Hello Autopian members and welcome to another Wrenching Wednesday! As I type this, Illinois’ weather is quite crummy. Lately, we’ve been getting hammered by severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, and snow, sometimes literally a day after each other. This has been hampering my spring plans. Last year, I took my first swim of year in a lake on March 17. This year, the lakes are still far too cold and the calendar is already climbing through April. The weather has also put a hard stop to my wrenching. I don’t know what it is, but this season I’m not finding myself willing to work in the snow and rain, so I have a lot of stuff sitting around waiting to be finished. Let’s talk about those projects that you’ve been ignoring!
Last year, I announced that I was going to bring a 1972 Yamaha U7E motorbike back to life. You’re probably wondering what happened to the little scoot. A few things have happened! The first is that I asked Yamaha for exact production numbers and unfortunately, the marque does not know. So, it’s rare, but not even Yamaha knows just how rare it is.
Something else happened, and it’s super annoying. I took a bunch of pictures showing progress in my restoration, then I switched from iPhone to Android.
Usually, I start my new phones fresh, but for the first time ever, I decided to let the cell phone store transfer my data. When the transfer was supposedly complete, the store gave me my new phone and asked me to check to make sure my pictures were there. I scrolled through maybe 500 pictures and concluded everything was there. Well, I should have scrolled further because exactly 556 of over 2,000 photos were transferred over. The pictures of my progress on the Yamaha didn’t make the cut. Crap.
So, I’m going to do something silly and I’m going to undo some of the work just to take pictures of everything again. The good news is that I was able to save the motorbike’s carburetor.
I stole my wife’s coffee cup, filled it up with carburetor cleaning juice, planted the carb in there, then placed my concoction under the bathroom sink. I let sit for two days before remembering it was in there. Upon removal from the cup, the carb still had some crusty residue in it. A motorcycle-wrenching friend told me that I could get rid of it using some manual cleaning and some acetone. I scrubbed the carb down using a toothbrush that I found under my bed then put it back into the cup, this time with a huge puddle of acetone. Fast-forward two more days and the carb came out of the other end looking new!
Admittedly, that was several months ago. It was so long ago that the carb now has dust around it. All I have to do now is clean the motorcycle’s tank, install the carb, and run new fuel lines. It should then start and run for the first time in nearly a decade. It’s something that I will get done this spring.
Some of you are also probably wondering about my U-Haul CT13 camper.
As of right now, it’s sitting and waiting for an opening at a local shop. A local dealership service department says that they can fix the camper’s wiring without cutting into the fiberglass. See, U-Hauls feature double-walled fiberglass bodies and the wiring? Yeah, it’s between the layers. I could fix the wiring myself if I cut holes in the fiberglass, but I think the camper deserves better than that. Unfortunately, it seems fixing the glut of broken new campers takes priority over projects like mine.
Perhaps, while I wait I’ll fix the hole in the fiberglass myself! The good news here is that it’s not deteriorating. I check on it regularly and it’s still leak-free and still holding together.
Alright, so those are the projects that I have sitting around that I haven’t touched in many months. How about you? What do you have going on out there?
I GOT MY NEW CLUTCH LINE!!! Hopefully that fixes the “why does my pedal go to the floor?” issue in the 944 for once and for all, and I can finish putting my parsh back together. I’ve missed my garbage parsh son so much. It’d be cool to make it to Radwood, but yeah. Baby steps. Small bits. I’m not going to get my hopes up again until that dang car is driving around.
I’ve been hurting a lot lately, though. My stupid back just…hurts. My shoulders are tight. I usually don’t have many issues crawling around cars and such at my side (…only at the moment) job, but ever since trying to thrash the 944 together for the Lemons Rally, I seem to have irritated the nerve that makes my hand go numb and made everything around it lock up all the time. That’s always been an expensive problem to deal with in the past, and I haven’t been able to deal with it…or get much work done, because I hurt. So, yeah—I’m kinda stuck, and going way slower than expected. Between constant pain and everything else (not) going on in my life, I kinda wonder if this is how pets feel when they’re waiting to get put down. I whine a lot and need an annoying amount of help with basic tasks, like opening jars of mayo and loosening bolts. Everything is terrible!
