What are you working on today?
- Thread starter Amkeer
- Start date
'80s VW ....Rabbit or Jetta?
Drove up to Sault Ste. Marie today after staying in Ludington last night. I totally found Ludington by accident, I just needed a room for the night and ended up right on the water. I’ll definitely be going back.
Visited the Soo Locks tonight and I’m taking the boat tour tomorrow morning. Wednesday morning I’ll start on the 1,000 mile trip home.
Visited the Soo Locks tonight and I’m taking the boat tour tomorrow morning. Wednesday morning I’ll start on the 1,000 mile trip home.
Nailed it. Jetta, probably 83
Clocks tend to work in 4 out of 5. Most frequent failure is 2 blown caps on the power input, and since it’s 80’s, they can be replaced. Sometimes a part is missing like the second hand. If I can get the clock working, I shoehorn the sylvania ZEVO 164 led lamps into the illumination hood, clean it up, stick it in the box, and let it run for a week to make sure it’s good. I’ve got one now that loses a minute per day and haven’t seen that before. May be a mechanical problem with the set knob dragging on it.
Same clock module seems to used in VW, audi, merc and possibly some bmws.
About ~15 years ago I had a Mr Coffee coffee maker that couldn't keep time. It was digital, of course, but even the Chinese should be embarrassed. We've been able to create clocks either analog or digital for .....centuries??.....that were accurate and didn't gain or lose time. I wore nothing but digital watches in grade school (I thought they were SOOOO cool) and they worked fine.
Anyway, I remember swapping the entire printed circuit on my (first car) 1980 Audi 5k to get the tach working again. I had a couple parts cars and learned a lot back then. It was not a Quattro but that oversized VW was REALLY good in the Colo snow.
1998 Ford Explorer 4.0 SOHC. The Chinesium water pump and OE thermostat housing went out. Took most of yesterday to wrangle with it. Changed the valve cover gaskets today. I’ll use some PTO to wrap it up tomorrow(install upper intake, fill/bleed cooling system).
2018 Silverado 1500 5.3:
-a/c leak fix and recharge. Once again nitrogen to the rescue, although I was running out of ideas on where to look for leaks. Finally I found it on the front edge of the condenser, THEN I learned this is an extremely common failure point. Still, kinda proud of myself (hey, take it where you can get it) for finding it without any hints.
This guy goes on to talk about how common this is on this generation:
I used a Murray from O'Reilly and fit was what you'd expect: poor enough to complain, good enough to make it.
-a/c leak fix and recharge. Once again nitrogen to the rescue, although I was running out of ideas on where to look for leaks. Finally I found it on the front edge of the condenser, THEN I learned this is an extremely common failure point. Still, kinda proud of myself (hey, take it where you can get it) for finding it without any hints.
This guy goes on to talk about how common this is on this generation:
I used a Murray from O'Reilly and fit was what you'd expect: poor enough to complain, good enough to make it.
Front pads & rotors on a '13 Avalon XLE
About 90k on it, his complaint was a brake pulsation in the steering wheel
So the 6 year old (but 8mm remaining) front pads had to go
Forcing screws got the rotors off easily, 3M hub cleaner got the hubs clean
Bosch Quietcast pad & rotor combo, ACDelco silicone brake lube on the pins, CRC synthetic brake grease on the pads/hardware
Siphon the master cylinder, refill with fresh, bleed out both front calipers
A thorough enough job IMO for the $350 I charge, and a hell of a lot better than the (trade price) $475 the Toyota dealer wanted for just the pads/rotors
I had to educate him on how Toyota sells the fitting kit/shim kit separately on factory vs TCMC parts
Are those Toyota rotors better, probably
At that price difference, I'm not so sure
Just barely got caught in the rain
Really gotta buy one of the pop up tent cover things
About 90k on it, his complaint was a brake pulsation in the steering wheel
So the 6 year old (but 8mm remaining) front pads had to go
Forcing screws got the rotors off easily, 3M hub cleaner got the hubs clean
Bosch Quietcast pad & rotor combo, ACDelco silicone brake lube on the pins, CRC synthetic brake grease on the pads/hardware
Siphon the master cylinder, refill with fresh, bleed out both front calipers
A thorough enough job IMO for the $350 I charge, and a hell of a lot better than the (trade price) $475 the Toyota dealer wanted for just the pads/rotors
I had to educate him on how Toyota sells the fitting kit/shim kit separately on factory vs TCMC parts
Are those Toyota rotors better, probably
At that price difference, I'm not so sure
Just barely got caught in the rain
Really gotta buy one of the pop up tent cover things
Took the scooter apart to check the valves. Oh course Amazon can’t show up when they say so its on hold till tomorrow. I’ll start it for a bit and change the oil after.
