Cars, Part III

3278 · Post by **3278** » Sat Sep 17, 2011 11:35 pm

Yeah, I drove the BMW down to belts. And then past them, at 75. Very exciting moment.

Raygun · Post by **Raygun** » Wed Sep 28, 2011 9:59 pm

3278 · Post by **3278** » Thu Sep 29, 2011 4:17 am

Nice! You could have that - okay, not with a JK - for not an awful lot of money. You could pretty easily connect the tent and the interior of the vehicle, too. Just be sure to make it such that you can drive the car away and leave the tent behind; the girl who cuts my hair has an Aztec, and she says it's actually kind of lame to have the attached tent they have, because you always have to pack everything if you're going to go anywhere. That's part of what kept me from doing a sort of integrated tent with the Cherokee's rear hatch - 'cause that would have been pretty sweet! - because I didn't really have a solution to that problem.

3278 · Post by **3278** » Thu Sep 29, 2011 4:20 am

Sold the Cherokee today, for $400, which was less than I was hoping, but when it can't move under its own power...but the guys who bought it were pretty awesome, and they buy cars and fix them and sell them, and they were pretty excited about the Cherokee, rust and all. Somebody out there's going to get a pretty kick-ass XJ. Maybe if I time it right, it'll be me!

Raygun · Post by **Raygun** » Thu Sep 29, 2011 9:25 pm

3278 wrote:Nice! You could have that - okay, not with a JK - for not an awful lot of money. You could pretty easily connect the tent and the interior of the vehicle, too. Just be sure to make it such that you can drive the car away and leave the tent behind; the girl who cuts my hair has an Aztec, and she says it's actually kind of lame to have the attached tent they have, because you always have to pack everything if you're going to go anywhere. That's part of what kept me from doing a sort of integrated tent with the Cherokee's rear hatch - 'cause that would have been pretty sweet! - because I didn't really have a solution to that problem.

Yeah. I like the idea of the tent being a modular unit you can attach and remove from the roof rack. I wouldn't want the tent on there all the time, but having it elevated up there would be nice also, for setting up camp in grizzlyville.

Those bumpers are cool, too. Water storage in the rear bumper? That's a cool idea. This is pretty cool, too. Reminds me of those old Willys trucks.

3278 · Post by **3278** » Fri Sep 30, 2011 12:09 am

Raygun wrote:I wouldn't want the tent on there all the time, but having it elevated up there would be nice also, for setting up camp in grizzlyville.

That's the best thing about elevated tents like this. There's a guy in Australia who drives a Cherokee [and tows an off-road trailer made out of the rear end of another Cherokee; I wish I could find the write-up] who swears by car-top tents because sleeping in the ground in the outback is a good way to wake up not alone.

Raygun wrote:This is pretty cool, too. Reminds me of those old Willys trucks.

I get the Quadratec catalog, which is basically, like, one of every part you can buy for a Jeep, and they have those Brute kits, and holy cow are they impressive. They're insanely expensive, but they're really well thought-out and engineered, and you can buy each module on its own, and kind of do a little bit at a time. And some of the mods - like the Highline hood - don't require any of the others, so you can just do it to any Wrangler it's made for. Very cool.

All I want right now is a Cherokee, and a pile of time and money.

sinsual · Post by **sinsual** » Fri Sep 30, 2011 1:02 am

Raygun wrote:WANT.

WANT.

Yes, that is a tent trailer hitched to a Harley, but it can be connected to any bike with enough weight to counter that of the trailer...

UncleJoseph · Post by **UncleJoseph** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 12:27 am

Now is the time when I must flush my brake system, and perform the timing belt service on my Audi. The timing belt service includes the timing belt itself, the water pump, the thermostat, the camshaft end seals, the cam chain tensioner seals, the valve cover gaskets, the front crankshaft seal, the serpentine belt, the serpentine tensioner pulley, the timing belt tensioner pulley, and to flush, refill and bleed the coolant system.

The timing belt service alone takes 6 hours, with a few hours added for the water pump/thermostat, and a couple hours for the camshaft and cam chain tensioner seals. Servicing these parts requires removing the valve cover gaskets and camshafts, and the entire front end of the car (bumper, radiator saddle, a/c condenser, fan & clutch, shrouds and a bunch of other shit) just to get to the timing belt and water pump. I also had to rent a toolkit with the Audi specialized tools just to do the job. I hope like hell I can get it all done in one day. But after it's done, no more weeping oil, and no chance that my engine will destroy itself if the timing belt breaks or jumps a tooth.

