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Post by COMpulse on Apr 22, 2018 18:45:43 GMT -5
Plated, insured, drove 20 miles today. Tomorrow, to work.
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Post by jhornbr225 on Apr 22, 2018 19:08:18 GMT -5
Yesss!
I'm assuming all went well?
In the case of first test drives it's good to either have AAA, or make sure your cell phone is charged, and you have someone that you can call to rescue you, bring you tools, oil, water, etc. Actually, it's not a bad idea to carry some of the basics with you. You never know when that bolt that didn't get tightened, or the clamp that isn't tight enough will rear it's ugly head. And a flashlight, and maybe a piece of cardboard or an old towel or blanket, in case you have to crawl on the ground. And some rags to wipe your hands on. Well, you get the idea...
Good luck tomorrow! Enjoy it, but stay alert to smells, smoke, weird sounds, etc. Good idea to keep the radio off too.
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Post by COMpulse on Apr 23, 2018 8:33:47 GMT -5
All has gone well so far. I went to an oil change place and bent over. Got the trans flushed since I couldn't get a good read on the fluid level. They offered injector cleaning. I figured WTF why not. The only thing I didn't have them do was an oil change. Drove around with the sun roof open, windows down. The car feels tiny compared to the Taurus. I found the paperwork for the trans re-build. Turns out the trans only has 15,000 miles on it since the rebuild.
I've got a belt squeaking. It wasn't squeaking before the oil change, so maybe they just spilled something on a belt. I didn't replace the belts when I did the engine swap. I used my old belts. Hmm..
This morning I clicked the remote-start and it fired right up. The trunk wouldn't open. I think I may have broken the latch trying to do something stupid a couple months ago.
Drove to work this morning. Got on the highway. 80+ MPH felt fine. I think maybe the alignment is off a bit. It feels a little floaty sometimes. I'm still driving on the same tank of gas that was in the car when I blew the engine.
I have AAA, and I brought a few essentials. Fire extinguisher, jumper cables, wrenches.
I smelled oil when I was on the highway. But I think it must have been some other vehicle. My engine temp never even got warm enough for the thermostat to open this morning. I haven't really stomped on it too much yet. I've seen the boost gauge go up so I know I'm
And the heater seemed to be blowing cold air when I turned it on. I wonder if I have air in the heater hose lines or something.
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Post by philg on Apr 23, 2018 9:57:29 GMT -5
Congrats on finally driving it!
I'm guessing you are correct that there is air that needs to be bled.
When I did an engine swap a few years ago when my wife had a Rendezvous (3.4 V6), it definitely took some work to get the air out of the system.
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Post by jhornbr225 on Apr 23, 2018 20:54:02 GMT -5
I got one of these from Amazon a few years ago. I like it. You can keep the system open and add coolant as you need to, and the air bubbles tend to move to the highest point in the system. No guarantee that it will work for yours, but for $20 you might like to give it a try. And it's got a little stopper that's supposed to help prevent spills when you take the funnel out of the radiator and dump the extra into the overflow tank. www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A6AS6LY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
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Post by revheadkev on Apr 24, 2018 21:51:52 GMT -5
How long has the fuel been in the tank sitting ? Fuel goes stale and might need some refresher, or drain and refill.
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Post by COMpulse on Apr 30, 2018 18:51:29 GMT -5
Fuel has been in the tank since November 2nd, 2014. Tank was nearly full when I blew the motor. I've run the tank down to about half way now. I put some fuel treatment stuff in when I was first getting it running a couple months ago.
I don't think the squeaking is coming from a belt. I think a pulley or tensioner is squeaking. I think the tensioner pulley on the supercharger belt.
I still need to get the plastic shields on around the wheel wells, but they're held on with plastic screws that seem to be "one-time use". Either I need to get some new ones, or just use a couple nuts and bolts.
I plan on going to the junk yard again in a week or two to get miscellaneous parts.
I had the check-engine light finally come on. Code P0446 if I recall. Something to do with the evap system. I tightened the gas cap and cleared the code and it hasn't come back, but I won't be surprised if it does.
Also considering building a quick tablet-mount and running some wires under the dashboard so I can take my tablet between cars. Maybe.
I ordered one of those funnel kits.
As for the trunk, I think the latch is fine. I think the pneumatic "springs" (aka Linear Actuators) are failing to 'pop' the trunk open. The aftermarket spoiler on the trunk is heavier than the stock spoiler, and I think it has strained those actuators over the years.
