Along with NEW junk parts.......
08-04-2003, 09:28 AM
#1
Team Owner
Thread Starter
Along with NEW junk parts.......
Over the last couple of weeks, a buddy up the road here needed some help with his '86, decent car, really has a LOT of upgrades to it, but nothing heavy duty mechanical.....it's a convertible, so has the aluminum heads....
so I proceed on his diagnosis of a water pump....get a pump and go to change it out.....turns out it's a lower radiator hose....split and spitting just as if it was the pump....understandabel....BUT.....
so the front of the engine is all full of grease, so is the tranny bellhousing...because the intake is leaking after a few years now....
so we decide to do that too while I"m there.....you all know the story....old car blues and all that crap.....
so I tear the L98 injection all apart, get a FelPro gasket kit and redo it....
fine, it went well, except for somehow of course I got the damn distributor in 180 out....swear them valves on #1 were closed when I oriented that damn thing.....oh well.....but the worst part involves his fully functioning a/c....
seems there is a 'stupid' bolt under the R4 compressor, and of course to do the water pump the compressor has to be removed...simply brilliant engineering...gotta love it...so anyway, there is this stupid bolt with a freaking TORX head on it, and a flatside to it so it can be gotten past the overly large compressor pulley....hate the R4 anyway, but this one takes the cake....well, natch, I left my torx set home that day....at least thatsize bit, so since my friend had NO torx bits at all, I go buy him a set, natch the only thing I can find in reasonable time is....Taiwan....oh hell, I think, this is bad news, but at least I can try....so i get them and of course it wrings completly off in the damn bolt, ruining a good bit of the torx fitting.....SO I give up and drive home and get MY hard steel AMERICAN bits, and go hammer one in there really good, get a good grip on it, and of course it NOW decides to wring off MY bit and totally ruin that damn bolt....so I try vice grips...no go...
so I say, screw it, and go to pull the compressor clutch and pulley off the snout of the compressor......
well so it seems the bolt holding the clutch disc is not there, after some investigation by a mirror and flashlight I see othing but shaft, and woodruff key, and clutch....ok...I get my puller and try getting it off, NO GO...bent the living hell out of that clutch....pull that POS all over the place, and no go, frozen on that damn shaft, can't use a torch because of melting the freon front seal, or I"d blasted that damn thing good....
SO to get that damn STUPID bolt out of there, I take the air chisel at full bore for about a dozen attempts, and finally manage to dent and spin that damn stupid bolt.....enough to get it out with a screwdriver in what remained of the torx head.....
lovely, so that that time the compressor is NOW RUINED, and I STILL can get that freaking clutch off that input shaft....screw it, pull the freakaing LINES, loose the gas...and he buys a new compressor....150 bux, up over the last couple of years from 80 bux....lovely....plus freon, natch....going to kill someone...just don't know WHO yet.....someone needs be first in line though....
so anyway, we got all this crap back together, with new freon charge, and NOW he says the a/c is colder than it ever was, runs him outta the car, credit new freon and good compressor....
I swear, If it's not one thing, it's another.....
damn junk...cars.....GRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!
GENE
so I proceed on his diagnosis of a water pump....get a pump and go to change it out.....turns out it's a lower radiator hose....split and spitting just as if it was the pump....understandabel....BUT.....
so the front of the engine is all full of grease, so is the tranny bellhousing...because the intake is leaking after a few years now....
so we decide to do that too while I"m there.....you all know the story....old car blues and all that crap.....
so I tear the L98 injection all apart, get a FelPro gasket kit and redo it....
fine, it went well, except for somehow of course I got the damn distributor in 180 out....swear them valves on #1 were closed when I oriented that damn thing.....oh well.....but the worst part involves his fully functioning a/c....
seems there is a 'stupid' bolt under the R4 compressor, and of course to do the water pump the compressor has to be removed...simply brilliant engineering...gotta love it...so anyway, there is this stupid bolt with a freaking TORX head on it, and a flatside to it so it can be gotten past the overly large compressor pulley....hate the R4 anyway, but this one takes the cake....well, natch, I left my torx set home that day....at least thatsize bit, so since my friend had NO torx bits at all, I go buy him a set, natch the only thing I can find in reasonable time is....Taiwan....oh hell, I think, this is bad news, but at least I can try....so i get them and of course it wrings completly off in the damn bolt, ruining a good bit of the torx fitting.....SO I give up and drive home and get MY hard steel AMERICAN bits, and go hammer one in there really good, get a good grip on it, and of course it NOW decides to wring off MY bit and totally ruin that damn bolt....so I try vice grips...no go...
so I say, screw it, and go to pull the compressor clutch and pulley off the snout of the compressor......
well so it seems the bolt holding the clutch disc is not there, after some investigation by a mirror and flashlight I see othing but shaft, and woodruff key, and clutch....ok...I get my puller and try getting it off, NO GO...bent the living hell out of that clutch....pull that POS all over the place, and no go, frozen on that damn shaft, can't use a torch because of melting the freon front seal, or I"d blasted that damn thing good....
SO to get that damn STUPID bolt out of there, I take the air chisel at full bore for about a dozen attempts, and finally manage to dent and spin that damn stupid bolt.....enough to get it out with a screwdriver in what remained of the torx head.....
lovely, so that that time the compressor is NOW RUINED, and I STILL can get that freaking clutch off that input shaft....screw it, pull the freakaing LINES, loose the gas...and he buys a new compressor....150 bux, up over the last couple of years from 80 bux....lovely....plus freon, natch....going to kill someone...just don't know WHO yet.....someone needs be first in line though....
so anyway, we got all this crap back together, with new freon charge, and NOW he says the a/c is colder than it ever was, runs him outta the car, credit new freon and good compressor....
I swear, If it's not one thing, it's another.....
damn junk...cars.....GRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!
GENE
08-04-2003, 05:07 PM
#4
Team Owner
Thread Starter
Re: Along with NEW junk parts....... (76Frankenstein)
Baron, thanks, but I could do with a little less forced perseverence, and an easier life for a change.....all that supid work over a lousey bolt.....
GENE
GENE
08-04-2003, 05:49 PM
#5
Safety Car
Member Since: Jun 2002
Location: Pearland TX
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St. Jude Contributor
Re: Along with NEW junk parts....... (mrvette)
mrvette....
They(GM) do that stuff on purpose I hope you know. It's their way of saying... "You only think you know what you are doing". I know for a fact that when a new design comes out they get numerous bids on parts that can be mass-produced, yet cannot be removed except by those who were allowed to get the special wrench/bit/socket that were made just for those parts. GM/Ford/Chrysler think it's hilarious to make you(us) look stupid. And I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't purposely design some part right around that torx bolt that has to break while removing it. And then the domino effect comes in with more parts breaking and we have this thread. :yesnod:
They(GM) do that stuff on purpose I hope you know. It's their way of saying... "You only think you know what you are doing". I know for a fact that when a new design comes out they get numerous bids on parts that can be mass-produced, yet cannot be removed except by those who were allowed to get the special wrench/bit/socket that were made just for those parts. GM/Ford/Chrysler think it's hilarious to make you(us) look stupid. And I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't purposely design some part right around that torx bolt that has to break while removing it. And then the domino effect comes in with more parts breaking and we have this thread. :yesnod: