What are you working on today?

[michaelluscher]

My daughter recently purchased a 08 Civic from a local guy off Craig's List. Turned out to be a neighbor to a good friend of mine. My friend said he took really good care of it, garage kept, etc., which was reassuring.
The thermostat spring must have been weak, it would open early. Threw a code for low coolant temp.
I changed the oil and filter, thermostat, coolant temp sensor, coolant, PCV valve, and air filter. All OEM parts.
There was no lining on the rear shoes, so I took it to a local mom and pop shop to have the drums turned and new shoes installed. They flushed the fluid out for me too. Also, one TPMS was bad, so they replaced it. Four new tires. The others had good tread but were dry rotted bad. Delinte DH2 tires, extra load rated and Z speed rating.
Then I drain and filled the trans (2.5 Qt), drove it 8 miles on a hilly road with a lot of curves (lots of shifting); then drained the trans again and changed the filter. OEM also. 2.75 Qt to fill.
I want to change the spark plugs yet and flush the power steering fluid. Later this summer or fall it will probably need front brakes.
BTW, what is up with the OM recommendation for checking the fluid level? It says to get it up to temp, then turn it off, wait 60 seconds but not more than 90 seconds, and check the level. What is their reasoning for that?

Check ECT1 (up by the thermostat housing) for leakage or coolant ingress to the connector
If a new thermostat doesn't fix your P0128, check
Service Bulletin 09-092 for more guidance, you might need ECT2 in the radiator and a pigtail

Honda AT fluid check procedures have always been weird
https://charm.li/Honda/2008/Civic L...sion/Transaxle/Service and Repair/Procedures/

 

[clinebarger]

@clinebarger What's going on with the Pontiac?

I swapped in a LS1/T56 15 years ago & the owner let it sit outside with no side windows or hood for 10 of those. It's a complete loss at this point.

 

[clinebarger]

Finished up the 4L60E....Install it in the AM.

 

[clinebarger]

You can see where the early shallow pan filter was rattling around loose on the bottom of the pan for quite some time, It was overfilled by at least a quart.
I bet when it was cold...It would slip, But operate when it's warm.

 

[Kennedy01]

I swapped in a LS1/T56 15 years ago & the owner let it sit outside with no side windows or hood for 10 of those. It's a complete loss at this point.

That's a shame.

 

[AJB0009]

Check ECT1 (up by the thermostat housing) for leakage or coolant ingress to the connector
If a new thermostat doesn't fix your P0128, check
Service Bulletin 09-092 for more guidance, you might need ECT2 in the radiator and a pigtail

Honda AT fluid check procedures have always been weird
https://charm.li/Honda/2008/Civic L4-1.8L/Repair and Diagnosis/Transmission and Drivetrain/Automatic Transmission/Transaxle/Service and Repair/Procedures/

I went ahead and changed ECT1 when I replaced the thermostat. I figured since I was in the neighborhood.
Seriously, coolant was getting replaced anyhow, 17-year-old vehicle, etc.
I forgot to mention that I also installed a new battery. It had a 2.5-year-old Die-Hard Silver, and it turned over pretty slow. I installed an Ever-Start Maxx from WM.

 

[AJB0009]

Finished up the 4L60E....Install it in the AM.

Beautiful.

 

[michaelluscher]

I went ahead and changed ECT1 when I replaced the thermostat. I figured since I was in the neighborhood.
Seriously, coolant was getting replaced anyhow, 17-year-old vehicle, etc.
I forgot to mention that I also installed a new battery. It had a 2.5-year-old Die-Hard Silver, and it turned over pretty slow. I installed an Ever-Start Maxx from WM.

Good PM
I only say this, as I've got an '07 Civic I'm currently fixing up to flip, and I observed some corrosion and wetness in the ECT1 connector

It still worked fine, but for $7, I thought I should replace it
Famous last words

Luckily it unscrewed by hand, I was afraid I'd have to drill and retap

 

[KevinMalone]

Found a factory strut brace off a Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart that bolted onto an Outlander Sport. While by no means a performance car, the noticeable increase in chassis rigidity is appreciated.

I found it neat that Mitsubishi went through the effort to design this. They even designed an improved version for the Evo X, where the brace is straight and triangulated to the firewall, and the mounting bracket joints are reinforced:

 

[14Accent]

Creeping up on 2k uneventful miles on my Copart Seville, and since it's been drop dead reliable I figured why not splurge on some upgraded sound.

Picked up a refurbished Kenwood eXcelon DMX-709S from Amazon along with a Metra integration harness and dash kit. I wanted something with 4 or 5V pre-outs in order to feed the factory Bose amps as clean a signal as possible, and this unit does not disappoint.

Once I had that up and running I swapped out the leaking high side AC port with a new GM piece. I discovered the leaking port last week when I attempted to charge the system; thank you GM for making the port a serviceable item vs. having to buy the entire line assembly.

