What have you done to your vehicle lately?

[rman]

The Oil/Coolant temp "Delta" on my truck was widening, though still very much within range (10* delta... high RPMs on an incline in 100* weather is still damn good)
So I replaced my coolant filter. Much better now.

Also finally ordered and installed a steering stabilizer... Dual Stabilizer from PMF

Cleaned up a lot more bumpsteer than I knew I had, which in turn is smoothing out my ride quite a bit. Still a ton of slop, but the 2 compound issues were much worse. Need to tighten up my gearbox.

Cut off the boots. Always find that dirt and water get trapped in them.

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[ZX9RCAM]

Coolant filter?

 

[Vaquero]

Got a few hundred pounds of mud on the farm truck yesterday.
Might clean it off later this year.

 

[rman]

Coolant filter?

6.0 powerstroke. If you are familiar, they were kust about catastrophic.
first it was this, then it was that, etc. Finally, after years upon years, the main issue of stretching headstuds was coolant temps, due to flash boiling, due to clogged oil coolers, due to silicate build up, due to coolant age/long maintenance intervals.

So the solution is to ditch Ford's coolant, and install an inline (or bypass) coolant filter.

Then the other 20 problems are all fairly minor lol.

Got a few hundred pounds of mud on the farm truck yesterday.
Might clean it off later this year.

I rarely clean my truck. The salty mud does expose where I've touched up my paint due to rattle can clear coat.

If it's really heavy I'll typically powerwash the underside.

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[ZX9RCAM]

Thanks, I know zero about diesel.
First time I've heard of a coolant filter.

 

[TxStetson]

So the solution is to ditch Ford.

Then the other 20 problems are all fairly non-existent.

FIFY.

 

[rman]

FIFY.

bahahahaha no

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[TxStetson]

C’mon, get a DirtyMax. Everybody’s doing it.

 

[sharkey]

Traded it in? A 15 Caddy ATS (with base engine) should be in driveway tomorrow. I needed a poser vehicle


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[grasshopperglock]

Woke the 94 camaro up. Kept the 15' from going asleep. I've been riding the bike as the main get around. Neither camaro has been drove. Painting the license plate bracket on the motorcycle I made months ago. Replaced a lot of light duty bolts with polished stainless Phillips head and hex head screws. Lots of other smaller stuff. Been getting quite a few compliments on the bike. Some guy did three walk arounds' while at 7/11. Said he had a bike shop. He knew what the bike was before I mentioned it. Cool guy...

Still need to make a seat. After I shaved the foam on the factory seat. It's not bad. Not good but better then it was. I nice handmade seat would set the whole bike off. I already have the leather.

 

[Bozz10mm]

About a month ago, the AC in my '03 Expedition wasn't working right. Heater and AC would only blow through the defroster vents. Last week, the check engine light came on. I plugged my OBD II in, and it showed a vacuum leak. Opened the hood and saw it almost immediately. A vacuum hose with a large break in it. Had to pull the battery to get to it though.

I didn't have any vacuum hose at the house, so I used a piece of ¼" ID rubber fuel line to replace the short piece of vacuum hose. Also replaced a second hose that was on the verge of crumbling. Reset the code, started it up and lo and behold, no check engine light and the AC is working again.

I figure I saved several hundred dollars by doing it myself. That rubber fuel line will probably last forever too.

 

[Brains]

People talk about new cars being so tough to work on, but when was the last time your old-school car flat out told you it had a vacuum leak? The tools and methods have changed, but I honestly think it's easier to work on modern cars.

 

[F350-6]

I guess it's a matter of perspective. The AC only blowing out the defrost is Ford's way of saying you have a vacuum leak. Sometimes a computer can tell you the same thing, but it still doesn't tell you where it is.

The older vehicles had much more room to work on them under the hood. Would you rather change spark plugs in a 1967 or a 2017 car? Rather replace a timing chain on an old car, or a timing belt on a little 4 cylinder that you can hardly even get your hands in there to reach? Carburetors were easier to fix or change than most fuel injectors.