The foreign car shop that is the most competitively priced in my area charges around $2200 do do this service. The dealership wants over $3000. My DIY price: $366.85 including shipping. As long as I don't blow up my engine in the process, I'll say "It's good to know how to do your own car repairs" upon completion.

3278 · Post by **3278** » Wed Oct 05, 2011 12:00 am

That's going to be a bear to do by yourself in a day, but you've done some of the work, you've been reading about it for a couple years, you've got good directions and the right tools, and almost nothing you need to deal with is going to be truly recalcitrant, so I don't think it's impossible...although I hope you're leaving Sunday open, just in case.

Lousy timing: that's one I'd like to have been there for. Make sure you take a picture or two!

_
Finally got under the YJ to see what's what; I've got some driveline vibration, and a clunk when I hit big bumps, so I thought maybe a driveshaft u-joint was bad, but it's actually my exhaust: a hangar broke, so the exhaust is resting on the axle, and not matching up at the header. It's actually a decent exhaust, so it's a shame that I'm going to have to cut it all off: the previous owner removed the cat, and installed a tail pipe that was too short; the latter has caused that corner's frame rail end to rust badly [the only rusted rail, which is pretty amazing], but worse, also sprays hot exhaust gas on the gas tank, whose skid plate is rusted through. So as I drive, I'm cooking the fuel tank. Very not cool. I'm madly putting the cash together to replace the whole thing, header to tailpipe. I was hoping to put a nicer exhaust on it, but it's got to be done now, and we'll put a fancy exhaust on it in a few years, when we know better how it's going to be used. Or maybe I'll find a pipe of just the right external diameter, and just weld it into the tailpipe as a patch, and replace the whole exhaust in a couple of weeks when I have the money to do it properly.

UncleJoseph · Post by **UncleJoseph** » Wed Oct 05, 2011 9:48 am

3278 wrote:That's going to be a bear to do by yourself in a day, but you've done some of the work, you've been reading about it for a couple years, you've got good directions and the right tools, and almost nothing you need to deal with is going to be truly recalcitrant, so I don't think it's impossible...although I hope you're leaving Sunday open, just in case.

Oh yes...Sunday is is my "oh shit I couldn't get it all done on Saturday" day. The toolkit rental from blauparts.com is what is making this such a time crunch...I could do it without the toolkit, but I'd have to improvise a bunch of tools. For the $38 I'm spending on the toolkit rental, it's money well spent, IMO. It not only gives you the proper tools for taking everything apart, but it also includes the camshaft timing bar, which really simplifies putting the cam gears back on, and insuring that the car is properly timed.

However, the toolkit rental is only for 7 days. So it's not like I can order the parts, and then just sit on them until I'm ready to work on the car. I had to pick this weekend specifically because if fits into my schedule. I'm not on-call, and there's no MSU Football home game that I can get ordered in to work at. My wife will be at work all weekend, so my car is my only transportation...and it's likely to be disassembled for most of the weekend. Depending on how things go, I might have to postpone the brake system flush until a different weekend...that'll be the only service procedure I can put off.

3278 · Post by **3278** » Wed Oct 05, 2011 10:42 am

Man, for something like that, the right tools make all the difference. It's like working on the YJ instead of my XJ: you don't have to spend 80 percent of your time trying to figure out how to get something apart, you just put a tool up there, fiddle for a minute, and it's out. Trying to jury-rig tools for something this major is just asking for problems. And for that price? Nice deal.

UncleJoseph · Post by **UncleJoseph** » Sun Oct 09, 2011 12:06 am

Okay, before I started the timing belt, camshaft seals, brake bleed and valve cover gaskets, these are the parts and tools I had to order:

My box of parts:

And my specialty tool rental kit:

I started at 9:00 a.m. this morning by moving stuff around in the garage, clearing some work table space, and assembling my collection of tools needed for the job (in addition to the rented kit). By 10:00 a.m., I had the car up on the jack stands and ready to start disassembling:

Here is a view of the top of the engine with all of the decorative cover plates removed:

UncleJoseph · Post by **UncleJoseph** » Sun Oct 09, 2011 12:11 am

I significantly underestimated how much time this was going to take. There were several snags along the way.

