I always liked those little Nissan trucks.Started on a clutch job on a '93 Nissan D21 Hardbody 2.4L 4X4, This truck is super clean which is the only reason I took it on.
The Torsion Bar crossmember has to come out for those not familiar with these. I pulled the seat to get the carpet out of the way so the shifter boot would come out. Marked shafts & torsion bars/keys, Bagged & labeled all hardware.
Haven't seen this many washers & lock washers in a long time
Flywheel is at the machine shop to get surfaced.
What are you working on today?
- Thread starter Amkeer
- Start date
- Joined
- Oct 31, 2025
- Messages
- 138
I spent a Sunday afternoon I'll never get back putting a blend door actuator in a 2011 Avalon
Never again, I'm still licking my wounds
Of course, the 1 of 4 that went bad was the mode door, so it was stuck on defrost/feet
Tolerable in the winter, not very comfortable in the summer
Toyota wants $400+ for the part, they'll sell you an assembly with both actuators and the drive gears pre attached
By the book it's a 6 hour job, and the dash is supposed to come out
Once you pry the old one out, it's not so bad, shave down the center bore to ease installation, the major pain is getting all 3 linkages timed right
Space is tight, and the service manual isn't very clear
It assumes the HVAC case is removed from the car and on the bench
The trim work was fairly light, just 10mm and Philips
Shimmying this contraption in and out while timing it right was the nightmare
You can pop it apart and put the one $50 actuator in, fiddly but doable
It's a GPD 1712382
Getting all those tracks to line up with the lugs on the link arms while getting the whole assembly back in there, plus getting the screws in was simply hateful
I got pretty good at it after the ~fifth time to get the timing right
Top screw is best accessed through the recirc door
Small ratcheting bit drivers and a flight of extensions will be your friends
After a half dozen or so tries, I got it all working as it should
Used Techstream to run the servomotor calibration, it passed easily
This cured the blinking defrost light on startup
You gotta put a fresh cabin filter
It'll be back, they always come back
Going rate for this job is $1100-$1500 in my area, 6 hours of labor @ ~$200 per hour, and a heavily marked up $400 part
A ~$60 actuator, $5 CAF, and ~5 hours of my Sunday add up to I'm not sure yet
$300 all in
Ahhhhh, I see that you, as a hallowed "Wrench Turner" have fulfilled the ancient and absolutely required, offering to "The Bacon God"
- Joined
- Oct 31, 2025
- Messages
- 138
Getting a parts list worked up for my 93 Silverado 5.7. Noticed a antifreeze leak at the front left of the intake manifold where the crossover in the manifold meets the head. DANGIT! This is going to suck.
Well, at least it decided to be an external leak and not an internal leak into the engine, and I caught it before it decided to do both. I just know that the hard lines at the TBI and that stupid A$$ design of a "quick disconnect" heater hose assembly are going to be a problem. I am going to throw that darn thing under my neighbors old D8 Cat. (Cue evil laughter)
Well, at least it decided to be an external leak and not an internal leak into the engine, and I caught it before it decided to do both. I just know that the hard lines at the TBI and that stupid A$$ design of a "quick disconnect" heater hose assembly are going to be a problem. I am going to throw that darn thing under my neighbors old D8 Cat. (Cue evil laughter)
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So about a year ago I got hit. Estimates ranged from 4.5k to 7k so it was totaled and I bought it back. Wife prodded me to finally attempt to fix it myself.
Pm
Pm
2013 Highlander: oil change and tire rotation. It already has the aluminum filter housing, so no need to advance my mission of global plastic housing deletion 
The wife's 2015 Tundra: disabled TPMS. No more nanny light -- HAPPY DANCE HAPPY DANCE!
2011 Explorer: waiting on plastic valve covers. Because plastic engine components are awesome
Pulled and pushed it out of the shop with white trash Best Custom Receiver Attachment Ever (patent pending)
The wife's 2015 Tundra: disabled TPMS. No more nanny light -- HAPPY DANCE HAPPY DANCE!
2011 Explorer: waiting on plastic valve covers. Because plastic engine components are awesome
Pulled and pushed it out of the shop with white trash Best Custom Receiver Attachment Ever (patent pending)
These are stellar vehicles… I looked for one high and low for a while and gave up and went to something else. Long lived, excellent mpg, built like a bank vault. Good on you for keeping it on the road.
Adding 2 120V circuits and 3 240V circuits to the garage. Compressor will get its own line, and the 240s will provide power for a blower I scored from an old hvac and set up for EV-ready, if we ever do such a thing. The garage only has a single 15A circuit now and it struggles to carry the load. Pictured is one of the 120 and one of the 240.
