Mechanic-y things. For everything vehicle related.

[crisp mesa]

I toss him a socket now and he runs away from it like it's carrying anthrax lol

[velvet harbor]

Wish I could have done that, our middle management boys were in completley different code locked room.

I guess specifically those were the finance guys.

Mother nature ended up puting a beating to them though.

[trim hemlock]

an older version of these

[crisp mesa]

Oh our finance guys are hidden away in some corporate office a couple thousand miles away.

[crisp mesa]

That was what was basically at the training center for the loaded rigs.

Just it was completely in ground save for 4 of them.

And the 4 that weren't were bolted on rails to stay on that bay

[velvet harbor]

We had an EF3 tornado roll through our lot, a year after I left. Took out the finance office, sales, the compressor room, parts, the internal body shop and a bunch of cars.

https://www.phillyburbs.com/story/news/2021/07/29/faulkner-buick-gmc-trevose-tornado-bucks-pa-weather/5424848001/

No one got seriously hurt luckily.

Actually the parts manager was quite happy that it took out all of parts.

[crisp mesa]

Free reorganization

[trim hemlock]

ouch

[velvet harbor]

It was more the fact that being a long lasting GM dealer, they had parts that were sitting on the shelves forever that they had no hope of selling. Insurance doesn't seem to care about that and paid out for everything.

[crisp mesa]

Holt shit that video is chilling.

Especially considering the MANY sharp and heavy objects shop have

[velvet harbor]

Yeah, it happened right after 5PM I think, when most people left. So, no one got seriously hurt.

Former co-worker showed me pictures, the roof collapsed over the customer waiting/lounge area.

That could've been a lot worse then it was.

[crisp mesa]

Holy shit yeah that could've really bad

That's part of why I've been talking with Firestone Bridgestone corporate about putting a dedicated safe room or shelter near or inside our buildings

Because as of right now, our hiding spot is the tire and parts room...

THIS is our current shelter area...

3 outside walls
Gasoline+compressed gasses
Lots of glass and sharps

And sheet metal roof

Legitimately if a Tornado is about to go over us I'm running over to the JiffyLube and running into their lower bay, its below ground and its got 2.5 ft of reinforced concrete.

[stuck jewel]

I wish I had a lift at my house

[crisp mesa]

Lifts are expensive to buy, expensive to install, and expensive to maintain

[stuck jewel]

I would pay a lot of money to never have to crawl under axel stands again

[velvet harbor]

Yeah, hope they give it to you. Our tool room was a goddamn mess. The Lathe lost it's vacuumed cover a while ago, so metal dust was constantly in the air back there and some parts of the floor probably had an inch of metal dust covering it. All it took was a single spark for all of that metal to go up in flames.

What did they say, when I brought it up? "Eh, it hasn't been a problem before."

I tried to ask for new pads for my lift before as well. I had a brake line leak on my lift that degraded my left rear pad on the lift which was causing the arm to do a little bit of slipping and sliding in certain situations.

That took forever to get fixed and I had a vehicle almost fall off because of it.

[crisp mesa]

Yeah that's very fucking dangerous

At that point that's where I'm calling OSHA and letting their asses run wild

I hate OSHA, but I also love OSHA lol

https://tenor.com/view/osha-gif-13410721

[velvet harbor]

Oh god, I can keep going on and on about all the problems that place had. The other mechanics were some of the best mechanics I have ever known. But, my god.

[crisp mesa]

The sketchiest of shops have the best mechanics

[velvet harbor]

The former lead mechanic and now the Foreman was a god damn wizard.

[crisp mesa]

Our lead tech is the same way

He can completely strip and rebuild the front end of a car in the time it takes a Lubie to do an oil change.

[velvet harbor]

I wouldn't say ours was the fastest, there were a couple of guys faster then him, but the man could diagnose like no one else could. I don't think anyone can diagnose issues with Computer Buses like he can.

We liked to joke that he was the thing that would be under the "Break glass in case of emergency" glass.

Cause, I don't think there wasn't a problem he couldn't solve.

Of course, being human, he did screw up every now and then.

I do remember him chasing a problem with a no-start for a couple of seconds after shutting off the key on a Buick Encore for a couple of days that ended up being normal operation.

And then he ordered a tail light for a GMC Acadia that had a non-working LED tail light that were known to be faulty. I got the job to replace it and it actually was a pin fitment issue with the light's connector.

Despite that, of course, he showed me up many more times then I showed him up so I can't really say anything other then, it happens to the best of us.

[crisp mesa]

Oh yeah

Our lead tech has a knack for fixing our fuck ups in particular

Accidentally strip the bolt on a reccesed belt tensioner? No problem! He walks over, grabs your tools and gets it out like it's nothing.

Cross threaded a drain plug and oil pan? He has a tap and die for that exact thread pitch.

[velvet harbor]

Yeah, I do remember a time I had an issue with partially stripping a pipe fitting for a power steering line that I could barely get to, I thought we had to drill it out and heli coil it, he comes over and just works it a bit and starts threading it in.

I'm still not sure exactly what he did. I can barely remember any details in the first place. 😅

[crisp mesa]

That sounds exactly like what our lead tech would do.

Except ours would explain in great detail after, undo his work, then have us retry after watching him do it.

[velvet harbor]

Yeah, we didn't have the luxury for that. It was always about just getting it done quickly.

I have a feeling what he did had more to do with the feeling of the threads that would take more then a quick lesson to learn.

I could barely reach it anyway, so I wasn't in any hurry to do it again. It's what created the issue in the first place.

[crisp mesa]

Speed is what we care about also, but we have also been told that if we need to, take it slower.

As long as the job gets done right.

[velvet harbor]

See, the other techs told me that too when I started.

Management and service writers have a different idea............

It's one of the reasons I left the business entirely.

[crisp mesa]

Yeah, thankfully my lead tech has our backs since he is technically our boss, not the store manager.

So if the store manager tries to get uppity with us he walks over and gives him a verbal bitch slapping

But if we take an absurdly long time, then he'll come over and start talking about it to us. But if it's something where it's were struggling or something of that like, he'll guide you through it but he won't do it for you (usually, unless it's really FUBAR)

[crisp mesa]

These are from that Ford from yesterday

[velvet harbor]

Nice. About to get to the "Variable Braking" Zone on the outside there.

[crisp mesa]

Oh yeah

Also got this in an hour ago. From inspection to finishing up the brakes now it has been 1 hour...

This is a 4 hour total ticket, the brakes make up about 3 of that (parking brake shoes were also done)

The last hour is for a brake flush

[velvet harbor]

Nice, looking good!

[crisp mesa]

Still had to finish it today but I got a majority of it done yesterday thankfully

[elder lion]

Jesus H. Christ

Twas a brick supposedly

[velvet harbor]

Must've fallen or been lobbed. Looks like a pretty high angle impact.

[elder lion]

I’d almost say lobbed

[crisp mesa]

Fucking ouch

[elder lion]

Don’t blame them for taping over it. And leaving it with us until it gets done.

[crisp mesa]

Honestly taping it may have been a smart move there

[elder lion]

Yep.

Sweet. Haven’t used one of these before

[waxen coyote]

Nice!!

[elder lion]

Before and after. It’s an old rubber fit window someone had glued in. Had to break it out.

[crisp mesa]

Gotta love breaking shit to fix shit

[west galleon]

Not quite mechanics, but I finished the knife I've been working on at blacksmithing today

Took less than an hour for me to cut myself with it once I put the edge on it

[trail hull]

What's it made of?

[west galleon]

Started out as a chunk of 1084 flat stock

[crisp mesa]

Not bad

[elder lion]

Pretty sure I’m not licensed to drive this.

Maybe im the infectious substance

[crisp mesa]

Quick! If you see lots of fuzz amputate the limb!

Cannot let the Kiwi consume us all

[elder lion]

https://tenor.com/view/peter-parker-spiderman-tobey-maguire-gif-23765809

[crisp mesa]

Just realized my birthday vacation is next week

I will finally be able to cleanse myself of my burnout from work

[elder lion]

Hell yeah!

We have a 4 day weekend, and coz next week is Anzac Day, some of my workmates have used 5 days holidays to get 10 days off. The bastards.

[crisp mesa]

Damn

[elder lion]

That’s been hit by a big ass rock

[elder lion]

https://tenor.com/view/jayfeather-warrior-cats-confused-doesnt-make-sense-doesnt-make-any-sense-gif-23405798

[west galleon]

The exhaust I wanna get for my 86 just released

Now I just gotta get 1200 bucks

[trim hemlock]

Invidia?

[west galleon]

Borla type S

Love the way it sounds

[waxen coyote]

ooh

[elder lion]

So we got a crate of beer and chocolate from one of our rival companies today, turns out they’ve had way too many jobs to deal with so they’ve been doing the trucks we can’t (too high for the shop) and we’ve been doing 80% of their screens

[elder lion]

Just waiting for the YouTubers to come down and do a “will it start”

[crisp mesa]

Omw to give it a shot XD

Looks like an older SUV or Van. Can't really see the hood so I'm going off my intuition I think it's a Chevy Express style van.

[crisp mesa]

Fine additions to my collection

[elder lion]

It’s a 90’s Mitsubishi L300 or similar.

[elder lion]

https://tenor.com/view/oh-yeah-dance-dancing-dances-party-gif-14011899

[crisp mesa]

Sold another part of my soul for em though

I went from $3,800 on truck to $4,400 from just those 2

Also...

[elder lion]

Rip em off

[crisp mesa]

Yup

Old fashioned way

Sure we have the $50 harbor freight pry bars designed for it...

But then why does my hand fit perfectly over them...

[elder lion]

That’s like we have perfectly good wiper pullers, yet they come off perfectly when given a sharp whack

[crisp mesa]

Aye. Only puller I've found that I properly needed was an Inner Tie rod tool

[elder lion]

On some of the euro cars we need em coz they have stupid spines that get stuck to each other

[crisp mesa]

Oh those fucking things

They like to splinter off also and become hypodermic needles IIRC

[elder lion]

Thankfully the wiper spindles aren’t that fragile 😅

[crisp mesa]

Oh, we had a Audi come in and it hade these little plastic spines on the back of the wiper arms for air flow or something. You brushed those things and they snapped off and became fiberglass splinters

[elder lion]

Oh yeah, those wiper units aren’t sold here

[crisp mesa]

I can see why. Shave off some of those tiny ass splinters into someone's food and you've got an assassination attempt.

[elder lion]

The rest of the world for my company sells pretty much only them lmao

[crisp mesa]

I knew New Zealand didn't like weapons but damn...

[elder lion]

It’s hard enough to have a knife on you for fishing

[crisp mesa]

Dude...I have 3 knives on my person at this very second and a zippo lighter

[elder lion]

Anyone younger than me…. Good luck buying a zippo

[elder lion]

Noice

[crisp mesa]

I use it to light up my acetylene torch

[elder lion]

Ha that’s the way!

