I’m thinking about doing things twice today, because over this winter it’s happened to me…. twice.
Remember my 2007 Dodge Caravan? In January you could smell hot coolant occasionally while driving , and sometimes when exiting the car but not all the time, and there were no drips.
I finally figured out it was leaking from the thermostat housing, and dripping onto the hot exhaust pipe right below it. That explained the occasional strong smell and lack of drips. Checking my records I found that I’d had the thermostat replaced in 2016 along with the rad. I quite clearly recall the garage suggesting it (and their inflated price) and thinking “I could do it cheaper but this way I’ll never have to mess with it again, sure.”
Wanting to do it right this time I ordered a housing and thermostat from the Dodge dealership. When it came in there was a note from Dodge in the box telling me to cut the bump off the rubber sealing ring with a hobby knife. So I did that and got it all set up on a warmish day (-2 degrees Celcius), took off the old housing and guess what the last guy didn’t do?
As you can see the seal is pushed over by the bump. They also didn’t scrape the corrosion off the aluminum mating surface so I scraped it, put the new parts in and no leaks so far.
Later, during a cold snap of -15C the alternator light came on when Mrs DougD was driving to work. She returned home and took the Focus. I took the plug off the back, it looked fine, I plugged it back in and the warning light went out. I hate when stuff like that happens because you never know if it’s fixed or not, but my voltmeter told me it was charging so off I went to work.
My commute is about 40 minutes each way, but it snowed vigorously all day, and I knew it would be a slow trip home. Coming out to the van after work the alternator light came on, I quickly checked the voltage and got 14 volts, so assumed it was still charging, crossed my fingers and headed out.
After about 10 minutes the instrument lights flickered a few times and I knew the alternator had expired for good. Traffic was crawling, so I shut everything off and pushed on with just the daytime running lights. After pulling into my driveway I turned the headlights on and the engine died, it was that close.
I was able to get another alternator the next day, for a mere $180 plus core charge, including a measly one year warranty. It was going to be a balmy -5C in the afternoon so I left work a couple of hours early so I could at least start while it was still light.
There it is, here’s where the advantage of doing things twice comes into play. I knew from last time that the EGR valve in the foreground has to come off first, that I have to be very careful with its gaskets, and how to undo those electrical plugs.
Here I am at the half way point, you people who live in warm climates are really missing out, I’ll tell ya. Nothing like trying to work over your head while lying in the snow, with gloves on, getting your headlamp to align with your well frosted glasses.
Actually the worst part of the job was removing the plastic splash shield underneath to get at the belt tensioner, those serrated plastic push fasteners get so hard when it’s cold that they won’t come out and you have to break them.
There’s a nice shot, the van is all assembled, running and charging. Januarys blue supermoon is rising above this happy scene of triumphant auto repair. Woo-fricken-Hoo, I’m going inside to warm my hands up.
So what do this pair of re-done re-pairs have in common?
Yup, my old alternator came from Canadian Tire (as did my new one), and when the radiator had started leaking the day before we were to go on vacation these guys were the only ones who could work on it that day. I’d been running an experiment since we bought the Caravan eight years ago, our Ford Focus was only repaired with genuine Ford parts, and the Caravan got C-T parts. It was definately cheaper to maintain the van, but as we see sometimes cheapness and convenience come at a price.
So I’ve answered my own question, yes I fix things twice and the annoyance of having to do it again is balanced somewhat by mostly remembering how to do it. Can you take it, or do automotive mulligans inspire you to start shopping for a new vehicle?
I had a recurring repair job in my Ford Club Wagon. The van had rear heat and air and the choice between whether hot air or cold air was blown was made by a vacuum-actuated flapper valve low in the space behind the plastic side trim panel. It broke the first time right at the ragged edge of the 3 year warranty. I saw where the mechanic worked on it. It broke the second time about 3 years later and the third time about three years after that. I had my indy mechanic do one of them and I did the other, I don’t recall which order. Genuine Ford parts, btw. I eventually figured out to turn on the a/c and turn the rear fan on low for the count of three, then turn it to high so that the flapper is not fighting gale force air flow as it moves from its default (heat) resting place.
The good thing about repeat repairs is that you have mastered the learning curve. I once had to replace a clutch in my 68 Mustang twice in two days (the first clutch plate was 1/4 inch bigger than the box said it was and it would not disengage). Boy was the second one faster.
Very engaging story, but it begs the question… Why did the scholars at Chrysler Corporation design the thermostat seal with a bump in the first place? 😉
Very good question. Mind-boggling, actually.
I was wondering that too at the time. Why bother writing me a nice letter from FCA telling me to cut the bump off and put it in the box, when you could make a ring without a bump and put that in the box?
My guess is one gasket design was made for multiple applications, to save money. Some applications require the bump, others don’t, hence the need to trim it.
