who is wrenching today?

[Ramses]

Finished installing catalytic converters in my new to me 2005 M3 yesterday. The car was on jack stands at my dad's for a solid month while I ripped apart the exhaust, moved the post-cat O2 sensors to the bottom-middle of the car after the new cats (from the headers .. this was a pain), removed this weird clutch delay valve that BMW put in their cars during that time period, and replaced / bled brake and clutch fluid. Miraculously, the car fired right up the first time after putting it all back together and seems to be fine. I think I'm going to take it to a shop and pay for an hour of their time to check for exhaust leaks and make sure the brakes/clutch are bled properly, just for peace of mind. I'm tired of being under that car and want to make sure it's all good since this was my first exhaust work :biggrin:

Almost ready to pass MA state inspection ... (stupid non-emissions-compliant Florida cars )

edit: replaced cabin and engine air filters too since the intake and cabin filter slot were all apart anyway. The old ones looked basically new but now I know when it was done ...

Those delay valves were so goofy. Pulled one from an e39 540i once, made a solid and positive difference.

 

[repoman0]

Those delay valves were so goofy. Pulled one from an e39 540i once, made a solid and positive difference.

I have no data on the difference it made since I barely drove without it, but read that it makes it easier to consistently find the engagement point .. good for me, since this is my first manual car. (plenty of experience on motorcycles though so it hasn't been too bad, though I'm still not particularly smooth)

re: thread topic ... On Saturday, I reinstalled the secondary air pump that the PO took out since he had no cats to heat up quicker in the first place. Also flashed the DME with a new tune file I got for free from the tuners that the PO used with re-enabled post-cat O2 sensors and SAP system.

Next steps are raise the car up a bit (PO put KW V2 coilovers on, nice pieces but he has it too low for me) and soften the rebound, and give it a good wash + clear bra oh and install the stock muffler I bought on craigslist to quiet it down ...

 

[Ramses]

Those cars are almost too quiet stock. And I'm old and don't like loud cars, but it's a shame not to hear the motor a little.

Don't lean on the radiator.

 

[repoman0]

Those cars are almost too quiet stock. And I'm old and don't like loud cars, but it's a shame not to hear the motor a little.

Don't lean on the radiator.

The engine itself is plenty loud in the cabin sounds awesome!

The muffler that the PO has on it sounds great and actually isn't too loud, but drones between 2500-3000 rpm. Since the car will be a DD for half the year or more, I'm opting for quieter and drone free for now ...

I'm guessing it'll still be a little louder than a stock US car because it has Euro-style headers + relocated cats.

 

[Ramses]

Ahh, yeah they probly noise it up some. When the US cars were young you could barely hear the motor unless you really stomped on it, even then it wasn't much. Such a great car, enjoy it.

 

[Cerb]

Replaced a motor mount. The old one fell apart as I was removing it . That also appears to have fixed an oil leak (though, I will change the related seal at the next oil change, just to be safe).

 

[skyking]

Friday I pulled the 1/4" aluminum belly pan off the beetle looking for a rattle. Found it, a rock got a good bounce and was laying up there. Changed the oil and also surveyed the damage after a falling rock encounter up near Mt. Rainier. I was meeting oncoming traffic and some decent sized rocks rolled off the cliff. I dodged them all with my tires but one was about an inch shy of clearing that belly pan. The rock exploded and left a little chunk embedded in the aluminum
I went to a TDI event in Portland Saturday, but decided not to dyno on the way down. I got out on the main road and did a 5th gear pull, and I could slip the clutch at 2200 every time. It would re-grab at about 2500. I guess that's where peak torque lives. Not a good dyno scenario

 

[bamx2]

Changed the water pump and thermostat on my 1994 Ford F250 IDI ( non turbo , not powerstroke , 7.3 IDI IH diesel). No problems with the fan clutch removal (loaner tool from parts store). Some of the radiator tubes looked plugged but it always runs normal temps. Heater core flows well. I was thinking of trying a CLR, sulphamic acid or oxalic acid flush (per various inteweb posts) but will probably just backflush a few more times over a couple of days . I will refill with conventional green coolant with the SCA additive ( cavitation protection) or may use extended life ELC-1 coolant if I can find it on sale .

 

[evident]

replaced the VTEC Soleinoid and oil pressure switch assembly on my sister's 04 accord. she was having an issue where the engine would cut power and shudder if she went above 3000 rpm and popped a P2647 code. When i went to change the oil it looked like she had a small leak from the oil filter area, so i'm not sure if the shop fucked up her oil change which caused this to happen, or if that oil pressure switch was malfunctioning, or both...

 

[Harrod]

I replaced a low beam on my Outback, I love how you now have to take a wheel off of some of these cars to get to simple stuff.

Here is with the fender liner and the wheel removed, I later found out there was a way to go in from the top, if you removed the airbox first.

I also installed a LED shop light, here it is installed, it ended up being way brighter than the CFL that it replaced.

Here is the link to the light itself if anyone is wanting to know the specifics.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PR8U1UO?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00

 

[evident]

^ nice light. I got two cheapy lithonia fluorescent ones on amazon and a LED one from costco. while nice i still want moar lighting.

 

[thesmokingman]

There's so many things I need to do but I'm in the middle of procrastinating still.

 

[slag]

Putting new rear shock mounts and rear shock mount reinforcers on the M3. Also replacing a few cosmetic things the P.O did inside that are too blingy for me and I'm putting them back to stock.

Soon I'll replace the RTAB bushings and put limiters in as well, but not this weekend.

