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

[seanbarney41]

Nice, rock solid floor pans Dave!  That can be real hard to find in the U.S.

[dave500]

its an old car,1973,yeah we only put salt on our food!

[rb550four]

  Only put salt on the food. wish we did here.
Yeah I can see why you look for the french fries under the seats  in an old car , I'll bet there are hundred of stories out there about guys reaching under  the seats looking for change at a toll both or something and when they finally fit their hand under the seat discover there is no under the seat, only a giant salted french fry hole. And all the change has been getting scattered across the highways for years and no one knew it was even happening! Damn french fries , even the carpet was gone! Bet that's the first thing the dealers look for at trade in. " Yeah Joe , this car looks perfect , don't let it fool you, you have to look under the seats and not just the front seats either! Last week , Jim, the guy you are replacing took in 2 trades and didn't look under the back seat.....they were  rotted all the way to the trunk ! "
  In New York we don't worry about fries under the seats, the road salt eats the vehicles away well before it 's paid off, and the change we do find under our seats is usually what the vehicle is worth in that condition.
   Glad ya didn't find  any fries. Some people have all the luck.

[WhyNot2]

If whacker attackers (weed eaters) and power washers, qualify as non-motorcycle vehicles...........ordered new carb for the power washer, then the starter rope on the whacker attacker broke.......so, it's on order too.

[rb550four]

  We have been in rain for all this month but for 3 sunny days so I've been out in the garage with the 90 ford trucks. This should have been a one week textbook engine, wiring and interior swap. I'm on my 3rd week of cutting rusted nuts off of everything I need , and if they are decent enough to get some tooth with a socket the gun just snaps the stud and the drillin and the tappin nightmare is on.
 Yesterday I front loaded the zf5 speed from the red truck  in to the junkyard find blue truck, new slave and throw out, but I had to cut the line to remove the old trans so there is a $65 replacement line coming Tues.
  The only thing I really wanted from that junk engine was the exhaust manifolds if I could so I wouldn't have to fool around with header and new exhaust. It was a slow ball busting, nail biting experience but it did come out without damage to the exhaust manifolds . Half of the studs are left broken in the old heads but  not using them . so the good engine is getting all the pollution crap back on it since I could salvage what I needed to keep it stock.
  The rebuild of the junkyard engine is off, I don't need to go through this stuff anymore , not when they sell perfectly good rebuilds .... that would be the plan for the next motor ,if it needs one. Guess we'll see what holds up longer ,the body  or this engine.
 

[Don R]

 Wow, 90 ford trucks, is a lot of them.  Bwhahaha. 
  I feel your pain, I just replaced the trailer hitch on my 03 gmc dually and still need to lift the bed to replace the brake lines.  Rarely driven in winter but rusty anyway. 

[Terry in Australia]

  We have been in rain for all this month but for 3 sunny days so I've been out in the garage with the 90 ford trucks. This should have been a one week textbook engine, wiring and interior swap. I'm on my 3rd week of cutting rusted nuts off of everything I need , and if they are decent enough to get some tooth with a socket the gun just snaps the stud and the drillin and the tappin nightmare is on.
 Yesterday I front loaded the zf5 speed from the red truck  in to the junkyard find blue truck, new slave and throw out, but I had to cut the line to remove the old trans so there is a $65 replacement line coming Tues.
  The only thing I really wanted from that junk engine was the exhaust manifolds if I could so I wouldn't have to fool around with header and new exhaust. It was a slow ball busting, nail biting experience but it did come out without damage to the exhaust manifolds . Half of the studs are left broken in the old heads but  not using them . so the good engine is getting all the pollution crap back on it since I could salvage what I needed to keep it stock.
  The rebuild of the junkyard engine is off, I don't need to go through this stuff anymore , not when they sell perfectly good rebuilds .... that would be the plan for the next motor ,if it needs one. Guess we'll see what holds up longer ,the body  or this engine.
 

You need to post some pics for us "US Iron deprived" folks Rich. I saw a really neat inductive coil tool for heating frozen bolts, nuts, brake fittings, etc and almost bought it before I remembered that I've never really had a need for one as we don't know what snow or salt is here. They range in price from $199 USD right up to as grand for a really good one, but for folks living in the rust belt, probably worth it's weight in American whiskey.

[madmtnmotors]

I recently purchased a 2001 Ford Escape with a 3L V6 with only 115,000 miles. It had a sticky caliper up front requiring it to be trailered home. After replacing the front brake pads/rotors/calipers/flex lines along with an oil change and a new set of spark plugs I was able to drive it to work one day for a proper "shakedown". Seemed down on power at highway speeds but performance troubleshooting got postponed the following day when a deer tried to hurdle the hood at 50mph in broad daylight:



Found a matching door and fender for $200 and had the door swapped out the same day:



The passenger side mirror ended up in the floorboard after it came through the passenger side window. I was picking glass out of my hair for two days...