Obviously this does not make sense on the assembly line. But it does for the design of the replacement parts, to keep costs down. That instruction note is cheaper than a whole new special gasket.
It might be the result of injection molding and should have been trimmed but some bean counter figured that 3 cents could be saved by having the mechanic trim it rather than a factory worker who made it.
This way they sell two instead of just one since the moron mechanic can’t be bothered to follow the instruction, thus ensuring that another part will be ordered sooner rather than later…
The PT Cruiser uses the same thermostat, but the coolant connector has a notch in it that the tab fits in to orient the offset design correctly. I am surprised (or maybe I shouldn’t be) that they spec the same thermostat for a non-notched housing.
I worked for the supplier of the coolant connector for the PT; I built the assembly and pressure-testing fixtures for this…thing. We had piles of these thermostats laying around.
So, not as baffling as it seems. One part (kinda) fits all.
Probably the same reason they decided putting the battery of the Dodge Journey in the front bumper, necessitating removal of the front wheel and the shielding in the wheel well to access, was a good idea.
Not gonna lie, trying to help my neighbor with her Journey has put me off of Chrysler for awhile. If they were that dumb about the battery, what else did they completely botch?
I would have to guess making it possible to reach the radiator in a Dodge Caliber to flush the coolant. Or even the lower hose for that matter. Yet strangely the heater hoses are very accessible.
If it’s within your capability, DIY – once – and have the peace of mind of knowing it was done correct.
Doug, you’re always more than welcome to come work in my heated shop.
Back when I was driving The Mayfield Belle (‘71 VW van for newer readers) as my DD, the transaxle finally gave out, so I sourced a junkyard replacement and set about doing the swap with a single bottle jack and bricks for doing the heavy lifting.
I remember chiseling out vast quantities of caked-on hardened grease and road grit to get to the hex cap screws that hold the axle shafts to the transaxle, and working a slow 3” at a time per side, lowered the old unit out, then reversed the procedure with the replacement (I didn’t reinstall the greasy grime, tho).
Jubilant with my handiwork, I set out for a test drive around the neighborhood, only to immediately be met with a howling such as from the hounds of hell.
*sigh*
Another two-hour struggle to remove the bad replacement, and back off to the junkyard for another one “guaranteed to be good this time.”
Well, thankfully, it was, and lasted until the inglorious death of the van several years later. And yes, it took about ⅓ the time to install the second one. At least it wasn’t below zero and snowing!
Young man who lives with us to attend college down the street has a 1996 Saturn that is older than him. After several attempts to diagnose an intermittent starter problem (click but no start), including removal and test of the battery and starter we finally ordered new starter and cables from Rock Auto. Previous efforts came in handy for the job in the college parking lot (security was very cordial, turns out we order our parts from the same place), as I knew right where to put my hand behind the starter housing to find and remove the well-hidden upper bolt. Testing procedure that came with the new starter suggested the problem was probably a short in the cable, but who cares, now it starts! I do have an impulse to go back under there to check to see that I aligned the starter properly before tightening. Never knew I had automotive OCD.
Fix things twice? How about 5 times? My first vehicle was a 1987 Ford F-150 I bought from my dads work when they they updated the fleet of work trucks. I bought it when I was 15 and had to replace the alternator about 3 months after I turned 16. I bought the replacement alternator from Napa as they were the only auto parts store around. It came with a one year warranty, and almost like clockwork, it would fail somewhere around the 13th-14th month after installation. After the 4th one that I had to pay for yet again because it was just out of warranty, I finally wised up and spent the extra money to buy one from Ford. It was more than double the price than the Napa one but I never had to replace it again! Guess you could call me a slow learner!
Oh yes, starting with my first big repair on my Corvair. Noises from the clutch area convinced me it was a throwout bearing. I did find a communal heated garage I could work in for a few bucks, given that this was the depth of winter in Iowa. Dropped the engine, with scissors jacks and timbers. Put it back together. Very hard work. Still noisy.
Came to find out these Corvairs have two-piece flywheels riveted together and the rivets eventually stretch. Easy fix, but it meant redoing the job, in half the time of course.
My hat’s off to you (literally) for doing it right in the cold. You’re a better man than I am. I don’t think I could hack that anymore; I’ve gotten soft out here. 🙂
I have that exact same Caravan… right up to the color. Nice rice 🙂
I will save this post for when I have to do the same repair 🙂
As for doing things twice, I had a 98 Citroen Xantia Turbo CT. Actual build date may have been earlier but anyway… The alternator failed. I took it out and send it for refurbish. It failed again in 3 months. I sent it back again and it lasted another month.
That’s when I discovered it was a Mitsubishi unit, well known for lousy quality. The same engine can be found in some Peugeot and most of those have Valeo alternators. I bought one off a junkyard. Seized solid and completely rusted out. I sent that one for rebuilding and installed it. I had the car two more years and it worked flawlessly.
Nice ride…. sorry for the autocorrect.
