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

[MarcusBrody]

Fixed the rearview mirror on my 1998 BMW that my five year old somehow tore off while trying to look at himself. Not only had the ball and socket popped out, but the spring ring had come off it and basically all the internal alignment axles had come out of place. How he managed that? I don't know. It took an oddly large amount of effort to get that little mirror together, but as it was $220 for a new one, I was very happy I eventually did without too much old plastic snapping.

[MontuckyFried]

MFn thieves.

Started the van this morning to the raucous sound of my Small Block Chevy running open headers. Turned it off and looked under knowing what I’d find.

Cat sawed off.

Funny thing is, I have two cats sitting next to my garage I took off my 4Runner they could have taken. But they sawed the one off the vehicle I need. Fucking thieves

Aww man. That sucks. What a PITA. And now an expensive PITA.

I would LOVE to see this kind of an anti-theft solution specifically targeted toward catalytic converter thieves. If any of you can figure it out, you'll be a rich man. Muahaha

[gravitylover]

Fuckin dumbass tpms sensor shit. I went to top off one tire that was low and while the thing was still running figured I'd check the others and one valve stem snapped off. No big deal, just grab the spare and get it on there right? Nope. 4 out of 5 lug nuts swelled and even the 22.5mm socket I got to deal with swolen nuts wasn't enough. Get the kid to come get me and bring me home to grab a 23mm then go back and all is good right? Nope. It took a few minutes to get the shit scissor jack working, get the truck up and that creaky sound of metal bending and thunk. The jack bent and folded. Go back home to grab the floor jack. Alright, truck is up 4 lug nuts off and the cover comes partially off the 5th. Back home for a hammer, chisel and a bunch of sockets since I have no idea what size the nut underneath is. Well, that works, nuts are off and spare is on but can only use 4 so it's a slow drive home.

Ordering new nuts tonight �� and gonna get a decent bottle jack that fits in the space.

[MontuckyFried]

Fuckin dumbass tpms sensor shit. I went to top off one tire that was low and while the thing was still running figured I'd check the others and one valve stem snapped off. No big deal, just grab the spare and get it on there right? Nope. 4 out of 5 lug nuts swelled and even the 22.5mm socket I got to deal with swolen nuts wasn't enough. Get the kid to come get me and bring me home to grab a 23mm then go back and all is good right? Nope. It took a few minutes to get the shit scissor jack working, get the truck up and that creaky sound of metal bending and thunk. The jack bent and folded. Go back home to grab the floor jack. Alright, truck is up 4 lug nuts off and the cover comes partially off the 5th. Back home for a hammer, chisel and a bunch of sockets since I have no idea what size the nut underneath is. Well, that works, nuts are off and spare is on but can only use 4 so it's a slow drive home.

Ordering new nuts tonight �� and gonna get a decent bottle jack that fits in the space.

Ford F-150?

[gravitylover]

Ford F-150?

Range Rover from when Ford owned JLR. I actually had that happen on a Durango also but it was in my driveway so didn't have to go 9 miles round trip a few times to get tools but yeah, you usually hear this story in regards to Fords.

WTF, when did lug nuts get so expensive? Shitty aftermarket capped ones are nearly $100 and machined steel is more like $200. There are some nice stainless ones out of the UK for $300 Do I chance it on ones straight from China?

[MontuckyFried]

Range Rover from when Ford owned JLR. I actually had that happen on a Durango also but it was in my driveway so didn't have to go 9 miles round trip a few times to get tools but yeah, you usually hear this story in regards to Fords.

WTF, when did lug nuts get so expensive? Shitty aftermarket capped ones are nearly $100 and machined steel is more like $200. There are some nice stainless ones out of the UK for $300 Do I chance it on ones straight from China?

Oh, man. That sucks. Now that I think about it, the whacko half-size swelling lug nuts may very well be something they inherited from Range Rover. Sounds like something RR would do. Now it's all starting to make sense. Haha.

And those lug nut prices? Geez! I am REALLY getting sick of everything costing so damn much these days. It's getting out of control.

[gravitylover]

Nah like I said, I had it happen on a Dodge too. A little digging on Amazon and I found a nice set of one piece steel machined black ones for ~$40 with tax, anyone ever heard of Yita Motor? Stock ones are going for $340 now haha

[warthog]

Try this site if you need to find oddball stuff from JunkYards around the country.

https://www.partshotlines.com/index.php

[El Chupacabra]

Range Rover from when Ford owned JLR. I actually had that happen on a Durango also but it was in my driveway so didn't have to go 9 miles round trip a few times to get tools but yeah, you usually hear this story in regards to Fords.

WTF, when did lug nuts get so expensive? Shitty aftermarket capped ones are nearly $100 and machined steel is more like $200. There are some nice stainless ones out of the UK for $300 Do I chance it on ones straight from China?

Just get some from Amazon. If you rotate tires on a schedule, they won't seize up.... don't drive in salt water.

[gravitylover]

They weren't seized, the caps swelled. Today a few caps fell off after being on and off a few times

[fatnslow]

Wife's Saab has been having some cold start issue and under the advice of a Saab shop I replaced the fuel pressure regulator. What should have been about a 20-30 minute job turned into an 3 hour F-bomb fest when I dropped the new part and found itself between the starter and the engine block that I couldn't reach. I have a magnet pickup tool but the damn thing is made out of aluminum and I didn't have a grabber. About an hour and half of trying everything I could hack together finally got it out and promptly followed it up buy dropping the screw for the mounting clamp. Of course it's 8:45 at night with nobody open to source a replacement !
I drove out to my office and found a bin of misc. screws and my luck turned. Fortunately the screw I lost was the same thread pitch as the most common fastner used in some equipment I sell.
10 minutes after arriving home I had it all buttoned up. FUCK ME !!!!!!

