Nothing mechanical today. Began some leveling work in the arena then used a friends baby Kubota to try the pto tiller. Worked pretty well, so tomorrow I will cut and fill some more, then finish it with a till. Man this thing is little!!
What are you working on today?
- Thread starter Amkeer
- Start date
03' Toyota Solara / 2AZ-FE engine / 130k / Replaced original corroded magnesium valve cover with a new aluminum one with new gasket. Piece of cake. The mag cover had pitted away and was beginning to leak. Toyota claims they installed them because they weighed less than aluminum. Guess what, it was heavier than the aluminum cover I put on, so I have no idea what Toyota was thinking in 2003. I painted it with high heat paint. Will let it dry overnight, and install beauty cover back on it. Job complete 
More work on the go kart. Welded on the engine plate, bolted on the engine, swapped in a NGK spark plug, poured in some Rotella T4, she fired right up and sounded good.
Tomorrow going to push to finish as much as possible.
Is this toy for you or are you just the best dad ever?
I used the Wix filter kit from O'reillys. It all went smoothly. Hopefully the O2 sensors get here Monday. I got both of them broke loose but had to heat them up as they both were in there pretty solid.I just did my neighbor's 3-speed this spring. I used a Pro-tec filter kit on closeout from RA for $1.38.
No longer listed but they have a CQ (Famous) for $4.42.
The last thing I need to do after that is figure out why it occasionally has a long crank before it will start. I want to check fuel pressure but don't know if my MAC deluxe fuel injection kit has the right adapters to install the gauge inline before the fuel rail. Fuel trims are all normal. The coolant temp sometimes takes a while to come up so the thermostat may need to be replaced.
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- Nov 20, 2021
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Without a doubt, I'm enjoying the machine work vastly over auto repair. I still have some long days, but ultimately I like going to work in the morning, and you can't put a price on that.
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2021
- Messages
- 2,219
Friday I finished up a batch of link bars and began a batch of hydro boost units. One thing I'm noticing, and it's hard to explain without pictures, but the pivot fork inside these reman units we get is supposed to slide into a grooved cup that's installed on the spool valve. This fork attaches the piston to the spool valve. Upon disassembly, I've probably had as many as 10 out of 25 units thus far that do not have that fork seated on the cup 
A couple problems came up today. On my older Troy Bilt 4 stroke trimmer, I did a valve adjustment and likely pull the carb as it's running like the carb is dirty. As I was about to deal with that, the Swisher 44" rough cut came in as inoperable. It was cutting some thick grass along a fence line and it started smoking.
Found the belt was smoked but not snapped. Must have burnt itself enough and slipping bad. Further digging and I see the tensioner pulley seized beyond any repair. Of course it's Sunday of a long weekend so no dice getting a belt or bearing.
The pulley is a two peice, riveted closed to encapsulate the bearing. I'll try to get a replacement bearing first before all else.
Found the belt was smoked but not snapped. Must have burnt itself enough and slipping bad. Further digging and I see the tensioner pulley seized beyond any repair. Of course it's Sunday of a long weekend so no dice getting a belt or bearing.
The pulley is a two peice, riveted closed to encapsulate the bearing. I'll try to get a replacement bearing first before all else.
1992 Volvo 240 wagon, 220k, 20k service:
OLF, air filter, spark plugs, distributor rotor and cap
AT filter and cooler line exchange
PS and differential drain and fill
OLF, air filter, spark plugs, distributor rotor and cap
AT filter and cooler line exchange
PS and differential drain and fill
Spent the morning taking my in-laws "new" 2015 Grand Caravan on a Costco run, just to get a feel for how it drove out on the road. Costco is a solid 90 mile round trip, so I had plenty of time to really scrutinize. Overall, I'm mostly pleased for the price they paid.
Basic specs: 115k, spent most of it's life in NC and MT, SE Plus w/ Blacktop and DVD groups. It was riding on a set of Blizzak's, but Pop took it right to Costco and had a set of Defender's installed. He's a Michelin guy, what can I say. I'm going to hunt for a cheap set of 17 inch wheels for the 'Zaks so they've got a hot-swap ready set of snow's.
A general inspection exposed a couple minor issues and one moderate one. The minor things are simple maintenance: tail light retaining grommets, a rear wiper arm and blade, a cabin air filter... but then comes the "gotcha" which I'm sure you've all guessed by now. That's right, it looks like the oil cooler is leaking. Dad is going to call the dealer and see what they want to do, he's hoping they take a few more bucks off but I doubt it. Regardless, I'll be taking it apart and installing an aluminum unit along with aluminum heater hose Y's and a coolant flush. Once those few things are done they should be in for many reliable miles.
Basic specs: 115k, spent most of it's life in NC and MT, SE Plus w/ Blacktop and DVD groups. It was riding on a set of Blizzak's, but Pop took it right to Costco and had a set of Defender's installed. He's a Michelin guy, what can I say. I'm going to hunt for a cheap set of 17 inch wheels for the 'Zaks so they've got a hot-swap ready set of snow's.
