What are you working on today?

A few days ago, my 2.0l accord seemed like it was turning over a little slowly, so I put on the battery tender-charger overnight. Noticed the charge light was still on all the next day, and the next ... and it still turned over slowly. Took it to Autozone, fail. He quoted me $265, but check my warranty. I did, the **** thing was only 27 months old and a 4 year replacement warranty. Off to Walmart with a few tools, pulled the battery, replaced free of charge. 27 months! Evidently those glass matt batteries don't like desert heat either. Then yesterday parking at the gym....right front window regulator quit, it had been acting a little strange. Parts ordered. Hopefully things don't happen in threes.
 
Just did the brakes on my F350.:) Replaced both rear rotors, one rear caliper and all new pads, with Detroit Axle parts. Getting 55,000 miles out of a set of pads on those nasty rotors. With the new rotors I should be getting 75,000 or so.:)

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Just a follow-up question, how are you liking the Detroit Axle parts? I'm working on a set of 06 Ford Super Duty axles and the price is attractive.
 
Scanned our BMW X3 to see why the world ending Triad of Lights showed up last night. Steering Angle Sensor (SAS) misalignment and some codes for seats, transfer case, potential short in drivers door rear view mirror heater, and no communications with the DME. Yeah, they didn't all go bad in the grocery store parking lot.
Did a Steering Angle Sensor alignment reset and drove around the block. No lights and no codes!!!
Guess I'm going to be replacing the SAS sooner than later. They get intermittent then quit. It's just a rheostat in a box on the steering shaft. But they code them to the VIN for some stupid reason.
 
Some more updatesd on my 98 Legacy:

Been noticing a weird voltage drop when I am stopped at a light; voltage goes from a great 13.8V to 12.5V. When idiling in park, a good 13.8V. I started to check all the exterior lighting. First problem I found was the right front turn signal bulb had weird corrosion, solution was to clean the contacts on the connector and just replace the bulb. Second problem was on the rear with the brake lights and backup lights; they all the wrong bulbs! There was somehow an 1157 in places where a 1156 should be! Replaced those and hey, my voltage issue is gone!

I also have been getting the parts slowly for my 2 inch lift. I ordered and received the trailing arm spacers and coil spacers from Anderson Design & Fabrication. I also scored 2006 Forester struts off Facebook Marketplace for $125 for all 4. I'm waiting till my tax return to find some bigger wheels and tires and then I'll go to a friends place to do the install.
 
The one task I hate doing… changed the $125 bike chain. Nasty nasty, lots of gloves and rags. Guessing between 2-3k since thats when shifting starts having issues. Stock chains don’t last as long as the ones I buy. My daily commuter in all the weather and ain’t got time for wax.

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Actually yesterday with more assembly of the 410. Once the exhaust manifolds are on and then the flywheel the engine will go on as is. Final assembly while in car. Hold up is painting the hood as temps just below 60 degrees. Looks like it is warming up to the mid-60s for the hood so I can cover the engine when in. Car under cover in driveway.
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The one task I hate doing… changed the $125 bike chain. Nasty nasty, lots of gloves and rags. Guessing between 2-3k since thats when shifting starts having issues. Stock chains don’t last as long as the ones I buy. My daily commuter in all the weather and ain’t got time for wax.

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Wow. I had no idea you could spend that much on a chain. I recently plunked down $9.99 at Walmart for one for my mountain bike. It wasn't a bad job using a chain press tool.
 
Actually yesterday with more assembly of the 410. Once the exhaust manifolds are on and then the flywheel the engine will go on as is. Final assembly while in car. Hold up is painting the hood as temps just below 60 degrees. Looks like it is warming up to the mid-60s for the hood so I can cover the engine when in. Car under cover in driveway.
There I was, idly scrolling down the page checking out what everybody was playing with, when your 1st photo trundled into my view. I had not even read your post yet, but when that photo came into view, I said to myself, "Well, laddie, that there is a FE, and a downright purdy one as well"! GREAT JOB!! My very first rig was a 67 T-Bird 2 door Landau with a 390. After doing the bodywork, I painted her in a very deep blue Imron. I also junked the Autolite 4300 and bolted on a large venturi Autolite 4100. Heavy sigh, I surly miss that fine lady. Your photo's brought back some great and bittersweet memories :giggle: Thank you.
 
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Replaced a friends DEF heater on his 2015 Ford 6.7 (have never had the pleasure of doing this) and came to two conclusions, well, 3 conclusions. #1: I much prefer working on older, less sophisticated rolling objects. #2: dropping the DEF tank would most likely been easier if it had not had the weight of 3/4 a tank of DEF, and the space between the DEF tank and its steel containment housing packed full of dirt and small rocks, and #3: I am now too darn old to be laying on a concrete floor for any length of time. I did get treated to lunch at the local Mexican eatery though. YAY!!
 
Just a follow-up question, how are you liking the Detroit Axle parts? I'm working on a set of 06 Ford Super Duty axles and the price is attractive.
So far they're holding up very well. Both rear rotors and pads were replaced and one caliper. The rotors still look new with 30,000 miles on them. Rear pads are 75% and the fronts around 90%.
 
Good news on the 325 skid steer. The guy came out today, which was the next available day. He found the issue with the hydraulic noise. Some bracket or hard line was vibrating. He used some rubber hose to enclose it and that was that. Simple.... once found.

The derate issue was found to be a sensor he accidentally left unhooked when he had the top of the engine apart last. She runs like a top again. Thank God because that little wheeled 318 kills my back.

While most if all is under warranty, the service calls will not be.
 
