What did you do "IN" your garage today?

[PWC Repair]

That looks like a 3.3. IIRC those were non-interference.

I think I might have found the reason for so much confusion. The Frontier/Xterra started in '98. The 3.3l was based off the 3.0 which IS an interference engine. From a bit of research it seems the first 2 years of these WERE interference and then the 2000-'04 models were NOT. So it seems if you have the early 98-99 version with the different dash and front end.........you're screwed.

 

[rzims]

Spent the morning on the wife's bronco sport.
Lift kit has given me issues in the form of a front end squeak on and off for 2 years now. Installer "fixed" a few times but it always came back.
In June I ordered new end links from the mfg and installed them. Now its squeaking again.
Pulled off the wheels, re-torqued and put it back together.....squeak is still there.
Tomorrow will try to see if it's something else or did I possibly get bad end links or what... I hate having to redo things....

 

[Gangly]

All depends on where the valves were when they stopped and how fast the motor was running when it happened.

Why don't you put the piston at TDC and manually turn the cam to see if the valve touches the piston?

 

[KwikFab]

I'm the opposite unfortunately. I have so many projects going on that I get overwhelmed at how many things I need to do. I run from one job to another and next thing you know the shop is looking terrible and nothing is put away... to the point where just cleaning the shop is a huge undertaking in itself. The discipline to just stop the race to the next project to clean and arrange is tough to build. I am getting better at it. My dad was terrible at it. I guess I come by it naturally. I think my shop will finally be neat and organized once I am so old I can't use it anymore.

Two minute rule my friend!

If you can perform a task within that time, just do it. It helps so much in keeping everything neat and tidy.

Then again I've always been a bit OCD. I could tell if you were at my computer based on where my mouse or keyboard are and I'm always fixing the stools and placemats at our kitchen island

 

[DGersic]

I’ve mentioned the yard sump pump at my beach cottage before. In July, I was told that the pump failed, yard flooded, and we lost a renter. Not being local, I had to send “a guy” over, in a hurry, to fix it. This was a Wednesday, new renters are arriving on Saturday.

Thursday, he tells me that he replaced the pump. He misunderstood how I had protected the power cable from damage, so he cut it. He also decided that the 3/4hp 140 gallon/minute pump I had was too expensive, so he replaced it with a 3/4hp 80 gallon/minute pump. This needed PVC changes, because the old pump has a 2” outlet, the new one is 1 1/2”.

I did get him to save the parts. Pump is two years old, with a three year warranty.

While there on vacation the last couple of weeks, I was able to get the pump replaced under warranty. As it turns out, they don’t want you to return the pump, it could be filled with nasty. So the directions are to cut the cord and return just the cord with the attached tags indicating what it was from, along with the original purchase receipt to prove the age. Did that. Got new pump.

Back at the cottage, I reinstalled the new 140 gal/minute pump, and fixed up the PVC to put it all back to 2”. I now have a like new 80 gal/minute pump to get rid of.



Back home with the remains of the “dead” pump. I put a repair plug on the stub of cord, plugged it in, and it runs fine. “?” At least the motor is good. Haven‘t had a look at the impeller yet. I also reconnected the (cut) float switch, and confirmed that it works fine too.

I don’t care about saving the pump, I already got its replacement for no additional cost to me. But now I’m left wondering what the original failure was in the first place. If it wasn’t the pump, then what?

For the price and time needed to do this twice, driving out there and doing it myself looks more and more attractive. It’s just under 1000 miles, 13 hours driving time, each way. Not great, but not having to re-fix someone else’s fix, and finding out what the actual problem is, does appeal. I guess I’ll see what happens next time it “fails”. As part of the re-fix, I added water flow and water level monitors. It should let me know every time the pump kicks in, and if the water level gets above the pump float, indicating that the pump has failed.

Edit: Impeller looks ok.

 

[TheClaw]

Finally finished the hoist in the NEW garage.

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/mounting-a-hoist-lift-in-the-rafters.549739/

 

[Outlawmws]

Everything I did yesterday was Outside of the Garage, so this post doesn't count.

Note the "quotes" - it counts:

What did you do "IN" your garage today?​

 

[Outlawmws]

Finally finished the hoist in the NEW garage.

Nice "elevator"

I did something like that in my shed for the loft with out the platform. some of the boxes are too big and bulky/heavy for manhandling past the latter and access, and the block and tackle make it easy. but I "net" the boxes with rope, and have dedicated two ropes for the Christmas tree boxes.

