My journey to maintaining my own vehicles

[Zef_66]

Thanks. I haven't really done too much work lately aside from getting the car serviced (I still don't change my oil, the shop can change it, rotate tires, and look under it for problems I can't easily see). However the rear driver side window isn't going down/up smoothly so I think I may take a look at that just to do something. Depending on what the issue is and the cost to fix it I may do it or ignore it.

I use silicone spray on my window gaskets. Something like this: http://amzn.to/2qFnmN3

I spray a liberal amount on the rubber track that goes along both sides of the windows. This will help them move easier. I do this once a year or so to all the windows on all the cars. Only takes a couple minutes to do and keeps things moving better and prevents stuff inside the door from breaking.

[theBINKYhunter]

Good to know. When you say both sides do you mean inside and outside or left/right? Are you removing the door panel?

[ChrisFox]

Some times motor/regulator going out. They are notorious for cheaping out on those. Lucky to get 5 years out of them. Easy to fix though. I did all 4 last year. About $200 all together.

[Zef_66]

Good to know. When you say both sides do you mean inside and outside or left/right? Are you removing the door panel?

Left and right. But I put the window down before spraying to make sure I get both the inside and outside as well if that makes sense.

Standing on the side of the vehicle looking at the closed door, usually a rubber groove/track will run up and down the left and right side of the door frame. The window slides up and down this groove and keeps it in the same place and from moving too much. The rubber can dry out and cause the motor to work hard to overcome the extra friction of the dry rubber. Spraying with silicone lubricant once a year helps keep the window moving better.

I do this with window down, door open, and door panel on. Just turn the key to the on position, lower the window, open the door, and spray the grooves. Takes less than a minute per window.

Ah, found a good video of it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IS62LquGOUk

[alexlindsay]

A suggestion that I don't think has been covered in this thread. instead of getting an expensive code reader a more cost effective way of doing it is to get an ELM 327 dongle on eBay for less than 10$ and the torque pro app for a smartphone. I got one of these when working on my 6.0 f350. it allowed me to read outputs from a bunch of different sensors and diagnose problems without throwing parts at it. definitely worth it.

[Chemsoldier]

A suggestion that I don't think has been covered in this thread. instead of getting an expensive code reader a more cost effective way of doing it is to get an ELM 327 dongle on eBay for less than 10$ and the torque pro app for a smartphone. I got one of these when working on my 6.0 f350. it allowed me to read outputs from a bunch of different sensors and diagnose problems without throwing parts at it. definitely worth it.

Could you throw in some links?

Good suggestion by the way. +1

[alexlindsay]

http://m.ebay.com/itm/ELM327-V1-5-OBD2-Car-WIFI-Interface-Diagnostic-Tool-Scanner-For-Android-IOS-/222325625481?hash=item33c3a3d289%3Ag%3A3soAAOSwo4pYOAop&_trkparms=pageci%253A39b73720-3e7a-11e7-9726-74dbd1800e6f%257Cparentrq%253A2d43be0015c0ab4d6c3f731ffffe3d83%257Ciid%253A12

coupled with the torque pro app I was able to read the sensors for the high pressure oil system that runs the injectors, which enabled me to determine why my truck was having a starting problem when the oil was hot. it also allowed me to test the output voltage of my ficm, which is another common problem for 6.0 powerstrokes.

[theBINKYhunter]

Good suggestion. I have seen those but haven't gotten one yet. Usually if my check engine light goes on I swing into an Auto Zone and have them pull the code for me. It's free and they usually provide a printout of everything that's involved with the code: potential causes, potential parts needed, troubleshooting steps, etc.

[theBINKYhunter]

It’s been a while since I updated this thread. Honestly I haven’t done much on the vehicles and I’ve been too busy to tinker. I recently got a motorcycle and it’s going to get some work/modifications/maintenance done since I’m a) excited about it b) not sure what’s been done/not been done so I want to make sure it gets done and c) want to learn the ins and outs of the ride.

To start I cleaned my chain and checked the tension last week. It seemed loose and after looking up the specs in the service manual it is in fact loose. Specs say it should have 20-30mm of movement, roughly .75 – 1.25 inches.

As you can see from the first to pictures it had about two inches of movement:





To start I bought a neat little tool that clamps onto the sprocket help with the alignment. To install it I need to remove the chain guard. One bolt out and the guard will pivot up and be out of my way:



The tool is basic and has a long rod that runs down the chain. You site along it to make sure it and the chain are running parallel.



Next the Axel nut needs to be loosed. Out with a cotter pin and the nut will loosen right up:



After that there are two bolts that require an allen wrench to adjust on either side of the wheel. The left side adjusts the actual chain tension and the right side (pictured below) adjusts the yaw of the wheel. There are markings on the swing-arm to help line things up but the tool I installed is a better way to check.



And that’s it! Once the wheel is aligned tighten the axel nut to spec and reinstall the cotter pin. Mine’s actually incomplete right now because I didn’t have a socket big enough to fit the nut. I loosed it with a crescent wrench but I need to use my torque wrench to tighten it. I’ll pick one up tomorrow and have the job finished up then.

