What are you working on today?

[John105]

My oldest of 3 daughters obliterated 4 maybe 5 aluminum rims on her '09 Civic EX before I bought some factory steelies, I stopped trying to keep a front facia on it real quick & screwed the license plate to the crash bar.

Wait 'til the "My boyfriend was driving" saga

When my wife and I met I had some classy 18” rims and “wide” +2 235’s (factory was 215). Flash forward to marriage when that became her daily driver. She ruined 1 rim each, 2 sets of rims (leaving 6 good rims and tires). So we went back to the factory 16’s which in 1998 were hot. We got the 2011 Buick which was her car, but she didn’t want to drive it since she worked in a deadly area of Phila. Now that she only works in town, she is suggesting I once again take the new SUV when we get it and she’ll take the 2006. Kinda interesting at work I encounter more wives taking the new car and husband has no choice. I think for her, she doesn’t want to get the first dent or have the first defect happen under her watch. With the Buick it only took 30 miles, something was wrong with the driver seat. Hope the upcoming Chevy doesn’t have any problems but cars are way more complicated now…and the new car has 22’s from the factory

 

[John105]

I can't find it on their normal website at all but if you have access to the commercial side O'Reilly (and thus presumably others) sell 10-packs of bulbs surprisingly cheap. A 10-pack of Eiko 921s is presently $6.29.

I really don’t know what Sylvania is all about but my aunt worked for them when I was a kid, in Massachusetts. She even got my parents one of those console TVs with the push buttons and stereo all in a cabinet.

Over the years, have had great luck with Sylvania LL bulbs. Where I care more, is when they’re hard to access. Like the inners on an Enclave/Traverse/Acadia. The entire inside panel of the rear hatch comes off and one is advised to replace all bulbs while in there…

 

[14Accent]

Replaced a sticky neutral safety switch on my FIL's '06 Ranger. It's been bad so long it eventually wore out the entire column shifter mechanism from being yanked up and down with force.

I installed a good used column a couple weeks ago as it finally stopped going into park all together, but the underlying issue was still very much present. I found an OE neutral switch from RA on closeout, pried the old switch off the shift shaft, ground off years of corrosion and reinstalled. Shift action is MUCH improved, but there was still some slop so I lowered the column again and installed a new lower shift tube bushing. Now she shifts nice and tight again.

 

[Delta]

Slowly de-boy racer'ing the WRX. Someone had swapped the low beams to these horrible LED things. Bought just some standard H11's.

Drivers side was TIGHT, but I was able to get it with my little baby hands. Passenger side though? Yea even my baby hands couldn't get in there. Had to remove the two fasteners holding the air box in place to squeeze in there.

We'll see how it looks on the way to work Wednesday.

 

[D60]

Slowly de-boy racer'ing the WRX. Someone had swapped the low beams to these horrible LED things. Bought just some standard H11's.

Drivers side was TIGHT, but I was able to get it with my little baby hands. Passenger side though? Yea even my baby hands couldn't get in there. Had to remove the two fasteners holding the air box in place to squeeze in there.

We'll see how it looks on the way to work Wednesday.

Dude, just live your life a quarter mile at a time

 

[michaelluscher]

Deep exhale
Someone put a radiator in this POS '11 Sonata, and screwed up the cooling fan
Somehow it wound up to me to fix
I told him that's it, this is the last time I work on this car, I'm done with it
I really need to start charging more, and charging upfront

It seems they rigged it so when the compressor was on (and High speed fan was commanded) this jumper bypassed the fan resistor and gave high speed fan
So as long as the (barely functioning A/C) was on, it wouldn't overheat
Mhm

Yeah...

I got the crummiest Motorad cap and Amazon pigtail I could get, because that's all that was available and he would pay for
I tidied it up best I could, and the fan now works properly
I warned him if it overheats again, it needs the whole fan assembly with resistor, as the motor doesn't sound healthy and is probably overdrawing
I bled the cooling system, installed the new cap, and commanded low & high speed fans on, all works as it should at this moment, and it doesn't overheat


Who put Euro teal and Bars aluminum stop leak in it

I don't plan on having that car ever grace my driveway again

 

[D60]

'15 Highlander went rockcrawling -- or something. No idea. Not my circus.

He's buying this from his adult (like 40 y.o.) daughter who claimed ignorance and another shop told him both pans should be replaced.

I believe it's been this way for years and encouraged him to consider leaving it alone, but he wanted them replaced.

Oil pan old vs new:

Dented the pickup. I left this alone because it's not causing any issues.

Trans pan:

 

[tiger862]

2012 Impala AC doesn't work at idle and battery saver comes on. Idle is erratic as well. Checked amps with scanner and amp meter. Reading 50 amps at 2500 rpm and -100 amps at idle with voltage dropping. Looked for red battery light and none. Warranty out alternator at Autozone only to get a dud. Drive 20 miles to Warranty the new one out. Second alternator works perfect. 80 amps at alternator and battery saver is keeping 60 amps with everything on at idle with 13.5 volts. Idle is smooth and ac will freeze you out at idle. Red battery light is now working. Sometimes the smart systems can be difficult to diagnose.

 

[mobilnissan1991]

Got my buddies 8kw Briggs ohv gen running, hadnt been run since last hurricane season and been sitting with old gas. Cleaned the filthy carb, fresh gas and a healthy dose of B12 Chemtool, runs great now but has a miss every now and then. Ill probably throw the carb in an ultrasonic cleaner.

 

[Elkins45]

Today was toaster maintenance day. I replaced the dull and broken headlight assemblies on the 2012 and chased down an annoying exhaust rattle on the 2009. I was extremely happy that the bumper cover snapped back into the bracket correctly on both sides, but the driver’s side was just far enough out of spec that one of the mounts doesn’t fit. I’m hopeful friction with the grill/bumper and the lower mounting screw are sufficient to keep it fixed in place. I didn’t want to break out the big hammer and crowbar if “close enough” will actually be OK.

 

[cptbarkey]

Moved the gasser Toro Workman to the ranch a few days ago for repairs. Staying here during the week to trap some feral cats, get them fixed and rereleased.

Started tearing down the cylinders head, almost there. The exhaust is preventing me from removing the head, and 1 exhaust nylon nut is stripped at the frame. I didnt bring an angle grinder with me and I don’t want to cut the exhaust pipe. Next week the offending nut will be sliced. The pushrod doesn’t look severely bent and gives me a little hope that further damage is limited, probably the hydraulic lifter became stuck or valve guide is pushed out.

View attachment 290034

View attachment 290035

Very busy the past weekend and week.

On the RTV900, pulled the head and confirmed a blown head gasket (1 cylinder is much cleaner). Next up is the raise everything a bit so I can drop the pan and see if I have chewed up bearings or a bent rod as well. I think its likely. Still waiting on the UOA report.

On the Toro Workman with the Kohler LH775, Removed the cylinder head, and it looks like the exhaust valve guide came out of the head. That caused the push rod to be bent. Thankfully everything else looks great (piston, piston wall etc). I dont have a valve spring compressor at the ranch, but will see if i can repair the valve guide later at my house.

Finished heavy duty pallet shelves in my pole barn, I stacked about 800lbs as a test (50 gallons of diesel, 9000w generator, a few crates).

2 feral cats out of 6 spayed/neutered/released. Penny got extra sardines today so hopefully she wont get retrapped. She is a sweety and keeps my Mom happy.