Nice work! Wait 'til he gets a price for steering rack R&R
What are you working on today?
- Thread starter Amkeer
- Start date
I used OEM parts, mainly because they aren’t 5 minute jobs. List price in the condenser was $714, and radiator $492. OEM primary battery list price was $437, and auxiliary battery $286. Again list prices, I did not pay that. But still stupid.Nice work! Wait 'til he gets a price for steering rack R&R
raking leaves and cutting off tree branches. Did some tidying of wiring in my garage. Reflecting on what I thought I knew about my Southern neighbors.
I replaced the alternator of the Focus this Sunday. It wasn't too bad once I watched some videos of it, but it takes some planning to unbolt it, then disconnect the wiring, then disassemble the heat shield so it can be wiggled out the bottom only by undoing the lower engine mount and swinging the engine forward. This is the view from the top once the power steering reservoir and the coolant tank are out of the way.
It seems these go for ~90k miles, no warning, just making good voltage and quickly dropping off over 5-10 miles to making none. The car would still run at 9V but once it dipped below that it would shut off for a couple seconds then run for 10 more. I was out of town but limped it to a local garage, but they were booked for a few days so I just charged the battery at home, and drove it home for a few miles.
It seems these go for ~90k miles, no warning, just making good voltage and quickly dropping off over 5-10 miles to making none. The car would still run at 9V but once it dipped below that it would shut off for a couple seconds then run for 10 more. I was out of town but limped it to a local garage, but they were booked for a few days so I just charged the battery at home, and drove it home for a few miles.
2001 Toyota Tundra lower ball joint inspection. Lower ball joints were replaced 12 years ago with 555 Sankei greaseable ball joints. Performed annual greasing with Valvoline Synpower grease.
Used this video for Toyotas with this lower balljoint style to find runout spec and dial gauge measurement conversions.
Setting up dial indicator on control arm and ball joint tang.
Setting gauge preload. The spindle needs to be pryed up from the balljoint to measure endplay. Zero would be max runout.
Prying up between control arm and balljoint mounting bolt. Joint appears to be in spec. Couple pumps of grease since I'm under there already.
Did the math which come out to .15mm from the max spec .5mm.
Used this video for Toyotas with this lower balljoint style to find runout spec and dial gauge measurement conversions.
Setting up dial indicator on control arm and ball joint tang.
Setting gauge preload. The spindle needs to be pryed up from the balljoint to measure endplay. Zero would be max runout.
Prying up between control arm and balljoint mounting bolt. Joint appears to be in spec. Couple pumps of grease since I'm under there already.
Did the math which come out to .15mm from the max spec .5mm.
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I recently did some free work for a moocher as well.
2006 ES330 - it is a recent acquisition by a friend. This is a low-mileage car (46K) he plans to give to a family member. I inspected the vehicle and ended up doing the following:
- Oil Change
- Engine and Cabin Air Filters
- Transmission Fluid Exchange
- Reseal Both Valve Covers and replace spark plug tube seals
- Replace Spark Plugs and replace three ignition coil connectors
- Timing Belt Kit w/o seals
- Drive Belts
- Clean Throttle Body
- Replace upper and lower Fuel Injector O-Rings
- Rear Brake Pads
- Brake Fluid Exchange
- Front Stabilizer Bar Bushings
- Front Stabilizer Bar Links
- Engine Moving Control Rod Mount
- Replace two vacuum lines
- Clean Sunroof drains and lubricate tracks
- Sublet for 4 Tires and Smog Inspection
- Wiper Blades
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Amen brother! This is getting a similar laundry list, all for free. I don't think I'll even ask for parts because it will effectively come out of the funds of my non-profit:
-front sway bar links
-new front calipers, hoses, pads, hardware. You can see the old rotors here:
2000 Ram 1500. Right front was the worst I've personally witnessed
Check out inner rotor thickness and metal dust on top of knuckle:
That pad might need replacement?
