The Car Maintenance Thread

[jbartlett323]

So it aint a car, but to get this thread off insurance:

My 4th of July project was a '01 seadoo RX on the Lake of the Ozarks.
'02 and back have a horrible problem with the grey fuel line deteriorating on the inside and clogging your entire fuel system. Only fix is to replace the fuel lines. All of them. And remove the Carbs and clean the small filter inside. Well I did all that, and all went well, ~5hr job. Went to turn it over and do a quick compression check. CLICK. ugh. New battery, CLICK. ARGH!!! New solenoid, CLICK! OMG!!!!
So it looks like now it needs a new starter. Damn the luck! Will have to wait until my next vacation time, no riding this weekend... Point is though, sometimes maintenance gets you a whole lot more than you expect, and a whole lot less drinking time to go with it....

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Ahh yeah Sea Doos....I had one of their twin engine mini jetboats when they first came out, the 16' Speedster, pair of 80 hp engines. Those Rotax engines were fun. Hell..that boat was fun, no other boat could touch it in a 0-50 race. Did all the maintenance on that boat myself of course...and all my other boats, change lower units, water pumps, steering systems, etc.

 

[mr m]

Good advice. Also, don't overlook internet forums for your specific model or platform of vehicle.

Yeah, I found a link for a service manual for my truck on a forum. I just found the cause of a dim radio display in my wife's car from a forum. I never would have figured that one out.

 

[coffee]

Well, I want to continue this thread pertaining to my Evil Buick Lucerne. I call it evil because I ran into a snag with my ABS repair.

I was fortunate enought that my neighbor has a snapon diag machine and was able to locate were my ABS issue is. It seems that there is no signal coming from the right rear sensor. So, I ordered a Timken (sp?) hub bearing and got it in a few days ago and swapped it out. This made no difference. No signal coming from the right rear sensor.

Now, I should have taken some readings with my meter from the cable and old hub I guess before I ordered one. However, My neighbor convinced me that it was most likely the hub - so I bought one.

I was talking to my other neighbor that also works alot on cars and he said that it probably is a defective hub that I bought. He stated that alot of times you have to go thru a few to get a good one. Has anyone here found that to be the case?

I will be out at the car this morning in the cooler weather and take some readings off the new hub and the cable/connector as I should have in the first place.

Thanks!

Coffee

 

[zimtech]

Also consider an online subscription to Alldata. You don't need what the pros buy but they will sell you access for one particular vehicle. All the mechanics in my area subscribe.

Check your local library website. My local library has access to Alldata online for free. All it takes is my library card to get started. Works with any model and make.

I drive my wive's 2000 new beetle. Not the kind of car I would have picked, but the more I drive it the more I like it. (Its red, not black and white) She couldn't get anyone who would be willing to help her out with it so she always took it into the shop for even minor things. I was in that habit too. Anything beyond the wipers => Shop.

I will replace the headlights and tail lights myself since I have some that our bad right now right after I get done with my work week. There are some electrical problems I am going to troubleshoot that causes the light bubs to keep failing.

 

[jbartlett323]

So did you just change the Bearing? Or the entire hub? Are you sure the hub you put on was for ABS? Did the old one have a removable sensor? Link to the part you bought for posterity?

I'm not super experienced with ABS, outside of pulling the fuse and getting rid of that ****. But I can say that occasionally you can get other sensors that are DOA. However they are typically pretty well tested, and usually if anything goes wrong, its during installation. That being said, If its a Timken, I thought they only did bearings, and you may not have replaced the sensor at all?

 

[mr m]

Check your local library website. My local library has access to Alldata online for free. All it takes is my library card to get started. Works with any model and make.

I didn't know that, thanks!

 

[mr m]

Yeah, some models the sensor/hub is replaced as a unit but most let you just replace the sensor.

You can disconnect the sensor and Ohm it out and compare it to a new one or an existing sensor on another wheel.