There I was, idly scrolling down the page checking out what everybody was playing with, when your 1st photo trundled into my view. I had not even read your post yet, but when that photo came into view, I said to myself, "Well, laddie, that there is a FE, and a downright purdy one as well"! GREAT JOB!! My very first rig was a 67 T-Bird 2 door Landau with a 390. After doing the bodywork, I painted her in a very deep blue Imron. I also junked the Autolite 4300 and bolted on a large venturi Autolite 4100. Heavy sigh, I surly miss that fine lady. Your photo's brought back some great and bittersweet memories :giggle: Thank you.
I am keeping my 4300 as it was rebuilt by Jon (RIP) of Pony Carb fame. When I got it back I talked to him on the phone about setup. He fixed it's quirks and this carb runs flawlessly now. He actually rebuilt 1 4300, 2 4100, and 3 2100 carbs.
 
I was very saddened over the loss of Jon and Pony Carburetors. He knew the Autolite well. I was quite happy with how my 4100 worked. I have always felt that it was, and still is a fantastic carburetor. Although it did not have the same cfm as the 4300, it was far more reliable. And, truth be told, I have never been much of a speed demon. I have always preferred reliability and consistency. Even now, if I was still running a carbureted engine, my first choice, hands down, would be the 4100.
 
I have been obsessing too long about how short the bed is on my RTV. I have a second parts machine and tonight I needed a break from the water line repairs. I believe I have about 26 inches of clearance including the tailgate before the bed tilted hits the ground, giving a nearly 5 foot bed length as the end product.

A bit of rust needed to be wire wheeled off, and some more later on, but I was able to cut exactly what I needed off another bed, and mocked up it will look pretty good once welded up.

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Welded the two bed halves together to form the Kubota Voltron long bed. Still more reinforcing to do, no complaints here, it’s oddly relaxing.

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PPE pan on a '22 F350 10R140.
Stock:
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New
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Here's some pedantic details: PPE provides a paper gasket which I definitely would not trust. They do machine the groove for an OEM gasket, and I ordered a new Ford gasket PC3Z-7F396-A

The PPE instructions note to put the retaining ridges down, which confused me a little. The new gasket didn't have the same ridges molded in, but it became obvious when I looked at the old one in the factory pan:
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PPE includes a standpipe and a fitting for bottom fill. I really didn't get it as Ford gives you a side fill hole which doubles as your check plug. Eyeballing it, it looked like the standpipe and the factory hole were very close if not identical. I opted to use the OEM hole. Just because you've got more fluid hanging below you shouldn't be changing anything with the top of the fluid (level)
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NOW, I could not find transmission temp in live data on my Otofix/Autel. A web search was no help. Generic OBD2 wasn't any better. I finally got smart and started looking at the Units column for *F because there's only a handful of temperature PIDs in live data

It's inexplicably under R of course -- for Raw Transmission fluid temp.

We coulda put it under A for ATF or Automatic Transm..... but nah. We coulda done T for Transmission -- no that's stupid. Maybe F for Fluid Temperature Transmission. Nope. But yeah, R for Raw is the ticket!! :rolleyes:
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ANYWAY, finally I adjusted the TPMS thresholds with Forscan because he's running a mild lift with larger rubber and 60/80 is impractical
 
PPE pan on a '22 F350 10R140.
NOW, I could not find transmission temp in live data on my Otofix/Autel. A web search was no help. Generic OBD2 wasn't any better. I finally got smart and started looking at the Units column for *F because there's only a handful of temperature PIDs in live data

It's inexplicably under R of course -- for Raw Transmission fluid temp.

We coulda put it under A for ATF or Automatic Transm..... but nah. We coulda done T for Transmission -- no that's stupid. Maybe F for Fluid Temperature Transmission. Nope. But yeah, R for Raw is the ticket!! :rolleyes:

ANYWAY, finally I adjusted the TPMS thresholds with Forscan because he's running a mild lift with larger rubber and 60/80 is impractical
OK. Easy, easy there my friend. Just breathe...In.....Out....In....Out...... It seems that a tad bit more information on just why the programming team in charge of the software for your device chose to identify "certain" parameters as they did may explain a few things. You see, it appears that the team leader in charge of the software for your tool has been out of work for quite some time, and they may not have gotten their programming-fu back yet. (may still be a bit rusty) Sadly, their last job was as head software programmer during Microsofts Windows ME development.:confused: We absolutely MUST keep this chap gainfully employed at any place other than NASA, BOEING, or indeed ANY Aerospace Manufacturer.:eek: Great looking oil pan by the way! The OEM pan looks like it would fail upon being impacted by a June Beetle that was flying at insufficient altitude and failed to pull up in time.
 
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You see, it appears that the team leader in charge of the software for your tool has been out of work for quite some time, and they may not have gotten their programming-fu back yet. (may still be a bit rusty) Sadly, their last job was as head software programmer during Microsofts Windows ME development.:confused: We absolutely MUST keep this chap gainfully employed at any place other than NASA, BOEING, or indeed ANY Aerospace Manufacturer.:eek: Great looking oil pan by the way! The OEM pan looks like it would fail upon being impacted by a June Beetle that was flying at insufficient altitude and failed to pull up in time.
Oh so you want to encourage Sir-Rants-A-Lot:

I'm pretty sure it was a member of Team TTB from 1980. He later headed up Team TFI, figuring a bunch of laminated film stuck on a hot distributor to delam was a great idea. He also worked on the notoriously noisy C2 p/s pump in OBS trucks (note the van division knew better and always ran Sags). He was able to develop the early Triton heads with a couple plug threads so spark plugs could shoot through the hood. He then went on to develop all the 3V engines -- specifically the timing sets of course. Chains that rattle like the Ghost of Christmas Past are cool ya know....

Man, this one engineer sure manages to annoy me a lot. Maybe I should get a life.... :D
 
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