N/A Retarded Grille Design! N/A

[Skylane81E]

I had to replace an engine sensor on my ten-year-old Nip sports convertible recently. I shelled out the money (the light showing on the dash made Mrs. Steingar nervous) and became cognizant of the fact that this repair was first I'd had to do outside of wear items (brakes and tires).

The Toyota I'd had before the convertible needed about as much. I can't remember sending it into the shop for anything more than a loose shock absorber in fourteen years.

My Nissan truck performed similarly for a decade sitting outside.

But what do I know. I'm just trying to build myself up on the internet.

And Angie's Corolla committed suicide in an intersection, flat out brain dead. But there was not rust, no rattles, no squeaks etc...


Car just wasn't worth the $700 ECU

 

[flyingron]

Wow.

I have a Suburban, '03. Whole headlight and turn signal assembly pops out almost trivially easily. Different design team...

Yeah, I had an 04.... I spent 20 minutes staring at the stupid thing trying to figure how I was going to get the bulb out with the ZERO clearance there was and then I read the manual and found that you just spin this little hex bolt that sticks up in a real convenient place and the whole glass assembly comes out so you can change the bulb.

 

[MAKG1]

There is absolutely no way on the 5.4L F150 that'd you'd get the clutch off the ac compressor without removing it from the truck. Well, maybe if you removed the front end, but otherwise no.

So since the ac compressor had to come completely off, seemed like a good idea to replace it and the other parts.

I just KNEW this was a Ford truck....

I used to have similar experiences in my Exploder....

Often you can pull the accessory brackets off with the accessories still attached. It's a whole lot easier to drill out bolts that way. You don't necessarily have to purge or disconnect the lines; they will usually bend dramatically without leaking. Just make sure you remove the battery from the vehicle first, as it's really easy to lay the aluminum housing across the battery terminals, making a redneck arcwelder.

And there is this magic stuff called Aero Kroil that works far better than PB Blaster. Not so easy to find, but I've seen it in sporting goods stores (apparently, the sport hunter crowd likes it). I've used it to get old Ford water pump bolts off, which if you've replaced one, you know is otherwise impossible without breaking half of them.

As for the OP's comments, if you want to generate creative swear phrases that will make sailors blush, try working on an early Jetta cooling system. It was clearly designed never to come out. On a Ford truck, changing a heater core is a 15 minute job. Disconnect the hoses (don't bother draining), remove four bolts, and it just comes out. On a Jetta, the dashboard has to come out, then the evaporator, and THEN you can start on the heater core.

 

[AggieMike88]

And Angie's Corolla committed suicide in an intersection, flat out brain dead. But there was not rust, no rattles, no squeaks etc...


Car just wasn't worth the $700 ECU

What year Corolla? Most engine brains for that car rarely exceed $200 with a big warranty behind it (subject to me having it in stock)

 

[Skylane81E]

Could get it used for $300, but after researching it found the usual cause is a short in the harness, so if it happened once it will happen again shortly.

Worked out ok, got her a J30 of the same vintage for a net cost of $700