Your next step is too check the wire from the sensor back. Pay attention to the connector and make sure the terminals are clean and corrosion free.

 

[coffee]

So did you just change the Bearing? Or the entire hub? Are you sure the hub you put on was for ABS? Did the old one have a removable sensor? Link to the part you bought for posterity?

I'm not super experienced with ABS, outside of pulling the fuse and getting rid of that ****. But I can say that occasionally you can get other sensors that are DOA. However they are typically pretty well tested, and usually if anything goes wrong, its during installation. That being said, If its a Timken, I thought they only did bearings, and you may not have replaced the sensor at all?

I assume on also on most GM cars, My buick has a sensor built into the hub. Its replaced as a whole unit. The sensor is basically a small coil (Hence the two leads) up against a cog with magnetic gear teeth. When the cog turns it changes the voltage in the line and the computer reads it as movement. On my car the voltage on the cable is biased to 5v. Two wires in the cable. One is the 5v source and the other is the return line. So, The line is easy enough to troubleshoot. However, Replacing a bad line from the back tires would probably be a pain if I had too.

The cable attaches to the back of the hub and is routed to the front engine compartment and connets to the Brake Control Module.

I ordered a Timken hub from Rock auto for about 109 and it looks as its a dud. There is zero resistance across the leads on the hub. So, Went down to an autostore in town (dont remember the name but stay away from Autozone they carry lower quality ones) and bought one made by MOOG. This one was only 110.00 and looks to be superior in quality than the Timken (sp?). I just havent had time to put it in yet. Rained today.

Here are some tips for working on your hub:

Your really going to need a 1/2 inch ratchet with a extension bar or impact wrench.

Use anti seize compond on bolts.

Get ahold of a impact hammer to remove the brake disk (with star driver set).

Its not that hard of a job once you losen the bolts. Thats the hard part. Put anti sieze on the bolts for next time around if you have to.

Test your new hub with an ohm meter to make sure its good. You should get some resistance like 1K Ohm.

I read that you can use a 1K Ohm resister on the cable for testing the cable. Just insert it and go for a drive and see if the anti brake resets and goes off. If not then there is a problem with your ABS line.

Hopefully tomorrow I will install the new hub (no rain) and Im really hopeing I dont have a short in the cable. I didnt have a 1k resister to test it.

Dinner time, Gotta go.

coffee

 

[SilverLeaf]

So I thought I'd share my car repair saga from this past week.

I own three vehicles, between which they share the better part of a million miles. I usually do much of my own repairs, outside of those that require specialized equipment or facilities. One of these vehicles has a Mazda 2.0 L engine in which the water pump bearings were starting to scream. This particular engine has DOHC's and requires that the timing belt be removed in order to replace the pump. I figured I'd go ahead and just replace the timing belt and the tensioner and idler while I was at it. So, I ordered my parts and waited for delivery.

Now, in order to get access to the pump, the timing belt has to be removed....which requires the removal of the valve cover, and the upper and lower timing belt covers....which require the removal of the crankshaft pulley and the right side engine mount. Long story short, it was a PITA!. Took me all week, working an hour here and an hour there. Had to use the old “wedge the breaker bar against the frame and bump the starter a few times” trick just to break the crank bolt loose. Not to mention the fact that you almost have to be a contortionist with childlike hands just to reach some of the bolts.

Anyway, got it all put back together, and went for a test drive today. The good news: No leaks and its much quieter without those pump bearings screaming. The bad news: Lack of power and excess heat at higher rpm's.....which is a classic sign of the timing belt being off by a notch. I was so focused on making sure the DOHC's were lined up, that I obviously didn't pay close enough attention to the position of the crankshaft.

Now I've got to do most of it all over again. Dammit! This is hard on an old man

 

[coffee]

So I thought I'd share my car repair saga from this past week.