By 11:00 a.m. or so, I had the bumper off:

By 12:30 p.m. or so, I had the removed the "lock carrier." "Lock carrier" is Audi's term for the whole front of the car (headlight buckets, radiator mount, a/c condenser, transmission line cooler, auxiliary fan, hood latch, etc.). This took longer than I expected, due to some troublesome radiator hose connections:

Lock Carrier rotated out of the way:

Full access to the front of the engine:

UncleJoseph · Post by **UncleJoseph** » Sun Oct 09, 2011 12:18 am

Next, I had to take off all the turbo lines and breather hoses on the top of the engine so I could get the valve covers off to do the camshaft seals underneath. Here you can see both the intake and exhaust camshafts, connected by a timing chain on the left side. It has a tensioner built in. 32 Torx-head screws have to be removed in a specific order so as not to damage the camshaft journals or the timing belt tensioer...The seals were completely shot and leaking on the back of the engine. The disassembly and reassembly of just the passenger side took me until about 5:00 p.m.:

Here you can see the camshafts out of the car, still attached to the timing chain and chain tensioner, sitting on my workbench:

I screwed up one Torx bit and 2 of the camshaft cap screws...they held up just enough to be able to re-use. One of them looked like it had been partially stripped before I got to it. Also, the caps were installed in reverse order from what the shop manual says. Not sure if this was done at the factory or what...the manual says to re-install them exactly as they are in the car, but they were clearly backward when I set them all on the bench. I re-assembled them according to shop manual specs, but this may cause some problems due to break-in, seating and wear differences along the bearing surfaces. I either had a mix-up on the table when I removed them, or they were installed backward. I guess I'll know if there's a problem when I fire the car up.

UncleJoseph · Post by **UncleJoseph** » Sun Oct 09, 2011 12:31 am

Around 5:30 p.m., I was able to remove the serpentine belt, the timing belt, the idler pulley, the timing belt tensioner, the water pump and the thermostat:

Around 7:00 p.m., I had the new pulleys, water pump and thermostat installed:

I ran out of light to keep going, and I had to put the lock carrier back into position (although still disconnected) in order to close my garage door. I'll be back at around 9:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. At this point, I still have to do the camshaft seals and valve cover gasket on the driver's side, re-time the engine with the new timing belt installed, re-assemble everything up to the lock carrier with the new serpentine belt, flush, fill and bleed with new coolant, re-connect all air intake and turbo hoses/lines, re-assemble the front end of the car, then flush and bleed the brakes.

Then I have to re-check timing, test start and test drive to make sure I didn't fuck anything up. If I messed up the timing, even by only a small margin, the engine will destroy itself.

As of right now, I'm just over 50% done...hope like hell I can finish tomorrow...have to be to work on Monday at 8:00 a.m., and I have no other wheels.

Serious Paul · Post by **Serious Paul** » Sun Oct 09, 2011 1:52 am

I have to sign an affidavit tomorrow at 1300 but after that I am free if you need an extra set of hands, let me know. Clearly I have no actual mechanical skill-but hey I'm free.

Raygun · Post by **Raygun** » Sun Oct 09, 2011 8:58 am

God damn, dude. You are hardcore. I would not have the confidence to pull off maintenance that serious by myself.

In other news: GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE.

UncleJoseph · Post by **UncleJoseph** » Sun Oct 09, 2011 1:32 pm

I wouldn't say I'm hardcore, I'd say that I don't want to pay $2600 for something I can do for under $400...even if it eats up a weekend. The only technical difficulty in this job is the timing, although it's a huge issue. I ran into a snag with the crankshaft locking tool. There is supposed to be a spot on the block where a locking plug fits into. This prevents the crankshaft from moving at all, and keeps the crank timing at top-dead-center (TDC). It is extremely important to keep the crank at TDC when doing this work, so that everything lines back up perfectly upon re-assembly. Well, the access point on the block for the crank locking tool is either different than what is shown in the manual and videos, or doesn't exist. I spent about an hour reviewing the video and manual and trying to find the access point on the block. I even purchased a new seal cap because the old one can get brittle and break. No dice...couldn't find it, or it isn't there. Fortunately, I had marked the TDC position of the crankshaft on the gear and and face of the block with a marker, so that I could visually see that the crank is at TDC. It can move, but the service procedure doesn't place any strain on the component...so if I bump it off just a bit, I can re-align the marks. It's a good thing I had marked it too, because I did bump it off a couple of times during the timing belt removal. It was only off a degree or two, and, at that point not connected to the camshaft sprockets. So it'll be a matter of making sure everything is properly aligned upon re-assembly...everything else is just busy work...disassembling and reassembling unrelated parts.

