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Eneto-55

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Everything posted by Eneto-55

  1. What did you need to do to adapt those backing plates? Also, did you look at doing the same on the front, or do you already have discs up front?
  2. When we lived in a remote part of Brazil, the only stations we could get were short-wave. Any of that still being broadcast? (Unfortunately I left our small short-wave receiver down there, so cannot test to see what's still there.) Anyway, I was thinking that I'd add short-wave to the original AM radio, if possible.
  3. So, one end is like a punch, and the other end has a round hole in it, to fit over the pin, to keep it straight while starting to press it in? Something like that?
  4. A girl in HS had a Sunbeam, and the guys tormented her by picking it up and setting it between two posts, so she had to ask for their help to get it out again.
  5. Oh! Another typo mistake! Got me again.
  6. Like Sam, I clearly recall the time we spent as kids cleaning the whitewalls on the family car. But I also got the joke about "patina", which is a sort of joke in itself. I have also seen rubber that changes color - from the inside out, like something in the black rubber is permeating the white rubber. I kinda' suspect that the artificial (or what ever the right word is) rubber that is in use now is not as long-lasting as natural rubber. (Like trying to patch a bicycle tube - nothing sticks. But this was in Brazil, so maybe what they use here is different. It seemed to be a sort of plastic substance. And they even have lots of rubber threes there - seen them myself, out in the Amazon.)
  7. Read through the article. Other than what you all already mentioned (4 gauges smaller), they don't give any specific direction in terms of how to implement this in our setting. (No OEM fusable link to replace). I was wondering already before whether the sheath on these things didn't have non-flammable characteristics. (Had wondered about covering a normal wire with non-flammable sheathing, like what is often used in industrial and household lighting sockets that are rated to accommodate high wattage bulbs, so a lot of heat.) QUOTE: What size fusible link should be used in a new installation? The suitability of a fusible link in a new application can be determined only by a qualified harness engineer with full knowledge of the circuit protection requirements, the installation and operating conditions, and the safety and liability aspects. We cannot make specific recommendations. So which one of you all is the engineer who will figure this all out? They also mentioned use of breakers. (I only heard of those recently, when researching what all I needed to do to wire in a 7-pin trailer connector on a vehicle that didn't have the harness already, so wondered about that as well.)
  8. The 93 Chrysler T&C had one, if I know what you're talking about. It was a section of wire that was different - & if I recall correctly, it was labeled as a fusible link.
  9. Yeah, I don't get it done as often as I should. It also doesn't help that Blizzaks are directional, and on this vehicle, I don't have extra wheels, so the two Blizzaks just go to the rear after the snow is done, then back to the front when it starts again. It would also help if there was a frame cross member in the front, so I could jack up the entire front at once.
  10. Update, in case anyone is wondering how this turned out: After getting the Caravan back after the front end brake work, I swapped the two front tires, putting the worn one that was on the right over on the left. Now it pulls to the left, so I am assuming that the alignment is OK. Will try to get a used tire of the same brand & size to replace the worn one, or else replace both fronts. I have had some emergency computer work to do, as a result of a lightening strike on the telephone line at a business I do service work for. (I just do work for Amish-owned businesses, so they don't get any lightening strikes through the power system, just the physical telephone lines. They use generators for electricity.)
  11. Oh, I see that I misunderstood you. Re-reading it, I see that you were clear enough. My error.
  12. Replying partly so as to "follow" this discussion. But I don't think there are any 18 AWG wires in the stock P15 wiring harness. Pretty sure 16 AWG is the smallest gauge.
