Auto Work

Tailgate weather seals, Rear window, motor, and wiring

I broke the rear window on this Bronco before I even bought it. When I shut the tailgate, the window shattered because something was broken to begin with and left loose. So the first job after acquiring this beast was to track down some replacement glass and fix the issue with the motor that had caused it to break in the first place. I found some glass at a nearby scrap yard. There was a catch though: the glass can only be removed after the tailgate is opened. The tailgate can only be opened if the glass is lowered into the "down" position, inside the tailgate. And that can only be done with an electric switch, which obviously isn't an option in a junked truck missing its battery and half its wiring. So after climbing up and crawling into the rear cargo area, I got lucky. I was able to remove just enough of the metal from the interior side of the tailgate to access the wiring. By shoving the wires into the battery terminals of my 18 V drill, I was able to lower the glass, open the tailgate, and harvest the glass. (Top)

The rest of the job involved replacing old gaskets and seals around the window, fixing the motor, and liberally greasing everything. Oh, and also repairing the faulty wiring from cab to tailgate that was the root culprit of all this. (Top)

Parking Brake

This Bronco is a 5 speed, so having the parking brake is handy. When I stomped hard on it one day, the corroded cable ends snapped off. I bought some stainless steel cable and hardware from home depot. This $6 repair, done at 6 a.m. before a hike, might be the cheapest job yet. (Top)

Heater Core and Alternator

Driving up from the Cape one morning, the windshield was exceptionally foggy. Odd. And then I noticed a sweet smell. The heater core was failing, but I didn't realize it yet. Pinholes were allowing radiator fluid to escape and condense on the windshield. When it finally blew wide-open it spewed radiator fluid mist into the glove box. That was a good thing, since it was such an obvious issue, and I was able to turn the engine off long befre it overheated. To get where I was going, I simply bypassed the heater core by making a little loop out of the radiator hose. I drove around like that for the whole summer and into the winter too. After one drive with blankets on our laps, I remembered that heat is nice to have and replaced it. Very easy job. (Top)

The picture showing the bypass job also shows the new alternator that I put in some time before. (Top)

Shocks

Being very happy with the new shocks in my Lexus, I replaced the old shocks on the Bronco with new Bilsteins. For whatever reason, it was necessary to break out the ball joint press and do some wrench-on-wrench extensions. And then straighten the crooked bracket using a wrench as a gripper-lever. No photos of the new Bilsteins :'(. (Top)

Plugs, Wires, Distributor

I replaced the plugs, wires, and the replaceable component in the distributor. This is why I buy top-of-the-line tools. The fancy extractor in the exact size was the key to removing a broken plug. (Top)

Starter Motor and Ignition Relay

I replaced the starter motor and ignition relay in a gun store parking lot. Good samaritans gave me two rides to parts stores. I took one long walk to a Walmart to buy lousy tools (never leave home without a full tool kit again!). And near the end, a helpful samaritan named "Angel", no kidding, gave some help. Americans are generous by nature, and the sight of a disabled Bronco seems to bring out the best in strangers. Many more offered general help that I declined. (Top)

Transmission

I replaced the shifter bushing for more solid engagement with the gears. While I was at it, I opened up the case to the transmission to check out the condition of the shifter forks and synchros. All good! Changed the ATF. (Top)

Headlights

Upgraded to LED headlamps after testing several brands side-by-side. (Top)

Battery

When the battery needed to be replaced, I had one on hand that was a slightly different size; good enough replacement until an upgrade could be found in stock. Some scrap aluminum diamond tread plate was formed into a bracket that locked the differently-sized battery into place. (Top)

Rear Lift Blocks

As purchased, the front end has a 1.5" lift. To level it out, 1.5" blocks and new U-Shackles have been purchased to install between the rear axle and leaf springs. Scheduled for spring, 2021. (Top)

1999 Lexus GS300

The Lexus is my daily driver. I believe it's one of the best cars ever made. Extremely reliable, sporty, and comfortable. The 2JZ engine is legendary, and if I ever replace this car with another daily driver (something electric in ten years?), that might be the day to begin rebuilding the 2JZ with a turbo to get it up from its stock 205 hp up toward the 1000 hp that it's capable of. (Top)

Timing Belt, Harmonic Dampener, Idler, Radiator, Valve Covers, Plugs, Wires, PCV Valve

After the Volvo's timing belt died, I decided that I wasn't going to let the samething happen to the Lexus. Whereas the Volvo's timing belt was barely overdue when it broke, the Lexus's was already well past due. And in all honesty, it probably would have kept going and going. The belt looked to be in fine shape when I got it off. Well, that old timing belt is now a strap wrench. And I used the timing belt job as an opportunity to take care of some other items that deserved attention along the way. (Top)

Steve and Cali stopped by to help the disassembly. Steve takes pride in improbably long wobbly socket extension connections to reach any bolt with the impact gun, even if it means attacking it with four extensions from the opposite side of the vehicle. He helped zip the car apart alright, and the work of reassembling it later on, alone, without his memory, was not as bad as I thought. (Top)

The most exciting part of the job was taking off the bolt that holds on the harmonic balancer that I'd decided was worn out. It is a famously stubborn bolt. Ultimately, the only way to get it off was a fun one: stick a two foot breaker bar on it. Then rest the breaker bar on the pavement and turn the ignition (remove all spark plug wires first!). The huge torque of the starter motor then breaks the bolt. Even then, it took a couple of tries and the breaker bar chipped away a chunk of asphalt in the process. (Top)

As usual, some creativity was required, like figuring out how to use the old belts to lock up pulleys for removal. And be very careful to get the timing right! Fortunantely, I did perform one final check, and discovered a mistake that I was able to correct before firing up the engine which would have dstroyed the valves. (Top)

Struts, control arms, and alternator

The lexus had about 150k miles on it and the ride felt worn on potholed Massachusetts streets. I bought some new shocks to replace the front struts, replaced the upper control arms with a greasable version, and replaced the alternator around the same time. The ride is much more comfortable after that. (Top)

Oxygen Sensor

The O2 sensor was another case of age, heat, and corrosion turning something simple into a challenge. It was a long few hours lying on frozen pavement to pull and replace this O2 sensor. Sometimes they are nearly welded into place, and it's not uncommon for something to break during removal. The O2 sensor socket would have broken due to its "open side cut" design that weakened it (use it for installation of the new sensor, only). The only way to get out the sensor was to cut off the protruding part so that a proper impact socket could get ahold. It broke free with a pipe placed over the ratchet handle and used at an awkward angle (there was no space for the impact wrench). Even then, the threads of the exhaust system were ripped during removal, making installation of the new O2 sensor challenging, even after using a thread chaser to clean them up. (Top)

Brakes and Exhaust

I stuffed some material in the tailpipe to identiy the site of an exhaust leak. Bad gaskets at the muffler flanges. Replaced. And standard brake job (pads & rotors). (Top)

2006 Volvo XC-70

Strut Coil

The front right coil spring on the strut tower broke. I didn't have many savings at the time, so I replaced just tht single spring, reusing the other components. The strut tower is super long to accomodate the factory lift Volvo gives all of its "XC" series 70s. So long that it required not only the spring compressors that I borrowed from Brendon, but also a loaner pair from the parts store. (Top)

Transmission Fluid Flush

A known weak point on the XC-70 is a susceptibility to dirty transmission fluid. Once the automatic transmission dies, it cannot be replaced without an expensive dealership reprogramming. So expensive that the cost would be worth more than the car itself. Since this is what happened to my mom's car at around 150k miles, I decided that my own at 178k was well due for an ATF flush. The Volvo forum had good instructions for how to rig up lines to flush out the ATF. It took many quarts (20?) of special Toyota ATF to get the fluid perfectly clean, but the time is well worth it. The transmission should be good to go for another 100k miles or so until another flush. (Top)

Brakes

I replaced parking brake shoes and the little springs were tricky, requiring picks, hooks, and small pliers to manipulate. I also replaced rear pads & rotors which was easy. (Top)

There was some spongeiness in the brakes, so I began to bleed the brake system. One of the brass bleed nipples was stuck and sheared off, as it's designed to do, in order to protect the caliper. The next step was to order a replacement & use an extractor to remove the old bleed valve, but that's where this story ends. I had heard mixed reports about whether it was even possible to bleed this Volvo's brakes without a factory computer. Owners claimed that air bubbles tended to accumulate in the ABS pump and that without a Volvo dealer computer to run the ABS pump while bleeding, it would never bleed properly. Well, the brakes were good enough as-is, so I aborted the job and decided to finish it in the spring. (Top)

Tires

They just needed to be re-sealed at the rims. (Top)

