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Post by Sir Trevor on Jun 14, 2023 18:33:35 GMT -5
Yeah, you gotta really love working on cars to do it for a living. Another problem is some of the places that hire them. From what I gather, working at a dealer is the worst. Most who work at dealers for a few years end up leaving, either completely, or they open their own place.
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Post by Sir Trevor on Jun 19, 2023 17:34:19 GMT -5
Why do they make it so hard to change bulbs on a car? I miss the days when you can just change a bulb and not have to take like 3 things off to access it.
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Post by bunbun / Hank on Jun 22, 2023 17:44:38 GMT -5
Gas cap location indicator debate from fact or crap.
Seems to be a mixed bag depending on the make and year of the vehicle. I took a sampling of the vehicles in the yard at the moment and came up with the following: 2005 Pacifica and Town & Country both HAVE it. 2001 Dodge Ram has the arrow along with the words gas cap next to it. 2000 Sonoma, NO. 2005 Impala also a NO.
Since I have NO Fords or foreign on hand to check I cannot comment. Will need to get a larger sampling. Not sure about your Buick Trevor. Since it is a higher priced model then the Impala, maybe, maybe not. As for the wife's 2017(?) Whizbang, not sure, you would have to look.
Personally, I think it is a good idea. All of my vehicles you need only stick your finger in the cap to open it. But on some they get "cute" and hide a remote lever or a push button some where in the passenger compartment you need to activate to open the fuel door. And I doubt you're old enough to remember back in the late 50's it was all the rage to HIDE the gas filler cap under the tail light which made your first fillup very interesting if you had not read your owners manual. Brand new car and those blankity blanks didn't put a gas cap on the fender. The best was when the gas filler was located right in the center under the license plate, like on my 87 Caprice. Did not matter which side of the gas pump you pulled up on, the hose would reach. Engineers were smarter then, not like this pack of dumbasses then have now.
HANK.
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Post by bunbun / Hank on Jun 22, 2023 17:56:13 GMT -5
As for your light bulb posting, yeah, that's another dumbass idea. Helped my buddy Mark change the bulbs in his Cadillac (Don't remember the year or model) a few years back and we had to remove the INTIRE front of the car. Can't help but wonder what the labor cost for that would be at the dealership. CHA CHING!!
HANK.
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Post by bunbun / Hank on Jun 24, 2023 17:58:43 GMT -5
T saw and spoke with a couple of friends. Frank's 04 Camery has the fuel arrow and well as Dave's 04 Lexus. Frank also has an early 2000 Chevy van, a Chevy Silverado, and 2004 Buick and none of them have the arrow. So it would seem as if most cars I've checked have the arrow, again, a very small sample, except for General Motors. And since most of the cars you've owned since I've known you were made by GM it could explain why you said the answer was "Crap."
HANK.
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Post by Sir Trevor on Jun 25, 2023 16:10:15 GMT -5
I miss the days when the gas cap was behind the license plate. So much easier, and it ensured that people cleaned snow off their back bumper.
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Post by Sir Trevor on Jul 15, 2023 13:37:53 GMT -5
WWEl, yesterday on the way to work, I notice a humming noise coming from the front of my car. After work I looked up possible causes online. OF course the one I feared seemed to be the number one assumption. Wheel bearing. I took it for another test drive seeing if I could determine more. It was still there, but didn't seem to change at all when turning or swerving. After dinner, I jacked up the passenger side first, no movement. Then I did the drivers side. Oh yeah. Plenty of wiggle. Side-to-side and up-and-down. So, this morning I ran up to Marshall's and got a new one. Price wasn't bad $60. More than online, but I have it today. Came home and switched the cars around and pulled out the tools and the jack. After popping off the hub cap, I noticed a problem. I didn't have anything big enough to take the axle nut off. Another run to Marshall's and $20 later, I had a socket for the job. Everything went fine until it came to removing the 3 bolt holding the bearing in. They fought me all the way out. So much so, I had to use my cheater pipe for teh whole proceedure, not just to break them loose. Doing that, inside a wheel well, was not fun. I had to back those bolts out 2 clicks at a time. Which is one of the reasons it took me 3 hours. Also, not fun trying to get my torque wrench in there to torque those bolts to 70 pounds.
