What are you working on today?

[michaelluscher]

It was a light weekend
It's oppressively humid and I'm in oppressive pain

Friend brought his '16 Fusion by for a hectic rear clunk
I snugged the rear shock to upper mount nut, seemed to resolve it
At 105k, it's probably gonna need rear shocks and upper mounts soon
Topped off the coolant (slow HG leak) and sent it down the road

Back again on the neighbors '04 Highlander
They took it to the shop, who correctly diagnosed what I wasn't 100% prepared to call
It got an intermediate shaft, and $1500 worth of other unnecessary work, now the steering is not stiff/binding

He wanted the rear diff serviced, my first time servicing a diff
When the crust factor is this high, remember the

Don't ask me how those plugs came out, I think I'm the first person to crack the seal ('04/126k)
Luckily, in the tradition of polite Japanese engineering, they take the same crush washer as Toyota AT drain plugs, which I keep on hand

 

[wtd]

Changed the sub-transmission fluid on my fiancé's 2023 Honda Talon side by side and flushed the brakes on her 2005 Honda Rancher ATV. I also flushed the brakes on my 2014 Honda Rancher ATV.

 

[The_Jeff]

Back again on the neighbors '04 Highlander
They took it to the shop, who correctly diagnosed what I wasn't 100% prepared to call
It got an intermediate shaft, and $1500 worth of other unnecessary work, now the steering is not stiff/binding

Since a Highlander is basically a tall Camry, their steering shafts need maintenance. Usually a little lube on the u-joint under-hood. It's hard to work into the needle bearings but cheap and easy.

 

[BrianF]

Aired up the tires on our friends GMC Sierra 1500 with a 2 horse goose. Love how dealers (had tires and brakes recently) have the tires aired so low. 30psi doesn't cut it towing.

The tires were still on point foe our 3500 diesel and 6 horse goose. I pumped in a bit of grease as I rotated the tires and all the brakes took quite a few clicks of the adjusters. Seems to work great again.

Then back to fixing the electrical connections on the interior trailer cameras. Should be good for this trip....

Some good friends of ours drove up from southern California with their F450 and 11 horse.... took only 3 trailer tires....

 

[CleanSump]

Replaced the drivers side windshield washer nozzle on an X3. It started spraying sideways toward the road. Weird, but this is the bar type, not the ball type nozzle. It can only adjust up or down. Yep, tried blowing it out both ways and cleaning with a stiff wire. $12 for a new one isn't bad.

 

[wander2039]

If this doesn’t hold turning it into a cargo version! Note to self buy clamps.

 

[ls1mike]

Yes, 8v71 with a 15 speed and full lockers. It’ll go almost anywhere. Pulled a lot of dozers and track loaders out with it

Let me hear it. I love a Detroit.

 

[wander2039]

Felt energetic after the window and since was cool out… Cleaned all the red dirt off the gauge cluster. Half the lights don’t work but everything else works. Thats a someday project.. now for a interior deep clean.

 

[D60]

Modifying copper washers. Dunno what exactly they're used for.

We've been using this emergency collet for years but for some reason this batch wouldn't fit, so I hit it with some Dykem and installed the three spacers so I could open it up a few thou:

Here's how the workholding is supposed to work:

They get opened up on the ID like so:

 

[CBR.worm]

Who was the offending manufacturer?

I'm not 100% sure. The condenser was CSF, which I'm inclined to think was okay, the drier was from UAC. Either the drier or, the condenser at the drier connection had a major restriction from the first run - frost on the bottom two rows of the condenser and pressure at the high pressure port was low. The welds at the drier connection on the condenser weren't great, but I assume they flow test this stuff? The ECU reported excessive pressure at the top-of-condenser sensor. The offending evaporator was UAC. The UAC compressor and a couple of UAC flexible lines seem to be fine. The replacement replacement evaporator was Nissens, which is working well.

 

[ctechbob]

After almost 320,000 miles, the alternator in the 03 Accord called it quits. New one won't be here until Thursday but I put the Acura in service for the wife, pulled the Accord into the garage and went ahead and pulled the alt out. It needs a new positive battery terminal as well, so I crimped new ring terminals onto the factory wires.

