I happened across a local looking for a brake job.
Migel came over with his ford focus.

The brakes are OK to drive on, but sounded like a bus. They could use some work, but not absolutely necessary. I gave him the choice. He might come back for them.

I did change his spark plugs and wires for him. The engine light went off. Hope it stays off.

Later my sister dropped her car off to find the clunk. Ugh! and to see if i can make the fuel gauge work. double ugh ;) better me than the alternative though, IMO.

I think i found the clunk. It might be as I ass-umed... and the reason I bought this new compressor...

I'm liking this new compressor. I got the mount way above the spring seat (highlighted).
No way I could do that with the other type. Even the old Branick compressor wont elevate the mount like that.

More on the clunk, and its exciting history, will have to wait for another post, when the parts come in.

Posted by Scott Korb at 8:20 PM | Permalink

I finally got my new strut compressor. It's not as nice as a Branick, but cheaper. It's not as easy to use as a clamshell compressor, but it looks a little more Heavy McDuty, and should work on more struts, like the ones on my sister's Celica. Someday I'll prob'ly get a good clamshell too.

So this spring compressor came from harborfreight tools. The box was beat to hell by fedex, but at least it came partially assembled... and they only stripped out one bolt... one that has to come out all the time for height adjustment.

pic links follow

old compressors pic
This is the cheapest type. It's also the most dangerous. I decided I'd rather not risk serious injury as often anymore unless it's too fun, or guaranteed to be accompanied by a swift and painless death. I had one of these slip off before and put a knot in my shin. It could easily have been worse. One also has a rod starting to bend.

This next one is my new one. Upright. Holds strut body in bottom clamp and top spring coil in quad hooks. It looks less dangerous, but each spring now has to be compressed and released twice to complete a strut change operation. I have yet to try it out. I miss my Branick.
new compressor pic

Posted by Scott Korb at 3:19 PM | Permalink

Sean's brakelights and turn signals quit working on the Cougar. It's a sad, sad turn of events.

The brakelight switch and connector were toasted, and the control box for the sequential signals has a bad solder in it somewhere we think (if you tap it it works for a second).

Today I replaced the brake switch and made a new connector. He'll have to do something about the control box for the turn signals, but at least it's driveable.

The old switch and connector had melted together. The cause of this had previously been fixed (bad relay).

New switch and connector installed. Blurry underdash photo ;)

Here is the sequential turn signal control assembly. It has a problem. I think Sean is going to try to fix it, or make his own copy of it, rather than buying a new one.

Posted by Scott Korb at 10:02 AM | Permalink

steve sent me a link to his photos of the spring install i did last saturday.

Here is the car before, as pictured on goodfriday.

after lowering

rear, old v. new

front, old v. new

bimbo bonus

Posted by Scott Korb at 9:42 AM | Permalink

exhaust parts came in early.
pic is of old system next to new one.
old system was patched in several places, making it all one piece, now broken and clattering.
new system consits of a muffler assembly (rear) and a resonator pipe (center), behind the catalytic converter still on car.
both pieces carry a lifetime warranty through Walker, sold thru advance auto.
add 2 gaskets and a bolt kit, and voila, quiet car, new cat-back.
yippee.

and Phil and Robena picked up the Geo. Geo go bye-bye. Hooraayyy!

Posted by Scott Korb at 8:57 PM | Permalink

I've got a honda accord, 1997, sitting here.
I put an axle on it this morning, and may be doing some exhaust/muffler work tomorrow.

I hope the exhaust parts fit. The first axle they gave me was wrong. They pulled the wrong part ...LH axle, Auto trans. This needed the RH axle, and has a manual trans. Way off.
The 2nd axle they gave me was boxed wrong. This car has no antilock brakes. The axle had an antilock exciter ring.
3rd axle was correct, so i took its picture ;)

next to the old one.

here's the new axle nut getting torqued, then after i staked it.
torqued
staked

Staking the nut down into the divot is the way some companies do it instead of using a pin to keep the nut from backing off. It means a new nut every time it comes off though. New nut came with the axle.

So now the right CV axle isn't crackling on left turns. I could barely hear it over the exhaust ;)
Left axle was fine.
Hope to fix the exhaust tomorrow.

