Your recent repair? 2013 - 2020

[ls99]

Had leaky transmission cooling lines on winter beater truck. Cut out the rotted pieces, spliced in transmission line hose. Double clamped. Add 1/2 quart of tranny fluid to replace leaked stuff. Done.

In the process of crawling around underneath discovered another oil leak from some pipes near the radiator bottom. Poking about found it was the return line to the power steering pump. More cutting with the handy dandy mini tubing cutter. Had some high pressure hose left from repairing transmission line. Spliced it in.

No more leaks. Test driven the repair, still good. For now. At 190K miles plus in the rust belt I am sure there will be more.

 

[John Galt III]

Have you considered buying a new garage door and installing it yourself? I've seen basic garage doors available at the big box stores in the $300-400 range. I've never had to install one myself but it doesn't look like it would be a difficult DIY job, may need another person to lend a hand installing. May end up spending a lot of time trying to repair the old one with no guarantees to how good or long the repair will last.

Zinger, thanks for responding. No, I hadn't considered it. Seems too big of a job. But I have replaced one of the 2 coils already, many years ago. The old coil had snapped. Can't recall if it was easy or hard to do, but it was non-injurious, thankfully. The other coil has held up fine.

Wish I had more knowledge of carpentry, or had a friend with that knowledge. I would have had the door all fixed up way before things became a problem.

 

[38Chevy454]

Might be fixing up my garage door. The alternative is to spend about $1,000 on a new door. Must be inflation, but $1,000 sounds like a lot.

The veneer layer is peeling away from the edges, and warping, and tearing in some places. Trying to come up with a simple way to fix it that doesn't look like too much of an atrocity when done and painted. Probably lots of ways to do it.

I'm more comfortable working on cars. Don't do much carpentry.

It appears that it is only water damaged up about 1 inch or maybe a little more? What about just get a piece of alum angle, like 1.5 x 1.5 inches and put that on the corner. It will cover the damage and help reinforce the bottom edge. Being along the bottom it may look like it was intended to be there. You could paint it to match.

 

[John Galt III]

It appears that it is only water damaged up about 1 inch or maybe a little more? What about just get a piece of alum angle, like 1.5 x 1.5 inches and put that on the corner. It will cover the damage and help reinforce the bottom edge. Being along the bottom it may look like it was intended to be there. You could paint it to match.

Thanks, Chevy454. I might end up doing something like that. I'm a little concerned that the veneer above the water damaged part will buckle once I press the aluminum down hard.

Today I painted all the exposed edges of the veneer so that at least it has some protection against soaking up more water.

 

[imoldernu]

About vehicle leaks.
Over the years, have used for:
Radiator
Transmission
Power steering
Air conditioner
Oil leak
Tire
Brake fluid

all successful...

Pick any one, and the shop price for fixing.
new car, maybe different, but I've never owned one...

 

[Donzo]

More of an addition than a repair.
My wife and i got kayaks and have been camping in lake areas more this summer. i have a fully contained cab over camper and decided to install a solar system to keep the deep cycle batteries charged up. I bought a 25 watt crystalline solar panel and a charge controller. Attached the panel on the roof near the refrigerator roof vent - ran the wires down the vent into the camper attached the wires to the charge controller and back into the vent down to the battery bay and attached to the batteries. It is amazing how well this system works! We listen to music have several lights on at night and reading lights til we go to sleep and by noon the next day the controller is on maintenance having already charged the batteries to 100%. Have not had to use the generator (portable Honda 2000) since installing - will leave it home next time! A nice improvement

 

[ERD50]

I started noticing a little wind noise in my 2000 Volvo S40. Tried lowering the windows and putting them back up a couple times to try to re-seat the window, but still a little noise.

Tried again later, and I got a bad grinding, clunking sound, and the driver-side rear-seat window was stuck 1/4 down. Arghhhh!!!! I rarely run that one, you'd think the driver side would be the first to go?

After a few tries, I was able to grab the window with the palms of both hands with the door open (looking like I'm praying to the auto-gods or something), and with some vigorous side-side rocking, it finally rose and snapped into place.

Put some stylish black duct tape around it to hold it temporarily, then got some black caulk, and over the course of two days, ran a bead under the gasket all the way around, both inside and out. I'm pretty sure that ~ 12 feet of caulk will provide a great deal of tension, and it doesn't look bad at all. I never really need to open that window, and I'm in the OMY syndrome with this car, so that's fine.

I then looked into disabling the switches so it wouldn't be activated and possibly break the caulk free (unlikely). That turned out to be easy, I just popped the door switch out (one screw), and by disconnecting the plug, it seemed to disable both the door and driver control, so I taped that up and stuck it back in.

Tires are good, newer battery - yep, I think I can get OMY out of this car.

