Your recent repair? - 2021 to ?

[ERD50]

Sounds like virtually all your refrigerator trouble have to do with water/ice maker dispenser. This is why I got rid of my ice makers (including in all my rental properties) a long time ago. Just not worth the effort to us (we use very little ice and can easily deal with ice trays for what we use). Very few refrigerator repairs since....

I never connected the ice maker that came with our previous fridge. These things take up space, and are a repair problem, and potential leak.

The place we moved into had a nice new fridge with all the in-the-door water/ice. I hate it. I just look at all the room that takes up. And then DW gets ice, and the thing starts making racket at 3AM when it completes a cycle, and I wonder what the heck, is someone trying to break in?

I did find the shut off valve in the dropped ceiling in the finished basement, so I have a tag hanging from that so I can find it in an emergency.

I'm really tempted to rip it out. Not sure I could free up any space inside the fridge, it's all part of the construction.

Since the invention of plastic ice trays, I just don't see the fuss over an ice maker. Fill the tray, take it out and twist and the cubes pop out (not like those aluminum trays with the lever - what a pain!). I put the cubes in a sealed container so they don't pick up odors or dry out through sublimation. Quick and easy.

Oh, and when we had company, we ran out of ice! So how do you know how much is in there? With the manual method, I just look at my container, and can make some ahead of guests coming over.

Oh, and they are energy hogs as well. They actually use heat to melt the cubes from the container so they pop out. Hmmm, heating up your freezer - does that make sense? Oh, and to add insult to injury, guess what - the Energy Labels for refrigerators don't take into account the energy use of the ice maker, it's off for the test - doh!

-ERD50

 

[Time2]

Sounds like virtually all your refrigerator trouble have to do with water/ice maker dispenser. This is why I got rid of my ice makers (including in all my rental properties) a long time ago. Just not worth the effort to us (we use very little ice and can easily deal with ice trays for what we use). Very few refrigerator repairs since....

Yes, that is mostly true, although I have had to replace the defrost heater twice, over 26 years. I don't lament having water from the door and an automatic ice maker dispenser, we find it very useful and I would not have a fridge without it. But, if I had rentals, I would eliminate them also.
I one time had to adjust the water level in the ice maker as it started over flowing. The adjustment solved the problem, but I still don't know why it was fine for 15 years and then suddenly over fills.

 

[Music Lover]

I like convenience as much as anyone but have no interest in a fridge that has an ice maker. They take up too much space and if they break down it can be a mess. And really, making ice isn't an unpleasant or time consuming chore.

 

[Sunset]

Back to repairing my Kenmore side by side refrigerator, again. The water valve ass'y that controls water to the door or the ice machine started leaking. I got out the manual for the part number, I see I replaced this part 5 years and one month ago! The part is $48 local or $22 from Amazon, I put the part on order and shut of the water to the fridge. Part was expected to arrive next Monday, but I got it Friday! Compressor is running so I'm killing time for it to get cool before I unplug it.
About three weeks ago it would only serve crushed ice, I have previously made that repair also, it is a 1/8" roll pin that works it's way out of the solenoid plunger. So, I thought OK take it apart, but I know I wrapped it with tape so the pin could not come out, but maybe... Well the pin was in place but the external bracket around the solenoid had come apart. Hmm... I had already epoxied this together on another repair. But I don't see any better repair (without a tack weld) than what I did, so I cleaned it up and put on a thicker layer of epoxy. The bracket has tiny ears that are supposed to engage, but they are pretty worn, I tapped them into place as well as I could, and then let the epoxy cure. Put it back together and it worked. Ahh, darn compressor is still running, still need to change the valve.
The compressor shut off, valve went in with little difficulty and it didn't leak, so I hope I get more than 5 years from this valve assembly! The hardest part was getting off the floor several times during the repair.
The mind feels young, the body, no so much!

Great !

For us, since our side-by-side was over 20 yrs old, and the icemaker went nuts just pouring out water. Since the part seemed to be $40 (if it was the right part).
I figured If I was lucky and fixed it and it worked, it would take a year to match the amortized cost for a replacement. If I was wrong on the part, I could end up spending too much.