It's a gigantic pain in the ass. This is about 3rd or 4th in line of the most time consuming service you can do on the engine. The only other things that are a combination of more labor and/or more difficult, are rebuilding the block & heads, installing new turbos and maybe a transmission swap.

Well, it's about 9:30 a.m. and I need to get back at it...hopefully I'll have a car that I can drive today.

UncleJoseph · Post by **UncleJoseph** » Mon Oct 10, 2011 2:09 am

Okie Dokie. It's all done. Keep your fingers crossed that I don't have any more problems. I just finished at 9:30 p.m. I had everything reassembled to the point I could add new coolant at about 4:00 p.m. This means that just about everything except the engine covers, intake scoop and bumper had been completely installed. I started the car for the first time and it sounded great...for about 5 seconds. Then coolant started pouring out of the bottom of the car like mad. The only place that could be coming from was the thermostat or the water pump...both of which are the last parts I could remove after disassembling EVERYTHING.

After some troubleshooting, and lots of cussing, and even a temptation to tow the car to the repair shop, I discovered that I had put the thermostat gasket behind the thermostat, instead of in front of it. I examined the old thermostat, which had the old gasket still attached to find this out. What a simple oversight. I put the new thermostat in at the end of the day yesterday, and must not have been watching what I was doing in the waning light.

5.5 hours later, and I had torn it all apart again, switched the gasket around, reinstalled the timing belt, re-timed the engine, reinstalled every other pulley, pump, tensioner, etc., Reinstalled the lock carrier, re-connected the transmission lines, re-connected the coolant lines & associated sensors, filled and bled the coolant system, re-attached all the covers and the bumper, and took it for a test drive.

Seems to run great...better, even. Although I've noticed that it idles a touch slower than before...not sure if this is good or bad. It /almost/ sounds likes it's going to slow just enough to stall, but it doesn't. I didn't have time to put the belly pan back on, but I still need to do my brake bleed, and I'll just re-install that when I have the car back up on jack stands. The real test will be when I drive it to work. I might need to add a bit more coolant, due to how much I lost. I used every last bit of 12 liters of coolant mix, and there may still be some air that has to work its way out of the system. I let it run for a good 1/2 hour though, so any coolant I need to add should be minimal.

I'm going to drive it gently for the first 500 miles or so, since the camshaft cap mix-up could be why it's idling slower...if I did get the order of the caps wrong, they'll need time to re-seat, and rough-housing the engine could cause a catastrophic failure.

I also broke one of the rental tools (there goes that $30 deposit), and bent another one...hopefully I can straighten it before I send it back and not get charged. Anyway, I'll post a few more pics after I've slept. Total time to do the whole job to this point: 22.5 hours. Was it worth the $2200 or so that I saved? Hell yes, as long as nothing gets fucked up due to my repair job.

UncleJoseph · Post by **UncleJoseph** » Mon Oct 10, 2011 8:48 pm

Well, my elation was short-lived. Now the engine is throwing an error code, and it isn't making nearly as much power as before. Could be the bad coil pack I knew I already had, and it finally gave up the ghost completely...or it could simply be a disconnected vacuum line. I talked to the mechanics today, and they didn't think it could be any of the camshaft/timing belt stuff I did.

So, dropping it off tomorrow morning for a $98 scan...I guess we'll see if/what I disconnected, and/or what else is wrong. Most likely something is shorted out or it's the coil pack.

Serious Paul · Post by **Serious Paul** » Mon Oct 10, 2011 11:24 pm

Doesn't Autozone reading for free?

Bishop · Post by **Bishop** » Tue Oct 11, 2011 2:10 am

Yes, they do, but I'm not sure if Autozone would have the correct OBD Scanner for that type of car. They couldn't read mine, and it's a 94 Grand Prix.