Timing Belt

I bought the Volvo with 178k miles because the vehicles are known for being so reliable, and this specimen was in excellent condition. It had a sticker under the hood indicating that the timing belt was replaced by the dealer at about 100k miles. It was due for another timing belt, but only barely. I looked forward to doing the job in a couple of months when the weather warmed up. Well, cruising on the highway one night, feeling very confident in the vehicle's handling and general condition after the other work, I felt a soft thud and the engine's death. I was able to bring it a few lanes over to the brakedown lane without much trouble. The timing belt had snapped. It's an interference engine, so there is unknown damage to the valves. This Volvo will never run again unless the head is replaced. Since I discovered that I don't really love working on Volvos, I won't be the one to replace the head. (Top)

Verdict

The 2006 Volvo XC-70 is an excellent, reliable car, but ended up being too computerized for me to enjoy working on it. (Top)

The Goood: It's an exceptionally heavy and solid vehicle to drive, inspiring a lot of confidence in all road conditions and at all speeds. Each component seems to be made of very high quality. The interior leather is heavy and well stitched. Everything about the car feels extremely solid, even compared to BMW and Mercedes. It does well in snow, and the turbocharged engine could even be considered sporty. The rectangular shape is great for holding lots of gear. You get sedan-like road feel and handling in a vehicle capable of comfortably handling dirt roads and snow. It was also a good excuse to buy some slightly esoteric tools like sets of star drivers. (Top)

The Bad: Parts were always very expensive (each shock tower would have been something like $500 if I recall right). The car would run fine but display many odd engine codes that would change without apparent reason. Simple jobs like a brake bleed could not be completed without a dealership computer. The transmission cannot be replaced without a dealership computer. Many parts seemed to be proprietary to Volvo with no third party options available, so the monopoly often permitted very high prices. Some of those high prices may have been warranted given the general quality and weight that goes into each part. But they still wear out and fail at about the same rate as other OEM parts, and a failed component will leave the car just as dead as a less expensive component, even if it was nicer when it was brand new. (Top)

Plow Truck

The plow truck is an early 2000s GMC 3/4 ton work horse. It's got issues. It doesn't have great brakes, so you drop the plow blade when you want to stop. The frame is cracked. The interior is full of the remnants a mould that was innoculated by some lobster traps it once carried. Yet the engine is strong and indestructible. (Top)

The truck has needed some odd jobs over the years. The transmission lever on the side of the transmission froze and needed to be cut off from the transmission. I fabrictated a new pivot joint for it. (Top)

One year, the fuel lines rotted through completely. So I made some replacements where needed, ignored the rest, and ripped out the vent line. The tank straps also rotted out, so I held them in place temporarily with some webbing while installing a better strap with a trucker's hitch and static line as the "permanent" fix. Let's hope this truck never gets driven on a public roadway. In the meantime, it will keep plowing like it's meant to.

Infiniti Brakes

Sometimes, simple jobs become surprisingly complex. For some reason having to do with a support strut in the way, I decided that the only way to remove this bolt was with a six point socket, pipe wrench, and bottle jack. Salt and Infiniti engineering conspired to make this job longer than it should have been. (Top)

Honda Exhaust

In another case of exhaust system vs years of salt, a new downpipe and muffler were needed for this Honda. An Milwaukee electric impact wrench usually snaps bolts off if their corroded this badly. Even with one of the world's largest collections of wobbly sockets and extensions, I had a hard time fitting it onto one or more of the bolts. I remember using a torch to help get everything apart. Saved a ton of money using generic parts and ignoring the warning that proprietary bolts were needed. The only advantage to proprietary bolts would have something to do with ease of assembly at the factory. The best part of this job was having everything correctly ordered (bolts, hangers, gaskets, pipe, muffler, cutoff discs, wire wheels, etc.) before the job began. That meant finishing in time to get picked up afterward to spend the rest of the weekend camping by a river, cooking pizza over a fire, and finally climbing the Eaglet. (Top)

Hyundai Transmission

I helped Steve replace his transmission in a tiny Hyundai. Well, it was supposed to be "just" a clutch job. But getting the transmission out of a vehicle that was manufactured to be "disposable" turned out to be hard. Steve decided to pull out all the stops and use a hammer to get the transmission out, cracking the die cast aluminum case. Nevertheless, out it came, and getting the repalcement in was actually pretty easy. Steve wisely moved on to a better vehicle, but that Hyundai and its new transmission are probably still rolling around somewhere. (Top)

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