[crisp mesa]

Makes me feel very old-school though. I got the zippo, and I occasionally smoke a pipe while working on minor diagnostic stuff.

Lighting a pipe with a zippo then in one motion lighting the acetylene torch just kinda flows.

(And by pipe I mean proper old school pipe.)

[elder lion]

Hell yeah

[crisp mesa]

My mother wasn't happy obviously but I told her I'm at a super high risk of cancer anyway in my line of work.

She accepted that...plus I don't reek of smoke thankfully because I rarely do diagnostic services.

[elder lion]

What she doesn’t know doesn’t hurt her’

Should try fit this on my bike!

[crisp mesa]

Considering I'm still stuck paying rent to my parents she'd find out one way or another. Plus I'd rather be honest with her than hide it from her.

[crisp mesa]

https://tenor.com/view/go-do-it-yes-no-go-for-it-gif-17183104

[elder lion]

That’s fair

It’s from a Suzuki gsx-r600

Should fit on my R3 piece of piss

[crisp mesa]

Do it

[elder lion]

Get a flange adapter she’ll be right

[crisp mesa]

Gonna make your R3 so much more zoomy looking XD

[elder lion]

I wanna stick an M4 exhaust on it

They sound meaty

[crisp mesa]

Instead of it being just a piece of piss itlly be a faster lookin piece of piss XD

[crisp mesa]

Ooh, but those are pricy

[elder lion]

Oh I’m limited to slip ons until I’m on my full

Can’t change the power to weight ratio

[crisp mesa]

Ah

I only know motorcycle law here in the states

[elder lion]

We have LAMS, that’s why h can’t get an R1

[crisp mesa]

And here, once you pass your main test. You can go out and buy whatever the hell bike you want.

Just passed your motorcycle test? Go out and buy a Hayabusa because you can!

Want a 1500CC Harley Touring Bike? sure

[elder lion]

Down here they like us alive

Don’t even get me started on DOT safety laws

[crisp mesa]

Here DOT is basically just;
"Can the vehicle survive impacts of different types?"
"Is the highway in some semblance of one piece?"

[elder lion]

WW2 helmet on your head? Suuuuure

Whereas we steal europes safety standards 🤣

[crisp mesa]

I may dislike a lot of European laws, but their motorcycle laws do sound a bit better than ours atm

[elder lion]

Well considering they do a rotation test on the helmet

[crisp mesa]

Oooh. I don't think our safety tests for motorcycle helmets do rotation

[elder lion]

We and Aussie make a lot of our own based off US and EU stuff, but yeah.

[crisp mesa]

I think its impact and slide only on our side

[elder lion]

They only do drop, not even bounce

[crisp mesa]

Wtf

[elder lion]

And slide

[crisp mesa]

That's the part that kills people is the bounce! If you survive the initial impact your neck gets snapped when your helmet bounces

Explains why my only motorcycle crash I got a nasty ass concussion even in an $1200 modular helmet...

[elder lion]

Yep!

My helmet has MIPS, so it’ll move a few degrees around my head in the event of a crash

[crisp mesa]

Mine was essentially just a Boulder stuck to my head. Only movement was the lower jaw protector getting ripped off XD

(Also I just noticed this chat has the most messages in it out of the open forum posts )

[elder lion]

Hehehehe it was motorbikes for a long while

[crisp mesa]

Now it's nearly only half of the messages in here lol

[elder lion]

Ha yep!

[crisp mesa]

Closing up shop now. Gotta lock up bay doors

Shit I forgot I have Jury Duty on Monday

https://tenor.com/view/annoyed-fuck-frustrated-gif-15331740

[elder lion]

Gotta do your civil duties!

[crisp mesa]

Even when I am very much not a civil person XD

There is a reason I work on cars nowdays

[elder lion]

I beat windscreens for a living lmao

[crisp mesa]

Honestly sounds like a interesting job...all the glass hazards

[elder lion]

The interesting part is the recalibrations

That’s an Isuzu D max, needs calibrating from 2 distances, 4m then 7m. We’re the only place within about a 3 hour drive that can do it.

[dusk phoenix]

I wonder why it won’t start

[crisp mesa]

Bro, how on earth do you do that

[crisp mesa]

We have to recalibrate ADAS systems after aligning cars. It's a pain in the ass

Takes like an hour alone.

[elder lion]

We have 70 grand worth of equipment. Takes maybe 10 minutes.

Oh, also, guess who’s car got stolen!

[crisp mesa]

Yours!

[elder lion]

So now I’m down to my bike! Not a problem, just annoying!

If my bike had been nicked I would’ve been ropeable

[dusk phoenix]

Tree

[crisp mesa]

Oh it's the celica

[dusk phoenix]

Yes

We where ripping out the radiator and stuff to see how the engine is

[elder lion]

So this is how my nights gone

[dusk phoenix]

Atleast they found it

[waxen coyote]

Dang

[velvet harbor]

Anything stolen out of it? Or is the car itself the only thing they wanted?

[crisp mesa]

Ahhh Nissan hatchback.
We had a stolen one come in awhile ago for a new ignition

Apparently they have a lot of issues with being able to replicate the keys or straight up just brute force them

[velvet harbor]

I'd say Kiwi's was definitely brute forced. Looks like they just ripped the lock cylinder out of the housing.

[crisp mesa]

Noticed that also. Also looks like they either ripped it off or took a knife to it

[elder lion]

Couldn’t see anything stolen, all that was in there was my brass band CD’s, the missus’ empty drink can and some rubbish

[elder lion]

The salvage guy started it with a knife

[crisp mesa]

Damn

Where did they even find it...wait

Was it in a strip club parking lot?

[crisp mesa]

Damn, they didn't take it very far at least

[elder lion]

It had a belt squeal when it was started last night, didn’t before it was nicked

[crisp mesa]

That's not good

Typically if there's a belt squeal like that means that it was put through some paces and a component may be dying.

[elder lion]

Yep.

[crisp mesa]

Were you able to verify the mileage?

Like roughly what mileage it was at and what it is now at?

[elder lion]

Honestly I didn’t check

Dunno how much fuel it has or the mileage

My best mate goes “did they find it in the river”, I mean, it was just off river road so

[crisp mesa]

I'd be wary about driving it for a bit.

[elder lion]

I don’t want it back

[crisp mesa]

Ah

Smart

I'd also hand it over to police if they'll take it. They can try to figure out if it was an accomplice to anything suspect

[elder lion]

It’s insured for $5800. It has a broken window, there’s $700, it needs a new boot, back bumper and, front and rear passenger doors and new ignition and key coding coz that wasn’t working either

[elder lion]

That’s all part of insurances job around here, they’ll get the cops involved

[crisp mesa]

God fuckin damn

My POS Hyundai is insured enough thankfully to get me another newer car if it gets wrecked.

[elder lion]

So is mine

[elder lion]

Clip came off, copious amounts of loctite later

[elder lion]

New gloves vs old.

[west galleon]

Went to a car meet today, got a good parking spot next to the 86's big brother 😄

[elder lion]

Nice looking BMW parked beside you mate!

[crisp mesa]

I'm now a year older...time to get krunk

[stuck jewel]

GR86 is way cooler than the new Supra tbh

[crisp mesa]

Yes

The new Supra just feels...wrong

And only time I went to a car show with the chrome-turd that was my 71 camaro I got kicked out because apparently they didn't allow bug-catcher intakes at the spot

[west galleon]

I mean you're not wrong

I do think I like the 86 more than the supra though, although I may just be biased since I've got an 86 😅

[elder lion]

I get to find a new car now! Insurance just wrote mine off

[crisp mesa]

Woooo

[elder lion]

They got in through the ECU, so between that and the ignition barrel there’s 5k…. Cars worth 5800

[elder lion]

Guess what needs recalibrating

[dusk phoenix]

check all the fancy equipment

[waxen coyote]

Give it a tune! Make it sound good

[elder lion]

Fucking hell it was quick

[trail hull]

What's the second thought?

[elder lion]

The bit about it being quick? We have to drive the holdens (Vauxhall for you Europeans) we have to take them for a drive

[trail hull]

I meant the sign. 😆 But that sounds fun. I assume it's also important to make sure the lights and sirens still work afterwards too.

[elder lion]

You’d think so, they deactivate them for us because “we’re civilians” and “we’re not allowed to use them”

But I don’t think they have a second thought hahaha

[trail hull]

"Any trouble with the windscreen repair?"
"Nah mate, didn't give it a second thought"

[elder lion]

….. you wanna come work as a tech with me?

[trail hull]

Tempting

[crisp mesa]

Depends on how much the pay is compared to my mainline auto tech job.

[elder lion]

I’m on US ~15 an hour at the moment

[crisp mesa]

Flag rate or base hourly?

Because if it's base hourly you might be making more money than me long run because of overtime.

[elder lion]

Base hourly, anything over 40 hour weeks is time and a half

[crisp mesa]

Damn

Lucky SOB

I am Flat Rate so if I make 70 hours I get paid 70 hours...no time and a half.

But at least Firestone has a Hourly Guarantee so if I make less than 75% of the hours I clock I get paid 75% of my clock hours.

[elder lion]

My contract is 30 hours so even if we’re sat doing nothing, I get my 30 hours a week, a normal week is like 37-39 hours

[elder lion]

New shitbox aquired

[elder lion]

Pulsie power!

[elder lion]

https://tenor.com/view/ugh-board-gif-24466593

Guess what’s kicking my ass today

[elder lion]

Welp, that didn’t work at all. Cars going to Toyota for its recalibration

[crisp mesa]

Yeah Toyota calibration after Alignments kick my ass all the time

[elder lion]

I actually have to run the car for a bit now to warm everything up! Mainly coz I care a lot more about this one, but still!

[elder lion]

Mint

[waxen coyote]

Nothing to see here...

[elder lion]

Nah, coz it’s all rusted away

[trail hull]

Wiper blade? Are they not made of non-rusty stuff?

[elder lion]

Nah that’s a door window retainer. Where the back window runs up and down

[trail hull]

Not anymore it's not.

[elder lion]

Ahaha nope

The metal bit in between the two windows

[elder lion]

That’s my weekend sorted.

[elder lion]

Nevermind, replaced them at work. Now my front speakers work again!

[elder lion]

And on todays episode of magnet fishing

[elder lion]

Radar rejecting gauntlets

[west galleon]

Just found a website that lists all the car meets and cruises in Michigan

I've been starved for stuff like this and there's so much stuff there

So excited for this weekend, there are like 5 or 6 different meets within an hour of me I might go to

[elder lion]

Ooooh nice

[west galleon]

All the big cruises are Friday nights and I normally work then but I might have to take a day off sometime to go visit one

[crisp mesa]

Trying to get a turn signal bulb in a 2016 Nissan Altima...I look like I got attacked by a cat lol

There are worse cuts on the other side but...well they're worse.

[west galleon]

Never met a cobra I didn't love

At another show I saw an og cobra with the original papers, car was probably worth more than a million dollars

[crisp mesa]

Ooh nice!

