What are you working on today?

Another 4L60E rebuild......This one is out of a absolute cream puff 4.8L 2011 Silverado with 73,xxx miles. The Trans (Other than the 3-4 Clutch being smoked) is in great shape. Owner was in disbelief as he takes care of the truck & has never towed with it.

Found the smoking gun, Input Drum has a pretty good 3-4 Apply Circuit leak where the Input Shaft is pressed into the Drum (Red Arrow).
I have exhausted my stock of good used Input Drums & they're on national back order from GM. I HATE buying used drums.

Going to press the Input Shaft out of the Drum tomorrow & see what exactly happened, With any luck.....Loctite Retaining Compound will fix the leak.
I'll let the compound fully cure, Reassemble the drum with the used pistons/clutches, Run the drum through my parts washer @170°F for 30 minutes or so to fully heat soak it & leak test it Hot.

Though if the shaft just presses out easily with my Arbor Press....No sense in trying to compound it as the shaft will eventually work it's way loose again.

Just to highlight how good of shape this unit is otherwise in....The last picture is of the Reverse Input Drum (What 2-4 Band holds in 2nd & 4th), I have to replace these 98% of the time.....This one is absolutely perfect.

bXnyxbz.jpg

kPvCAXU.jpg

IyjrBaj.jpg
 
Well guess what. The AC compressor only engaged when I did this.
(To your point, the compressor was not engaged as I never checked that until an hour ago. It is 79 degrees here, "feels like 80" and Google says humidity 47%. It's definitely a very nice day out.)

First time jumping a compressor with a paperclip. Now I'm trying to get it to engage in a normal manner.. (maybe it froze up?)

Shop is a last resort, they like to say "You need a new compressor" it's a money-maker for them! "AC work in the summer..."

I was going for the "High end of within range for ambient temperature." Its 79 here. We are in different parts of NJ it is for sure a beautiful day. Im active.. AFAIK the values shown are for when operating, yes. (The shown gauge picture was for when I thought I was filling up the system and it turns out the compressor wasn't coming on.)View attachment 158934



View attachment 158930


What’s with all the useless pictures?

if the compressor wasn’t coming on, you had a static pressure. It wasn’t running. So the high low side chart is irrelevant.

Thus why I asked and mentioned static reading/chart.

This one:
2A7F89EA-78D1-4BED-B773-2B94214B922B.jpeg


At 75F static (non operating), you should have seen 77psi on the gauge. This is your sign that there is actually liquid refrigerant in the system, and the free space is a saturated vapor. You don’t have that. For all we know you have air in there. And no, you won’t easily get it there just by attaching that can (I assume you know to/how to purge air from it) and attempting to fill it…

A vacuum and weight based refill would be in order over your guessing and paper clip based operation. To the letter of the law, since you know you have a leak, what you’re doing is illegal since you. We’d to find and repair the leak before filing per the clean air act.

But at minimum you should get a proper charge to make things right. When did the AC work properly last?
 
What’s with all the useless pictures?

if the compressor wasn’t coming on, you had a static pressure. It wasn’t running. So the high low side chart is irrelevant.

Thus why I asked and mentioned static reading/chart.

This one:
View attachment 159017

At 75F static (non operating), you should have seen 77psi on the gauge. This is your sign that there is actually liquid refrigerant in the system, and the free space is a saturated vapor. You don’t have that. For all we know you have air in there. And no, you won’t easily get it there just by attaching that can (I assume you know to/how to purge air from it) and attempting to fill it…

A vacuum and weight based refill would be in order over your guessing and paper clip based operation. To the letter of the law, since you know you have a leak, what you’re doing is illegal since you. We’d to find and repair the leak before filing per the clean air act.

But at minimum you should get a proper charge to make things right. When did the AC work properly last?
When did the AC work properly last?

Not 100% sure when it actually worked right. As of yesterday, the compressor engaged (when I jumped it.)

Fair, about the charging. So I decided to give it another go this morning.

AC clutch engages.

AC compressor spins when car is on and jumped.

Here is that..
20230602_065825.jpg

20230602_065834.jpg

You posted this chart: (my first time seeing that chart)
2A7F89EA-78D1-4BED-B773-2B94214B922B.jpeg


So I referenced the temperature outside

Screenshot_20230602-065258_Chrome.jpg


And got this reading before starting engine

20230602_065625.jpg


7a.m. on the dot let's see what the low side is reading with it running this way
(Compressor IS spinning)
20230602_070105.jpg


Now I will shut it off, put the relay back in (swapped them already) and re-assess.. if the problem is with it being commanded on........

5-pin relays

20230602_070205.jpg


If the pressures check out, could we conclude the problem is with it being commanded on?
Edit: I could hear ac compressor engagement "de-click" upon removing jumper after turning car off.

Will now put relay back in. Only have alligator clips one side to test. Can check resistance with DVOM right now. Although I must learn the DVOM and a 5 pin relay.

Maybe the issue is the relay.

Attempting DIY before DIFY...



Let's see if normal operation comes back. If not, it's going to DIFY... water pump needs changed anyways...



Static pressure looks really good as ambient air temperature is 61°F with 94% supposed humidity. Car off, the below pic.

20230602_073656.jpg


Going to re-insert relay, reassess.

