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Post by bunbun / Hank on Feb 28, 2006 6:23:21 GMT -5
You are correct there Trevor. I've broken more then my share of those locking tabs off. What I find works really good if you are concerned about the connector coming loose, is take a wire tie and wrap it around the two connectors and cinch it up tight. That way they can't vibrate apart, and should you ever need to make future repairs you just cut the tie wrap.
And. in case you are not aware of this: Harbor Freight has removable wire ties. You wrap them around whatever you want to hold together, just like an ordinary tie wrap. But if you want to remove it you just press on the little tab and it will release and come right off. These things are great! Harbor Freight is the ONLY place I have ever seen them at. A box of 1500 of various sizes is 10 bucks if I remember correctly. I bought one box a couple of years ago, loved them so much I went back and bought two more boxes of them. So I have not had to repurchase any for awhile. HANK.
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Post by bunbun / Hank on Feb 28, 2006 6:37:43 GMT -5
I have a car maintenance tip I want to pass along to everyone. If you are a "do it your selfer" like Trevor and I, or you just take your car to the repair shop like most folks, CHECK THE AIR PRESSURE IN YOUR SPARE TIRE! cuz if you should get a flat tire on your car you don't want to find out your spare is flat also! that is gonna be a real BUMMER!
Now, I like to think I keep a close eye on my preventive maintenance; Heck, I'm driving a 19 year old car with 249,000 miles on it. And yesterday when I was in the trunk fixing my tail lights I thought ; "let me check this, it's been awhile" well, I come to find out it had 12 psi of air in it. SO! do you know what psi your spare tire is at? I'll bet you don't! HANK
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Post by Sir Trevor on Feb 28, 2006 9:34:01 GMT -5
For that matter, check all your tire pressures.
I check mine at least every 2 weeks.
In weather like we have around here, it can and will change on you.
Save yourself a lot of money down the road with what new tires cost these days.
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Post by airduwinne on Mar 1, 2006 12:22:29 GMT -5
On Monday night, my son (aka void) was in an accident. Surprisingly, the road was not plowed and his girlfriend lost control of her car, flipping it over the guard-rail and landing on its side in a ditch. Steven wasn't injured, neither was Tracy. In this case-the car didn't suck-but the roads out here in lovely Cherry Valley sure do!
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Post by bunbun / Hank on Mar 1, 2006 13:54:26 GMT -5
OUCH!! Glad everyone was able to walk away from that one. That coulda got ugly real quick. Sounds like the kid (or his girlfriend anyway) is trying to keep up with you.
YA ALL TAKE IT EASY OUT THERE! HANK.
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Post by Hephzibah on Mar 1, 2006 22:03:48 GMT -5
OUCH!! Glad everyone was able to walk away from that one. That coulda got ugly real quick. Sounds like the kid (or his girlfriend anyway) is trying to keep up with you. YA ALL TAKE IT EASY OUT THERE! HANK. Good one there Hank. But really airduwinne I'm happy to hear they we not hurt. Been in a similar situation myself a few years ago and I know how frightening it is as a parent. Thankfully my son wasn't in the car but his girlfriend(who almost could say lived here) was driving his car coming over from work on St Rt 44 and missed one of the turns and sailed into a ditch landing on the roof. She had her seatbelt on and only had a bump on her head and one hell of a headache. LUCKY What was weird was a friend off our son's who lives 2 doors down heard about the accident on his scanner and thinking it might have been his friend-our son- ran over to tell us. |
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Mickey
Lord
Cogito ergo sum/Carpe diem!
Posts: 516
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Post by Mickey on Mar 2, 2006 1:14:07 GMT -5
Wow, Airduwinne, that's definitely good news that they walked away from that! I hope you're all doing well!
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Post by bunbun / Hank on Mar 2, 2006 23:27:04 GMT -5
Put my pickup into the shop today to ready it for cleanup at GLMF. I need to replace the mufflers (duel exhaust) as they are getting quite loud. Mostly I just want to check it over and make sure it's ready. We used my truck and trailer a lot last year, and no doubt it will be pressed into service again this year.HANK.
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Post by airduwinne on Mar 3, 2006 7:12:16 GMT -5
Steven brought home the pictures of the car-I'm glad I saw him before I saw the pictures. The car is totalled. I am so glad they were wearing their seat belts-they would have been seriously injured if they hadn't.
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Post by Kayenne on Mar 3, 2006 22:16:31 GMT -5
Very glad to hear Steven and his girlfriend are alright. Rather fond of that boy.