I always try to figure out the cost of repair vs the amortized value before fixing something.

So we bought a new one, which took many months to be delivered.

 

[grasshopper]

Refrigerator defrost heaters, I always keep a spare for my 20 yo Kenmore side by side. After replacing the last one of 3 I fashioned a little metal hood over the heater to keep drips from hitting it. So far so good.

 

[homestead]

Was mowing grass with my Craftsman Garden Tractor with 48" wide cut. Heard a loud noise and looked back and only one of the three blades was still cutting. One of the belts for the blades had broken. Removed the mower deck and replaced the broken belt and the other belt was near death too so replaced it too.
Noticed a large tension spring was missing so walked the path where I mowed and found it. Big job , 2nd time to replace belts in 18 years.
I'll probably replace the mower before I replace belts again. Our previous mower also a Craftsman lasted 25 years.

 

[jollystomper]

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed the top of my golf push cart (with the handles and storage component) seemed to be sagging. I looked at where the upper shaft (which is part of the top) enters the lower shaft (which connects to the base and wheels), and found somehow there was nothing holding them together except 2 screws in the back, and that had caused the lower shaft metal there to essentially tear and bend where the screws were attached. Before I finished the round the whole thing came apart.

Rather than got he BTD route and get a new cart (I have had this one for almost 3.5 years, used on average 3 times a week, and my main course has some very rocky, unpaved cart path areas), I repaired it by drilling a couple of new holes though the upper and lower shafts away from the broken metal area and inserting bolts with lock nuts. Where the metal tore away I was able to lay a slightly bent repair bracket across the open area and screw it to the lower shaft to provide some additional stabilization. I have since taken it out twice on the course, so far so good.

 

[Time2]

Back to repairing my Kenmore side by side refrigerator, again. The water valve ass'y that controls water to the door or the ice machine started leaking. I got out the manual for the part number, I see I replaced this part 5 years and one month ago! The part is $48 local or $22 from Amazon, I put the part on order and shut of the water to the fridge. Part was expected to arrive next Monday, but I got it Friday! Compressor is running so I'm killing time for it to get cool before I unplug it.
About three weeks ago it would only serve crushed ice, I have previously made that repair also, it is a 1/8" roll pin that works it's way out of the solenoid plunger. So, I thought OK take it apart, but I know I wrapped it with tape so the pin could not come out, but maybe... Well the pin was in place but the external bracket around the solenoid had come apart. Hmm... I had already epoxied this together on another repair. But I don't see any better repair (without a tack weld) than what I did, so I cleaned it up and put on a thicker layer of epoxy. The bracket has tiny ears that are supposed to engage, but they are pretty worn, I tapped them into place as well as I could, and then let the epoxy cure. Put it back together and it worked. Ahh, darn compressor is still running, still need to change the valve.
The compressor shut off, valve went in with little difficulty and it didn't leak, so I hope I get more than 5 years from this valve assembly! The hardest part was getting off the floor several times during the repair.
The mind feels young, the body, no so much!

Well, there was more repair, the valve I bought was the newer "improved" or cheaper model and one day after installation, my wife yelled water, I ran and shutoff the valve to the fridge and found the the valve assembly had separated from the Solenoid, just plain poor design. The better older style valve was available on Amazon at about twice the price. So, I looked on ebay and found one for $21, the picture looked right, the number on the box was right, it's just that the price was to low. I took a chance and ordered it and it came and was the older style. I installed it and 4 days later, it is still fine. Hopefully, another 5 years.

 

[Time2]

Bike repair

I have a 1996 Trek 820 bicycle, I bought it for $30 at a yard sale about 8 years ago. It still has the original tires on it and a few days ago the side wall on the rear tire developed a tear and a bulge. I ordered a new tire, and took the wheel off to replace the tire. Of course it's never that simple, when rotating I could hear some grumpiness in the bearings. I thought I would just pull out the bearings and install new ones. Nope individual loose ball bearings, and of course I lost one on the ground. I have a large magnet so I swept the area, well, I found two, I thought only one dropped. Cleaned up all the parts and then noticed I had 8 ball bearings for one side and 9 on the other. Back with the magnet, I was about to give up the search when I looked and the last ball bearing was on the magnet. I greased the bearing slots and put all the bearings in, put it all back together and I swear it glides farther than it did. Next is the front tire and the crank, maybe next year.