Posted by Scott Korb at 12:45 PM | Permalink

here's 3 recent pics of this buick

front

rear

dash

read comment for more CRG links.

Posted by Scott Korb at 12:39 PM | Permalink

I had a wonderful time at the Grillage in the Village today (yesterday?) We got there about 3 or 4 in the afternoon and stayed past 10pm. I got to use GrillZilla and eat cow :) Edith made yummy beans, and a great time was had by all. I even got to try the rope swing.

Before we (Edith, Antny, and I) headed out there, I worked on a couple of cars.

Margaret's LR tire had a slow leak. Yes, same tire I pulled a nail from this past winter. I thought the plug didn't take (it's had this leak for a while). Plug was fine. There was a piece of metal stuck in the tire in a different place.

Why always the left rear?

Anyway, I pulled it out and plugged it, then tested for leaks. I took a pic with the thing pulled part way out of the tire:

But
before I even got to that, Steve showed up about 8AM with his new Miata. He bought some lowering springs for it, so I was recruited to remove the front and rear struts to swap out the springs, and re-install. Steve helped out quite a bit.

Right now i have no pics of that. Steve took quite a few, and promised to send them to me, so maybe I'll post them later and add a link.
link

Vern was there part of the time, plugging away on the DerbyBuick . He was still there when i left. And he bought us Pizza for lunch. Yum.
I'll prob'ly post a pic or 2 of the Buick progress tomorrow (today?).

I ought to take a pic or 2 of GrillZilla sometime too. It's a homemade grill by Sean, made from an old fuel drum and some other scrap. A day or so ago I added some stop chains to keep the top from flopping open and tipping the thing over (not everyone is as skilled as Sean at taming GrillZilla). I still want to add a wood handle, and a stainless mesh. I suppose until i find the stainless (maybe from an old fridge?) I can start using cooking oil to keep the rust off during non-use.

Posted by Scott Korb at 3:31 AM | Permalink

I'll see if i can get my brother to accept a new catagory. I'm installing it. This post goes there, but it's up to him if his posts (past and future) go there too. I'm sure it'll be fine.

You'll find it under
DerbyCar !
/parent, guest cars

So if you've been following, you know. If not, tough.
Start reading for catchup.

anyway, not much here but links. one other pic.

i don't really know what needs done, or which parts Vern would rather do himself. He wants to really be the one doing it, and I'm fine with taking directions.
He left me with a rule sheet. I figured all the shattery sharp stuff at least needs gone, so i removed what i would call the "header panel". The bumper cover which once was attached is gone. Too bad. It makes it worth more selling.
So this thing is basically fiberglass, glass, plastic, and sharp metal. it needs gone. wanna buy it?

meZmorize deer! venISson for all!

and here would be the promised links, if i can figure out HTML. i'll edit this a few times. check back if it dont work.
ah'm midwestirn. git ov'r et! fer gosh sikes!

CRG Forum at ProBoards.

crash test dummies

Posted by Scott Korb at 11:22 PM | Permalink

geo's done!!
YAAYYY!!!

the starter was shipped from Salt Lake City, and finally arrived today. It cranks wonderfully, and i drove it around awhile to get the engine hot, let it sit and heat soak, and it still cranks wonderfully... like it ought to...
unlike the last starter which apparently was thrown together in a mexican sweat shop.
I still can't remember the last starter's brand... it was like 'accu-spin' or something equally uncomfortable.

When I returned the first starter, they had to give me core charge money too so i could pay for the core on this Bosch one. They already had sent away my core (the original starter). If i can find a starter small enough to fit in this box, i can get core money ($17) for it too. So far the extra starters I have around are too big to fit in the box :(

On another note, our annual friend the stag beetle came to visit again yesterday. I found him trying, unsuccessfully, to get out of the recycle bin, so I rescued him and left him near the hydrangea bush. The last few years he seemed to end up in the garage somehow, and we would relocate him to the back yard. They're supposed to live several years. I don't normally like bugs, but some are OK. I think I'll call him Gobo.