[Touring_Sedan]

Wife's Saab has been having some cold start issue and under the advice of a Saab shop I replaced the fuel pressure regulator. What should have been about a 20-30 minute job turned into an 3 hour F-bomb fest when I dropped the new part and found itself between the starter and the engine block that I couldn't reach. I have a magnet pickup tool but the damn thing is made out of aluminum and I didn't have a grabber. About an hour and half of trying everything I could hack together finally got it out and promptly followed it up buy dropping the screw for the mounting clamp. Of course it's 8:45 at night with nobody open to source a replacement !
I drove out to my office and found a bin of misc. screws and my luck turned. Fortunately the screw I lost was the same thread pitch as the most common fastner used in some equipment I sell.
10 minutes after arriving home I had it all buttoned up. FUCK ME !!!!!!

I ususally take any estimated time and multiply it by 3.... because I suck and inevitably lose/break/or fuck up something along the way.

[fatnslow]

I ususally take any estimated time and multiply it by 3.... because I suck and inevitably lose/break/or fuck up something along the way.

I do too but this time it was more like a 6-7X , even by my standards if was too long. Most of my repairs have gone very well the last 12 months so I was due for a shit show.

[warthog]

I had that happen recently- troubleshooting my Merc 250 that is tough to shift.
I removed the cable screw, the whole time saying, "Don't drop it, don't drop it."

I get it out safely, check everything- go to reinstall, and drop it. If it dropped way inside, it was a goner.
Got lucky and found it precariously balanced on a hidden pice under the throttle assembly.
Still added 20 min. to a simple project, but it could have added days if I had to source that screw from somewhere.

[MontuckyFried]

I ususally take any estimated time and multiply it by 3.... because I suck and inevitably lose/break/or fuck up something along the way.

True. Although I've learned that my estimated time versus reality vary wildly depending on the vehicle. If it's my Chevrolet, it's like 1/2 the time I was expecting. If it's my Volvo, I'm SOMEWHERE in the ballpark. Twice the time at worst. If it's my Audi, then Lord help me. It's like 10x the time I thought it'd be and a lot of beers, cursing, and thrown assorted tools later. I get straight angry when working on that car sometimes. I swear, Hitler's tormented soul must live on in the wiring, electronics, and plastic parts of German cars. Seriously. Screw those guys whoever engineered some of that stuff! Hahaha.

[gravitylover]

^^dude that's some funny shit.

I learned a trick recently that has saved me more than once already. White rags are indispensable. Put one under whatever you're working on, cut it to fit the gaps, do what it takes so that screw/nut/clamp etc CAN'T fall into never never land.

[basinbeater]

Ha. I had an Audi once... Once.

sent from Utah.

[Todd Zander]

Saabs and dropping stuff...did the alternator a couple months ago and the perfect combo of a 1/2” and 4” long 3/8 extension found itself somewhere in the subframe. 2 weeks later i hit a pothole on the way to work early in the morning and turned around to find it in the middle of the road.

[highangle]

Saabs and dropping stuff...did the alternator a couple months ago and the perfect combo of a 1/2” and 4” long 3/8 extension found itself somewhere in the subframe. 2 weeks later i hit a pothole on the way to work early in the morning and turned around to find it in the middle of the road.

I found a MAC speed wrench on the side of the highway while doing a survey in Texas in 1982. Reason I remember is I still have it.

[Touring_Sedan]

Yep. Still possessed.

[uglymoney]

I think Snowaddict and I had a conversation about what a pain in the ass the Toyota hose clamps are a few months ago. I finally bought the cable tool today to throw the new Denso radiator in the 4R that I bought last October. It sat in the garage all winter because I basically didn't use the truck all winter and procrastinated. Finally up against a clock I went to get it done last night but after wrestling the clamps without success on the lower right side last night (transmission line and water line) I called it quits and ordered the clamp tool to pick up this morning. Made it easy. Did my usual every 20k mile serpentine belt swap as well since I was in there anyway which made it super easy... I do it just to keep that bastard from squeaking. I've done all the fixes to make it stop squeaking but the best way is just to buy a new $25 belt and call it part of the regular service.

Here is the linky to that tool. https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/we...bgtJON%2FgQ%3D

Always more preventative maintenance I want to do but there is only so much soccer I can miss so I think she should be ready for Beartooth Basin in a couple weeks. Getting the 18 year old radiator out of there was a priority.



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[unitofstuff]

Found some pink spray under hood a week or so ago, threw the pressure tester on, found this. Guess the plastic radiator bits are good for about ten years on these. Quick swap and refill and good to go.

What do you all do with old radiators? I can't even remember what I've done with old ones in the past other than the one an old landlord took to recycle.

[uglymoney]

Drain and throw in the metal recycle heap at the landfill.

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[The Reverend Floater]

Flushed the diffs on the FJ62 after 500 miles post-locker install. Fair amount of metal in the rear.....normal?

[fatnslow]

Quick question to folks that really know fuel systems. It appears that my backflow valve at the fuel pump is not working correctly allowing fuel to drain back to the tank when it sits for kind periods (over 7-8 hours). The result is a first cold start sputter then dies. Second crank starts the car just fine. Fuel pump replacement requires a tank drop and fuel pump is fairly expensive for OEM.
I have measured with a fuel pressure gauge at the rail and it shows good pressure once it starts. Am I causing any further damage by using the start twice method when cold ? I will also try turning the key to position 2 multiple times to build pressure before start.
The hard part of the diagnosis is I only get one or two tries a day to assess the problem since it needs to be a first cold start.
This is a 2008 Saab 9-5 with 155k miles.