I own three vehicles, between which they share the better part of a million miles. I usually do much of my own repairs, outside of those that require specialized equipment or facilities. One of these vehicles has a Mazda 2.0 L engine in which the water pump bearings were starting to scream. This particular engine has DOHC's and requires that the timing belt be removed in order to replace the pump. I figured I'd go ahead and just replace the timing belt and the tensioner and idler while I was at it. So, I ordered my parts and waited for delivery.

Now, in order to get access to the pump, the timing belt has to be removed....which requires the removal of the valve cover, and the upper and lower timing belt covers....which require the removal of the crankshaft pulley and the right side engine mount. Long story short, it was a PITA!. Took me all week, working an hour here and an hour there. Had to use the old “wedge the breaker bar against the frame and bump the starter a few times” trick just to break the crank bolt loose. Not to mention the fact that you almost have to be a contortionist with childlike hands just to reach some of the bolts.

Anyway, got it all put back together, and went for a test drive today. The good news: No leaks and its much quieter without those pump bearings screaming. The bad news: Lack of power and excess heat at higher rpm's.....which is a classic sign of the timing belt being off by a notch. I was so focused on making sure the DOHC's were lined up, that I obviously didn't pay close enough attention to the position of the crankshaft.

Now I've got to do most of it all over again. Dammit! This is hard on an old man

All I can say is "What a job!". I would have blown a nut on something like that. I think thats a bit beyond my capibilities right now. Infact, I dont think I would have the patients for it.

Sorry it didnt go as expected.

coffee

 

[mr m]

Now I've got to do most of it all over again. Dammit! This is hard on an old man

I feel your pain! I had a similar experience with a DOHC Yamaha V6. My car was running poorly and I figured she jumped a tooth. After the second failed attempt of aligning the camshafts to the crankshaft I was livid. I had my wife double-check that the timing marks on all the gears lined up to the index marks on the engine. She said it looked fine. Now what?

I put a breaker bar on the crank and started to rotate it while my wife watched the camshafts. She notice that when I started to turn the crank the cams didn't move for a few degrees. I said impossible. The belt is tensioned correctly and everything should move in unison.

She was right. It turned out the timing gear was slipping on the crank. The gear is held tight to the shaft with a Woodruff key. The crank and key are steel and the gear was a softer material so the slot in the gear was wider from wear allowing the crank to spin a few degrees before the timing gear would catch.

Ford didn't stock the key and it was backordered but luckily a local engine rebuilding shop did. He gave me a 5" piece of 5mm steel and told me to cut it to length and grind the edges to fit.

Good luck and let us know when you get that 2.0 L running like a top.

 

[coffee]

Found my short in the right rear abs cable. Well, Thats the good news. But now for the bad news.

Apparently I had hit something underneath the car at one point and it damaged the cable. The setup is like this: The rear abs sensor cables come together at the middle of the car on the underneath and then feed into a connector. This 4 pin connector then attaches to a main run up to the front engine compartment. So, What happened is that the cables for the right rear abs sensor got yanked out and torn.

My attempt to fix this was to splice them (and solder) to the other side of the main wiring cable that leads to the front engine compartment. When I pulled back the insulation on the abs sensor side wires I noticed that the wires are made up of some pretty darn thin threads. Almost like cat hair if you will. However, I did my best to solder them together and then insulate them. Then I had a neighbor with a OBD2 diag computer come over and reset the ABS system. Now if the car is standing still it stays off. Minute it starts to move I get an ABS error. So, The error is "Eradic signal". So, Evidently this wiring harness doesnt take to soldering very well. I might have to replace the whole back wiring harness to fix this problem. That would be the rear right and left sensor cable harness. On the main wire run that I spliced into they used copper wire.

Have to do some more investigating to see what else I can try

coffee

 

[SilverLeaf]

I feel your pain! I had a similar experience with a DOHC Yamaha V6. My car was running poorly and I figured she jumped a tooth. After the second failed attempt of aligning the camshafts to the crankshaft I was livid. I had my wife double-check that the timing marks on all the gears lined up to the index marks on the engine. She said it looked fine. Now what?