Coolest thing we have in the shop right now is a custom Chevy 2500HD with a Bullbar on the front.

It's a crew cab extended bed aswell so it's 280 inches (23 ft/~7.5m) long before you add the Bull bar on the front.

This thing is the size of the shark from Jaws lol

"25 feet, all 6 tons of 'em"

[west galleon]

Jesus christ that's massive

[crisp mesa]

[crisp mesa]

Here's a picture of that absolute behemoth of a truck

[west galleon]

I can't even imagine driving something like that

Picture from a meet I went to today

Met some guys with red and blue 86s so we decided to stage a shot together

[crisp mesa]

And here it is inside the bay. With the ladders on top it tops out at 7ft 2 inches in height

[velvet harbor]

Yep, they are indeed large, I remember driving a few when doing pre-delivery inspections.

[crisp mesa]

I like my big trucks but our alignment rack even had issues lifting this thing. I eventually said fuck it and just did the oil change+flat repair+rotate all using a creeper and 2 jacks.

Creeper used for the oil change, and then just jacked up one side at a time for the rotate.

[velvet harbor]

The truck itself isn't usually all that heavy. Was the thing loaded to the brim with tools in the back?

[crisp mesa]

Entire thing was loaded up with tools. Back seat in the cab and then 3 huge tool boxes inside the bed.

I'm estimating that with everything on-board it was sitting around 14,500-16,000 lbs.

[west galleon]

I would not wanna drive that thing anywhere

Light and tiny cars for life

[crisp mesa]

I don't mind driving it. But I've driven larger vehicles to be honest.

[waxen coyote]

Sweet!

[waxen coyote]

Nothing to see here... Move along

[velvet harbor]

Bleh, a friend's brother-in-law asked me to do rear brakes on his 10-year old Ford Fusion from New York. Never had rear brakes done by the looks of things. Why the hell did I agree to this.

I'm going to have to go rent and oxy-acetylene torch.

[waxen coyote]

Ouch

[west galleon]

Owner let me sit in his kei truck at the show I went to today and I actually fit

Which is shocking but it means someday I might actually be able to buy one 😄

[dense wyvern]

I couldnt get my knee's under the wheel, they look really cool though

[crisp mesa]

I find myself able to squish into most vehicles but even I have trouble getting into Kei Trucks.

[west galleon]

It was a tight squeeze for sure, especially with the pedals but im just stoked on the fact I've got an inch or two of headroom

Cuz the steering wheel is an easy swap according to the owner, and I can get a new seat that moves me further back too

[velvet harbor]

Aftermath of the New York Ford Fusion.

[crisp mesa]

https://tenor.com/view/glasses-over-shades-off-shocked-surprised-gif-15929332

[velvet harbor]

The right rear surrendered to a dual attack of Penetrating oil soak for a day and a 20lb sledgehammer.

The left rear that is pictured required a relief cut in the hub of the rotor. The disc and the hub separated after the sledging which made it easier to cut the relief.

[crisp mesa]

Everything requires a sledge when you live in the rust belt lol

[velvet harbor]

I'm in southeastern PA, I've never had rotor that would not come off with just a regular ol' hammer. Let alone one where it had to be cut.

[crisp mesa]

Had to use my 5 lbs "mini" sledge today to change the brakes on a 2019 Chevy Equinox

People think being a mechanic is easy; until spark plugs start to rust into place

[elder lion]

Looks like a good ADAS recal to me!

[dense wyvern]

I'm getting some wobbling noise that increases with speed, gets slightly louder in medium speed corners but still persists on straights. Vibration is minimal but sound goes from wobble to constant when sped up.
Got a garage appointment the 26th but was wondering if there's anything I could check myself beforehand

6 months ago it was inspected and there wasnt any play on the wheels

[velvet harbor]

Noise doesn't necessarily mean that there is anything with noticeable play. The only real way to check where a noise that changes with speed is coming from is to put it up in the air and start spinning wheels, or put it in drive and let the engine spin the drive wheels for you. Go around with a dedicated stethoscope or the ol' pry bar, or screwdriver shank to pinpoint it. Also make comparisons between different sides.

What's the vehicle?

[dense wyvern]

Mazda demio 1.3, 1998
It seems to be coming from a front wheel

[dense wyvern]

It only comes on at around 30+ km/h, 30-60 it sounds like a wobble and above that the frequency of wobbles is high enough to sound constant

[elder lion]

When my fiesta did that it was the bearing

[velvet harbor]

Yeah, descriptions of noises are always interesting. I would probably have to test drive it in order to figure out exactly what you mean.

[dense wyvern]

Yeah understandable, I dont have experience working on cars just bikes so I'll just jack it up, check play and bring it to the shop

[velvet harbor]

For a noise coming from a wheel that increases with both speed and side load on that wheel, a wheel bearing sounds most plausible.

[crisp mesa]

Wheel bearing for sure. Which direction of turn makes the noise get louder usually?

[dense wyvern]

Not too specific on the direction, I would say right hand turns are slightly louder.
Its still early on in I think but rather fix it sooner than later

[crisp mesa]

That means that the right hand wheel bearing is probably your penultimate culprit. But when you get the chance to have the front wheels lifted off the ground spin both at a decent speed and try to listen for a "roar" coming from the hub.

[waxen coyote]

Those are sweet cars!

[stuck jewel]

S30 meet today

[waxen coyote]

Nice!

[elder lion]

Nuts

[elder lion]

Some poor bugger walked into traffic

[elder lion]

I spent money today. Needed new front struts. Now to install them!

[crisp mesa]

Have fun!

[dense wyvern]

First time servicing my own brakes, replaced rear shock and linkage + bearings, adjusted front fork height, fluids changed, check valve replaced, trimpots set, bypass adjusted, general electrical lubing, tire rubbers (cush drive?) cleaned and new brake/clutch resevoir

[elder lion]

Hell yeah!

[west galleon]

Racecars are fun 😁

[crisp mesa]

https://tenor.com/view/big-oof-yikes-gif-15532766

[stuck jewel]

Rip

One of mine last week

[crisp mesa]

...that one had to have been stabbed in by someone. Perfectly in the sidewall?

If it was just the shoulder I'd understand but damn.

[stuck jewel]

It went through the tread, I didn't realise and drove it a few feet when flat,it stuck itself into the sidewall and snapped off at the head

[crisp mesa]

Yeah thatts not "tread" that's in the shoulder. Wouldn't be repariable anyway

[west galleon]

Not entirely sure how the driver managed this but glad I caught it on video 😂

[crisp mesa]

(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻

┬─┬ノ( º _ ºノ)

[crisp mesa]

That moment you're the only one in the shop with experience on super-sport, exotic and really fucking high end cars

[crisp mesa]

https://ifunny.co/video/pH9i5vSZA?s=cl

[sudden iris]

TDCS mechanical brain trust, I need a reality check - and possibly to be talked out of a really bad idea. This was my wife’s 2010 Ford Focus. Our son totaled it three weeks ago after having his permit for two months. (Please don’t tag him into this conversation or mention it to him - he’s really beat himself up about it.) He hit a Suburban with a trailer hitch at low speed. As you can see, the damage isn’t bad. Didn’t even set off the airbags.

The insurance company totaled the car, which I think was bullshit. They didn’t even bother getting a repair estimate. Yeah, I get that it’s 13 years old and over 100k miles. We’ve already bought my wife a new car. But I keep thinking about taking some of the insurance money to buy the car back from the salvage auction lot and fixing it myself. From what I can see, it needs a new front bumper, grille, left front fender, hood, and the bumper bracket behind the plastics. Doing a quick look around, seems to be around $1k, maybe a little over. Radiator itself doesn’t appear damaged. Car starts and runs - tried it today at the salvage lot when we picked up the rest of our stuff.

Is this idea as crazy as my wife thinks it is? I’m no mechanic but none of this is too far beyond DIY repairs I’ve done before. If we could end up with the car back for the kid to drive in a few months and still have some of the insurance money left over, that seems like a huge win to me.

(The car also has fairly new tires and the engine mounts and brake master cylinder replaced last year. It’s been very reliable and has absolutely no ongoing issues, so that’s what drives my interest in it for a teenager’s car. We know it and what problems it does and doesn’t have.)

[velvet harbor]

There's value in having a car that you know inside and out, however, it is really difficult to give you a good answer without a really detailed look at it ourselves. Only thing I can say from my perspective is that depending on where exactly you get your parts from, you might have to tack on cost for getting them painted and possibly primed as well to match the color of the car. As new parts that are painted on the original car won't come with paint, and sometimes not even primed depending on the manufacturer.

Used parts that came off of another car will have paint on them obviously, but then you have to deal with them being used. Expect broken clips for the bumper especially.

Personally, I would like to at least take off the grille and the front bumper and have a look underneath, make sure nothing else is bent and everything still lines up properly, because new parts won't fix bent mounts, brackets, stuff like that.

[trim hemlock]

agreed. If the core support and rest of the integral parts are unaffected then it would be a good value to fix so he can keep driving and learning with minimal investment. I would hit up a junkyard to find extra parts like the brakets and clips that hold everything together and possibly find a color match for less money than ordering a new body panel, Fair warning a lot of the cheap aftermarket options do not fit very well and look right in pictures, but are often enough out of spec enough to be difficult to install correctly

[velvet harbor]

Yeah, the places to check from what I can see, are to check to make sure that the mounting for the impact bar itself is ok, and check the mounting for that headlight. It's a little suspect that there is damage all around it, and if the aim of the headlight is screwed up it won't pass inspection, at least where I live.

[trim hemlock]

where he lives the headlights could be missing and they'd give him tags.

[sudden iris]

This is true.

[trim hemlock]

that stuff is also usually not super hard to bend back into shape when only a little deformed so it's usually tweak it a bit, check fitment, tweat some more, yada yada

[velvet harbor]

Well, besides the inspection thing for my area, I personally wouldn't want to give my kid a car with a screwed up left headlight, don't want to be blinding people in the opposite lane at night and increasing your chances of another accident.

[trim hemlock]

yeah left headlight and bash bumper look to be the worst but still with the right prying,pulling, hammering it appears to be correctable enough if you got the tools and the time.

only downsides really is it'll likely never be perfect, and it'll have less crash resistance as the metal has been worked so it'll deform easier if hit.

[sudden iris]

But that’s assuming it’s actually off anyway. Since the impact was so high up, low speed, and basically isolated to the size of a tow ball, I think there’s a decent chance it didn’t do much damage lower down.

That headlight assembly appeared to be intact, just displaced by things around it being broken. But that’s a cheap part and I’d definitely replace it if I had any doubts about it.

[trim hemlock]

mounting points might be wrecked but yeah that's peanuts to replace. If you've not done any body work the most tedious part is really just getting everything back into alignment. you can save yourself alot of guess work by making cross measurements from the strut towers for long/lateral axis and from the ground up to get everything on a vertical axis. as you even those out some of the twisting should correct itself.

