who is wrenching today?

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SuperSix

Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
9,873
2
0
Not yet.

It has to be the rear brake pads, but I replaced those a few years ago, and I have never seen a rear set go that fast. I hope it's not a stuck caliper or something. (rear disc obviously)

I replaced them ~5 years ago, but I don't drive much, so we will have to see.


It was the rear pads. Fastest I have ever seen a rear set wear down. Replaced them today. Found yet another nail in one of my tires - drilled, abraded and plugged it. I replaced some orings in the air suspension (it is leaking a bit) looks like I will have to pull down the entire rear subframe to get to the rest of the connectors and the pump. :mad:
 

fbrdphreak

Lifer
Apr 17, 2004
17,556
1
0
Has anyone heard of the power lead of an alternator getting superheated? There must have been some kind of short or something, as the power lead (a long stud that the vehicle alternator harness connnects to) was hot, glowing a bit, and sparking a little too.

Wife took her 2000 Altima around town and called me when she discovered the battery was dead after a long drive. I was a couple hours away, so called AAA and the guy said the alternator wasn't putting out enough power. He said the ground wire was loose, despite the nut being tight. He charged the battery and she was able to make it home.

The ground wire was loose, but the nut was not tightened fully. I fully tightened it, restarted the car, and began inspecting everything else. Come to the power lead on the alternator and pulling the rubber shroud up, I see what looks like some corrosion in there.

I grab a flashlight to get a better look and as I'm handling the rubber shroud, notice it is all rather hot. I see a red hot spot forming on the stud/nut area. I then see a spark. OK, let's turn her off.

Turn her off and get a good look: the entire stud and nut assembly, with the vehicle ring terminal in between the stud & nut, are kind of ashy white. Definitely getting very hot when running. I go to pull off the top nut and it's rather stuck. Put some muscle to it and the entire stud breaks off. OK - new alternator it is!

Thing is, I replaced the alternator LESS THAN A YEAR AGO. I replaced what I think was the OEM alternator as the bearings were getting very loud.

The car has hardly been driven since then, it has probably a little over a thousand miles. It was the standard reman from Advance Auto, with lifetime warranty.

I go down to Advance and get them to swap it. Put the new one back in and all is well. I've got a charger on the battery over night to make sure it starts with a fresh charge tomorrow. I'll keep an eye on it when she gets back.
 

JCH13

Diamond Member
Sep 14, 2010
4,981
66
91
Sounds like you had some serious contact/point resistance going on there. It wouldn't take too much current to generate the heat that you're describing either.
 

skyking

Lifer
Nov 21, 2001
21,959
4,683
146
We started Friday night with bondo-type stuff. Nothing major, just small rock dings and maybe a tree limb dent or two from previous owners.

paint1.jpg


Saturday,
Primer going on.

paint5.jpg


After much wet sanding with a block.

paint10.jpg



Paint booth is washed down for the finish coats.

paint11.jpg


After sealer, paint, and clear coat.

paint14.jpg


paint19.jpg



Tomorrow we'll polish the clearcoat with maguiar's #2 and #5 and a buffer, with a little 1000 grit sandpaper for any tough stuff.

My Friend With Paint Booth (FWPB) has a passion for '37 Chevrolets.
paint7.jpg
 

fbrdphreak

Lifer
Apr 17, 2004
17,556
1
0
Sounds like you had some serious contact/point resistance going on there. It wouldn't take too much current to generate the heat that you're describing either.
I guess so. I was wondering if I should put some dielectric grease on that point, seeing as its covered by a boot and all?
 

FuzzyDunlop

Diamond Member
Jan 30, 2008
3,261
12
81
My Friend With Paint Booth (FWPB) has a passion for '37 Chevrolets.
paint7.jpg

Those are dead sexy. I hope someday to be at the level where I can trust myself to fix a car like that.

Todays plan, take seats and carpet out of the MR2
IMAG0228.jpg

wont be able to start wrenching till about 4 or 5 this afternoon though. :(
 

alkalinetaupehat

Senior member
Mar 3, 2008
839
0
0
About two weeks ago I had noticed a slight shudder from the car during right turns. I rotated the tires and inspected the brakes and suspension to discover that my outer CV boot had become dislodged, exposing the bearing. Ordered a new CV axle and put it in yesterday, which was quite the process.