-ERD50

 

[ls99]

Your window fix reminds me the fix on winter beater pickup passanger window. The channel under the glass which is traveled by the roller of the raising mechanism rusted out.

The fix:
Remove inside door panel.
Raise glass to proper height so fully closed.

Use temporary vedge to keep it up there.
Get a piece of 2x3" wood of the required height, or a bit longer.

Cut a V into one one end.
Jam in place so V is vedged against glass bottom, other end against bottom of door or horizontal crash bar inside door.
Trim 2x3 if too long, make sure it is a good and tight.
Replace inner door panel.
Disable control switch.

I've done this over the years on several beaters.

 

[ERD50]

Your window fix reminds me the fix on winter beater pickup passanger window. The channel under the glass which is traveled by the roller of the raising mechanism rusted out.

The fix:
Remove inside door panel.
Raise glass to proper height so fully closed.

Use temporary vedge to keep it up there.
Get a piece of 2x3" wood of the required height, or a bit longer.

Cut a V into one one end.
Jam in place so V is vedged against glass bottom, other end against bottom of door or horizontal crash bar inside door.
Trim 2x3 if too long, make sure it is a good and tight.
Replace inner door panel.
Disable control switch.

I've done this over the years on several beaters.

Yep, that'll do it! But sometimes, getting those door panels apart can be a real bear - often special tools are required.


-ERD50

 

[sengsational]

After my daughter backed-up into a high curb and jacked the tailpipe forward and up, it was hitting the hanging bracket. Instead of fixing it "for real", I just improvised. Normally I wouldn't admit to this, but after "Jam in place...Disable control switch", I think I'm ok, hehe.

Using a couple of jacks, some 2x4's, and strategically located fulcrums, I was able to bend it so it didn't hit the frame any more. My first attempt was not successful because I didn't remove the thick rubber hangers, and all of my force went into stretching those, which just of course just sprung back to the original position. Once I pulled the hangers off, I got it bent enough (only needed an inch or so). After getting the hangers connected, it no longer buzzed against the frame!

 

[REWahoo]

Your window fix reminds me the fix on winter beater pickup passanger window. The channel under the glass which is traveled by the roller of the raising mechanism rusted out.

The fix:
Remove inside door panel.
Raise glass to proper height so fully closed.

Use temporary vedge to keep it up there.
Get a piece of 2x3" wood of the required height, or a bit longer.

Cut a V into one one end.
Jam in place so V is vedged against glass bottom, other end against bottom of door or horizontal crash bar inside door.
Trim 2x3 if too long, make sure it is a good and tight.
Replace inner door panel.
Disable control switch.

I've done this over the years on several beaters.

So you're the guy I see ahead of me in the drive through who opens his door to order, then pulls up and opens his door to pay and get his food...

 

[Walt34]

This was my Dad's "repair" that all three of us kids remember. For some reason the washing machine was in the dining room - I think to get the water and drain connections without having to build an addition on the house. We're talking mid-1950's here, house built before WWII.

Anyway, one day the washing machine started leaking a small bit of water. After pondering this development, aided by a quart of beer, Dad got his 1/2" drill and drilled a hole in the dining room floor through to the crawl space underneath.

And that was his washing machine repair for the next several years.

 

[samclem]

So you're the guy I see ahead of me in the drive through who opens his door to order, then pulls up and opens his door to pay and get his food...

I've been that guy. Then do the same thing to show the ID to get on the AFB.
The doors can be a big PITA to fix, hard to find the hidden clips (which break half of the time) for the trim and the crank handle (remember those?). I'd love to buy a car with simple exposed screws attaching the interior of the door, with easy-to-access wiper and heater motors, with light lenses that are held in place with simple screws, etc.

 

[braumeister]

So you're the guy I see ahead of me in the drive through who opens his door to order, then pulls up and opens his door to pay and get his food...

Had to laugh at this. Remembering a time when we had to drive armored civilian vehicles (Suburbans) in another country. You could roll down the window, but there was still an inch of a hard plastic (Lexan?) in the way. Made toll booth stops very interesting!

 

[zinger1457]

Some of my window screens, especially on the south side facing windows, were showing their age so spent the morning replacing the screens. Used a heavier solar screen material this time. Sure wish they would make it in narrower widths (most of my window screens are long and narrow), ended up with a lot of waste and the solar screen material isn't cheap.

 

[GravitySucks]

I've been that guy. Then do the same thing to show the ID to get on the AFB.
The doors can be a big PITA to fix, hard to find the hidden clips (which break half of the time) for the trim and the crank handle (remember those?). I'd love to buy a car with simple exposed screws attaching the interior of the door, with easy-to-access wiper and heater motors, with light lenses that are held in place with simple screws, etc.