I put a breaker bar on the crank and started to rotate it while my wife watched the camshafts. She notice that when I started to turn the crank the cams didn't move for a few degrees. I said impossible. The belt is tensioned correctly and everything should move in unison.

She was right. It turned out the timing gear was slipping on the crank. The gear is held tight to the shaft with a Woodruff key. The crank and key are steel and the gear was a softer material so the slot in the gear was wider from wear allowing the crank to spin a few degrees before the timing gear would catch.

Ford didn't stock the key and it was backordered but luckily a local engine rebuilding shop did. He gave me a 5" piece of 5mm steel and told me to cut it to length and grind the edges to fit.

Good luck and let us know when you get that 2.0 L running like a top.

Well, as the Mazda folks would say, my "zoom-zoom" is back. Wasn't fun...hot and humid, no shade where my concrete pad is. It's all back together now, and runs great. The spark plug electrodes were nice and white from yesterday's test drive though Now I've got to track down an irritating creaking noise in my rear suspension (pretty sure its the stabilizer bar end links), but that will have to wait for another day. If this keeps up, I'll have to start buying Fast Orange by the gallon

Found my short in the right rear abs cable. Well, Thats the good news. But now for the bad news.

Apparently I had hit something underneath the car at one point and it damaged the cable. The setup is like this: The rear abs sensor cables come together at the middle of the car on the underneath and then feed into a connector. This 4 pin connector then attaches to a main run up to the front engine compartment. So, What happened is that the cables for the right rear abs sensor got yanked out and torn.

My attempt to fix this was to splice them (and solder) to the other side of the main wiring cable that leads to the front engine compartment. When I pulled back the insulation on the abs sensor side wires I noticed that the wires are made up of some pretty darn thin threads. Almost like cat hair if you will. However, I did my best to solder them together and then insulate them. Then I had a neighbor with a OBD2 diag computer come over and reset the ABS system. Now if the car is standing still it stays off. Minute it starts to move I get an ABS error. So, The error is "Eradic signal". So, Evidently this wiring harness doesnt take to soldering very well. I might have to replace the whole back wiring harness to fix this problem. That would be the rear right and left sensor cable harness. On the main wire run that I spliced into they used copper wire.

Have to do some more investigating to see what else I can try

coffee

Sorry you didn't have any luck, but at least you found the problem. The Lucerne is not that common, but I'm sure the harness may be shared by other vehicles across that particular GM platform...so you might have some luck with a salvage yard. Maybe you have a Pull-a-Part in your area? Anyway, don't give up. That Lucerne is a nice car, and certainly worth the effort.

Well, now that I'm all cleaned up, it's time to start the grill and pour a bottle or two of a delicious ale of some sort. Might even fire up the old turntable and spin some vinyl whilst I cook. Enjoy your evening all.

 

[coffee]

Well, as the Mazda folks would say, my "zoom-zoom" is back. Wasn't fun...hot and humid, no shade where my concrete pad is. It's all back together now, and runs great. The spark plug electrodes were nice and white from yesterday's test drive though Now I've got to track down an irritating creaking noise in my rear suspension (pretty sure its the stabilizer bar end links), but that will have to wait for another day. If this keeps up, I'll have to start buying Fast Orange by the gallon



Sorry you didn't have any luck, but at least you found the problem. The Lucerne is not that common, but I'm sure the harness may be shared by other vehicles across that particular GM platform...so you might have some luck with a salvage yard. Maybe you have a Pull-a-Part in your area? Anyway, don't give up. That Lucerne is a nice car, and certainly worth the effort.

Well, now that I'm all cleaned up, it's time to start the grill and pour a bottle or two of a delicious ale of some sort. Might even fire up the old turntable and spin some vinyl whilst I cook. Enjoy your evening all.

Thanks for the reply Silverleaf

I am taking a break from it now and thinking thru the whole issue. I also feel your pain in having no shade. It was pretty muggy today as I crawled around under my car with a solder gun and accessories.

