The last couple of weekends around here have featured some pretty uncooperative weather, so I haven’t had a chance to do anything with the muffler. Once things line up I’ll be right on it. In the meantime I’ve noticed a strange electrical issue. When I push the brakes my license plate lights turn off and the center brake light does not turn on. I’m guessing there’s a short somewhere. That’ll require some looking into.
Coming Soon
I got half of a big shipment of parts today. This is a big deal because it’s the last big bit of equipment that I need in order to get the car road worthy and inspected. Here’s a peek.
If you guesses “new exhaust system” then you are correct. This first package has only the mid-muffler/resonator and rear muffler. The various pipes, clamps, and hangers are coming in another. I’m hopeful that they arrive before the weekend and doubly hopeful I have the time to install it all.
Shifter Bulb, Door Switch Fix, and New Window Scrapers
The weather this past weekend was very pleasant which meant the opportunity for car work was there. It also meant that spring cleaning was in play too. In the end I didn’t spend a lot of time working on the car, but I did find some time to do relatively small but critical things. After I finished cleaning out the garage and installing a bell on my front door I moved on to the car.
First on this list was a simple swap of the dead bulb inside the shifter. This light is there to illuminate the position of the shifter when the headlights are on. This procedure was just a matter of unscrewing the shifter cover and moving it out of the way so I could access the bulb socket. The socket is pulled out of its holder, the bulb switched, and the cover screwed back in place. Now I can see what gear I’m in when it’s dark.
Lug Stud Swap
Back when I changed my brake pads I found that one of the lug studs on the driver’s side rear tire had stripped threads. Or maybe the process of taking the tire off stripped the threads. I’m not sure. But I would need to change that lug, and that’s what I did this weekend.
Temporary Retreat
Once again I crawled under the car to do battle with the rounded bolt holding the overdrive solenoid to the transmission. I was feeling confident. I had a set of bolt extractor sockets which I felt were up to the task, and, if they failed, some long-nosed locking pliers (aka “vice grip pliers”) that could maybe do the job. The weather was nice and I was in good spirits. This was definitely gonna work and I’d be ready to push on with replacing the broken part and getting my overdrive back in working order.
And again, that’s when the plan always falls apart.
Continue readingMinor setbacks
So… the Go2 socket was not as effective as I’d hoped. I don’t fault the tool here for several reasons. First, the bolt it was trying to grip is a flange style bolt (ed: it’s actually a hex bolt with a lock washer that’s slightly wider than the bolt head which has about the same effect). The small lip of the bolt made it difficult for the locking screw to find purchase. Secondly the space between the bolt and the body of the solenoid was just too small for the Go2 socket to turn. Under different circumstances this tool is probably a Godsend, but for me it was not what I needed.
That plan having failed, I proceed to waste another few hours trying as many tricks as I could think of to get that bolt to turn. I used a rotary tool to cut a slot in the top in an attempt to get a short screwdriver on it. That didn’t work. I put a torch on the bolt to see if heat could persuade it. All that did was set the insulation around the solenoid on fire. I even briefly contemplated welding a socket to the bolt. I’ve seen this done before, but I was reluctant to run current through the solenoid as it grounds to the transmission. I didn’t want to accidentally blow something up. Eventually I was forced to stop for the day. A combination of frustration and an aching back from crawling in and out from under the car had bested me.
But all hope is not lost. I have a set of bolt extractors to try, and a set of locking pliers with a long needle nose that maybe might be able to grip that bolt if the extractors fail. If neither of those things work I think I’ll have to execute a tactical retreat by putting a new (anti-seize covered) bolt back in the place I removed the old one from and move on to another task for the time being. Hopefully I’ll just get that damn bolt out and install the new solenoid like I had hoped to have had done weeks ago.
Getting ready to get this done
A new tool (plus a tool accessory) arrived the other day, and I think they will aid me greatly in my battle against this stupid rounded off bolt. This tool is a Go2 Socket 2.0 bolt removal tool and the accessory is a set of Zenith Industries socket adapters.
Continue readingThe good news: half way there!
After getting that set of flex head wrenches that I thought would give me the clearance and leverage on the bolts holding the overdrive solenoid, I climbed back under the car to try again. I was eager to get moving on this seemingly simple task of removing two bolts. Just two bolts? How hard could that be? Sure I learned last time that the bolts were in a location that was a bit awkward to access from below, and that the bolts themselves were very greasy and perhaps a little rounded off already. But I was ready for the challenge.