Worst part about all this. I took it for a test drive, I still have the hum. It isn't loud, you can't hear it unless the radio and the blower are off, and the windows are up. At this point, I am thinking it is tire tread related. I know I need new tires. Not much tread left on the front. That is what I was hoping the problem was, but as I said, good thing I checked as that driver's side had a lot of slop. Probably what has been occasionially causing my brake / ABS light to come on.
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Post by bunbun / Hank on Jul 16, 2023 1:37:29 GMT -5
Yeah, those bolts can be a pain in the ass. Hope you anti-seized them before installation. Be glad it ain't a foreign car. Most of them you remove the entire spindle assembly, press the old bearing off, press the new bearing on and reinstall the spindle on the car, SO MUCH FUN!! And, since you do not have a hydraulic 20-ton press at the house it's off to Marshall's or some local garage to find someone who does.
You know Rick from the pirate crew. Right now I am working on a 2000 Chevy bus he bought. Replacing ALL the brake lines and most of the rest of the brake system. The really fun part is the damn thing is way too big to put on the lift (won't fit thru the door, too tall.) so I am working in the driveway with it on jack stands. (something I am too damn old to be doing anymore. Turned 80 on Thursday) So every time I crawl out from under to get a tool or something it's about a 10 to 15 minute procedure to get to standing position. OH, and the thing is a rusty P.O.S previously repaired by idiots who fixed everything with a can of expanding spray-foam.
It supposedly has a new crate engine with only 6 or 7 thousand miles on it, which does start and seems to run OK. Transmission? unknown, as with a total lack of brakes Rick had it towed to the house from Andover from where he bought it. Hope it does not turn into a money pit for him as it needs 6 new tires (dual rear wheels) as well as the complete brake system. And, the lights, coolng system as well as a number of other things are unknown at the moment.
HANK.
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Post by Sir Trevor on Jul 16, 2023 8:52:44 GMT -5
That does not sound fun at all.
And I hear you on this stuff not getting any easier as we get older. In the last month, my knees have started to let me know I am not as young as I used to be. Getting up and down is something I have to consciously think about now. They don't just work.
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Post by bunbun / Hank on Jul 16, 2023 22:00:16 GMT -5
Oh, another thing I forgot to mention, working out in the driveway like I am means Mother Nature is part of the problem also. If you were at faire on Saturday you know about that rainstorm that rolled in around 4:00PM. It started here as a light drizzle giving me a warning that I should gather the tools in pairs and head for cover before all Hell broke loose.
Today I was not so lucky. I was laying under the bus removing two broken bolts from the drivers front lower shock mount when M.N. cut loose again, no warning this time. By the time I scooted out from under, got to my feet and pushed the tool cart into the garage I was soaked. Todays rain did not last nearly as long and did not have the high winds Saturdays storm had. That one snapped a huge Pine tree in half about 8 or 9 feet from the ground and laid it across the driveway of my next door neighbor to the West. They were out with chainsaws this morning cleaning up.
Hope to finish with the front of the bus tomorrow. With luck we will have front brakes only, but it will be enough to move it around the yard to gain better access to the rear brakes. Rick got lucky on the fronts, needing only new lines and calipers. Rotors were OK, thank God, as they are $86.00 apiece from Rock, and they are huge so shipping would be outrageous. If his luck holds and the rear drums are OK, wheel cylinders, shoes and hardware are not all that expensive. Will of course have to finish running the brake line to the rear axle. Hopefully that will be the LAST of the crawling around on the ground repairs.
HANK.
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Post by Sir Trevor on Jul 17, 2023 18:57:43 GMT -5
I wasn't at faire Saturday. After working on the car, I wasn't feeling it, and I knew the weather was supposed to turn to crap. It didn't hit here very bad, but I heard how bad it was at faire. I guess they even had a lightning strike somewhere near fairyland. But, yeah, that is why I started early, the rain was supposed to hit earlier and it looked like it might turn bad while I was finishing up near 2 o'clock.
Glad you are making progress and things don't seem to be going too bad.
