Topic: What did you do to your non-motorcycle vehicle today?

[Terry in Australia]

Drove the grey Subaru 200 miles to Bairnsdale yesterday to give it to my older sister because the old green one is supposedly on it's last legs with almost 200,000 miles on the odo. The intention was to send the green one to the wreckers, but I drove it yesterday and it felt OK (she's spent a fortune keeping it maintained) so rather take the bus back today I gambled that the green one would get me home, and it went surprisingly well. The cruise control worked fine, as did the old Kenwood stereo, so I happily cruised back, passing the bus along the way. I bought the old pile for $400 back in 2014, and am impressed that it's still running. The wife is less than impressed, but that's pretty common.

NewBaru 20 Aug 2023 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Subaru Sunday 10 September 2023 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

[Kelly E]

Drove the grey Subaru 200 miles to Bairnsdale yesterday to give it to my older sister because the old green one is supposedly on it's last legs with almost 200,000 miles on the odo. The intention was to send the green one to the wreckers, but I drove it yesterday and it felt OK (she's spent a fortune keeping it maintained) so rather take the bus back today I gambled that the green one would get me home, and it went surprisingly well. The cruise control worked fine, as did the old Kenwood stereo, so I happily cruised back, passing the bus along the way. I bought the old pile for $400 back in 2014, and am impressed that it's still running. The wife is less than impressed, but that's pretty common.

NewBaru 20 Aug 2023 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Subaru Sunday 10 September 2023 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

What, are you the running a home for wayward Subaru's?
One of my buddy's, Terry the machinist makes a great living rebuilding Subaru heads. I've seen the entire receiving bay floor completely covered in Subaru heads waiting to get rebuilt. They are very popular cars around here.

[Terry in Australia]

Drove the grey Subaru 200 miles to Bairnsdale yesterday to give it to my older sister because the old green one is supposedly on it's last legs with almost 200,000 miles on the odo. The intention was to send the green one to the wreckers, but I drove it yesterday and it felt OK (she's spent a fortune keeping it maintained) so rather take the bus back today I gambled that the green one would get me home, and it went surprisingly well. The cruise control worked fine, as did the old Kenwood stereo, so I happily cruised back, passing the bus along the way. I bought the old pile for $400 back in 2014, and am impressed that it's still running. The wife is less than impressed, but that's pretty common.

NewBaru 20 Aug 2023 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Subaru Sunday 10 September 2023 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

What, are you the running a home for wayward Subaru's?
One of my buddy's, Terry the machinist makes a great living rebuilding Subaru heads. I've seen the entire receiving bay floor completely covered in Subaru heads waiting to get rebuilt. They are very popular cars around here.

Yeah mate, they’re brilliant cars, but Subaru let them down with bad head gaskets. The old ones didn’t have a problem with them (200,000 miles on the green one and no issues) but the EJ25’s had steel gaskets with a coating that came off, causing them to leak. New MLS gaskets (uncoated) and a head skim, and they last forever.

[Don R]

 I aligned the new AC compressor on my 40 chevy to the pulley, I replaced a spacer with a thinner nut and added three washers to the other side. After two trips to the parts store, I found the correct belt to turn it. The first two belts were $11.xx each but both were too short and the next inch longer was over $50. They knew it was a glitch in the computer but were only able to discount it to $18.XX.
 I was going to complete the plumbing and charge it up, but the timing cover seal is leaking oil and it will be way easier to remove the entire front clip to fix it, two hoses, 8 bolts and 3 wiring plugs. and the front end comes off, the hood can stay raised up. I'll run the hoses but not connect the dryer yet.

[Gurp]

I aligned the new AC compressor on my 40 chevy to the pulley, I replaced a spacer with a thinner nut and added three washers to the other side. After two trips to the parts store, I found the correct belt to turn it. The first two belts were $11.xx each but both were too short and the next inch longer was over $50. They knew it was a glitch in the computer but were only able to discount it to $18.XX.
 I was going to complete the plumbing and charge it up, but the timing cover seal is leaking oil and it will be way easier to remove the entire front clip to fix it, two hoses, 8 bolts and 3 wiring plugs. and the front end comes off, the hood can stay raised up. I'll run the hoses but not connect the dryer yet.

Let's see that beauty!!!

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[spotty]

If you look carefully you'll see Terry under the Subaru wrestling with the last bolt to get the stinkin' engine out. It does not want to leave it's ancestral home

[grcamna2]

If you look carefully you'll see Terry under the Subaru wrestling with the last bolt to get the stinkin' engine out. It does not want to leave it's ancestral home

Did Terry decide to replace his own clutch in his twin turbo Subaru ?

