who is wrenching today?

[bbhaag]

Finally got around to getting the annual mower maintenance done. The ramps I brought home from work didn't have enough lift to give my impact enough clearance so I had to improvise with some spare lumber I had.

Not my proudest moment but look at that wheel articulation on my Cub Cadet. It would make a Ford F-150 Raptor blush!😀

 

[Paperdoc]

I had a tough experience replacing brake lines a couple years ago. Failed lines were on a Ford sedan. Went to the nearby parts store and bought American-size bulk brake line and fittings. They loaned out for free a brake line flaring tool set. Every time I tried to flare the line end, the flared end came out crooked and useless! MANY tries. Finally I realized that the store sells both American and Metric brake lines etc. for use on all cars, and the flaring tool kit they loaned me was for metric lines. In it, the small "mushroom" die you stick into the end of the cut line has a shaft to slip into the line bore. and then you compress to shape the end. This set's die had a shaft too small, so it would NOT stay straight when being compressed in, and the resulting flare was crooked. Back to the store, and they do not have an American flaring tool set to loan out! I finally sweet-talked my favourite mechanic into loaning me the proper-sized mushroom die from his American set, and the very FIRST try with that was perfect! All splices completed and worked just fine. LUCKY I had started out by cutting the line too long, because I had cut off short pieces with bad flares several times before finding the problem.

 

[iRONic]

Good save!

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

I had a tough experience replacing brake lines a couple years ago. Failed lines were on a Ford sedan. Went to the nearby parts store and bought American-size bulk brake line and fittings. They loaned out for free a brake line flaring tool set. Every time I tried to flare the line end, the flared end came out crooked and useless! MANY tries. Finally I realized that the store sells both American and Metric brake lines etc. for use on all cars, and the flaring tool kit they loaned me was for metric lines. In it, the small "mushroom" die you stick into the end of the cut line has a shaft to slip into the line bore. and then you compress to shape the end. This set's die had a shaft too small, so it would NOT stay straight when being compressed in, and the resulting flare was crooked. Back to the store, and they do not have an American flaring tool set to loan out! I finally sweet-talked my favourite mechanic into loaning me the proper-sized mushroom die from his American set, and the very FIRST try with that was perfect! All splices completed and worked just fine. LUCKY I had started out by cutting the line too long, because I had cut off short pieces with bad flares several times before finding the problem.

Yep, good save. My whole first day of this job was accounting for my gear, and stamping (mostly failed) double inverted flares and cutting them until I figured out all the little techniques to doing it right, so I wouldn't screw up a 20' run of the stuff. I can't work on much of this at a time due to my schedule, but I've got the two 1/4" reservoir lines cut and flared, and the front left wheel taken care of. Just three more to go then I get to find any leaks! While the other three are far longer, it's a LOT less fiddly... that front left wheel was annoying because the line had to snake through a lot of corners and metal shaped like a twisty straw doesn't snake well.

I will say this was already a smart idea, the hose-side of the front left line was so rusted that it snapped off as I was trying to unscrew it. It wasn't actually leaking yet, but it was just held together by layers of rust at this point. Would have failed within a month or two I'm confident.

 

[iRONic]

Reason #8 why I do my own tire rotation & routine vehicle mainltenance: getting a good look at the brake pads, rotors, hoses, and lines. Suspension components and other visual features under my loser cruiser…

 

[tcsenter]

Replaced headlight assemblies today with aftermarket. Before:




After:

 

[tcsenter]

Bonus, it wasn't supposed to come with the high and low beam bulbs, seller listing even puts that in bold. I don't know what happened, but the ones I received came with bulbs. Still keeping my old ones though for spares. Will need to adjust the aiming of these, moderately misaligned. When I replaced the ones on our Trailblazer, they were aimed just right with no adjustment needed.

 

[YuliApp]

Reviving my race jag for fun and fixing neglected customer's beast for work

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Replaced my rear brakes today; they no longer make the squeak of death.

 

[tcsenter]

Fixing the bumper gap and sag on the Trailblazer. It was due to a bumper mount (plastic) coming unbonded to the bumper which seems pretty common with these. Special guest appearance by "Muffin"....




Here is the offending plastic mount. I used epoxy:



Yeah it ran all over. Had it clamped for two hours, gonna let it harden for a couple more hours. I used "quick set" epoxy that is supposed to be 'working strength' in 6 hours. All surfaces were roughed up with coarse sand paper then scrubbed thoroughly with rubbing alcohol and brush to degrease.

 

[trenchfoot]

Fixing the bumper gap and sag on the Trailblazer. It was due to a bumper mount (plastic) coming unbonded to the bumper which seems pretty common with these. Special guest appearance by "Muffin"....