I think DCX must have got a great deal on that red paint, seems like half the Caravans I see are that colour.
My wife once got into our van after a coffee stop one day, saw a book on the floor and said “I didn’t know you were reading this” and turned her head to see that it was not her van, and not her husband. 🙂
I put a shift improver kit for the C6 trans in my ’68 Thunderbird. I pulled the pan, removed the valve body and followed the detailed instructions. It involved swapping a half dozen specific springs, drilling a 3/32 hole in a specific part of the separator plate, adjust the second-gear band and reassemble. I did so and found second gear had disappeared entirely. First and third were on duty, but second was like another neutral.
Hmmm, did I leave it in my back pocket? It was obvious to me that something I did was diverting the 2nd gear hydraulic pressure, but which of the dozen changes did so? Trial and error was impractical because each try would require draining and remoing the pan, then reassembly, new gasket and all.
Fortunately I had a factory service manual for my ’67 Lincoln. Thanks to Ford’s publication department, the manual was incredibly detailed and included lengthy explanations of the operating principles of all the cars systems , including detailed diagrams of hydraulic flow in the transmission. The second gear circuit had a tiny ball bearing and tiny spring (no bigger than found in a clicker ball point pen) in the body that acted as a pressure control valve. The 1st and 3rd circuits did not have this. I thought thats a good place to start. So up went the car again and I removed the valve body and disassembled it. Careful examination showed I had reversed the positions of the spring and ball so the circuit was dumping pressure continuously. I reassembled everything and 2nd gear was now working.
I was so grateful to isolate the problem and fix it, first time, as there were so many potential variables.
Peugeot 404 heater tap. 104F in the shade.
I was not in the shade.
Several nightmare hours spent working blind with feet in headlining, face resembling a tomato. I lack the foot long triple-jointed eleventh finger native to the French, so found the bolts and clips difficult. Though it took several samples of my skin in resistance, I got it in the end.
Cleaned up the brass corrosion, got it working well. Resumed my swan dive attitude, (risking sunburn of the soles). More skin was removed, matched by a fairly throbbing headache, but I got it back together. I filled up the water, turned the heater on and off like in a real car. Hooray, no more full heat on for the coming heatwave….but what’s this….egad, a leak!
Teeth gritted, words of vileness sent to the universe and the French quarter thereof in particular, I resumed my intimate facial relationship with the floorpan. I donated more of me, this time with blood too, and got it out again. A miserable little o-ring, it was. To the plumbers, and back licketty split, 20c willingly given. I took up my former undignified stance, I lost a hand this time, but I got it back in. Whereupon….it leaked. There followed the only time in my life that I have tried in earnest to pick up an entire car and throw it.
In misery, in defeat, I rang Peugeot who I knew would charge as if an actual French snail was being paid an hourly rate to get the part to me – from France – but I was done for. After obtaining a small mortgage, I paid their extortions, and within mere weeks, the bit arrived. It was plastic and unfamiliar. I rang to berate, only to be told that they no longer stocked the brass ones, as they were prone to leaking and were difficult to remove. Do tell.
A last resumption of The Position followed next, and, using the remaining hand, put in the flimsy new tap, which, well, damned if it didn’t work like it should. But I was indifferent. The heatwave had passed, it was wet and in the 50’s, and I needed the heater on anyway.
I spent the remainder of my ownership of le Pug glancing compulsively down into that dark recess, traumatised clearly, on hyper-alert for a drip. And the day a weeny weep did possibly appear was the day before I put it up for sale.
I no longer fix things twice.
I swore off buying car parts at crappy tire after I bought steelie wheels there for winter mounts and they sold me used wheels. Well they tried anyway.
I’ve seen that game, they tried the same with me! Washed and spray bombed, but used none the less, sold as “New”. Hah!
This is the great current conundrum, where do the parts come from? Where does Canadian Tire source their parts? Answer likely from some Chinese factories using substandard (meaning cheap with questionable (again meaning cheap,inexpensive, likely rapid to fail sub-components with questionable metallurgy) reliability
Within the past year, for my 45 year old 1973 914 Porsche, it was recommended to me to consider replacement of the original alternator as a precautionary replacement, and, which in retrospect, advice that I mistakenly listened to and foolishly did what was recommended.
The initial replacement and the subsequent next alternators were labeled OEM “Bosch” but, as we learned, sourced/manufactured in China for Bosch. So to speak, “Bosch” with a Chinese accent. This started a now, in retrospect not so hilarious chain of replacements. At least I can laugh now.
The first two alternators had almost immediate, identical bearing failures. Sudden infant death syndrome, SIDS, for alternators, if you will. Or howling Chinese opera grinding to a halt. The third installed “Bosch” alternator seems to be working, but I have kept the original 45 year old German Bosch in my trunk (with a set of chop-sticks for good luck) as an emergency back-up replacement for long distance trips. So imagine the apparent insanity of keeping my original 45 year old working German Bosch alternator as an emergency replacement for a newer, ersatz Chinese “Bosch” Alternator. To paraphrase Obi Wan, “May the “Soy” be with you” on journeys of over a thousand steps. Lunacy with a Chinese flavor.