Posted by Scott Korb at 3:58 PM | Permalink

Vern and I are building a smash up derby car for the State Fair this year. We're also building one for the Carolina Rollergirls but they'll both be flying the team colors.

We brought home an '83 Buick Le Sabre with a big old V6 under the hood.

So it's time to strip the body of all trim pieces to minimize parts that could stick into a tire or a driver. The biggest enemy of a derby driver is fire, so the interior has to lose a lot of flammables. The pictures tell the story pretty well:

We've got a long way to go, but great progress for the first few hours in our posession. We need to collapse the bumpers, and make some pie cuts to make the car fold up instead of down when it gets hit. We also need to relocate the battery amd maybe the gas tank. A simple floor shifter should be installed (I think I still have one from the Suprang) and the electricals need to be simplified. We need to clean out the oil pretty good and then put some of the thick stuff in there. It looks a little abused.

Nice project!

Posted by Sean Korb at 11:06 PM | Permalink

A co-worker of Sean's had been having some problems with his Taurus. The check engine light was on due to a misfire, and it was running quite roughly, so he brought it over for plugs and plug wires. I also changed the fuel filter. It runs much more smoothly, and after disconnecting/reconnecting the battery, the engine light shut off. I wanted to clear the codes with Sean's OBDII tester, but it wont communicate with Fords for some reason.

Anyway, here's 2 pics of the engine. The front 3 spark plugs were easy to get to. The rear 3 you can't see, and were a bit of a pain.

Posted by Scott Korb at 5:56 PM | Permalink

My sister's neighbor Justin wanted a new clutch in his Hyundai. While in there he had me put in a new rear main seal. The clutch was just about to the rivets.

transmission out, engine bay
transmission out, driveway

flywheel before
flywheel after

new rear main seal

done

Sean helped me lift the trans back up. Thanks Sean.
He and Vern picked up an old RWD Buick to strip for a Demo/Derby car. Vern spent most of the afternoon/evening stripping it. They have pics somewhere.

Posted by Scott Korb at 11:24 PM | Permalink

Defective starter. That's like 4 in the past couple years on different vehicles.

So I managed to turn the Geo's cold-start problem into a hot-start problem with a rmfg. starter. When it heat soaks, it just goes "click". I checked the connections and it still did it.

If I can catch Carquest before they restock, they have to give me back my money for it. No one else has one in stock, which could work to my advantage. I can order a BOSCH reman. instead of relying on whatever the 'brand of the day' is. Hopefully the Bosch starter will be more reliable.

I managed to find this out just before Phil&Robena were about to come pick up the car. Paying for a car to be fixed and having it still be broken is no fun for anyone involved.

I found out the Geo had a problem with the rear passenger door not opening, so i fixed that too. When I talked to Phil about it, i didn't know if it was possible for me w/o cutting the panel to get to it, but I managed to loosen the hinges and move the door out just enough to get the interior panel off and fix the stuck lock.

Anyway, the Geo will probably now be completely immobile for a few days while i wait for a starter, as I'll temporarily have no starter at all for it once i return the defective unit.
I'm moving it to my sister's driveway for that. Sean needs to be able to move the van, and i need some room to do the Hyundai clutch... which BTW was postponed until Saturday.

Sean's Cougar runs great. It sounds a little different with the new cam, and the power band is noticeably different. It popped the front oil gasket under the intake on the first hard accell. I'll have to fix that. The chrome water outlet is also leaking. Anyone owning one can attest to the "ooh it's chrome!... oops it's a piece of crap." syndrome. Both leaks are right above the timing cover in the front. Not too hard to repair once I/he/we get around to it.

Posted by Scott Korb at 10:11 PM | Permalink

Geo's still done ;)
I parked it in the shade and started it early morning after sitting a day. Starts fine.

I sent off a couple parts for the Firebird to be rebuilt. If you recall it had low compression in #4 due to a leaky/sticky intake valve. Not sure the exact cause yet as the head needs to come off to find out. It runs fine, so i want a better head to just swap out when i remove this one to inspect. I'm sending off a higher compression head to be redone as a high performance unit to swap out. Also sent off a camshaft to be reground for higher performance and matched to valves. It should bring my engine closer to stock 1968 performance or better on today's pump gas, given the other modifications done.

