Your recent repair? - 2021 to ?

[bjorn2bwild]

During this recent heat wave, the AC went out on DW’s 2003 CR-V.
The problem was traced back to either the clutch winding or the thermal switch located on the compressor.
Problem being, access to the wiring requires quite a bit of parts removal and dropping the sub-frame ~1½” in order to unbolt the compressor and drop down the few inches needed.
The switch was good, so I now had to figure out how to remove the clutch with the compressor in place to avoid dealing with an otherwise intact system – not an easy job in such tight quarters.
With DW’s help and a lot of swearing, the clutch assembly was finally removed.
The Honda parts were north of $400 and all the local parts stores sold only complete compressor units of Chinese origin. Cheap knock-off clutches are available on Amazon/ebay in the $35-50 range of questionable quality - I don’t wish to repeat this unpleasant job anytime soon.
With more searching and to my amazement, there exists a made/assembled in USA product @ $132 delivered!
Reverse the procedure and the CR-V now blows cold air!
Rating – four Bandaids.

 

[JoeWras]

With DW’s help and a lot of swearing, the clutch assembly was finally removed.

Even the most puritan will take up swearing when it comes to car repairs.

Sounds like a good job. Where did you find the part? Must have been a specialty place? Not RockAuto or any of the big parts houses?

 

[bjorn2bwild]

Even the most puritan will take up swearing when it comes to car repairs.

Sounds like a good job. Where did you find the part? Must have been a specialty place? Not RockAuto or any of the big parts houses?

Right, they specialize in clutch parts, none of the regular parts houses carried
just the clutch for this car, only complete compressor units.
I wanted to keep the still good, and higher quality, original Japanese compressor if possible.



https://acclutches.com/

 

[MC Rider]

Even the most puritan will take up swearing when it comes to car repairs.

Sounds like a good job. Where did you find the part? Must have been a specialty place? Not RockAuto or any of the big parts houses?

I just call those garage words.

 

[NW-Bound]

... I've read about people who break the bead. "Piece of cake" they say. I'm not so sure! I have a hard enough time with my bike tires.

Same here. But then, perhaps I did not possess the know-how.

I recall my last struggle was with a doggone tubeless tire on a wheelbarrow. Yes, the tire on a dinky wheelbarrow. Much sweating and cussing, it was humiliating.

...If you can rebuild an engine you can do this. Not too sure if a bigger tire would be harder? When I did mine I just figured I would take the tire and rim to a shop if I failed.

I think I should be able to do this. Numerous YouTube videos show that it should not be that hard for a passenger car tire, compared to a truck tire.

... The simplest method I have used involved using a floor jack and a nylon web tie down strap underneath the front wheels and cinched tight to the rim - Jack to pop the bead.

Thanks to your tip, I looked and found what you described. A variation uses the weight of a car in conjunction with a floor jack, instead of a strap.

I am all set to tackle this job. However, I have to wait until the temperature is 90F or below, before I toil on the hot driveway.

I want to do this, not to save a few bucks but to gain some knowledge that may come in handy some day. Back during the Great Recession, we talked half-jokingly about the possible Mad Max scenario. It never hurts to have more survival skills.

 

[Time2]

Heh heh heh... I have been thinking of the same thing.

. Thinking of picking up a Hot Air Station to aid in some of my soldering work. Some are pretty [-]cheap[/-] inexpensive these days and I can see where one would have made my last few repairs a lot easier.

Beside, I need a new toy. Might just pick up one of the electronic microscopes to go with it. Prices seem to be really coming down on both items.

I bought a hot air station three years ago, an inexpensive one that I see sold under about 6 brand names on Amazon. It came with a few different size output tubes, some tools and an extra heating element. Very happy with it. I have looked at the electronic microscopes 4 or 5 times, but have yet to pull the trigger on a purchase.

 

[bjorn2bwild]

.......I recall my last struggle was with a doggone tubeless tire on a wheelbarrow. Yes, the tire on a dinky wheelbarrow. Much sweating and cussing, it was humiliating.

Yes, small rimed tires can be a bear. This is where having a well trained pet gorilla would come in handy.

