Your recent repair? - 2021 to ?

[38Chevy454]

DD has 4 - O2 sensors and 1 was faulty. Too much for me to do. Our "guy" checked it and parts/labor is a whopping $165...done.

Cars with two cylinder banks (V6, V8, and similar) have four O2 sensors. The upstream ones are which control the fuel mixture. The downstream after the catalytic converters is just for emissions to check the cats are working properly. The upstream ones will affect engine running and fuel mileage, the downstream do not. Being located in hot exhaust, the O2 sensors can be tough to remove after many years.

 

[CO-guy]

Why did you replace it ?

Plastic on the arm had cracked and was leaking so it wasn't spraying right. I considered trying to fix it with some sort of epoxy but plumbing forums said that wouldn't work.

 

[cbo111]

I installed a new stator in the electric motor on my E-bike after more than 15,000 miles of operation. Having never performed such an operation, I studied several Youtube videos of other amateur mechanics. It took about two hours total. Another skill learned that I will probably never employ again.

 

[JoeWras]

Cars with two cylinder banks (V6, V8, and similar) have four O2 sensors. The upstream ones are which control the fuel mixture. The downstream after the catalytic converters is just for emissions to check the cats are working properly. The upstream ones will affect engine running and fuel mileage, the downstream do not. Being located in hot exhaust, the O2 sensors can be tough to remove after many years.

Yeah, $165 to replace all 4 for labor is a bargain. I replaced the two downstream on my Odyssey recently and it was a pain. Not sure I could reach one of the upstreams. Give it to the guy with a lift and skinny arms.

 

[freedomatlast]

Replaced the in-tank fuel pump on a 90's Toyota. PITA job, Also changed the fuel filter for the first time too, which wasn't super easy to get to, either. Glad it's all done and runs like new again. Originals only lasted 35 years and 365,000 miles. Ready for another 35 years now.

 

[ls99]

Patio umbrella base broken. Built a new one from my vast collection of stuff.

 

[JoeWras]

Patio umbrella base broken. Built a new one from my vast collection of stuff.

Are you serious? Give me a brake!

Now that's eco friendly. Real re-use in action.

 

[YellowSubmarine]

After 12 years in this home, I found my air return has a inaccessible filter 18 x 30 laying on top of the register. I ordered a HD premium filter and now I must build a 1.5 inch stand-off for the register and easy filter slide in replacement. The job is staged for tomorrow: wood cutting, gluing, painting, mounting and installing...busy work.

 

[ls99]

^^^^^ That is one way to pass time in retirement.

 

[YellowSubmarine]

^^^^^ That is one way to pass time in retirement.

Yep, an active body is a healthy body (and Mind). This job required various physical and mental skill sets. I am just happy to have found this filthy 18 x 30" filter obscured and never serviced. Breathe deep!

 

[mf15]

Strange one. Last week central air not cooling,furnace blower on. Go out fan and compressor not on. Call the man. turns out snakes wrapped around control board. Snakes dead board ded. 800 bucks later working well. LOL

 

[Sunset]

2026 may be the year of repairs. HVAC went out and needed repair, furnace went out and needed repair. Have technician coming out tonight to look at my frig/freezer not working.

It makes sense, as a house is built and typically all new, so lots of things wear out around the same time.

Kinda like my body

 

[surprising]

Tore apart dryer, again. This time it started emitting a rather loud squealing. Turned out the idler pulley was completely seized. I thought I was going to have to replace it, but I got it removed, cleaned and oiled it, and it's now rotating freely. Also cleaned and oiled the rollers while I was in there and now purrs like a kitten again.

 

[sengsational]

The 1/2 feed line for the drip irrigation was spewing last night. It was old tubing I pulled out and installed last summer, and it must have been dragged on concrete enough for it to get a small split. Today I dug around and found a splicer fitting. I cut out the bad spot and put the splicer in. Another zero trips to the hardware store (or zero Amazon order) fix!

 

[Sunset]

A/C stopped working after we had a big storm with nearby tornadoes and a 1 minute power failure.

Of course, I didn't realize the A/C wasn't working until nighttime, when the house was warm and not cooling. The outside unit was doing nothing.
Thinking it was going to wait until daylight, DW said check the breaker which I did and that was the issue. Easy fix.