 

[jlee]

I put a GROM bluetooth adapter in the Speed6 last night. Wipers and cabin air filter went in last week...that should be it until I'm due for an oil change.

I have no idea when the filter was last changed, so I bought one without checking the old one. I'm glad I remembered this car had a cabin air filter, because it wasn't looking too great.

 

[nakedfrog]

I put a GROM bluetooth adapter in the Speed6 last night. Wipers and cabin air filter went in last week...that should be it until I'm due for an oil change.

I have no idea when the filter was last changed, so I bought one without checking the old one. I'm glad I remembered this car had a cabin air filter, because it wasn't looking too great.

The one in my Subaru is worse than that after one year!

 

[LOCO LAPTOP]

Here is the link to the light itself if anyone is wanting to know the specifics.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PR8U1UO?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00

Nice, If they made a 6 bulb T8 version I would get them. 384 watts of lights as of now lol.

Don't mind the extension cord that goes to a UPS for the garage door opener.

 

[bamx2]

Thanks for the picture of the filter. It reminds me that I need to check the cabin air filter in my Honda . I has been a few years and I bet it look bad..

"I put a GROM bluetooth adapter in the Speed6 last night. Wipers and cabin air filter went in last week...that should be it until I'm due for an oil change.

I have no idea when the filter was last changed, so I bought one without checking the old one. I'm glad I remembered this car had a cabin air filter, because it wasn't looking too great."

 

[kn51]

Need to do 4 oil changes on the family stable. Got three done so far today. One left on a Grand Cherokee I6.

My son's beater 626 V6 2.5 running rough. Codes all saying O2 sensor problems.

Wondering if it is a vacuum leak given what I read...but figured it would throw lean codes instead of the O2 codes I'm getting.

It's a mess, leaking valve cover gaskets filling up the plug wells. Will tear into that project next weekend. It's ugly.

 

[Kelvrick]

Installed new mufflers today and started my timing belt and spark plug change at a friend's shop. Realized that I brought the wrong spark plugs (wife's car) and was missing some gaskets from my cam covers so we called it a night. Will complete tomorrow.

 

[slag]

Putting new upper strut mount bushings on the M3 helped tremendously last week. Today I put in an order for new lemforder rear trailing arm bushings and limiters from pelicanparts.com which should be here middle of next week. Car now has 116,300 on it and I want the peace of mind to know it has fresh RTABs and limiters in the rear end.

 

[nakedfrog]

Did a front brake job on the ex's Buick LeSabre. Life of the once in while mechanic, everything is new, so the learning curve was steep. One of the pad bracket bolts didn't want to cooperate and I had a hard time finding a good angle to get some leverage. Lesson learned, the other side went much faster. Only problem on that side was a rotor that was really frozen to the hub. After much hammering, and jacking the car up by the rotor, I went for a pickaxe. Ok, probably not what they recommend in the factory service manual, but it did the job.
I've come the realization that I only like wrenching on hobby vehicles. I don't like wrenching on someone's only transportation.
My first time doing brakes on a car with separate caliper and pad holder. LOVE that.

A bit late now, but did the rotors not have those holes in them that you put a bolt in and tighten it down until it pops the rotor free? Had to do that with all four rotors on my Subaru this year. My Miata has them as well, and it's a '92...

 

[Sabrewings]

Who doesn't like motor tear down pictures? All this pertains to my 1999 Forester S daily beater with 124k miles.

Long story short, the rough idle and occasional misfire on #4 turned into a constant misfire on that cylinder. Checked compression and only got 30PSI on #4 (180PSI on the other three). You could feel it gushing out the exhaust side with the header off on leakdown, so time to pull the heads for the second time. I could also see some oil pooled on the back sides of the intake valves. At this point I suspected #4's intake seals are leaking and gummed up the exhaust valves to where they wouldn't seal.

Engine out:

(In my best Jamie Hyneman voice) "Well there's your problem!":

Surprisingly, #4 was actually pretty clean inside. Maybe all the misfires cleansed it with unburnt fuel? No damage from the chip. Must've left right out the exhaust port as it broke off.

At this point, heads to the machine shop!

While they were gone, I pulled and resealed the oil pump with a fresh crank seal as well:

Heads are back! Same cylinder as pictured above is on the right:

Three valves total were replaced between the two heads. Two were out of limits once cleaned up and seats machined. The major offender is pictured below:

Tried my best to clean the piston tops. I'll probably seafoam it to finish it off (I soaked it in seafoam to just get that far):

Coming together:

And back in its home:

*knock on wood* So far so good. Idles smooth, haven't noticed any leaks. Need to change the oil and filter after a day or two to get out anything that's been introduced. Probably do it again after 1k miles.

Moral of the story, when I did the head gaskets a couple years ago I should've taken the heads to the shop anyway.

 

[jlee]

Nicely done!

 

[Sabrewings]

Nicely done!

Thanks! Don't get to do this much anymore since I sold the weekend toy. This car and the wife's have been pretty reliable.

 

[skyking]

I lowered the truck yesterday and installed some new used seats up front today.
It had some 34" Nitto Grappler mud tires on it and I swapped on a set of stock wheels and tires that were given to me, and also moved some spacer blocks on the rear axle that dropped it another 1 1/4" in the back.
Before pic:

I will get after pics tomorrow. Dark now

The seats are from the 4th generation trucks and took some finagling. No airbag wiring to worry about, just different plugs and a little interference to clear by the front seat belt reel bolsters.
It is night and day. My seats were broken down to ass-to-metal in one spot, but these seats are so much better than the 3rd gen seats are new.