The past week in Car repair

[Briano1234]

Holy Crapaziods 2 days, and I haven't had to work on any car....

[Calimus]

Worked on a friends VR6 Jetta Friday has it developed a failed coilpack the day before he has to drive out to Cali for a new job. Got to rest on Saturday and then today I changed out a fuel pump on a Chrysler Pacifica. I'd like to shoot the engineers at Chrysler for their design. Rather than cut out and put sealed panels in the floor board to you can access both fuel pumps (the stamping is there, so you know it was part of the original design) they said the hell it with. Instead, you have to drop the exhaust system and then drop & pull the fuel tank all the way out from under the vehicle.

To top that off, there is a very odd mix of SAE and Metric bolts everywhere and in several cases, they don't even use the same sized bolt when there are 2-4 holding up the same piece of equipment. Still, I managed to pull it off in 4 hours which isn't bad considering I had no idea what I was getting into since there is nothing on the .net for these damn beasts. Oh well, it's done and I hope to never see another one in my garage ever again.

[Briano1234]

Worked on a friends VR6 Jetta Friday has it developed a failed coilpack the day before he has to drive out to Cali for a new job. Got to rest on Saturday and then today I changed out a fuel pump on a Chrysler Pacifica. I'd like to shoot the engineers at Chrysler for their design. Rather than cut out and put sealed panels in the floor board to you can access both fuel pumps (the stamping is there, so you know it was part of the original design) they said the hell it with. Instead, you have to drop the exhaust system and then drop & pull the fuel tank all the way out from under the vehicle.

To top that off, there is a very odd mix of SAE and Metric bolts everywhere and in several cases, they don't even use the same sized bolt when there are 2-4 holding up the same piece of equipment. Still, I managed to pull it off in 4 hours which isn't bad considering I had no idea what I was getting into since there is nothing on the .net for these damn beasts. Oh well, it's done and I hope to never see another one in my garage ever again.

That is the same feeling I had on that damned Dodge Caravan the first time, but add to it that it had 16 gallons of fuel that had to be drained first.... The 3rd one I did I got it down to under an hour....

[gull]

Worked on a friends VR6 Jetta Friday has it developed a failed coilpack the day before he has to drive out to Cali for a new job. Got to rest on Saturday and then today I changed out a fuel pump on a Chrysler Pacifica. I'd like to shoot the engineers at Chrysler for their design. Rather than cut out and put sealed panels in the floor board to you can access both fuel pumps (the stamping is there, so you know it was part of the original design) they said the hell it with. Instead, you have to drop the exhaust system and then drop & pull the fuel tank all the way out from under the vehicle.

Chevy Malibu is the same way. I actually pulled the back seat out looking for the access panel I was so sure must be there.

[Calimus]

And folks wonder why I hate working on domestics.

[gull]

The one good thing I'll say about the Malibu is it had a really nice brake caliper design. If you were just changing pads, you could undo one bolt and swivel the whole caliper up away from the rotor, leaving the bracket in place.

[Briano1234]

Well, daughter curbed her Honda, 2 tires and a beating of the rim. Replace the burned resonator with a straight pipe, all is quiet and car runs nice.
Take Blue cabby in for a re-balancing of the tires and a rotation, then alignment.... They can't align it unless the steering rack is replaced... Go to look, and it is wiggling left and right,...

Have the tech wiggle the tire while I watch and it isn't even getting to the rack.... Tie-Rod needs to be replaced as I can see it wiggle there and I suggest that the wheel/axle nut be checked..."No it is the Rack"..See the play... he says, show him that the rack isn't moving and he still swears that it is the rack.. Assholes..My son comes out to look, and tells the tech, if my dad says it is the tie-rod, and or the axle nut...it is... The tech look at my son like yeah right.... Then the Service manager comes out and says... Well if the tech says it is the steering rack, I have to go by his opinion....

I said I know..You have to stand behind your guys, Chris says, my dad has been working on cars since he was about 10 years old, and driving VW for 30 years..you can't bs him....

So today I go out, and yep, the axle nut came loose... I could tighten it with a 18 inch breaker bar and my hand.....

So probably next week I will change the tie-rod and get it re-aligned,...The tech also told me that the camber was out, and that I needed to change the strut and ball joint as the Camber isn't adjustable.... Ok, I am farging stupid.. I don't know that there is a Camber adjuster on the strut...silly me for thinking that there is.... I am sure glad that I am not a Car-Stupid person...Other wise I would of had to "believe them" and shell out for Struts, ball joint and power steering rack...

I might even replace the wheel bearings.........for grins and giggles.

[Calimus]

Wow, you really found an idiot. As far as the axle nut, I've found that once they back off, they will continue to do so even with locktite. The locktite keeps it in place longer, but eventually it will let loose.

Did a perimeter check of the house this morning, everything seems to still be here. Had 2 nasty cells go right over the house last night, but high winds and rain is all we got thankfully.

[Briano1234]

Wow, you really found an idiot. As far as the axle nut, I've found that once they back off, they will continue to do so even with locktite. The locktite keeps it in place longer, but eventually it will let loose.

Did a perimeter check of the house this morning, everything seems to still be here. Had 2 nasty cells go right over the house last night, but high winds and rain is all we got thankfully.

I fell asleep at 8:30, and a 9:30 the son wakes me up and says the Sirens are going off what should we do.... I said what does the TV say... Well mom doesn't want to look....she was watching her shows...... WTF.. Get up and see that the storm was hitting Suwanee, and on channel 11 they were talking about Debris in the air...
Drive up and verify that the Daughters APT is still there.... Once I saw that "Duluth" was to be spared, I went back to sleep......

Glad all is well in C'ville.... Looks like Paulding took a hit....

[Calimus]

Yea, paulding did take a hit. We have a campus there, but since I can still see all the equipment on my monitors, I'd say it's still in tact.

[84Vert]

Glad everyone is ok

[gull]

Wow, you really found an idiot. As far as the axle nut, I've found that once they back off, they will continue to do so even with locktite. The locktite keeps it in place longer, but eventually it will let loose.

If it keeps working loose you should check the splines for damage. A loose axle nut can let them move relative to each other and wear each other down over time...pretty soon they're a slightly loose fit and the relative motion when you accelerate and decelerate can work the axle nut loose. In extreme cases you may hear a click when you accelerate from a stop.

[84Vert]

I remember a DIY guide for uping your alternator from a 65 amp to a 90 amp but for the life of me I cannot find it, any help would be appreciated.

[Briano1234]

I remember a DIY guide for uping your alternator from a 65 amp to a 90 amp but for the life of me I cannot find it, any help would be appreciated.

You go buy one for a 90ish.

[84Vert]

Thanks Brian. My son was at a junk yard yesterday and he got me the alternator, distributor, coil, wiring harness, all the relays and some other items from an 88 for under $100. So I will switch the harness which I needed to do anyway since most of my connectors are all dry and broken