 

[Qs Laptop]

Thinking it was going to wait until daylight, DW said check the breaker which I did and that was the issue. Easy fix.

Hey group, can we get a ruling on this?

1. Does this qualify as a "repair"?
2. If so, who gets the credit--Sunset or his spouse?

 

[sengsational]

Wrapped up the day with another quickie. The light under the microwave worked, but often required a "Fonz" bang to get it going. Finally took it apart and found the ceramic fixture that held the contacts in place was cracked in two. Super glue to the rescue! Might not last forever, but works for now.

 

[John Galt III]

Hey group, can we get a ruling on this?

1. Does this qualify as a "repair"?
2. If so, who gets the credit--Sunset or his spouse?

Both Sunset and spouse get credit !

 

[38Chevy454]

I replaced the anode in my small 10 gal detached garage water heater. Then was going to check and likely replace the anode in the house water heater. Well, found a small wet spot and very small leaking on the bottom outer case. So instead of anode replacement, I get to replace the whole water heater. Went out today and bought another 50 gal elec, same brand and model as existing for $500, so the replacement job should be easier. Also decided to replace a new expansion tank, so total cost with tax for everything is $600. It would be a lot more to have a plumber do it. Also being such a small leak, I can do the replacement now when it is convenient timing for me.

 

[sengsational]

Twelve buck car repair. I tried to stretch it out, but it was done in 15; minutes.

Beautiful day and I pushed the car out of the garage (I hate to start it to move it 30 feet).

The button on the automatic transmission shifter had been falling out because the plastic got gummy and cracked. So I had it taped, but finally the button refused to work so I couldn't put it in park.

Amazon to the rescue! Got the new part. It was a two day, not next day and I thought back to the old days or even these days with a non-fix inclined person. They'd have had the car towed to the stealership for $200 and they would have found $400 of stuff to "fix". With me, I popped in the new part and it was done.

Today I also dropped another 3 ounces of 410a in the mini-split. That was a little more than I intended. I had added 3 ounces a few weeks ago, but it was spitting tiny droplets of water once the setpoint was reached. I figured it was freezing up on a portion of the coil and when the coil warmed, bits of ice slid onto the fan rather than wick along and drop into the condensate collection area. In my tests today, no droplets!

 

[sengsational]

Today I also dropped another 3 ounces of 410a in the mini-split. That was a little more than I intended. I had added 3 ounces a few weeks ago, but it was spitting tiny droplets of water once the setpoint was reached.

Today I fixed what I broke last Thursday.

In order to make sure it wasn't spewing any more water, I was running a paper towel over where the chilled air exits. I figured I'd dry it off to see if any new water droplets formed. Well, I stuck my finger in the too far and damaged the fan. It ran, but had a vibration. I figured I'd order the part, but came up empty. So today I found all of the plastic bits and super glued them back into the blower wheel. I'm glad I'm retired...plenty of time to do stuff like this. Some people BUY a puzzle and put it together. I just had a puzzle happen to me, LOL! If you have 3 1/2 minutes of your life that you'll never get back, you can watch this very long tail video (how many people put their finger in the fan?)

 

[JoeWras]

Glad your finger is ok. It's ok, right?

 

[sengsational]

Yeah, thanks for asking. I think if it were a metal fan, I'm not sure I would have avoided the ER. But it didn't draw blood or even leave a bruise.

 

[surprising]

Tore apart dryer, again. This time it started emitting a rather loud squealing. Turned out the idler pulley was completely seized. I thought I was going to have to replace it, but I got it removed, cleaned and oiled it, and it's now rotating freely. Also cleaned and oiled the rollers while I was in there and now purrs like a kitten again.

Oops, this 'fix' lasted about 2 days before it seized up again. Bought the pulley assembly from Amazon and replaced it. Also got a new drive belt. So far so good.

 

[Palmtree]

My wife was waiting till the last moment to bake an item for a 4th of July party. Gas oven knew it was a critical time and decided nope, not happening. Refused to light even though the gas feed was fine and electric igniter was glowing a fiery red. The next day I did a little research and found it's a common problem. Even though the igniter is glowing like the surface of the sun, if it's not drawing enough amps, the sensor refuses to activate the gas value. Ordered a new igniter and 30 minutes of time it's working again.
BTW, you ever notice that if you don't really need a part quickly it always seems to arrive the next day. If you do need it ASAP, it takes forever.