Back to back on new rotor
Check out inner rotor thickness and metal dust on top of knuckle:
That pad might need replacement?
Back to back on new rotor
-new (used) rear bumper
-new glass on left side mirror (elsewhere in this thread)
-new battery holddown
-replace LF axle u-joint
-spill 'n fill 46RE
-oil change
AND I still need to investigate a NO BUS on the instrument cluster.....
I don’t ever do moocher or free work unless I’m getting a meal or a barter deal that’s worth it for both of us. I’ve been
on enough in my life. “Free doesn’t pay bills!”This is a customer's '02 Subaru but this is a little thing I reco anyone in snow country look at. I've NEVER understood why OEMs insist on parking the wipers as low as possible. It puts them below where defrost warms your glass.
I personally re-clock all my wipers and it makes a huge difference on snowy, icy days. In the case of some vehicles like '04-14 F150s there's a key but it's removable. The key is not intended to translate load but only to make assembly at the factory fast and repeatable.
ANYWAY, before:
After:
In my personal experience, that little bit will make a very noticeable difference in defrost keeping your wipers from freezing. YMMV
I personally re-clock all my wipers and it makes a huge difference on snowy, icy days. In the case of some vehicles like '04-14 F150s there's a key but it's removable. The key is not intended to translate load but only to make assembly at the factory fast and repeatable.
ANYWAY, before:
After:
In my personal experience, that little bit will make a very noticeable difference in defrost keeping your wipers from freezing. YMMV
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2021
- Messages
- 2,210
Yesterday and today
1976 Dodge half ton van
Replaced front brake calipers, hoses and pads, took the rotors home to turn them, replaced a bad piece of rubber hose going to be fuel filter on the front of the engine, replaced that fuel filter, changed oil.
1976 Dodge half ton van
Replaced front brake calipers, hoses and pads, took the rotors home to turn them, replaced a bad piece of rubber hose going to be fuel filter on the front of the engine, replaced that fuel filter, changed oil.
And now the die is cast
Replaced original front swaybar links on the GLK250. The joints at both ends were very loose.
That pretty much completes the OE suspension overhaul, except for control arms. I'll leave those for next year sometime. Feels like a new car again.
That pretty much completes the OE suspension overhaul, except for control arms. I'll leave those for next year sometime. Feels like a new car again.
Getting this car ready for @JeffKeryk
Sister’s 2005 Corolla. Removed the transmission oil pan to replace the cracked pan gasket and to clean the magnets. Also performed a 9 qt fluid exchange using Genuine Toyota T-IV ATF.
Used a rubber Vaico Pan Gasket and tightened the pan to 5.3nm; it took 4-5 rounds for the gasket to be evenly compressed.
The old fluid was Amsoil SS with 32K; Genuine Toyota fluid shifts noticeably smoother.
Sister’s 2005 Corolla. Removed the transmission oil pan to replace the cracked pan gasket and to clean the magnets. Also performed a 9 qt fluid exchange using Genuine Toyota T-IV ATF.
Used a rubber Vaico Pan Gasket and tightened the pan to 5.3nm; it took 4-5 rounds for the gasket to be evenly compressed.
The old fluid was Amsoil SS with 32K; Genuine Toyota fluid shifts noticeably smoother.
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Nice work as always sir
I wanted @The Critic to use MaxLife, but he's a purist if there ever was one... Ha!
Heck, I even put MaxLife on my Wheaties!
Yard work. And lots of it today. This time of year I get killed with leaves. I finally decided to invest in a big backpack blower to replace my husqvarna 125bv handheld. Went with a Stihl BR800X. Couldn’t be happier. Cut my time to a 1/4 of what it took me with the old one. Bagged 13 bags of leaves yesterday after blowing the entire front and backyard, and bagged 87 bags today. Needless to say I am tapped. Probably another 30 bags worth on the ground, but ran out of bags. Still have 2 oaks and 3 Norway maples that have their leaves. So more to come.