Always something, but really, that car owes me nothing, it has been a real trooper.

 

[bovine1]

Changed the CVT fluid in our Corolla today. As usual thinking about it was worse than doing it. 75000 miles on it. It was a Hertz car so I was afraid it had been somewhat abused at times but the fluid didn't look too bad. More purple than red but not too bad. I feel better getting it done and seeing the old fluid.

 

[snarl]

@D60 Those look like washers for diesel injectors.

 

[meep]

2001 Lexus LS 430

Friend’s son came over for an oil change and front brake pads and rotors.

What a delightful vehicle. Good googly moogly. V8 is just heavy and purrs. Vehicle is tight as a bank vault. Interior and dash is a class act.

The 4-piston front calipers might weigh a pound. They are a one-piece alloy unit bolted on at the side … as in the heads of the bolts face the rear of the vehicle, and it’s a sleeved insert so the caliper is aligned and locked in via the sleeves. And probably need to be because the caliper-to-rotor clearances might be 1 mm, it’s extremely precise, in addition to be a very lightweight assy.

The stereo is out and he asked for my thoughts. I suspect trunk-mounted oem amp which uses proprietary signaling. I suggested he keep using his JBL Bluetooth speaker, could try throwing an oem amp at it off of eBay, or else it will be a lot of work to retrofit, modernize, whatever. But hes in school, doesn’t have the money, and isnt a sparky, so the time commitment would be large for him to figure it out, without the place to do it. Bluetooth speaker for the win.

Truly a lovely vehicle. That said, the hood space seemed tight. Not sure how easy DIY care would be for this. Everything we did was routine and underneath.

 

[CleanSump]

isnt a sparky

Boy Howdy that's an oldie you don't hear much anymore.

 

[clinebarger]

2001 Lexus LS 430

Friend’s son came over for an oil change and front brake pads and rotors.

What a delightful vehicle. Good googly moogly. V8 is just heavy and purrs. Vehicle is tight as a bank vault. Interior and dash is a class act.

The 4-piston front calipers might weigh a pound. They are a one-piece alloy unit bolted on at the side … as in the heads of the bolts face the rear of the vehicle, and it’s a sleeved insert so the caliper is aligned and locked in via the sleeves. And probably need to be because the caliper-to-rotor clearances might be 1 mm, it’s extremely precise, in addition to be a very lightweight assy.

The stereo is out and he asked for my thoughts. I suspect trunk-mounted oem amp which uses proprietary signaling. I suggested he keep using his JBL Bluetooth speaker, could try throwing an oem amp at it off of eBay, or else it will be a lot of work to retrofit, modernize, whatever. But hes in school, doesn’t have the money, and isnt a sparky, so the time commitment would be large for him to figure it out, without the place to do it. Bluetooth speaker for the win.

Truly a lovely vehicle. That said, the hood space seemed tight. Not sure how easy DIY care would be for this. Everything we did was routine and underneath.

Those are great cars & built extremely well, But having disposable income is almost a necessity to maintain a 20+ year old LS.

 

[D60]

Recently I experienced a Brandon and forgot to torque the lugs on a '14 Ram 2500. That cost me a $300 AEV Salta wheel and one lug stud broke. No problem, right? I can sometimes do a thing or two (when I'm not walking around with my cranium up my posterior ) and I know I can replace a lug stud.

Wrong. At some point it would seem an aftermarket hub was installed, and for reasons no one understands the aftermarket often uses lug studs with a unique knurl diameter. I did a web search and there are other reports of this on these Rams.

I needed a .662" knurl dia and simply COULD. NOT. FIND. it in M14x1.5 and the proper length.

So, I bought a stock stud -- for which O'Reilly gets $12 which is insane -- and used the bright blue light machine to add material. Then I used the spinny machine tool thing to turn it down.

I didn't want to sink A LOT of heat into it so was just blobbing together tacks spaced by waiting periods, thus it's ugly but all it has to do is press in and not spin.

I installed it last night and FINALLY I have completed my amends for that absolutely inexcusable error. Moron am I.