What are you working on today?

[clinebarger]

Finished up the 6L80 build.

Sonnax Zip Kit, Solenoid performance test, & replaced all the pressure switch membranes & seals.

 

[BrianF]

Did some maintenance on my Ram 3500. Some preventative. Tires needed their yearly rotation, greased the slide pins and cracked the bleeders. Everything looking to be in good shape.

Seeing as it's 8 years old, has a hint of play in the ball joints, I busted off the rotors and broke the wheel bearings free. It did not look bad but there was enough rust that I had to get resourceful.

Saw a YouTube that showed using a bolt and nut off the caliper mounting ear to knock the rotor off. It actually worked quite well. Then used a socket and extension to press the wheel bearing out using the power steering. That again worked great! I pumped some nlgi 1.5 grease in through the ABS sensor hole and worked that in.

Everything was cleaned up and using advice from @AutoMechanic I wasn't a cheap prick and slathered on some copper anti seize. Tomorrow I will do the rear rotors, adjust the tire pressure and check the transfer cases fluid.

 

[AutoMechanic]

Last night finished the Freightliner muffler and exhaust tip replacement. The other tip and muffler rusted out so needed to replace them. Finished up about 9pm started about 8:20. I had already done most of it on Sunday just had to wait on the top piece.

 

[demarpaint]

Finished the insulation up last weekend, starting on hanging the drywall. Yes, I know it's a little odd hanging it vertically, but it will be much easier to float with no butt seams.

Nice! I'd like to see pictures after its taped and spackled, and the finished project. We've hung drywall that way too, sometimes it makes for a faster better looking job.

 

[Delta]

Nice! I'd like to see pictures after its taped and spackled, and the finished project. We've hung drywall that way too, sometimes it makes for a faster better looking job.

Ask and ye shall receive!

Still needs a couple paint touch ups, but weather went cold again and my motivation took a dive

 

[demarpaint]

Ask and ye shall receive!

Still needs a couple paint touch ups, but weather went cold again and my motivation took a dive

Nice job!!!! I hear ya about motivation taking a dive, been there done that, a lot. Getting old isn't helping me, sometimes I have to wait for the planets to be properly aligned before tackling a big project. It never was that way.

 

[Kennedy01]

There's that one obnoxious harness retainer near the firewall at driver side as engine sits.....nearly impossible to disconnect unless you're a double jointed dwarf. Honestly, I never put it back. The next guy will thank me. That huge bundle of wires isn't moving IMO.

And yeah, I always reco plugs when the intake is off

They fasten the harness to the engine on the pentastars like it's going to jump up and run away. Similar to how Nissan does. Should have put that much thought into the oil cooler design

 

[Kennedy01]

Yesterday
Neighbor's grandparent's vehicles
2004 Chevrolet Trailblazer
Replaced outer tie rods, rotated tires, replaced air filter, changed oil

2006 Mercury Grand Marquis
Rotated tires, inspected brakes, replaced air filter, replaced fuel rail pressure sensor, changed oil

 

[BrianF]

Finished up with my Ram 3500. The rear rotors broke free with little drama using that bolt through the caliper mounting ear. Issue was the parking brake shoes were catching and I could not remove the rotor completely. I got some anti seize worked in around the flange and called it a day. I was not going to yard the rotors off and risk wrecking something.

Tire rotation completed and pressure adjusted. Spare is good and it's ready to start the tow season.

Next projects are rear brake cylinders for the 2004 Escape and then tire rotation, bleed brakes, grease everything etc for my 2006 Trailblazer.

 

[4WD]

Nothing too interesting— oil change w/o rotate. Told my sister to see me in 3k for her next service.

View attachment 272051

View attachment 272053

Dang, that thing have a plastic block too?

 

[The Critic]

Dang, that thing have a plastic block too?

I’m surprised they didn’t finish it off with a real engine cover.