[waxen coyote]

Open the hood and look at the 2 rails that run alonge the sides of the engine bay. If they look mostly straight it can be a good indication that fenders and more stuctural stuff is fine. If they are then it comes down the the core supports as others said. Not terribly crazy if the frame bits are in decent alignment

[trim hemlock]

https://youtu.be/p3ikNL92z8o these rails are the biggest deal so if they are in need of serious work then it's beyond simple tools.

But being low speed and higer up I don't believe that to be your case. The crossmeber that mounts to those with the foam where the plastic and metal have split look to be the worst of it. I would just get that whole section and possibly a bumper from the junkyard to save a lot of money and metal work. Also gives you back some impact resistance should it get hit again.

[sudden iris]

So it sounds like it’s doable. Of course first I have to convince my wife and win the auction to buy it back…so the odds are still not great.

[trim hemlock]

if it were a subaru I could hook you up with stuff at my shop. But also depending on the auction total and the repair total it may be cheaper to get something else for him to learn on.

[sudden iris]

Yeah, he'll just keep learning on....mine, at least, because my wife won't let him drive her new one yet. But hey, I'm jealous of her new car, so maybe with him driving mine sometimes I'll end up with one too.

[dusk phoenix]

Is he ok besides being upset?

Totalling the celica a bit ago with the airbags going off and it definitely being totalled I know how he feels

[dusk phoenix]

We’ve fixed up a couple cars should only be a couple hundred thousand to get u and the csr here

He did way better then me

[sudden iris]

So after sleeping on it, this idea seems like a massive pain in the butt.

[sudden iris]

Yeah, they were both fine. Just shaken up. He's been pretty hesitant in his driving since then, so we're working through that.

[crisp mesa]

Just remind him that stuff happens. Everyone makes mistakes; it's just a matter of learning from said mistakes.

As for repairs...without having it on my lift and being able to inspect it myself I can not say 100%. Typically if Insurance totals a car it means the cost of the parts alone is more than the worth of the car. Or that the parts for said car are just unavailable which I've been seeing more and more of. So I'd take the time and dig around and see if you can find a lot of the parts for it still.

Otherwise even then I'd still personally keep it and just repair it over time. Make it a graduation present or something.

[stuck jewel]

I haven't read all the replies so ignore me if I'm a broken record. I'm not sure about the laws there about bringing a 'written off' car back on the road. But it's usually worth repairing if you can pay scrap value for the car. Even just to part it out you would earn a healthy profit.

[west galleon]

another thing you might want to consider is what kind of frame or other damage might have happened down the line from the bumper. No clue what coulda been damaged past the visible stuff and there's a lot that could suddenly make the repair a lot more expensive than you'd expect just from looking at it

probably not impossible, but as you say definitely a pain in the butt

[elder lion]

Todays goal, send a piston

[west galleon]

Boutta start the kiwi space program when the piston sends itself through the head

[elder lion]

So far we’re doing cosmetic mods

[trail hull]

Rainbow paint over the headlights.

[elder lion]

Disclosure: this is on private property by “trained” “professionals”. Do not attempt

[dusk phoenix]

That’s what I said with the celica

[trail hull]

This but with a car:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muntzing

[dusk phoenix]

been there done that

[dusk phoenix]

the celicas a good example of damage that u cant repair though we gonna try make it run again it took a full two days to get the radiator out the frame was so bent

engine actually seems ok

well some things like the starter fell off but that isnt important

[crisp mesa]

Unless you send the piston head into low earth orbit and have the conrod come out spinning like a top I won't be impressed

[elder lion]

That was attempt 1

[crisp mesa]

Is it bad that all that noise sounds like to me is money to be made

[elder lion]

🤣🤣

Bloody mechanic

[crisp mesa]

https://tenor.com/view/perfect-flirt-impressed-dbz-abridged-gif-12648537

Good news is I got a job offer from a local mechanic shop. Nearly double my current pay for the same style of work and it's guaranteed hours.

[elder lion]

Ooooooh nice

[west galleon]

That's one way to do a burnout 😂

[west galleon]

Congrats kraken!

[crisp mesa]

Just a matter of the interview now

[crisp mesa]

👌🏼

[elder lion]

Clever

[crisp mesa]

It ain't stupid if it works

[crisp mesa]

FML.

All this just to replace 2 wheel studs.

[crisp mesa]

https://tenor.com/view/fuu-rage-comic-fffffuuuuuuuu-gif-19986143

[velvet harbor]

Yeah........

[crisp mesa]

Shit...

[elder lion]

Stay safe bud.

[crisp mesa]

20 EAS Alerts.
12 14 18 Tornados and 2 towns wiped off the planet. Several hit severely.

[waxen coyote]

really? wow

[crisp mesa]

From what it sounds/looks like. I'll update this as I get more news in

[crisp mesa]

We've got an "official" total now it looks like from yesterday.
16 confirmed tornadoes. With 1 death confirmed from yesterday. But that number may rise over the coming days.

4 of the tornadoes caused damage exceeding EF-0.

[waxen coyote]

Dang. I heard that a couple towns in indiana were levelled. Any clue if that is true?

[crisp mesa]

It seemed like it on Radar but I haven't put my eyes on every town yet but it sounds like 1 town that consisted of like 5 houses max is just gone.

[waxen coyote]

Ah dang that's not good

[elder lion]

What a fun thing to walk out to

[trim hemlock]

Mac Tools guy just got my newest box today and delivering in the morning.

[waxen coyote]

nice!

[crisp mesa]

Sweet

Mother Nature wanted round 2

One of the walls of our shop groaned and the power flickered

[waxen coyote]

dang

[dense wyvern]

Motorycycle, changed the clutch fluid resevoir recently. Now if I engage the clutch lever it doesnt disengage the clutch plates 100%, there's a slight force pulling me if in gear, sometimes its not noticable and sometimes its enough to stall the bike if I hold the brakes.
Does anyone maybe have an idea of where to check?

[stuck jewel]

Sounds like there's air in the system and the master/slave isn't able to fully disengage the clutch. If it works anything like a car

[dense wyvern]

I was thinking something like that, dont see how i could have introduced air to the system but ill see if i can figure out this weekend and report back

[stuck jewel]

Might just need bleeding

[trim hemlock]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6w6aG8TMTs

[crisp mesa]

Huh. Motorcycles seem both simpler and more complicated at the same time

[elder lion]

Yes.

[trail hull]

Bus driver high-reared it on a hairpin corner.

Blocked the only road in both directions for three hours until the orange thing could get there by ferry.

The grass has debris from about three other buses that have all done the same thing.

[trim hemlock]

Thats gonna be a bit of a tug to get moving.

[trail hull]

Yep, which was awkward because there wasn't really any room to pull directly from the end. Motorbikes were taking their side bags off to fit past.

They managed to pull it backwards, but then the front wheel was off the ground instead and it did a bit of slightly scary tipping over when he tried to drive it.

[trim hemlock]

Ouch. If only they could have gotten to the other side or even had manual air suspension control to raise the coach. Heavy recovery such a chore. I'll stick to the lighter stuff

[waxen coyote]

Yikes

[crisp mesa]

[elder lion]

Brake light isn’t working even though I replaced it a few months ago. That’ll be why!

[crisp mesa]

Hate when that shit happens

[elder lion]

I thought it was water damage. Think that back light shroud is leaking but there’s no evidence to say it is, apart from the trunk is wet on that side.

[crisp mesa]

Slap some tape on it and see how it fares if it stays dry then there's a leak the tape blocked.

[elder lion]

That’s the thing. Can’t see a trail anywhere, lights are siliconed in and not moving at all

I’m gonna be doing the suspension in my cousins shed in a few weeks once my wrist works properly again so I’ll spray it with the hose and find the leak. Then tape it.

[crisp mesa]

👌🏼
Fuckin mint

[velvet harbor]

Ah, yes. Cascading destruction, always love it. 🤣

[crisp mesa]

[waxen coyote]

Hmm.... yikes

[velvet harbor]

Any update on what happened to this? Kind of interested in if you ended up buying it and attempting a repair.

[sudden iris]

Nah, we ended up taking another trip and putting it out of mind.

Sadly last week my car was in a wreck too. Refused to have it towed to avoid getting in this situation again.

[velvet harbor]

Uh oh, what happened to your car?

[sudden iris]

Idiot swerved hard left out of his lane into mine as I was driving by him. Fortunately another low speed crash, no airbags deployed, car was driveable. Having trouble finding a body shop that isn't backed up for weeks though.

[velvet harbor]

Yeah, body repair is always in high demand. I remember when I was working at a dealership that had a body shop attatched to it just for internal work within the dealership and they were still always busy.

[crisp mesa]

Those body repair techs make killer flag rate hours though

[velvet harbor]

Yeah, but that's a bit deliberate at least from what I've heard from a body guy. The hourly rate is lower for a body guy but the hours are higher per job.

[west galleon]

I was at a carshow today and there was a mustang with one of the most insane anti-lag/2 step systems I've ever seen

Things exhaust was a literal rocket

Someone used the fire to cook a marshmallow for a smores

[crisp mesa]

Carcinogen smores! My favorite!

[crisp mesa]

https://tenor.com/view/hurt-locker-bomb-stress-armor-gif-18154391

[velvet harbor]

Nice one.

[dusk phoenix]

Thread revive

[waxen coyote]

That hurts to look at

[dusk phoenix]

behind my monitor be like

[dusk phoenix]

We found a celica replacement

From my dads friend he has a 5th gen sitting in a paddock engines in good nick frame might be rusted through but but hear me out one it has a functional engine two pop up headlights three pop up headlights four pop up headlights five pop up headlights

[crisp mesa]

fuckin perfect

[dusk phoenix]

Well it’s not rusted through

Engines in great condition

The shell is good

Internals from what we could see without getting it on the hoist seem not so great in terms of the front axles

[dusk phoenix]

good as new

[waxen coyote]

For sale lightly used. Dont lowball I know what I have

[elder lion]

I’ve just dropped my car to the shop. Needs new rotors and pads on the front. Could I do it myself, yeah, but it’s done 160,000mi and I don’t wanna get them off 🤣

[waxen coyote]

lol sometimes that is the best way

[elder lion]

They have air powered Ugga duggas. I have ye old Armstrong model.

[waxen coyote]

well that makes a big difference

[elder lion]

So I went into work and stole dads car. It’s much nicer than mine hahaha

[elder lion]

Only about $300us for my brakes

[dusk phoenix]

Suspension needs some work

But easy for anyone to do

[crisp mesa]

Bruh wtf.

Here in the states front brakes your looking more around $450 on their own

[elder lion]

The calipers were $88.73 NZD each, so about $50us

Pads $40us for the set

Helps is an NZ new model, cheaper parts

[crisp mesa]

https://tenor.com/view/mad200-heavy-tf2-percentage-rage-gif-16820921

It was like $1,000 USD for brakes, calipers and Hoses on my mom's car

[elder lion]

Jeeeeeesus. Here it depends a lot on the car. Anything vaguely not Japanese and it goes right up

[crisp mesa]

Ayo my last name is King so I had a double take seeing the shops name lol

[elder lion]

Thanks for doing my car cheap man 😂

[crisp mesa]

You're welcome

[elder lion]

I had the rear drums done on my fiesta in the UK, about the same price

I’m teaching myself to do things with the bike, when that was in the shop last I almost had to sell a kidney.