For 12" and under, I use a large 'Kant Twist' type cantilever 'C' clamp. Works great. They are prohibitively expensive now, but 30years ago, I'm sure I paid less than $30.

 

[Ronstar]

I had a tire go flat on my riding mower last week. I bought a new tube, and spent a few hours trying to get the tire off the rim. Couldn't get it all the way off, but wrestled it to the point where I could get the old tube out and the new tube in. But couldn't get the valve stem in right. Punctured the new tube trying to get it in place.

So I brought it to a tire shop and had them fix it. Best $40 I ever spent.

 

[38Chevy454]

The smaller the wheel diameter, the harder it is to change the tire. Big truck 22.5 inch diam tires are actually a lot easier than 15 inch diam car tires. Small 6 or 8 inch diam lawn tractor tires are the hardest to DIY.

My motorhome has 22.5 tires and whenever getting new tires or a repair, they are always done by hand at the tire shop. The weight of the large truck tire may also contribute to this, as lifting that tire up onto a tire machine would take a lot of effort.

 

[5Miler]

I bought a hot air station three years ago, an inexpensive one that I see sold under about 6 brand names on Amazon. It came with a few different size output tubes, some tools and an extra heating element. Very happy with it. I have looked at the electronic microscopes 4 or 5 times, but have yet to pull the trigger on a purchase.

That does it. I think you have talked me into it. lol

 

[ERD50]

The smaller the wheel diameter, the harder it is to change the tire. Big truck 22.5 inch diam tires are actually a lot easier than 15 inch diam car tires. Small 6 or 8 inch diam lawn tractor tires are the hardest to DIY. ....

Glad to hear that. I did the front tire on my lawn tractor a few years back, thinking, "this little tire, no problem", and it was a bear, almost gave up. I was almost ashamed to admit it to anyone, thinking it should be easy.

But it makes sense, larger tire has more stretch to get over the rim, and the overlap is probably not that much different.

-ERD50.

 

[Family]

WELDING PLASTIC: I have recently repaired several plastic items by "welding" them back together (lattice fence, motorcycle side plate, & car air filter cover). Repair was preferred over new due to color mismatch or cost. All you need is a soldering gun (flat head preferred), some zip ties, and for a really strong bond some metal window screen. I only do it outside with a fan blowing on me as the fumes are really strong. Here is a one minute tutorial:

 

[Family]

Glad to hear that. I did the front tire on my lawn tractor a few years back, thinking, "this little tire, no problem", and it was a bear, almost gave up. I was almost ashamed to admit it to anyone, thinking it should be easy.

But it makes sense, larger tire has more stretch to get over the rim, and the overlap is probably not that much different.

-ERD50.

Harbor Freight has a mini-tire changer for about $50. I used it for my ZTR rear tires & it got the job done (but with quite a bit of muscle).

 

[Blue Poles]

Speaking of swearing a blue streak while repairing cars, a few years ago the passenger side exhaust manifold on my 91 Ranger cracked. I was able to find a new manifold, and after an hour or so I had it in place and bolted to the head. All that was left to do was bolt the Y pipe back in place under the truck. And the bolts would just not align. It was close, and I was under the truck for an hour cussing like a Marine trying to get the pipe moved about 3 mm so I could get the bolts in. No use. Then, I realized that if I simply loosened the bolts holding the manifold to the head, I would have the slack needed to get those bolts started. 15 minutes later I was done, but felt like a damned fool for not realizing the solution earlier. I'm pretty sure the neighbors were happy I was done.

 

[brett]

Moved a 220 receptacle up the wall by three feet to accommodate new stacked dryer. Very straightforward job as long as you have the correct wire, box, marrettes, and tester. Plus a stud finder and drywall keyhole saw.

 

[Telly]

I had to look up "Marrettes". Never heard of it, just wire nuts to us. But then, many of us use the word "Romex", for NM cable, and Romex was a major mfg. of it. Where we used to live, all wiring had to be in "conduit", but it was really EMT. Pretty hard to bend real conduit . But if I refer to EMT, people wonder what paramedics have to do with it

 

[JoeWras]

"Hand me the slip joint pliers."
.... "What?"
"Hand me the groove joint pliers."
.... "What?"