[Terry in Australia]

No Bill, I sent the turbo beast to the shop. This one is my black 6 cylinder Outback with a blown head gasket. No oil in the coolant or coolant in the oil, no leaks, just exhaust gas blowing bubbles in the over flow tank.The K Seal that worked so well on the turbo didn’t do squat on the EZ30R engine so we have to yank it out, remove the heads and get them machined before we replace all the gaskets and put the engine back in.

The car is in otherwise good condition ( Spotty discovered that the power steering pump is leaking and needs replacing but otherwise it’s pretty good) and as neither of us have pulled an engine out of a car before whe are pretty happy that we haven’t broken anything yet and as the car was so cheap (a little over $1K USD) I can afford to spend a few hundred bucks on bringing it back to tip top condition. It’s the top of the range model with leather everything, a nice stereo and a sunroof, but if I’d have to pay someone else to do it, it would be better to just buy a good one.

In the meantime the little truck came in handy to ferry my engine crane and engine stand over to SPotty’s place yesterday and I’m always impressed at how I can leave it for months at a time and just hop in, turn the key and it starts like I only drove it yesterday. The green Subaru that I paid $400 for 9 years ago is now my daily driver and even with almost 200,000 miles on the odo, is running like a champ. My wife was pissed that I gave my grey Outback to my sister and brought the green one back, but I drove her and her Ma 60 miles to out favourite bistro for lunch on Friday and by the time we got back she was much happier as the little green bean ran faultlessly for the drive, including the drive home in peak hour traffic.

[dave500]

thought id do my trimatic service this arvo,new filter,opened the old one no chunky bits always a good sign,i have magnets in the pan traps a lotta fine ferrous the filter cant trap.

[Kelly E]

I had the oil pressure sending unit fail on the 85' GMC S15. It's easy to change since I have headers, I don't have to go under the truck. The motor is heavily modified and makes about 240hp, when it was a stock 2.8L V6 it made 110hp. I bought a new sender and put it in. Start the truck and the gauge goes straight to 80psi. Okay the sender is bad and I exchanged it. Swap the senders and start the truck. And the gauge goes straight to 80psi again.
I have tested the gauge and it is fine. Normally the motor idles at 50psi hot and 40psi after a beating. Off idle it runs at 80psi. I guess I'll have to try and find a different brand of sending unit and try a third time.
 

[grcamna2]

I had the oil pressure sending unit fail on the 85' GMC S15. It's easy to change since I have headers, I don't have to go under the truck. The motor is heavily modified and makes about 240hp, when it was a stock 2.8L V6 it made 110hp. I bought a new sender and put it in. Start the truck and the gauge goes straight to 80psi. Okay the sender is bad and I exchanged it. Swap the senders and start the truck. And the gauge goes straight to 80psi again.
I have tested the gauge and it is fine. Normally the motor idles at 50psi hot and 40psi after a beating. Off idle it runs at 80psi. I guess I'll have to try and find a different brand of sending unit and try a third time.
 

Takes patience.

[Kaze]

"What did you do to your non-motorcycle vehicle today?"
Nothing, because all the money went into the motorcycle...

[grcamna2]

"What did you do to your non-motorcycle vehicle today?"
Nothing, because all the money went into the motorcycle...

Yup 

[Terry in Australia]

Spotty and I ripped the engine out of my newly acquired 2005 Subaru Outback on the weekend. Two beautiful warm days, working at a pretty lazy pace, just trying to make sure we didn't break anything in our haste. On my way to his place I bought an engine leveller for my engine crane, which was probably the best 50 bucks I've spent in awhile, as it made the engine removal much simpler.

Subaru Sunday 17 September 2023 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Subaru Sunday 17 September 2023 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

This is the biggest smile I've seen on Spotty's face in a long time.

Subaru Sunday 17 September 2023 2 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

We transferred the engine to the Vevor 1500 pound stand and wheeled it around to his garden to degrease it, but it wasn't really oily, only where the power steering pump had leaked some fluid on the top of the engine, which had run underneath. I ordered a new pump.

Subaru Sunday 17 September 2023 3 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Unlike a lot of modern cars, the H6 "Z30R" 6 cylinder engine has two cam chains the size of Honda CB750 primary chains (made by DID, not surprisingly) that drives the DOHC engine with variable valve timing. We sat and watched a Youtube video of "Mister Subaru" removing the water pump on the same engine, and removed things as he did. We got stuck with 4 stupid countersunk screws which secures the oil pump, that needs to come off before we can take the engine rear timing cover plate off, and as it was getting late and we were both buggered, we decided to give up and attack it again next weekend.

Subaru Sunday 17 September 2023 4 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr


I'll take my left hand drill bit set with me, along with a cool bolt/screw extractor set that's arriving today, over to Spotty's on Saturday, and get those heads off to get skimmed while I wait for the super duper head gasket set from the US, that comes with new head bolts and every gasket and seal I need to put it back together. So far we haven't broken anything, and we're both enjoying the job.

