What are you working on today?
- Thread starter Amkeer
- Start date
Changed the oil in the gearboxes for the 5' tiller that goes on the back of my Kubota. Carquest 85w140 went back in.
BMW: Break My Wallet. Bill My Wife.
Wanted to go snowboarding today for my cake day, but decided to stick local. Gave the parent’s LS430 a bath - Griot’s Ceramic Car Wash in a foam cannon, 8:1. I’m not impressed with it, but to its credit it cleans better than some foamy car washes, and it does greatly reduce drying time.
AutoMechanic
Site Donor 2025
Today was a little slow but finally got to do some fun stuff that I hadn’t done in awhile. First started out simple oil changes and rotates because that’s all the morning had besides a few state inspections. We had a Land Cruiser roll in barely moving and knocking like nobody’s business it rolled in about 1:20 right after lunch dispatch put my number on it and got me to diagnosing right away. They had just had their oil changed at a dealership in their hometown about 70 miles away. Well the tech or hack at that shop only put 3 quarts of oil in the vehicle. That’s all that came out and what else came out with it? Metal shavings. No oil leaks anywhere or nothing loose so that means they would have had to short it on oil. Dropped the oil pan full of metal shavings. Engine is toast. Had the manager take a look and another tech for a second opinion. The dealership that done it accepted it however they were mad the customer didn’t have it towed back to them. We will be billing them for everything including the rental car we put the customer in. I get to assist putting the engine in it when it comes in. I’m comfortable doing engines because I’ve done them assisted before but I didn’t want to take on one on this fancy of a car by myself and risk messing something up again. The dealership called back and said they took action against the tech and went ahead and let him go as this wasn’t his only blown engine and not the only car he had shorted on oil either. He also apparently left a few wheels loose. Hopefully I won’t have any other cars come in that he worked on lol. I have no idea how much this job pays. I’m paid by the hour so I don’t keep track of anything like that. I’d say at least 8 hours or more. However long it books for is what the flat rate tech will get who is helping me. I’m happy to have work. The last three weeks have been very slow. We fired and laid off a bunch of people I wasn’t one of those people fortunately. We had a long talk about it and I had to make some hard decisions about which techs to get rid of because of budget cuts. I picked the two least productive and sent them out the door. I am head of the express lane so I have say in who does what. Me and my bosses also talked about my future plans and where I want to be. They want me to stay at Toyota because of the good wisdom and mindset I give to the young techs but Subaru is where my heart is at so soon I’ll be returning to that side of the street. It’s what I want to do and that’s what matters. They also gave hints that they would want me in a manager role eventually. I hate the way Toyota is about warranty and customer service i can’t work for a manufacturer like that.
Swapped a two pc prop shaft for a single piece
Got the Boss headunit wrapped up in the RV, CarPlay is impressive although unless I'm using maps I'll just use bluetooth. Also got the jack knife sofa back together. Gorilla glued and screwed a panel board to the frame then glued the foam to the board. $500 sofa and all they did was glue that black fabric to the frame, with only two springs per seat didn't have a chance. Probably should used panel and more bracing but maybe it'll work.
Different job today. 1.6 ecoboost, man made problem. This was a Very botched water pump job that turned into cylinder head repair. Was apart multiple times before I got my hands on it attempting to time it properly (there are no keys for the crank gear, timing gears, or balancer). The final time he gave up and could not get it to run again. Once it got thrown in my lap I found He forgot to tighten the balancer bolt (which keeps the crank gear in time) and damaged at least 4 valves trying to start it (burned up 1 starter in the process).
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I found a C7AE in Minnesota for $125 including shipping. At the shop now after I did some port work.
A friend's mother had an accident in her Grand Caravan. I'm taking the front suspension part to assess the damage. So far, not good. That strut is bent severely, and the ball joint and tie rod end are toast as well.
Rainy, windy day. May not do anything at all.
4WD
$50 site donor 2025
Get the old Craftsman 42” in shape - been replaced while waiting for parts - but I’m giving it away …
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On second thought, this looks way more professional
it really is a high-quality piece of hardware 2013 Cadillac XTS, 3.6L/6T70E, 88,XXX miles, Used Dealer/Auction Rat. Complaint.....Front windows inoperable, Rear windows work from their respective switches but not from the master switch.
U1534...Lost communication with driver window motor
U1530...Lost communication with passenger window motor
Both current DTC's in the BCM.
The Front 2 Window Motors & The Master Switch are all on the LIN 3 Bus, Checked the only accessible point which was the master switch....Totally corrupted waveform via the Picoscope.
All other access points to the LIN 3 Bus requires more interior disassembly than the customer was willing to spend, Said I'd breakout the circuits out the easiest way I could.....
Pulled both kick/sill trim panels, Opened up both door harnesses & found the LIN 3 circuits & separated them by snipping the wires.....The output from the BCM was CLEAN.
Temporarily hooked the Master Switch & Driver Window Motor to the BCM & now had a clean signal to the Master Switch.....Drivers window now works & the rear windows now operate from the Master Switch. (After I updated the driver side motor P/N in the BCM.....I think the BCM was replaced in an attempt to fix the windows?)