Hopefully I’ll at least have the 944 back soon, though. The to-do list is basically: 1. Install new clutch line. 2. Install starter, exhaust and other loose bits leftover from Clutch-A-Palooza. 3. Refill clutch/brake hydraulic system with fresh fluid, yummy! 4. Install seat and harness. 5. Send it, and see what else is still broken.
Best of all, farting around in a car with a six-point harness usually irritates my shoulders the least—both are hypermobile/double-jointed, so it gets knotted up in dumb ways—because it forces both to stay down against the seat back.
As for the other cars, the Lancer needs a half-shaft rebuilt soon, but was fun enough for a couple slow, luggage-filled counter-clockwise laps after the Lemons Rally that I’m starting to wonder if that’s the more fun direction after Turn 7 was reconfigured. I have no idea what I’m doing anymore in either direction, though. Matt would probably beat me at Rental Car Deathmatch if there was a rematch today. I suck at driving now. (THAT’S WHY I NEED THE 944 BACK!!! Trackdays, bro. Plural. I need instruction.)
The 411 is…well, it’s the 411. It’s up for inspection this month, which here is basically a shop going “ugh, what is this pile?” and waving you through if the blinkers work. It needs a new horn, though, so that’s on the imminent to-do list, too. It really needs new bushings all around, too, but that’s a “acquire Delrin and make your own” kinda thing.
Hey, as someone who has been … underemployed for the last bit have you looked into Medicaid? It’s no joke the best health insurance I’ve ever had, and I’ve had good insurance
I have okayish insurance through the open marketplace, but even then, goshdarnit if anything physical therapy-related still ends up being expensive. That’s probably what it’d end up being, anyway.
Oof, body-type issues (human, not auto) always suck. Hang in there, Stef. It’s great to see you on here!
I daily a 2010 KIA Rio, last week on way to work, engine stumbled, tach zeroed, but engine kept running with NO CEL! Service tech found bad crank position sensor some 400 dollars later. Seems OK now, 30 MPG sure beats wifes 19 MPG Exploder when running 475 miles per week. Also have T-100 at 440000 miles that needs valve job, and 1979 Renault 5 that has become a real barn find. Can use thoughts & prayers.
As a fellow 2010 car owner, I’m jealous of your no-CEL find. Nice work.
(The ’10 Lancer I’ve got has a CEL that no longer cycles off after a while. Grumble.)
Mustang’s sorted – mechanically. Headliner is still untrustworthy, T-top seals still whistle, front speakers are woefully inadequate, and the climate control cluster is still broken behind the dash. While I can compensate by pulling on the levers as I change vents or temp, I’d like to either replace that entirely, or figure out a way to fix it.
Volvo needs an oil change, and a new exhaust valve control solenoid.
Bullet needs a new rear tire and some jetting changes. Cables probably need some lube, and if I’m going to go on a tangent: I really want to get those Doherty pattern controls and right side shift kit this year.
Weather needs to warm the hell up first.
I’ve been driving a ’95 Wrangler w/ a non-functioning horn for 3 years (not a DD), and could never bring myself to spend the $50 on an aftermarket Amazon horn. I found a 150db horn at a “Bin Store” for $3, so I finally pulled the trigger. Wired it up yesterday only to find the easiest part a huge challenge: where to mount the button? I have a few blank locations, but the plastic was old and brittle. I ended up cutting up an old license plate and drilling holes for the horn and radiator fan switch. Done!
Ha, that was our solution for the 944’s switch panel, too. It works great!
There is air trapped in the brake lines of the RX8 from a leak a few months ago. I repaired the leak but I haven’t had someone around to press the pedal to bleed it yet, I haven’t been able to successfully do it myself completely, and the right speed bleeders are backordered for another month… So I’ve been putting it off.
