I know (if you read the fine print) you're not supposed to breathe it, touch it, or wear your clothes home after exposure.

So what is it? Well, it's definitely not asbestos. It says so right in the name.

The tests I took after lunch today conclude that it's 38% caramelized ketchup, 12% crystalized catsup, 27% natural and artificial flavorings and 17% glycerol ester of wood rosin, with less than 2% soylent green.

Last year I was working on my friend's 1999 Camry, and I replaced many things. Dorman was the only aftermarket manufacturer at the time who I found sold both the oil pump seal and o-ring gasket in a kit, so I bought it. It's just rubber seals right? No big deal. Who can screw that up? Everything seemed fine.

Fast forward a few months. I put a Dorman upper control arm on my friend's Civic because it was very inexpensive (her choice) compared to the others available.... like 1/4 the cost. I should have known better, but it's just metal and rubber, right? Who can screw that up?

Well, that control arm makes a very disturbing knock noise over minor bumps. I think the interference fit between the arm and the included bushings is not so great, since that's where it seems the noise is coming from.

So... back to the Camry. Here it is just over a year later and the Camry has a terrible oil leak. By terrible I mean a quart an hour while the car is running. ONE QUART EVERY HOUR!!!!

After some investigation I have found it to be.... you guessed it.... the very same oil pump seal and gasket I replaced 13 months ago. Both are leaking. I had also replaced the crankshaft front oil seal and camshaft oil seal with Fel-Pro parts, and they were fine, but the Dorman parts only lasted 13 months... possibly less, as the leak was only brought to my attention when I was about to change the oil ("oh yeah- we meant to tell you we've been adding oil")

13 Months! They should last at least 7 years. The original parts lasted 11 years... and even then it was just the gasket leaking a little, and the seal not at all.

I've run into other parts manufacturers whose electrical parts seem to fail in 13 months. BWD is one example. Neihoff is another.

So I guess if it lasts a year, that's good enough.!?!

I spent 2 hours cleaning coked up oil off of timing belt cogs.... not to mention the time to replace the oil soaked timing belt (also only 13 months old)... and the amount of down time for the car. Now I'm waiting for the dust cover gaskets to arrive via USPS. The oil leak deteriorated the adhesive and compromised the gaskets.

DO NOT BUY DORMAN PRODUCTS!!!!!!

Me talking and playing (also no glow plug power, but Lew had already warmed it up)

continue for more reindeer pictures. click here for the alligator

This is the HVAC blower motor and fan from a GMC. I'd always heard the fan called a squirrel cage. Now I know why. I've also heard it called a hamster wheel, but I never found evidence of a hamster... though I did find a mouse once.

well, sort of.

I guess they found a problem and that's why it was for sale.

We made it run inside the crate. That was awesome.

Comments are under pictures. The right sides of the pictures got cut off but if you click on them they should come up in a pop-up (disable that blocker for now).

HUGE intake manifold! There's an EPA sticker which mentions a national security emissions exemption. I'll try to get a pic of that later. done. click here for sticker pic

We ran 24V to the injector pump (help me out here Lewis) and 12V to the starter. 4 batteries in all.

...about the starter. The military crate needed slight modifications to accommodate it.

more after jump

I had to change the thermostat in Althea AGAIN. Above you see two thermostats... one ~18 month old thermostat made in China, and one new one next to it made in Japan. Can you guess which is which? They are both for the same car. Weird huh?

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/question248.htm

I did not choose to put a cheapo unit in my car last time so much as my car ran hot and the cheap one was available within the hour. This time when Althea ran hot I waited a day for delivery, waited 5 days to install, and paid three times as much. I expect it to last 10yrs this time. Totally worth it.

A more important event took place today but is completely unrelated to cars. My friends Lewis and Russell came over and fixed the rotten part of my roof facia. They are awesome and have probably bought me another 3yrs before I need to replace my roof.

more pics after jump

AKA "air vent cut off diaphragm"
This little guy keeps a valve closed when vacuum is supplied or held to it (engine running). When the engine is shut off the valve opens and fuel vapors are directed into a charcoal canister, rather than vented into the atmosphere.

When the diaphragm is perforated like mine is, and engine vacuum declines (when you hit the go pedal) the valve opens and creates a huge air leak. So no go with the go pedal.

I found the description of how this system operates (when working properly) in the emissions section of my service manual

and figured it out from there.

Unfortunately I cannot find a new diaphragm. Honda has discontinued this part, it's not in the rebuild kit for the carb, and I can't find it in the aftermarket anywhere.

So my choices are to either paste up the rubber with some sort of bonding agent and hope it works, or eliminate this part of the emissions system (all emissions systems must be in place and APPEAR to work)

So for now I'm using a less perforated diaphragm scrounged from another carb and MrHanky drives a whole lot better.

BUT it wont pass NC state inspection.

Vehicles in NC under 35yrs old, but built before 1996 must pass a safety inspection including a visual inspection of emission equipment. All emission equipment must be installed and appear to work.

I installed a WEBER carburetor on my 1982 Civic. It has one electrical wire for the choke (optional), one ported vacuum line for the distributor, and one manifold vacuum line for the power brakes (optional).

Damn if I cant get through an inspection. Actually, I can, but I need this car to be user friendly.

So I had to put this monstrosity back on it:

more photos (click on below picture)

click for bigger

I made this tonight after work. It was actually a fairly uneventful day. This piece is not directed towards another person. It's been in my head awhile, and tonight it came out.

-scott

It's not just GM
I see this kind of thing all the time, but it is (or was) usually Canada, Brazil or Mexico... which could be considered in America (north, south or central)

If your 17 digit VIN number starts with a one, your vehicle was assembled in The United States of America.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_Identification_Number

after cut/paste and read the above site, know my 1990 Civic VIN starts with a 4 but the sticker on the original radiator brace read MFG BY HONDA OF CANADA

if someone has a more accurate list of VIN MFG codes please let me know.

(edit: oops. I was wrong... my VIN starts with a 2 - Canada it is)

I wanted to put a yellow smiley face on my old '77 dodge van, but i never got around to it.

For those interested, that jack o'lantern is painted on the rear differential cover which is affectionately known as the rear pumpkin cover by some automotive enthusiasts. The mole on his left cheek is a rubber plug for checking/filling the fluid level. That's a big mole. He should have that checked.