My efforts were initially promising. I got a wrench onto the rearmost bolt, positioned the handle in a way that cleared the transmission housing while still giving me some leverage, cranked on it, and… success! The bolt started moving and was soon removable with just my fingers. Five minuted in and I was already halfway done. Things were looking up! And, of course, that’s when the bottom always falls out.
Continue readingDefinitely going to need a new exhaust
I try and start my car most mornings if just to keep the engine exercised and the oil circulating. This morning, which was chilly, I noticed something coming from under the car after I started it.
Exhaust vapor is coming from a hole somewhere beneath the passenger compartment. Definitely not right. I couldn’t really see the exact spot from which it emerges, but I have mentioned before the terrible shape of my mid-muffler. That’s the most obvious culprit. I definitely don’t want it to be on or before the catalytic converter.
Continue readingA frustrating day
After a Saturday full of dense fog and chill, today looked to be a much better opportunity to do some work on the car. After running to the store to get snacks for the Superb Owl later tonight, I wasted no time in changing into work clothes and getting to it. Next on my list of things to do was the overdrive solenoid. That required jacking the car up so I could get underneath the transmission.
Mistakes were made
Remember how I was sort of talking trash about the brake retention springs I got from AutoZone? How they caused the brake pads to rub when the wheel moved so i put the old ones back in? Well, I’m afraid I owe our friends at AutoZone (and whatever manufacturer supplies them) an apology. After reading my previous post someone reached out to me and kindly explained that I had, in fact, put the springs in the wrong way.
Correct 
Not so much
Out with the old
The weather recently has been cold making work more difficult, but nevertheless I took the long weekend to get a few things done. First, on the outside of the car I replaced the stripped out brake guide. That screwed in simply enough and was quickly done.
Brake Pins
I then went to replace the pins holding in the retainer springs on the brake pads. If you remember, the existing ones were very rusty and a few of them were bent. Unfortunately the springs for the front brakes were not sent along with the rest of my AutoZone order, so I had to reuse the old, crusty ones. After an email letting them know AutoZone quickly made it right and put the springs in the mail, but I was disappointed that I couldn’t replace them while I had the wheels off. I’ll have to wait until the next time they’re off, probably when I replace the dust guards, to put them on.
Prioritization
Now that my car is essentially drivable I feel like I should sort of my priorities moving forward, at least in the medium term. There’s plenty of cosmetic stuff I could do, but I would like to refocus more on the mechanical aspects of the car that need tending to before I return to that. The following is a list, mostly for my own reference, of the things I think I should tackle and in what order that should be done.
- Replace brake pad pins/springs and attach new front left brake guide pin. I conveniently have the parts to do this now, so it should not be difficult.
- Diagnose and fix the overdrive. I believe either the switch on the shifter is bad or that relay on the transmission is broken.
- Switch crappy controls (window switches, signal lever) with nicer ones. True that this is a cosmetic issue, and I said I was putting those off to later, but I also have these parts too on hand. I might as well get them done with.
- Finish removing window tint, clean up leftover adhesive on windows, and replace rubber window seals. The seals are allowing small amounts of water to leak into the door which is ruining the door panel. I have the rubber bits to do this already.
- Install a new exhaust system. The old mid-muffler has been shown to be deteriorating and losing effectiveness.
- Attach new wheel dust guards. As soon as I find a good source for these that aren’t terribly expensive. That’ll be a good opportunity to checkout the wheel bearings and replace the bad wheel lug mentioned in this post.
- Reattach the last few missing external trim pieces. There are two, both of which I have, plus the lower rubber door trim strips need to be re-glued.
Changing the brake pads
We have been blessed with an oddly warm January weekend, so I took the opportunity presented to change out brake pads. I have no idea when that was last done, and the short test drives I’ve been taking have suggested that they were due. With the help of my oldest son, I got right to it.
Status Update
Just a quick update to say that I’ve been regularly starting my engine and letting it idle for a few minutes, and the effect has been dramatic. It’s much more reliable now. The stalling on start issue has been virtually eliminated. I can even start up reliably in the very cold weather we’ve had recently, and the rich idle code has yet to return. This is all very promising as well as gratifying.
The next bit of work should be replacement of brake pads, which I hope to start this weekend. Once that’s done I should be ready to take the car in for inspection. In Pennsylvania older cars like mine must pass a basic safety inspection like all cars and a more simple emissions test that consists of making sure all the original exhaust components, like the catalytic converter and muffler, are still there and that the gas cap is not allowing fuel vapors to escape the tank. I should be all good in those departments.