quote:

Originally posted by Glynn863:
Although I haven't personally experienced it, the headlight assemblies on 2007-2013 GM pickups have a hidden fastener that is hard to access without a lot of effort. I often see OEM headlight assemblies for sale with at least one or two mounting tabs broken off, in particular the afore-mentioned one. You shouldn't have to remove a fender, fender liner, and / or bumper to replace a headlight assembly. JMHO, YMMV.

Front fascia removal, Cadillac CTS enters the chat…..

And back to Jeep. Wife’s ‘12 Liberty engine oil pan is on the verge of rusting through, 50K on the thing. The HVAC system is by latest nemesis. Common problem with them is that the blower resistor module burns up either due to bad connections at the module or the blower motor is drawing too much current. The module does not control voltage into the blower motor, rather it’s used to control resistance to ground. But when it fails it defaults to high blower speed that cannot be reduced or turned off, whenever the key is on the blower is on full.

Now, replaced the blower motor two and a half years ago with a new genuine MOPAR one as the aftermarket one I tried was out of balance and had an annoying whistle on high speed, blade angle was different.That one had a dead spot and I couldn’t convince my wife to tap it with a rubber mallet when it quit so I replaced it.

So now, the new one may have an excessive current draw and our course out of the parts warranty. As it took the blower module out too, I found out Chrysler has discontinued it. Aftermarket ones are problematic, know a couple dealer techs from different Jeep stores that told me they don’t last. Forty five dollars for all the parts, aftermarket Dorman module was fifty eight dollars alone, local parts store wants over a hundred dollars for the same module.

So, last week I went junkyarding. Found a couple Liberty’s there, grabbed the blower control modules after ohm meter testing and pulled a blower motor for good measure. Once my back quits hurting from that kidney stent I’ll tackle putting it in but until then the rule is keep the blower speed on the lower settings.

One nice thing, while removing and replacing the blower motor is a PITA the resistor module is easy, open the glove box, pull it down, module is right behind it with two T-20 torx screws.

A $2000 expense every 150,000 miles? No thanks. I don't want to hear any alibis ("it's no worse than a timing belt" or "it's only every 150,000 miles") for it. It's just plain goddamned stupid. And who's to say a part that looks for all the world like the brush roller belt in a vacuum cleaner submerged in HOT OIL will even go that long?

Is consistent oil flow really that important?

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
A $2000 expense every 150,000 miles? No thanks. I don't want to hear any alibis ("it's no worse than a timing belt" or "it's only every 150,000 miles") for it. It's just plain goddamned stupid. And who's to say a part that looks for all the world like the brush roller belt in a vacuum cleaner submerged in HOT OIL will even go that long?

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Timing belts are retarded. This is significantly worse just because of where it's located and what you have to pull to get to it. Components that drive critical timing and oiling systems should be actuated by either gears or a chain designed to last the life of the engine. There's no justifiable reason to do that with a belt... especially one that's going to get submerged in oil.

Back in the day when GM switched from phenolic lined cam timing gears to all steel, you wouldn't believe all the "whining" from owners about the slight increase in audible noise.
The phenolic cam gear was guaranteed to jump time and strip most of the teeth off of the gear before 100k miles.
The all steel cam gear would last at least two lifetimes.
The noise still bothered the whiners.

quote:

Originally posted by cee_Kamp:
Back in the day when GM switched from phenolic lined cam timing gears to all steel, you wouldn't believe all the "whining" from owners about the slight increase in audible noise.
The phenolic cam gear was guaranteed to jump time and strip most of the teeth off of the gear before 100k miles.
The all steel cam gear would last at least two lifetimes.
The noise still bothered the whiners.

I'll take the noise over the limited lifespan any day. The 6.0 in my Silverado has piston slap pretty bad, but it's got 230k on it and still going strong. Doesn't bother me in the least that it kinda sounds like a diesel, especially after a cold start. If you don't like it, just turn the radio up!

quote:

Originally posted by sigspecops:
I sometimes daydream about a vehicle purposely built to be as reliable, long lasting and completely owner serviceable as it is possible to make.

I have thought about this as well.

What we need to buy is an older, pre-emission Army truck. All flat panels for the body. All bolted in place. No computers. Rust/paint body.
Who cares where you park. Who cares about dinged car doors. No damage when you(or they) get bumped. Off road anytime. Heater optional. Windshield folds down. Canvas top. Automatic speed limiter (never built to go over 50mph). Bench seat (good for dating). Will carry anything that fits.

The old Army 3/4 ton is ideal. Or a 2 1/2 ton with the rear axle removed.

The rearmost nut for the strut mounts on both sides of my 2012 Honda Odyssey need just the exact right height socket to get a ratchet or torque wrench on it.

Not having the exact right height socket adds an hour to the job. Combined with the temp outside and sweat pouring off my body, lots of explicitives were used as well.

Then there's the slot one you need to put your hand in to get the nuts started. Apparently, Japanese men don't have man sized hands.

quote:

Originally posted by cee_Kamp:
Back in the day when GM switched from phenolic lined cam timing gears to all steel, you wouldn't believe all the "whining" from owners about the slight increase in audible noise.
The phenolic cam gear was guaranteed to jump time and strip most of the teeth off of the gear before 100k miles.
The all steel cam gear would last at least two lifetimes.
The noise still bothered the whiners.

Early on when I started my career in GM dealership parts I switched from Chevrolets to a Pontiac dealership. What an eye opener as where Pontiacs as well as other GM engines used similarly phenolic camshaft drive sprockets with success ours had a propensity to shed teeth.

It wasn’t a case of “if” but “when”. Some got 100k like I did, one I remember still had the window sticker in it.

1971 I started in Pontiacs, still remember the part numbers required, 483047 cam sprocket, 532993, timing chain, 9775217 timing cover gasket set and 9794125 oil pan gasket set.

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
The rearmost nut for the strut mounts on both sides of my 2012 Honda Odyssey need just the exact right height socket to get a ratchet or torque wrench on it.

Not having the exact right height socket adds an hour to the job. Combined with the temp outside and sweat pouring off my body, lots of explicitives were used as well.

Then there's the slot one you need to put your hand in to get the nuts started. Apparently, Japanese men don't have man sized hands.

Minivans are the devil. Transverse engine, half under the cowl. My 03 venture required jacking it up, unbolting the engine cradle, and dropping the whole engine down to get the alternator out. And that was after you squeezed between the "frame" rail and the engine to get the belt off. What is a 15 minute parking lot job on any of my trucks became a 3 hour ordeal requiring a jack, stands, contortions, liproscopy, etc.

It was a fantastic vehicle for hauling kids around. Working on it absolutely sucked.

Oh tre F-150 5.4 supercharged OHC engine is supposed to have the timing chain replaced around 100K, I got 200K and it was still running good.

Thing is once that chain slips or breaks you are FUBAR.

It's a massive job requiring the removal of all the front accessory drive and bits, you have to remove the valve covers, center everything to zero of course, lock them in with special tools, and remove god knows how many bolts to get the front cover off, just to get to the chain.

Parts are under $500, labor about $2K now....

In case you like watching this stuff, or bored of political stuff.... Watch FordTechMakuloco do the job...

On most cars the blower motor is mounted vertically (fan blades pointing up) under the right side of the dash. At most you might have to remove some trim panels to get to it. Not so with Nissan Versa and post-2013 Ford Escape blower motors. They are mounted horizontally and way up high. The Versa requires the pedals to be removed. Then there are electronic vent door actuators that sometimes need the entire dash removed.