[crisp mesa]

Yeah motorcycles a paradox of being both cheap and expensive

[elder lion]

Does gas cost me $10 a week compared to the cars $60? Yeah, but insurance is more, registration is more and boy you better pray you don’t crash

[crisp mesa]

Like so much chunky Ragu

[elder lion]

Indeed indeed

You know what those scratches smell like?

[crisp mesa]

Money getting ripped out of your wallet by road rash?

[elder lion]

Hit the nail on the head

[crisp mesa]

I've been in 1 too many motorcycle accidents man XD

[elder lion]

I’ve been in 1 too many!

That number is 1

Tell you what man, if I’m ever in any position of power I’m making free universal healthcare for motorbikes

[dusk phoenix]

wrong image

eyy guys reckon this is repairable https://medal.tv/games/beamng/clips/1r4dKCLMyCAGAS/d1337cPYIzpx?invite=cr-MSxGOXUsMTk0NTY1MzUwLA

[dusk phoenix]

Some old celica footage

[crisp mesa]

2004 Honda CRV...customer said "driving normally during left turn and wheel went sideways"

[stuck jewel]

Bluetooth control arm

Do you have yearly inspections in your state?

[crisp mesa]

Nope

Some better pictures now that we can lift it

[stuck jewel]

Crazy how people let it get so bad

[velvet harbor]

People don't know what they don't know.

Also some people seem to have a very high tolerance for noise coming from their vehicle, as long as it didn't start when the customer picked the vehicle back up.

"I didn't think it was that bad" is a thing I heard a lot.

[stuck jewel]

I hate MOTs but I'm glad they exist. Fuck sharing roads with people like that

[velvet harbor]

For sure, I'm not one to praise government regulation usually. But I make an exception for vehicle inspections, because people are idiots and they'll both willfully and in ignorance put themselves and others in unnecessary danger on the roads.

[stuck jewel]

Amen

[crisp mesa]

Yeah, all things said and done it's a 13.8 hour ticket

Well over $6k. And out of that 6k...

I'm making $250

[velvet harbor]

Yep, one of the reasons why I left. 😅

[waxen coyote]

Is that 250 commission? Hopefully you don't t
Get 250 for 13.8 hours of work

[velvet harbor]

No, it's 250 for 13.8 hours of work.

The way most mechanics are paid is what's called "Flat-Rate" any job has a set number of hours associated with it. Doing that job applies those hours to your pay and you get a per hour payout that you negotiate for when you get hired.

Work a 40 hour work week and clock 32 hours of work? Too bad, you get paid 32 hours.

Now most of the time it is possible to finish jobs faster then the estimated number of hours for that job. One of my former co-workers would regularly double his work hours vs how long he actually worked. This both happens with no degradation of work quality and also by skipping steps/degrading work quality.

This former co-worker of mine made it a skill to try and skip steps or do something faster as long as the customer wouldn't notice within the 6 months or year until they came back for something routine like an oil change.

[waxen coyote]

Dang... that sucks...

[velvet harbor]

The other high-earners did good work overall but there was always a little something here or there that they would skip or just simply not do.

If you ever wondered why mechanics have the reputation that they have, this is why. The pay system rewards quantity over quality.

[west galleon]

Now this isn't specifically auto mechanic related stuff, but I sat down and sharpened all my knives on my stones today and also decided to give a go at sharpening a badly damaged chisel, managed to get every single one to razor sharp

Very proud of that chisel especially, it had a huge chip across half the cutting edge and was super rusty but I got it all squared up and back to cutting only using sandpaper and whetstones

[dusk phoenix]

As of today my Motorsport Australia license now we have no car and no license we still haven’t decided if we want to fix up that 5th gen my dads friend has sitting in a field

[trail hull]

I have an Edge Pro style jig, I was never able to be consistent enough with the angle using stones freehand.

[west galleon]

It was definitely tricky keeping it squared and at the right angle, the only reason I think I managed is bc I'm pretty used to sharpening my knives freehand and had just finished doing my whole set 😅

A jig would have made it a million times easier

[crisp mesa]

Oh...OH NO

[dusk phoenix]

what?

[crisp mesa]

KACHOW

[dense wyvern]

[waxen coyote]

https://tenor.com/view/cars-kachow-badbitch-gif-23750214

[dusk phoenix]

we back baby

We gonna try restore that 5th gen Celica as well

[crisp mesa]

oh dear

[dusk phoenix]

Thread revive

[crisp mesa]

Pain

2018 Dodge Charger SXT

[dusk phoenix]

Suboptimal

[elder lion]

First kinda post concussion drive out and my first wheel curbing occurred 🤬

[crisp mesa]

RIP

[crisp mesa]

And when did you get a concussion...bike wreck?

[elder lion]

That would’ve been a much better story. Work injury. Been off a month so far, off until the end of the month.

[crisp mesa]

ouch Windshield fall over onto you?

[elder lion]

Nah I’m in warehousing now, tripped on a box and landed on a metal crossbar. Don’t remember much after that haha

[crisp mesa]

https://tenor.com/view/cringe-cringing-youch-yowch-ouch-gif-13530649

[elder lion]

Coz it’s a work injury im still getting paid to do absolutely nothing. Boring as all hell.

[crisp mesa]

I'd be going insane

[elder lion]

Slowly but surely

[snow needle]

Form the autoworldShow

[dusk phoenix]

MONSTER JAM

[crisp mesa]

Another day

[velvet harbor]

Hey, I recognize that cart. I've got the exact same one.🤣

[crisp mesa]

No way lol

[velvet harbor]

This thing has seen so much abuse it's not even funny and yet it's still perfectly normal.

[crisp mesa]

Ay same here

Oil, Acids, coolant. Hasn't fazed this thing at all

Tools being slammed down on it in rage. Took that like a champ

[dense wyvern]

I've replaced the same wheel bearing for the 2nd time in about 10K kms. Installed correctly, anyone have a clue what could cause such quick wear on only 1 wheel?

Or was I unlucky and had a bad bearing?

[velvet harbor]

What vehicle, what brand did you use, how many miles did the original bearing last, what reason did you replace both for?

Any modifications to the vehicle in question?

[dense wyvern]

No mods
1999 mazda Demio
Skf bearing
Original bearings unknown milage (before i owned,
Only replaced the left one, twice.
Replaced the left front bearing the first time because of noise when steering right when loaded, this fixed the issue
2nd time same wheel was 10k kms later because it had play and noise

Now it drives like new again

[velvet harbor]

Hmm, can't find anything on this thing on the U.S. side, wasn't released here it seems. What style was the wheel bearing. Bolt on assembly replacement or press in bearing into knuckle?

If it's a press-in does it use ball style bearings or the tapered roller bearings that come apart in two pieces?

[rare lantern]

Considering going full send on new bumper, up front u joints + bearings, high flow coolant pump, better thermostat for 175k miles

[crisp mesa]

Medium Rare arm from hot coolant in a overheated chevy. It was airborne cooling off for an hour and I still got cooked

[rare lantern]

What was the root cause of the overheat anyway

[trim hemlock]

Chevy

[velvet harbor]

Hey, now. Not Chevy's fault that no one seems to follow the maintenance schedule for the coolant in the owner's manual. 🤣

[trim hemlock]

That's for dang sure

[crisp mesa]

Customer idiocy. They drove it 30 minutes after the Guage went past the overheat mark.

[rare lantern]

oh was it outta coolant tho or just way past coolant change time

maybe they were towing something in death valley for all I know

[crisp mesa]

They went way past maintenance, (300k never having it done.) And were towing a goddamn boat when it overheated and blew the pressure cap. They reattached the cap and drove it overfilled with coolant to us and I suffered the consequences.

[crisp mesa]

Chevy HHR came in for oil change after getting fuel lines "replaced" by another shop

[waxen coyote]

Well then... It doesnt even look like they got close to the fuel line when they "fixed it". Maybe they did a soft line on the enginer or just nothing at all. That sucks though

[velvet harbor]

Is that just any old rubber hose they stuck on there? Idiots.

[pulsar onyx]

Day 5 of rust removal, still not done.

Applied rustremover to calipers to see if it can take off the baked on brake dust, it can, brakedust chewed trough the paint tho so thats a bare piece of metal now, duh.

[crisp mesa]

I've never seen this happen before...

[dusk phoenix]

Damn you think the screw would just tilt over when the wheel went on the top and then go through normally

[crisp mesa]

The customer had them overinflated before hand (this tire according to the customer was at 55 psi) so that allowed it to punch through.

[hidden hornet]

Christ 55psi.....there lucky it didn't pop the sidewall.

[velvet harbor]

It takes a hell of a lot of pressure to pop through the sidewall of a car tire. I've had some lower profile tires up above 100 PSI to try and seat the breads on the tire machine before.

I've also seen normal-rated tires come in with above 70 PSI in them.

[crisp mesa]

Same here. Worst I've seen is tires on a Prius where a customer put them to 108-110 each.

I yelled at the customer about that, made the poor girl cry but she was also in my class in high school so she knew me well enough if I was yelling it was bad lol.

[hidden hornet]

oof

[crisp mesa]

Big oof

[dusk phoenix]

Is there even a brake anymore

[pulsar onyx]

I sometimes watch these “Just rolled in” vids. I have serious concerns about the integrity of US vehicles and also the integrity of their owners

Like, is there no mandatory technical check there?!

We have to get one every 2 years, if your car fails u have some set amount of time to fix it else you get the techsheet of the car rewoked and maybe even crush the car

[velvet harbor]

Depends on the State, mine has an annual inspection. But, there's more then a few shops that are more then happy to just slap the sticker on without checking anything. Even if you go to a shop that does it properly, a year is quite a long time for problems to develop. Especially, if you live in a place that uses salt on the roads in the winter.

[pulsar onyx]

Over here there can be some stuff that they can fiddle with but these arent mechanic shops, purpose built inspection stations, everything has to be recorded

Good thing my car doesnt have any Euro norms

I just have to be “within reason” for emissions, still it was better than quite a few of the newer cars according to the inspector

[velvet harbor]

The costs for a country as large as the U.S. would be immense. The 2nd most requested service after an oil change at my dealership is State and Emissions inspection. So, instead of having to pay for state employees and equipment, the states just license it out to the mechanics. (At, least in my state, PA.)

There are audits every now and then. Emissions is quite tightly controlled via the OBD II connected emissions machine and that stuff goes straight to the state right there and then. The computer decides whether you can assign a sticker or not for Emissions.