View attachment 124741


Here is the offending plastic mount. I used epoxy:

View attachment 124742

Yeah it ran all over. Had it clamped for two hours, gonna let it harden for a couple more hours. I used "quick set" epoxy that is supposed to be 'working strength' in 6 hours. All surfaces were roughed up with coarse sand paper then scrubbed thoroughly with rubbing alcohol and brush to degrease.

Just passing this along: I've had great results with this 3M adhesive with things structural on cars: https://www.amazon.com/3M-38315-Pan...cphy=9032185&hvtargid=pla-2281435179058&psc=1

The OEM stuff is too costly for me to justify. I've also used Devcon 10110 if the gaps are within 1/8". Strong stuff.

 

[trenchfoot]

For once I had an easy job to accomplish on my '99 Taco Prerunner. Horn went south so all I had to do was swap out the clock spring instead of the 'ol spring pin and that oh so easy to lose teeny tiny e-clip.

Replaced my rear brakes today; they no longer make the squeak of death.

Good job. Saved you a healthy dose of labor cost at yer friendly neighborhood broke-chanic. Good thing your low pad indicator worked. On our 2004 Nissan Quest that we've had since buying it brand spank'in new off the showroom floor, the indicator I got was a growling noise and a shudder. Rotor was too far gone by that time. Usually go with Hawk pads but tried Akebono's on the advice of a mechanic friend of mine. No regrets.

 

[trenchfoot]

Went crazy and picked up a $650.00 Sunbrella truck cover for our Taco a couple of years ago and now the thread bindings are rotting out and coming apart at the seams. Called Covercraft for warranty coverage, sent them these pics. Spent some serious bucks shipping it back to them and glory be, they're going to send me a new replacement. I asked them if they could send the old one back so I can use the used up yet usable Sunbrella material to cover my lawnmower, BBQ, and outdoor furniture but they wouldn't have it. Maybe some more begging and paying for shipping might change their minds.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

Spent the last few available days starting the process of running my own brake lines. OEM ones rotted through. Replaced one (hose to caliper) in the fall cuz I needed the truck, second one failed a week ago on a much longer run. Ordered nickel copper lines, flange tool, whole nine yards. I'm getting pretty good at the flanging, removal of the old lines is a pain though since most are just rust welded on whatever they attach to.

Learning process but once done, those lines will outlast the frame and I won't have to worry about losing brakes halfway down a mountain.

Four months later, lines are finally replaced. Did everything from the MCylinder, to the ABS, to all 4 wheels, hoses included. About a quarter of the lines just twisted with the nut off rather than backing off the line correctly. Insult to injury, the back two bleeder nuts just sheared off when I tried to remove them, and the screw remover I tried also sheared off. The bolts on the caliper (or whatever's on the back) are rock-solid as well, and I don't have an impact wrench or a lift to get the struts and crap out of the way... so calling it in, and taking it to the shop to have them either figure the bleed screw out, or just replace them. Front brakes are working at least so I can limp it there.

Some highlights:

 

[trenchfoot]

Four months later, lines are finally replaced. Did everything from the MCylinder, to the ABS, to all 4 wheels, hoses included. About a quarter of the lines just twisted with the nut off rather than backing off the line correctly. Insult to injury, the back two bleeder nuts just sheared off when I tried to remove them, and the screw remover I tried also sheared off. The bolts on the caliper (or whatever's on the back) are rock-solid as well, and I don't have an impact wrench or a lift to get the struts and crap out of the way... so calling it in, and taking it to the shop to have them either figure the bleed screw out, or just replace them. Front brakes are working at least so I can limp it there.

Some highlights:
View attachment 129448
View attachment 129449
View attachment 129450
View attachment 129451

Props given. That's some nasty ferrous metal cancer going on there. Last time I ran into that kind of problem (although not as bad as what you've gone through), I removed the calipers and vised them on a drill press, although positioning the broken bleeders to align with the drill press spindle was a PITA. Prior to, I soaked the calipers in ATF/Acetone first, just to give those bleeders one last chance to behave themselves. Anyway, decided to pass up on the extractor step, and using the bleeder holes as a guide, I used a left hand drill equivalent to a tap drill for 1/4-28 thread. Due to drill being leftie loosie orientation, one bleeder came out half way through drilling it out completely. The remainder had to be drilled out and tapped back to size. A very light skin of anti-seize got spread over the threads of the new bleeders if only for peace of mind.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

Props given. That's some nasty ferrous metal cancer going on there. Last time I ran into that kind of problem (although not as bad as what you've gone through), I removed the calipers and vised them on a drill press, although positioning the broken bleeders to align with the drill press spindle was a PITA. Prior to, I soaked the calipers in ATF/Acetone first, just to give those bleeders one last chance to behave themselves. Anyway, decided to pass up on the extractor step, and using the bleeder holes as a guide, I used a left hand drill equivalent to a tap drill for 1/4-28 thread. Due to drill being leftie loosie orientation, one bleeder came out half way through drilling it out completely. The remainder had to be drilled out and tapped back to size. A very light skin of anti-seize got spread over the threads of the new bleeders if only for peace of mind.

