/wrenching/

Changed the oil on 2 of my dads cars, my truck, and my bike. Gutted the driver door on my truck so I can replace driver window next week. Changed my front sprocket from 14t to 11t
>wheelies on accident

If you don't have a breaker bar and penetrating oil you shouldn't be working on cars

Air tools and a torch, yeah I wouldn't expect you to have these handy but still

they dont sell penetrating fluid anywhere near me, i have 2 breaker bars

Then why was your uncle using a spanner lol

Replaced drive belt, idler and tensioner pulleys on my Outback.

>they don't sell WD40 anywhere near me

>wd40 as penetrating fluid

pls go

>WD40
>penetrating fluid
trust the weeb to be clueless

Had a similar issue when I had to replace a reverse light on a tiguan, bitch has an ELA if 1.5hrs

thought i made it pretty obvious that he's an idiot

OP here
Yes, PB blaster muh nigga, saves my ass many hours on northern cars.

Pic somewhat related, other half of suspension job

>doesn't know WD-40 comes with penetration now

wd40specialist.com/products/penetrating-oil

MSDS is pretty much the exact same as PB-blast, only difference is it uses more Petroleum. And has not ALKYLOXYPOLYETHYLENEOXYETHANOL Or Alcohol for short.

Recenty bought a 1992 1.6l miat
Has a set of those 250$ jackson racing intake turn signals that only had one side flashing "at all." along with both rear turn signals completely out. After many trips around town replacing random wires, bulbs, and checking ground wires... i checked around to find out i had a bad sodder on my flasher relay.

One trip to walmart, 5$ for a soddering iron + lead sodder +
One youtube video later, all turn signals work.

>i talked the guy down 300$
>since his 250$ turn signals didnt work.

if they dont sell penetrating fluid of any kind in my area what made u think they would sell this

>people working without actual shoes on at least

Do you lads hate aving toes or something?

If you don't have WD-40 in your area how are you buying gas?

Every gas station carries WD-40 along with oil.

*Tsi turn signal intakes
Powdercoated black, with led bulbs...

I bought a car for 300 shekels les than asked because it needed a bunch of buttons and wipers replaced

I have a nice pair of redbacks I normally wear, today is an exception

Hanging new control arms and struts on the front of my shit box grand prix when I get off work at 7am. Already got it on jack stands and everything soaking in PB blaster, not that it's super rusty but every little bit helps. After that I'll slap some tires on it and then get it inspected.

still trying to get the k24 swap up and running. Needs a new starter which should be here later today

>right blinker and fog lights doesn't work, think they're burned out
>give em a good ol' hit
>they all work now

living the '98 Ford Escort Turnier life

Fixed new grounds for the indicators on an ATV, and got the winch on it working again (absolutely caked in mud and small rocks)

synthetic ATF and Acetone(paint thinner/stripper) mixed together is the best penetrant i've seen other than using heat. wear gloves and don't use near painted surfaces that you care about.

Absolutely nothing. I took the weekend off, over the past few months I've completely redone the front suspension on my ls1 fbody. That included rebuilding the brakes, new tires, and misc other things as well. I took it to the alignment shop on Tuesday and found out the kmember was bent and the car has slight frame damage.

He aligned it as best he could, said it would track straight, tires would wear fine, but the passengers tire was pushed back a full inch from where it should be.

Fuck it. I'm driving it anyway. I've been working on it for months and couldn't sell it for anything anyway. Just such a letdown you know. I'd finally gotten all the mechanicals to where they needed to be. Fuck me shit doesn't ever go right.

If I get done with these machines today (computer repairman) I'll go out and try to drill out the oil pan bolt I snapped off a couple months ago on the old jeep and replace that. Also need to get the head on the old girl before winter so I may be able to have some snow-fun this year. Need to install the brake master and the i/e manifold as well.

Have to put a mobo in a laptop and get this kids z170 Asus board lined out (kid knows nothing about computers, plays a couple games, and his friends talked him into (having me) build him a computer. Now it's got viruses and needs a reformat. Of course kid wants a dual boot so that's twice the time invested. Probably so he can go to /g/ and brag about his machine. That he had someone else customize for him.