Question is.. will AC compressor turn on by itself with normal car control operation?

Screenshot_20230602-080037_Chrome.jpg

UPDATE: Pursuing the control side of how the AC is commanded on etc.
 
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Changing relay with the new $11 unit appears to yield no change.

AC runs pressures look good when jumped but I don't know why it's not turning on by the switch on the dash.

When the compressor is running I saw it doing this when jumped. 85゚ right now



I also created an account on the Ford Taurus. TCCA forums because I'm not understanding why the dash switch does not appear to be turning on the compressor. It's like there's a fuse I'm missing or something although the ones related to the circuit appear to be functional and do test for continuity with the DVOM unless there's one that I am missing. https://www.taurusclub.com/threads/ac-will-work-when-i-jump-it-with-a-paperclip.356567/

Relay I took out tested 75 homes resistance and again the new $11 one appears to have yielded no change.
 
My buddy's got a '14 370Z. He had brought it over once before and I was introduced to the joys of trying to get a low-slung car on my lift. We wound up awkwardly changing the oil with floor jacks.

This time we were more prepared with baby plastic ramps. I was skeptical but they made ALL the difference. Getting the pads under it was a breeze.

Anyway he wanted an oil change and we installed an upgraded front sway bar -- Hosstein? I guess? I don't follow the go-fast stuff, it's too impractical for what I do and where I live
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I'm still a staunch opponent of plastic ramps but these are just to get the vehicle high enough to swing arms under it.
 
This morning I replaced front brake rotors and pads on a 2018 Chevy Silverado 1500, changed the oil and replaced the air filter. Then I put a set of wiper blades on an 04 Chevy Express Van. Went home after lunch, washed my truck. Did some laundry and some cleaning in the house. Very light day
 
Bought some rack mounts for my router, modem and raspberry pi’s. Finally got around to mounting them today and cleaning up my little network rack
 

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I’ve been off this thread for a bit. Wrapping up settling into a new home for us and all that entails. I’ve mounted a lot of shelves lately…..

thankfully the cars have needed almost no care. They got washed last weekend for the first time in… a while. The truck is carrying the riding mower and all that weekly and is staying pretty filthy.

Helped a friend load a 100 amp breaker panel in his shop being built, and tested all of the branch circuits by energizing it with a small generator thru a small safety breaker. Found a bad wire nut connection and everything else checked out. While he brings me in for extra thinking on three way switches and things light that, his eye for detail and craftsmanship is impressive. I learned a thing or two. He’s old school. Heck, I’m old school. Every 90 degree bend must be a crisp 90, preferably with pliers.

also flush-mounted a key box in the garage wall by cutting the drywall and then mounting it through the side to the stud. Did that in the last place and really liked it.
 
I did front pads and rotors on the Mini Cooper S. I didn’t snap pics because I was just concentrating on getting it done before the heat hit in full.

It uses the slightly larger 294mm rotors so I got a basic rotor set since drilled and slotted seem to be only for show on this car. I had a set of those on the front, and the Bendix pads on the piston side of the caliper filled in many of the drilled holes anyway. The rotors were very dark coming off and the inner side of each was crusted with rust. Things must have been getting hot a lot. Good thing I’m not prone to pad slapping. 😁

Put a set of Bendix pads on it again, bled out the nasty green brake fluid for good new, clear DOT4, installed the pad wear sensor on the driver side brake, and reset the computer to 100% for front pads and the brake fluid. Rears are still good at 89%.

Ran it about six miles doing low speed braking and a couple of higher speed slow braking to bed the pads into the new rotors. Usual smoke from the all new parts, and then it was good to go, back to good health.

Now I need to see if this evap leak code I’m seeing is caused by an actual leak or electronic like last time. And, I need to swap in my parking brake cables eventually. 😀

Other cars need nothing, so they just get used.
 
Another 4L60E rebuild......This one is out of a absolute cream puff 4.8L 2011 Silverado with 73,xxx miles. The Trans (Other than the 3-4 Clutch being smoked) is in great shape. Owner was in disbelief as he takes care of the truck & has never towed with it.

Found the smoking gun, Input Drum has a pretty good 3-4 Apply Circuit leak where the Input Shaft is pressed into the Drum (Red Arrow).
I have exhausted my stock of good used Input Drums & they're on national back order from GM. I HATE buying used drums.

Going to press the Input Shaft out of the Drum tomorrow & see what exactly happened, With any luck.....Loctite Retaining Compound will fix the leak.
I'll let the compound fully cure, Reassemble the drum with the used pistons/clutches, Run the drum through my parts washer @170°F for 30 minutes or so to fully heat soak it & leak test it Hot.

Though if the shaft just presses out easily with my Arbor Press....No sense in trying to compound it as the shaft will eventually work it's way loose again.

Just to highlight how good of shape this unit is otherwise in....The last picture is of the Reverse Input Drum (What 2-4 Band holds in 2nd & 4th), I have to replace these 98% of the time.....This one is absolutely perfect.

bXnyxbz.jpg

kPvCAXU.jpg

IyjrBaj.jpg
I wonder if he changed the fluid. My 2012 4 speed auto looked pretty dirty when I changed it at 25,000 miles. I changed it again at 40,000 and same thing. I do tow with mine, but it's only a six. It's been worked hard, though.
 
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