26Dec2009
Explorer repair in Seattle
While Val and I were out in Seattle for Xmas, I did some work on my mom’s 2002 Explorer. The ford trucks from the late 90’s to the mid 2000’s have an issue with the digital odometer not lighting up randomly. Some days it will work, others it will not and you can’t read the display. Eventually, it will stop lighting up completely (this does not mean it will stop accumulating miles, lol) The issue is from cold solder joints …
22Dec2009
Squeaks gets a new fuel pump
Val’s jeep has had a couple of no start issues in the past year, all of which quickly subsided after sitting a few hours, but none the less, I was afraid it would leave her stranded somewhere eventually. The jeeps have a fuel leak down issue on occasion, which requires updating some seals in the fuel sender unit. Since I would be in there, I replaced the fuel pump and the filter/regulator as well. Well, I got to do the …
I had been doing some maintenance on Val’s 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee the other day when I noticed a leaking rear axle seal on the passenger side. I had actually smelled gear lube after arriving in SD for thanksgiving, so I pretty much knew what I would find when I looked under the rear of the truck. Jeeps are pretty notorious for this issue, and I had replaced the driver’s side a couple of years ago. The process is fairly …
20Dec2009
951 Output Shaft Seal Replacement
Replaced a leaking output shaft seal on a 951 today. It had gotten bad enough that it was leaving a puddle on the ground after driving, so it was time to replace it. Remove the CV axle from the output shaft. The bolts are typically 8mm triple square bits but they may have been replaced with 6mm allens at some point. One the axle is out of the way, remove the 6mm allen in the center of the output shaft. …
04Dec2009
993 Repairs
Had a 993 in the garage the other day for a few repairs. First off I repaired the fan duct housing to the heater assembly, and then I went after a metal rattle in the rear of the car. New heater duct installed. Old air duct. As you can see, the air wasn’t getting where it needed to go, lol There were multiple causes of the metal rattle in the rear. The car had been in a rear end accident …
And that is hunting…….. Thanksgiving (and usually xmas) week every year is spent hunting up in South Dakota with family. Every year my wife and I (and the polar bear of a dog) head up for some deer and pheasant hunting. Having family up there is really nice in regard to land access, and great hunting grounds at that. Left late friday night, and were up early on Saturday to head out for some scouting. I typically pull a doe …
01Dec2009
Curse the black cars…..
For some reason, black cars, in particular black 951’s have been known to put up a fight with me. Not just one black 951, but multiple black 951’s, lol. Oh well. It was a project that just kept growing and growing as we got deeper into it. IMHO, the root of everything was for years the car was running 15.5:1 AFR’s under boost after an upgraded turbo and MAF, but still using stock injectors (not my install). We fixed the …
20Nov2009
Update: Black 951
Well it was a slow week in regards to the black car. Sitting waiting, waiting, waiting. Yesterday afternoon though I got a call that the turbo was rebuilt and ready to be picked up. So I ran across town and got it, and came home and got it installed and out of the way. Now I am just waiting on another head to be rebuilt before putting it all back together. The previous head was unusable due to the exhaust …
06Nov2009
Updates…….
Been banging away at the cars in my spare time. Our 968 braking issue turned out to indeed be front warped rotors even though they only had 2000 miles on them. Lesson learned here is that when common sense and experience tell you something is broken, don’t look past it just because that item has been replaced recently……new parts fail, rebuilt parts fail, new rotors warp, stuff happens. The calipers had been rebuilt recently thinking it was an issue with …
30Oct2009
968 Maintenance
Another 968 in the garage. I am doing a full timing belt/waterpump/roller service, swapping in a resealed PS pump, Camshaft pads and chain change, all new coolant hoses, new expansion tank, speed sensor, and trying to figure out a braking issue. Getting ready to tear it down….. Front end apart, going after the cam pads and chain….. Cams out of the car….. Exposed cam followers. Old pads and chain that need to be removed New pads and chain installed, and …