I replaced all the brake lines on my 1999 Bonneville after one went out on me while driving. They were all rusted as hell.

Did he suck your dick too?

Moved into the new house. Got a nice big garage. Assembled lots of furniture. Stole a 48" flourescent fixture from the old house and I'm debating where to hang it in the new garage since there is already one over the work bench.

Longtubes? Which gen.? It's a complete cunt

Also finally got some pegboard by the work bench, something I didn't want to invest the time and effort into at the old one because of the cement walls. So I need to stop by Lowes later and grab hooks for the board along with some good drywall anchors or some shit to hold up the shitty rack in my bedroom closet.

fair enough

My battery crapped out this weekend (I was long overdue for a new one), so I did some work replacing the battery and then detailed the engine (pic is prior to detail, obviously)

>take brand new LED headlights out of an old Sunfire
>take headlights just purchased out of G5
>put LED's in
>pretend I actually know how to work on cars

sounds like me right now, the CV joint on the left side of me car is proper fucked and so are both of the axles, need to replace them and the tie rods ASAP but i have to buy new axles first.

anyone else /sucksatworkingoncars/?

>out of nowhere my car won't accelerate above 2.5kRPM while driving without bogging down
>no CEL or dashlights, car seems fine otherwise
>put it in neutral
>revs all the way to redline
>'must be the trans slipping'
>put her up on the stands
>pull the tranny oil pan off
>fluid looks & smells like rancid shit
>drain it, put a new trans filter on, tighten up the pressure plate, new gaskets, new fluid & lucas oil stop leak
>slap it back together
>now revs to 3k while driving
>tfw pre OBDII, but it has a diagnostic thingy onboard
>diagnostic thing breaks while trying to run codes
>electrical tape the thing back together
>pull a code that says 'air to rich/lean or fuel to rich/lean'
>that's fucking specific
>check the fuel system, seems good; injectors work, fuel rail has pressure, ect.
>check air paths
>fucking quarter sized hole in intake pipe before turbo
>order new pipe
>takes 2 weeks because +20 year old Volvo
>put it on
>car now pulls through powerband but is choppy as hell and doesn't accelerate smooth
>go back to diagnostics
>no code
>check everything I can think of
>give up
>take it to a shop
>cry

At least you knocked out the one pipe without having to pay labor on that

>saving labor costs on a silicone tube held on by 2 worm drive hose clamps

You must live in the north / northeast like me

> put cams/valvecover , injectors, fuel rail and turbocharger back on my jeep
> also removed ALL EGR Related equipment, its been deleted in the tune anyways.

I say PB is 3rd best penetrant out there.

> "Mopar" Penetrant and "Kroil" are probably top tier
>PB blaster is 3rd
>everything else

On a side note if anyone ever has to scrape undercoating off of an old car instead of using the torch and scrape method PB Blaster "Citrus" formula turns the stuff almost soft enough to wipe off with a rag. Spray whatever down with it and go eat a sandwich or wait 15 min and then go wipe off the undercoat...

Replaced the wiper linkage on my del sol and can drive fast in the rain without feeling like I'm gonna die every 5 seconds now. Only took 10 minutes. Glad that's the most work I've had to do to it since I bought it.

i work barefoot because i dont want to mess up my good shoes

I suck too, or I just have really bad luck. There has been no point in between these repairs that everything worked, it has literally been repair to repair
>rear calipers seized, $200
>replace them
>oil pressure sensor shits itself, idiot light flashing at me and I can't deal, $140
>replace it
>front suspension fucked, control arms, struts, springs, sway bars, $500+
>replace them
>front right tire showing steel on the inside, get tires $380
>replace
>needs 4 wheel alignment due to suspension work, $115
>align
>car dies while driving it back from getting an alignment, no power when starting it back up. camshaft sensor on bank 1 needs to be replaced
>tired

Meanwhile, the rest of my family barely keeps up with oil changes and their cars are running without issue

