuto is rushing me a SKF unit that's hopefully the Koyo/Japanese unit the picture showed

With the bearings out of the way, the parking brake shoes will be much easier to service

Then I'll be Parking all over the place

No, I'm not spending $275+ for new backing plates

Apparently the wheel bearing hub bolts are one time use, I didn't order new ones

... they'll be getting blue threadlocker and torqued to spec

Probably much farther than literally anyone else would bother to go

FYI, removing the bearing in this way will permanently seize it, destroying it

If you need to remove the hub/bearing unit, and the cars vaugely rusty or old, just buy new ones

You will not be reusing them

When I replaced my rear wheel bearings I went Toyota OEM since I get nice break on parts. Got all new bolts too. I don’t trust rockauto bearings, just me being cautious.

 

[michaelluscher]

When I replaced my rear wheel bearings I went Toyota OEM since I get nice break on parts. Got all new bolts too. I don’t trust rockauto bearings, just me being cautious.

I get a break at my Toyota parts counter too, but I can't justify a $400+ wheel bearing on a 17 year old car with 187k on it

The BCA/NTN boxed bearing I bought for the other side was literally the OEM Koyo unit in the box, a bargain at $130 or so