Your recent repair? 2013 - 2020

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@samclem, ERD50, & aja888,

My minivan is a 1995 Nissan. Not too many are on the road anymore. I know a family who can use it, and will give it to them soon.

Transverse V6 engines are terrible to work on. Many transverse 4-cyl engines are not easily accessible. I loved working on my 69 Mustang and 75 Datsun 280Z. They had an inline-6 engine, and with rear-wheel drive, were so easy to work on.
 
This AM, DW woke me to say that it is -10 degree outside and 58 degrees in the house - the furnace is out. :facepalm:
I recalled hearing that snow can build up higher than the PVC intake for the furnace, so I checked that first. Sure enough, ice and snow had blocked the intake. I cleared it, shut off the furnace with the breaker, then turned it back on. It cycled though its checks and re-lit! Coulda been ugly.
 
I noticed the railing on my front wood deck was leaning out a bit in a 10 foot area. I found that the 2X10 faceplate (holding the railing) was starting to separate from the rest of the deck....:nonono:
I put in 3 lag eye bolts into house studs in the appropriate area and attached ratchet straps from eye bolts to the railing and pulled it back against the structure of the deck. Then went and drilled holes and put carriage bolts through and secured tightly - removed straps and all is now true and sturdy! This is the kind of repair you need to catch early...
 
Gas clothes dryer began to lose heat. There was still some heat, but it was less than normal, and clothes were not getting completely dry. I diagnosed the problem to be failing solenoid switches. It took about 1/2 hour to replace the solenoids. Cost of parts was $10. Cost of a new dryer would have been $550.
 
The pilot light on our hot water boiler went out 4 times this winter. Went to the hardware store and bought a $12 Thermocoupler. So far no more issues. Pretty sure that would have been a $100+ fix from the repair guy.
 
not much of a repair but a nice surprise. My daughter was home from college for Christmas break - I always check oil etc on her 03 Beetle when she is home. Well went to check the oil and the dipstick "handle" had been broken off with little to get a hold of - needle nose pliers got it out - I was concerned about how much this replacement was gonna cost... On ebay $4.98 with free shipping, got here in 2 days and was as described! This was a nice surprise and seemed counter inflationary in nature :) I don't know how much the local German repair shop would have charged. I'll bet it would have been a multitude of $4.98.
Even simple repairs like this can save/offer "having lunch out" money.
 
As a PS to my dipstick purchase repair. Had the replacement cost $20. or more...some wire and JB weld would have been employed :D
 
Just fixed my computer monitor (Samsung 204b)
When it stopped working last week I opened it and few capacitors were looking swollen.
Bought set of 6 caps on eBay last week, they arrived today.
After 20 minutes of soldering it works as good as new :)
 
I removed the engine from my 2002 Nissan Xterra in March 2012 and after having this thing dissembled for almost 18 months I did a complete rebuild. The local Nissan person said nobody ever rebuilt one of these engines. He should have never told me that.:D. Mine had run hot and blew the head gasket:facepalm:. My DIL was driving it at the time and it actually locked the engine. I thought it might have bent a piston rod so I decided out with the engine. This engine had 172,000 miles on it at the time and I wanted to keep it because I love driving this SUV. I replaced all pistons, rod bearings, main bearings, water pump, timing belt and all idlers, all new seals and many more things I cannot even think of at this time. I started a blog to show others that might want to take on a job like this.
https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?b...;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=1;src=postname

https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?b...;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=2;src=postname

I was in my past life a full time mechanic and I think I wanted to make sure I still had it before I got to old to do this type work. The Nissan now has 180,000 miles on it and never ran better. Not for the weak at heart but a good project if you want to save yourself some big time money. oldtrig
 
