The Truth about the Big D...........

[icenine]

Originally Posted by BlueStreak

Know anyone who collects antique or vintage Datsuns? I'm sure they're out there.....somewhere............... As lame and boring as they where way back when.

No...
my point was that Pete was saying he will give rides to people who drop off there Japanese cars the junk yard lol.

I think you should make double trips to work so you can hit 300,000 like I will

[BlueStreak]

Originally Posted by icenine

No...
my point was that Pete was saying he will give rides to people who drop off there Japanese cars the junk yard lol.

Yeah, so? Do you really believe Japanese cars never breakdown? That's funny, I have passed quite a few, sitting by the side of the road, over the years.

Are you trying to make the "Everybody knows......" argument or the "Some people say........." argument?

Dave

[hillbilly]

Originally Posted by BlueStreak

Yeah, so? Do you really believe Japanese cars never breakdown? That's funny, I have passed quite a few, sitting by the side of the road, over the years.

Are you trying to make the "Everybody knows......" argument or the "Some people say........." argument?

Dave

Yes, they all break down at some point, I had a Nissan Altima come in with 77,000 miles that a local woman bought brand new. She lost oil pressure, the oil light wouldn't go out. I screwed a test gauge in place of the oil pressure switch and sure enough, it had ''some'' pressure cold but as soon as it warmed up a bit it was dead on zero. So I pulled the timing cover ( the oil pump gears are built in the cover and crankshaft runs through the center of the gear ). What I found was GOBS of shavings and glitter that had ran through the gears and chewed the gears up. But it was clear where they came from as when I pulled the two piece oil pan off ( timing cover on these cannot be removed with pan in place ) I found both the cam chain tensioner arm and guide both ground up in the oil pan in pieces. 77,000 miles, and we are talking about an engine that was always serviced and never had the gas pedal mashed to the floor in it's life. Anew timing set, and oil pump/timing cover assembly & good cleaning out and she ran with perfect oil pressure.

With that said, I see some of about all makes and models with 200k or more still running great with no major repairs and some have even been badly dogged. I see much more good luck than I do bad when under the hoods. I just sent a Ford F150 out of here the other day that had 256k and the 4.6 ran super.. used for pulling a horse trailer, hauling hay, travel to work, etc and isn't but a half ton. Only reason it was here was fix the number 1 and 2 missfires ( which they were told was a blown head gasket being he was having to add coolent every few days and nobody else wanted to tackle pulling a head or heads off it ). Upon my inspection the missfires were simply from a coolent leak which I found to be the plastic intake had cracked behind the right front corner and the coolent ran down in the plug holes shorting out #1&2 coil packs. He was quoted over 2k to repair it and I fixed him up for under 500. The new Dorman intake was 168.00 and a complete set of 8 new coil packs were 49.00... and a set of plugs which wasn't much. The new intake is re-designed and has O-ring seals that came with it. Took hardly any time to fix that one, it was gravy. Dealers will break it off in ya.. gotta watch'em boys. They just assumed the thing had a blown head gasket without honestly making sure it didn't, and in this case the guy was darn glad a friend sent him to me. I don't ask for anything that comes here, once a mechanic.. it follows you even when your getting old and don't really want to fool with the stuff anymore. Hard to say no if you know someone is fixing to get the shaft though. I really don't ask a penny from some, I just do it for them if I think they are in a pinch. I've my hardships and haven't forgot the folks who were there for me and I pay it fwd the only way I know how.

[Dondilion]

Hello HillyBilly I would like to read your post but it is difficult to do so.

Could you insert some paragraphs. It would make it easier on the old eyes.

Thanks a lot.

[hillbilly]

Originally Posted by Dondilion

Hello HillyBilly I would like to read your post but it is difficult to do so.

Could you insert some paragraphs. It would make it easier on the old eyes.

Thanks a lot.

Sorry about that. I do the best I can. I've learned to spell better but still learning the rest.

[BlueStreak]

Originally Posted by hillbilly

Yes, they all break down at some point, I had a Nissan Altima come in with 77,000 miles that a local woman bought brand new. She lost oil pressure, the oil light wouldn't go out. I screwed a test gauge in place of the oil pressure switch and sure enough, it had ''some'' pressure cold but as soon as it warmed up a bit it was dead on zero. So I pulled the timing cover ( the oil pump gears are built in the cover and crankshaft runs through the center of the gear ). What I found was GOBS of shavings and glitter that had ran through the gears and chewed the gears up. But it was clear where they came from as when I pulled the two piece oil pan off ( timing cover on these cannot be removed with pan in place ) I found both the cam chain tensioner arm and guide both ground up in the oil pan in pieces. 77,000 miles, and we are talking about an engine that was always serviced and never had the gas pedal mashed to the floor in it's life. Anew timing set, and oil pump/timing cover assembly & good cleaning out and she ran with perfect oil pressure.