In order to remove the CV axle, I needed to remove the wheel, hub assembly, and strut so I could remove the steering knuckle from the ball joint and have room to pull out the axle. It fortunately is a press-fit, so a little help from our friend the slide hammer was all that was needed to remove it, and a good shove on the metal housing (not the bearings, of course) to install the new one. Took the time to replace the hub bearing as well, since it was the last factory bearing left and I didn't want to pull a rusty hub twice.

Additionally, found out why my struts, which were "replaced" some 35,000 miles ago, are soft as bananas. They weren't. The driver's front strut's date of manufacture? 2.13.1993 :thumbsdown: :|

The car drives, but the alignment was thrown off by the strut removal. I'm getting the front wheels aligned tomorrow. I'm shipping out in eight days for Air Force BMT, I'll deal with the suspension later.

Edit: For the record, a local shop was supposed to have replaced the struts. I enjoy working on my car for this reason, I can ensure corners are not cut, or in this case missed entirely.
 
Last edited:

exdeath

Lifer
Jan 29, 2004
13,679
10
81
Next time use a marker to mark the position of the strut ear and bolts (shouldn't have had to touch the top plate which is non adjustable on most stock cars anyway).

You don't need to worry about altering alignment unless you are using a diff brand/model strut with diff physical shape and dimensions.
 

alkalinetaupehat

Senior member
Mar 3, 2008
839
0
0
Next time use a marker to mark the position of the strut ear and bolts (shouldn't have had to touch the top plate which is non adjustable on most stock cars anyway).

You don't need to worry about altering alignment unless you are using a diff brand/model strut with diff physical shape and dimensions.

I'm not certain I got the bottom of the two strut bolts back where it was prior to the repair, and there's a little shimmy in the car now. I went off the impression left by the washer on the strut ear, and the top of the two strut bolts had no room for movement so I just popped it back in. Def. will use a marker when I go to replace the struts.

666th post! Woot! :)
 

JCH13

Diamond Member
Sep 14, 2010
4,981
66
91
I guess so. I was wondering if I should put some dielectric grease on that point, seeing as its covered by a boot and all?

Dielectric grease isn't conductive, its designed to prevent corrosion, not improve an electrical connection. I would clean everything up with steel wool or something similar so you have shiny metal on all of the contact surfaces, tighten everything down, then maybe some dielectric grease. Good luck!
 

crab

Diamond Member
Jan 29, 2001
7,330
19
81
Kinda bummed this thread dropped so low. The cold areas of the country are warming up obviously...gotta be alot more heading to the garage.

Time allowing - we'll be pulling the engine from my supercharged Econoline to pull the heads for work (its a fully built 5.4...forged Manley rods/pistons, ported heads and oversized valves, ARP fasteners everywhere, etc). Maybe heading to the hangar and re-installing the factory refreshed NAV radio and indicator. The gaping holes in the panel are getting old.
 

5150MyU

Senior member
Jan 16, 2011
327
0
0
Did the blinker switch on the 1996 lumina-wasn't too bad -taped the connector wires tightly together and pushed it downthrough the steeringing column with a long slim screwdriver-went pretty well.
 

jlee

Lifer
Sep 12, 2001
48,511
219
106
Kinda bummed this thread dropped so low. The cold areas of the country are warming up obviously...gotta be alot more heading to the garage.

Time allowing - we'll be pulling the engine from my supercharged Econoline to pull the heads for work (its a fully built 5.4...forged Manley rods/pistons, ported heads and oversized valves, ARP fasteners everywhere, etc). Maybe heading to the hangar and re-installing the factory refreshed NAV radio and indicator. The gaping holes in the panel are getting old.

There are at least three active build threads going on :p
 

Nightrainsrt4

Member
Nov 18, 2010
71
0
0
The car has been sitting a long time, so I went through it and replaced a bunch of things that I hadn't noticed were wrong until we went and started everything back up.

Pulled my upper and lower motor mount on the SRT-4 and swapped them out with oem replacements with prothane inserts. More vibrations, but accel/decel is so smooth now, and shifting isn't notchy. The originals were horribly torn up. Motor is solid now, and doesn't move in the slightest.