This darn hum is driving me crazy. I eliminated the possibility it is because of tire tread issues. At least pretty sure I have. I still have the hum while driving on dirt roads. So, that tells me it isn't tires. I jacked up all 4 wheels again and there is nothing loose, no wiggle at all on any of them. The rears spin free. I'm thinking maybe I should just go ahead and change the passenger front and get it over with. It is more than likely the cause, and apparently not all bad wheel bearings have play. I can't try spinning it for obvious reasons. (not trusting wheel chocks and my tiny jack in my gravel driveway with a tire off the ground and the car in neutral) I can get one for less than $40 from Amazon with free shipping. I just don't want to deal with backing out those 3 bolts unless I have to. Thinking really hard about picking up a cheap impact to do that job. Will come in handy for the rare occasions I still do automotive work.
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Post by Sir Trevor on Jul 28, 2023 18:55:49 GMT -5
Well, I just changed that other bearing. This time only took 1.5 hours. That included switching the cars around and putting everything away. Those 3 bolts gave me zero issue on the passenger side. Once they broke loose, they just turned right out. This time it was the bearing nut. It was hard all the way out. Glad I had an impact for that. Going back on was worse. It just didn't want to turn. So I took it back off, hit the shaft with a wire brush then gave it a little grease. Cranked right on. Then the other slow down was this box didn't have the little card in it to tell me what the torque specs were. I went from memory from the other side. I got this one at Marshall's also and it was the same brand. I just did a little google searching first to make sure my memory was as good as I hoped it was. 70 foot-pounds.
Now I have no hum! Car feels a little looser when I drive it, but that makes sense. I've gotten used to the car handling with that bearing wearing out for who knows how long now. Now that wheel is spinning free and doesn't have any resistance.
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Post by Sir Trevor on Sept 23, 2023 14:14:00 GMT -5
Well, we didn't make it to the Grape Jamboree today Left to go around noon. On the highway, just after we passed the Kingsville exit I heard a warning bell and looked down and my temperature gauge was redlined. Pulled over and shut it down immediately. Popped the hood which had some steam coming out from under it. The whole side of the motor with the belt was wet and steaming from the fluid burning off the hot engine. So, I had no idea where it was coming from. Took the cap off the overflow which was empty and added some antifreeze to it. Started the car and let it run a bit. The gauge was about half way. Turned the heat on, but it was blowing nothing but cold air. Shut it off again. Went and looked under the hood again. Overflow was still full. Top radiator hose had no pressure. Radiator cap was cold. So I opened the radiator and put the antifreeze right in. Started the car again and had heat. Pulled out, turned around and got off at 193. Stopped at the gas station and bought 2 more gallons of antifreeze. Topped off the radiator again and could hear fluid running onto the ground. Could also see it on top of the water pump. Wasn't sure if it was the water pump blew out, or if I blew the intake gasket. Had to stop 5 or 6 more times on the way home to top off the radiator. Killed both those gallons of antifreeze and a gallon of water I got at Family Dollar. But the car is sitting in my driveway now. I did some research online and think I found the problem. Tensioner housing coolant elbows. Seems they used plastic elbows that tend to crack and break over time. I can't see any cracks on the top one, but when I squeeze the top hose I can hear air blowing and sucking in in that area. Getting ready to go get replacement parts and tear it apart and replace both of them. Fingers crossed. This will be so much better than replacing an intake gasket.
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Post by Sir Trevor on Sept 23, 2023 17:46:25 GMT -5
Well, the job is done and everything is cleaned up and put away. Two biggest pains were getting the broken part of the tube out of the housing. The 3 smaller broken parts came out easy enough. (all ends broke when pulling it out). But the top one at the housing, where it was leaking, was like the full piece inside there. I ended up having to get my dremel and cut a groove in it to be able to yank it out. The other pain was getting it all lined back up again and getting the bolts started. Must have made 5 or 6 attempts until I finally got it.
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Post by bunbun / Hank on Sept 23, 2023 18:34:20 GMT -5
I hope you replaced the elbows with ALUMINIUM and not the cheap ass plastic one the factory puts in there. Did this job on the Impala a couple of years back. Your Impala had the 3.4-liter engine and this dumb shit piece of engineering only applies to the 3.8 liter. I had to replace the tensioner also as I did not like the looks of the holes the elbows fit into,(a little bit corroded) They recommend replacing the water pump also cuz if you disturb it in anyway guess where your next leak will be. Don't know what those dumbasses were thinking when they ran the cooling system thru the belt tensioner.
Good luck.
HANK.
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