As for the RX7, I’ve confirmed the current draw when the car is off and alarm is not active is only about 22 mA, which should be nowhere near enough time to drain the battery over a week or so, so it’s time to tackle the voltage drop issue between engineer writing and interior and hope that’s preventing the alternator from fully charging the battery somehow. That one is mentally harder since I know it’ll involve breaking interior plastics to get to plus etc, plus it requires the engine to be running, it’s parked in the garage, and I only ever seen to have wrenching time after the kids get to sleep.
Nothing on the CL350, still deciding what I want to do there but the cars and all the other projects take precedence
Jeep issues.
So on a mild day last week I drove a little farther than usual and it started to overheat at a stoplight. I looked down at the dash and I had the AC on, so I turned it off. Temp dropped slightly and then the light changed and I was able to get moving and the temp went back down to normal.
Now I’ve got to figure out what the problem is.
The background is the entire cooling system is new. I replaced everything in front of the engine in September. Coolant is new and minty-fresh. No leaks. Oil is perfect.
The fan clutch appears to be working OK. I tested it to see how quickly it stops spinning when I turn off the engine, and it takes a couple seconds. I can turn it with one finger but it doesn’t spin freely. That’s kind of middle-of-the-road results.
The radiator is Autozone, and jeepers tell me that if I didn’t put in a real Mopar rad, it’s crrrrrrap. That might be the solution.
Sounds like the radiator isn’t the issue, it’s airflow at low speeds. Since your fan clutch sounds marginal already, I’d start with replacing that and making sure to plug any holes in the shroud or between the shroud and the radiator. Adhesive foam window insulation is great for this.
The water pump I put in was a pump + fan clutch single unit. I’ve also been told that I need a “reverse direction” fan clutch. Any idea if I can just replace the fan clutch, or should I replace both parts?
I delayed but finally got around to changing the head gasket on my riding mower. I carefully buttoned everything back up, turned the key, and it backfired and now won’t even crank. I think I botched the valve adjustment. Now I’ll be putting off mowing.
Today my wife and I rebuilt the rear drive shaft of the Jeep in the parking lot of our hotel in Moab using nothing but simple hand tools. U-joints are a PITA when you can do them at home with the right tools, being 900 miles from home you just gotta suck it up and make it happen.
1997 ZJ: My new headlight bulbs should be arriving tomorrow; since this involves replacing cable ties, I’ll save that for this weekend. I will continue to ignore the driver’s side rear window, which has slipped off the regulator again (although I did learn enough from that incident that I now carefully check the other windows at least once per month). Oh yeah, something in the exhaust system is rattling loud enough now to be noticeable while idling; it shouldn’t be the cat, since that was replaced a couple of years ago, but I’m wondering if it released debris that got stuck somewhere else.
Here goes.
1971 deVille: Just pulled it out of storage last Sunday, as I needed to move it in order to help some renters install a garage fridge (they rent the house, but not the garage stalls). I think the power steering pump is shot. Really needs shocks and just the entire front-end rebuilt as well.
1994 Fleetwood: Coming up on an oil change and could use a good interior detail after our last family road trip. Was the recipient of new valve cover gaskets and new oil-cooler lines a few weeks ago, just before said road trip.
1995 Escort: Wife’s in-town car that she refuses to get rid of. Needs a head gasket along with the head-surface planed. Once that’s done and sorted, I’ll be comfortable replacing the ancient tires.
1999 F-250: Needs plugs, a muffler, a possible coil-pack or two, an oil change, and the automatic column-shifter is really loose. Need to get on this one soon as it’s getting warm outside and I’m going to need to use it more often.
2003 Chevy Trailblazer: New addition to the fleet! I’m not sure what this is going to all need besides fluids, a battery, and some general TLC, but it’s currently low on power even though the 4.2 Vortec I6 starts and idles nicely. Code-reader says a coil pack is bad along with some emissions-related issue. It hadn’t been driven for awhile and I traded six months of rent-credit for it to an individual who’s going through a rough patch and was getting quite a ways behind. This deal avoids an eviction and gives him a three month cushion instead. If I can get it running okay and sorted out, wife says she might like it to be her new car.