Subaru Sunday 17 September 2023 6 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

[Gurp]

Not mine but cut out a bunch of rust and made new mounts to weld up a set of stairs for my neighbors brother on a bucket truck.

Little bit of part money for the bikes.

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[grcamna2]

Gurp,do those stairs have a folding lower step ?

[Gurp]

Gurp,do those stairs have a folding lower step ?

Yes but it really only goes far enough to raise Incase it gets caught on something. Or pinch your finger while trying to position it......

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[dave500]

big job Terry and Spotty,both glutens for punishment?

[Terry in Australia]

big job Terry and Spotty,both glutens for punishment?

It really wasn't that difficult Dave, it's a nice car and for $2K AUD (around $1300 USD) with only 183,000 Km (120K miles) it'll be a good jigger once back together. So far the total spend has been around $1000 (including the engine stand, load leveller, gasket set, power steering pump, special hose removal tools, screw extractors etc. I need to power wash the oil from the leaking power steering pump out of the engine bay and from the gubbins below before I take it over for a Roadworthy certificate inspection.

The white twin turbo Subaru has had the new clutch installed but they're investigating why my primary turbo doesn't seem to be working. So far the bill is $2400 AUD ($1550 USD) so I'd hate to think what this job would cost. Spotty and I are enjoying the job, it's quite relaxing, we're having Uber Eats delivering lunch each day, and learning lots about Jap cars, which aren't that unlike jap bike engines. The "EZ30R" engine in the Subaru is a little rocket with 240 BHP and if it wasn't for Subaru coating their head gaskets with some form of moly coating, these things otherwise don't give any trouble, so once done, should be good for many years.

My 30 year old green jellybean Subaru that I've re-inherited from my sister, that I bought for $400 (250 USD) 9 years ago is still going like a champ with everything still working, engine never been apart (including head gaskets, that weren't a problem in the EJ22 engine) and has almost done 200,000 miles. If I knew how good it was I would never have bought the black one, but the way she was talking, it was about to go to the scrapyard. I only drove it home after giving her my 2006 Outlander because I didn't want to ride the bus home, and the little beast continues to surprise me at how good it really is. I hope the black one lasts just as long.

[Don R]

  I installed a new breakaway battery setup on my enclosed trailer. This one apparently charges itself off of the house battery or the truck voltage.
  Somehow there isn't a test light for checking the switch though. I'll need to figure that out. When I pull the switch, I don't hear the trailer magnets click or anything. It's a pain to get out the truck and hook it up so I can tug on it, but I will if I have to.

 Edit; I added a good size red light to the top of the old battery box. I used it for a junction box and ran all of the wires into it. Now when emergency power goes to the brakes the light comes on. The battery charging led has been on over an hour, I'll keep an eye on it.

[70CB750]

Replaced the top radiator hose on Grand Cherokee.  Positive thing - the old hose had only little crack and generally leaked only after shutting the engine off.

[Don R]

 Per my trailer breakaway kit, apparently you can't charge the house battery with the truck charging system because that makes the charger in the kit a non-stop charger and it will cook the breakaway battery.
 I wanted to keep the house battery charged but I use it for other things and didn't want to trust it for the emergency kit, I ended up putting a toggle switch on the charger wire and will need to operate it manually.

[grcamna2]

  I installed a new breakaway battery setup on my enclosed trailer. This one apparently charges itself off of the house battery or the truck voltage.
  Somehow there isn't a test light for checking the switch though. I'll need to figure that out. When I pull the switch, I don't hear the trailer magnets click or anything. It's a pain to get out the truck and hook it up so I can tug on it, but I will if I have to.

 Edit; I added a good size red light to the top of the old battery box. I used it for a junction box and ran all of the wires into it. Now when emergency power goes to the brakes the light comes on. The battery charging led has been on over an hour, I'll keep an eye on it.

Don,when you say "house battery",what are you referring to? an RV trailer battery ?

[Don R]

 Yes, House battery = the RV trailer battery that runs the 12 volt accessories in the trailer and the 110 volt inverter that runs the weather station and computer.

[grcamna2]

Yes, House battery = the RV trailer battery that runs the 12 volt accessories in the trailer and the 110 volt inverter that runs the weather station and computer.

A large capacity 'deep cycle' battery?
I will need a smaller version of 12vt. deep-cycle battery which I will carry on the bike and use when camping to power/top-off my laptop battery,phone,radio,etc. I want to get one that's powerful enough to work all day,then I'll hook it up to my Honda and take a long ride to charge it up.
I'm installing a more powerful stator to handle the extra load.
Can deep-cycle batteries handle being discharged quite a bit before needing to be fully charged back up ?