Work out of my garage/driveway
- Thread starter ORVietVet
- Start date
Ok, finished up this morning. Installed the headlight assemblies and checks to make sure all works and installed the front bumper and grille assemblies and then the pcv valve and then the 2 lower shields.
If you look close, at the 1st 2 pics, you will see the blue painter's tape on the bolt heads, where I made them tighter to allow to get way back in the respective holes, without having the bolts drop.
If you look close, at the 1st 2 pics, you will see the blue painter's tape on the bolt heads, where I made them tighter to allow to get way back in the respective holes, without having the bolts drop.
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He wanted it fixed like factory again. That is what I do best.
The work just keeps coming. Got a call this morning for an oil change on a 2020 Corolla 1.8 and set up for later in the week.
The daughter of the Corolla owner has an ongoing work after work piece of crap 2017 Cherokee Latitude 3.2 engine. I ordered in Mopar park brake switch and the transfer case switch, known as a Terrain switch. Plus front pads and rotors. very thin pads.
Opened up the console and there was filth, I mean FILTY. Spilled fluids and dirt. Had shorted out the 2 switches. She may still need a PTU assembly, better known as a transfer case. Well known weak spot for these rigs. Trying the shorted out switch first. I am doing the switch and if needs transfer case, a well known shop in town will do it. Cleaned the console area and installed switches and they both work and no "Service 4wd" light so far. Then on to the brakes. A whole other story there.
The daughter of the Corolla owner has an ongoing work after work piece of crap 2017 Cherokee Latitude 3.2 engine. I ordered in Mopar park brake switch and the transfer case switch, known as a Terrain switch. Plus front pads and rotors. very thin pads.
Opened up the console and there was filth, I mean FILTY. Spilled fluids and dirt. Had shorted out the 2 switches. She may still need a PTU assembly, better known as a transfer case. Well known weak spot for these rigs. Trying the shorted out switch first. I am doing the switch and if needs transfer case, a well known shop in town will do it. Cleaned the console area and installed switches and they both work and no "Service 4wd" light so far. Then on to the brakes. A whole other story there.
The lug bolts were the one piece lug nut/stud design. They have the caps on them too. Someone had over tightened them and I could not get some broke loose with my highest torque rating on my Milwaukee Tool 1/2" impact. She is gonna get some Dorman 611005 solid one piece with no caps on them and take it to a tire shop for removal before I do the work. It was a Husky deep 1/2" drive impact socket that is 19mm. I just ordered a new one from my Snap On guy.
Cadillacmak
Well-Known Member
I agree with you there, I don't let a shop touch anything on my rigs.
I found out that the lug studs and/or lug nuts, with the tin caps, get rust build up under them and swell the tin cap. I arranged for a trusted shop that I send work to that I do not want to do, has dealt with this and I found out there is special impact sockets that are .5mm sizes. Example, the tech has 19.5mm impact socket to deal with this. They are gonna use her supplied parts, that I found, and is gonna swap out all the capped lug studs, replace the front Mopar pads/hardware and Mopar rotors and allow my military discount and do it all for $165. I searched and found that Snap On, Mac Tool and Matco and SK do not make these .5mm sockets. I did find a set from CTA Tools and no more than I would use them and for $67, I bought them at Amazon. It will be a "just in case" thing.
Some loose 3/4" sockets can be around 19.5mm too. I've done that on some that are slightly swollen.
I tried that too but the slop of the 3/4 socket was too much for me to attempt. They were tight enough, that I did not want to chance rounding them off.
With an inguinal hernia flaring up and as I get older I seem to be slowing down and ache more, I am planning on taking on less and less work and traveling more with my girl, Linda. I still have the desire to do the work but those final days are coming, likely within the next 2 years.
I am putting this out there to make sense of what I am going to say next. When I stop, I stop and will pay someone else to do the work, including oil changes. At that point, I will be selling my tools. Both Snap on boxes and all tools in them. 1 floor jack and any related stands, ramps and tools that are outside the boxes.
This set of tools is for a very hard core DIY'er, an existing shop tech or a guy/gal that wants to get in a career that A-I will not replace. The tools are 90% Snap On, Mac, Matco, SK, Craftsman USA, ICON, Blue Point, Gearwrench.......etc.
They will not go cheap and will not be sold separately. Retail price is between $70k to $80k. Out the garage door is no where near that and any reasonable price will be accepted. Again, I am saying this now so that if someone is serious about this, they will have time to mull it over and also get funds together.
I am 73 and my girl is 78. We want to travel. Why not. She is a retired American Airlines flight attendant, with close to 45 years at the company. She and I could fly for free. I like to drive more and she does too. Wouldn't bother me a bit to pass on while looking at the Majestic Beauty of Crater Lake, Oregon. That sight/place makes me go "WOW" every time I see it.
I am putting this out there to make sense of what I am going to say next. When I stop, I stop and will pay someone else to do the work, including oil changes. At that point, I will be selling my tools. Both Snap on boxes and all tools in them. 1 floor jack and any related stands, ramps and tools that are outside the boxes.
This set of tools is for a very hard core DIY'er, an existing shop tech or a guy/gal that wants to get in a career that A-I will not replace. The tools are 90% Snap On, Mac, Matco, SK, Craftsman USA, ICON, Blue Point, Gearwrench.......etc.
They will not go cheap and will not be sold separately. Retail price is between $70k to $80k. Out the garage door is no where near that and any reasonable price will be accepted. Again, I am saying this now so that if someone is serious about this, they will have time to mull it over and also get funds together.
