Wrenchin... Adventures under the hood... Put em here.

[singlesline]

What's a "CD player?"

My wife's 2019 that we bought a few years ago has a CD player tucked into the glovebox. Was an amusing surprise.

My CDs are mostly long gone, but she found a bigass binder with a bunch of "real" and mix/burned CDs at her mom's house and it is fun occasionally stick a random one in and remember the early 2000s.

[El Chupacabra]

Our 98 Tahoe started hemorrhaging coolant yesterday. Luckily I’ve pinpointed the leak to the heater bypass valve area but can’t tell if it’s a hose or the valve itself.

Anyone know if those valves were a common point of failure? It’s a cheap part so probably replace it anyway, just wondering.


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The connection at the firewall is a common point of failure. Replacement is cheap and easy. There's a metal replacement that's supposed to hold up better - Dorman, perhaps? Can't remember.

[motopsycha]

I decided to tackle the oil pan gasket on my 128i this weekend. It has had seepage for years and I thought it would be nice to have things stay a bit cleaner down below. Overall the job has went well but there have been a few interesting items

dropped the pan and found a sheared bolt head in the pan. More than a bit concerned at first but after some research this appears to be a thing on n52 engines.

I also discovered that my car has a rare manual transmission/ aluminum oil pan combo. This meant the bolt kit I bought doesn’t have all the right length bolts. I had to reuse 3 weird medium length bolts that go from the transmission to the pan. I spent a fair bit of time looking into this before hand and was certain I had bought the right kit. The alternative bolt kit for a steel pan wasn’t close.

It is all buttoned up now and i am just waiting and hoping I don’t also have a rear main leak.


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[snowaddict91]

Did front brakes, sway bar bushings/links, and rear diff service on the F150 last week. I've been pretty burned out on wrenching the last year or so and have been neglecting the fleet so it felt good to get back to it.

The sway bar was a seized up PITA till I said fuck it and took the sawzall to the links. Could have done that sooner and saved 30 minutes of knuckle busting.

[Todd Zander]

Did front brakes, sway bar bushings/links, and rear diff service on the F150 last week. I've been pretty burned out on wrenching the last year or so and have been neglecting the fleet so it felt good to get back to it.

The sway bar was a seized up PITA till I said fuck it and took the sawzall to the links. Could have done that sooner and saved 30 minutes of knuckle busting.

What year? Im about to put some bigger sways on my 2013.

[El Chupacabra]

More fun times with the old Sierra: trying to track down a vibration that occurs at 45-60 mph; nothing lower than 45 mph, pretty much gone by 65 mph.

Tires are new, stock size highway tread on stock wheels, road force balanced -- back to the tire shop a couple times, as that was my first guess at the vibration cause. Vibration was there with the old tires too, which were an AT tread.

Truck is stock height, not lifted or lowered. No leveling kit, no torsion bar cranking.

The rest of the new or nearly-new (within 8000 miles) parts that have anything to do with suspension or drivetrain: all shocks, steering stabilizer, complete front end rebuild (complete upper control arms w/ ball joints, replaced lower ball joints, complete inner + outer tie rods, pitman arm, idler arm + bracket), alignment, all U-joints in front and rear driveshafts, both front hub assemblies. Play (lash) in the front and rear differentials seems reasonable, ditto for the transfer case.

About the only rotating part left is the front CV axles, which felt a little rough when I did the front end rebuild, but they didn't seem all that bad in my hands. If I pull on the CV axle center section by hand, I can get the driver's side to move a bit up/down (relative to the ground). Boots aren't cracked, no leaking grease. No clicking sounds when driving + turning. I suspect they may be original -- 200K miles and 20 years ago.

Any guesses at diagnosis other than the CV axles?

[4matic]

Bent wheels? Try to find somebody to swap with.

[gravitylover]

Hub/Wheel interface is clean with no corrosion? Specific speed vibrations usually lead back to a tire thing IME but since it was the same before, that's out.

[The Reverend Floater]

Threw in a new motor on Saturday. Spent Sunday in a panty storm.