The parts are going to my friends at "Primatech Motorsports International"

I cant really afford it all yet, but they accept the parts first. Good guys.

I'm supposed to have a Hyundai of some sort dropped off tomorrow night for a clutch.

And here is a pic of flower #2 with natural weathering added. the bug shows up better, but he might eventually rust too.

Posted by Scott Korb at 4:54 PM | Permalink

i changed this lower one, removing the wings. now he's just a sea serpent.

Posted by Scott Korb at 3:40 PM | Permalink

geo's done. i think.

sister's celica makes a loud noise from the right front sometimes.

sister had a ball joint going bad. i was going to replace both, until i heard the loud noise. Then I knew it would not fix the problem. It was loose so i replaced it, and returned the other one to use the money to invest in whatever the real problem is. I need to crawl under there while someone else steers the wheels, and maybe I'll see it.

The geo's starter tried to quit on me this morning for about half a minute. It had been sounding terrible, but I was assured it always sounded like that.

So I think the starter might have been the real 'cold start' problem this whole time. I stuck it in the freezer of course. When I bench tested it while cold the bendix did not engage. New starter.

The ignition is all new except the key switch. It still does not spark until it spins fast, but it should always spin fast. There are no emission codes set.
I should have heeded my brother's warning...
"are you sure it's not supposed to be like that?"
i wouldn't have thought so. My first starting attempt reulted in no spark, no start. The engine was turning. A little spark, engine stutter. Spark-start.

I guess if i had a good description of the symptom when it wouldn't start, or if it had actually done it to me, I would have replaced the starter first off, and never even bothered checking the damn spark.

So anyway, I have a bunch of new Geo ignition parts that i cant return, and I can't charge for. Being a mechanic is great.

Still no leak from the trans, unless it's the front seal, which is covered up. The nose of the starter was oily. Since i changed the fluid and added some oil treatment, whatever leak there may be could slow or stop anyway. It is definitely not as loud now.
I found out they used synthetic oil in it from the factory.
My personal feelings are to not use synthetics in a manual gearbox or differential. There is no pump to get the oil to the parts, and the oil is so slick that the parts dry up while sitting overnight. Since GM went to synth in their differentials, there have been a lot more broken gear teeth. Maybe they just started making the parts cheaper at the same time.

Sean just got home. If he's not too tired he might run the cougar.

I just talked to phil about the geo. he's very understanding and might help me pay for the unneeded ign parts in lieu of labor cost.

Posted by Scott Korb at 4:29 PM | Permalink

the cougar is ready for sean to break in the new cam.

The info i recieved on the Geo wasn't much help, so i got a book. It wasn't much help either.

OK, it was a little help.

I'll know tomorrow.

I got the trans in the Geo all cleaned off, and don't see a leak. I changed the fluid and added some Lucas oil to it. It seems a bit quieter at least.

Posted by Scott Korb at 7:19 PM | Permalink

still no luck on the GEO. tomorrow i hope to have better luck w/ some literature.

I had the tire swapped on the honda so the rim i got from the junkman now has the other tire back on it. I put the salvage yard tire in the trunk because it's not in too bad of shape.
It turns out the tire that was on the no-fittin' rim has some wobble now, and some edge wear. It could be from being on a rim that didn't fit the car right. Plus i found out that the rim which was on the left front has some runout. it took alot of balance weights. Those wheels are both on the rear now.

I was going to do lower ball joints on my sister's car, but didn't find the time. Maybe this weekend.

On the Cougar all i was able to do was adjust the valves, with Sean's help. Hopefully tomorrow i can put the valve covers on and tighten the exhaust. Not much left after that except to run the ignition wires and plugs, fill with oil, and let Sean start it and seat in the new camshaft.

Posted by Scott Korb at 6:53 PM | Permalink

it's here, finally.
should be done tomorrow night i hope.

Posted by Scott Korb at 11:24 PM | Permalink

well, the junkman is supposed to come back today to give me my $ back on the dizzy. They don't have another one.

Turns out I'm also an idiot anyway, and Geo moved the ign. module to the firewall on the metro some time after 1991. I think it's actually still good. There must be a way to test it, but I don't know what it is yet.