Hopefully when I driving on an upcoming trip in BC or later through the Mojave dessert, may the Alternator Gods willing continue smiling upon the 914 and me.
The moral of the story: who really knows what the quality of replacement parts is and where those parts are sourced from until you need a replacement, hopefully a reliable replacement. So in this new world, Buyer Beware, caveat emptor.
Cheers, yr Mst Lyl & Fthfl Srvnt
Each year it gets harder and harder to find good quality stuff. Very few brands or stores can be trusted these days. Cheap crap is everywhere, often sold at premium prices.
I had a similar experience with my 74 vw van. About 6 years after my mechanic said my cv joints were shot they finally gave out with a sound not unlike Thor’s hammer. I bought some new German lobro units and figured I would splurge for some new “made in Germany” boots. Fast forward 6 months and they had split. I still had the old axles in the back yard and put the now 25 year old oe boots back on. They never cracked.
I also had a rebuilt Bosch starter for my Vanagon give up the ghost a week after replacing the original one. It was replaced under warranty and the second one worked. Later I realized for $10 more I could have gotten a new hitachi unit. Which a reputable supplier recommends after having problems with the rebuilt (in Mexico) Bosch units.
Replaced the driver’s side window regulator on the ’97 Crown Vic twice inside of a year. It was a cheap part and a lot easier the second time around; the first time around you have to drill/punch out a number of rivets. Still kind of annoying, and that had me expecting it to be a yearly ritual, but I guess the second replacement was made of sterner stuff as it’s still operational after 3.5 years (admittedly the car has barely been driven in the past year).
This was one I paid to have done on multiple occasions. The last one (always the drivers door, of course) was starting to get a little slippy again when I got rid of the car.
So I do wonder why you don’t get a garage to do these repairs in? But then again, if we did get a double car garage or even a triple, I’m sure it would be filled with other projects dragged home and you still would not have room to fix the “runners” when they needed repair. Thus the single keeps the stuff under control and you have great stories of strength and perseverance to write about.
LU
“I’m sure it would be filled with other projects dragged home and you still would not have room to fix the “runners” when they needed repair.”
Amen.
Wow, is this the first significant other response on this site?
To answer your question, No, not as a rule. At least I try to not redo repairs, but I have over the years learned to avoid the sweetness of cheap parts, lest the bitterness of early part failure make me do it again. It works for me that way, for home repairs, auto, marine or aviation, although sometimes the world seems to be vacuumed of the good quality parts or materials, leaving only the crap available at any price. This variable is determined by Mr. Murphy and his law, which roughly states, the quality, ease of, or longevity of the repair at hand is inversely dependant on the apparent need for said repair, the funds available, or the working conditions at that time. Or something to that effect.
However, there have been a few notable events in repairville that have bit me. Hard. One that comes to mind is relating to THIS car, which happened to be a restoration on a ’65 Rambler Classic 770. Sorry for the bad images, this dates to the late ’90’s FWIW.
Anyways, the car in had a Rambler 327, auto BW trans, and a limited slip rear, and was my OCD of that time, for reasons I won’t get into, as they will force me to hit the tequila and try to forget.
So, this car, which had a running drivetrain prior to disassembly, was a project over several years, and despite an engine light teardown for gaskets, seals and inspection, when it went back together had a rear main leak appear. Nothing serious mind you, just annoying. Now, for the fun, as not only are the 327’s super heavy, now I had to split the motor and trans (they had gone in together) and pull the bloody thing out, and take another run at the rope seal that was the excuse for the rear seal. This car, which was marketed at the same time as the early space race, still used rope as a seal material, and let me tell you,the hassles of trying to spin another in place was not something I wanted to redo. In it went again, fire it up, and guess what? Yup, leaking still. Not as much, but still a drop or two every so often. I gave it a rest, muttered about it having English genes, and sold it. The images were from that time, at the auction in about ’98. Oh, and if someone has images of these era Ramblers as under appreciated wonders of the era, go drive one. The combo of the heavy engine, sluggish trans, trunnion front suspension and torque tube rear with all its unsprung weight, well…But it did go quite well…
Here is the engine compartment, which may explain my issues with a drop of oil or two.
Was there ever a rope seal that did not leak at least a drop or two from time to time? Studebakers with their rope seals are famous leakers.
Thats what I convinced myself of, to feel better, if nothing else!
WOOHOO!!!! ELECTRIC wiper motor!!
Late 20th century at its best!!
I hope you gave the shop that had replaced the radiator and ‘stat a piece of your mind.