 

[Beerhippie]

Reminds me of this video:

That's the holy grail of vintage toasters--or maybe all toasters! IIRC, not only is it eerily automatic, but it uses a sensor that detects the color of the toast--not just a timer.

 

[CoogarXR]

I mentioned in another thread, I'm sick, so I'm not "doing" much.

I noticed one of my trim rings on my van wheel is missing.

I just had tires put on a couple weeks ago; they must not have seated reinstalled the ring correctly. I had an idea- I had put a full-size spare under the van in the OEM donut spot, I wonder if that wheel has the trim ring? I laid down and looked under, and whadda ya know, it has one! Nice, now I don't have to buy one.

Welp, that's about all I can do for the day, lol.

 

[KwikFab]

Not exactly in the garage, but right when you step into the house from the garage



Been super busy and haven't done a water change in over a month now. I do however trim the plants once a week and throw away a ton of floaters.

I've also been out of co2 for about that whole month so I need to get my bottle refilled.

Had these guys a few years and they never minded a late change since the plants always take up the excess nutrients (and grow like crazy).

Like this alone is excess trash (overgrowth).

 

[Outlawmws]

I mentioned in another thread, I'm sick, so I'm not "doing" much.

I noticed one of my trim rings on my van wheel is missing.

I just had tires put on a couple weeks ago; they must not have seated reinstalled the ring correctly. I had an idea- I had put a full-size spare under the van in the OEM donut spot, I wonder if that wheel has the trim ring? I laid down and looked under, and whadda ya know, it has one! Nice, now I don't have to buy one.

Welp, that's about all I can do for the day, lol.

Maybe they rotated the best one to the spare position. If so, good tire shop!

 

[niget2002]

I'm the opposite unfortunately. I have so many projects going on that I get overwhelmed at how many things I need to do. I run from one job to another and next thing you know the shop is looking terrible and nothing is put away... to the point where just cleaning the shop is a huge undertaking in itself. The discipline to just stop the race to the next project to clean and arrange is tough to build. I am getting better at it. My dad was terrible at it. I guess I come by it naturally. I think my shop will finally be neat and organized once I am so old I can't use it anymore.

I had to finally put a "stop work" on any new projects until all the existing ones were complete. I then took two weekends to just clean and organize. The whole shop feels more relaxing when I go out there now.

Since then, I've managed to put all tools away at the end of each day.

My wife commented that one of the benches was collecting stuff again, so I had to show her how it was all the same project.

I have 3 projects going again, but each is on its own bench. Two are waiting for materials.

 

[CoogarXR]

Maybe they rotated the best one to the spare position. If so, good tire shop!

Nah, it was there when I left in the morning. It must have fell off when driving. Unless someone stole it. But it's not 1973, and there isn't a huge market for hubcaps and beauty rings. so probably not, lol.

 

[Nofries]

Spent the morning on the wife's bronco sport.
Lift kit has given me issues in the form of a front end squeak on and off for 2 years now. Installer "fixed" a few times but it always came back.
In June I ordered new end links from the mfg and installed them. Now its squeaking again.
Pulled off the wheels, re-torqued and put it back together.....squeak is still there.
Tomorrow will try to see if it's something else or did I possibly get bad end links or what... I hate having to redo things....

Are the bushings Poly? they are more responsive than the typical OEM rubber due to the "rigidity" but they will squeak no matter what, a liberal amount of PB blaster, WD40, liquid wrench, what ever you flavor is will cure it for a week or two. Depending on mileage driven and exposer to rain or water off the road. Just a maintenance thing you'll have to keep up with. If you get it resolved I'd be interested in your solution.

 

[Outlawmws]

a liberal amount of PB blaster, WD40, liquid wrench, what ever you flavor is will cure it for a week or two.

Not one of those is a lubricant and won't stick. You need a real grease or maybe a graphite compound when assembling...

 

[Fordguy1964]

Tonight will be a project of drag everything out of the garage that isn't on a shelf. I have the spray foam insulators here tomorrow to do the bottom of the roof panels with closed cell foam. They have to set up scaffolding around the shop and cover everything with plastic. This will be the last step before finally getting to work on MY projects. Expensive but it will be worth it to get the temperature down a lot in the summer. I will miss the added heat in the cooler months though.

 

[rd65]

Upside is, I'm pretty sure I have an SS handle for a ball valve like that one... if I can figure out how to install it five feet down in a pipe.