4wd
$50 site donor 2026
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- Joined
- Nov 23, 2020
- Messages
- 516
Northstar activities
Paulie's 2000 Eldorado has been running on 7 cylinders for quite some time
Nearly dead miss on cylinder 6, but not enough to flash the check engine light
The owners away, gave me some time to tinker with it
Long story short, front bank coil cassette and a set of plugs
Next week, plugs for the rear bank
It's been severely overheated twice, and is a bit of an oil burner
Idles glass smooth now though
Took a while for all that unburnt fuel/oil to burn off the cats and muffler
Gotta repair the vacuum line to the FPR, I suspect it's causing a slight rich condition
Of course it's discontinued
Heat shrink and hope
Paulie's 2000 Eldorado has been running on 7 cylinders for quite some time
Nearly dead miss on cylinder 6, but not enough to flash the check engine light
The owners away, gave me some time to tinker with it
Long story short, front bank coil cassette and a set of plugs
Next week, plugs for the rear bank
It's been severely overheated twice, and is a bit of an oil burner
Idles glass smooth now though
Took a while for all that unburnt fuel/oil to burn off the cats and muffler
Gotta repair the vacuum line to the FPR, I suspect it's causing a slight rich condition
Of course it's discontinued
Heat shrink and hope
A little morning planting, might not be able to see all the red/blue markers. Had to draw a map. Late but maybe something will grow. The critters will probably enjoy it lol. Got a wild hair this afternoon and pulled the drivers side combo switch on the borrowed Chevy, the power locks didn’t work and was very annoying. Lightly sanded the contacts and cleaned all the orange dirt off.. orange dirt bad! Works again which is alot better, long distance to unlock the passenger door.
Well, better Orange Dirt Derangement Syndrome than the other thing
. Nice work!
… should of said red dirt! Red dirt bad! The truck was from NW Texas or I’d blame Oklahoma.
- Joined
- Nov 23, 2020
- Messages
- 516
Today a neighbor asked me to see if I could figure out what was wrong with their old chainsaw and if I could fire off their new one.
Old saw is a Poulan 220 Pro with a 38cc engine. Primer bulb is completely FUBAR. I drained the 7-8 year old fuel out of the tank and added some fresh to the tank and directly into the carburetor. With half choke it'll fire off, idle with choke off, and run like a champ until the carburetor is dry. I figure fuel lines are shot.
New saw is a Craftsman S1800 42cc he bought last summer and never fired. Box was full of snakeskin and Christmas tree derived mouse nest, plus a momma mouse and four babies. Momma plus one got away into the woods, the other three were dispatched. Filled the tank with fresh fuel, added bar, primed the bulb ten times, it fired off on the third pull. Runs and cuts great.
He gave me the Poulan for working on the craftsman. Guess I'll see if I can get it sorted out.
Guys, VP Racing synthetic 2 cycle mixed 32:1 is premium stuff. That old Poulan didn't huff a single puff of smoke, and neither did the craftsman. It burns completely clean and actually felt like it made more power in my Husqvarna. I highly recommend spending the $10 on the 16oz bottle at Walmart.
Old saw is a Poulan 220 Pro with a 38cc engine. Primer bulb is completely FUBAR. I drained the 7-8 year old fuel out of the tank and added some fresh to the tank and directly into the carburetor. With half choke it'll fire off, idle with choke off, and run like a champ until the carburetor is dry. I figure fuel lines are shot.
New saw is a Craftsman S1800 42cc he bought last summer and never fired. Box was full of snakeskin and Christmas tree derived mouse nest, plus a momma mouse and four babies. Momma plus one got away into the woods, the other three were dispatched. Filled the tank with fresh fuel, added bar, primed the bulb ten times, it fired off on the third pull. Runs and cuts great.
He gave me the Poulan for working on the craftsman. Guess I'll see if I can get it sorted out.
Guys, VP Racing synthetic 2 cycle mixed 32:1 is premium stuff. That old Poulan didn't huff a single puff of smoke, and neither did the craftsman. It burns completely clean and actually felt like it made more power in my Husqvarna. I highly recommend spending the $10 on the 16oz bottle at Walmart.
Yesterday, a friend needed an oil change on her Subaru. Today, it was getting a Peloton I scored off Marketplace for a song ready for me to use:
Swapped the pedals and saddle out with a pair of Shimano road pedals and a Specialized saddle I had laying around. Also made dinner for the parents. The Sienna went to the local scratch and shine for a bath as well.
Swapped the pedals and saddle out with a pair of Shimano road pedals and a Specialized saddle I had laying around. Also made dinner for the parents. The Sienna went to the local scratch and shine for a bath as well.