I’m also not thrilled about reusing the cotter pin since I have to shape it to lock so I’ll see if I can pick one up along with the socket. It’ll probably be ok but for such a cheap part I figure why not get new and unbent for a replacement.

The chain is within spec now as shown by the two pictures:





It might still be a little on the loose side but it’s really close. Since it’s my first time doing any work like this I’d rather be careful. A chain that’s too tight is just as bad as a chain that’s too loose. Even if this is still a tad loose it’s an improvement over where it was before I started.

[theBINKYhunter]

The mechanic says I need new struts as my tires are cupping. I replaced the struts in the car in March of 2014 and have put 45k miles on since then. I feel like that's not that long of a life span but I did hit them hard the last year commuting to the new job. Does this sound typical?

[CharlesH]

It seemed too soon to me until I read that you hit them hard, so maybe one or more was damaged.  I'm several years removed from working much on my cars anymore, but I remember one test for the shock absorber system I had luck with was putting all my weight on one corner of the car by sitting or stepping on the bumper.  Let the car settle than remove your weight.  If the car comes back to a normal rest position quickly and with minimal bouncing your system on that corner is probably ok.  If it bounces ul and down before come to rest in position you have a problem.
 
As I said, it's been many years since I've done much work on cars myself, you should probably look this test up online to see what I've forgotten... but it may be a good place to start.

[archer]

that looks more like 6" of free play in that chain to start with, not 2". or so I told my ex wife..

[theBINKYhunter]

that looks more like 6" of free play in that chain to start with, not 2". or so I told my ex wife..

Ex's will say anything they feel like... don't listen to her.

[Carl]

  STRUTS....cupping in tires can also be caused by resonance and irregular tire wear due to not being rotated often enough. Struts usually last longer though rough roads can wear them faster.I worked ,not as a mechanic,but at a goodyear tire  retred plant for 20 years or so in many work positions and the mechanics would often sell struts when the culprit was tires not being rotated. Don't just take my word for it as autos have changed a lot in 35 years.

[machinisttx]

I would say it's more likely a rotation issue than a strut issue. Typically when struts or shocks are worn you will have uneven wear around the circumference of the tire because the suspension never "settles". It's easy to spot a car with bad shocks/struts going down the road...one or more wheels will continually oscillate up and down, even on a perfectly smooth road surface.

Putting in new struts is a lot cheaper than replacing tires though, at least on the strut equipped cars I've worked on.

[theBINKYhunter]

Well, I rotate every 5k when I change the oil. And the tires were bought in January so I would like to take care of them. I am driving a lot less now between moving closer to work and taking the motorcycle most days.

[archer]

swapped out the alternator in my '96 ford ranger last night. i did this 3 yrs ago also... hmm, wonder if the one that died had a problem... easy to do.. ford did a good job designing the swap out.

[theBINKYhunter]

I miss my ranger, it was so easy to work on. I dread the first major repair on my van, there is no space for my hands in that engine compartment unless i remove the engine...

[Carl]

I miss my ranger, it was so easy to work on. I dread the first major repair on my van, there is no space for my hands in that engine compartment unless i remove the engine...

Technology has helped a bit ,though often the technology is the problem. I used to change oil every 5 K and do tune-op on dwell and timing once a month etc...under the hood or under the car at least two times a month....now the ignition time itself...you can turn the distributer and not changem a thing...if the auto even has one and the carb or now more often air body has no real adjustment though your auto has more computers than NASA while men went to the moon..I can put in synthetic oil and good filters and my car is good to go for 40K or more miles.

  But self maintaining is becoming a real bear as you don't repair much...you just replace and robots that build them have smaller arms.

[LVWood]

It was an engine pull to replace the water cooled alternator on a VW Touareg with the V8.
Fine German engineering indeed.

[Carl]

It was an engine pull to replace the water cooled alternator on a VW Touareg with the V8.
Fine German engineering indeed.

Their engineering is top notch,but they proved in the 40's that they lack in people skills.

[archer]

It was an engine pull to replace the water cooled alternator on a VW Touareg with the V8.
Fine German engineering indeed.

damn, i almost bought a used one..

[theBINKYhunter]

damn, i almost bought a used one..

I remember reading somewhere that the V8 Touarage was one of worst vehicles for fuel economy, and that was years ago before the whole VW scandal happened.

[machinisttx]

Well, I rotate every 5k when I change the oil. And the tires were bought in January so I would like to take care of them. I am driving a lot less now between moving closer to work and taking the motorcycle most days.

Check rockauto.com for whatever parts you need. IIRC, the last time I put struts on the civic I ordered from them and paid a little over half of what it would have cost at oreilly's/autozone/etc. for the exact same parts. The only thing to watch out for when ordering from them is that everything is coming from the same warehouse.



Archer: I don't know much about the ford alternators, but if it stopped putting out power then there was definitely something wrong. Possibly as simple as a $5 set of brushes. Automotive alternators are pretty simple to repair most of the time.

[theBINKYhunter]

I'm a huge fan of rockauto. Surprisingly Amazon is pretty competitive in price with them with some parts. eBay works too, just used that for a piece is trim for my van.