 

[zinger1457]

^^^ Replaced bearings on a couple bikes, glad I never had to deal with loose ones, you were lucky to find them all. My table saw splitter uses a ball bearing as a limit guide. The one time I took it apart the ball bearing landed on the garage floor and bounced away into a dark corner never to be found. Fortunate that the local Ace Hardware has a good selection of ball bearings to choose from.

 

[skyking1]

We got from here:

To here:

In about 4 hours.
It took me another day to get the swivel in:

8 hydraulic lines on the bottom and 6 on the top:

sun gears back in and planetary final drives closed up and filled with 85w90

I have it out on a job now and it's nice.

 

[Freedom56]

I wanted to change the spark plugs on my Honda Accord EXL but the dealer wanted $375 to change just four plugs. The AAA approved garage nearby wanted $240 for platinum plugs and $280 for iridium plugs. So I searched on YouTube to see what was involved and decided to order a set of four double iridium spark plugs from Amazon for $28.99 plus tax. The local Autozone had the same ones for $12.99 each. It took about 40 minutes from start to finish. There was nothing complicated about this repair and it was well explained in the YouTube video.

 

[sengsational]

I have a 1996 Trek 820 bicycle...

I also got a yard sale Trek. Consider yourself lucky with just ball bearing issues. Thankfully, I got a year or two out of mine before I noticed bearing issues, but mine had grit in there and it wore through the chase. So, like you, a bigger problem than originally imagined. I fiddled around on CraigsList and found another wheel, got that one installed, and the cogs on that were worn. It worked find if pedaling normally, but on a hard uphill, it would slip (the pedals would suddenly advance a click). So that wouldn't do. Back to find another wheel. The second wheel I put on finally has the bike in good working order. Still less than $50 invested

 

[sengsational]

I wanted to change the spark plugs on my Honda Accord EXL

Any symptoms that prompted it, was it in the maintenance schedule, or you just being preventive?

 

[Sunset]

I wanted to change the spark plugs on my Honda Accord EXL but the dealer wanted $375 to change just four plugs. The AAA approved garage nearby wanted $$240 for platinum plugs and $280 for iridium plugs. So I searched on YouTube to see what was involved and decided to order a set of four double iridium spark plugs from Amazon for $28.99 plus tax. The local Autozone had the same ones for $12.99 each. It took about 40 minutes from start to finish. There was nothing complicated about this repair and it was well explained in the YouTube video.

Great savings, and thanks for the photo's.

 

[Freedom56]

Any symptoms that prompted it, was it in the maintenance schedule, or you just being preventive?

I was getting a maintenance minder code reminding me to change the spark plugs. Otherwise there were no symptoms. I just crossed 100K miles.

 

[Freedom56]

Great savings, and thanks for the photo's.

Gone are the days where you have those black spark plug wires. This design with electrodes with clip on wires is much better.

 

[Out of Steam]

I replaced the 2 X 3 inch downspout with a 3 X 4 inch downspout on one of the garage gutters. The gutter over the patio where I made a similar replacement in May hasn't overflowed since.

 

[travelover]

I replaced the 2 X 3 inch downspout with a 3 X 4 inch downspout on one of the garage gutters. The gutter over the patio where I made a similar replacement in May hasn't overflowed since.

I did this at my last house . I also added funnel shaped transitions between the gutter and the down spout itself. That really cut down on debris plugging and overflow during heavy rains.

 

[euro]

I wanted to change the spark plugs on my Honda Accord EXL but the dealer wanted $375 to change just four plugs. The AAA approved garage nearby wanted $240 for platinum plugs and $280 for iridium plugs. So I searched on YouTube to see what was involved and decided to order a set of four double iridium spark plugs from Amazon for $28.99 plus tax. The local Autozone had the same ones for $12.99 each. It took about 40 minutes from start to finish. There was nothing complicated about this repair and it was well explained in the YouTube video.