2012 Volt: Long overdue replacement of a wheel speed sensor and left front hub-bearing assembly needed. I have the parts, just need to set aside the time. Also could use a good overall detail including some paint-correction.
2014 Spark: Just replaced the tires, and have a few hundred miles to go before its next oil change. Also needs wiper blades replaced and a good interior detail.
Fleet maintenance! Hoping to cross a couple of things off the list this weekend. Or, at least get to those wiper blades.
Excellent fleet.
Thanks! I have a few others scattered about as well, but those are the ones currently on the “active” list.
As soon as some bills are paid, I’m planning on swapping my 500 Abarth to coilovers–the previous owner put lowering springs on the front and I think they’re causing some accelerated wear on some of the strut parts
Soon we get the Mini out of storage. Then I get to dig into basic maintenance things. Oil change, check the brakes, that sorta stuff.
I just bought a 1978 Fiat 124 Spider. Put new tires on it because it had the originals. Now need to figure best way safely jack it up and suspend it for a year or so while i work on it. Can’t do that 3 inches of the floor work anymore.
GREAT purchase.
I am not ignoring it any longer, but replacing two o-rings at the drier was all I needed to get working A/C in the RX-7 again.
Decided to part with my ’77 Corvette but I still haven’t addressed the hand brake no workee issue. Looks like the parts have been replaced but maybe not adjusted correctly. To make matters worse/better I just acquired a Quickjack from a buddy so now I have no excuses to not get her in the air and start the wrenching.
Once that is done I will probably put her up on BaT.
Maybe one of you wise people can help me out.
The (hated) plastic cladding on my 2008 XC70 is separating from the door at its top edge. I want to glue it back into place.
Can you suggest the right adhesive?
And how the heck can I clamp it in place to cure?
Thank you in advance for your suggestions.
I use Amazing Goop! In my experience, once the adhesive cures the part will be holding on better than factory. So, best not to use it on a part that you plan on removing at any part in the future.
As for clamping, if it’s the top edge of the door, perhaps something like a vise grip will work? You can also pick up C-clamps from your local hardware store or Meijer for pretty cheap.
https://eclecticproducts.com/product/amazing-goop-automotive/
Thank you, Mercedes. That didn’t take long!
Some good masking tape can do the job as well.
Not sure if this helps but on the vehicross they remove it, clean it use double sided tape to hold it during curing.
Thanks, I appreciate the advice.
The 02 WRX wagon has sat for three years; after a complete new exhaust and a celebratory commute to work, it started blowing smoke underhood. As it was sleeting and January, I had it towed home and it sat because I have, uh, 9 other cars. A year and a half ago something electrical went bad and it won’t crank now. I set a June 15 deadline; if I don’t fix it, it has to go.
The ’69 Dodge Coronet that needs almost everything comes out of winter storage soon, and my goal is to actually drive it more than 200 miles this year.
81 Grand Prix with ’72 Pontiac 400 needs a carb rebuild when it gets set free from storage, and I’d love to put a cam in it.
And the assorted dailies, beaters, and Cars Of Mah Wive will need random stuff too.
Your story actually gives me some relief. I still feel super bad for letting one of my Smarts sit for two years. But stories like yours remind me that this stuff does happen.
What happens when you try cranking the Subie? When my Smart wouldn’t start, I discovered that a fuse wired in-line with the starter blew, even though it looked physically ok.
The Subie is nothing; the Dodge sat six years before I resurrected it once.
The relay clicks but the starter won’t engage. Unfortunately I think it may be the immobilizer. I just need to give it a good day of troubleshooting.
Great goal for the Coronet. I did something similar with my ’66 Biscayne a few years back – just get it from a yard-driver to good-enough condition to drive to a car show 50 miles away. I was successful in doing that, and have since racked up over 7,000 more miles on it.