The Physical inspection however, there's no good way to audit that other then just making sure the records are in order. You can obviously lie about the condition of the vehicle on the paperwork and by the time the audit comes around there's no way to verify anything about what the mechanic actually saw.

You can possibly require a video recording of each State Inspection but going through each Video for the amount of vehicles inspected every year is a nightmare.

Of course, once a severe accident happens because something was missed on a State Inspection, an investigation will start.

People have lost licenses and gone to jail before.

But, even with mandatory inspections. A year is quite a long time for things to happen. I could definitely see the above vehicles brake issues all starting up within that window.

In reality the causes have been going on for longer then that, related to water build up in the brake fluid and rusting but that's not something you can really, "inspect" until it actually fails with a few exceptions.

[pulsar onyx]

Well you are supposed to replace the brakefluid every two years tops iirc

[velvet harbor]

Depends on the manufacturer, and I highly doubt anyone has ever followed that for Brake Fluid, religiously. At least, around here, definitely not. There's plenty of 10+ or even 20+ year old cars with their original brake fluid in them. Probably with no noticeable ill effects.

Keyword here being "noticeable"

More then a couple of them probably have mixtures of old and new fluid from replacing parts.

[pulsar onyx]

Oh god

[velvet harbor]

Honestly, up where I live. The rust from the salt use far outdoes anything waterlogged brake fluid could possibly do. Cars up in Rural New York can turn to junk in as little as five years. Not so bad down here.

I don't know of any study that has actually done controlled tests of what old waterlogged brake fluid can actually do, and there's no evidence of decreased performance of the fluid as far as braking goes due to age.

[velvet harbor]

Every single catastrophic failure of the brakes I have ever seen (pedal to the floor, no brakes at all) is due to outside rusting of the brake lines from salt.

Usually around the clips and fixtures that secure the lines to the car where salt can be trapped.

[pulsar onyx]

Luckily they dont use salt here

They do gravel

Which is kind of a deathwish for bikers in spring

[shrewd plume]

Not exactly mechanicy but I got a video of a challenger revving the engine at me

[crisp mesa]

We had a 1987 Camaro come in with the ORIGINAL Coolant and brake fluid. Never had them flushed.

[crisp mesa]

I've got a 2008 Buick lucerne with the "Brakes went out" concern. Master cylinder seal disintegrated after water logging and flooded the booster. Only getting like 3.8 hours from the whole ticket

[velvet harbor]

How do the brake lines look? I had to fabricate brake lines for one after they rotted through on top of the subframe and in one of the clips under the body.

[crisp mesa]

Oh you're going to love this.

So the brake lines under the vehicle are fine. Vehicle has been garage kept and rarely ran in salt. HOWEVER! Whoever did the last brake line/ABS/Master Cylinder service used those stupid fucking plastic/rubber thread lockers on the FUCKING BRAKE FITTINGS

[velvet harbor]

You don't happen to have a picture of these things do you?

[crisp mesa]

I did not get the chance to take a picture of it while I was at work. I cranked out 50 hours today so I was tired when I pulled it into the bay

[velvet harbor]

Gotcha. Yeah, I haven't seen anything being used on the brake fittings before, and I am not exactly sure that I want to know what it really was. 🤣

[crisp mesa]

I pulled some of it off of one of the fittings. I'll find a reference photo really quick

Ah, it was Green locktite

[velvet harbor]

Oh, so not special stupid just plain stupid. 🤣

[crisp mesa]

I'd argue it requires a special kind of stupid in the first place lol

[crisp mesa]

Here's a picture. It's the plastic thread locking stuff you see on electronic stuff.

[velvet harbor]

Oh, boy.

[crisp mesa]

Yup

Even better yet, Napa got us the wrong booster...and I only found out after install...

https://tenor.com/view/jim-carrey-frustrated-pulling-hair-no-frustrating-gif-14800061

[rare lantern]

It begins

[hidden hornet]

Fucking hate that, we got the wrong master cylinder 4 times from them when trying to fix the brakes on my dad's torino a few years back.

2 with wrong diameter line connections and 2 with the wrong rod length

[crisp mesa]

That must've been infuriating

I'm already to the point of making heads roll with it just happening once.

[velvet harbor]

Luckily, haven't experienced that myself. Perks of having a parts department that knows their shit. 👌

[crisp mesa]

Yeah the parts departments at the dealers near me are...less than competent.

[crisp mesa]

So we had a 2013 Mazda 5 Touring come in for a CVI/MPI

Rear shocks blown to the point the wind alone was making it party. Wiper blades; dust. EAF and CAF; Moldy. Brakes; FUCKED. Front diff; Rock Tumbler (different sized wheels on front), RF Control arm; Bluetooth.

We had it towed away from the shop onto the road before the customer drove it away.

[rare lantern]

Kind cool hardly ever see those old NM plates

Or sota for that matter

[shrewd plume]

I saw a hellcat yesterday!

[trim hemlock]

https://youtu.be/zlsb1PiafAI?si=IOl-gdbzGtTqvwtk

Just ordered one of these cause I turn into a 5yo with too much money when I get on a tool truck 🤣

[crisp mesa]

Thats how I got in so much debt lol

[trim hemlock]

yeah me too once upon a time. took a decade to pay everything off now it's really down to what few things I don't have or need to replace and the occasional fun toy just for the hell of it.

[shrewd plume]

@sudden iris

[trim hemlock]

https://tenor.com/view/oh-hell-no-no-no-no-running-away-nope-nope-nope-oh-god-no-gif-17290519

[shrewd plume]

I need one

[sudden iris]

https://tenor.com/view/thanks-a-lot-gif-10181092

[sudden iris]

Can we use it to wake you up?

https://tenor.com/view/fingers-crossed-excited-hopeful-please-hope-gif-14770102

[trim hemlock]

https://tenor.com/view/curiosity-curious-intrigued-interested-interesting-gif-14505707

[sudden iris]

I keep asking him where he’d be able to use one. Now we have an idea. 😄

[shrewd plume]

The railroad crossing

South Moran

[sudden iris]

Outside your bedroom door. 6:30 am.

[hidden hornet]

https://tenor.com/view/holy-shit-whats-happening-whats-going-on-mother-of-god-dear-god-gif-16251359

[crisp mesa]

I WAS FUCKING RIGHT, THEY GOT NOTHING AND DROVE IT OFF THE LOT

https://tenor.com/view/tts-sad-sob-lament-uncontrollable-gif-19007906

That thing is on the road with other people

[velvet harbor]

Trying to tell people what is wrong with their vehicle is sometimes like trying to explain color to someone who has been blind for their entire life.

[crisp mesa]

We showed them the video Trimmed and without audio of course and they said they'll be fine for the year

@lament bridge Watch that video

[lament bridge]

I know what's wrong with it, it ain't got no gas in it

[crisp mesa]

https://tenor.com/view/steve-carrell-ill-kill-you-i-will-kill-you-gif-13233215

[lament bridge]

https://tenor.com/view/dog-smile-dog-smile-dog-gif-8410842647057035510

[trim hemlock]

"less than ideal" 🤣 looks like it got pulled out of a swamp

[crisp mesa]

Side note: neck lights are awesome

[dense wyvern]

I was so distracted by the wobbly wheel I didnt even notice the spring

[velvet harbor]

Those sort of rim dings tend to be pretty benign, as long as it can still hold air.

[crisp mesa]

You should've seen the one up front. Caved in half on a steelie

[rare lantern]

Kraken, can you recommend any good east coast shops that would be willing to do a XJ drum swap to ZJ disc brakes?

ideally said shop would have CNC capability for custom work

[rare lantern]

This is what Im afraid of messing up, upgrading to safer awesomer disc brakes . I **
, then discovered the studs on my axle flange did not line up exactly, and they were too short! I wasn't happy with this, so I enlarged the holes on the caliper bracket, then knocked the studs out of the axle flange with my trusty BFH. I put the ZJ brackets on with 1.5" long 3/8"-16 Grade 8 bolts with lockwashers and nuts... the ZJ wheel studs could be made to work; they have the same 1/2"-20 thread, and they're 3/16" longer. The trouble with them is the diameter of the splined area is .003" larger* than the original XJ studs. To install them, you'll need to put the axle in a bench vice, coat the splines with some anti-sieze, and pull the studs through with an impact gun * but the end results are really sweet

[velvet harbor]

This is for a Jeep (Grand) Cherokee right?

The likelihood of finding a repair or speed shop with a CNC machine is next to nil. You'd be looking at a dedicated machine or engine shop for that and for this, looks to be very unnecessary.

I've looked at a few videos and posts now and it looks fairly easy to do from a speed shop perspective. With only the center hole in the backing plate needing to be enlarged which you can do with a grinding wheel on a dremel and finding ways to secure brake lines. The center hole dimension is not very critical, it just needs to fit.

To be clear, this is for a Dana 35 rear axle ZJ disc brake put onto a Chrysler 8.25 rear axle on an XJ, is what I was looking at.

[rare lantern]

ya 8.25 on '01xj. in the end while CNC seems overboard its the brakes and reselling it in 20 years the human will be happy to hear it wasn't dremelled for sure 🙂

[velvet harbor]

I doubt that they're even going to know what you are talking about.

We're not really talking about the fitment of the brakes here. We're talking about a hole that is large enough for the diff housing to go through, since the backing plate locates itself through the bolt holes.

When it comes to CNC work, you are also going to have a tough time actually finding someone willing to do it. 1 or 2 parts isn't exactly money-making for the people that do this stuff. It's also going to be quite expensive if they are willing.

Trust me I've tried shopping around on a one off before. I got rejected by everyone.

[rare lantern]

Its one of those that is tempting to try on your own but then next thing you know its on blocks the whole summer!

[crisp mesa]

Ivandrov is right and yeah, machinists are just like mechanics, money hungry bastards. Only place I knew that had an in house large CNC machine was a Cummins distribution/mechanic center and it was basically diesel exclusive aside from employee vehicles.

Also most automotive machinists exclusively work on engines in my experience. However I do believe there are kits you can buy online for drum brake to disc brake swaps for any vehicle with stock drums.

I know a bit, but I don't know everything. Maybe @trim hemlock has some ideas since he has more experience than me but that's the best I can say for now honestly

[stuck jewel]

A Motorsport fabrication shop will probably have an old manual mill that would work

[crisp mesa]

That'll be quite pricy still also. Plus I don't know many east coast motorsport shops.

[stuck jewel]

Just blew my engine

RIP

[trim hemlock]

Ouch sorry to hear that brother

[waxen coyote]

Yikes

[hidden hornet]

Time for a rebuild and stroker kit?

[stuck jewel]

I'm assuming the worst, but I can't turn it over by hand.

Best case it's a dropped valve

Oil seems ok

[hidden hornet]

99% of engines are interference, so if its a dropped valve then its a rebuild anyway cause you have to pull at least that piston and rod assembly and pray it didnt fuck up the combustion chamber or cylinder wall.