Brand spankin' new winshield for $300, pinstriping removed from replacement door and fender meant performance troubleshooting can begin anew:



1st shakedown after deer strike revealed that performance was worse than I thought. This thing was struggling to climb an overpass fer crying out loud. My first impression was clogged cats but there was no CEL. I bit the bullet and started the teardown for closer inspection of the three cats. The two forward cats are cast into the exhaust manifolds and the rear manifold required removal of the passenger side drive axle and alternator. While two of the catalytic converters showed some signs of distress, they did not seem to be bad enough to cause all of the power loss I was experiencing with the Escape. I had not replaced the fuel filter yet so I decided to do so while underneath. Well, it appears as though the fuel filter may have been the original filter with 115,000 miles on the clock and was on the verge of rusting clear through the outer shell:



After removal I started to shake the fuel out of it and something metal was rattling around inside!




The freaking end cap fell off the end of the filter media! This in turn unleashed the 20 years of accumulated debris into the injectors. For f***$ sake, even the fuel rail had debris accumulated behind the injector o-rings. Installed new injectors over the weekend along with new coils for good measure. Should be able to button it up tonight and start driving it to work tomorrow.

ARGHHH!

[Don R]

 Dang, were you able to blow/flush out the fuel lines? 

[Terry in Australia]

I recently purchased a 2001 Ford Escape with a 3L V6 with only 115,000 miles. It had a sticky caliper up front requiring it to be trailered home. After replacing the front brake pads/rotors/calipers/flex lines along with an oil change and a new set of spark plugs I was able to drive it to work one day for a proper "shakedown". Seemed down on power at highway speeds but performance troubleshooting got postponed the following day when a deer tried to hurdle the hood at 50mph in broad daylight:



Found a matching door and fender for $200 and had the door swapped out the same day:



The passenger side mirror ended up in the floorboard after it came through the passenger side window. I was picking glass out of my hair for two days...

Brand spankin' new winshield for $300, pinstriping removed from replacement door and fender meant performance troubleshooting can begin anew:



1st shakedown after deer strike revealed that performance was worse than I thought. This thing was struggling to climb an overpass fer crying out loud. My first impression was clogged cats but there was no CEL. I bit the bullet and started the teardown for closer inspection of the three cats. The two forward cats are cast into the exhaust manifolds and the rear manifold required removal of the passenger side drive axle and alternator. While two of the catalytic converters showed some signs of distress, they did not seem to be bad enough to cause all of the power loss I was experiencing with the Escape. I had not replaced the fuel filter yet so I decided to do so while underneath. Well, it appears as though the fuel filter may have been the original filter with 115,000 miles on the clock and was on the verge of rusting clear through the outer shell:



After removal I started to shake the fuel out of it and something metal was rattling around inside!




The freaking end cap fell off the end of the filter media! This in turn unleashed the 20 years of accumulated debris into the injectors. For f***$ sake, even the fuel rail had debris accumulated behind the injector o-rings. Installed new injectors over the weekend along with new coils for good measure. Should be able to button it up tonight and start driving it to work tomorrow.

ARGHHH!

Good job Wilbur, thaat car looks like new again!

[madmtnmotors]

Dang, were you able to blow/flush out the fuel lines? 

Oh yeah. With the fuel rail and fuel filter removed I blew out the fuel line with compressed air. The fuel rail got the ultrasonic/simple green treatment, glad I sprung for the 30L version! New injectors completed the effort and it now runs as expected. I am able to keep up with psycho central Florida traffic with ease and it runs as I expected a V6 should. 

Good job Wilbur, that car looks like new again!

Thanks, but I have to give credit to my wife who called around all the local salvage yards and found the paint code matching parts. Cheap too! Had to drive across four counties to get them but it was worth it. I'm just glad that neither of us was hurt and the deer didn't take out the grill and hood too.

[rb550four]

The junkyard 90 ford f 350 now has the good replacement 351 in it along with good replacement dash, entire steering with electrics, good zf 5 speed,new clutch and throw out bearing,new heater core,new fluids in everything, new filters ,good electric harness under the hood, all good exhaust and anti pollution crap like it should be , new radiator support, new selinoid ,new clutch pedal interrupt and new ignition starter switch,used decent interior and I fully expected it start like it did in the old truck.... but it didn't. that's why I replaced the ignition parts on the steering column and the clutch pedal that could interrupt flow to the starter...didn't help . Went over all the connections and still no starter, everything else works ...I wonder if I installed a faulty seleniod but it's not showing anything coming from the ignition switch and I don't hear the fuel pump running.. Something is f ed up here , and I' missing it,and right now too tired to deal with it. Replaced all the fuses and checked that they all work. Anyone have any ideas?

