What did you give for OEM? I've been using the ebay specials with great results, but not that much data yet to speak to longevity.
What are you working on today?
- Thread starter Amkeer
- Start date
@D60 that's a new one for me, HOWEVER I've 100% had that vintage of Toyota's do insanely whacky things when hooked to certain scan tools. I want to say it was either my Launch handheld or some Autel that would play naughty with those vehicles. Why? I have no idea. There's something about the data lines in those old Toyota's that just goes off the rails once in a while.
I'm glad it wasn't worse in the end! Good on you for finding the problem correctly and not losing focus.
Back on topic: had a customer drop off their 200 hour Deere E180 mower "for a new motor". OK... I generally don't make a habit of replacing $800 engines just because the customer says so, so I dragged it in and checked it over. The RH cylinder was doing absolutely nothing, and the engine turned over hard but ran OK on just the left jug once it popped off.
Checked plugs first, oddly enough I found nothing out of the ordinary. Both plugs looked alright, if a bit fouled, but plenty good for a Briggs twin. Compression test was next: LH cylinder looked good, fairly typical slow rise up to 90ish PSI. Moved to the RH side... BAM! Compression shot up to almost 150 psi within 3 revolutions. Now we're getting somewhere!
Yanked the RH valve cover off and there it was: both pushrods bent like boomerangs, lying in the bottom of the cylinder head. This is why we idle down our machines before turning off the engine, kids. I verified that the lifters and cam were still doing their thing, which they were, so I sourced a set of pushrods from parts and slapped them in. Set the valve clearance to .004 INT/.005 EXH and gave it a quick try: wouldn't you know it, the thing purrs like a kitten.
Since I was already there, I pulled the LH cover and checked the clearances on that bank. Both were a little loose, but within a couple thou of spec, so I tweaked them and called it good enough. Sealed the covers up and charged the battery overnight, test ran it again this morning under load and sent it out the door.
You reminded me of another weird "scan tool" story: years ago I had a Chrysler T&C towed in for a no start. Low and behold, it would run ONLY WITH A SCAN TOOL CONNECTED. That one needed a PCM too.
Thank you so much! I wasn't convinced it had anything to do with my scanner -- it was just the only variable I could think of.
I never took the time to leave KOEO without my Otofix plugged in, so I wasn't sure.
It's just nice to know I'm not crazy!!
Surprised me as much as you....I don't like calling modules....ECM/PCM/TCM especially without hard evidence, But it fired all 6 injectors at near 100% duty cycle with ZERO activity on the Crank & Cam sensor circuits.
2018 Silverado 1500:
-finally tracked down P0449. Some failure in harness at framerail from under front door to under rear door (crew cab). Rather than dissect all the loom and harness tape I did an overlay.
-replaced right front upper control arm due to a surprisingly sloppy ball joint at 115k miles
-recharged a/c....we'll see how long it holds
-finally tracked down P0449. Some failure in harness at framerail from under front door to under rear door (crew cab). Rather than dissect all the loom and harness tape I did an overlay.
-replaced right front upper control arm due to a surprisingly sloppy ball joint at 115k miles
-recharged a/c....we'll see how long it holds
Bobcat 743 hydraulic leak. Leaking from spool valves. What you see is after 3 hours of pressure washing. I could barely see the valve block. Not a well kept machine. Tight space working obviously. Good money but man my back is sore from being hunched over so so long. Did all 4 spool valves. Had to remove battery and some hard lines for an access through the back. Several hydraulic lines and linkage removed from the front for access. Customer bought his own aftermarket seals…deemed the bobcat ones too expensive. Told him if they don’t last it won’t be free if they leak. He was okay with that.
Got back to the Chevy 2500HD L96 engine job....Getting closer.
I’m glad this wasnt a preamble to a carbbq. I had a 73 VW bus I’d left on an incline which (best I can figure) filled the jugs through a weak float bowl. Hydrolocked with gas. I pulled the plugs and cranked it and gas shot out of all four into the headliner. Dangit. Cleaned up that mess. Buttoned it all up, turned the key, and apparently some had pooled up in the muffler (it had many, many miles on it.). When the flames hit the muffler it … well the whole thing filled with flames in an instant and I dove out the door and ran…
3/4 through replacing the deck on the ZTR. Old one is warped, and while there’s no blade strike, it’s not far off, and it cuts wonky no matter how I try to level it, and the lift mechanism is all bound up from it. Sad. All the parts are moved over and it just needs to be hung. The guy that rides around looking for metal to recycle will enjoy that find.
