What Did You Do To Your Car Today?

[RRocket]

Ya impressive Rrocket.

Another Toyota example. The front end including suspension and steering components is all original on my '07 Tundra with 285k, with exception of the shocks.

Seems even more unbelievable in your case.

[Bubba]

My Prius has 262k on it now. Apart from 2 sets of brakes, it has needed NOTHING.

Amazing!

[Firm]

My Prius has 262k on it now. Apart from 2 sets of brakes, it has needed NOTHING.

Amazing!

Yeah, I agree, that's pretty impressive.

[Firm]

Ya impressive Rrocket.

Another Toyota example. The front end including suspension and steering components is all original on my '07 Tundra with 285k, with exception of the shocks. It spent its early life dragging RVs down shit Sasky highways. And the front end is still tight. No loose feeling, no clunking. It really is quite amazing when I look at my buddies trucks with less than half the kms and have had an easy life and have had front end work.

Our 06 Escalade is similar...front end is all original, except for the shocks, 295K kms. Had an alignment done when I put new tires on it a couple months ago and the guy commented on the fact that the front end was still tight and held good alignment.

[Bridgecity]

Ya impressive Rrocket.

Another Toyota example. The front end including suspension and steering components is all original on my '07 Tundra with 285k, with exception of the shocks. It spent its early life dragging RVs down shit Sasky highways. And the front end is still tight. No loose feeling, no clunking. It really is quite amazing when I look at my buddies trucks with less than half the kms and have had an easy life and have had front end work.

Our 06 Escalade is similar...front end is all original, except for the shocks, 295K kms. Had an alignment done when I put new tires on it a couple months ago and the guy commented on the fact that the front end was still tight and held good alignment.

Ya, that's been a solid truck for you also.

It will be interesting to see how the current gen Tundra holds up. Hopefully the engine is sorted now.

I went with my dad today to pick up a used truck. The guy selling said his neighbour has an 08 tundra with 108k kms. He said he'd pass his number to me if I'm interested. I declined, but having second thoughts now. I should at least find out what he'd want for it.

[Firm]

Well, the DTS developed a small coolant leak, which proved to be a real pain in the butt to track down, but I eventually found it at one of the gaskets that seal the 'coolant crossover assembly' to the rear head. The NorthStar V8 uses this coolant crossover to house the water pump and move coolant from one side of the engine to the other. It's an absolute bear to remove from the car (which is required for a water pump replacement). So, I had parked it for about a week and a half while I collected parts and made time to work on it.

Saturday got it setup in the garage and tore it down and got it all done....Started at 9am and finished at 9pm. Lots of disassembly to get things that are mounted to the crossover out of the way (air intake, throttle body, EGR, fuel rail, and all the coolant hoses). Then an hour of fighting the nearly impossible to access lower bolts, and then disconnecting enough of the wire harness to get enough slack to pull the crossover out.

Once out, I cleaned it up, installed a new water pump into it to hopefully avoid having do do this job again anytime soon, and then new gaskets. Wrestle it all back into the car and reverse the process...then fill, bleed, leak check etc.

It absolutely sucked....but it was easier than replacing the alternator and radiator, which I did back in December. As I've said before, it's an absolutely fantastic car, and engine, when it's working....but not for the faint of heart when it's time for repairs.

Couple photos of it torn down, the failed gasket, and then all back together (minus the plastic engine cover).

[Bridgecity]

Nice work Firm. That sounded fairly unpleasant.

[Bubba]

A long day! But, a successful one.

[RRocket]

This is a young man's game.

I don't do stuff like this any more.

Good work.

[Bridgecity]

Got a new windshield put in the Tundra today. It replaced the original. I guess it was time.

I also ordered new front rotors and pads for the truck. Fronts are vibrating pretty bad under light braking. Can't recall what brand I put on last go around but they've been vibrating lightly for quite a while. Ah well, Brembos are on sale at Ctire so I went that route. Rears aren't in stock so I'll pick those up when they become available.

[Firm]

Original windshield in your part of the world is pretty impressive!

[Firm]

Been a busy couple weeks and I haven't done much car stuff, but I did get the JAAAG out on Saturday for a good hour or so on the backroads.

[Tortoise]

I swapped out the winter tires last week finally.  Then this weekend on the way back from the cottage (in Quebec) my wife must have smoked a pothole because there's a wicked dent in the wheel and it's no longer holding air.

I'm now looking for a replacement set of tires and wheels.  Which is nice.

[Firm]

Long Memorial day weekend here, but lots of rain and storms kinda slowed down my progress on car stuff, did get some done though.

Ordered a set of Bilstein shocks for the front of the Escalade. Should be here next week, the Monroe's I put on it when we got it almost 10 years ago are hanging in there, but can't be optimal at this point. She'll be making the 7 hour trek to Destin FL in a couple weeks, so figured I'd get some fresh shocks on before the trip.

Then between the rain I tinkered with the project MGB that we bought about a year and a half ago now...Hadn't run it in about a month, and it was giving trouble getting started. Went down the rabbit hole on the fuel system and ended up re-working it. It has an aftermarket Weber carb, and someone thought they needed an adjustable pressure regulator, but the aftermarket pump they're running is seriously low psi, so I removed the regulator, all the unnecessary hoses, and ran the fuel line straight to the carb with a nice clean filter. Starts and runs much better now.
 
Then I started playing with the lights, it had headlights and brake lights, but basically nothing else....2-3 hours of tinkering and everything works now; lots of little issues...bad connections at the fuse block, broken/disconnected wires in the trunk, bad grounds, bad bulbs...A good mess, but satisfying to get it sorted.

 

[RRocket]

Electrical stuff drives me bananas...