Good on you! I just paid $400 for a new set of iridium spark plugs at my local (fairly trusted) shop. It's a 2017 Outback (4 Cyl) and I considered DYI-ing but after watching a U-Tube on it, I decided to farm it out. It looks MUCH more involved for the Outback compared to your Accord. None of the plugs are easily accessible, you have to take out the whole intake assembly first, and you need special ratchet extensions to access some of the plugs. Almost no space to work with either - bad news for my sausage fingers.... Honestly, $400 for 4 spark plugs was painful for me (pretty much qualifies as BTD in my book...), but it beats being eaten up by mosquitos in my driveway.... I bet it would have taken me several hours to complete.
I have 66K miles on it and Subaru does specifiy replacing the spark plugs after 66K. That said, given that repair bill, I'll probably let them go just a little longer next time....

 

[Freedom56]

Good on you! I just paid $400 for a new set of iridium spark plugs at my local (fairly trusted) shop. It's a 2017 Outback (4 Cyl) and I considered DYI-ing but after watching a U-Tube on it, I decided to farm it out. It looks MUCH more involved for the Outback compared to your Accord. None of the plugs are easily accessible, you have to take out the whole intake assembly first, and you need special ratchet extensions to access some of the plugs. Almost no space to work with either - bad news for my sausage fingers.... Honestly, $400 for 4 spark plugs was painful for me (pretty much qualifies as BTD in my book...), but it beats being eaten up by mosquitos in my driveway.... I bet it would have taken me several hours to complete.
I have 66K miles on it and Subaru does specifiy replacing the spark plugs after 66K. That said, given that repair bill, I'll probably let them go just a little longer next time....

The dealer also charges $150 to change the air filter that costs only $12. They also charge a whopping $200 to change the cabin air filter that costs only $7. Both repairs can be done in about 5 minutes maximum. I guess the free coffee and donuts come with a price.

 

[euro]

The dealer also charges $150 to change the air filter that costs only $12. They also charge a whopping $200 to change the cabin air filter that costs only $7. Both repairs can be done in about 5 minutes maximum. I guess the free coffee and donuts come with a price.

I know - THOSE (as well as oil changes), I do myself.

 

[Out of Steam]

Good on you! I just paid $400 for a new set of iridium spark plugs at my local (fairly trusted) shop. It's a 2017 Outback (4 Cyl) and I considered DYI-ing but after watching a U-Tube on it, I decided to farm it out. It looks MUCH more involved for the Outback compared to your Accord. None of the plugs are easily accessible, you have to take out the whole intake assembly first, and you need special ratchet extensions to access some of the plugs. Almost no space to work with either - bad news for my sausage fingers.... Honestly, $400 for 4 spark plugs was painful for me (pretty much qualifies as BTD in my book...), but it beats being eaten up by mosquitos in my driveway.... I bet it would have taken me several hours to complete.
I have 66K miles on it and Subaru does specifiy replacing the spark plugs after 66K. That said, given that repair bill, I'll probably let them go just a little longer next time....

I'm no mechanic, and am now further limited by arthritic hands, but have generally replaced my own spark plugs. I wouldn't even consider it on a Subaru because of the flat engine.

Modern spark plugs can easily go to 100K miles/160K kilometers. The ones on my daughter's Ford hybrid are original at almost 110K.

 

[Out of Steam]

I did this at my last house . I also added funnel shaped transitions between the gutter and the down spout itself. That really cut down on debris plugging and overflow during heavy rains.

I saw those large transitions online, but was concerned about sealing the big hole I would had to have cut into the gutter.

https://www.amazon.com/Gutter-Downspout-Funnel-Downpipe-downpipe/dp/B07KWMPRK5?th=1

 

[mf15]

Slab jacking,a car jack on each side. Slab slope was towards the house,had to raise about 2+ inches. Oldmike