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[Mazderati]

CVs seem like something good to check based on that background. Carrier bearing replaced with the u-joints? Rubber on the harmonic balancer in good shape?

[tuco]

Motor and/or transmission mounts?

[lifelinksplit]

Threw in a new motor on Saturday. Spent Sunday in a panty storm.

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Tell me more! LS swap? I remember when the 4.3 vortec was a big thing. Looks too new for a FJ60ish.

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[Buzzworthy]

Part of game with a 14 year old truck. Small plastic piece breaks. Does this cost me $800 to replace because I feel like it does.



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[The Reverend Floater]

Part of game with a 14 year old truck. Small plastic piece breaks. Does this cost me $800 to replace because I feel like it does.



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Get the part number from Toyota. Get the part on eBay. I'm guessing $10.

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[The Reverend Floater]

Tell me more! LS swap? I remember when the 4.3 vortec was a big thing. Looks too new for a FJ60ish.

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Yes sir. And to be clear, no way in hell do I have the time nor talent to pull off something of this scope. This had been sitting dead next to my shop for over 4 years...I had done battle with a PO-installed junkyard 5.3 and have been all up in that thing on several occasions before finally losing steam after our second daughter was born. Thought about selling it, almost did, but I just couldn't. I had put a lot of time into the body, interior and drivetrain battles and also a lot of money over the years.

Fortunately, there's a small shop in Twin Falls, Idaho that happens to be one of the foremost experts in performance GM motors and conversions. This brand new 6.2L L8 conversion was a "snoozer" because I was adamant about keeping it stock, reliable and under warranty. They do a ton of suped up stuff, from quarter mile hot rods to Baja chase trucks, so this wasn't all that exciting to them.

They did a simply unbelievable job, seeing as this truck was a seriously Frankensteined mess before they got ahold of it. New motor and "built" 4L65E, twin-stick T case, cooling system, fuel lines and wiring. And... working AC? Luxurious!! Everything is super clean, tight and very simple which is exactly what I wanted. No frills, just proven components and solid work.

The wife is stoked because I put a bunch of money back in the bank by selling our 200 to finance the project and the kids absolutely love it. 8 y/o calls it Wasabi and the 4 year old prefers Booger. And 450 foot lbs of torque makes me feel hard again!

Midlife crisis achieved.

Now back to the actual mechanical adventures. Carry on.

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[Norseman]

sweet, Rev.

[Touring_Sedan]

Part of game with a 14 year old truck. Small plastic piece breaks. Does this cost me $800 to replace because I feel like it does.



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Meh. Not too bad.

[El Chupacabra]

Bent wheels? Try to find somebody to swap with.

Hub/Wheel interface is clean with no corrosion? Specific speed vibrations usually lead back to a tire thing IME but since it was the same before, that's out.

CVs seem like something good to check based on that background. Carrier bearing replaced with the u-joints? Rubber on the harmonic balancer in good shape?

Motor and/or transmission mounts?

If I swap wheels front /rear, no change. Tire shop (Discount Tire) road force machine should also tell whether there's a bent wheel, and they didn't.

Hub/wheel interface is clean. Nevada truck, minimal corrosion. Front hubs are new, zero corrosion there.

No driveshaft carrier bearing, it's a one piece shaft. I kinda doubt harmonic balancer on the engine, as vibration is not RPM dependent, but rather road speed dependent. (If I downshift to force RPM higher and maintain same speed, vibration doesn't change.)

I haven't replaced motor or transmission mounts - - I looked at them, motor mounts look decent (no unusual spacing between motor and anything else), transmission mount has minor cracking visible, but doesn't move much when I pry on it.

Anyone know if CV axles should have much (any?) play if you grab the exposed shaft and pull on it, while installed in the vehicle?

[Touring_Sedan]

If I swap wheels front /rear, no change. Tire shop (Discount Tire) road force machine should also tell whether there's a bent wheel, and they didn't.

Hub/wheel interface is clean. Nevada truck, minimal corrosion. Front hubs are new, zero corrosion there.