What I thought was a combination of the module and pick-up-coil is just the pick-up-coil. It's a little air gap magnet/stator that sends a signal to the main coil, telling it to collapse it's field and send high voltage to the distributor, which then distributes said voltage to the plugs, hence the name.

The maximum resistance of the pick-up-coil, measured in OHMS, is supposed to be 180. After letting these dizzys sit for some time, the salvage yard one measures 230.5 and the OE one measures 223.6.

The other day, the ohms were closer to spec, and putting it in the freezer just brought the ohms down further (140-180 is the spec).

Same on the ign coil. Primary resistance measured 3.5, until I handled it a bunch, and it went back down... grrr... supposed to be 1.3 max. Freezing also brings it down. Heating brings it up.

So I have a coil and 'pick-up-coil' on order. They should fix the car. There is a chance there is another problem, but I think the car is worth it.

I still dont see the trans leak.

On a lighter note, I did find a replacement fill plug.

Posted by Scott Korb at 10:50 AM | Permalink

junkman took all the junk. YAYY!!

camry relay he brought was the wrong one.
honda wheel was correct, and came with a good tire.
honda's done, though it would be nice to put the matching tire on, and have them all balanced.

The Geo dizzy he brought has weak and intermittant spark. bleah. They're bringing me another one tomorrow. I hope it's better.

Posted by Scott Korb at 5:30 PM | Permalink

Salvage yard delivery.
He's bringing a wheel for the Honda, and some other stuff.
Maybe he'll take away some of the other junk here.
pics.

space saver for honda picture came out better than I thought last night.

junkman's gonna bring me a camry tail lamp relay.

Geo. I can't see spending $200 on a replace-to-check. I can see myself spending $50. I'll be spending $75. Junkman bring distributor with guarantee. whee.

So while waiting, I gather junk. Hmmm. That toyota engine is heavy. Disassemble. Sean wanted to know what the inside looked like anyway. This is the seized engine he removed from his MR2 when he bought it. These pics are mostly for my brother's benefit.

hole in oil pan

where is the piston connecting rod?

wedged in the cylinder, of course

pieces parts

So that's that. The block is still heavy, but I rolled it over to the trailer where I collected most of the other metal scrap.

scrap1 scrap 2 & 3

I'm keeping the MR2 crankshaft for a project... speaking of...
I made this flower with bug the other day out of scrap.

it might look better in real life... or worse.

Posted by Scott Korb at 10:17 AM | Permalink

Geo
No spark, spark-start.
One second.

Starts right up for me. That's typical. I'm a mechanic. Of course it'll behave better around me.
Still, at least I had the spark tester hooked up. Prob'ly bad ign. module.

I guess I'll try to scrub all the oil off of the transmission, and look for the leak.
and look for a Honda Civic wheel.
and call Robena later (it's too early. need coffee)

Posted by Scott Korb at 7:34 AM | Permalink

It all started when i woke up... seems to be a rut I'm in ;)

The Geo was supposed to be hard to start. I figured because i was looking at it that it would, of course, start right up. About 9:30 I hooked up a spark tester to it and tried to start. It cranked about 1 sec with no spark, sparked and almost started... no spark, sparked and started. This all took less than 5 seconds. I tried again, and it cranked about 1 sec with no spark, sparked and started right up. WTF?

Read on.. and on.

It's supposed to be a cold start problem, and it's obviously a spark problem, not fuel. Now to find the culprit. Ugh. When spark is intermittant like this, testing components the conventional way with an ohmeter usually yields misleading results... plus i have no book on this car anyway. So, cold start problem... semi-gone now. How do I simulate? Let's put the coil in the freezer!
This really does work sometimes.

So that had no effect. I had it in there about 30min while i did research, and re-installed. Same deal.... no spark, spark-start, 1sec. Substitute coil wire. Same. Heat coil up with hair dryer. No change.

Andrew stopped by so I could rewire his tails in a way I liked better. Still temporary until i can figure out the cause. I did figure out his rear lamp relay is bad. I don't think it's the main problem, and a new one is over $200. It might be the main problem, but for now, I checked out a few things, disabled his airbag light, threw a bag of ice on the Geo distributor, and got some lunch.

