What are you working on today?

AutoMechanic said:
Yesterday. Got screwed by warranty pay on a steering rack and pinion on a 23 Tacoma. Warranty pay is 3.5 hours and customer pay is 8.2. I hate warranty work. I clocked 9.7 on it and then got it in and all back together and aligned and I’ll be darned if the steering rack isn’t bad they sent a bad one. We always have problems with the remanufactured ones and Toyota will not pay for new. So spent half the day today trying to figure out why I didn’t have power steering. I bled it 5 times and even flushed the system and still nothing it worked for about 4 turns each time then back to no power steering so we think the valve inside the rack is bad which is something we see all the time with these reman racks. These are the days I hate my job. I don’t know anyone that can do it in 3.5 hours. Had the 81 year old mechanic help and he said the rack, asked my two bay neighbors and they both said rack too because if it was the pump or something else the steering wouldn’t of came back at all. And the rack was replaced due to leaks not necessarily being “bad”.
View attachment 283048Time that was all said and done I did a 4Runner for front pads and machine rotors and oil change and tire rotation. Then another 4Runner that I sold brakes on Friday but had to wait on rotors that were two days out. I advised them to leave the car as the pads were metal to metal but they took the car and called an hour later saying they were at the mall and had no brakes so it got towed back in and the entire caliper blew out because the brake pad fell out and pushed the caliper into the rotor which was also razor thin. So got that back up and going today too. I was nice and knocked the labor down on the caliper from 3 hours to 1 hour because 3 hours is a bit steep. As you can see the piston is right against the shim and rotor. Shims also got replaced the shim kit is like $52 ridiculous that Toyota doesn’t include it with the pads. View attachment 283049View attachment 283050
Click to expand...
Rear caliper I ASSume? It looks like the rear calipers on 2nd Gen Tundras while the fronts are still the fixed, 4-piston design.

Sorry about the rack -- that sucks!
 
AutoMechanic said:
Yesterday. Got screwed by warranty pay on a steering rack and pinion on a 23 Tacoma. Warranty pay is 3.5 hours and customer pay is 8.2. I hate warranty work. I clocked 9.7 on it and then got it in and all back together and aligned and I’ll be darned if the steering rack isn’t bad they sent a bad one. We always have problems with the remanufactured ones and Toyota will not pay for new. So spent half the day today trying to figure out why I didn’t have power steering. I bled it 5 times and even flushed the system and still nothing it worked for about 4 turns each time then back to no power steering so we think the valve inside the rack is bad which is something we see all the time with these reman racks. These are the days I hate my job. I don’t know anyone that can do it in 3.5 hours. Had the 81 year old mechanic help and he said the rack, asked my two bay neighbors and they both said rack too because if it was the pump or something else the steering wouldn’t of came back at all. And the rack was replaced due to leaks not necessarily being “bad”.
View attachment 283048Time that was all said and done I did a 4Runner for front pads and machine rotors and oil change and tire rotation. Then another 4Runner that I sold brakes on Friday but had to wait on rotors that were two days out. I advised them to leave the car as the pads were metal to metal but they took the car and called an hour later saying they were at the mall and had no brakes so it got towed back in and the entire caliper blew out because the brake pad fell out and pushed the caliper into the rotor which was also razor thin. So got that back up and going today too. I was nice and knocked the labor down on the caliper from 3 hours to 1 hour because 3 hours is a bit steep. As you can see the piston is right against the shim and rotor. Shims also got replaced the shim kit is like $52 ridiculous that Toyota doesn’t include it with the pads. View attachment 283049View attachment 283050
Click to expand...
That sounds like a huge rip-off. How in the world do they get away with having two sets of books for shop and labor time? The only way to cut that much time on big jobs is when you're doing a bunch every week and get lots of practice.... Or if they give special training with lots of time saving tricks and special tools.
 
ripcord said:
That sounds like a huge rip-off. How in the world do they get away with having two sets of books for shop and labor time? The only way to cut that much time on big jobs is when you're doing a bunch every week and get lots of practice.... Or if they give special training with lots of time saving tricks and special tools.
Click to expand...
So Toyota decides what they will pay the tech for warranty since they are the same paying for the repair and parts. My company has no say in anything warranty related we just have to do warranty since we are a dealership. But in our pricing system the job says 8.2 if the customer is paying for it so that’s definitely the fair price. This is why you’ll never hear a dealership tech say they like warranty work or recalls because they rip the tech off on pay. The Toyota rep told us that how the warranty time is decided is based on an average of how fast a group of 10 technicians done it so they take all their time and add it up and average it to decide what to make the pay for that job. Sucks.
 
