Only drove Altima 5500 miles

I had the tires rotated on the Altima today, it had been a year (367 days in fact) so I figured it was time.  When I checked the paperwork I figured I only drove the car 5500 miles in the last year.  That seams low. 

I drove the truck to NJ in the summer and the Volvo/rental to DC then to Atlanta for Thanksgiving.  I'll have to figure out how many miles I drove the truck and Volvo - I had been putting 8,000-10,000 on the Altima a year and roughly 12-15K per year.

In any case the tires are still good and rotated on time.

New gas supports for the ES

Well I only purchased two gaskets but I was able to get both gas cylinders installed this evening and I even managed not to burn my porkchops on the gill. The cylinder ball ends had the nice spring locking system so I didn't have to removed the screw from the glass. Of course I removed the screw from the glass on the first one before I found the springs. I suppose I should have looked in a manual or something.

In any case now that the cool chill of fall has arrived I no longer need to worry about the glass coming crashing down. As far as I know the rear windows are not made anymore so it was not work risking the glass for want of weak lift cylinders.

&*(*#*^&( spare cable broke

I went to check my spare tire under the truck for dry rot since I am considering a pair of new tires for the front to match the newer pair on the rear. All I found was a rusty cable hanging there - I am 99% certain it was there when I changed the oil in April.

Fan Clutch

 
 

I went to replace the fan clutch in my recently acquired 73 ES. I got a part but by the time got it old one off I realized it is not the correct part.

My question is do I have the correct fan and clutch combination or perhaps was an alternate part swap out over the years

A shade tree doesn't help when the heat index is 98

With the heat index topping 98 degrees the shade from the tree was of some benefit but it was a hot day to be changing brake lines.  The front end when smooth - all the old fittings broke loose - I even held off when the service manual recommended the expense of special wrenches to prevent stripping or rounding off the fittings.  (I would have driven straight to Sears just as soon as I began to round of a fitting using an open 2 sided wrench.)  I had no problem loosening and of the fittings or the 8 bleeders.  I hit the fittings with a blast of simple green using a air driven engine cleaning gun, dried it with more air, a short spray of PB Blaster, a little heat from a heat gun then a bit more PB Blaster.  I got things just hot enough to soften the rubberize under coating on the fittings up next to the chassis. 

The only problem I had was one lug nut did not want to move - cross threaded - I broke the stud just using my foot and the tire iron.  This was not good as one of the wheel stud right beside it was already stripped.  Since there was nothing for me to do I continued with the rest of the lines - the rear lines were it better shape than the fronts but I had the SS lines so I replaced them - they were the hardest to break free at the pressure reducing valve but still nothing rounded off.

I pulled the rear disk and looked at the hub - no way for me to remove if like the brake drum/hub on the '67 with a tapered shaft to put on a press.  I thought about drilling or driving the old studs out in place but decided that this was a job for a shop.  I reattached the rear caliper and went onto bleeding the system until new clear fluid came out.   

The bleeding with the pressure tank worked well other than the cap did not fit quite right and just before the 8th bleeder was opened it popped off and sprayed brake fluid all over the engine and fender.  I grabbed the bucket of strong detergent and quickly rinsed the fluid away then followed up with some more soapy water and the hose.

When the job was done I put the three nuts on the rear wheel and slowly drove the car to the shop as few blocks away.  It was one of the best $60 I have spent.

So far the brakes work great - no pulling or dragging - good solid stops.  I have yet to fully test the system but I have the felling that the brakes will easily exceed the friction limits of the tires if I really push it.  The nice thing is no spongy feeling to the system.  Now I just need to get a brake warning switch but more on that later.

Lights, washer, alternator light

I started cleaning the garage tonight and found the old washer pump, tank/bottle and mount.  I didn't know if the motor worked and the impeller was not attached and the bottom of the pump was off.  I tried to fix it before but the bottle leaked so in the end I purchased one from ebay and set the broken one aside.

So what do you know - I purchased a car without a washer bottle and pump.  It only took a few minutes to fix the impeller and using a heat gun to warm the plastic so the bottom would snap in.  Then I found some scrap wires with terminal ends - I filled the bottle with some water and touched the wire leads to the battery and it pumped water out.  Of course I need to fix the leaky bottle and mount the mounting basket then run hoses but I will soon have a windshield washer.  I then studied the wiring diagram and owners manual for location of the washer bottle.  I found a yellow wire (more orange and black than yellow) but it is in the right place and when I hooked it up and pushed the button on the dash the motor ran. 

Having figured out the wiring diagram (source page) I also replaced the fuse for the left side marking lights.  Once replaced the lights work and now the instrument panel lights but the ALT light stays on.  I think this is a common problem and not a charging problem (description of problem and solutions).  Good news is almost all the lights work now - still need the licinece plate lamps to get the car ready to pass tech inspection for rallys (of course not having an accurate speedometer is a bigger problem for ralling). 