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oldtrig said:
I removed the engine from my 2002 Nissan Xterra in March 2012 and after having this thing dissembled for almost 18 months I did a complete rebuild. The local Nissan person said nobody ever rebuilt one of these engines. He should have never told me that.:D. Mine had run hot and blew the head gasket:facepalm:. My DIL was driving it at the time and it actually locked the engine. I thought it might have bent a piston rod so I decided out with the engine. This engine had 172,000 miles on it at the time and I wanted to keep it because I love driving this SUV. I replaced all pistons, rod bearings, main bearings, water pump, timing belt and all idlers, all new seals and many more things I cannot even think of at this time. I started a blog to show others that might want to take on a job like this.
https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?b...;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=1;src=postname

https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?b...;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=2;src=postname

I was in my past life a full time mechanic and I think I wanted to make sure I still had it before I got to old to do this type work. The Nissan now has 180,000 miles on it and never ran better. Not for the weak at heart but a good project if you want to save yourself some big time money. oldtrig
Click to expand...

Nice job (although I can't access the blog page)! I have rebuilt several engines in my day and still do most of my own work on cars. I used to race a '65 Vette and a '55 Chevy 2 dr sedan.;)
 
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My latest gig...daughter's house had a water event when things froze up around here earlier this week. The top blew off her sprinkler system vacuum break and I purchased a repair kit and a length of foam pipe insulation to repair it.

 
Nice wok oldtrig. I've done minor engine work over the years on cars and motorcycles. Not a complete rebuild like you did. Beyond my capabilities (so far) but always appreciate the high mechanical abilities of others.
Twolfy
 
My father was an electrician but one of the things on his bucket list was rebuild an engine, which he had never done before. He studied books for months before starting the project and was so happy when he finally got to the point of pulling the crankshaft out. Those are all new pistons/rods in the photo.

The car is a 1956 Plymouth, 272 c.i. engine, all this done in a neighbor's garage (we didn't have one). Photo is ~1967.
 

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I have rebuilt 3 engines in my life: 2 big V8s and one inline 6. However, the last one was more than 30 years ago. I am too old and tired to attempt anything like that. This reminded me that I still have an engine stand that I took apart and stuck it up in the attic since then. Time to get it down and put on craiglist.

Just finished replacing that fuel injector. The darn thing was mounted with just 2 screws, but to get to them required taking apart some vacuum hoses and metal tubes and some wiring harness. Arghh! The last one was so easily accessible.
 
I have rebuilt hundred's in my day but it has been almost 17 years since I last done something this big. I got started and said yep I can do this but the more I got into it the more I got to thinking what have I got myself into?

This engine is much more complicated that I first thought but I did succeed in make it run like new again. I love this SUV. My son bought it new in September 2001. He said he got his money worth out of it and when the engine blew they just did not want to put any money in it.

I bought it from them and thought this would be a good vehicle for me. It turned out it was perfect for what I use a vehicle for. I replaced the headliner last summer and just got finished doing all the brakes.

I put about $1500 worth of parts when I did the engine. I just could not see paying $1800 for a used engine with high miles so I rebuilt it myself. I had to buy a few special tools including a new piston ring compressor tool. I sure did not want to break one of these tiny piston rings using an older tool I had.

I also rebuilt the cylinder heads myself as I still own a Valve Face Grinding Machine w/Valve Seat Grinder . The cylinder heads were perfect flat so no machine work needed on them. This engine was run extremely hot and I was shocked it did not warp the cylinder heads.

Overall this was a fun project especially when you get great end results. After about 7000 miles on it now it has no oil burned or leaks anywhere. It looks like new under the vehicle. I also replaced both upstream oxygen sensors while I was close to them. Might save on my knuckles later.:D The Engineering that was put in this engine from Nissan is above great. I had a service manager from the local Nissan dealer tell me that nobody ever rebuilt one of these engines. He went on to tell me that one of the best techs around tried it once and after 500 miles the crankshaft went out. I asked him why do they sell parts for it then and he got red in the face and walked away:dance:
 
The lid on our 25 YO chest type freezer has slowly gotten to the point where it would not stay up. (Insert Viagra joke here)
I assumed the springs were simply shot from age and it was time for a new one, after all, 25 years?
That was until someone put me on to the possibility that it might simply be ice build up in the lid.
Step one: Empty freezer (oh there's that box of Girl Scout Cookies!):dance:
Step two: Wait about two hours.
Step three: Apply hair dryer.
Step four: Gleefully watch water drain from lid
Step five; Enjoy your like new 25 YO freezer.
 