Ah, Crappy Tire. I gave up on getting any service done there a decade ago. Here’s a few reasons why, (from multiple stores, not just one):
– Every time I would go there for my annual safety inspection, they would “find” something wrong and fail it, usually accompanied by a large repair estimate. A few times I decided to take it to another place for a second opinion. Each time, the second mechanic would pass it with no repairs needed.
– They bent my hood during an oil change. I have no idea how, but I noticed it wasn’t closed properly on the way home driving on the highway. They shrugged and adjusted the bump stops.
– After another oil change, they didn’t put the oil filler cap back on. I pulled over because the car was making strange noises and discovered the issue. I went back and they topped up the oil, but didn’t offer me anything else.
Now I buy things there and install them myself, or just go to my mechanic and avoid them altogether. I’ve bought tires there and had them installed elsewhere to avoid them “finding” something extra to charge me for.
Oh, and since I built my heated garage, doing my own maintenance and repairs are a heck of a lot easier in the winter. 🙂
I stopped having Canadian tire do service for me years ago. I had them swap tires o my 97 DeVille and they gouged the hell out of the factory alloy rims. The car was 12 years old and the rims had some blemishes already, so I didn’t complain, but I never went back.
I still buy all the auto fluids from them, but I go elsewhere for most parts.
I generally don’t have to do things twice mostly because I usually don’t own anything for a really long term. My wife’s old Nissan Quest I got really good at doing the brakes. It ate through pads and rotors at an amazing rate. I could swap the rotors and pads on the front in 15 minutes.
I’ve done valve cover gaskets on Chrysler minivans twice. But they were two different vans. The stock gasket was pretty lousy so a common fix.
I totally get fixing in the cold. Not that I enjoy it but its a part of Canadian life. Once fixed up an old Beetle in a gravel parking pad outside over the winter. Brrr.
The “rebuilt” electrical business has a couple dirty little secrets.
In the case of the standard alternator or starter you are most likely getting a 100% used unit if it is a fairly popular application and/or there it is a common family that shares most of the inner workings even if it has a rather unique case.
There is a large business in core consolodation. These companies buy alternators from the wrecking yards by the pound, or at least much cheaper than a walk in customer. They’ll amass a certain minimum number of a particular unit and sell them to the companies that “rebuild” them they will then test, disassemble, clean and reassemble as many working units as they can from that batch and the current batch of core returns. If the model is popular enough they may offer a “premium” or “100% re-manufactured” option that are made up from those left over cases and put together with new wear parts.
The other side are the “reman” engine and other computers. Again many of those come from those same core consolidators. Though in this case they often just get a wipe down on the outside and a sticker applied.
Chrysler used to have a stupid air cooled computer that had the engine’s intake air routed through the case. They were not reliable and they were in demand at the wrecking yard and sometimes hard to find the exact one you needed. So one of the times I went to replace one there were none available in the wrecking yard (pre internet days) and had to get a reman unit from the parts store. When I went to install it I found a couple of leaves that had made it inside the case but were not fished out when it got a wipe down and a “reman” sticker.
As far as the nub on the gasket it was probably put there for the thermostat housing originally used on the assembly line and is there for alignment purposes. Then they found out that created a stress point where it failed. So they redesigned the housing without the alignment slot but sill it with the nub so it doesn’t leak when installed with a housing that does have the slot.
Hmmm….
Since purchasing my ’87 El Camino back in June, I’ve removed the gauge cluster multiple times, although usually for a different project each time-
1) Bad gauges- Disassembled to check for bad ground or internal connections. None found- Reassembled it as is (and began researching gauge problems on the internet)…
2) Replaced the volt gauge with E-bay part- Success!
3) Removed blanking plate and installed tachometer bought off E-bay- Success, but the V-8 tach reads low (more internet research on tach calibration)…
4) Removed lens and cover plate to install accessory trim rings around gauges- Just a cosmetic project, but- Success!
5) Removed temp gauge and fuel gauge to install new resistor shunts- Success- All gauges working!
6) Removed V-8 tach and re-calibrated it to my V-6 by soldering added resistance into the board- Success- The tach now reads correctly.
7) Removed speedometer to lube cable. Fix worked for about 30 blocks. More internet research…
8) Removed speedometer again, pulled cable housing into engine bay, pulled out the drive cable and poured in graphite lube into the housing while holding it upright. This fix has lasted several months.
So that’s eight times in 8 months. Most of the time I’m working inside my garage in California, and many of the defects that were present at purchase, or I upgraded the cluster appearance of features. Because of those factors, the frequency doesn’t really annoy me, but by laying it all out, it does seem rather excessive.
Looking into the future, I’ve acquired a 120 MPH speedometer out of a ‘88 Monte Carlo SS that’s waiting to be installed, and I plan to add an oil light to back up to the oil gauge (There’s a socket and lens for it, but Chevy did not include an oil light on cars with gauges…). I’m also thinking about modifying the coolant temp shunt resistance, so the gauge moves a little further across the scale.