We stopped by the parts store(s) and picked up a bearing for the Honda, a Haynes manual for the Camry, and some misc. wiring parts. After lunch I ran a fused wire from the front lights on the camry to the rear. Now it has a fuse. I feel better. I feel dumb i didn't wire it that way the other day, and had to ask him to come back so i could stop worrying. Now the lights all work properly, though not technically correct. I'll study the wire schematic of the lighting in the Camry over the next few days.

So I've got this bag of ice on the Geo distributor. It's prob'ly about 3:00 now. It's been on there a good hour. No spark, spark-start. 1second.
Dammit.
Think. Internet research to no avail.

Take steering knuckle off Honda. Bearing is fine. WTF was causing the knock-knock-knock? It's the dang CV joint!
gif animation (sorry, best i can do with the tools i have)

So I go up to the parts store Again. Return bearing. Pick up axle shaft. Pick up dist cap&rotorbutton for Geo (doubt it's the problem, but when i end up replacing the distributor, it must have a new cap, and it's a cheap check). Take off old cap, ice down dist with cap off.

Replace CV shaft in Honda. Gear it up with the front end lifted, and... the knock is gone. Hoorayyy!
Wheels on, car down.

Geo. New cap on.
No spark, spark-start. 1 second.
Remove distributor.

Sean's home.
Eat some chicken meat candy.

Put Geo ign control module and pick-up-coil in freezer.
View image
mess with Geo transmission plug... too tight to get off.
proper tool rounds. Improper tool shaves.
Damn this thing is overtightened BADLY.
Get plug off, fill trans. I need to find a new plug.
Re-install dist parts, set air gap
View image
Reinstall dist.

No change... maybe took just over a second this time.
Could this maybe be a 'sitting more than 12hrs' problem rather than 'cold'? I don't know yet.
The module looks like crap. I think it's bad. It's pretty attached to the pick-up-coil at this stage in it's life, and you can pick them both up with a new distributor cheaper than the parts seperately... still an expensive 'replace-to-check'. I need to find Robena's # and call tomorrow.
This kind of diagnosis might fare better with a few hundred dollars worth of Oscilloscope education, a chart showing proper wave for this vehicle, and a working Oscilloscope with proper test leads. Any good places around here that can do that for less than a 'replace-to-check'?

Test drive Honda. Better. Not all better. Still some vibration and creaking while braking... which now i can isolate to the rear.
It's that damn wheel that doesn't fit. I bet. I put on the space saver spare. Pic didn't come out because it's dark out. Test drive stops smoothly, no noise. It's still not plumb perfect, but for 17yrs and still a bunch of old parts, very smooth and quiet. Any better and one really has to weigh the cost vs. effectiveness. I'd put it up against a 5yr old car easily.

I'll try to find another wheel. If i dont find one before G needs her car back, she'll have to drive with the space-saver until she finds a wheel. If that wrong-wheel goes back on the car, she's fired.

Posted by Scott Korb at 10:16 PM | Permalink

worked on G's Honda some more today.
Phil&Robena dropped off their Geo.
Sean went out to work on someone's 72 BMW R75

Yesterday I removed the buzzer in the Buick. It buzzed with the interior light on. Now it doesn't.
Unfortunately, I hear that now the interior lights don't work. Ugh. I hate wiring. I wish i had a wiring diagram... maybe I'll find one at least for that circuit. He paid me enough I should be able to at least give him illumination sans noise.

Andrew came by with his Camry yesterday too. I got it to run a little better, though i didn't find the underlying problem yet. Also the tail lamps aren't getting power. I don't know why yet, so i gave them power from somewhere else as a temporary fix until I can get a wiring diagram. I think there's a relay between the light switch and the fuse box, but i can't find it yet.

Today on G's Honda I changed all the belts, water pump, valve cover gasket, thermostat, and prob'ly some other stuff... too tired to think.
View image
I got batteries for the camera ;)
The timing belt looked original. It might have lasted longer, but I wouldn't chance it on an interference engine. If it was ever changed, it was done by Honda, so that would likely have been a long time ago anyway. It was starting to show its age.
I started it up and geared it up to check front brake noise. Turns out it has a bad RF wheel bearing going knock-knock-knock. That might be the noise and vibration i was getting while driving, or at least part of it. I'll have to replace it to find out for sure.