[Don R]

' I sized up the belt/tensioner replacement on my wife's 13' Accord. Seems easy, 12mm bolt, 8mm allen socket and a long tensioner wrench. It's due for a valve adjustment and  a racing friend specializes in Honda cars. I may drop it off there.

[scottly]

The junkyard 90 ford f 350 now has the good replacement 351 in it along with good replacement dash, entire steering with electrics, good zf 5 speed,new clutch and throw out bearing,new heater core,new fluids in everything, new filters ,good electric harness under the hood, all good exhaust and anti pollution crap like it should be , new radiator support, new selinoid ,new clutch pedal interrupt and new ignition starter switch,used decent interior and I fully expected it start like it did in the old truck.... but it didn't. that's why I replaced the ignition parts on the steering column and the clutch pedal that could interrupt flow to the starter...didn't help . Went over all the connections and still no starter, everything else works ...I wonder if I installed a faulty seleniod but it's not showing anything coming from the ignition switch and I don't hear the fuel pump running.. Something is f ed up here , and I' missing it,and right now too tired to deal with it. Replaced all the fuses and checked that they all work. Anyone have any ideas?

Is there a neutral safety switch on the trans on shifter linkage?

[74cb750]

I finally retrieved my Camry from the auto body shop after 58 days, then it spent 10 days checked by a mechanic (he's very busy beause he's honest) to make sure the body shop didn't cut the brake lines, leave drugs in the wheelwells etc etc.

Had state police show up w/ tickets to me for trespassing (for someone to retrieve my car) at the body shop while the owner wasn't there. There is NO WAY I could have been identified as I was wearing a motorcycle helmet w/ a gold tinted faceshield, I'm Not saying I got the car out, just that someone did.

Have sustained $$$ of damage to the Camry while it was at the auto body shop and am dealing w/ my insurance company now to have it repaired.

Very angry about the whole thing. Owner only spent 2 days in jail....so far. He's moved out of state so I have to spend another $400+ to file for stolen motorcycle gastanks etc etc in his new state. Paperwork was never served on him in the 6 weeks the county police had the Writ Of Replevin! I can't believe it, can y ou?

[RAFster122s]

Some local police are what some call as corrupt. Raise some noise with the local district attorney about the police's behavior and lack of action.
Anyway they got a picture of your bike's plates?
May want to retire a gold face shield for a while...

RB, yes as  Scott mentioned, tranny neutral safety switch would be one place to look. Then start checking the path for power to the solenoid to see if power is present. Direct jumping solenoid to ensure the starter solenoid is working would be what I would do, power directly from battery with ignition turned on. Then it is checking all the connectors to ensure you are getting power into the wires and the power is passing the connector blocks.
I once had a fuse holder disconnect from the backside and go intermittent on me. Dealer didn't find it, replaced both fuel pumps first...
I get the car back and a week or less later it diesagain before I get out of the subdivision I  lived in. I found it because it arced and I Heard it when I moved some wires. The crackle of a loose connection making contact. I then found the  dodgy powerconnection and fixed it and taped the fuse holder so the wires couldn't back out again, it was a friction locking connection so it was puzzling how it was disconnected in the first place. It powered  the system brain box that controlled ignition and fuel, etc...

Let us know what you find and bounce anything else off us... Maybeusing us as a sounding board can help isolate it.

[Don R]

 I had replaced the trailer hitch on my dually with a Curt brand. It's new not rusty and heavier rated. It ended up higher in the frame so I had to drop the trailer ball and the lift bars a notch. We took the race trailer on a 20 mile test drive today, going it seemed light in the front but it was pretty windy. Coming back it was a lot better.
 The trailer plug was corroded and a little melty near a contact so I replaced it. The wires don't go straight into the old molded plug, they move around inside so I got it wrong. I got a spare battery, checked all of the connections and made a new pin map. It's right on this try.  The brakes were squeaky but they looked fine inside when I changed the bearings. I turned them up to 60% and used them to slow the entire rig going down an off ramp. Now no squeak, I guess it was moisture.