Bottom line, I’m up to eight gauge removals, but still not done!
It must be a habit with this era of GM products. I’ve had the dash out of my 79 Malibu a few times trying to get various lights and gauges working consistently. It did work last fall, before it went away. It seems they just corrode enough for there to be issues with stuff working.
having had a friend with a string of 78-87 GM A/G bodies, the dash electrical is fairly weak on these cars.
I used to buy many junkyard parts when I was broke and just starting out in life since the difference between a $200 new part and a $20 used one was HUGE for me at the time.
After about the third time replacing an alternator on the same car over a two year period, I learned a valuable lesson: my busted knuckles and time monkeying under my car were not worth the few bucks I saved by buying junk.
So my new rule is unless I’m planning on getting rid of a car in the near-future or it’s just some body or trim piece, ALWAYS buy a quality new OEM part or very decent aftermarket brand and be done with it. Anything worth doing is worth doing right the first time.
Yeah, I would have gone down to the U-pull but
A – It was cold and dark
B – I was crunched for time that week and it was too much logistics to get across the city to pull an alternator with slightly less odds that it would work
I had to replace the ignition module twice in the alternator of my 1995 Caddy Deville.
The first module came with just dielectric grease for the connectors of the module but non of that special grease that you smeared between the underside of the module and the plate that it sat on and bolted up to. to keep the heat off it.
As it had been several years since i replaced an ignition module in a GM car, I forgot about that type of grease and used some of the dielectric grease. well 6 months later(in the winter) the module died because of it overheating all those months. Nothing is worse then trying to play with brittle plastic connector parts in the cold.
I replaced it again and used the grease and all was well
The one I’ll never forget was when my ’75 Rabbit had an electrical fire in the parking lot of the old Riverside Raceway in Socal, around 1982. A friend and I drove out to watch NASCAR and Rabbit Bilstien Cup races, I had received free tickets, so decided to make the 60 mile drive from home.
As we were in the Raceway’s parking lot looking for a spot, the engine died and smoke rolled out from the dash and under the hood, I opened the hood and eventually ripped off the battery cable, burning my fingers in the process. Took a few minutes to stop smoking. Doing my best MacGyver/Gus Grissom thinking I scrounged up enough intact wire and, using electrical tape to hold the wire to the battery posts ran a positive and negative wire to the coil, buddy pushed me, popped the clutch and the engine was running. We missed the race because since I had no lights (or electric cooling fan) decided to head back before heavy traffic time (and darkness). Made it home, the battery lasted the trip and it was mostly all freeway, so the fan wasn’t needed.
The cause of the fire was because of a 20 cent plastic clip holding the engine wiring harness broke, which allowed the harness to fall on the hot exhaust manifold. This in turn toasted the dashboard wiring harness as well. Since I worked for a VW dealership, I was able to order the 2 harnesses from VW and got them for cost + 10%, was still around $300, almost $800 in today’s money. I decided the car was worth fixing and got a shop manual and got to work on it. It was a bear of a job, had to pull the dash, but after a couple of weekends finally had it back together and working.
I also had purchased a brand new 20 cent retaining clip to hold the new harness in place on the firewall, and snapped it onto the hole for it.
Started her up, let it warm so the cooling fan could cycle, tested the AC and heater, wipers, lights, everything worked, my friend who was with me at Riverside stood next to me as I stood proudly by my Rabbit, a job well done.
Then… the engine quit. Smoke started rolling out of the dash and behind the engine. I ripped off the battery cable as fast as I could, burning my hand and fingers once again. Smoke rolled out for a couple of minutes. After the smoke stopped, I looked behind the engine and the brand new harness was laying on the hot exhaust manifold, with the brand new 20 cent plastic clip attached to it. Sounded like it locked into place, but was not fully in, obviously.
Some colorful language in a very loud voice poured out of my mouth for a few minutes.
After I calmed down and assessed the damage I decided to repair the harness, they were less damaged this time around, and I wasn’t going to spend another $300 for another pair of wiring harnesses. It was a real hack repair with tons of butt connectors and electrical tape, and when done the wipers would not park, they stopped when turned off wherever they were, and the high beam indicator lamp didn’t work. I ran a wire from the headlamp to the indicator lamp, and just turned the wipers off when they were at the bottom of the windshield and called it good. This took another couple of weekends. The now pregnant looking harness was attached with several zip ties in various places along with more holes drilled in the firewall to make sure the harness stayed in place forever.
My Rabbit was a very early ’75, and only the very early ’75’s had the harness routed on the firewall by the exhaust manifold, it was quickly redesigned and re routed far away from the exhaust manifold, I always called the car “my prototype Rabbit”, I had a strange gear shift linkage as well that only early ’75’s had which was a constant source of shifting problems, this also was redesigned later in ’75 but I just lived with it, had to be careful not to hit reverse when looking for first.