[stuck jewel]

Yeah for sure

I'd likely just buy another engine and slap that in

[hidden hornet]

Had a Chrysler Sebring that dropped a valve and it dug through the cylinder wall deep enough that the block was toast

[stuck jewel]

I think the cylinder sleeves on this engine are pretty delicate

[hidden hornet]

whats the engine?

[stuck jewel]

Toyota 2zz-ge

[hidden hornet]

well good news is that its a fairly popular engine so you should have some good luck getting bits or whole new engine

[stuck jewel]

Yeah got a few lined up, I'll drop the pan tomorrow and see what went wrong

[crisp mesa]

https://tenor.com/view/press-f-mg-salute-gif-15543929

[crisp mesa]

Okay guys. I'm stumped. Had to replace rear calipers due to a caliper seizing on a customer's car. New caliper on the same side doesn't seem to be expanding (2014 Honda Accord so its the spin to compress). Could it be the hose, bad caliper, or do I need to twist the piston?

[trim hemlock]

New should not need twist or anything so a hose is the next thing to check or the old banjo bolt was clogged. Did it bleed normally?

[crisp mesa]

Bled normalish- maybe 1/8th of a drop slower than normal but I figured out it was a factory defective cup seal.

[trim hemlock]

Got to love the new but broken parts lottery. Just warranty replaced a power steering pump Tuesday didn't live a whole week 😔

Duralast my arse

[stuck jewel]

So did a bit of an inspection today. Maybe engine isn't borked after all

Oil looks slightly contaminated but nothing too worrying

Thinking maybe clutch/gearbox exploded and won't allow engine to turn over

[velvet harbor]

Did you try having someone push the vehicle while you have it in gear with the clutch out? Should rule out the trans if it rolls relatively freely.

[stuck jewel]

It would roll in neutral

Wheels will spin in neutral but not in gear

Will get a borescope in the cylinders tomorrow

Didn't try with clutch in though if that would make any difference

[velvet harbor]

Well, if you suspect the trans is locked up you can isolate the engine and clutch from the trans that way and also check the driving portion of the trans which you wouldn't be able to do in neutral.

[stuck jewel]

Yeah I figured the only way to test them is to separate the two. I'm far too lazy to remove the box in situ. I'll get both out then split on Monday

Nvm I get what you mean now. Sorry my brain is fried

Thinking about it now I got it started once before it 'seized' fully. Maybe I just started with clutch in. Then all other attempts were just in neutral and it wouldn't go budge

[velvet harbor]

Could be a possibility that the clutch doesn't want to release. That would check that as well.

[stuck jewel]

Best case scenario for me would be clutch issue

Here's hoping it is that

[velvet harbor]

Wait, no. Brain fart. The clutch not releasing only matters if you try to start it in gear. Unless the clutch failure was so catastrophic that it cascaded into the front of the transmission.

Still, quick and easy check to make to isolate the problem.

[crisp mesa]

Yeah, it happened twice with NAPA today. 2 bad calipers in a row.

The store manager there says he's having issues with calipers all across the board and is ready to put in a recall request.

[stuck jewel]

Turns out it was my clutch

One of the mounts on the pressure plate split and it came unclamped on one side

[hidden hornet]

fun

Got some new reading material in the mail. Moms got a mustang with the inline 6 in it that's not feeling too healthy atm. Might need a rebuild and maybe a bigger cam might somehow find it's way in there lol

[velvet harbor]

Was the pressure plate jamming itself against the bellhousing?

[stuck jewel]

Yup

Such a strange failure

The whole mounting point just broke off the clutch

Pressure plate *

[crisp mesa]

Ok. Kinda weird question but does anyone know best how to remove a vomit-smell from a car?

[velvet harbor]

Enzymatic cleaners are specifically designed for that type of stuff.

Making sure absolutely all the vomit is gone is also a good start. Sometimes you end up finding just a little left if the smell won't go away. Seat perforations for venting can be a problem in this regard, or if it drips down somewhere.

[crisp mesa]

Ah okie. I'll try to buy some from Walmart later today

[smoky shuttle]

Wondering if any of you have experience with Lexus headlights? Apparently, Lexus RC’s (among other models) have unserviceable headlights. So, when one of my bulbs go out, Lexus is going to charge me north of $2K to replace both of them. I’m wondering, can I get my headlights customized so that they can be serviced? Does anyone know? I know customizing can be expensive, but at least I won’t have to spend another $2K next time it happens (even if that event is years away).

Also, I’ve got a VW Jetta in the shop that’s waiting on an adblue tank. That’s the car I’m going to drive if the Lexus headlights can be customized. The thing is, VW is telling me that maybe by April they’ll have an idea on when the part might arrive….. I’d rather not wait that long. I looked on eBay, but I couldn’t find anything (it was a quick search). Does anyone here know if there’s another site I can check to find this part? I should disclose, the VW has an extended warranty, not sure if they’ll cover a part I purchased.

Sorry for that wall of text.

[trim hemlock]

What year and trim are they? A lot of newer stuff is only available as a complete module. There is a chance there is a good aftermarket replacement depending on how new it is but beware of a lot of them are unreliable or will perform poorly in one or more ways. I can look but usually better to stick with OEM.

As for the VW lots of parts not just for VW can be hard to source. I waited a month once for a Mercedes sprinter rear axle that was the only one in the US and on the other coast. You could check worldpac is one great place for obscure parts but some stuff is only OEM from the manufacturer.

[smoky shuttle]

The Lexus is a 2016 RC 300 F-Sport AWD.

I looked for aftermarket, but I couldn’t find anything for my model.

[smoky shuttle]

A month is fine, but the VW Jetta has been in the shop since early December.

It was promised by December 30th.

I can deal with a week or two delay, but we’re in February now.

I know some international supply chains are wrecked, but this is the first time I run into such a long wait for anything.

[trim hemlock]

Huh I wouldn't promise anything till I get the parts in hand and even then I warn everyone that it could be defective on arrival. So either it got lost in shipping and they're terrible at communicating with their customers or something.

[smoky shuttle]

I looked it up, this isn’t the only VW dealer struggling.

Some other guy had a 3 month wait.

But he had a different problem

[trim hemlock]

Then could be backordered and again failed to communicate to you?

[smoky shuttle]

Yeah, that’s probably it.

[trim hemlock]

I don't run into this often but if I can't get a solid date on stuff I make sure my customers know. Not just a waste of their time it's a space hog and burden to hold a car I can't work on in a time reasonable enough to the customer

[smoky shuttle]

I don’t think there’s any nefarious activity, but you’d think VW would have a backup plan in place. And a backup to the backup.

[smoky shuttle]

Yeah, I’m not trying to be a dick about it; it seems ridiculous is all. We’re in a developed nation, let’s act like it, VW.

[trim hemlock]

I've worked in a dealership before and hated how people got ripped off or forgotten till all the easy money was made. Glad to be running my own thing the last couple year

I hope you get it resolved sooner than later 🤞

[smoky shuttle]

Yeah, I avoid dealerships like the plague, but since the VW came with the warranty, I didn’t think it’d be an issue.

[smoky shuttle]

You think they’ll give me a loaner till April?

[trim hemlock]

Depends on the dealer but it's literally the least they could do for you.

[smoky shuttle]

Noted, thanks for the info.

[velvet harbor]

If it's a newish problem and the problem is common enough. Then you see this often where the manufacturing can't keep up with the demand for the part. The reason why you can get parts for other things because there is a significant supply that already exists.

This happens often for a lot of manufacturers. Attempting to bring up manufacturing capacity to meet the initial demand ends up being kind of a waste of money once the demand dies down as cars are fixed.

[velvet harbor]

Is it this three LED arrangement as shown here?

[smoky shuttle]

Triple beams? No. Those people have to pay $4K. I’ve got a friend who’s in that spot.

[smoky shuttle]

Makes sense. I don’t know if it’s a new issue though.

[velvet harbor]

Ok, so you've got one of these then.

[smoky shuttle]

Maybe it’s uncommon. I’ll have to look it up again. VW is in a world of pain last time I checked. I think some people are trying to start another CA lawsuit.

[smoky shuttle]

I think newer models of my car have that option at lower trims. I know the RC Fs typically have triple beams.

[velvet harbor]

In any case, did they tell you what the failure point was in the headlight?

[smoky shuttle]

No failure. I’m just trying to think ahead when my lights do go out.

So, I want to customize them before it’s absolutely necessary (if that’s possible).

I’ve seen some people mention that software could be an issue? But I never looked into it.

[velvet harbor]

I'm seeing a replaceable bulb in the picture for the two beam.

[smoky shuttle]

Which one?

Blinker or what?

[velvet harbor]

It has the big module on the back of it, so it would be the main beam.

Or one of them at least.

[smoky shuttle]

I feel like it’s not the main beam, otherwise people would have figured it out by now. But everywhere I look, everyone says you’ve got to buy the new headlights.

[velvet harbor]

I would check to see if you have removeable covers on the back of yours. It's possible they were talking about a different style of lamp because I have seen multiple versions of this headlight looking through diagrams of it so far.

[smoky shuttle]

I’ll look soon enough. I know there are similar models (like some IS’) that have headlights that can be serviced.

[velvet harbor]

In any case, it looks like the actual headlight assembly can be taken apart anyhow just like any normal headlight. It lists a part number for the gasket in between the clear plastic and the reflector and backing plastic.

[velvet harbor]

You'll see this often where people will DIY taking apart these "unservicable" lights to fix broken solder tracks or replace LEDs.

[smoky shuttle]

It seems like the high beam is the only part I can change

Sorry about that first photo. Didn’t know it’s a mess.

[smoky shuttle]

So, you think I can get it customized?

[velvet harbor]

If you can find someone with enough knowledge or learn it yourself, sure.

[smoky shuttle]

I know of a shop that does them, I just need to send both headlights. (“If” they can customize these lights, I have yet to inquire).

That’s my worry with the Jetta in the shop. I send it, they say 3 weeks, it possibly turns into a month and a half, and VW suddenly wants their loaner back….

[velvet harbor]

Well, if your current lights are still working then I'd say run with them until you get your VW back.

[smoky shuttle]

Yeah, they work fine. I’m just trying to get ahead of the problem, before it becomes a do or die moment.

Cause, if one goes out tomorrow, I’ll probably have to rent a car, and at that point, what the rental will cost me will defeat the purpose of the custom job.

[velvet harbor]

If these are still the original headlights and the low beam is LED like I think it is then I'd say you are probably fine.

[smoky shuttle]

Yeah, I’m probably overanalyzing the shit out of this.

I’m just going to ask VW for a loaner tomorrow and go from there.

[velvet harbor]

My experience is that the way Halogen headlamps and the LED ones tend to fail are in opposite time frames.

So, likelihood of failure for a Halogen lamp increases as time goes on. (Unless the person who installed it touched the quartz of the bulb with bare hands)

LEDs tend to fail more from manufacturing defects early on.

[smoky shuttle]

Coming from a Cadillac, I think I expect everything to fail at least once.