UncleJoseph · Post by **UncleJoseph** » Tue Oct 11, 2011 10:23 am

Serious Paul wrote:Doesn't Autozone reading for free?

They only scan OBD-type vehicles, which my car is compliant with, but my car also has about 10,000 other possible codes that are beyond what an AutoZone scan can read. I have my own pocket OBD-II scanner. A VAG-COM scanner, which is what my car needs, costs around $350, and requires a laptop interface (which I have). I haven't gotten around to buying it yet, but another 2-3 more scans after today, and I will have paid for it.

3278 · Post by **3278** » Tue Oct 11, 2011 6:21 pm

Awesome job! Sorry to hear there might be complications, but still, an incredible job!

UncleJoseph · Post by **UncleJoseph** » Tue Oct 11, 2011 10:45 pm

Turns out the engine is out of time. According to the mechanic, it can only be out of time just barely, otherwise there'd be all sorts of noises and collisions in the valve train. But, it means he has to tear the engine down at least to the point I had it disassembled in order to start figuring out where the problem is. The VAG-COM scan turned up dozens of timing faults, EGT faults, boost faults and a host of other things, all related to an improperly timed engine.

Best case scenario: $700 in labor and only a re-time with no engine damage.
Worst case scenario: $4000 engine rebuild or $6000 engine replacement, depending on extent of damage.

I don't understand what I could've done wrong. I must've gotten the timing chains off by a tooth on the rear cam gears, because the cam sprockets and crank gear were completely aligned with the alignment tools. The other possibility is that one or both of my cam chain tensioners were bad, and I didn't know it...there as no way to test that ( but then, you'd think that would've caused timing problems before I did the service).

All of the guys at the shop said they thought I did a really good job, despite the timing issue. The lead mechanic things that a simple readjustment of the cams will probably be it, or perhaps maybe there's a damaged/bad sensor. Trouble is, it takes about 6 hours of labor to tear everything down far enough to check all of the timing indicators.

I'll know more tomorrow.

Serious Paul · Post by **Serious Paul** » Tue Oct 11, 2011 11:15 pm

Well here's hoping it turns out to be cheap and easy. I am going to have to replace the windshield wiper motor in the Audi shortly. wish me luck

UncleJoseph · Post by **UncleJoseph** » Wed Oct 12, 2011 10:08 pm

Serious Paul wrote:Well here's hoping it turns out to be cheap and easy. I am going to have to replace the windshield wiper motor in the Audi shortly. wish me luck

Good Luck! Take it from someone who knows...Audis are VERY difficult to work on.

UncleJoseph · Post by **UncleJoseph** » Wed Oct 12, 2011 10:17 pm

Got my car back from the shop today...one of my cam gears was off by one tooth. The visual cue to determine that it was off by a tooth is easy to miss. It's hard to explain, but the marks on the camshafts and the marks on the camshaft caps that have to line up are on a very tight radius. The teeth on the gear are comparatively far away. So if the gear is off only by one tooth, the timing marks show only a very slight deviation. To my untrained eye, they looked to be fine. I had failed to mark the timing chains against the cam gears with paint, which would've made it easy to line up. The method I used was only valid for when new chains are installed...I did not install new chains.

They explained to me that the part of the timing alignment I had messed up is the only part of the whole job that can be slightly off without causing catastrophic engine damage. Another tooth on the cam gear, and the engine would destroy itself. A single tooth on the crankshaft/timing belt assembly, and the engine would destroy itself. Oddly, they said I did excellent work...I just made a mistake where training and lots of experience would've made the difference. This particular shop gets these jobs referred to them by dealerships, because it is so easy to screw up.

In essence, I was very, very lucky that my mistake happened the way it did. Any additional stuff even slightly out of alignment, and I would be paying for an engine rebuild. Total cost at the shop: $540. That also included a full diagnosis of every engine code. Both of my EGT sensors are shot, but they showed me where and how to replace those on my own. Now that's a mechanic! Tell you what's wrong with your car, and then show you how to fix it. The parts are expensive ($389.95 from my preferred online supplier), but they were happy to show me how to do it.

I'll post a few more pics of the repair in a bit.