  13. I didn't get a floor jack until we moved back from Brazil, in 2003. Big Red brand. I modified it a bit right away because our vehicle at the time was a 93 Chrysler Town & Country, and the handle didn't go near enough to the floor that I could make more than really short strokes starting out. The car just sat too low. Now it's worse, because at least that one had enough of a frame under the engine that I could jack it up from in the middle. Just yesterday I jacked up our 2010 Dodge Grand Caravan, and I wanted it pretty high, so I went up pretty far on one side before switching to the other side. I noticed after that that my jack's frame is now twisted a bit. Maybe it was already, but I think I did it by jacking the car up too far on one side only. It caused the jack to angle to the side a bit, which I didn't see until later. I think I could straighten it on the press if I completely dismantled it, but that would be quite a bit of work. But to your question, mine now very slowly drops down under load - has been doing that for quite a few years. (I hear it creaking.) I think I gave $85.00 for it new, from the tractor repair shop near here.
  14. The main place where I see this art still practiced is in the rat rod realm, where bare steel is just clear coated or oiled, to completely avoid any question as to whether there is ANY bondo in the entire body surface of the vehicle. (Of course the "rust is cool" crowd don't bother, but that's not the part of rat rodding I'm talking about.)
  15. I posted this question on the MoPar minivan fan site as well, and got a fair bit of "push-back" about putting shop air into an A/C system. (This was one of my misgivings, so I was glad for the input on that, confirming my reluctance.) One guy really didn't think my "air chuck fitting threaded into the refrigerant can" deal would hold much air at all, so I did a test. Secured the hose and the can (so nothing would get wild in case it really DID come apart), and slowly ran the pressure up. Stopped at a steady 50 PSI (with no escaping air). As I commented over there, I do not plan to put shop air into the system, but might do further testing on that can, just for anyhow, as they say where I come from. But I'll look for some sort of cage to do it in, so if/when it comes apart, it won't be anything but a laugh - no personal or property damage involved. (This from a guy who, as a young person, connected a large capacitor to an electrical cord and flipped the breaker on - from across the shop. Nice BANG, and paper & thin foil wrapping flying all over the place....)
  16. I guess "as much as possible" is not a very accurate description. (Obviously.) Anyway, the lugs always require additional tightening after the tire is back on the ground, and although I just assumed it was understood, I do of course do the normal crisscross pattern, a bit at a time - not just going around the wheel, and nor do I tighten one "all the way" before the others. (Also do the same in the first stage, when just finger tightening.)
  17. My Dad taught us to tighten the lug bolts as much as possible before setting the tire back down on the ground. I have only had one experience where a wheel almost departed - but it was after a tire shop had mounted new tires. But I have made similar errors in other contexts. I build computer systems, and apparently I once shipped one off w/o tightening the motherboard screws. If one of those had come out completely, and ended up on top of the motherboard, it would have been sparks and a shot MB. I TRY to do it like the airplane pilot-mechanics we had in the mission (in Brazil) - count the screws as you start them for alignment, and count them again as you tighten them. AND don't let anything or anyone interrupt you in the middle of that. Use a checklist if necessary. (I have to more and more, because my memory is faltering.) But with the wheels, by doing it in two stages I have two opportunities to catch it before it goes off on its own, down the highway. (Dad's deal was that the wheel would seat or center itself by tightening them as much as possible before any weight was on them.)
  18. Yeah, just the hose deal. Thanks for the warning about the stop leak in relation to taking it in to a shop, or attaching gauges. That's logical, but it hadn't occurred to me.
  19. I assume that it is a sever leak because I put one can of refrigerant into the system, and it was very cold again. And then within a week it was no longer cold. I do not have the A/C service setup that has gauges for the high and low pressure sides. I only have the filler hose. I do also have a pressure gauge, but when the A/C got cold, I didn't bother checking the reading. If I felt like wasting another can of refrigerant, I could fill it again, and then take a reading for the low pressure side. I did purchase another can, and also a can of stop leak, one that contains a bit of refrigerant, just enough so that it will load it into the system. But then I saw the video I mentioned, and thought that if I could safely find the leak, that would be the approach to take: identify the leak, then take it into a shop for repairs.