 

[D60]

The owner of the 526k 4Runner wanted an oil change. I had noticed the hood rattled but the rubber snubbers were maxed on adjustment. Clearly the owner had noticed, too, because there was this elegant attempt on the hood catch:

I decided to unbolt the latch assy and slotted the holes left and right so I could slide the whole assy down a bit. This worked really well.

I also noticed the liftgate had a fierce rattle and there's zero adjustment there. If I had one complaint with Japanese manufacturers it would be their hubris on things like door strikers, etc. Every latch mechanism should allow for adjustment!!

I pulled the catch and built up the business end with weld. This worked incredibly well and the liftgate now closes snugly.

I did all of this without asking -- I guess it's the machinist/metalworker in me. Ya give your old Toyota to a yokel machinist in the woods, and the next thing you know......

 

[BrianF]

Finally made time to install the new aluminum/bronze lower steering bushings on my old 2000 Polaris Magnum. The old plastic bushings had play between in and the steering shaft and there was even more play between it and the rivets allegedly holding it in place.

Had to rip the whole front end off along with the pod but access was pretty good. Chiseled the rivets and the new bushing bolted in. During this process I found the retainer for the upper steering shafts bushings was loose, which helped clean up a lot of slop.

Bolted her all up, changed the oil and about to run to town for supper and some coolant. Since I was in that far, she got an oil change as well.

 

[Kennedy01]

This morning I serviced the pressure washer I've been using at work. New spark plug, air filter and an oil change on a Simpson 3000 psi unit with a Honda GCV160 engine.

After that I replaced the water pump, bypass hoses, upper radiator hose and thermostat in a 1996 Chevrolet Cheyenne 2500 with a 5.7 Vortec. Took 3 attempts to get a good water pump. First one had a broken flange for the lower hose, second one wasn't flat on the right side mating surface to the engine block. Usually don't have issues with the duralast jobber pumps we buy, this time was not the case. Also changed the oil.

 

[wings&wheels]

The small projects...

Started to replace the bulbs on the CHMSL in the '99 911's retractable spoiler. A few of the plastic housings locking tabs broke of course as well as some of the plastic holding the internal contacts in place. 26y/o plastic in an exposed location doesn't owe me anything though.... Even though the housings still locked together, I decided to reinforce the contact mountings with epoxy, replace all the bulbs with Sylvania LEDs, seal the unit closed and reinstall. Assuming I get lucky w/ the LEDs this should be a long, long-term fix.

I was pleasantly surprised at how bright the LEDs are, to the point where I may replace the bulbs on the other Pcar CHMSL's with them....IMHO stop lamps cannot be too bright.

 

[Pablo]

I made a phono cartridge holder

View attachment 267791View attachment 267792View attachment 267793View attachment 267794

After finishing

 

[Delta1]

Getting my friend's '10 Audi TT running after sitting for one week leaking coolant from god knows where.
It's only been a week (he asked to keep the car while he was on vacation since I live close to the airport) and failed to disclose that this Audi leaks water, we'll be having words when he comes to collect his pile, and will owe me for the bag of kitty litter I tossed under the car. Don't even know if it'll start since the car also features dodgy wiring and a bonus parasitic draw....

 

[ripcord]

Ah, the good old Audi TT, AKA the Two Thousand... Because it always costs a minimum of $2000 whenever the mechanic works on it.

 

[Kennedy01]

Last night I got the generators ready for use in case we lose power later this afternoon. I also filled the truck up with gas and have the chainsaw ready in case the weather gets bad this afternoon. We're right in line of the severe thunderstorm/tornado system that's coming across the Midwest towards the southeast. Hopefully it dissipates. Everyone is on standby.

 

[wings&wheels]

Salt's gone, woke up the fun cars from hibernation.

Topside engine access on the 911t, yup, that's it. Not even a dipstick.... The engine cover/fan housing removes to access the oil filter, but everything else is from the bottom.

 

[D60]

Quoting myself, I had this vehicle back and the ride in the rear was REALLY harsh and busy. It felt like it had about an inch of travel and then it just bottomed out. Merely driving on the highway would hurt my neck because it was constantly bucking the rear a very SHORT distance with an imaginary bumpstop.

There was no noise or BAM or clunk, just an incredibly harsh ride in the rear with near zero travel.

Now, BEFORE I realized (remembered) I had replaced these less than a year ago, I ordered the CHEAPEST struts on RA because the owner has had some financial struggles, I'm working for free and the vehicle has 424k miles.

So, today I replaced Sachs (which I used to consider some of the best) with some Mega branded struts at $12.08 ea. There was about $17 shipping so two struts delivered were ~$41.View attachment 266480

During the job I was almost doubting my diagnosis once I realized I was replacing ~11 month old Sachs, but I was right and the vehicle once again drives as it should.View attachment 266479

I'm returning to RA under warranty

REALLY disappointed in Sachs ATM. @Trav have you ever experienced anything like this??

Quoting myself AGAIN, I was outside of a year from purchase date (although not install date although that's irrelevant for warranty purposes) but because they didn't have replacements in stock for warranty replacement the RA system let me return for store credit.

I got about $140 back in store credit so that's actually pretty nice.

Still kinda sketched on Sachs now....