[dusk phoenix]

https://youtube.com/shorts/CIHRc_AMQr4?si=teTAm-bCz9hPHaNj

[crisp mesa]

I just had the worst serpentine belt job of my life

https://tenor.com/view/azad-gif-8209328749288042945

[crisp mesa]

2014 Mitsubishi Outlander. Belt was squealing like a pig. Old belt came off fine. First new belt shows up, 1/8th inch too short. 2nd new belt shows up, BARELY too short. Thrid belt shows up (Mitsubishi Branded), 3 inches or so of slack. Customer is crying because they've been stuck at the shop for 5 hours between parts and installs. Slap the new belt on there and doing everything free of charge and WHAT DO YA KNOW THE OLD BELT STOPPED MAKING NOISE.

https://tenor.com/view/bartlett-west-wing-head-desk-gif-6012433

[velvet harbor]

Massive Deja Vu reading this and I don't remember why. Must be repressed memories.

[crisp mesa]

2018 Chevy Equinox

[crisp mesa]

Customer said they hit a curb...

[hidden hornet]

Yikes

[velvet harbor]

I've seen worse.

I saw one wheel a co-worker was doing where the graphic on the screen was glitching from the amount of weights that needed to be put on it. They wrapped all the way around the wheel.

[crisp mesa]

Yikes

[crisp mesa]

Worst I've seen was a wheel requiring 22 Oz on the outside. The vibrations made it keep coming loose on the balancer.

Worst I've heard about was a steel wheel bent so hard the machine wouldn't even give a weight to hammer on. It just left if blank.

[smoky shuttle]

Update on my headlight nonsense: Looks like I can get my headlights customized. The cost to get it done is less than the two new headlights, and whenever one of the projectors burns out, it’ll be about 300-400 to replace.

[velvet harbor]

Nice. 👍

[smoky shuttle]

Yeah, worked out.

[trim hemlock]

Good to hear!

[smoky shuttle]

Now I just have to avoid picking an inferior brand.

[crisp mesa]

I hate Volvo, I hate Volvo, I hate Volvo, I HATE VOLVO SO FUCKING MUCH

https://tenor.com/view/mad200-heavy-tf2-percentage-rage-gif-16820921

[velvet harbor]

Uh, oh. What did Volvo do now? 😅

[smoky shuttle]

From one of my trips to "Suches Loop." Took my cousin since she's never been. For those unfamiliar, Suches Loop is located in a remote, mountainous area known for tight winding roads like this one (this particular road wasn't too bad). It looks like I'm taking it easy, but I'm not. Those turns are intense and the camera doesn't do it justice. The location attracts a ton of bikers and other car enthusiasts. The last time I went, some guy snapped a pic of my car as I rounded a tight corner. There are random shoulders where they park and take pics or whatever. Worth the trip if you're into hiking, fishing, riding your bike, or flooring it around tight turns.

Also, I don't know if this was the appropriate place for this. I thought I saw a car thread here, but maybe not.

[crisp mesa]

Everything

[velvet harbor]

Hehe.

Our proximity to Philadelphia meant we had to deal with customers who had their tires slashed.

Every so often a technician would be driving in sounding like a deflated rubber mat is being rolled out.

[crisp mesa]

Just that distinctive "FLAP" sound of a slashed tire is enough to make me think "Is this insurance scam,slashing, or pothole"

[waxen coyote]

Ouch...

[crisp mesa]

Fuuuuuuu-

[stuck jewel]

I got petrol in my ear

I would highly advise against doing this

One of the most painful things to happen to me

[velvet harbor]

Nothing like a volatile solvent to remind you how delicate your ears are, eh?

[dusk phoenix]

How

[stuck jewel]

Was dropping my fuel tank and some residual fuel splashed on my head

I felt it happening but didn't realise it was going to be so painful

[hidden hornet]

Can 💯 agree with that feel. Dropped a few gas tanks on cars over the years. The worst feeling was when I didn't realize I had a cut on my head and some gas splashed on my head. Ran for the hose and it burned for about 30 mins afterwards

[stuck jewel]

Yeah I felt dizzy for about an hour, felt like my brain was trying to worm its way out of my ear. Really disproportionate levels of pain, i've had it in my eyes before and this was about 100x worse

[crisp mesa]

Early morning test drive. In passenger seat to listen for bearing/axle noise

[crisp mesa]

Yeah I don't think this is alignable

[waxen coyote]

Yea...

[crisp mesa]

Customer tried to replace their own parts. Didn't lock the steering while changing out the steering gear. Fuckd everything up

[velvet harbor]

Ah, the ol' 180'ed steering wheel. Get's you every time. 🤣

The reason why the wheel is exactly 180'ed is, if I remember right for these GM trucks, the steering shaft is in two pieces. One piece comes out of the firewall and the other comes out of the steering gear. The connection point is something similar to a spade and fork setup with a bolt going through it.

So you have two ways of connecting the two shafts together. The right way or the 180 way.

[crisp mesa]

According to the customer he replaced the steering gear without locking the steering wheel.

[velvet harbor]

Yeah, so he probably just connected it back up without realizing the whole thing spun around since he didn't lock it in place.

[crisp mesa]

@velvet harbor

[crisp mesa]

https://tenor.com/view/dancing-coffin-coffin-dance-funeral-funny-farewell-gif-16737844

We're burying two Cadillacs today bois

[trim hemlock]

Just got my badge to access the GA and Commercial hangers/ramps at my local airport. Going to be contracting for Jetstar and Signature to repair ground equipment.

First project is a new transmission and some wiring repairs on this oldie

[velvet harbor]

Time to send them to Cadillac Ranch.

[crisp mesa]

https://tenor.com/view/old-yeller-gif-6180444

Us to the Caddys

[stuck jewel]

It's all coming back together finally

Went from just a clutch to a lot of 'while I'm in there's '

[trim hemlock]

Quit crying it not like anything of value was lost

[crisp mesa]

That's true

[crisp mesa]

@trim hemlock You have experience doing Infiniti G37 Control arms?

Because I'm doing one right now and I'm stuck and I'm a little hesitant about something

To get the rear impact bushing out can I partially lower this big chunk of rust? Or do I need to remove it entirely? Does it hold anything in like the engine or is it just a cover?

[hidden hornet]

I am thinking about doing something crazy......I found out that they have adapters for the ZF 8HP series transmissions for small block fords and stand alone controllers. My Family has a 71 Torino with a C6 3 speed automatic that is terrible on the highway. If the transmission works fine with non Drive by wire engines, then perhaps its time to break out the welder.

transmission is as quick as a DCT in most scenarios and is reliable to some significant amounts of power so it would be a very good upgrade in general let alone the close gear ratios and super short first gear to get a 3800lb muscle car moving

[trim hemlock]

IIRC the steering rack at least is connected to it so should be able to do it with it just a bit loose at most

[crisp mesa]

I figured it out. So it's the metal cover but the rack is mostly held in place by the sub frame. Which is somewhat underneath the cover. So I just had to loosen one of the bolts in the center and remove every other bolt holding that cover on and it was enough clearance to get the rear bushing out.

[crisp mesa]

I'm about to loose my mind

Old part on the left, has severe play.

Both parts to the right are from different manufacturers

[smoky shuttle]

I was going through some old iCloud folders and found this video. I rented a Maserati for about a week (Enterprise upgraded me for the same price as the Cadillac on the reservation) and I decided to open up in this tunnel. The video does a poor job of capturing how loud it got.

Concerning fact: the speedometer on that model went from increments of 10MPH to 20 MPH around the 50MPH mark. 3 days in, and I started wondering why the hell everyone around me was driving so slow. I checked the speedometer and realized I was going around 30 MPH faster than I originally planned.

[crisp mesa]

Do you remember what year the Maserati was?

If it was 2018 or older it uses ford electronics (Because Maserati was Ford until about 2014, they stopped using Ford parts in 2018) and Ford speedometers had this quirk where they'd slow down the rate of telling you your speed accelerations the faster you went. Meaning if you were operation on glancing at the speedometer and seeing roughly where your dart was it'd be way off

Chevy/GM does the same thing now days.

[smoky shuttle]

The video was taken maybe around 2018-19. The car might’ve been 2017….

I know Maserati was owned briefly by Fiat Chrysler before being spun out into Stellantis (basing this off memory, so could be inaccurate). There were definitely parts of the car that felt cheap. And the media display malfunctioned randomly toward the end of the week. Sometimes it would turn on sometimes it would be a blue screen.

[smoky shuttle]

I looked at the video again, and it has about 11,000 miles. So about a year old sounds about right…. Maybe

[crisp mesa]

Welcome to overpriced Ford, where you get no bang for your literal buck.

[smoky shuttle]

Yeah, it was fun and all, but I was glad I didn’t own it. The amount I spent on fuel was ridiculous. And, besides the power, it didn’t handle nearly as well as my ATS (most cars didn’t, that was Cadillac’s main selling point).

[crisp mesa]

Cadillacs are...not a joy to see in my line of work. Pay very little hours for complex and pricy maintenance.

[smoky shuttle]

Yeah, that’s what forced me out of the car. Great car…when it worked. Cam shaft failure every 40K miles is not what I signed up for. Or the fact that some genius engineer decided to use a gel to keep the touchscreen active. Over time, as the gel dried, it would start producing phantom presses.

It paused calls for me whenever it felt like it.

[crisp mesa]

Sounds about right

[crisp mesa]

This was one of the worst caddies I've dealt with

[smoky shuttle]

lol. Those wheels. I mean, I’m not surprised. People want me to lower my car, but because it’s AWD, it’s not the same process (according to ClubLexus guys who have done it). I keep seeing people talk about vibrations and other issues, so I haven’t done it, nor will I.

GM was pretty good to me over the years (A trailblazer, and two Impalas), so I expected the same from the ATS since it was essentially the same engine. I learned that, in Cadillac’s journey to build a handling beast, they opted for lighter materials for certain parts of the engine (it also produced more power). So, I guess that’s what caused the ATS (3.6L, don’t know about the 2.0s) to have a ton of random failures.

The worst one I had was a stabilitrak failure. I lost 50% power on the highway when I was already doing 80. I got it home, but had it towed immediately to a Cadillac dealership.

[crisp mesa]

This fucking drove here

[smoky shuttle]

Lol.

[waxen coyote]

I guess they wanted to save some money and get the partial bluetooth upgrade instead of the total bluetooth upgrade. Geez that thing is sketchy

[velvet harbor]

Oh, yeah. One of my parents old vehicles was a first gen Kia Sorento where both of the rear sway bar attachment points to the frame had completely rotted away from the frame and were just dangling down.

The only thing I noticed was noise of the thing slapping the frame on bumps, they didn't notice anything at all.

Used to have a picture somewhere, can't find it right now.

[trim hemlock]

Couple years and the whole subframe will be ready to disembark over a speed bump

[crisp mesa]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[trim hemlock]

Ejected pads and sheered guide pins.

[crisp mesa]

Did they try to use a brake system from a Semi on a jeep?!