But I do have a nice experience to balance this one. Not long after I bought my ’70 C10, the 3 speed manual transmission started popping out of gear and grinding, so I pulled the trans and took it to Reseda Transmission and had it rebuilt. After I reinstalled it, it would grind when shifting into second. I called the shop, they said bring in the truck so they could check it out. I did, the guy said yes, we screwed up. He then gave me keys to a loaner car and said they will call me when the tuck is done. I had carried in the transmission, and the guy said no problem, it was our fault so we will R&R the trans at no charge. That was super cool.
Never could quite get all the burnt plastic smell out of the interior of the VW, but it never had another electrical problem, and I got good a shutting off the wipers when they were in the right spot.
A nightmare repeat, though at least you didn’t try and throw the car. My mate had a ’76 Passat in about ’87. We were stunned on going to the wreckers in search of bits to see so many fire-damaged Golfs and Passats. At more than one wrecker, too. Sure as eggs, within a year, his joined the choir eternal the same way. Followed by the Audi Fox of a workmate, this time with me as passenger. (I behaved ungallantly, yelling “Just leave the f*ing thing and get out too!”).
Early Passats also had a poor gearchange, even with the gearbox longitudinal. They too had a reverse on offer a little freely.
Amazing these fragile delicacies ever had repeat buyers for the brand. Honestly, I swear my mate’s car had automotive alopecia, every time you got somewhere, something else had fallen off. Except, ofcourse, that even at 10+ years old in the ’80’s, there was no other small car that drove near as well as the Golf or (slightly lesser) Passat. On a good day, everything attached and not burning, they were quite wonderful.
The only car I’ve owned where I had to do recurring repairs was my ’79 Fairmont wagon. It had the C3 (JATCO) transmission and it had a very annoying habit… the bell housing bolts would back out from the case and cause a major fluid leak. I’d drop the trans, Locktite all the bolts, and tighten them back to spec and maybe 8-12 months later they’d back out again, lather, rinse, repeat. Got really good at it, the last time I did it I had the trans out, bolts Locktited and tightened, and the trans installed in the car in about 45 minutes. Fell asleep at the wheel and wrecked it not too long after that.
I accidentally cross threaded the oil filter on my 1979 MGB on the first oil change after I rebuilt the engine. It dumped all of its oil out within seconds. So, out came the engine again to have the crank shaft and bearings polished. Luckily, it didn’t need to be fully re-machined. But, I live in Las Vegas, so I didn’t have to do it in the snow. ?
Way back in 1982, my 3 year old ’79 Ford Fairmont Futura started running rough and stalling out on me. A quick look under the hood revealed that the carburetor was loose. Unfortunately, the screws that were loose were not accessible from the top, so I had to remove the little one barrel carb.
After getting the thing removed, I flipped it over and saw the loose screws. I tightened them. I bolted the carburetor back on. The car ran just fine.
A couple of weeks later, same symptoms. I fixed it again.
When it happened the THIRD time, I recalled the old phrase, “Fool me once…” and got more creative.
I put Loctite 242 Thread Locker on the offending threads.
I never had the problem again.
My aforementioned ’79 Fairmont wagon also had that malady 😀 …
Yeah, I noticed your post after I posted mine. Perhaps Ford had a few screws loose in those days, if you’ll pardon the pun. ;o)
MULTIPLE times when our ’99 Stratus would refuse to start.
This was a known issue with cloud cars. The eventual fix is to replace the starter.
BUT until the repair shop saw a code, they refused to do it.
Instead, they showed us which fuse to replace. It worked for several months. Finally, we took it in and lo and behold, there was the code. So they replaced the starter
Working in Southern Ontario several winters ago, I did museum exhibit design for an unheated National Historic Site. Working in frigid weather, my best friend was always a nearby portable heater with fan. I could move it around, and plugged it in whenever I needed it. It’s mostly our fingers and hands that appreciate the warmth. 😉
I try to not keep a car long enough to have to do a repair even once. ?
But seriously, it does annoy me to have something need a second repair (due to failure, not a bad repair the first time) and would have me looking to dump it.
That is exactly the response I was expecting from you Jim 🙂
However you spend more time down at the CDOT filling out vehicle transfer paperwork than I do, so that averages it out a bit..
You are correct but they have heat and comfortable chairs, unlike your driveway 🙂
Other than water pumps on the Galaxie, I’ve thankfully got a decent enough track record on not having to repeat automotive repairs.
Plumbing on the other hand…..
Our daily driver fleet for several years consisted of two Subaru vehicles; the wife’s a few years older than mine. This gave me the opportunity, even without mistakes, to do some repairs several times. A memorable and educational experience was my first timing belt job. Rather than waste time doing research I hubristically dove right in and, predictably in retrospect, made several mistakes.
A condensed version of a rather long story is that soon after starting the engine some interesting and disturbing sounds indicated that the new timing belt was not going to stay in place on the engine and that I would have another opportunity to do the job right.