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Post by Sir Trevor on Mar 30, 2006 0:59:38 GMT -5
Had a bit more trouble with my chariot today. Went out to go to the store and it wouldn't turn over. Everything worked except the starter  Turned out to just be a loose nut on the starter. 5 minutes later I was on my way down the road. Wish all car stories went like that. |
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Post by bunbun / Hank on Mar 30, 2006 6:56:21 GMT -5
Trevor...Are you sure the problem wasn't a loose nut behind the wheel?? Sorry,just couldn't resist that line.
talk about "car Problems" I'm up to my eyeballs in em. I have 5 major projects going on in the garage right now. If you lived closer to me I'd hire your butt and put you to work. To give you a brief run down of what is going on: I just finished up replacing the fuel pump (it was in the gas tank, of course) and the exhaust system on Eben's S 10 Chevy. I think you know Eben, he was the Blacksmith George LaForge last year. I just finished painting my trailer (the one we will be using at Faire soon) I just need to take the masking paper off. Today I start on a major engine tear down on a 92 Ford Explorer. The intake manifold to head gasket is leaking coolant so I need to take the top of the engine apart.
And, I need to replace a leaking fuel tank on my Buddy's 96 Grand Prix. Plus check on a fuel line leak on my 71 Chevy Pickup. This place looks like "OVERHAULIN' " minus the 50 man crew Foose has.
The only reason I'm on the board right now is cuz I'm waiting for the garage to warm up so I can paint the new gas tank before I install it. So I thought I would check and see what was new on the board. Things seem to be quiet lately. Jasmine had a few computer problems, but that has been about it.
When I have more time I will tell you the story of how I went to replace the mufflers on my pickup and ended up overhauling half the truck. You'll like that one. HANK.
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Post by Sir Trevor on Mar 30, 2006 10:13:11 GMT -5
Yes, I remember Eben. Sounds like you have enough work to keep you out of trouble for a while  I don't even want to think about fuel line / tank problems. I've dealt with enough of them on my own vehicle. I think about 85% of my fuel line is neoprene now. Of course I wasn't smart enough to do it all at once. I had to do a piece here and a piece there, until one day I had had enough and just ran from the engine comparment back to the tank. And I still have a leak. Seems to be a pin-hole in the line at the very top of the tank, near the sending unit. I'm just living with it. Since I know, any attempt to drop my tank to fix it will probably lead to new straps, a new tank, with my luck a new sending unit. In other words, not worth the headache. |
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Post by bunbun / Hank on Mar 30, 2006 10:57:31 GMT -5
Just got back from the parts store. Getting the gaskets and stuff I need to tear into the Explorer. It was almost a hundred bucks just for the gaskets. WOW! I would love to get my fingers around the throat of the S.O.B. who thought sticking the fuel pump inside the gas tank was a "wonderful" idea. Ya right! If you are going to do stupid crap like that at least make the fuel lines out of stainless steel. They put all sorts of stupid shit on these new cars (anything from 1990 to now is "new"to me) like a compass in your rear view mirror.or turn signal flashers in your outside mirrors. BUT!! something useful like stainless steel brake and fuel lines...NOOOO! Sometimes even a simple fuel filter change will escalate into replacing your entire fuel line because you will surely break something trying to loosen the fitting. Like with Eben's, the bolts holding the tank mounts to the frame were all rusted up. And you don't dare take a torch to them lest you look like an Arab Terrorist, KABOOOOM!! So you just have to fight and finesse them, thats always a lot of fun. Well I better get my butt back down to the garage and fix something. Talk on ya later. HANK.  |
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Post by bunbun / Hank on Mar 30, 2006 19:32:14 GMT -5
Time to call it a day, it's been 12 hours long, thats enough. Most of the Explorer motor is now torn apart. Working on this has made me realize why I've not owned a Ford in 20 years, what a pain in the butt! Ford must scrape the bottom of the barrel when it comes to hiring engineers. If they have a draft system like the NFL, Ford must be picking last!
I'm curious Trevor, what do you think is the "worst" job, taking it apart, or putting it back together?? Taking it apart you have to deal with a bunch of bolts and things that are rusted into place. But when you put some things together you have to be VERY careful not to screw up the new part. Example: When I go to install the intake manifold and valve covers on this Ford I have to be careful not to screw up the new gaskets as I fight these parts around all the wiring harnesses and A/C lines these idiot engineers stuck in the way. Six of one and half a dozen of another in my opinion. Most of tomorrow will be spent cleaning parts, scraping off all the old gaskets and such. The engine surfaces I will have to scrape by hand. The valve covers and such will be fed to the blast cabinet so those will clean up in short order.
I think tomorrow I will work on replacing the gas tank in the Grand Prix just for a change of pace. With any sort of luck I can knock that one off by Saturday. Pontiac screwed up too! I have to drop the exhaust system to access the fuel tank. If these idiots could design something correctly so you did not have to dismantle half the car to make a repair the average person could save a ton of money on repairs. HANK.
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