"Gimme the channel locks!"
"OK!"


I also never heard of a marrette. I thought maybe a marionette puppet was the electrical helper.

It's those Canadians, eh? They also put their decks together with Robertsons.

 

[HF63]

We just went through some crazy heat wave past few days. Wife's aunt house AC stop working and got the call. The capacitor went bad lucky for her, I managed to source one locally.

 

[Music Lover]

It's those Canadians, eh? They also put their decks together with Robertsons.

Robertson's are superior technology. When will you silly Americans catch on?

 

[JoeWras]

Robertson's are superior technology. When will you silly Americans catch on?

I was waiting.

Interestingly, I saw a lot of we foolishly call "square drive" fasteners on decks about 20 years ago. They are a good system. No cam out.

Since then we who reside south of the border seem to have instead standardized on star (or torx) drive.

 

[Walt34]

I was waiting.

Interestingly, I saw a lot of we foolishly call "square drive" fasteners on decks about 20 years ago. They are a good system. No cam out.

Since then we who reside south of the border seem to have instead standardized on star (or torx) drive.

There are a number of good reasons for that. Here's an interesting video about the reasons:

 

[ERD50]

I was waiting.

Interestingly, I saw a lot of we foolishly call "square drive" fasteners on decks about 20 years ago. They are a good system. No cam out.

Since then we who reside south of the border seem to have instead standardized on star (or torx) drive.

+1 I kind of thought these were a gimmick, just another set of tools I have to buy, but now they are my go-to choice . Man, that driver grips, you drive it in, and no cam-out (you still need to get a fairly straight angle on it).

For anything to be driven with some force, the star/torx/6-lobe are vastly superior, IMO.

https://fastenerengineering.com/what-is-a-torx-screw/

"The ISO name is hexalobular." That's a mouthful!

And the old line about "standards are great, that's why we have so many of them!":

"Successors to Torx include Torx Plus, which was introduced in the early ’90s. Its squarer lobes promised to increase drive bit life by 12. In 2017, the latest Torx successor, Torx Paralobe, was released, offering 20% greater torsional strength and 20% greater drive life than Torx Plus."


-ERD50

 

[JoeWras]

+1 I kind of thought these were a gimmick, just another set of tools I have to buy, but now they are my go-to choice . Man, that driver grips, you drive it in, and no cam-out (you still need to get a fairly straight angle on it).

For anything to be driven with some force, the star/torx/6-lobe are vastly superior, IMO.

https://fastenerengineering.com/what-is-a-torx-screw/

"The ISO name is hexalobular." That's a mouthful!

And the old line about "standards are great, that's why we have so many of them!":

"Successors to Torx include Torx Plus, which was introduced in the early ’90s. Its squarer lobes promised to increase drive bit life by 12. In 2017, the latest Torx successor, Torx Paralobe, was released, offering 20% greater torsional strength and 20% greater drive life than Torx Plus."

-ERD50

Yep, my friend, you are right.

Phillips will still be there for those who need cam out (manufacturing).

Robertsons will persist in Canada, because Canada. But a day will come when they also go away. Some day.

Torx are the best of everything. They don't cam out unless you really are over-torqued.

The big advantage over Robertsons is that you have an angle advantage when you place the bit. On Robertsons, it is basically 45 degrees. On Torx, it is 22.5. If the bit is off on a Robertson by 45 degrees, you are hosed. On Torx, it is spot on.

In essence, placing the bit just "falls" naturally on Torx, where it does not on Robertson. This has ended the life in the USA, and over time, it will kill it in Canada.

But who knows? They still call Bathrooms/Restrooms "Washrooms" in Canada. What am I washing?

[Ha, ha, then again and again, what am I "resting" in the USA? Huh?]

CODA: Canada's money system (cash and coins) is still better than the USA. So there. Canada wins by a landslide. I wish the USA would get plastic money and nice $2 coins. But no!!

 

[Music Lover]

Joe, it sounds like you're jealous that we came up with superior technology before you did

 

[JoeWras]

Joe, it sounds like you're jealous that we came up with superior technology before you did