D60 said:
Rear caliper I ASSume? It looks like the rear calipers on 2nd Gen Tundras while the fronts are still the fixed, 4-piston design.

Sorry about the rack -- that sucks!
Click to expand...
Yes rear caliper. I hate the quad piston calipers they are so annoying to try to get to compress all the way at once. I have the special tools but the tool maxes out before the pistons are all pushed in usually.
 
Dropped off the hub assembly at UPS and what a heavy *****.. so much so I dislocated my shoulder again, been in pain all night.. wife helps put it back in place. later when I'm feeling better going to gap the Accel spark plugs from .030 to .036 cause we're all set to have these plug installed Sat morning. Warn the wife that we can expect approx 10K miles out of these plug cause of the copper cores. Not sure what to expect as this is the first time using any Holly/MSD/Accel products.
 
didn't happen today but a few days ago which ties into this post: https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/what-are-you-working-on-today.331303/post-7255084 slowwly adding the sound dampening and then onward to the fabric wrap..

20250601_180818a.webp

Cargo area of the van. we've had the diamond tucked carbon fiber acescent completed last year now just getting to the sound dampening. when one has a shoulder and back injury like mine, it's very hard to keep motivated to do these kinds of things.. The spare tire cover took me a bit to figure out so that ti would fit over a 2006 thunderbird spare tire which also fits the van same lug pattern and center bore.
 
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LostInTransit said:
didn't happen today but a few days ago which ties into this post: https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/what-are-you-working-on-today.331303/post-7255084 slowwly adding the sound dampening and then onward to the fabric wrap..

View attachment 283097
Cargo area of the van. we've had the diamond tucked carbon fiber acescent completed last year now just getting to the sound dampening. when one has a shoulder and back injury like mine, it's very hard to keep motivated to do these kinds of things..
Click to expand...
That diamond tuck looks really good. Are you using any thermal or mass loaded vinyl insulation or is it just butyl dampener?
 
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Just finished mulching the veg garden with clean straw

Going out to spray some unwanted growth around my barn

Then will repair a broken door handle on my Andersen sliding door
The want something like $450 for a new handle

Will finish out the day saying something smart about @Zee09
 
walterjay said:
Then will repair a broken door handle on my Andersen sliding door
The want something like $450 for a new handle

Will finish out the day saying something smart about @Zee09
Click to expand...
Phew, lofty goals. Good luck ;)

Also my recent experience with Andersen customer service was abysmal. Good for you to find an alternative.
 
The basket case Cub Cadet reappeared. He was occasionally losing front wheels because this is a stupid bushing system rather than roller bearings. The wheels wind up with a TON of negative camber as the outboard edge of the hub whittles down the spindle at an angle.

I was in a hurry and just filled the angled area with weld and crudely sanded it roundish. It's 1000% better than before.
20250603_172745.webp


They don't allow you to separate the spindle/ knuckle from the front axke. Service is replace the ENTIRE front axle.

The spindles are 3/4" but the wheel ID is 1" because there's supposed to be a bushing. I made a crude bushing from 1" aluminum
20250603_172726.webp

The primary reason he brought it to me was for a new blade spindle assy. In what I believe is a cost-cutting measure, they don't thread the holes of the mount. Instead they furnish weird tri-lobe bolts in a basic 5/16-18 and apparently want the bolt to wedge itself into the softer aluminum mount, which is also drilled a bit oversize.

I could see arguments that this withstands vibration better, but I reject that argument as we use standard, round fasteners in high vibration applications all over the world. This is cost-cutting, plain and simple.

These holes are NOT threaded when new:
20250604_094033.webp

The weird tri-lobe bolt is supposed to wedge itself in there. It does not have thread-cutting reliefs or "flutes":
20250604_094028.webp

This looked like a can of worms and I tapped the aluminum mount 5/16-18 and used lots of thread lock.
 
The wife's been bugging me for 6 months to make a stand for this statue. She wants it outside under a tree at my non-profit where they spread the ashes of animals we've lost, however a pack rat was guaranteed to carry it off.

I started with a random drop of scrap Al
20250604_112315.webp

And quickly eyeballed some steps in the material. I counterbored most of the way from the bottom and used a wood screw to anchor the statue.
20250604_115621.webp


edit: I did NOT carve the statue! Woodworking and I do not get along!!
 