Serious Paul · Post by **Serious Paul** » Thu Oct 13, 2011 12:10 am

UncleJoseph wrote:
Serious Paul wrote:Well here's hoping it turns out to be cheap and easy. I am going to have to replace the windshield wiper motor in the Audi shortly. wish me luck
Good Luck! Take it from someone who knows...Audis are VERY difficult to work on.

Yeah it's going to suck.

3278 · Post by **3278** » Thu Oct 13, 2011 1:20 am

The wiper motor should just be under the rain tray, I think. Probably not too bad.

In better news, I did the brakes on a 1992 Buick Century this evening. Normally I don't do any major repairs on a weekday, but this was an emergency. Didn't need to run out for tools, didn't have any parts left over, didn't break anything. Also didn't really fix the brakes: while, yes, it needed new pads and rotors [down to metal-on-metal] it also has a massive brake fluid leak, so no pressure. Stops...sort of. I've told the driver not to use it, and bring it back tomorrow, and I'll try to fix the leak then.

sinsual · Post by **sinsual** » Sun Oct 16, 2011 5:47 am

Uncle Joseph got me inspired...

Dug back into the Ducati this morning after doing a sprocket swap and oil change on the versys.

Broke out the wirewheel, dremel and some flap sticks. Sadly, I am in need of a real compressor so I can make use of my long shank die grinder. After disassembling the valves, I went at all the burnt on oil in one of the cylinder heads, then started smoothing and polishing the combustion chamber.

At this point, I realized how choked the exhaust runner is...I got all the burnt oil cleaned out, but now need to smooth out all of the sanding marks from the 120grit sanding sticks. I ran out of the 300 and 500 grit rolls. Saw a kit on Eastwood that is like scothbrite pads that I may order to make the polishing on this head and all the work on the other head easier.

The cylinders are not as bad as first look. I can order a new set of rings, and gaskets instead of having to spring for new pistons, a bore job and replating of the aluminum cylinders. Once the heads are done, I am going to use the saved money and send them out to be drilled for a second spark plug each. With the timing computer I have, I can run high output MSD coils for a better burn, and bump the compression up by using a thinner base gasket. Go from 10.5:1 up to 13.0:1. With the dual plug setup, I can still get away with pump gas.

UncleJoseph · Post by **UncleJoseph** » Sun Oct 16, 2011 1:19 pm

sinsual wrote:Broke out the wirewheel, dremel and some flap sticks. Sadly, I am in need of a real compressor so I can make use of my long shank die grinder. After disassembling the valves, I went at all the burnt on oil in one of the cylinder heads, then started smoothing and polishing the combustion chamber.

There really is no substitute for a good compressor. I have a small 8-gallon one, and I can't run any pneumatic constant-use tools with it. It's good for things like nail guns and blowing dust off things, but for stuff like die grinders, drills, etc., I really need a 240-volt large one. The 8-gallon just doesn't have the capacity to run those higher demand tools.

sinsual wrote:At this point, I realized how choked the exhaust runner is...I got all the burnt oil cleaned out, but now need to smooth out all of the sanding marks from the 120grit sanding sticks. I ran out of the 300 and 500 grit rolls. Saw a kit on Eastwood that is like scothbrite pads that I may order to make the polishing on this head and all the work on the other head easier.

Eastwood has some really nice stuff. I'm a cheap bastard at times, so I try to get by with Harbor Freight stuff (and I have one of their stores right down the street). But that philosophy has bitten me in the ass a couple of times. Eastwood has some great online resources too, like instructional videos.

Working on heads makes me nervous. I know that polishing and such is common, but I'd be worried about changing the compression too much, or altering the combustion chamber too much. I suppose polishing really doesn't do that, but still. And since I just had the camshaft timing debacle on my Audi, I suppose I'm substantially more humble about my own abilities...

sinsual wrote:The cylinders are not as bad as first look. I can order a new set of rings, and gaskets instead of having to spring for new pistons, a bore job and replating of the aluminum cylinders. Once the heads are done, I am going to use the saved money and send them out to be drilled for a second spark plug each. With the timing computer I have, I can run high output MSD coils for a better burn, and bump the compression up by using a thinner base gasket. Go from 10.5:1 up to 13.0:1. With the dual plug setup, I can still get away with pump gas.

