29 March, 2016

Shop cleanup is a bit overwhelming at this point...

I sadly haven't been putting up too many blog entries lately, that has been my fault. I have been working tons of hours on my day job, What shop hours I have been able to get in have been dedicated to keeping the house in order, and keeping, or getting the cars running... Ugh.

Over the last several months, I have on the 2001 Saturn.

#1. Repaired a leaking intake manifold with the coolant bypass kit from www. carsaturn.com. The kit was a bit intimidating to install, but the video instructions provided by the developers of this thing. Unlike the engineers at General Motors, the guys at carsaturn.com actually did a good job on making a consumer friendly product.
#2. Replaced a leaky and growling power steering pump. Several years ago, on Thanksgiving Eve, the plastic pulley on this pump exploded. It finally gave up.
#3. Replaced the belt, belt tensioner, and idler pulley, since I was in there, I wanted to make it all good...
#4. Replaced the water pump, upper, lower radiator hoses, and heater hoses.
#5. Replaced the foreward and passenger side motor mounts.
#6. Sourced up, and replaced the original broken down seats with seats from a low mileage 2001 SL1 with a matching interior. Some of the nicer features of the SL2 seats like the separate headrests and adjustable lumbar support are missing, but these are actually more comfortable.
#7. started stripping the bubbling paint and removing the failed bondo from the hood (2 owners back had the bondo done).

At the same tine, I have been working on our new to us 2006 Chevy Malibu LT 3.5L V6. On that I have...
#1. Oil Change.
#2. Replaced belt, upper and lower hoses, heater hoses, thermostat.
#3. New pads on rear, checked pads on front.
#4. Transmission service. Video coming on that soon. Again, GM engineeers must be insane.
#5. Replace 4 broken wheel studs. For what it's worth, again, GM Engineers must be insane. There is NO good reason to make it that hard to get wheel studs out / in while the hub is on the vehicle.

And on the 2004 F150 5.4L 3V I am continuing to try to diagnose the P0012 code. I am at the point of knowing for sure the issue is an oiling / cam phaser problem. I am in the phase of putting money aside to do a full timing set rebuild, while I am in there I am planning on replacing water pump, idler, tensioner pullies, possibly with underdrive units, throwing in a high volume oil pump, cleaning out all the crud from the top end of the engine, dropping the pan and cleaning the lower end.

Once the go through on the engine is done, I need to go through the IWE system The truck drives like the 4wd system.

Tons of work around the house as well. Too much to list...But I have been busy...

08 March, 2016

P0012 issues, again, or still?

So the P0012 went away only just briefly after swapping out the VCT solenoid, however I did find when I did the s. olenoid, a considerable amount of sludge under the valve cover. The VCT system is known to be extra sensitive to oiling issues,

I am continuing to do some research on the issue, as I gather the resources (Money) to do the fix. I want to insure I am doing it right. The cam phasers aren't knocking, I hear what sounds like normal lifter sounds thats about it when it idles... So at this point I am thinking about...

#1. Pulling the valve covers, and dropping the oil pan. Giving the both, and the tops of the heads a thorough cleaning.
#2. Clean the oil passageway at the rear of the cylinder head that goes through the top of the block toward the back, insure that it is free of obstruction and sludge, basically insure the oil can get from the drivers side to the passenger side with sufficient pressure.
#3. Install new VCT Solenoids.
#4. Button up the oil pan, put on a decent oil filter, and oil the top end prior to reassembling the valve covers, and all that goes there such as COPs fuel rails etc...
#5. Fill the case with quality well oil, and a proper dose of Marvel Mystery Oil. Get it going again, and insure the code is cleared. Give it a couple hundred miles of run and then...
#6. Perform a full oil change keeping clean oil in it...

In discussion with several different mechanics, I am getting varied feedback on proper oil for this thing. Some say Ford got it right with recommending 5w30 for this engine even in the hot nasty environment of Texas, while others are telling me to run 20w50. The jury is still out on that. I want the oil thick enough to stay on the pieces it needs to be on and provide good pressure, without being so thick as to be too hard to pump... Oh boy do I have some fun choices to make!