What are you working on today?
- Thread starter Amkeer
- Start date
High pressure p/s hose and front lower control arms on a Murano. 15 year old vehicle with only 36k miles. The control arms were a recommendation from the last visit.
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Retightening the exhaust manifold collector flange bolts. The dealer I bought my truck to left the bolts hand tight and I was dealing with a cold start exhaust leak tick-tick-tick noise. Not sure why they let that pass during the test drive.
While waiting on some pork shoulders to smoke I replaced the rear shocks on the Ranger. We're going to start towing soon and the factory FX2 shocks are...no other way to put it, garbage. They ride nice but they are massively underdamped with any kind of weight in the bed and will be even worse with 600 pounds of tongue weight. So out went the factory shocks and on went some Bilstein 5100 series units. Night and day difference. Less then 45 min job with nothing more than a 15mm ratchet and a small prybar. Would have been a lot faster using air tools but the compressor would have woken the wife.
I will probably follow it up with a set of 4600's on the front since I have no intention of raising the truck or fitting bigger tires, the valving should match up well to the 5100's that are valved for a little more damping with heavier weights.
I will probably follow it up with a set of 4600's on the front since I have no intention of raising the truck or fitting bigger tires, the valving should match up well to the 5100's that are valved for a little more damping with heavier weights.
Changing plugs and wires in the '08 Ranger 3.0. Man, the driver side is hard to access. Took about 1.5 hrs to get the passenger side done, I'm guessing another 2 hrs for the drivers side after I finish a volunteer commitment. Hoping for no troubles and getting it done before sundown!
Flat tire on the Mustang. They're all down to ~3/32" anyway so I'll likely just use it as an excuse to replace all 4 tires.
Starting the Costco gazebo assembly.
Tire inspection day.
Trying the chalk across the tread trick on my 02 Silverado to see where the contact patch is after trying a slightly higher PSI.
01 Tundra needs new rear tires since they are over 6 years old. It's got mismatched tires since my dad is one of those who buy two tires at a time.
Trying the chalk across the tread trick on my 02 Silverado to see where the contact patch is after trying a slightly higher PSI.
01 Tundra needs new rear tires since they are over 6 years old. It's got mismatched tires since my dad is one of those who buy two tires at a time.
AutoMechanic
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Installed the water valve again. This time it was the right part. We had gotten one from the dealership but it was a newer style that would not work so we found a NOS on eBay and got it. Since the bolts were pretty seized I applied anti seize. Still have to find a square cut seal for it but it’s not hooked up right now since it’s for the heat so once we locate the seal we will put the seal on and fully hook it up. The old seal is included in the anti seize picture. I had to put the old tube on since they don’t have those separate. Also I cleaned the squirrel cage it was full of dust and dirt and debris.
Yesterday if that counts: replaced the right front window on the beater 99 Crown Vic.
When the previous owner trashed it and left it parked, some slug tried to steal the Mach MP3 OEM stereo in it. So, easiest way in was to smash the window. They didn’t get it though, since it’s still there. But I had to remove all the shattered glass and stick in a new Chinese made window. Good enough for what it is.
I will end up selling this off after a couple more fixes…
When the previous owner trashed it and left it parked, some slug tried to steal the Mach MP3 OEM stereo in it. So, easiest way in was to smash the window. They didn’t get it though, since it’s still there. But I had to remove all the shattered glass and stick in a new Chinese made window. Good enough for what it is.
I will end up selling this off after a couple more fixes…
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Just finished following after discovering small leak on rear shock on my BMW (105k, original shocks, track car):
All coolant hoses
Water pump
Thermostat
Expansion tank
Found drop of oil on oil pan gasket. Was not sure it is that or leaky oil sensor gasket. But since pans are know to start to leak around this mileage, changed that too.
All control arms, sway bar links, bushings etc. in front.
All control arms, links, sway bar bushings in rear. Guid rods and wishbones replaced with M3 version, lighter, forged aluminum.
Powerflex rear subframe bushings.
All four corners got Bilstein B6 dampers. Rear shocks got upper and lower Monroe mounts which proved as huge upgrade in these E90 3 series.
All coolant hoses
Water pump
Thermostat
Expansion tank
Found drop of oil on oil pan gasket. Was not sure it is that or leaky oil sensor gasket. But since pans are know to start to leak around this mileage, changed that too.
All control arms, sway bar links, bushings etc. in front.
All control arms, links, sway bar bushings in rear. Guid rods and wishbones replaced with M3 version, lighter, forged aluminum.
Powerflex rear subframe bushings.
All four corners got Bilstein B6 dampers. Rear shocks got upper and lower Monroe mounts which proved as huge upgrade in these E90 3 series.
Lots of work there, hopefully it went without too many hiccups.
Are you happy with the suspension upgrades? I added B6 to my E90 and it greatly improved things. I am sure the new control arms and bushings (and everything else) will improve it even more.
Not many hiccups. Car was driven in PA before, so bit of an issue taking down rear brake lines. Didn’t want to spend too much time, pulled out and replaced with new ones. Rear subframe bushing bolts also bit rusty, but got new anyway.
Some hoses got stuck, but eventually came off.
It drives exceptionally. XDrive has bit of tendency to understeer due to heavier front and drive in front, but I drastically decreased that. Strange thing is that I upgraded only struts in front. But rear is super planted. I will out corner any RWD E90 with sport suspension. No side movements, nothing.
But because I didn’t lower the car, and kept a lot of stuff original, just put new parts, it is still comfortable, but competent and confident.
Next project:
335 brakes
3 stage intake manifold and ECU flash.
Installed a new Ford OEM tail light in my F150.
A plague of fert spreaders. These are small ones they tow behind quad bikes. Everything has to come apart just to get at another part...and everything is covered in concrete and I have to hammer gun it off to get at anything.
