My Weekend Fun....Not!!

[Gold Street Customs]

There's an old song, Alan Jackson redid it some years back "Crazy Bout A Mercury" well from what I know if you digest or touch anything Mercury....yeah it will make you crazy if it dont kill ya, with that said. 1994 Mercury Sable Wagon, my wifes mode of transportation, SO EVERYTHING HAS TO WORK LIKE ITS SUPPOSED TO......or else. About two weeks ago the radiator started to trickle so trying to get away with stop leak didn't do the trick, so I have been driving it back and forth to work, well because I watch the gauges (sorry honey) so I was finally able to buy the radiator this weekend and I figure a few hours tops....NOT !!! it seems if I had a Chilton I believe the directions would have said 1. Pull engine out 2. Good Luck....youll need it.Yes it was that bad, it makes you wonder why they would put the tranny cooler lines on the side of the tank next to the a/c lines with all the access of a paper shredder,pull the fan out sure bend the valve cover stud out of the way, anyways after missing the Superbowl Sunday I got it done with some help from my buddy and alot of praying to get the threads started on the cooler lines.....now to relax, I'm at work :wink:

 

[ricksterr1221]

Seems' they design the stuff nowadays so garage-grease monkeys cant fix it there selfs.

 

[bikeriderx]

Dude! I feel 'ya! I needed to change the thermostat on my '94 Ford Ranger... :roll: Take the serpentine belt off, 'cause you have to take the alternator off, to take the timing belt cover off... to get at the thermostat housing!? :x :x WHY do they build these vehicles these days like this?!?! Don't even ask about changing the spark plugs...Like, get ready to take the intake manifold off....Sheesh!

 

[Wildcat]

I had a 91 Tempo, about the same as the Sable. Tempo must have been short for temporary. The starter went out on the way to work so I let the local shop fix it. They quoted 40 bucks plus parts. Just a starter should have been easy, but I heard more cussing and complaining from those 2 guys while they worked on it than I heard at sea while in the Navy. They took an hour to change it out in their shop and swore never to mess with a Tempo again.

The only car worse is the Chevette. Mechanics will pay you to take it away from them.

 

[bikeriderx]

I had a 91 Tempo, about the same as the Sable. Tempo must have been short for temporary. The starter went out on the way to work so I let the local shop fix it. They quoted 40 bucks plus parts. Just a starter should have been easy, but I heard more cussing and complaining from those 2 guys while they worked on it than I heard at sea while in the Navy. They took an hour to change it out in their shop and swore never to mess with a Tempo again.

The only car worse is the Chevette. Mechanics will pay you to take it away from them.

Chevette...HAHAHAHA! :mrgreen:

 

[murraymadman]

yeah, i feel ya' guys! i am an auto mechanic and deal with this stuff everyday. i would love to punch some of the engineers in the mouth that think up this stuff!! :lol:

 

[Gold Street Customs]

Its ok guess what I am doing today.....changing the ignition switch on the chance it will eliminate the random times it wont start.... :x

 

[deorman]

yeah, i would love to punch some of the engineers in the mouth that think up this stuff!! :lol:

+1

With me, it started with setting the points on my 6-banger Dart, and it seems to just keep getting worse over time. :roll:

 

[Pinche]

Besides the Chevette did you notice it's all Ford mentioned. lol. I've messed for cars my whole life but just got fed up with it and finally bought my first brand new car so no worried for the next couple of years....at least on my wrench time or wallet. Al Green is god. That is all.

 

[bikeriderx]

Fix Or Repair Daily... :mrgreen: That said, I'd buy another Ranger in a New York minute! :wink:

 

[murraymadman]

i am changing an automatic transmission at work this week on a 2005 for freestyle all wheel drive car. forget what i said about punching the engineers, on this one i would like to beat them with a ball bat!! :shock: i have the whole front sub frame on the ground w/the motor and tranny also. just another day at work!!

 

[Hooch]

my son has a 97 sable and the heater core plugged up on it a last year. I asked a buddy who owns a shop how much to fix and his words were " I dont do them! you have to take the whole dash out!" 10 hour labor rate according to the book to replace a $20 heater core!

 

[bikeriderx]

my son has a 97 sable and the heater core plugged up on it a last year. I asked a buddy who owns a shop how much to fix and his words were " I dont do them! you have to take the whole dash out!" 10 hour labor rate according to the book to replace a $20 heater core!

My heater core "plugged-up" on my Ranger and a wrench friend of mine said to switch the hoses around...It worked! I've got heat just like I used to! The only problem you might run into is that the heater hoses are two different sizes...But I'm sure you could come up with a work-around for that too... :wink:

 

[Gold Street Customs]

my son has a 97 sable and the heater core plugged up on it a last year. I asked a buddy who owns a shop how much to fix and his words were " I dont do them! you have to take the whole dash out!" 10 hour labor rate according to the book to replace a $20 heater core!

My heater core "plugged-up" on my Ranger and a wrench friend of mine said to switch the hoses around...It worked! I've got heat just like I used to! The only problem you might run into is that the heater hoses are two different sizes...But I'm sure you could come up with a work-around for that too... :wink:

That sounds crazy enough to work :shock:

 

[bikeriderx]

No one was more surprised than me! :lol: And so I asked him: "so if it plugs up again, THEN I'll have to replace it?" "Nah." He said. "Just switch 'em back the other way." :shock: Well I'm on my second winter with 'em "reversed"...and it heats like when it was new... :mrgreen:

 

[stretch]

95 s-10 with a blower motor placed conviently so crammed in the corner i smashed the old one with a hammer to get it out, but first remove the overflow tank, and some fingernails grabbing at it and losing bolts into the abyss.

 

[Gold Street Customs]

Well after a half hour at the machine shop I used to work at, I found the fuel pump relay on the NAPA computer wiring diagram display, so I had to look for the pink and black wire and yellow ect going to the relay by the firewall ( listed as a multifuncion relay) , the parts stores wanted $120 I didn't have so to the wrecking yard I went $20 later I replaced it and it has a warranty, and there is plenty in the wrecking yard for some reason , so after I am able to buy some rear tires I can feel safe about letting my wife have her car back.

 

[Walker]

97 Chevy Astro, Alternator replacment (luckily no air conditioning). Skinned a knuckle removing the old one two weeks ago, re-skinned same knuckle putting new one in on Saturday. Special thanks to GM for the 10mm bolt on the backside of the alternator where there is no room to swing 1/4" drive ratchet and only enough room to move a combination wrench about 5 degrees. You guys RULE! I wondered if the alternator warrantee was going to expire while i worked that bolt out. Finished that up and took a test drive, weird rattling noise in reverse....then it went away....Found a heat shield in my driveway this morning.

 

[stretch]

:lol: mid 90's chevys rock.

 

[cashman]

Heater cores rock! Replaced one on a '95 Taurus. Two full days not counting sending it to a shop to have the A/C recharged. The one on my '86 Chevy truck wasn't quit as bad. but it had one bolt holding the heater core box that came through from the engine side in. Had to take both the front fender and inner fender loose just to get one bolt out.