The past week in Car repair

[gull]

1994 Honda, new Battery, and Radiator, then a set of plugs and gas as "E" don't mean enough.

Reminds me of how I once ran out of gas in my '94 Civic in my own driveway. The gauge was reading 1/8 tank, and had been for some time. (Ooops.) The previous owner had run over some trash on the road and dented in the bottom of the tank, which I suspect kept the float from reaching the 'E' level.

[Briano1234]

Got a call from Baby Daughter,,,, The car is on FIRE.............................................. Well it was steam from the radiator.
Drive there to repair, and the heater valve fell apart, literally came apart on the glue line.

Will have to get one from Napa tomorrow. Have full time heat with a by-pass hose.

[Briano1234]

Well changed the heater valve. Changed the drivers side water outlet flange to metal. Changed the water outlet hose that runs to the butt connector of the heater core hose, and found that the butt connector was cracked and weak, so I replaced that too.

On a Bright note I see in my future a 2001 VW Passat 2.8L V6 timing belt change..... But on a even brighter note I will have a Cam locking bar and Crank pin for those that may need to borrow one in a few weeks.....

[Calimus]

I think I might take you up on the offer to borrow that cam locking bar when my time comes to do the A6. I was going to do it without it, but if there is one available, I'd be a damned fool not to beg if I can borrow.

[gull]

Fun! I'm due to do one on a Honda Civic...fun part will be getting the crank bolt loose. Torque spec is 120 lb-ft but they've been shown to require upwards of 300 lb-ft to break loose...

[Briano1234]

Fun! I'm due to do one on a Honda Civic...fun part will be getting the crank bolt loose. Torque spec is 120 lb-ft but they've been shown to require upwards of 300 lb-ft to break loose...

Get a Breaker bar, and the proper socket.
Jam The Breaker bar handle on the floor.
Key in, Ignition to the Start, and a quick ump should do nicely.

[gull]

Get a Breaker bar, and the proper socket.
Jam The Breaker bar handle on the floor.
Key in, Ignition to the Start, and a quick ump should do nicely.

That may work on VWs, but it won't in this case. The engine spins counter-clockwise on a Civic, so that just tightens the bolt more.

I've got the proper pulley counter-hold tool, so I think I'll be okay. I'm still going to make sure I can break the bolt loose before I get carried away with the other disassembly work.

[Calimus]

Ok, I'll say it. F**k Audi and their damned plastic locking connectors they use on their coolant hoses. One of my heater core hoses has been leaking on the A6 for a while now and at $17 a liter for G12 coolant, it was time to replace the hose since I was able to get one ordered in. Swapped it out today (even spoke with Brian right after I got back from test driving it) and things were looking good.

Let the car sit for about 30min while I cleaned up then figured I'd take the wife for some coffee. Made a quick stop to get some Excedrin and was happy when I didn't see a small lake under the car as I backed out of the space. Get back on the main road, get about a block down and as I stop at the light, there is smoke everywhere. I thought I blew a turbo as it seemed to be coming from everywhere except from where you would expect a coolant explosion. Got to the local Home Depot parking lot and watch all my expensive coolant drain out. Shove my hand back were that hose is and damnit all if it didn't pop right the hell off.

Gave my dad a call since my folks live in the area and he came out and we made a run to my house for tools and more expensive ass coolant. Took both of us several tries to get that hose back on (I swear, audi made a deal with something worse than the devil to come up with these damn connectors) and I think we finally got it. Filled the system up which used all the coolant I had left (1 liter of concentrate makes 3 proper mix liters) and fired it up. Let her idle and burp for a bit then slammed the hood and made a b-line for home. Got back without incident but now I'm just second guessing that damn hose connector. I'll have to make a few trips real close to the house tomorrow to see what happens.

What kills me is that when I took it for the initial test run, I flogged the hell out of the car enough to brake traction with all 4 wheels . Only to have things blow up when I'm driving like a 80 year old retiree with nothing but time.

[Briano1234]

Well maybe I wasn't too off the mark in having that timing belt farmed out... Those radiator hoses baffle the shit outta me.....

I hope the Irish touch didn't come over the phone.... as it was a cell call.

[Calimus]

Nah, it wasn't the Irish touch, unless it's mutated and become air borne

[Briano1234]

Yesterday before my Daughter took her car back, I saw the volt gauge on the console was reading funny, so i checked it at 13.74 on the battery.... ok, gauge flaky...

Today I get a call that my battery light is on.
Ok, drive it over.
I figured that it threw the belt. No belt is fine, it is reading battery voltage and decreasing...

Go fetch new Alternator (LLW) gotta love it, and had it back on in 10 minutes, took me longer to get the warranty and have new one tested than the R&R.

[Calimus]

Damn Brian, I think you did transmit some Irish luck over the phone. The hose on the a6 popped off again. I tried to get it back on for a few hours yesterday then got smart. Pulled the old new hose out and did what I should have done in the first place. I compared the connectors. Sure enough, the new hose connector is a hair smaller in diameter and it's a hair more shallow. Was just getting ready to kick my own ass, when I had an idea. Pulled the o-ring out of both and compared them, they were identical. Swapped them out and the old hose went into it's locked position with just a good shove. Filled the system and fired the car up.

I did get a few drips after the car had been idling for a bit but I had put some lube on the hard line so I figure that might have let is get by a bit. Cut the car off and only got a few more drips and then nothing. Before with the old hose, the leak happened well after I shut the car off. So, I'm going to keep an eye on this and see if the new oring will swell up a bit and seal things up. About to take it for a test drive today and see what happens.

[Briano1234]

Damn Brian, I think you did transmit some Irish luck over the phone.

SORRY!!!!!!!!!!!

[Calimus]

No need to say sorry. I think that kinda luck just likes to hop from one poor SOB to the next. Though I'd have to say, you sir have had more than your fair share.

[Briano1234]

but on a good note, I got my daughters hand me down broken Mac book pro 17" running,,, and it looks like new...Now I have to find the os disks under the house somewhere to do a cold install. I need to reclaim disk space and tidy it up. But all in all I am learning Macs, and that is a good thing.