Next I will try to get the lights on the bumper to work -  then I will work on the corrosion issues issues in the fuse-block (tech article) 

Note garage is not yet clean enough to get the second 1800 in.

About 400 miles so far on the ES

I have about 400 miles on the ES so far - so far so good.  The only major problem I have found is that it doesn't like to start when hot.  Stopping for a few minutes such as a fill up is no problem.  Leave the car for 20-30 minutes and it won't fire.  Give it another 20 minutes (or open the hood for 10) and it will restart and run fine.  I am going to start reading on the fuel injection system.

The other problem I have noticed is the fuel pump is loud when less than 1/3 tank - by loud I mean it is very noticeable while idling and it can be heard over the rest of the noise at speed. 

I have an order in with iPd for brake lines, new raditaor cap and the correct spark plugs.

Frozen hinge

A common problem with 1800 hoods is the hinges rust and stop moving. Of course it is possible to open the hood but the steel bends. I wanted to make sure Lisbeth didn't have this problem, she did. So off comes the hood - going to need some welding - might need a wire welder - so with some PB Blaster, oil and elbow grease I free the hinge.

Click on image to goto the album - see captions for details.

Added another 1800 to the stable

While looking on iPd for parts for the '67 I saw this one.  I couldn't pass it up - I almost drive it from Bellingham WA but thought better of it.  In the end I decided to purchase sight unseen (had a mechanic do buyer inspection).  The truck dropped it off today.




Pre purchase album

New Battery

Went to breakfast this morning, drove the truck as it has sat for 2 weeks. Started and ran find but the battery was dead when I left the restaurant.

So I am sitting there with no jumper cables - ok I had a set of cables but no tools to connect them. I check and what do you know bingo I have my booster pack. No luck - a slow turn over then click, click, click, click.

I get a jump from someone with cables and I head to Walmart for a new battery. I know the current one is old and I hope Walmart is open on Easter Sunday.

I pick up a new battery $77 - not a great price but they didn't have the smaller 2 yr battery in stock. I head home and turn off the truck - no restart, no radio - deader than dead - some funny relay sounds from the steering column.

I put the charger on the battery for 30-40 minutes - 40 amp fast charge. Just some funny clicking and when I try to start everything goes dead. I try 200 amp boost - click, click, click...

So the battery is dead and not taking a charge or something is wrong with the electrics. It is a no maintenance Motorcraft battery so unless a new battery was installed before 2001 this is the original battery - it lasted 13 years. The old battery comes out and I replace the terminal mounts as well. I also install my jumper cable plug - using the post of the hood support to hold it in place.

Everything works - truck cranks and starts great. The hood closes but for the time being I will need to open the hood to use the jumper cable plug. I can close the hood when charging. I have some longer cables to install but I need new plug contacts to solder the new cables to so I can again mount the plug down on the bumper.

I check the charging system, good, the new battery good.  The old battery weak - under 500 cca (was a 750) and around 11.5 volts.  For a 13 year old battery one cannot complain - it got me through the winter with just a little bit of maintenance from the float charger from time to time.  The new battery is a 850cca with a 3 year replacement warranty.  Now I just need to turn the core in for a $9 refund.

My plug jumper cable system installed.  If I had a 7/16 wrench with me today I would have been ready to jump.

 

My big old tool box

I unloaded my big tool box this morning. By big - I mean it was built on a pallet to fit in the bed of a PU truck. So now what to do with it?

I did find some missing tools - my glue gun, tap and die set, rotozip circle cutter.

It has a nice set of drawers that I am going to move to another tool cabinet in the garage. (see the last image) It is a little heavy to move without a forklift - it was built on a pallet to serve as a HD box to moved around with a forklift so I could store my tools at work (in the old days) before I had a garage.

About the only idea I have is to mount some pipe or 2/3's and use it as a canoe transport box. The problem is it was never really built to be water proof - it was built to get a little wet but not really for highway use in the rain. With some better hasps it would make a nice storage box for camping and canoeing.

Of course I just now need to figure out how to get it back into the truck - I pushed it out this time.

Oil changes

It was time to change the oil - the car had about 8500-9000 miles and 10 months on the synthetic oil.  The truck about 4000 and 9 months on the regular oil.

What a beautiful day, I got the car changed then the truck.  Now I had found a fair amount of synthetic oil on sale over the last year, plenty of 5W30 for the car.  I have some 10W30 for the truck but I also had got some synthetic blend last year that I was planning to put in the truck when I discovered I didn't have a filter.  (I had it changed at Don's along with an A/C service instead).  So I decided to ease the truck into synthetic and use up the blend.


Other than the extreme torque required to remove the trucks drain plug it was an easy job - lots of room and easy access to the filter. 

Now I just have 9.5 quarts of additional used oil to dispose of.  The truck takes 6 and the car about 3.5 (not all must drain out)