Yes.... The last easy to work on vehicle I had was a 1967 International pick up. No hidden screw / bolt heads, everything was accessible. I remember fixing the electrical in that truck with house switches, had a lamp pullchain for head lights - low beam, one high one low beam, and both high beams.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Early Retirement Forum mobile app

 

[travelover]

I recovered the console arm rest in my Escape with Naugahyde type upholstery material. I had slid a piece of plastic pipe past it so I could fit the whole length inside the vehicle and the edge of the pipe had caught the console and made a series of nasty cuts in it. Even on eBay, used ones are north of $50.

I found a video on YouTube that explained how to secure one edge, then use a hair dryer to stretch the material so it fits tightly on a curved surface. It is surprising how much one can stretch the stuff. Total cost - $2.50 at Joanne's Fabrics bargain bin.

 

[NW-Bound]

I finished upgrading the front vent fan of the motor home to a Fantastic fan. Still have to remount the add-on rain cover, but I had to retreat from the top of the RV because of the heat and sunlight. I am getting old.

Yesterday, my wife finished making bug screens for the cab windows of the motor home. I got the idea from the following blogger.

Screens to keep bugs out of your van, car, jeep, etc.

In the past, when I stopped driving for the day, the heat from the engine kept soaking through the dashboard into the front cab, and the AC had to work hard to remove that heat for the next hour. I often had to lower the glass windows for the heated air to escape, but then had problems with bugs and flies entering. The house windows have bug screen, but the front cab windows of course do not.

Now, with the Fantastic fan reversible from exhaust mode to intake mode, and the front cab windows lowered with the bug screens installed, all that heated air will be blown out the windows.

The cost for material: $6.50 for 50 button-sized magnets, and $1.50 for the nylon screen at Jo-Ann. These neodymium magnets I got from eBay are super strong, a lot more than I expected.

I recovered the console arm rest in my Escape with Naugahyde type upholstery material...

I thought Naugas had been hunted to extinction due to the demand of their hide, but apparently that is not true.

 

[travelover]

..............I thought Naugas had been hunted to extinction due to the demand of their hide, but apparently that is not true.

That explains why it was so cheap! I hope I don't get static from the CITES.

 

[NW-Bound]

I surfed the Web and found the answer. Naugas are now farm raised in Montana for their hide.

The Reliant Self: What's A Nauga Farm?

 

[Walt34]

Decades ago we had a guy on our shift who was, well, so full of it his eyes were brown. These guys can be entertaining on occasion.

And we got him to claim that he had spent the previous weekend hunting Naugas. The next day we had a dictionary to show him, in front of everyone, what Naugahyde was.

Sometimes it's just too easy.

 

[aja8888]

Not really a repair, but ended up seeing one in the making....

I was changing the DSG (direct shift gearbox) fluid in my diesel Jetta today as it was time (40,000 mile interval). You have to pull a few things to get to the filter canister as it sits on the top of the transmission (battery, battery tray, some hoses). Once all apart, I did the service that includes about 5 liters of VW spec oil, filter, O rings, and a final level check at 35 degrees C (oil temp) with engine running and computer hooked to OBD port onitoring oil temperature (I have VAG diagnostic software).

Pulling the drain plug is the final step to allow the warm oil to run over a standpipe in the transmission to drain excess and set level. There are no dip sticks on the German cars so level check is an adventure.

Putting the battery tray, air filter, etc back in I glanced at the air intake at the front of the car and saw the remnants of dried coolant (G12 designation stuff - pink in color) on the inner side of the radiator core. Ouch!!

Looks like I have a radiator leak starting and that is not good. My expansion tank is a bit low, but not enough to set a warning light. Glad this didn't happen in West Texas in the middle of nowhere. Time to order a new radiator for next weeks car project.

 

[Payin-the-Toll]

Was roto-tilling this spring with my 1972 roto-tiller, and the center of one of the wheels rusted out and was falling off. Ugh, I thought, I'll never find a wheel to match. Walked into my shed in disgust and turned around, and there on the top shelf was a wheel from a wheel-barrow that had rusted out 20 years ago (I had kept the wheel when I threw it away). Exact size needed, and I was back to roto-tilling. Gosh how I love freebies--also substantiates my being a pack-rat!

 

[samclem]

Gosh how I love freebies--also substantiates my being a pack-rat!

Yep, I've got a whole box of orphan wheels. I used two recently to replace two on my lawnmower. I also cut the long power cords off dead shop vacs and other electrical equipment before throwing them out: they make good replacements or extension cords with the addition of a $2 female receptacle.

 

[ls99]

NW-Bound. Say why not hang a fantastic fan on the grille. Will cool the engine compartment after being parked? Instead of soaking it through dog house.

In cold weather I used to hang a cover over the grille of the moho, thus trapping the engine heat and recycling it into the moho. It was good for a few hours "already paid for" heat.