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Post by flylear45 on Apr 30, 2018 19:24:52 GMT -5
Test for belt noise is as follows:
Take a spray bottle with some water in it and spritz some on your belts while it's running (and squeeking.)
If the noise stops, it's a belt. If not then it's an idler or a water pump/PS pump, etc.
If it's a belt and it looks 1/2 decent DON"T replace it! Buy a bottle of 303 Protectent Spray and douse it a couple of times with that stuff. It won't squeek AND it will soften and renew your belt. Don't try any other product, nothing else will work, especially not belt dressing or armor all. They make it worse.
Every person who tries it (as well as me) can't believe it works so well. I absolutely swear by it.
My Thunderbird had a belt squeal problem. The serpentine made noise when I got it and I put two different new belts on and it STILL squeaked after each one was on for a short while. I finally tried the 303 spray and it hasn't made a peep since.
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Post by jhornbr225 on Apr 30, 2018 23:18:54 GMT -5
If they are the normal pneumatic cylinders, they can be pretty cheap through Amazon. I put a set on my Brother's girlfriend's son's car, (say that three times fast). I think they wanted $40 each at the local AutoZone. I think we got the pair for $25. They were for his hood though. Some trunks have a "spring" that looks like a 1/4" steel rod under tension going from one side to the other. Some cars have little dimples in a bracket that the spring sits in. If you move the end so that it sits in a different dimple, you can get more tension out of the spring. WORDS OF WARNING! 1. Trunk lids are very heavy. It is deceptive with that spring in there though. If you are in the trunk, with your legs hanging out, and going to adjust the spring, have an attentive helper hold the trunk lid up while you move the spring. I say attentive, because I tasked my wife with holding the trunk lid up while I moved the spring. She was not paying attention, and didn't expect the lid to be so heavy. Needless to say, I got the trunk slammed on my shins. Damn that hurt. 2. That spring is strong. They make a special tool that really makes it easy to adjust it. I put a spoiler on a car I had about 18 years ago. I saw that spring and thought, "I can move that with a set of channel locks and a big screwdriver/pry bar". Well, I slipped and the spring caught me in the palm. Probably should have gone for stitches. Went to a party later that night with my girlfriend. She had a friend who was just starting nursing school. Well, I had my hand all wrapped up, amateur like. She saw it and asked "What did you do?". I insisted that it was no problem, but I think she was itching for the chance to treat a real patient. She cleaned me up, bandaged me up, and said I should have had stitches. Still have a 3/4" scar across my palm. I think the tool ended up being like $6. Stupid mistake, but I learned my lesson. Don't mess with heavy springs without the proper tools. I fought with that thing for probably an hour before I hurt myself, but with the tool it was 15 seconds. So I highly recommend the tool if you are going to mess with it. And those big coil springs on the wall above your garage door? I have heard that people have been killed by those, trying to install/adjust them. That one is best left to a professional. Those plastic screws don't necessarily need to be single use only. Depends on the car probably. Honda commonly uses ones that are a phillips head. Make sure the heads are clean before you try to mess with them. Make sure that the screw driver fits the head well. Sometimes you can't just turn the screw, as the pressure you put on it with the screwdriver pushes it back into the hole you are trying to get it out of. In that case a fingernail or small straight screwdriver putting a little pressure on the underside of the screw head helps it to thread out. But there are quite a few different types, depending on the manufacturer. Some of them just shatter if you mess with them.
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Post by COMpulse on May 10, 2018 22:14:59 GMT -5
I did the spray bottle test. It indicated that the problem was a belt. My car has two belts. So, I decided to replace the easy one. That didn't stop the squeak. So today I replaced the other belt. No more squeak. Then I put the splash shields on the wheel wells. And just for the sake of completeness, I put the engine cover on. I drove her to work a couple weeks ago, but didn't really show anyone due to the squeaking. Tomorrow I will drive her to work and show her off a bit. Maybe get her washed for the first time in almost 4 years.
As for the trunk, I'm thinking it could be the electro-mechanical trunk-lock-actuator. I need to do more research.. But I totally understand using the right tool for the job. Hose-clamp pliers really showed me how the right tool can save you a lot of time and bloody knuckles. And today I used my belt-tensioner bar to change belts in a tight area where my wrench wouldn't fit. I've got a ton of task-specific tools now.