I'm guessing this will be the last time I have to think about this, given the state of the undercarriage. In the far future there's going to be a stretched out pile of copper nickel alloy in the shape of a truck.

 

[Paperdoc]

On an old 2007 Hyundai Accent I have my granddaughter using she ran over a clump of grass that was hiding a rock, and ripped out most of the exhaust pipes. I got two pipes, 2nd cat converter (missing in action) and muffler, then went to my favourite mechanic to have him remove the seized flange bolts that held the front half of the first pipe to the outlet of the combo exhaust manifold/1st cat converter. He found that units' outlet flange had broken off, and the stub of pipe left was 'way too short to try to weld a new one back on. So now I'm waiting for delivery of a new one of those combos, plus the 2nd Oxygen sensor to fit into the first pipe. Replacing literally the entire exhaust system.

Meanwhile my granddaughter was using my 2014 Mazda 3 and it stranded her with multi warning messages, starting with major failure of charging system, pull over and do not drive. With a little thinking I realized the serpentine drive belt had broken off. So I drove over in her noisy car to "rescue". My wife and I drove next day to the stranded Mazda with new belt and tools. But the belt tensioner unit you have to move with a 17mm wrench is in such a bad location you cannot get a socket onto it. I drove around to several stores looking for just the right tool, had to settle for a common 17mm combination wrench. Turned out the tensioner was not too hard to turn with that plus a rod to push it in a tight space. Many wriggles of the belt in tight quarters got it in place and the tensioner released. All good! Now I'm thinking that the related belt that drives the water pump probably is just as weak! To replace that I'll have to remove and re-install that same serpentine belt!

UPDATE
Now, three weeks+ later I got that water pump belt installed. It is a "stretch to install" type that requires particular techniques to force it around the pulleys while stretching it, and that's somewhat tricky without any fancy special tool. An "old hand" told me a "trick" of using nylon cable ties to fasten the belt to the pulley using holes in that pulley. That did not quite work - the nylon strip broke under the strain. But I adapted the idea by using a steel wire twisted into a loop, and that DID work well with careful attention to aligning the belt to both pulleys so it ended up straight and centred. Then just cut off the steel wire bit.

 

[skyking]

I'm guessing this will be the last time I have to think about this, given the state of the undercarriage. In the far future there's going to be a stretched out pile of copper nickel alloy in the shape of a truck.

neighbor's wife brought home a 90's 4Runner and one day all the juice leaked out of the rear diff.
It was an east coast salty dog.
We cleaned it up and welded a patch over the hole. good as, er, new?

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

neighbor's wife brought home a 90's 4Runner and one day all the juice leaked out of the rear diff.
It was an east coast salty dog.
We cleaned it up and welded a patch over the hole. good as, er, new?

Funny story. This same truck had the back half of the exhaust drop while driving down the road, broke just behind the cats? iirc. Took it to an actual muffler shop (who does that anymore?), asked them to weld it back on. He said, well, we don't really do things like that since the cats need to be replaced due to blah blah blah. This was during early covid though and everything was still shut down, after an hour he came back and said 'ok, so there's no shop or supplier in America that has your cats, so we're welding it back on. $50 later and I was on my way.

 

[spdfreak]

I restore vintage motorcycles for a living and for seized and corroded stuff, there is nothing like Aero Kroil. It's honestly in a class by itself. Expensive, yes but indispensable if you work on old nasty stuff. Amazon, HD, etc.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

I'm guessing this will be the last time I have to think about this, given the state of the undercarriage. In the far future there's going to be a stretched out pile of copper nickel alloy in the shape of a truck.

Alright so I thought I was in the clear but as soon as I turned the engine over, lost brake pressure. I keep bleeding the lines and I keep getting air, until I don't, still no pedal pressure though. Ran a few liters through already, what gives? Works fine if the engine is off.

 

[iRONic]

Weird… I'm not familiar with those older systems. Air vacuum at the master cylinder…?

 

[iRONic]

I am the wrenchee today not the wrencher. Windshield replacement by Safelite. Easy peasy lemon squeezy… all covered by insurance.

View attachment 105605

Apparently not Easy or peasy…

Shitlol “missing or incomplete information” deemed my invoice unable to be paid. So they're saying I'm on the hook. Yeah, no!

A nice woman on the phone took my information and said she would investigate for me.

 

[Greenman]

That's an expensive windshield.

 

[iRONic]

Retail price of that windshield probably, if you could even buy one. I put one in my 78 Jeep CJ7 about three decades ago but it was flat and easy to be sealed.