I am 73 and my girl is 78. We want to travel. Why not. She is a retired American Airlines flight attendant, with close to 45 years at the company. She and I could fly for free. I like to drive more and she does too. Wouldn't bother me a bit to pass on while looking at the Majestic Beauty of Crater Lake, Oregon. That sight/place makes me go "WOW" every time I see it.
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INW-Iron-Steel
Well-Known Member
Good read! Interesting bit about expecting repairs along the way. But, I'm wondering, could or should an engine/transmission replacement maybe be expected too? If a 4l60/65/70e goes 200K trouble free miles, should I really be upset that it needs a rebuild? At that point, averaging 20K miles per year, the vehicle would be 10 years old and likely paid off. I think it makes financial sense to rebuild the transmission rather than buying something new.
I agree and I have preached for years that people should have a savings account for vehicle maintenance and repairs, instead of buying, IMO, rip off extended warranties. But no, the vehicle owner will eat out too much, buy Starbucks every day, drink alcohol regularly and buy smokes and drugs instead. Then scrape for needed maintenance and repairs. Then cuss at the vehicle that they do not take care of. When my Tahoe needs a transmission, I have the money ready right now.
INW-Iron-Steel
Well-Known Member
Preach on, that is good advice!
This is what gets me. It's not the vehicles fault (most of the time). My 4l60 slipped 2-3 for years before it finally wouldn't shift towing a trailer up a hill. I limped it back to town and paid the guy cash. I knew a transmission was in my future.
stutaeng
Well-Known Member
Yeah, a lot of 4L60e do live very long lives. The one on my 99 made it to 260k. At around 225k it did start having that P1870 code, which is common issue with the TCC valve/valve bore wear.
I didn't know anything about mechanics back then, much less automatic transmissions. I just kept driving it and the issue only really happened after driving on the highway for longer than about 20 minutes. Back then my job was only a few miles from home and city streets so i just kept on truckin'.
After I bought my 06 Suburban I retired the Silverado (now also with low oil pressure on the V6.) I seriously considered listing it for $1500 on Offerup/Craigslist.
Truck was in pretty good shape for the year. Not wrecked, beat up and paint was in failure decent shape. I eventually decided to "LS swap it" as everyone, their grandma and cat was doing, and the rest is history! Lol
Actually, the transmission still had bright cherry red fluid with minimal clutch material in the pan. I sold it to a fellow that was looking for transmission for a short period while he got his Tahoe transmission rebuilt. I told him my transmission was serviced and what it had, and suggested it was probably best to rebuild the unit I sold him since that unit hadn't had catastrophic failure. Based on what he told, his Tahoe had the geartrain explode.
The issue with a lot of transmission shops is they simply fix what failed, slap them back together and send it, without doing a complete rebuild. Replacing all gaskets, seals, o-rings, bushings, etc. is time consuming and expensive, and most folks are looking for the cheapest prices anyways. You have to find the right shop to do a good job.
I didn't know anything about mechanics back then, much less automatic transmissions. I just kept driving it and the issue only really happened after driving on the highway for longer than about 20 minutes. Back then my job was only a few miles from home and city streets so i just kept on truckin'.
After I bought my 06 Suburban I retired the Silverado (now also with low oil pressure on the V6.) I seriously considered listing it for $1500 on Offerup/Craigslist.
Truck was in pretty good shape for the year. Not wrecked, beat up and paint was in failure decent shape. I eventually decided to "LS swap it" as everyone, their grandma and cat was doing, and the rest is history! Lol
Actually, the transmission still had bright cherry red fluid with minimal clutch material in the pan. I sold it to a fellow that was looking for transmission for a short period while he got his Tahoe transmission rebuilt. I told him my transmission was serviced and what it had, and suggested it was probably best to rebuild the unit I sold him since that unit hadn't had catastrophic failure. Based on what he told, his Tahoe had the geartrain explode.
The issue with a lot of transmission shops is they simply fix what failed, slap them back together and send it, without doing a complete rebuild. Replacing all gaskets, seals, o-rings, bushings, etc. is time consuming and expensive, and most folks are looking for the cheapest prices anyways. You have to find the right shop to do a good job.
My 2005 Tahoe Z71 has 176k miles on it, owned it now for 6 years. I did a transmission fluid and filter service when I bought it at 135k miles. It still has pretty fluid and stays full. I will be doing another service very soon. I was worried about a rebuild around 150k miles, like is the norm, but with care and maintenance and I have never towed with it except for a single axle U-Haul when I bought my lower Snap On 3 tier box. I plan/hope to get 200k before considering a rebuild. If anyone looks at my Build Thread at Tahoe/Yukon Forum, you will see that I replace components before failure.
INW-Iron-Steel
Well-Known Member
I have heard so many horror stories about transmission shops that only do half the job. There's an old shop in my hometown that is highly regarded in the plow industry. When I had them build mine, I told them I fully intended to put a 6.0 in the truck and beat the snot out of it. The owner said "don't worry, we'll build you a strong unit." No 6.0, but I have beat on it. I lost all my momentum towing Homestake Pass headed west when a semi swung out in front of me. I had to ask the little 4.8/4l70 to get 5000lbs moving on a 6% grade...5000+ RPM to the summit 
I recently serviced it at 30,000 since rebuild. The only thing the original shop didn't change was the solenoids (not included on invoice). I did Sonnax solenoids and swapped the 1-2 accumulator for the Sonnax Pinless piece. Strong unit indeed.
I recently serviced it at 30,000 since rebuild. The only thing the original shop didn't change was the solenoids (not included on invoice). I did Sonnax solenoids and swapped the 1-2 accumulator for the Sonnax Pinless piece. Strong unit indeed.
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