That sounds like a significant increase in compression. It's amazing how just a slight alteration in the head gasket thickness can affect compression. In rebuilding my corvair flight motor, I had to pay close attention to the heads to maintain the proper compression. I still need to have the heads rebuilt, but I'm going to have them fly-cut to make sure they're trued, and then get the corresponding gasket thickness to maintain the correct quench area and compression.

Is it a common modification to run dual ignition in a Ducati? I'm assuming you'd only ever run premium pump gas from the get-go, so you'd already be at the highest octane rating before the compression mod...interesting solution to run dual ignition...love to see some pics or data on the process as you go.

Serious Paul · Post by **Serious Paul** » Wed Oct 19, 2011 1:50 pm

Any one know a website that can help me estimate how much labor time should go into replacing a part? I am trying to decide if I should buy the parts and do it myself, or pay to have it done.

UncleJoseph · Post by **UncleJoseph** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 10:32 am

Serious Paul wrote:Any one know a website that can help me estimate how much labor time should go into replacing a part? I am trying to decide if I should buy the parts and do it myself, or pay to have it done.

If it's for the audi, you can try vwvortex.com or audiforums.com, both are forums that have repair articles for various audi and/or vw cars. But what you'll learn at those sites, is either how long the person who posted the article took to do the job, or whatever the book rate on the job is (which is the car company's official, published amount of time it takes to perform the procedure). In my experience, none of them are all that accurate for when you do your own repair. Unless it is a complicated repair, such as the one I just did, a DIY repair is going to save you $50-$90 per hour in labor costs alone. Plus you can usually find parts cheaper than what a shop will charge you. Which repair are you specifically talking about?

Serious Paul · Post by **Serious Paul** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 11:39 am

The windshield wiper motor is dead. When we try to activate the wipers nothing happens any more. (In technical terms the sticks that wipe the rain away no movie no more.) I've read up on a few forums, and of course since it's an Audi it won't be as simple as it could be but by pulling into my garage-Hey I can do that!-I think it should be a few hours top to replace. The part is slightly less than a hundred dollars. (Pretty much anywhere, online or at autozone-and that includes the core charge.

3278 · Post by **3278** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 3:09 pm

Oh, yeah, we forgot to look at that this weekend.

My guess is that a shop would need an hour, maybe two, to do the job, so you're looking at saving $50-$200 doing it yourself, probably something like $100. If you've got good instructions, I suspect the job could be done in a couple of hours.

But, it might not be your wiper motor: it might be that the linkage itself has seized, which means no parts costs, just time spend removing, cleaning, and lubricating the assembly. What year is that A4?

Serious Paul · Post by **Serious Paul** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 3:34 pm

It's a 1999.

3278 · Post by **3278** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 4:53 pm

Yeah, that's what I figured. Usually with those it's not the wiper motor itself, but the linkage being grubby. It just started going slower and slower until it didn't go anymore, yes? The write-up on how to fix it is here, and it's a pretty good one. You can also use this as the write-up for how to replace the motor, if you get it apart and find it's not the linkage after all. Might save yourself from having to spend a single penny to fix it.

One thing I don't think he mentions that I would: make sure, before you stall your wipers in the upright position, to put a couple pieces of tape down where your wipers usually sit on the windshield, so that you'll know where to position them when you put it all back together.

It's not a tough job, and I suspect you could do it by yourself in a couple of hours. Certainly if you had Rick or your dad or Joseph or myself to help turn wrenches, it'd be a cinch.

Serious Paul · Post by **Serious Paul** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 4:56 pm

3278 wrote:One thing I don't think he mentions that I would: make sure, before you stall your wipers in the upright position, to put a couple pieces of tape down where your wipers usually sit on the windshield, so that you'll know where to position them when you put it all back together.

The first part isn't a problem as they've died in the upright position, but that second part is definitely good to know.

Anyone who wants to help is welcome to stop by Saturday morning, when I will make an attempt at this!

AtemHutlrt · Post by **AtemHutlrt** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 9:16 pm

I might be in your neighborhood on Saturday. I can't provide much help beyond lame puns and general eye-candy, but at least that's a niche 32 can't fill!