  20. 2010 Dodge Grand Caravan. I have never needed to add refrigerant before, but this Spring it was HOT in there. Added a can, and it was cold again, but not for long. Maybe a week at most. This vehicle has the rear A/C controls, and I assume that it also has a second condenser back there too, although not sure of that. Years ago I saw the refrigerant that includes dye, and I tried it out, but I apparently didn't read the part about needing a UV light to see the dye, so never saw anything, and didn't find the leak. I had already had some bad experiences with re-built A/C systems shelling out again pretty soon after the bill was paid, so that one I just drove it w/o A/C, like it was in the old days. (Except that modern cars are not built to drive with the windows down, so they are noisier than the ones from when A/C was still a luxury.) So, the question: How do you all go about finding a severe leak like this? I just watched a video this morning where a guy ran compressed air into the A/C system, then listened for the leak. (He had a headset and a microphone on a wand, so he could stick it down into hard to reach areas.) He just threaded an air chuck male connector onto his A/C gauge set, which, as he said, is not the same thread count, so he just had it on one or two turns, then wrapped a wide rubber band around the fitting area to reduce the air leak at that point. Gave me the idea of using an empty refrigerant can. I was about to use a drill to make a hole in the bottom when I thought about how much damage one little spec of steel could do, once it got into the compressor, so I used a punch. Started with a small one, then worked up to one that made a hole large enough to thread in the air coupler. That works fine for the low pressure requirements for this test. BUT, would you do it? I'm hesitant, because I've never heard of this idea before.
  21. An example of this: My Dad was a service desk parts salesman (serving the mechanics, not the public) at the Chrysler-Dodge-Plymouth-DeSoto dealership in Tulsa from the mid 50's until some time in the 60's (after which he worked for other makes), and they were tossing lots of NOS parts from the late 40's and into the early 50's by then. (He actually brought home a brand new transmission for the 53 DeSoto that was the family car at that time.)
  22. I take your question to be about the ID after re-sleeving. I have not had it done myself, but my understanding/expectation is that they ream it out enough that the sleeve's ID is the same as the original specs. As far as the vendor who said that old cylinders aren't worth rebuilding - that's all we ever did before all of this "replace the entire assembly" approach took hold. After cleaning them up you can tell if they can be reused. In my case they were too pitted to be rebuilt by the old methods, and I considered having them reamed out and then plated back to specs with industrial chrome (in the plating shop where I was working at the time), but US made parts were still available then (80-81), and that was cheaper.
  23. I had a 93 T&C (2nd Gen). That's the most beautiful generation of the MoPar minivans, in my books. The only calipers I have replaced is the left rear - left the right as is. The piston in the left one was completely frozen up, and I couldn't get it to move at all. I did that just a few days over a year ago. (Unfortunately I do not recall how soon after that it started pulling to the right, or if it already was to some lesser degree.)
  24. I would say that it is consistent. Also, as concerns the parking brake, after driving the 9 miles to the repair shop this afternoon (for them to work on it tomorrow), the front wheels were quite hot to the touch, both sides. The rear wheels were both pretty cool. (And I am not a heavy braker - jack-rabbit driver. I'm a "coaster". Kinda' drives my wife crazy sometimes, but that's how I learned, and I think it saves on general wear & tear, and also gas mileage.) I hadn't though about the drilled & slotted rotors being a part of the tow package. I should look at the build sheet again, to see if there is any mention of it. (I know that there are a couple of "preferred packages" listed, with code numbers, so it might have been a part of one of those. I just imagined that it was something the previous owner had done. (It had a bit over 109,000 on it when I got it. It came from Virginia, where they require annual inspections, so I know that they put 50K of that on it in a single year - unless someone at the motor vehicles dept fouled up that year, or a previous year. How do you even do that? - the 50K in a single year?!?)
  25. I seldom haul anything much. Just finished computers to ship, and those boxes, while large (lots of packaging), usually only weigh a bit over 20 lbs. I have used it to pull a small trailer, but mostly just hauling a yard & a half of leaf-bark mulch at a time. Taking trash to the dump, and scrap to the scrap yard. Glad to hear I'm not totally off my rocker about the extra wear on the right side tires.... I have it in the shop now for front calipers - haven't had the alignment checked recently, but will do that yet, too.
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