Also, had an electrician come out. I started running conduit for 6 circuits in the garage and realized I’d like to stay on the better side of my insurance, and will wait on a quote from a licensed pro who will pull permits. I’m grumpy about it because i enjoy the work, wanted to do it, and save some money DIY, but man that was moving towards “penny-wise and a pound foolish.” Called a pro. It’s really hard to tell when permits should be pulled, when a homeowner can DIY, and what policies really have to be followed. : /
Also, had an electrician come out. I started running conduit for 6 circuits in the garage and realized I’d like to stay on the better side of my insurance, and will wait on a quote from a licensed pro who will pull permits. I’m grumpy about it because i enjoy the work, wanted to do it, and save some money DIY, but man that was moving towards “penny-wise and a pound foolish.” Called a pro. It’s really hard to tell when permits should be pulled, when a homeowner can DIY, and what policies really have to be followed. : /
2013 Silverado 1500 5.3 presented with misfire. 117k miles
Code was P0300 -- a code which annoys me because I think "you gotta do better than that."
Fortunately I looked at misfire counts and only #1 was accruing numbers. Looking at history, #1 had ~39,000 and climbing while the rest were zero.
So ....why couldn't we trigger a P0301? I dunno.
I first swapped coils from 1 to 3, but the misfire stayed with 1.
On a random whim, I slid the wire off the #1 coil and checked for continuity from the plug wire internals to ground, and I found a couple hundred kilo ohms. This struck me as odd so I did a sanity check with the two adjacent cylinders -- completely open as expected.
I removed the #1 wire and it ohm'd out fine. Next pulled the plug and found it cracked. These were done in the last ~20k miles or less by a shop in ABQ. No idea what happened here. Dropped before install? Fakes? Something AFM?
I put a new plug in #1 and she purrs as she should. Case closed for now.
Side note: gotta love the accessibility of ignition components on these motors!!
Code was P0300 -- a code which annoys me because I think "you gotta do better than that."
Fortunately I looked at misfire counts and only #1 was accruing numbers. Looking at history, #1 had ~39,000 and climbing while the rest were zero.
So ....why couldn't we trigger a P0301? I dunno.
I first swapped coils from 1 to 3, but the misfire stayed with 1.
On a random whim, I slid the wire off the #1 coil and checked for continuity from the plug wire internals to ground, and I found a couple hundred kilo ohms. This struck me as odd so I did a sanity check with the two adjacent cylinders -- completely open as expected.
I removed the #1 wire and it ohm'd out fine. Next pulled the plug and found it cracked. These were done in the last ~20k miles or less by a shop in ABQ. No idea what happened here. Dropped before install? Fakes? Something AFM?
I put a new plug in #1 and she purrs as she should. Case closed for now.
Side note: gotta love the accessibility of ignition components on these motors!!
2013 Silverado 1500 5.3 presented with misfire. 117k miles
Code was P0300 -- a code which annoys me because I think "you gotta do better than that."
Fortunately I looked at misfire counts and only #1 was accruing numbers. Looking at history, #1 had ~39,000 and climbing while the rest were zero.
So ....why couldn't we trigger a P0301? I dunno.
I first swapped coils from 1 to 3, but the misfire stayed with 1.
On a random whim, I slid the wire off the #1 coil and checked for continuity from the plug wire internals to ground, and I found a couple hundred kilo ohms. This struck me as odd so I did a sanity check with the two adjacent cylinders -- completely open as expected.
I removed the #1 wire and it ohm'd out fine. Next pulled the plug and found it cracked. These were done in the last ~20k miles or less by a shop in ABQ. No idea what happened here. Dropped before install? Fakes? Something AFM?View attachment 337643
I put a new plug in #1 and she purrs as she should. Case closed for now.
Side note: gotta love the accessibility of ignition components on these motors!!