Much props. Did the same thing on my 2018 Escape. Its the worst procedure that I have encountered. I didnt bother putting the impossible glovebox bracket back in, glovebox works fine.Forgot to share a side project from work: coworker asked me if I could replace the blower motor in his 2012 Focus because he had no interest in shoving himself under the dashboard
For those not aware: replacing the blower in this particular generation Foci requires pulling the glove box, the ENTIRE BCM/fuse panel and it's bracket, the air recirc. door and it's actuator (that's held in place by 3 blind, tiny T25 screws), and finally twisting and removing the blower from inside the HVAC case. Re-installation takes two people working from both sides of the dash and a large dose of patience. Luckily, I tackled this on a muggy 90 degree day which helped immensely. On the flip side: book time pays 3.1 and I had it knocked out in a little over an hour using only hand tools. Still got it!
This guy did a great video, if anyone is curious: Focus Blower Motor Replacement
New vehicle purchase, my local county retired a 2015 Grand Caravan. Drove it to the ranch from the county annex. 104k on the odometer, everything works. New Walmart AGM battery installed. I need to replace the passenger side headrest, spill/fill of the trans, brake fluid and thats about it. Will take a closer look at the oil cooler but I think its probably ok. It will be assigned to one of my kids in the near future.
It's only when a part is holding up a project that it comes late. When you're in no rush it comes on time or early.
CleanSump
Site Donor 2026
What scooter and engine is that? That's an interesting crossbar and pretty substantial looking build.
Yes every time.. showed up right as it was getting dark
Kymco Like 150.. I haven’t seen any scooter engines prior but wasn’t expecting dual valves and the overall build.
1999 Ford Explorer, 4.0L SOHC. Replaced the water pump and t-stat housing. Went with a Chinesium aluminum housing off Amazon, but replaced the sensors with O’Reilly ones, I’m not trusting the generic ones. Also did the valve cover gaskets as well.
I’m rolling the dice with a Chinesium thermostat, the known working Motorcraft one had a crack on the bridge that locates the wax motor. The water pump I removed was one from O’Reilly, made in China. Bearings were shot. Installed 10 years ago. Not bad for a Chinesium part - I needed something now back then for a DOA Motorcraft pump. The new warranty replacement is made in Mexico. My new pressure tester was showing me a pressure drop from 10psi but it was holding 5psi steady. I decided to fill the cooling system with a mix of G-05 and distilled water, ran the engine to bleed the cooling system. Coolant level is holding rock steady overnight.
I’m rolling the dice with a Chinesium thermostat, the known working Motorcraft one had a crack on the bridge that locates the wax motor. The water pump I removed was one from O’Reilly, made in China. Bearings were shot. Installed 10 years ago. Not bad for a Chinesium part - I needed something now back then for a DOA Motorcraft pump. The new warranty replacement is made in Mexico. My new pressure tester was showing me a pressure drop from 10psi but it was holding 5psi steady. I decided to fill the cooling system with a mix of G-05 and distilled water, ran the engine to bleed the cooling system. Coolant level is holding rock steady overnight.
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When I did an '02 years ago, the whole problem started when I noted the rad cap would puke as ambient temps climbed.
Replaced rad cap, now the system could actually hold pressure. Then a radiator side tank let go. Fixed that. Then the plastic t-stat housing let go.
The moral: just drive with a weak rad cap that won't allow pressure to build.