Cleared DTC's & U1534 didn't return.
With the passenger motor isolated.....I tested the LIN 3 circuit that runs under the front seats & console, Weird-saw tooth waveform that averaged 4.5vdc.
Temporarily ran wire across the vehicle to bypass the corrupted circuit, Passenger window still didn't work & U1530 remained. Checked to make sure hooking the passenger window motor to the LIN 3 Bus didn't corrupt the signal....Which I knew it wasn't because the driver window was still operating.
I had no way to check the integrity of the LIN 3 Bus circuit between where I opened the harness & the motor itself without pulling the door panel. Pulled the panel, Back probed the connector at the motor & it had a good clean signal from the BCM. Checked for power & ground at the motor & that was good.
Bad motor AND a corrupted circuit??? My gut feeling was it's highly unlikely.
Decided to test terminal drag using my AES Wave uTest kit for the right size terminal pin, This kit bails me out all the time!!
NO drag at all on the LIN 3 Bus terminal, Removed the terminal lock out of the center of the connector & these terminals are some small I couldn't see the damage, Had to get my magnifying glass & sure enough someone had front probed the terminal with something larger than they should have & stretched out the terminal.....Used a Awl to bend it back best I could....Has good repeatable drag anyway.
The motor part number would now update, After performing a relearn on the windows....They all expressed Up & Down like they should.
However.....I have a wire drabbed across the car. The customer didn't want to pay me to pull the seats & carpet to find what happened, So I ran the circuit under the dash with some zip ties securing it, Sealed off both ends the corrupted circuit with some adhesive heat shrink. Soldered & heat shrunk the splices I had to make to tie the LIN 3 together.
Some might think this is a hack repair....I would have to agree, But it works & the customer is happy.
U1534...Lost communication with driver window motor
U1530...Lost communication with passenger window motor
Both current DTC's in the BCM.
The Front 2 Window Motors & The Master Switch are all on the LIN 3 Bus, Checked the only accessible point which was the master switch....Totally corrupted waveform via the Picoscope.
All other access points to the LIN 3 Bus requires more interior disassembly than the customer was willing to spend, Said I'd breakout the circuits out the easiest way I could.....
Pulled both kick/sill trim panels, Opened up both door harnesses & found the LIN 3 circuits & separated them by snipping the wires.....The output from the BCM was CLEAN.
Temporarily hooked the Master Switch & Driver Window Motor to the BCM & now had a clean signal to the Master Switch.....Drivers window now works & the rear windows now operate from the Master Switch. (After I updated the driver side motor P/N in the BCM.....I think the BCM was replaced in an attempt to fix the windows?)
Cleared DTC's & U1534 didn't return.
With the passenger motor isolated.....I tested the LIN 3 circuit that runs under the front seats & console, Weird-saw tooth waveform that averaged 4.5vdc.
Temporarily ran wire across the vehicle to bypass the corrupted circuit, Passenger window still didn't work & U1530 remained. Checked to make sure hooking the passenger window motor to the LIN 3 Bus didn't corrupt the signal....Which I knew it wasn't because the driver window was still operating.
I had no way to check the integrity of the LIN 3 Bus circuit between where I opened the harness & the motor itself without pulling the door panel. Pulled the panel, Back probed the connector at the motor & it had a good clean signal from the BCM. Checked for power & ground at the motor & that was good.
Bad motor AND a corrupted circuit??? My gut feeling was it's highly unlikely.
Decided to test terminal drag using my AES Wave uTest kit for the right size terminal pin, This kit bails me out all the time!!
NO drag at all on the LIN 3 Bus terminal, Removed the terminal lock out of the center of the connector & these terminals are some small I couldn't see the damage, Had to get my magnifying glass & sure enough someone had front probed the terminal with something larger than they should have & stretched out the terminal.....Used a Awl to bend it back best I could....Has good repeatable drag anyway.
The motor part number would now update, After performing a relearn on the windows....They all expressed Up & Down like they should.
However.....I have a wire drabbed across the car. The customer didn't want to pay me to pull the seats & carpet to find what happened, So I ran the circuit under the dash with some zip ties securing it, Sealed off both ends the corrupted circuit with some adhesive heat shrink. Soldered & heat shrunk the splices I had to make to tie the LIN 3 together.
Some might think this is a hack repair....I would have to agree, But it works & the customer is happy.
Nope, its what the customer wants and will pay for. It might not be the perfect repair, but it works, won't damage anything else, and put money in your account...win across the board.
You have factory service information.....No reason you can't do the job on your own, Don't wait on experience to come to you....Jump in, Take your time, And do a good/thorough job.
There's good money in major repairs as you don't have to Rack & Diagnose as many vehicles, Learn ALL you can while getting paid hourly!!
Today I was working on replacing the blower motor in a 2000 thru 2005 Buick LeSabre. Little did I know that the 2000 thru 2001 used the 1st generation blower and the 2002 thru 2005 use the 2nd generation blower. So that means I get to do it all over again when the correct blower motor assembly comes in the mail. Absolute major nightmare. The most difficult thing I've ever had to do on a car.