No driveshaft carrier bearing, it's a one piece shaft. I kinda doubt harmonic balancer on the engine, as vibration is not RPM dependent, but rather road speed dependent. (If I downshift to force RPM higher and maintain same speed, vibration doesn't change.)

I haven't replaced motor or transmission mounts - - I looked at them, motor mounts look decent (no unusual spacing between motor and anything else), transmission mount has minor cracking visible, but doesn't move much when I pry on it.

Anyone know if CV axles should have much (any?) play if you grab the exposed shaft and pull on it, while installed in the vehicle?

Pull the rear driveshaft, run it in 4WD/Front Wheel Drive, see if it's the shaft.

You say it's speed dependent, is it also torque dependent?

[Mazderati]

My only experience with CV axles is with a Honda product. Minimal play was allowable in that application.

Something else to consider is just because it's new doesn't mean it's good.

[El Chupacabra]

Pull the rear driveshaft, run it in 4WD/Front Wheel Drive, see if it's the shaft.

You say it's speed dependent, is it also torque dependent?

If I do that, I'll blow up the transfer case once all the fluid spews out. The transfer case has a splined stub, driveshaft slides into the case, fluid is contained by a seal around the driveshaft yoke. It's the same for the front driveshaft, which I can rule out as a source of this vibration because the front driveshaft doesn't turn when in 2WD. (Can rotate it freely by hand under the truck.)

I didn't notice any difference in vibration this weekend, with a bed full of water and camp stuff, a travel trailer attached behind, and towing in tow/haul mode. I considered if it was possibly torque converter related, but I don't know how to diagnose that - - transmission fluid looks and smells fine, vibration doesn't change if I shift into neutral when it's vibrating.

My only experience with CV axles is with a Honda product. Minimal play was allowable in that application.

Something else to consider is just because it's new doesn't mean it's good.

Think maybe I got a defective hub? Guess it's possible. No play, grinding noises, or change in vibration when turning - - mostly able to check turning when on a curved highway on ramp, so it's a right hand turn only that I'm able to check at 45mph +.

[Mazderati]

I would just keep that in mind if all other avenues are exhausted. Chassis ears could help narrow the area of interest. Not sure if something like that is rented. Getting it on a lift and taking it to 45 MPH to see if anything is obvious could easily be sketchy but something else to consider.

[El Chupacabra]

I would just keep that in mind if all other avenues are exhausted. Chassis ears could help narrow the area of interest. Not sure if something like that is rented. Getting it on a lift and taking it to 45 MPH to see if anything is obvious could easily be sketchy but something else to consider.

I'd considered putting it up on jack stands and having Mrs C "drive" it up to speed -- did that awhile ago with a XJ Cherokee to diagnose a wheel hub, but that was easy to keep the suspension all at ride height by putting jack stands under the solid axles. The IFS truck would be a lot sketchier trying to support the front wheels at ride height and get it up to speed in 4WD...

I may just fire the ol' parts cannon at the truck and replace the CV axles. They may well be original: 20 years old and 200K miles. At least I'd know they were new -- it'd be about $150 for the pair, Cardone brand.

[highangle]

Threw in a new motor on Saturday. Spent Sunday in a panty storm.

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'This not chore nor challenge - this opportunity.' fkna!

[highangle]

I'd considered putting it up on jack stands and having Mrs C "drive" it up to speed -- did that awhile ago with a XJ Cherokee to diagnose a wheel hub, but that was easy to keep the suspension all at ride height by putting jack stands under the solid axles. The IFS truck would be a lot sketchier trying to support the front wheels at ride height and get it up to speed in 4WD...

I may just fire the ol' parts cannon at the truck and replace the CV axles. They may well be original: 20 years old and 200K miles. At least I'd know they were new -- it'd be about $150 for the pair, Cardone brand.

Chupie do it got ball jernts? Because your vibration saga sounds like ball jernts, or some other slop-inducing problem with the way wheels point in the Y , or lean in the Z plane?