Does it have flats on each side of the post? Smash a piece of EMT conduit to fit, worth a try.

 

[rzims]

They're rubber bushings at the end of the link. The installers solution was to just keep hitting it with an impact wrench which I believe resulted in them tearing.
You need to hold it with an Allen and tighten with a wrench.
My torque wrench barely fits in there and I'm wondering if I'm just not getting enough oomph to really torque them to spec....although the wrench is giving me the "click"

 

[Wrench97]

Why don't you put the piston at TDC and manually turn the cam to see if the valve touches the piston?

If they are already bent they won't be touching any longer.
Another method is to to a leak down test but that would require rotating the cams to close the valves on the cylinder being tested and rotating the crank so the piston is down, I have seen guys bend valves doing this either by applying air and having the crank spin on them or overdoing the rotating when a valve touches a piston.

 

[micromind]

They're rubber bushings at the end of the link. The installers solution was to just keep hitting it with an impact wrench which I believe resulted in them tearing.
You need to hold it with an Allen and tighten with a wrench.
My torque wrench barely fits in there and I'm wondering if I'm just not getting enough oomph to really torque them to spec....although the wrench is giving me the "click"

A ball joint that's not tapered.....and doesn't take 2 hours to get loose......absolutely brilliant!!

 

[Wrench97]

They're rubber bushings at the end of the link. The installers solution was to just keep hitting it with an impact wrench which I believe resulted in them tearing.
You need to hold it with an Allen and tighten with a wrench.
My torque wrench barely fits in there and I'm wondering if I'm just not getting enough oomph to really torque them to spec....although the wrench is giving me the "click"

The Allens are a real pain I've had them strip before getting the nuts to the torque spec. the better design is to put a hex or even 2 flats on the side near the boot where you can use a thin tappet style wrench to hold the stud.

 

[Beerhippie]

Does it have flats on each side of the post? Smash a piece of EMT conduit to fit, worth a try.

No way EMT is going to be stiff enough to work. First problem will be getting the nut that holds the handle off--it's also got 30-odd years of subterranean rust. I'm not sure I have five and a half feet of socket extensions....

A ball joint that's not tapered.....and doesn't take 2 hours to get loose......absolutely brilliant!!

Same as the upper control arm ball joints on a Vanagon--which is good, as the super short turn radius of the van eats them like candy.

 

[Outlawmws]

I'm not sure I have five and a half feet of socket extensions....

I would in any drive size, but that doesn't help you...

If you start with 1/2" drive adapt to 3/8" Go again, then adapt to 1/4"?

 

[LeonardY]

Just picking stuff up and putting stuff away.
The new car, Kia EV6 is wider than the Volvo C70.
I may need to shift tools around.

 

[Beerhippie]

I would in any drive size, but that doesn't help you...

If you start with 1/2" drive adapt to 3/8" Go again, then adapt to 1/4"?

Might could work... and I have the grabber thingy to retrieve it when the lower half falls off.

 

[Outlawmws]

Might could work... and I have the grabber thingy to retrieve it when the lower half falls off.

Or the magnet thingy - but - Tape the joints!

 

[Beerhippie]

Or the magnet thingy - but - Tape the joints!

There you go, being all reasonable and **** again.

Chances are, the valve stud will shear off almost immediately. They're usually stainless, but when buried, stainless ain't very stainless.

 

[Wrench97]

No way EMT is going to be stiff enough to work. First problem will be getting the nut that holds the handle off--it's also got 30-odd years of subterranean rust. I'm not sure I have five and a half feet of socket extensions....

Same as the upper control arm ball joints on a Vanagon--which is good, as the super short turn radius of the van eats them like candy.

Cut a cheap old extension in half weld the conduit to the halfs

 

[oldman_pottering]

Two minute rule my friend!

If you can perform a task within that time, just do it. It helps so much in keeping everything neat and tidy.

I like this idea !

 

[Beerhippie]

Wow! Everything went soo smoothly today, I'm terrified for the 'morrow!

As I was getting ready to leave last night, one of the Rinnais--which were heating the water for tomorrows brews--stopped heating. I accessed the performance readout and the unit said it had 0 flow rate. Now, it clearly had a fine flow rate, so that means the little turbine that measures flow rate--and turns the heat on when it's detected--either had something hung up in it (frequent problem) or was trashed (also frequent). I've had to deal with that so often I have it down to about fifteen minutes and have spare parts on hand--a good thing at 8PM in Bumfug, OR.