[rb550four]

Scottly. No linkage, it's a top loader. I did go through  the entire shop manual  and  all the wiring diagrams in case there was a mid year upgrade as is common with fords, never know what ya got til' you go to NAPA and order the part , bring it home and find out they made 3 mid year changes to that item and they don't have anymore in stock right now.
   Ford trucks, I don't even know why I like them. I was a true blue Chevy small block in a truck kinda guy until I got a hold of a Ford truck with a diesel in it. Then the Chevys looked like boxes with ugly grills and Ford had the bricknose 87- 90, so clean , so strong looking, my favorite years ford....haven't owned a chevy since. I tried a 99 ford with the ford 7.3 with a crappy auto tranny....just junk ...and they haven't improved, the 6.0 was gutless and don't get the miles the International 7.3 did ,less pull than the 7.3, and less mpg, just junk . So now with the diesel formula change, the only way to go is backwards. Back to the proven gas engines  such as the 351 W, even with the pollution garbage.
   Some of the town dumptrucks where I live are taking the chance and running home heating fuel, plenty of power and lubrication just like they supposed to run on when they were built. of course it's a 10,000 dollar fine , but why waste  perfectly good trucks on crap fuel?
  Any ways , next is to check and replace link fuses at the fender mount selinoid as I don't get fuel pressure pump to run and starter to actually turn the engine without jumping the posts . everything else looked right but I never checked fuseable links or fuel pump relay yet.

[rb550four]

Installed a new fuel relay in the ford truck, a new fuel filter just in case, and some new mud flaps ...well, just because. That made no difference , didn't turn over. Ordered new relays for the entire truck that will be in tomorrow. for some reason there is little to no information on fuseable links in the shop manual and NAPA  has no information or factory repops. The plan is to replace damn near every thing electric that is replace able, including last years fuel pump,  so one I know it's new and expect it to work properly  and 2 I shouldn't have to replace any of it again anytime soon . But if it still doesn't fire it's down to jumping items and bypassing electric parts that I have already replaced and for some reason,  just  continues to break my balls. Yes , I might be a little frustrated but it' s really all fun and games  but  certainly not as much fun as working on a Honda. 

[scottly]

RB, is there a switch on the clutch pedal? My 4WD Toyota has one that won't allow the starter to engage unless the pedal is depressed. It also has a switch on the dash to override the pedal switch??

[rb550four]

Yes it does and it's non adjustable. So I took out the old one and popped in a new one.....didn,t work. Got all the rest of the relays upgraded too. Yesterday evening the local garage showed up with a tow truck so I could get some fresh eyes on it all , it just has to be something small that either I haven't gotten to yet or a faulty part that I have already replaced . In any event I was hoping to keep this one completely stock without jumping wires at terminals ( that would be my next move ) and I have stretched my patience out about as far as I'm willing to go before it isn't fun anymore or  SOMEBODY sets it of fire . So I'm willing to let the boys at the local garage have some fun with it too. Hope they aren't the ones to light it up.

[Don R]

 I haven't yet, but the truck and trailer still hooked up from the weekend are going to the car/truck wash. Tree sap is covering the trailer. I may use my pressure washer on the roof first, that's the source of black streaks going down the sides. If I keep the roof clean it's easier to keep the sides clean. That said, hot water removes the sap a lot easier.

[Don R]

  $10 at the truck wash and 8 hours waxing and polishing. The sap is still on it in places. It looks like dirt under the wax.  I'll need to get my turkey fryer and boil up some soapy water to scrub it with. I still need to scrub the roof too.

[rb550four]

  I once had a white '68 Impala that I parked under some birch trees for a while .... it still ran great but the paint looked gray with black streaks.  So I put it in the paper for sale for a few hundred bucks. Guys came and looked at it but it didn't sell.
  I washed the entire car down including the chrome with old school Comet bathtub scrub ( the dry green stuff that comes in a shaker can with the holes on the top) then waxed it and put it in the papers for sale again. The first guy who saw it didn't even know it was the same car that he had seen months before and happily gave me twice what I had asked for the first time he came by. When he drove off he said he was tempted to buy that $hitwagon that I had for sale in the spring, but it was too beat. That's when I told him it was the same car. Didn't matter. He was happy as a clam. I've been washing down $hitwagons with Comet ever since. Makes the chrome gleam, removes surface rust spots and tree sap stains from the paint without damaging it. It leaves a film behind that easy washes off with dawn dishwashing liquid ...and that will remove residue and any grease or oil stains that may have been left behind. It shines nice after that but glistens with a coat of wax. Pine sap is a different matter and you must choose your solvent wisely.

[RAFster122s]

Tar and bug remover from Auto Parts store do anything for your tree sap Don?
Or Kerosene?
Both would be paint safe but not waxed areas safe...