WOW. Has it really been 8 months since I did something to the car? Other than long overdue oil change, that is. Well, had a noise from the rear of the car that got louder over the past few weeks. Increased with time, and in general got louder the faster I went. thought may be tire noise, so did a little tire swap. No change, same noise. Well, folks, appears it was the rear passenger bearing.
Thankfully, it was easy to fix, once I got the damned dust cap off. Ended up having to replace that cap, because it got mangled while trying to remove it. No pics of the change, since my camera has crapped out. Car sounds so much quieter now.
Been having some issues with the electrical. The SRS light would briefly come on then go back off while driving, while the lights (headlight, dome light, instrument lights) would faintly flicker. Been going on for a couple months. Well, found few weeks ago that when I changed the timing belt/headgasket last year, the crank fluctuation sensor wire has since come loose from the bracket and has been worn by the alternator belt. Wires are all still there, but apparently has caused some shorting with the crank sensor. Discovered this about a month ago.
Decided to change that sensor yesterday, and when I finally got the timing covers off, discovered oil as well. Seems the cam seal has crapped out, and has been leaking oil behind the timing covers. SO, what started as a relatively easy sensor change just got more complicated. NOW, the timing belt needed to come off, the valvetrain, and the cam as well.
And to make matters worse, whoever owned the car prior was negligent with oil changes, because the valvetrain was just filthy and sludgy (discovered this last year when changing the head gasket). But what I DIDN'T know until yesterday was that poor upkeep has apparently ruined the camshaft. The lobes were filthy and black, and the only shiny parts were lightly scored.
Having no replacement cam, and this being a Sunday afternoon, I had no choice but the reinstall the old camshaft and button everything back up. I'm sure it will be fine for a while, but it looks like I'll be needing to rebuild my motor in the near future.
Not a lot of pictures, as I was in a hurry to get completed before it either rained or I ran out of daylight, but I'll post up what I have later.
UPDATE...
My computer's not reading the memory card from my wife's new camera, so I can't get the pics downloaded. Possible problem with the removable drive? Ugh. May take longer than expected to get these pics posted!
UPDATED UPDATE...
finally got a transfer cable for the camera (problem was the SD card slot on the computer itself), so here are a few pics of the prior cam seal replacement, Crank Fluctuation replacement, and the half-assed repair I'd done to the sensor wire prior to actually replacing it (used liquid electrical tape as a temp wire protector)
changed the fuel filter yesterday, and plan on changing the muffler this weekend (it has small hole in the piping right before the muffler canister). I picked up a used Integra muffler for less than $20. Want to eventually update the entire exhaust, but for less than $20 I can live with this used muffler for a while.
Also, seems the tie rods are shot. Picked up the parts a couple of days ago, and will try to change them out this weekend as well. It's been raining every day for the past week, so can't really do anything that takes more than 15 minutes to fix.
It's raining off and on AGAIN! But, I had enough time between fronts to get my muffler installed. However, it's not lining up QUITE right with the rear bumper cutout. SO, looks like I might need to get some new rubber hangers, and maybe tweak the mounts a little.
between the weather and sister in law's high school graduation, not much time to work on the car Sunday. However, I WAS able to get the passenger side tie rods changed. Hopefully I can find some time later today to get the driver side changed as well.
Driver side done Monday, alignment done Tuesday. Seems rear camber can't be brought into spec? Car had been wrecked/repaired on rear passenger side prior to me buying, and seems something might be slightly bent. Looks like I'm going to be getting some adjustable control arms BEFORE I lower the car
ok, I seem to be having trouble with both photobucket AND flickr, or else I'm just a complete idiot (a distinct possibility). I can't seem to get any image to appear when loading the URL (or it appears for everyone to view except ME). Can only seem to share a link? WTF?
Well, 'F' photobucket AND Flickr. gonna just download straight from the PC
had to replace the A/C blower motor this weekend. It's been making some noise the past few weeks. what I can't understand is how the hell the motor shaft bent (not much, but enough to throw it off balance)
Wow. It's been a while since I did anything on this car. During my last alignment, couldn't get the right rear into spec. So, bought a set of Ingalls adjustable rear upper control arms . Finally changed them out (sorry, no pics because couldn't find the camera at the time) and found that the upper arm was slightly twisted. Couldn't even tell, until you compared it to the other rear arm. the car had been wrecked before, and seems the arm got bend in the accident. So, alignment issue now fixed.