LostInTransit said:

Pterostylis​

https://siless.myshopify.com/produc...ng-mat-sound-deadener-mat-car-sound-dampening

50ml on the side walls, 80ml on the floors. The vinyl wrap is a suede material with a sticky backing. which should conform over the entire back of the van and look like one solid color. The sound dampening sheets were used to fil the voids and level a few areas out. Some of the larger holes had to be taped over with the clear gorilla tape.
Click to expand...
Nice. On my samurai I have 80 mil Car Builders brand butyl deadener on the sides of the tub and firewall, and 3/8” closed cell foam on the front fiberglass roof section.
I still have to put foam on the rear fiberglass roof section, butyl the trans tunnel and then decide if I want a stage 2 insulation or just the factory vinyl over the tunnel.
 
Did the passenger side drum on the beater Sunfire. Wire wheeled the carryover parts, lubed what needed it and assembled it with new pads.

While not leaking, I tore down the wheel cylinder to inspect it. Glad I did as it needed quite a cleaning. The bore and pistons had some funky buildup that was impeding the pistons. I buffed it all up and put it all back together. She works pretty slick now.

I scanned for codes and monitored the coolant temp and O2 sensor output. It seems the thermostat is working decently well but the O2 is a bit erratic. I'll have to source a fresh one soon. It had a slew of codes though. One for transmission line pressure (don't care yet because I pumped the pan dry so likely set it) and some voltage and communication oddities. I will trace down the grounds before I got further.

I did a quick teardown and clean of this beater 1/2" ratchet. A little assembly grease and worked like new. I was worried I would have to toss it.

Now time to rest. I have a chest infection that is kicking me like covid. I'll sooth it with fake beer when I charcoal grill some smokies.
 
D60 said:
The basket case Cub Cadet reappeared. He was occasionally losing front wheels because this is a stupid bushing system rather than roller bearings. The wheels wind up with a TON of negative camber as the outboard edge of the hub whittles down the spindle at an angle.

I was in a hurry and just filled the angled area with weld and crudely sanded it roundish. It's 1000% better than before.
View attachment 283145

They don't allow you to separate the spindle/ knuckle from the front axke. Service is replace the ENTIRE front axle.

The spindles are 3/4" but the wheel ID is 1" because there's supposed to be a bushing. I made a crude bushing from 1" aluminum
View attachment 283146
The primary reason he brought it to me was for a new blade spindle assy. In what I believe is a cost-cutting measure, they don't thread the holes of the mount. Instead they furnish weird tri-lobe bolts in a basic 5/16-18 and apparently want the bolt to wedge itself into the softer aluminum mount, which is also drilled a bit oversize.

I could see arguments that this withstands vibration better, but I reject that argument as we use standard, round fasteners in high vibration applications all over the world. This is cost-cutting, plain and simple.

These holes are NOT threaded when new:
View attachment 283147
The weird tri-lobe bolt is supposed to wedge itself in there. It does not have thread-cutting reliefs or "flutes":View attachment 283148
This looked like a can of worms and I tapped the aluminum mount 5/16-18 and used lots of thread lock.
Click to expand...
That's wild... I just did a full deck refurbishment on a Cubby this afternoon at work. LT1050, I believe. It, too, was a complete basket case. How one can mangle a mower so badly in 198 hours is beyond me.

Being a JD dealer, I took the easy route and had parts order me a deck rebuilt kit from Amazon for a whopping $141. Came with a new belt, 3 spindles (with pulleys), 3 idlers (only needed 2), new gauge wheels, and new blades. The spindles looked just like the ones you have, but thankfully the hardware was plain old 8mm bolts. Threw on a new traction drive belt while it was in (the original was falling apart) and she was good as "new". I did manage to drop the PTO clutch on my face while I was trying to reinstall it... I've got a heck of a shiner above my right eye to show for it. All in a day's work, I suppose.
 
Changed the 6 pin to a 7 pin on the 16ft trailer. Did it 3 times because it was one of those days. Started putting the new 7 pin for the truck together. Brake controller showing up Friday so finish it next week. Nothing worse than getting home and realizing you had no trailer lights after driving through rush hour. Vehicles need a warning you can setup but the controller will at least.

Attempted to patch the tube in the bike.. 3 time also because it was still one if those days. Gave up and drilled it out to a Schrader valve, presta valves are a pain. Fixed dinner, did laundry and a few other things. Have a hard time being lazy for some reason.
 
Last night, found out that the focus camber plates would not line up with a Connect rear hub assembly. turns out Hardrace has misslabed the box as Focus Focus MK4 plate when these plates are actually for the 2004-2006 Focus MK2
imageedit_14_6667081536.webp

Took a bit of research to find out what car these plates are supposed to fit. these plate could actually fit the Ford Fusion as well.

The 2018 - Focus MK4 and Connect MK2 2019-2023 utilize a rectangle bolt pattern
WJB_WAKV6Z1109A_1.webp


The Ford Fusion and Focus MK2 utiliza the square bolt pattern
512498_front.webp
 
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