3278 · Post by **3278** » Fri Oct 21, 2011 1:40 am

Particularly since I won't be able to fill any niche on Saturday morning: that's when the landlord is bringing his camper to fill up half my damned garage, so I get to figure out where to put all the things that are there now. *sigh*

Serious Paul · Post by **Serious Paul** » Sat Oct 22, 2011 6:43 pm

So we had disassemble the grill in order to open the exterior hood latch, which for some reason is just a pain in the ass. In the process I managed to break the rubberized nub off of the latch, which while not serious damage was frustrating. We ended up cleaning the latch assembly with some chemicals and that seems to have really helped. We then disassembled the windshield wiper linkage assembly, and tested the motor-which as it turns out works fine. As was commonly listed in a number of forums similar to the link 3278 gave me, apparently the linkage seizing is a pretty common place occurrence.

Since we lack the proper tools to actually unfuck it, on Monday my father and i are taking it to a local shop where we'll have them-we think cheaply-unfuck it so we can then clean it and reassemble it. If this is not possible-which is about a 50/50 chance-we then need to order a new one and install it. Which if the website we've discovered selling ti is actually accurately stating they have it in stock will cost about 55 dollars plus shipping and handling.

In the meantime my doting wife and my father changed the oil, and oil filter. So the process is paused for now, but shall continue.

Bonefish · Post by **Bonefish** » Mon Oct 24, 2011 3:50 am

I did some training on a 5 speed daulie truck today. Uh, gonna be pulling a trailer tomorrow in it. Uh, this clutch thing is interesting.

3278 · Post by **3278** » Mon Oct 24, 2011 11:49 am

Serious Paul wrote:Since we lack the proper tools to actually unfuck it, on Monday my father and i are taking it to a local shop where we'll have them-we think cheaply-unfuck it so we can then clean it and reassemble it. If this is not possible-which is about a 50/50 chance-we then need to order a new one and install it. Which if the website we've discovered selling ti is actually accurately stating they have it in stock will cost about 55 dollars plus shipping and handling.

The internet comes through again! I don't know how we fixed cars before there was an internet where people could share their car experiences. When that sensor went out on the Jeep, stranding me at your place, I never would have been able to diagnose the problem with just a multitester and a Haynes manual. I guess people bought Chiltons...or took it to a shop.

3278 · Post by **3278** » Mon Oct 24, 2011 11:50 am

Bonefish wrote:I did some training on a 5 speed daulie truck today. Uh, gonna be pulling a trailer tomorrow in it. Uh, this clutch thing is interesting.

And depending on the trailer, and where you have to drive with it, the manual transmission may be the easiest part of pulling the trailer.

Serious Paul · Post by **Serious Paul** » Mon Oct 24, 2011 12:57 pm

Today I take the linkage assembly to the shop and see what they can do. Here's hoping!

Serious Paul · Post by **Serious Paul** » Mon Oct 24, 2011 2:44 pm

Well the shop broke the linkage assembly, so it's time to buy a new one. And since the local junkyards either don't carry it or can't find the time to answer their phone we are ordering it from partsgeek.com. Let's hope they turn out to be a reliable vendor.

UncleJoseph · Post by **UncleJoseph** » Mon Oct 24, 2011 8:48 pm

Serious Paul wrote:Well the shop broke the linkage assembly, so it's time to buy a new one. And since the local junkyards either don't carry it or can't find the time to answer their phone we are ordering it from partsgeek.com. Let's hope they turn out to be a reliable vendor.

PartsGeek is fine, but they often don't carry OEM stuff...you might want to see the price difference between them and ECS Tuning for your part...ECS carries mostly high-quality stuff. If I have your make/model/year correct, they have the OEM part for $165, plus 2 alternatives.

UncleJoseph · Post by **UncleJoseph** » Mon Oct 24, 2011 8:51 pm

Looks like ECS carries the same brand one you can get at Partsgeek for $1 cheaper, plus the 2 OEM german-made versions (for $100 more).

Bonefish · Post by **Bonefish** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 8:51 pm

3278 wrote:
Bonefish wrote:I did some training on a 5 speed daulie truck today. Uh, gonna be pulling a trailer tomorrow in it. Uh, this clutch thing is interesting.
And depending on the trailer, and where you have to drive with it, the manual transmission may be the easiest part of pulling the trailer.

Well, the trailer plans got canceled: I'm not good enough. Yet. But I've been doing betterabout getting into gear from a stop(I don't make the damne truck buck like a mule anymore... so that's good).