After explaining to my none-too-happy spouse that the repair would take a bit more time and cost a bit more money than was originally anticipated, a few trips to the auto parts store, some research, some new parts, including helicoils to repair damaged threads in the aluminum engine block (that was nerve racking) and a new sense of patience and wisdom, and the car was as good as new. The hole in the belt cover served as a visible reminder of my experience for as long as we owned the car.
All subsequent timing belt jobs on the Subarus have been a snap as a result of that initial frustrating experience, and I have even been able to advise others in the intricacies of this job.
More recently, mine had a head gasket leak that I finally decided to address. Wanting to save time and money, I took the minimalist approach, removed the engine and put in new gaskets without having the heads machined or checking for other potential oil leaks. Again, predictably in retrospect, the engine leaked oil, even worse than before, and continued to lose coolant.
Do it right or do it again, the saying goes. By the time I got everything working correctly and addressed all the various problems, I had removed and replaced the engine 4 times, in the cold. Suffice it to say I can do it very quickly now, and I know every orifice from which a Subaru engine can leak oil.
Had a wireless remote control for a jaw crusher at work that’d intermittently work and not work. Had it apart, redid some questionable solder joints, and sent it back to the quarry. It’d work for a bit, then die again. Apart, check, reassemble, it’d be OK for a day or so and die.
Finally figured out that it was all dependent on where the excavator (and the guy in it controlling the jaw crusher) was in relation to the antenna on the crusher. There was a chafe in the wire, and if he was on the same side as the antenna wire, it’d work, but if he loaded from the other side, it wouldn’t work.
Doug you’ve reminded me of changing a water pump twice in the middle of winter in the parking lot of our townhouse complex in Prince George, BC. This was on a 351 powered 75 Gran Torino wagon. This beast was a cheap buy at a time (early 80’s) when our growing family was on a tight budget.
Despite the cold, at least the engine was easy to work on and both repair jobs didn’t take long to perform. Thankfully that wagon served us well until the next used car.
Mine’s going to end up being tie rods on my F-150. Did them last year to try tightening up the steering (also replaced the steering gear box, ball joints, and repacked bearings). Steering’s still sloppy as heck.
Learned the older Ford pickups had bushings at the radius arms AND at the axle pivot points. Mine… Are the originals… from 1995… with 203,000 miles on them. Replacing them involves removing a whole lot of stuff to get the axles out.
Looks like those tie rods are getting done again.
He who drives an old Caravan will do plenty of wrenching.
He who buys Crappy Tire parts will do plenty more wrenching.
When I sold my Acura last year, at age 17, it didn’t have a single failure in the 6 years I had it.
When I was a young man I had a ’49 Chevy 1/2 ton Panel as a daily driver.
Brakes, always the brakes: Somewhere there would be a leaking wheel cylinder.
Apparently, I couldn’t afford to buy new wheel cylinders so it was a Round Robin with the wheel cylinders on a regular basis. I had a wheel cylinder hone and the $2 to buy the rubber kits so that’s the way it went–a different corner about every two months.
It seems dumb now, when I think about it, but I got so I could do it quickly.
With a Toyota you don’t have to go at Canadien-tirelire ( piggybank ) neither to the stealer .
Do I even need to say anything?
The window regulator on my elderly mercedes failed a few years ago. The regulator was spot welded in together and this snapped. It’s an MOT failure so I had no choice but to fix it; especially seeing it was the driver side. Absolute nightmare to dismantle the door card and wiggle the old regulator out of the door panel. The new regulator came with a rubber bush and i have no idea where is was suppose to go. So I refitted it where I thought it should be (bumper stop). Wrong! When I refitted everything, the window hardly moved at all, so back to dismantling the door card again and getting the regulator out once more. I solved the problem of the rubber seal…threw it away! The window was refitted and the door card back in position and everything finally worked fine.
Except when I go around corners, I can hear something rattling inside the door. I think I left a bloody 7mm socket inside the door!
I learned the painful way, years ago – spend the little extra for Motorcraft or FoMoCo OEM parts, or if not practicable – go with Gates from NAPA. This post struck a nerve with me, as I’ve done more re-repairs than I needed to do just by trying to take the cheap way out – and, as my dad always said, spending money twice ain’t saving much of it.
Yep during a cambelt change on my Xsara I decided a change to a Bosch injector pump was in order the original Lucas one has a fault and does not oversupply fuel at full turbo boost, swap was completed uneventfully only to find the bosch pump wouldnt deliver fuel at the injectors out it came and the original reinstalled, not actually a difficult job but its not a big car and theres little access room between the engine and fire/side wall of the engine bay, Car still runs fine two years later the reduced power at full noise is a good thing for my learner driver daughter, it doesnt wheelspin in 5th gear in the wet now. Strange though injector pump was pulled from a running 1905 TD Pug 406 that blew a headgasket it should have worked.