Watre heater repair: leaking temperature and pressure relief valve

Increased water bill had me hunting a water leak in the house.
First I checked usual suspects (toilets & garden sprinklers) but that was not the case.
After some head scratching it turned out to be a slow leaking temperature and pressure relief valve on the water heater.
With some trepidation, hoping that I won't need a new water heater (which is 18 years old) I managed to unscrew the old one and put a new one in. I used GatorBite (Lowes brand of SharkBite connectors) flexible hose, so I even avoided soldering.

I hope to have few more years of service from this water heater after spending $25 on the repair. :dance:
 
Bath Tub Faucet

I went to investigate the sound of running water and found the tub faucet running wide open. It was the hot water control and it had been running long enough to empty the water heater. I shut off the water and went to the Delta faucet website for repair info. I learned the faucet had a lifefime warranty! What? Really? Since I needed to make a repair right away, I went to the local hardware store and bought a spring and seal set ($4), but it is still dripping so I need the stem valve ($12). I called Delta customer service and asked about the warranty. They asked me if I had any paperwork, but the faucet came with the house 12 yrs ago and we are the 1st owners....so they are sending me parts to repair both hot and cold valves. Since the drip is pretty small, I can turn the hot water back on until the parts arrive. I mainly posted this in the spirit of LBYM to let folks know about the lifetime warranty which was a very nice surprise to me.
 
nothing so numbing as plumbing...... Oh I hate plumbing.

The well pump pressure tank went bad recently. Got a quote of $900 to put in a new one.
Researched a bunch on line and ordered a replacement tank from a dealer in Rhode Island. I ordered a 45 pound tank the day before Christmas and it was delivered by FedEx the day after Christmas. $320 bucks including free shipping. (I couldn't even get 2 books I ordered on EBAY in under 3 weeks).

Several trips to the hardware store later and the whole thing was done for about $400 total. Did have a little trouble after installing it. Turned the water on and of course it leaked under the tank on the one piece of pvc pipe I tried to reuse. Dumbass. Another lesson in do it right the first time. It's amazing on how quick you become the second time you do something. Got to parade around in front of the mrs in the toolbelt though. Reminds her why she keeps me around - so I got that going for me....
 
Speaking of plumbing...

I bought two Pfister lavatory faucets off eBay to replace the ones in the master bath. The existing ones actually last 27 years, chintzy as they are ("contractor special"), but corrosion makes them look so bad I could no longer stand it.

I have done this kind of work before and hated it. Wondered what a plumber would charge, but then on the Web learned that it might be as high as $300 for two faucets. Ugh...

I will replace these faucets tomorrow. Wish me luck.
 
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NW-Bound said:
Speaking of plumbing...

I bought two Pfister lavatory faucets off eBay to replace the ones in the master bath. The existing ones actually last 27 years, chintzy as they are ("contractor special"), but corrosion makes them look so bad I could no longer stand it.

I have done this kind of work before and hated it. Wondered what a plumber would charge, but then on the Web learned that it might be as high as $300 for two faucets. Ugh...

I will replace these faucets tomorrow. Wish me luck.
Click to expand...

Good Luck! But you won't need it. Swapping out faucets is one of the easiest plumbing jobs I've faced. Our water is nasty. I probably replace faucets every couple of years.


I just got done with the sewage ejector pump replacement. I put in the original, so I knew it wouldn't be a big deal. But I couldn't find a good pump locally, so I hired the plumber 2 doors down. I worked with him to keep his onsite time to a minimum. He was in and out in under an hour. Would have been less but we replaced the corroding metal lid and bolts also.
 
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