With that said, I see some of about all makes and models with 200k or more still running great with no major repairs and some have even been badly dogged. I see much more good luck than I do bad when under the hoods. I just sent a Ford F150 out of here the other day that had 256k and the 4.6 ran super.. used for pulling a horse trailer, hauling hay, travel to work, etc and isn't but a half ton. Only reason it was here was fix the number 1 and 2 missfires ( which they were told was a blown head gasket being he was having to add coolent every few days and nobody else wanted to tackle pulling a head or heads off it ). Upon my inspection the missfires were simply from a coolent leak which I found to be the plastic intake had cracked behind the right front corner and the coolent ran down in the plug holes shorting out #1&2 coil packs. He was quoted over 2k to repair it and I fixed him up for under 500. The new Dorman intake was 168.00 and a complete set of 8 new coil packs were 49.00... and a set of plugs which wasn't much. The new intake is re-designed and has O-ring seals that came with it. Took hardly any time to fix that one, it was gravy. Dealers will break it off in ya.. gotta watch'em boys. They just assumed the thing had a blown head gasket without honestly making sure it didn't, and in this case the guy was darn glad a friend sent him to me. I don't ask for anything that comes here, once a mechanic.. it follows you even when your getting old and don't really want to fool with the stuff anymore. Hard to say no if you know someone is fixing to get the shaft though. I really don't ask a penny from some, I just do it for them if I think they are in a pinch. I've my hardships and haven't forgot the folks who were there for me and I pay it fwd the only way I know how.

Yeah, I do all my own maintenance on the truck. Oil change every 3,000 miles, etc., etc....... So far the most major work I've done is the heater core and the timing chain. A friend of mine who owns a repair garage wanted $800 to do the heater core. Did it myself for.........$40. Sometimes it's awesome, being a wrench monkey aint it, Dave?

It also recently had misfire issues on #2 and #5. Luckily all it turned out to be was a loose rotor cap. Total bill for that; $0.

She looks kind of rough, rust on the roof, a few dents and scratches, headliner drooping...........But she runs strong as a team of Clydesdales.

But, it does go through ball joints. I think I've done the whole set three times. I've gotten good at it, it only takes me about 15 minutes per.

Dave

[Tom Joad]

Originally Posted by BlueStreak

Yeah, I do all my own maintenance on the truck. Oil change every 3,000 miles, etc., etc.......

I used to do some work on them back when I was young and broke and could only afford to buy beaters to drive. But now I prefer to pay to have it done. Plus the newer vehicles have got no room under the hood to work on stuff and you have to be a rocket scientist plus have thousands of dollars of special tools to work on them.

My son's buddy was just bitching about how he was trying to do a simple job on his boat motor, but one of the screws he had to undo was situated in such a way that there was no way to get to it unless you had this special tool that costs $150. I know they design shit like that on purpose.

Up until fairly recently I was still doing my own oil changes, but when I got my Accord I quit that too. It's so low I can't get under it without jacking it up and I do not go under jacked up cars. I don't care how many heavy duty jack stands they have holding them up.

Back when I was 17 I had a 56 Oldsmobile almost fall on me. I was working under it and I saw my bumper jack (yeah, I know, no jack stands, Darwin award material) start to slip and I rolled out from under it just in time. But it scared the shit out of me and I have a phobia about getting under vehicles ever since.

[Dondilion]

Originally Posted by Tom Joad

Plus the newer vehicles have got no room under the hood to work on stuff and you have to be a rocket scientist.

I hate that!

[BlueStreak]

Originally Posted by Tom Joad

I used to do some work on them back when I was young and broke and could only afford to buy beaters to drive. But now I prefer to pay to have it done. Plus the newer vehicles have got no room under the hood to work on stuff and you have to be a rocket scientist plus have thousands of dollars of special tools to work on them.

My son's buddy was just bitching about how he was trying to do a simple job on his boat motor, but one of the screws he had to undo was situated in such a way that there was no way to get to it unless you had this special tool that costs $150. I know they design shit like that on purpose.

Up until fairly recently I was still doing my own oil changes, but when I got my Accord I quit that too. It's so low I can't get under it without jacking it up and I do not go under jacked up cars. I don't care how many heavy duty jack stands they have holding them up.

Back when I was 17 I had a 56 Oldsmobile almost fall on me. I was working under it and I saw my bumper jack (yeah, I know, no jack stands, Darwin award material) start to slip and I rolled out from under it just in time. But it scared the shit out of me and I have a phobia about getting under vehicles ever since.

I have owned the Challenger for going on six years, now. Every last bit of the maintenance is done at the Dodge dealership, oil changes....everything. I don't even wash it myself. I take it to a detailer over in Virginia Beach.

But, it's not because I can't.

Dave

[hillbilly]

Originally Posted by BlueStreak

Yeah, I do all my own maintenance on the truck. Oil change every 3,000 miles, etc., etc....... So far the most major work I've done is the heater core and the timing chain. A friend of mine who owns a repair garage wanted $800 to do the heater core. Did it myself for.........$40. Sometimes it's awesome, being a wrench monkey aint it, Dave?

It also recently had misfire issues on #2 and #5. Luckily all it turned out to be was a loose rotor cap. Total bill for that; $0.

She looks kind of rough, rust on the roof, a few dents and scratches, headliner drooping...........But she runs strong as a team of Clydesdales.

But, it does go through ball joints. I think I've done the whole set three times. I've gotten good at it, it only takes me about 15 minutes per.

Dave

Last year a lady brought me a 3/4 Ton Dodge Van that needed ball joints. The lowers were easy.. simple press fit to control arms. But the uppers were threaded in the control arms and rusty. Had to order a 3/4'' drive 2-9/64'' special ball joint socket. They were so darn hard to get out I had to actually dig a 2 foot deep hole with post hole diggers, stood a piece of 4x4 up in it and used it to place my feet against because I had been digging up the ground with my boots and slipping trying to pull the 4 foot cheater pipe with all I had in me. I got them out one tiny squeak & pop at a time. I hardly ever sweat.. but that time I was soaking wet.