Overall, pretty shit. I am one of those people that don't have the genetics to do any hands on/problem solving type work especially if it's tedious so my efforts to improve my skills as a ''''''''''mechanic'''''''''' are largely futile...but I am still trying. Here is my most recent fuck up

>need to replace front tire on ninja250
>buy $180 impact driver to undo axle nut
>for some reason doesn't loosen it. don't know why. supposed to have 400+ ft lb of torque but the thing wont fucking loosen it. got good socket attachments too (6 point) and still doesnt work
>went and bought a husky hand socket/wrench for $20
>works fine
>see another nut on the fork and in my retard state of mind I assumed it was related to the wheel someway
>unscrew it
>fork oil drain valve
>fork oil going everywhere
>quickly screw it back in
>finish taking off wheel
>pay mechanic $75 to mount and balance the tire. would have been only $10 if i bought the tire from him (it was cheaper too) but I had already bought it from online
>he finishes it and i try to mount wheel back on my bike
>drop my bike while trying to do it
>by the grace of fucking god the only damage was a cracked fender on the bottom of the bike
>get a friend to help me finish the job
>mission success

Don't know what I am going to do about my forks. They are fucking useless anyways as I weigh 200 lbs and they are factory sprung for some 90 pound jap twink. Not to mention one is missing half the oil from it

Oh I thought it was a metal pipe lower down or something. And who knows, a shop could still charge like 150% retail for the part and then .5hrs at $120/hr for that bullshit.

holy shit lads, I thought I was alone. Sometimes I have a hard time believing how retarded and/or unlucky I am. I am convinced that it's because my learning is exclusively from YouTube videos and other online guides. If I just had a competent and knowledgeable person to fucking show me IRL how it needs to be done (which is how I think most experienced people learn), then I would be far better off

Your right, I'm just salty because my car is one of the few things I care about in this world and I can't even keep it running & I hate my life & I just want to die already.

Its ok we can all feel together now

Replaced my jeeps clutch master cylinder and bought a 1965 chevy c10, feelsgoodman

>>pay mechanic $75 to mount and balance the tire. would have been only $10 if i bought the tire from him (it was cheaper too) but I had already bought it from online
lol, wut? Is that the only place around that does tires?

I'm afraid to start wrenching even though I want to. I should probably check my air filter now. First oil change is coming up in 3k more miles. At the same time I should get my 97k mile checkup for
>Chassis (checked out, bought at 95k)
>Shift linkage (shifting is fine)
>Steering & suspension
>Wheels & tires
These last two need to be done. I get horrible shaking when I pass 75mph.

Also sometime when pushing the clutch in and braking the engine will stall. I should probably check the MAF sensor and throttle body, right?

I think you need an even bigger drumset

>Also sometime when pushing the clutch in and braking the engine will stall. I should probably check the MAF sensor and throttle body, right?

What car

2003 Chevy Cavalier (LS Sport Coupe)

Get codes read, then come talk. If it's '96 and newer, you get the codes read from the computer before you do anything else

honestly sounds like an aligment problem from my professional Veeky Forums car diagnosis. Engine run fine when parked?

Ok. A 15 buck OBDII reader should work fine, right?

Ok.

>Engine run fine when parked?
Yea. It'll start out with RPMs about 400 above idle, then slowly lower to idle after about 20 seconds. I guess there's also occasionally a horrid shudder throughout the car when first shifting from first to second after startup but I have no idea what that could be.