I removed the water inlet valve, changed out the trashed turbine and had it back in in the usual time. But when I plugged the unit back in, I heard a very faint pop and the readout started throwing a bunch of codes--codes I'd never seen before and aren't in my manual. I'd also never seen more than one code at a time before. After about a minute of that, it just turned off and would not turn back on.

By now, it was nine PM and time to hit the hay. I called the head brewer and informed him he'd be lucky to have 155 F water in the morning and he said he could deal with it. Homeward bound. Managed not to hit any of the local gang of suicidal punk deer.

This AM, I figured it had to be the electronics. Fortunately, we have a spare unit I've been cannibalizing for parts--the case was smashed in shipping and our local dealer gave it to me--so I tore the brain out of that swapped it for the suspect one.



Not only did that fix the problem, but the unit now seems to work like it used to!

Spent some miserable time running Ethernet cable in the kitchen, working in the heat and grease {(I'll take ancient, filthy auto grease over kitchen grease in a hot minute) up near the ceiling. That went as smoothly as possible. Got the cables terminated and they tested perfect on the first try. That rarely happens.

To top things off, I had to paint a board to span studs for mounting a POS monitor in the kitchen. The rattle can of gloss white ran out just as I finished the last pass of the last coat. Perfect.

I may just call in tomorrow and stay in bed all day.

 

[nadogail]

Fabricated a fixture in maintain the alignment and spacing of the 5 boards that will be the Window Boxes I have a request for.
The first article is the most difficult, once you have that done, with standard components the following ones should be easy.

 

[Beerhippie]

I just knew it was too good to be true.

The pub is closed Mon-Wed, so no one has been using any water. It turns out, that valve in the pit works just fine--the handle didn't break off, it turned the valve. While that's nice to know, the problem is that it isn't a shut-off for the hydrant, it's a shut off for the pub!

So I need to borrow that curb key again, and the shop I borrowed it from just closed. So did the store where I could buy one.

Good thing the pub is closed tomorrow and the brewery still has water.

 

[Gangly]

Installed a folding shelf on the side of my work bench. I might rarely use it, but there WILL be a time when I need a few extra square inches of space to place things while I'm working.

 

[DGersic]

Came home from vacation to a flat tire.



New tube installed. Hole was on the spoke side, which is weird. Nothing seems wrong with the tape I put on the rim ~40 years ago when I bought the bike. Had three new tubes on the shelf.

Wife asked how long it was going to take to fix it. Told her that it’s already done. Having done thousands of tube-n-tire repairs in the years I worked in bike shops, I can (have) done it in my sleep and can still do it in just a few minutes.

 

[Beerhippie]

I made it to the last open hardware store in town with minutes to spare. The water is back on.

Now I know more about the mysterious plumbing of the pub. But why wouldn't you have a shut-off for the hydrant, which is sure to need work at some point? I still need to shut off the water for the entire plant just to fix the damned hydrant, but I now know how to shut off the water for just the pub--which I'll also be having to do as I found a leaking hose bib while looking for the problem.

We have a new curb key--the old one should show up tomorrow.

 

[Outlawmws]

I made it to the last open hardware store in town with minutes to spare. The water is back on.

All's well that ends well!

 

[Beerhippie]

All's well that ends well!

But what a CF of plumbing! I just recalled that there is another valve well just outside the pub with a real curb valve that does exactly what the one I found by the hydrant does. WHY?!

Before this was a pub and brewery, it was a sausage kitchen--and en excellent one. I know the construction was done by a bunch of buddies and NO real carpenters (the building was built between '83 and '85), but I hadn't realized the plumbing was the same--well, I had some clues, like "trapped" copper hot water lines....

 

[kaymccampbell]

I just knew it was too good to be true.

The pub is closed Mon-Wed, so no one has been using any water. It turns out, that valve in the pit works just fine--the handle didn't break off, it turned the valve. While that's nice to know, the problem is that it isn't a shut-off for the hydrant, it's a shut off for the pub!

So I need to borrow that curb key again, and the shop I borrowed it from just closed. So did the store where I could buy one.

Good thing the pub is closed tomorrow and the brewery still has water.

Looks like you are 3 of your own.

 

[kaymccampbell]

Cut, bent, welded, sanded, cleaned the dogeater chute extensions. Powder coat tomorrow. 24 days to first snow that I remember. Cleaned, flung, put away.