GM's aren't exactly known to set single cylinder misfire DTC's pre DI....But their misfire monitor data is the best in the industry.
AutoMechanic
Site Donor 2026
I had a 2024 Tacoma come in about 2 months ago with a bad Skid Control ECU. It was on back order and just got here Tuesday and I replaced it today. Customer dropped off on Tuesday when the part came in. Not really a bad job and honestly even though I got less than book time for it because it was Cost Guard warranty it’s still not bad and more than Toyota warranty would of paid so I’m not complaining. I got 1 hour of diagnostic and 5.2 hours for the repair. I done it in about 3 hours time I bled the system and everything. They tried to just pay us the 2 hours that it said on their end but my boss and me were both like no we aren’t doing it for that. Then they weren’t going to cover it because we asked for an extra $20 for brake fluid but finally got them to turn loose of that extra $20 too lol. I did the diagnostic back in early March but had to wait till now to get paid for it because Cost Guard won’t do two separate payouts. The Skid Control ECU is built onto the ABS module. I think you could detach it and put a new one on but it’s probably just easier to do the whole assembly like this.
Neighbor kids 2010 Civic is throwing me for a loop
Misfires pretty badly, only under load
Fuel trims look acceptable, I did plugs not that long ago
I pulled the coils for inspection
Hmm
Fuel trims are normal, and it will redline, so it can't be that lean
I can't prove these cracks in #1 and #4 are the issue, but I'm running out of theories
I've got a tool on the way (and 4 coils/plugs), hopefully I can condemn these coils precisely before rendering the parts unreturnable
3 out of 4 of these coils are the factory Honda units, it's a 2010 with 142k on it
I guess it's time
Misfire monitor on a 1.8 I4 can only be so accurate, I swapped them around and the misfire did seem to follow the cracked coils
Misfires pretty badly, only under load
Fuel trims look acceptable, I did plugs not that long ago
I pulled the coils for inspection
Hmm
Fuel trims are normal, and it will redline, so it can't be that lean
I can't prove these cracks in #1 and #4 are the issue, but I'm running out of theories
I've got a tool on the way (and 4 coils/plugs), hopefully I can condemn these coils precisely before rendering the parts unreturnable
3 out of 4 of these coils are the factory Honda units, it's a 2010 with 142k on it
I guess it's time
Misfire monitor on a 1.8 I4 can only be so accurate, I swapped them around and the misfire did seem to follow the cracked coils
Set up a new X730 for a customer, and this baby was loaded:
47" snowblower with front quick-hitch, front PTO kit, tire chains and quick-connect weight bracket
54" mower deck with Auto-Connect
Rear PTO kit
Rear 3-pt arm kit
Took 7-ish hours to get everything set up and adjusted. The rear 3-pt kit is a real bear to install, the entire fender deck and fuel tank have to be removed to gain access to the necessary linkages and hydraulic connections.
47" snowblower with front quick-hitch, front PTO kit, tire chains and quick-connect weight bracket
54" mower deck with Auto-Connect
Rear PTO kit
Rear 3-pt arm kit
Took 7-ish hours to get everything set up and adjusted. The rear 3-pt kit is a real bear to install, the entire fender deck and fuel tank have to be removed to gain access to the necessary linkages and hydraulic connections.
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- Oct 31, 2025
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Helped a neighbor diagnose his 2015 F350 Super Duty with the 6.7. Appears a Nox sensor failure caused the DEF system (pump) to lose all interest in life and commit suicide. This has been the 2nd DEF system failure so far. After a "frank" discussion on just how "reliable" these types of emission systems were to begin with, and considering the age of the truck, plus the fact that it has that lovely time bomb, the CP4 fuel pump, does not use the truck much anymore, is now retired and on Social "security", he is leaning very heavily towards repairing the DEF system and selling the truck, while he still can. He really likes the truck but realizes that he could never afford the repairs that would be needed when the inevitable CP4 pump failure occurs.
Walnut blasting my Kona's intake ports and installing 4) new OEM injectors since I am in there @ 74,000 miles. Over the 3 day weekend I am giving myself. Includes lawn and micro cleaning the garage. I hope to skip ALL honey do list items.