 

[Bozz10mm]

I used to change points, plugs, and condensers, on my vehicles, but now I can't even find those things any more . Carburetors had to be adjusted, radiators overflowed on to the driveway. Mufflers burned out. Under carriages had to be lubed. In-dash clocks never worked. Wipers quit working going up a hill. They almost always leaked oil and/or transmission fluid.

Vehicles have definitely improved over the years. They are more durable and reliable than ever. But when something does break, be prepared to pay through the nose.

 

[Dawico]

I guess it's a matter of perspective. The AC only blowing out the defrost is Ford's way of saying you have a vacuum leak.

To expand on that, the defrost is the default setting as no defrost could be a safety hazard. Vent and feet blowers are luxuries.

 

[SidewaysTA]

Starting a project to upgrade the old girl. I'm in no rush so I will be taking my time here.

Going to completely replace/upgrade the suspension and chassis. Replace the hackjob exhaust system and install longtubes. Also going to re-gear the final drive.

Just starting...


Rear suspension first...


First part removed...

 

[Texasgordo]

Cool project



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[TheDan]

People talk about new cars being so tough to work on, but when was the last time your old-school car flat out told you it had a vacuum leak? The tools and methods have changed, but I honestly think it's easier to work on modern cars.

I waffle on this point... Modern cars require much less maintenance and are often times easier to diagnose, but the complexity makes the part replacement more difficult and more expensive. Older, simpler machines break down more often, but can be fixed with a hammer.

 

[Brains]

I guess it's a matter of perspective. The AC only blowing out the defrost is Ford's way of saying you have a vacuum leak. Sometimes a computer can tell you the same thing, but it still doesn't tell you where it is.

The older vehicles had much more room to work on them under the hood. Would you rather change spark plugs in a 1967 or a 2017 car? Rather replace a timing chain on an old car, or a timing belt on a little 4 cylinder that you can hardly even get your hands in there to reach? Carburetors were easier to fix or change than most fuel injectors.

Very true, you still have to use the same age-old methods of troubleshooting. Modern cars just give you timely access to a lot of information you used to need a chest of various measurement tools to get. The engine (long blocks) themselves haven't changed significantly, it's the controls which are different. The same valve spring compressor you use on a 1955 Chevy will work on a 2018 ZL1. Honestly, I'd rather do plugs on the '17 - because I'm not going to be doing them for probably 10 years. In the case of the little 4 bangers, those are disposable cars. If you get to the point you need to put in a new timing belt, trade it in and let the dealer mess with it lol. In all seriousness, if I did need to do it, modern assembly methods have made it very fast and easy to drop the whole front subassembly out of the car. Shade-trees have accustomed themselves to trying to fit under the hood because that's how we've always done it. I guarantee, once you see how easy it is to lift the car off the subframe, and yes you can do it in your garage, it's an eye opening experience.

I used to change points, plugs, and condensers, on my vehicles, but now I can't even find those things any more . Carburetors had to be adjusted, radiators overflowed on to the driveway. Mufflers burned out. Under carriages had to be lubed. In-dash clocks never worked. Wipers quit working going up a hill. They almost always leaked oil and/or transmission fluid.

Vehicles have definitely improved over the years. They are more durable and reliable than ever. But when something does break, be prepared to pay through the nose.

You only pay through the nose if you need to pay someone else to do it. On average, each repair MIGHT be more expensive, but over time you're spending less because you're repairing less. Points, condensers, distributor cap and rotor, etc. don't exist any more. Those maintenance items and their costs are gone. Even the plugs last 100k. Carbs don't exist, eliminating another maintenance item. If you have to change a fuel injector in today's world, something went way wrong. If you do need to change one, they're no more difficult to swap out than a carb and there's no tuning needed afterwards.

Starting a project to upgrade the old girl. I'm in no rush so I will be taking my time here.

Going to completely replace/upgrade the suspension and chassis. Replace the hackjob exhaust system and install longtubes. Also going to re-gear the final drive.

If you have any questions, I know pretty much every nut and bolt in that car.

 

[grasshopperglock]

Replacing a decoupler pulley on a Mitsubishi alternator attached to a dodge 2.4. Also changing out an idler pulley.

The pulley ran $45. The idler was $10. To remove the pulley I had to make a tool, $2.