 

[meep]

Nice job!!!! I hear ya about motivation taking a dive, been there done that, a lot. Getting old isn't helping me, sometimes I have to wait for the planets to be properly aligned before tackling a big project. It never was that way.

It’s kinda neat how we’ve all been aging together. This is coming up more and more. In 10 years from now why might need a “geezer’s topics” where we talk about what we used to do for maintenance and repairs!

 

[4WD]

Ask and ye shall receive!

Still needs a couple paint touch ups, but weather went cold again and my motivation took a dive

Too organized - Stop shaming me, bro

 

[Kennedy01]

Yesterday
2003 Chevrolet Tahoe 5.3 Vortec
Replaced valve cover gaskets, spark plugs and plug wires, air filter, coolant reservoir, changed oil.

 

[D60]

The owner wants to slowly de-brodozer his '05 Silverado. The kid had painted lots of things -- poorly.

If you wanna bling your vehicle, fine -- but do it well with paint or [whatever] that will last.

He had painted all the door handle pulls white. It looks bad up close because it was obviously done by a teenager. Last night I got the driver's door swapped to a black Dorman handle. The other three are waiting, but I probably don't have time until next week.

New in front door, previous teenager look on back door:

Check out the sweet paint on the steps. It's amazing the lengths kids will go to to "de-chrome" everything. It's fine if you think chrome is "grandpa", but do your mods right or don't do them at all.

 

[D60]

Also I posted elsewhere too but finally resolved the 4wd popping in this '05 Chevy 3500. I had gone through the transfer case which I've posted here earlier, then looked at the CAD hard parts but all looked good (mostly empty here):

Then split the front diff:

Ultimately after nothing was found, it wound up being a weak CAD actuator! To be clear, I had previously made sure the actuator was working, but it simply wasn't working well enough. In tight turns the front end would POP like a mode fork was trashed in a transfer case. It would pop repeatedly like something was slipping or momentarily releasing (common for a worn mode fork)

I've never before heard of the actuator allowing for partial or weak engagement of the CAD. Learn something every day.

Fortunately the owner is just glad that I went through these larger components so we know everything is solid.

 

[Pterostylis]

but do your mods right or don't do them at all

18 year old me feels personally attacked. haha now that I think about it me from 7 years ago when I flat blacked the peeling clear coat on my bonnet hood feels personally attacked

 

[wander2039]

Stripping off parts and trying save what I can. The joys of working on a car that lived on dirt roads, 1/8 of dirt on top of the headliner! Might cut the back off tomorrow. Too rusty for the road but ok for playing around the farm.

 

[BrianF]

Spent the better part of today working on my Trailblazer. Tires rotated, brakes bled, slide pins greased, sway bar end links, u joints and tie rod ends greased.

Then busted her down to get at the front unit bearings. Pumped in some 1.5 grease and reinstalled everything with anti seize as usual. I knocked out the CV shaft on the passenger side to get at the CAD. Its a bit of an odd ball as it's bolted to the oil pan and the stub shaft runs through the pan. The CAD is sealed and grease lubed. I removed it back in 2014 (tossed in new bearings and seals as preventative and then in about 2020 for fresh grease. I just slathered in some new grease on the CV shaft bearings and called it good. I could see the old grease still looked good in there. I checked tire pressure and then parked her for the day. She's good to go for the summer.

 

[D60]

New EPS torque sensor in an '06 Malibu

Column torn down on the bench and sensor swapped:

I later figured out the black puck included with the new sensor is a tool of some sort. I didn't use it (shrug). After installation I had more assist to the right than left, but calibration with my Otofix took care of that. It drives well, the steering wheel no longer shakes and torque values no longer fluctuate at idle. No codes in EPS module.

This had already been done once under warranty and the dealer tech did a sloppy job and apparently didn't have snap ring pliers large enough because he pried on the housing and cracked it:

I will say: the snap ring is no joke and was challenging even with my 12" pliers. Still, a dealer should have the right tools. There were also harness clips left dangling and trim screws lost.