I sure hope that coffee cup was not one of her favorites, otherwise you are in La Casa del Fido. Speaking as someone who’s been married a long time, I mean that with all seriousness.
I’m not doing the work, but finally getting a few mechanical items straightened out on the Jaguar by a local specialist. It drove beautifully up to LA and back over the weekend, but now it’s back with the mechanic getting two much-needed new shocks installed up front.
A big deferred set of maintenance items is a bunch of struts. My Suburban and my son’s Civic both need two on the rear hatch, and my wife’s SUV and daughter-in-law’s truck need hood struts. I’ve been telling my son we should order them all at once and have a strut replacement party.
Thankfully, it was a cup just sitting in the kitchen that had never been used! She tends to get Dunkin or tea, so our many coffee cups sit around doing nothing.
Now that it’s a bit warmer, time to figure out the clunks in the front end of that Acadia.
I swear cars know when they’re being traded in.
I have four rebuilt brake calipers sitting on the workbench in the garage and a Saab 9-3 on jack stands taking up the rest of the garage. It’s now been sitting there for a month as I try to find time to work on it. At this point I could throw everything back together pretty quickly, including new braided steel lines and new rotors, but I want to paint the calipers first 😀 Fingers crossed, but I should be able to get this all stitched back up by the end of this weekend.
It’s been on the stands so long at this point that yesterday I decided to fire it up just to let the engine run for a while, so now I will also have to clear a bunch of codes once I get it back together 😛
Painting the parts before re-installing has over-extended quite a few garage projects of my own. It just seems like the thing to do if possible.
Yeah, I might as well do it now, it will only get more annoying to put them back on the car and *then* do the painting 😀
I save old toothbrushes for use in the shop. 🙂
Lately I’ve been waffling about the 1967 Yamaha project. There is evidence that the bike was at least partially submerged at some point, and the PO said there was no spark in the engine. I really need to remove the cover and see what condition the ignition is in: if it’s a corroded mess, I’ll pull the engine and ponder an electric conversion.
Actually I’m pondering an electric conversion anyway, leaving the tank, seat, oil tank, and side cover in place. The tank is already done, as are the chrome fenders, and the original seat looks fantastic.
Fun fact: the screw-on cap of the oil tank is labeled “MOTER OIL”. 🙂 I’ve looked for other ones that were misspelled the same way but have had no luck.
My truck is one giant green pile of deferred maintenance. It’s in dire need of an oil change, the cooling system needs a flush and I think it needs a new thermostat (it gets just a little too hot after warming up, before settling back down to operating temperature), and it needs a new wiper motor (on its way from RockAuto). And it probably needs some other stuff too.
It’s finally nice out in Toronto, so I changed the oil in the 325i last weekend, got it out of storage, and took it in for the PCV heater recall on Monday. Now to get around to throwing on the M3 control arms…
You jerk I’ve been looking at GL450s for a day now and I might pull the trigger depending on the next job.
In no particular order:
I need to swap the winter wheels and tires off the ’04 Cayenne S. Recently replaced the battery and crank position sensor, so it shouldn’t have issues starting any more.
I need to install the new front shocks and springs in the ’86 Defender 90. And do a filters and fluids change on it. Not going to deal with rust yet…
I need to put new front shocks and rear brake pads in the ’06 Mini Cooper S. Shocks are leaking a bit, but still functional?
I need an oil change on the ’22 Bronco Badlands. Just broken in at 900 miles total.
I need a tow hook cover for the ’18 BMW 430i, as it seems to have gone walkabout.
I have a 2003 Audi RS6 with 20k on it that I have been letting languish in my garage for three years now over a leaking diff seal, radiator, and CV boot. I am a sinner and need to repent!
Now that I’ve mentioned it here, I’m stuck doing something about it. Please hold me to it, lest I let that wonderful twin-turbo V8 corrode any more. Bad me. 🙁
do it
do it
do it