What are you working on today?

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I'm no fabricator, but I will admit I'm a bit proud of this job. Customer wanted some way to coil up the hose and wand while using her sprayer in tow-behind fashion. JD doesn't sell any type of reel, nor is it shown in either the JD parts breakdown or the Agri-fab catalog (the actual manufacturer).

The side of the tank had molded nut-serts already installed, so I found some scrap flat stock and drilled a couple holes. Quick coat of black over the brackets, bolts, and washers and I was in business. I won't hear any feedback until next week, but here's to hoping she's satisfied.
 
I noticed over the past winter that there was standing water at the end of the patio. We had the yard re-landscaped in 2022 and I thought there may have been a built-in doofus drainage problem. Never did this in the past 25 years. My neighbor also told me his yard was getting mushy. The only irrigation in the yard is a drip system on a timed sprinkler valve, which had been installed with the new landscaping. This valve had been off (at the controller) for the last 18 months.

I got down and put my ear against the valve and could hear water passing through. I just shut the main valve to the entire irrigation system front and back yards) to let things dry out. Now it makes sense that the drought resistant Salvia and the roses roses were dying.

Today, I decided to look at the valve. I took the top of the valve off and found this:

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More pipe cement is NOT better. Replaced the diaphragm while I had it apart. Now water is coming out of the top of the anti-siphon valve. More investigation later.
 
Another Wednesday so another day to go through the various systems on the 72 Ambassador. Want to replace everything so I have known dates in my record book. Today was spark plugs, wires, voltage regulator, oil breather cap, dwell, and timing. I haven't check dwell on a car since 1992 when I switched to the Pertronix I. PO must have replaced the distributor cap in the last year or so and it is one with brass contacts. How nice is that? Once again amazed that the plugs were barely hand tight just like lug nuts were barely torqued at all.

Plugs gaped at 0.035. Dwell was at the high end of the 28-32 degrees. Timing at 6 BTDC which is 1 more than specified but then I always advance a bit anyway. Vacuum a steady 20 mm Hg. Interestingly the very slight bog from stop disappeared completely and at a stop light the engine was so smooth and quiet. This car is fun to drive. Wanted to install new power steering hoses but the nut for the pressure hose was on so tight that end the correct brake line wrench was slipping instead of turning. I hate that and the position one has to work with.

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Last week also did a little painting.

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This Memorial Weekend more restoration on the USS Hornet the next 2 out of 3 days. Drive the Ambassador down on Saturday which will catch the attention of fellow volunteers.
 
Gave the trailer a first wash of the season. Scrubbed and washed the entire roof too, and cleaned out all the gutters. Soaked the awning in some simple green and scrubbed that too, it works great to pull stains off the underside

Also had to change out the awning retract/extend motor. Was binding up internally. Thankfully can be found cheap online .

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Also changed out the brakes on my truck for the first long tow of the season. Was going to go with OEM but no dealer had them in stock locally and I was in a pinch for time. So opted for the power stop Z36 heavy duty tow setup. So far so good. It was actually a little cheaper than OEM. Ford gets 181$ each for rotors and 89$ for pads with my 25% discount 😳

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2000 Xterra:
‐replaced the Duralast Gold distributor I installed in March. It lasted less than 4k miles. Unk if the coil failed or maybe CMP, but no spark. New distributor restored spark immediately and vehicle fired right up.

I'm really not sure what to do on these old Nissans as I don't think there's a quality offering here. I suspect the they're ALL reboxed import Wai [or insert cheap import name here]. I opted for the Duralast solely for the LT warranty, and good thing I did
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‐replaced LF window regulator
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D60 said:
2000 Xterra:
‐replaced the Duralast Gold distributor I installed in March. It lasted less than 4k miles. Unk if the coil failed or maybe CMP, but no spark. New distributor restored spark immediately and vehicle fired right up.

I'm really not sure what to do on these old Nissans as I don't think there's a quality offering here. I suspect the they're ALL reboxed import Wai [or insert cheap import name here]. I opted for the Duralast solely for the LT warranty, and good thing I did
Click to expand...
I went through this with my 3.3 Villager
It's not you, even the Nissan "Value Advantage" distributor I bought was Chicom garbage

Get the cheapest one with a lifetime warranty, and get good at changing them

I secured a good Motorcraft/Hitachi reman, but they've been discontinued 😔
 
D60 said:
2000 Xterra:
‐replaced the Duralast Gold distributor I installed in March. It lasted less than 4k miles. Unk if the coil failed or maybe CMP, but no spark. New distributor restored spark immediately and vehicle fired right up.

I'm really not sure what to do on these old Nissans as I don't think there's a quality offering here. I suspect the they're ALL reboxed import Wai [or insert cheap import name here]. I opted for the Duralast solely for the LT warranty, and good thing I did
View attachment 220923

‐replaced LF window regulator View attachment 220924
Click to expand...
Never thought about using large jaw vise grips and tape to hold up a window.... interesting. Is there anything between the clamp and the glass besides tape?
 