A general inspection exposed a couple minor issues and one moderate one. The minor things are simple maintenance: tail light retaining grommets, a rear wiper arm and blade, a cabin air filter... but then comes the "gotcha" which I'm sure you've all guessed by now. That's right, it looks like the oil cooler is leaking. Dad is going to call the dealer and see what they want to do, he's hoping they take a few more bucks off but I doubt it. Regardless, I'll be taking it apart and installing an aluminum unit along with aluminum heater hose Y's and a coolant flush. Once those few things are done they should be in for many reliable miles.
Brush hogging and more brush hogging, thats just the back half. Took 10hrs over 3 days. Of course hit a log and the Woods clutch wasn’t adjusted right, broke the bolt which needs a special allen head. Made a regular bolt work but alot of words was said. Son got the other side mowed but the hydrostatic is done in the Troy bilt. Barely got it done, hoping to make it work till next year can’t afford another right now. After spent a hour with the forks and got some logs cleaned up, every little will get it done .
4WD
$50 site donor 2025
I would enjoy that - but I travel allot - and she would not - so that’s where the house with more land discussions always ended …
A Pentastar leaking at the oil cooler?!? Inconceivable!!
'09 Ranger I've never seen before came to me for new shocks. Fortunately the diagnosis was correct as the shocks are toast.
Anyway, as she pulls in my driveway the truck is losing a ton of fluid. She says it started on dirt (county, graded) roads driving to me. It smells STRONGLY of fuel. I told them I'd dive into it and they had to run.
I expected a rusted fuel line as the truck spent some time in Mass, but instead it appeared some hack had just replaced the fuel filter. One line had not been fully seated until the CLICK. Furthermore, the bracket for the filter was missing a nut so the filter was just rattling around in the framerail.
Just pulling 50' into my shop it dumped this much fuel:
The fuel filter bracket was clipped around the filter but not anchored to frame by the nut on left which I furnished (M8x1.25):
Filter properly installed and all lines CLICKED on:
Anyway, as she pulls in my driveway the truck is losing a ton of fluid. She says it started on dirt (county, graded) roads driving to me. It smells STRONGLY of fuel. I told them I'd dive into it and they had to run.
I expected a rusted fuel line as the truck spent some time in Mass, but instead it appeared some hack had just replaced the fuel filter. One line had not been fully seated until the CLICK. Furthermore, the bracket for the filter was missing a nut so the filter was just rattling around in the framerail.
Just pulling 50' into my shop it dumped this much fuel:
The fuel filter bracket was clipped around the filter but not anchored to frame by the nut on left which I furnished (M8x1.25):
Filter properly installed and all lines CLICKED on:
Plan tonight was to wash the BMW and check the rear brakes. Washing it realized she’s been parking under the sap tree. Ugh I knew better and should of stopped to get the right chemicals. Did something stupid with dryer sheets. Well at least I was the first to scratch it. Going to get some Tarminator and alcohol and try it again later this week. Alot of good options over in the other section should of read first.
Finally got my cheapo Troy Bilt 4 stroke trimmer running good. I previously adjusted the valves, where it calls for .006 to .003" and mine were around .007. I brought them down to .004 and it started really well but became hard to restart hot. Ok, loosened them to a tight .006 and simultaneously ran into a fuelling issue. Typical plugged jet type scenario.
I pulled the carb, cleaned it out (looked clean anyway), cleaned the main jet and opened up the main discharge orifice again. Once I dialed in the idle, she runs strong and for the first time ever, starts easily when hot.
I pulled the carb, cleaned it out (looked clean anyway), cleaned the main jet and opened up the main discharge orifice again. Once I dialed in the idle, she runs strong and for the first time ever, starts easily when hot.
Working on this '01 4Runner I found someone had previously snapped the bolt for brake line retention. They had just used zip ties which is fine but I decided to fix it. It's a through-hole so I used standard RH bits.
Snapped flush. Center punched here and not in focus:
My new super short 3401 came in handy, but certainly I could have moved the brake caliper:
I had to drill all the way to 17/64 which is tap drill size for M8x1.25. I probably drilled off-center and some of old bolt is in there, but it just locates a brake line. Freshly tapped M8 again:
Snapped flush. Center punched here and not in focus:
My new super short 3401 came in handy, but certainly I could have moved the brake caliper:
I had to drill all the way to 17/64 which is tap drill size for M8x1.25. I probably drilled off-center and some of old bolt is in there, but it just locates a brake line. Freshly tapped M8 again:
Cleaned the throttle body and IAC valve on the 99 Cavalier. Both were pretty dirty. Also replaced the pre-cat O2 sensor with a factory GM one. The after-cat O2 sensor should be here tomorrow.
Installed a Smart Stop/Start Eliminator on the Jeep JL. Very well made piece of kit....man I despise stop/start in a manual transmission vehicle.
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