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Post by flylear45 on May 20, 2018 6:24:52 GMT -5
I did the spray bottle test. It indicated that the problem was a belt. My car has two belts. So, I decided to replace the easy one. That didn't stop the squeak. So today I replaced the other belt. No more squeak. Then I put the splash shields on the wheel wells. And just for the sake of completeness, I put the engine cover on. I drove her to work a couple weeks ago, but didn't really show anyone due to the squeaking. Tomorrow I will drive her to work and show her off a bit. Maybe get her washed for the first time in almost 4 years. As for the trunk, I'm thinking it could be the electro-mechanical trunk-lock-actuator. I need to do more research.. But I totally understand using the right tool for the job. Hose-clamp pliers really showed me how the right tool can save you a lot of time and bloody knuckles. And today I used my belt-tensioner bar to change belts in a tight area where my wrench wouldn't fit. I've got a ton of task-specific tools now. Awesome. Good job. I love tools.... beware it's a slippery slope once you start working on your own stuff. I am longing for an English wheel now and just bought a shrinker-stretcher set so I can re-make a trunk bottom for a Triumph TR250. I have a tool addiction problem. LOL
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Post by COMpulse on May 30, 2018 12:24:18 GMT -5
I replaced the pneumatic cylinders and the trunk issue is resolved. It doesn't pop open, but it pops enough to disengage the latch. The real problem with the trunk is that the heavier spoiler makes the trunk want to open too far and break the connector on the end of the cylinders. But I like the spoiler, and I would need to replace the whole trunk to go back to a stock spoiler, so I'm going to leave it as-is.
The final (really?) issue is the gas tank not filling. Today I replaced the EVAP Vent Valve Solenoid. It's supposed to allow air from the gas tank to vent to the atmosphere while trying to collect fuel vapors. There are like 3 or 4 parts to the EVAP system from what I can tell. From the gas tank, a hose goes to a charcoal canister. From there, one hose goes to the Purge Valve on the intake manifold, and one hose goes to the Vent Valve. Apparently, 'purging' means allowing vapors to enter the intake. And 'venting' means allowing vapors / air to disperse into the open atmosphere. I'm still learning this system. If the charcoal canister needs to be replaced, I'm looking at possibly removing the gas tank. Which doesn't sound terrible, but it does sound like some work.
Anyway, replacing the vent solenoid wasn't too bad. I was determined to not jack up the car, but I couldn't fit both my arms up behind the rear driver's-side wheel well. Finally, I decided to jack up the car, and got the job done in 15 minutes. But then the sun came out and suddenly it was 84' outside. And I decided I was done. Haven't tested the EVAP thing yet. I'm assuming it won't help, and I'll need to do the whole gas-tank removal thing.
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Post by revheadkev on Jun 1, 2018 18:14:43 GMT -5
Can you put a stopper block on the hinge somewhere COM to stop the trunk lid opening so far that it gets to the end of the cylinder extension ?
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Post by COMpulse on Jun 7, 2018 6:32:06 GMT -5
I need to look into a stopper block or bolt to stop the hinge, but it will need to be somewhere in the hinge travel that isn't under too much weight/leverage from the spoiler.
The GTP engine temperature cannot be right. There must be air in the lines. I haven't been driving it because of this concern. So I pulled out the No Spill funnel (recommended earlier) for burping the coolant lines. I figured out how to attach the funnel to the radiator. I filled the funnel about 1/3 full, and let the car warm up. After a while, the car was warm, bubbles were coming up and out through the funnel. WOOHOO IT'S WORKING. It's working so good I get my phone out to record a video. But the coolant level in the funnel had risen quite a bit. To 2/3 full. And then more. And the funnel was starting to lean to one side. I shut off the engine. The funnel overflows and tips over, hot coolant sprays out of the radiator. I'd say around half a gallon of coolant wasted. And then I was all out of coolant, so I quit.
When things go this way, I always assume my neighbors are watching, and shaking their heads.
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Post by jhornbr225 on Jun 7, 2018 15:15:14 GMT -5
Hopefully I didn't give you a bum recommendation on the funnel. I love mine. But I must admit, all the Hondas that I work on have nice, easily accessible, level radiator caps. I know GM can do some funny stuff.
It didn't melt on you did it? I hope that it didn't get too warm and soft, and start to tilt. I know that warm coolant takes up more space than cold coolant, but I didn't think it would expand that much to cause an overflow. Bubbles coming up and out are good, overflow, bad.
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