Phil's Geo Metro is not starting well when it's cold. It's not cold. I have to wait for tomorrow to try to find the problem. I hope i find it right away, or i have to let it cool down fully again.
The thing also has an empty transmission i think. I'm supposed to find the leak.

Posted by Scott Korb at 9:00 PM | Permalink

i did the brakes on G's honda today. new ft pads, rotors, new rear cylinders.
It stops much more smoothly, but when it's real quiet out, and i have the windows up, I think i can hear a rotor or drum 'walking'... kind of a creaking as it walks in and out while stopping. At high speeds there is also a little shake. I'll have to get the runout gauge and check all the wheels, hubs, and brake components over.

The back left wheel isn't correct for the car, so that might be the problem. It doesn't seat against the hub. I have expressed my concern over this several times in the past, yet the wheel remains.

The old Honda of course needs struts, but most cars do, and they're not leaking. Hondas ride pretty decent even with old struts. They also wont cause a breakdown, so they're not really a concern right now. You have to pull it pretty hard around a bumpy corner to really notice them, unlike on some other cars.

I was going to change the valve cover gasket and distributor o-ring.
The gasket didn't come with the 4 little seals under the cover where the spark plugs go. It needs them. They're all wavy looking and leaky. Sorry, still no camera batteries. I put the old cover gasket back on so i could go get the seals. They had to be ordered. ugh.

With the valve cover off I could see the timing belt. It looks really old, and this is an interference engine. I'll probably change it and the water pump. The other belts are cracking. I went ahead and got some of the parts. I need to call G and see if she wants them on, or if i should return them.
The air filter looks almost as bad as the one i had in my old ford which caught fire. I forgot to buy it... tomorrow i'll get it.

so I went up to the store to get stuff, and the clerk, even though i told him i had a list, insisted on getting one part at a time. He also had to order some stuff i was pretty sure they had in stock if he'd looked it up right.
I forgot to order a few things because i forgot what i needed during the time it took him to get individual parts.
Get belt, come back, get other belt, come back, get 3rd belt, come back, get seal, come back, get other seal.... etc.... aaarrrgggghhhh!!!!!

So tomorrow morning i go back to get the stuff I ordered, and I'll have my list in ink, with part numbers, and I'll avoid that clerk. I think maybe his english is a little weak, and he's a little young. I need the old man to get my parts. I should just quit going to that store really.
I usually have a part# list written down when i go there, but for some reason i thought I'd be OK without one. It's a Honda Civic fercryinoutloud!
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OH!
My ASE Shemp shirt got me a discount at the Honda dealership today. YAYYY! I saved 29¢.
Honda I guess has a patent on their distributor O-ring. You can only get it through the dealer, or on line made by 'Inshino'. FelPro and others do not reproduce it.

Tomorrow,
I'll also be changing plugs on a toyota camry, and i have to look at the Buick again.
The buick's key buzzer started working, and apparently it's on when he plays CDs. It's only s'posed to come on when the door is open. It was turning off while the radio was playing, even with the door open, which i figured was a bonus. guess not. I didn't try any CDs.

Posted by Scott Korb at 1:54 PM | Permalink

so no pics :(

I finished up the lesabre. Turns out my problem w/ passenger window was just that i bumped the master switch to 'lock'. D'oh. Thanks Steve.

I had to take out the back seat to do the rear struts. Bleah.

The lock switch just arrived, so now the power locks are all finished.

The back left window has a bad motor. Not sure if Steve wants it replaced or not. I need a break from the Buick for a little while anyway.

The stereo mysteriously healed itself when I took the dash panel out. I hope it stays that way. The dash panel was a big PITA.

I checked out all the brakes as I did the struts. They look OK, but the rears might have some issues in the coming months. Steve had requested that i inspect them.

Tonight Geneva and Lewis are coming by for dinner, and dropping off the Civic for brakes. It shakes badly while stopping.

Posted by Scott Korb at 2:58 PM | Permalink