Kennedy01 said:
Never thought about using large jaw vise grips and tape to hold up a window.... interesting. Is there anything between the clamp and the glass besides tape?
Click to expand...
Nah, I figured glass is quite hard and those are the SP (swivel pad) clamps so they're kinda forgiving at the point of contact.

I've got those stupid suction cup things but they never seem to hold, although to be fair I've never cleaned the glass like they say you should.

I usually prefer to use the plastic clamps more intended for woodworking (ala Bessey, Irwin etc) but didn't have any with enough throat depth. I have a bare minimum of woodworking anything as I hate it.

That said, I wouldn't risk steel clamps on a "nice" vehicle. This old Xterra is a beater and the risk was minimal.
 
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Me and my FIL started on our massive backyard rejuvenation project (which I've been told by the Mrs. we can now afford 🙄).

The deck is going to be rebuilt after a patio gets poured and some foundation work is done to the house. We're also having several trees, the old garden shed, and the fire pit all dug out and leveled before the class 5 gets put down. Once that's in, a custom designed she-shed will be going in complete with built in chicken coop. The new shed will replace 3 separate enclosures that occupy the yard now, so I'm all for it.
 
Continuing remedial work on the co workers sons '07 Sentra
My normal locksmith was closed, so I went in search of another one
~$25 later, I had my two blanks cut 🔐

I thought programming NATS immobilizer would be difficult with needing a BCM pin, but the Autel had me done in 30 seconds, I was quite impressed

So for $65 cost, he got two new keys and two new keyfobs
That's not a bad deal IMO 🧐
I despise cloned keys, and I find lacking RKE when it's cheap/easy to obtain deeply insulting
What year is this, turning a key in the door 😤🙄
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I must've missed the chip, it still starts the car 😲
That's the only key it came with, it's relegated to spare status
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Washing out the cowl to eliminate the last of the rats nest and debris from fouling the incoming new blower motor
Fabulouso got it fresh 🧽
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Got a visual on what's in the blower motor, thanks to a cheap boroscope
Eww 🤮
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Rechecking the CVT fluid level, adding a few oz to get it into the hash marks
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Replaced the PCV valve and hose, and a new serpentine belt
Cleaned and reassembled the cowl, with additional zip ties because the clips are MIA
Install missing under tray clips, re tuck weatherstripping, clean crevices
Light degrease got it looking fairly fresh 👌

I don't trust certain Nissan components, so a new Denso Japan made crank sensor went in
Hopefully it won't leave him walking 🚶‍♂️
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This nibbled engine ground is on backorder, Nissan dealer should have it next week
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Dumped a bottle of SI-1 in a full tank
I'm planning new plugs in a week or two
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I turned him loose with the drill and some PlastX, then we ended at the car wash
Good enough for free 👌
Next week, plugs, blower motor, engine ground, and I'm pretty much completed my assignment
Total spend is about $600, it's TBD what I'm gonna charge for 3 of my Saturdays 🤔

It passed NJ Smog, so it's got a two year stay of execution
Either he bins it, or the CVT let's go 🤷‍♂️
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Experienced the biggest bout of incompetence I've seen yet. A friend has an '07 F150 5.4 3V. Now I'm no fan of these engines (despite owning an '08 myself) but ya gotta at least try to diagnose properly.

The vehicle started running rough, shaking and flashing the CEL. He dropped it at a shop. I believe the only code was #4 misfire (that was the only code when it got to me).

They pulled the #4 plug and based upon this, told him it had "smashed a spark plug."
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Is anyone else rolling their eyes yet?? It's not uncommon for these ground straps to go missing on these Fords. Could be old, manufacturing defects, or counterfeit.

But really the question is if that plug looks smashed??? Answer: no. Just burnt out from trying to fire with no ground strap.

Now, based upon that they concluded (see Declined Jobs at bottom):
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I ran compression solely on #4. It came in at 155. New plug and a new coil because they had not reinstalled the coil or put it in the truck, and it purrs beautifully. Successful test drive with zero codes, pending codes or CEL

Owner will likely want all plugs replaced soon.
 
ripcord said:
Just drained this out of the gas tank of my 1950 Chevy 2 ton farm truck... Would you believe that it cold started on the first crank on this stuff? Idled pretty smoothly, too.

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Click to expand...
i have a chevy motorhome with a 350 tbi. it runs great even though the stuff in the tank looks and smells like horse piss

i should probably drain it but i dont know if you can hurt the tbi system
 
Pulled P0471 of the 2018 2.7 ecoboost. Was throwing a CEL. $55 out the door to fordoempartsonline for a new fomoco part.
 
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