Mine on the left, brother's on the right
>looking at shitheaps
>saturns, chevies, hondas
>in chi-town, all broke as hell
>driving with buddy to see one of my last viable finds
>seller mentions the brakes don't work while we're driving to see it
>get tired of chasing jank-ass ghosts
>dig into moonshot craigslist finds
>see this bitch in Waupun, WI
>fuck it
>start driving north at 9PM, there at like 11:30
>go on short test drive
>Shifter fucked, never driven manual
>Check
>Running wrong, no idea where to start on this 33-year-old beast
>Check
>Top near death on a bespoke convertible conversion
>Check
>give the man his 2300, get going towards home
>get there at 2AM, sleep
>wake up, realize I now own this fucking broke-ass car
>change plugs on a whim cause its easy and cheap
>turns out boomer dude just passed it off to whatever shop, they couldn't diagnose a sparkplug that had broken in half
>car now running better, still stumbles
>change cap, rotor, plugs
>slightly better
>check every last vacuum connection in this CA-compliant car
>all good, WTF
>runs better when propane is fed through intake, this means she's running lean
>spark plugs show mix is good
>must be a sensor
>right?
>get factory 1983 Celica factory service manual
>pore over it, takes days
>coolant temp sensor? Maybe?
>in the meantime, misfire is curing itself
>OKAY THEN
Better than a Miata by miles, man. Air those thicc tires down to 25psi and cruise for days.
P.S. Proper diagnosis is your friend. You think something is broke, you damn well better find out for sure. Every damn part can be tested, and you better test it before you waste the money on a new one.

>change oil
>check under car next day
>oil drop formed on the sump plug and the oil filter
>oil all over the bottom of my sump
>wtf
>tighten the FUCK out of the oil filter and clean all the oil off everything
>next day the oil filter isn't leaking but the sump plug still is
>old plug was fucked big time, didnt even have a washer when i took it off
>check online for the proper size replacement
>14x1.5mm from like 10 different sources
>cool that shit is like 12 bucks down the road
>go to autoshop nearby
>one of those shops with high theft or something so they keep parts behind the counter in this big warehouse type room
>tell the guy my model car and year
>he fucks around for about 5 minutes
>comes back with the wrong size
>tells me 2 or 3 times that if the plug size is wrong just bring it back and get a different one or a refund
>fuck that shit i gotta drain the sump and buy new oil if i'm changing the plug
>leave the plug sitting on a shelf and fuck off
>guy gives me a shitty look because i didnt buy anything
>probably thought i ripped off the bolt
>go to different shop 10km away and buy the size i was reading about online
>plus it has a magnetic tip so when my bearing shells shit themselves i can easily inspect the aftermath

get your alignment done after you replace the tires and the tie rods dont replace the tie rods and do alighnment then do the tires you will end up paying for 2 of them

I'm replacing the tie rod ends and doing my own alignment, And this will be before the new tires.

Unless the new shop will do an alignment after I get the new tires on, then I will just let them do it.

I'm not taking it to a shop to the alignment unless that shits free with the tires. If its not free I'll do it before I go and then check it again once I'm home.

>doing my own alignment

>he doesn't know how easy it is

youtube.com/watch?v=0sguZ-gRF9I

Step up senpai.

> I am convinced that it's because my learning is exclusively from YouTube videos and other online guides

vehicle specific forums can be very helpful

>Hi Veeky Forums, what was your wrenching experience this weekend?

Mine is ongoing. Apparently my truck isn't eating.

>MFW my fuel pressure sensor literally makes gerbil-like noises when you turn the power on

>tfw have not started wrenching at all
>want to change the oil and spark plugs in my car
>bought everything i need and have all my tools i would need in my garage from my dad
>too pussy to do it

I still have to buy an engine air filter, kind of don't want to spend the 70 canadian bucks on the k&n filter but its the only one other then fram for my engine really. I also don't know if i should just buy a meme air intake instead of buying that and then putting one in later.

>only thing really wrong with the car is something i would need to remove the head to fix
>it's starting to become a pretty big pain in the ass

>fucking adidas sandals
Fuck off uleh

Oil pressure gauge fix. Gauge cluster did not want to come out. Had to disconnect the fucking speedo gear from the transfer case because I had no slack on the gauge cluster end of the cable to pull it out and disconnect it. Now I just need to get some soldering done.

That's a volvo 240, I've spent way too much time in those wheel wells.

Scared to do spark plugs? Uh

Removing some locking lugs.
I don't understand the point of these things, they're easy to defeat.

Someone has good eyes, it's a Bertone to be precise, still have some nigling issues.

>recently changed fuel pumps and accumulator
>fucks up control pressure in CPR, pin must be sticking from long term low fuel pressure.
>3 speed leaking like a sive, holding off on AW71 swap because no lift and fragile exhaust hardware
>just keep pouring type f in until it dies