Pulled the fuel rail/injectors and intake manifold to replace a leaking gasket. Replaced the intake filter and noticed there's a hole in the stock rubber intake tube. Have to get the aftermarket one I bought used years ago and never used out of storage and give it a good cleaning. Put silicone sealant on the hole and let it cure so no crap will go through it.

Swapped out the spark plugs for freshly gapped new ones. Checked all the rotors and pads, which had been swapped a bit before it sat. All are good, except I've got a seized caliper slide pin and there's a tiny pinhole in the bushing which would explain that. Can't get it out though, so I ordered new pins and bushings. That way, if I still can't get it out I can drill it out and use the new pin.

Front passenger tire has a bubble in the sidewall. Grabbed the two tires I've got in storage and have to get those swapped on.

Still have things to do, but the car feels great so far. Pretty sure I've got a leaking cam seal, so am going to get a new timing belt/tensioner/water pump/etc to replace because I'll have everything removed anyway.
 

skyking

Lifer
Nov 21, 2001
21,959
4,683
146
The car has been sitting a long time, so I went through it and replaced a bunch of things that I hadn't noticed were wrong until we went and started everything back up.

Pulled my upper and lower motor mount on the SRT-4 and swapped them out with oem replacements with prothane inserts. More vibrations, but accel/decel is so smooth now, and shifting isn't notchy. The originals were horribly torn up. Motor is solid now, and doesn't move in the slightest.

Pulled the fuel rail/injectors and intake manifold to replace a leaking gasket. Replaced the intake filter and noticed there's a hole in the stock rubber intake tube. Have to get the aftermarket one I bought used years ago and never used out of storage and give it a good cleaning. Put silicone sealant on the hole and let it cure so no crap will go through it.

Swapped out the spark plugs for freshly gapped new ones. Checked all the rotors and pads, which had been swapped a bit before it sat. All are good, except I've got a seized caliper slide pin and there's a tiny pinhole in the bushing which would explain that. Can't get it out though, so I ordered new pins and bushings. That way, if I still can't get it out I can drill it out and use the new pin.

Front passenger tire has a bubble in the sidewall. Grabbed the two tires I've got in storage and have to get those swapped on.

Still have things to do, but the car feels great so far. Pretty sure I've got a leaking cam seal, so am going to get a new timing belt/tensioner/water pump/etc to replace because I'll have everything removed anyway.
sounds like quite the mini-overhaul.
 

TheSlamma

Diamond Member
Sep 6, 2005
7,625
5
81
Radiator bit it in my 1995 Geo Prizm, 182,000 miles.. friggin lame. took 10 minutes to pull the old one out, 15 minutes to put the new one in.

Have a feeling this old thing is about to start costing me some $$$ to keep it going.. might be time for me to start looking around for another clunker.
 

BassBomb

Diamond Member
Nov 25, 2005
8,396
1
81
ordered some 225/40 s-drives to be installed on tuesday... hopefully i can handle being 1.5cm lower
 

skyking

Lifer
Nov 21, 2001
21,959
4,683
146
Just came in from the garage, I have it cooking at about 80 degrees. D:
I've been coating the exteriors of the boxes with epoxy resin. Tomorrow we will hang them on the truck, install the running board bases, and the box lids.
 

skyking

Lifer
Nov 21, 2001
21,959
4,683
146
Here is some of the sapele finished with epoxy.

finish011.jpg


Those are veneer strips I made with a table saw.
I sawed them about .100" thick by 2" wide, and then sanded out the saw marks to about .065~.080. I feather edged the side towards the plywood so as not to create a harsh step.
finish04.jpg


At the bottom left you can see it is tapered down to about .010"
 

Viperoni

Lifer
Jan 4, 2000
11,084
1
71
Today:

-Painted new rotors and drums along with calipers and backing plates with G2 epoxy caliper paint (black)
-Coated Koni Yellows in 2 coats of rubberized asphalt undercoating; the paint on them chips like mad apparently

Tomorrow:

-Brake re-assmebly with new EBC reds up front
-Some amount of hooning

Sunday:

-Replacing stock springs, struts and shocks with Koni Yellows all around along with Megan progressive springs (approx. 1.5" drop up front and 1.25" out back).
-Praying the 225's in the back dont rub too much

Next week:

-Aggressive alignment