My evil Buick.... Yah, Just like some girls - Looks great and love the ride but the maintenance can be a *itch

coffee

 

[jbartlett323]

Found my short in the right rear abs cable. Well, Thats the good news. But now for the bad news.

Apparently I had hit something underneath the car at one point and it damaged the cable. The setup is like this: The rear abs sensor cables come together at the middle of the car on the underneath and then feed into a connector. This 4 pin connector then attaches to a main run up to the front engine compartment. So, What happened is that the cables for the right rear abs sensor got yanked out and torn.

My attempt to fix this was to splice them (and solder) to the other side of the main wiring cable that leads to the front engine compartment. When I pulled back the insulation on the abs sensor side wires I noticed that the wires are made up of some pretty darn thin threads. Almost like cat hair if you will. However, I did my best to solder them together and then insulate them. Then I had a neighbor with a OBD2 diag computer come over and reset the ABS system. Now if the car is standing still it stays off. Minute it starts to move I get an ABS error. So, The error is "Eradic signal". So, Evidently this wiring harness doesnt take to soldering very well. I might have to replace the whole back wiring harness to fix this problem. That would be the rear right and left sensor cable harness. On the main wire run that I spliced into they used copper wire.

Have to do some more investigating to see what else I can try

coffee

You are looking at the stretched section of wire. Cut 5" on either side of your brake-point and replace with fresh wire, might be all it needs. Same gauge of wire of course, else it could throw your signal off! If not enough room, replacement is required.

Well, as the Mazda folks would say, my "zoom-zoom" is back. Wasn't fun...hot and humid, no shade where my concrete pad is. It's all back together now, and runs great. The spark plug electrodes were nice and white from yesterday's test drive though Now I've got to track down an irritating creaking noise in my rear suspension (pretty sure its the stabilizer bar end links), but that will have to wait for another day. If this keeps up, I'll have to start buying Fast Orange by the gallon

Just did my rear trailing arm bushings on my wife's 07 Mazda 3 (with a 2.0 btw). That is almost definitely what causing you noise. These cars use the same rear-end as Ford Focus. They are known for going bad. And the crappy part? Technically, you have to replace the entire rear trailing arm to fix it. About $180 each side. And you need the 2 (per side) stabilizer arms, because those bushing are shot too. And the sway bar links. Oh, and don't skimp, replace that connecting arm that the spring sits on top of too, because those bearings are still making noise on mine... So to do the job right, you need a total of 14 press-fit bushings, 2 sway bar links, and an alignment check. ~$400 give or take $100. But totally doo-able in a weekend if you can do a timing belt.

Now, I dont like replacing stuff that don't need replacing. So I bought these:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001GC6H3K/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Amazon says they don't fit, but trust me they do. Again, same rear-end as a Ford Focus. I followed a how-to for a Mazda Mini Van, same rear-end.
Still have to get the other parts I mentioned above. Just buying the bushings isn't worth the effort for these, much better to get the entire arm.
So those ES bushings saved me ~$200. Made the job a bit more of a PITA, what with getting the old bushing out, but they were so bad one just fell out, the other took only mild application of force. It was the stuck bolt in another area that had to be cut that was the real pain though...

This is a very labor-intensive job, and therefor is not cheap if taken to a shop. If you decide to take it on, I'll answer anything I can. But do it soon if you like your tires, cause it'll start eating em like mad if doesn't already! Good Luck!

P.S. Good time to replace your rear struts while your there! No spring compressors required, and everything is already out of your way!

 

[coffee]

Happy to report that I have earned my ABS merit badge

Got under my evil buick and spliced in to the main cable - Soldered / heatshrinked and wrapped. Tested it out this morning and it was a complete success. No more ABS warnings on dash. The dash looks different now with no warning lights

coffee

 

[SilverLeaf]

Congrats on a succesful repair!

 

[mr m]

X2

 

[jbartlett323]

x3