There are just some days I wish I didn't turn wrenches

OR VietVet said:

Oil change, Wednesday, on a 2015 Chrysler Town & Country mini van 3.6. Used to be neighbor but still uses me for work. He recently bought it and "helped" me install new struts on the front of it after buying it.

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Nice. We own a 2013 T&C, I think I mentioned before. It's at like at 89k currently. I haven't replaced anything in the drivetrain yet. How many miles were on that 2015?

strutaeng said:

Nice. We own a 2013 T&C, I think I mentioned before. It's at like at 89k currently. I haven't replaced anything in the drivetrain yet. How many miles were on that 2015?

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Not sure, I will find out Wednesday when I do the oil change reminder sticker, for the front glass.

OR VietVet said:

My favorite taco place is a bar that serves them on Tuesday and Thursday and has some regulars. One of them called me today about his 1998 1/2 ton express van work vehicle that has a stuttery cranking rhythm but when eventually starts, it is fine. Sounds like is a moisture in distributor cap problem. I told him so and he will look. I said if it get to where you want me to look at it, he has to take the inside engine cover off and reinstall himself. Not gonna be responsible for a beat up work van that has had a rough life for 26 years.

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Rotor-cap-plugs-wires....... First things first..... Then go from there....

He said he had done the cap and rotor about a year ago because of crud and moisture in there. That is why I told him to look again. I asked about the age of plugs and wires. He had no idea. Gonna cost him if I dig deeper,

OR VietVet said:

My favorite taco place is a bar that serves them on Tuesday and Thursday and has some regulars. One of them called me today about his 1998 1/2 ton express van work vehicle that has a stuttery cranking rhythm but when eventually starts, it is fine. Sounds like is a moisture in distributor cap problem. I told him so and he will look. I said if it get to where you want me to look at it, he has to take the inside engine cover off and reinstall himself. Not gonna be responsible for a beat up work van that has had a rough life for 26 years.

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Once, on a road trip in my '81 Chevy van, I pulled over and had my wife drive.

I then removed the doghouse and tweaked the distributor, at 60-65 mph; to remove the slight rattle on hills.

She was freaking out, watching the highway racing by under the engine.

Which was exactly why I did it that way.

Good times.

joe

My 99 Silverado originally had the 4.3 which is basically a 5.7 Vortec minus 2 cylinders. At some point I started having issues with it cranking but not firing if wet, humid or dew on the mornings. My mechanic had replaced the distributor with an aftermarket one. I literally checked or swapped everything. Huge kick in the nuts for me, especially because I was learning proper diagnostics. It seemed like every other morning I had to borrow my wife's minivan to take the kids to school and get to work. Even my wife was embarrassed.

Once I got sent to Rockport to look at the City Hall building due to Harvey damage. Of course, the next day I open the hotel door and it's foggy and the damn thing wouldn't fire! Called a few shops and nobody had time for next 3-4 days. I was so pissed and swore I would never own another truck with a distributor. I think it finally fired after literally cranking until the battery was almost completely dead.

I bought my 06 Suburban shortly after that and that truck got retired...I was so close to listing it on Craigslist, cheap for like $1,000. It sat for a few years until I decided to bring it back to life by swapping a 5.3. No more distributors for me. I know a lot folks like them, but I don't. I sat on my belly too much trying to mess with that thing on the back of the engine, LOL.

OR VietVet said:

I said if it get to where you want me to look at it, he has to take the inside engine cover off and reinstall himself. Not gonna be responsible for a beat up work van that has had a rough life for 26 years.

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Yeah, you don't wanna be in the "doghouse"

Fless said:

Yeah, you don't wanna be in the "doghouse"

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LOL, I get it.

joe

As I have posted here, my girl is selling her 1990 K2500 GMT400 and we bought a 2004 GMT800 K2500HD and I will be doing some work on it. Since it is actually her truck and not mine, there will be no "Build Thread" for it. The work will be done here.

To start with will be replacing both headlight assemblies. They are both old and a little cloudy but the p/s one is the worst. TYC assemblies at RA, with shipping and RA discount will get here for $88+. It might take me 10 minutes to replace both assemblies. Looks very easy. When I do them, pics will be posted here and "Let the games begin".

Tackled the 2005 Tahoe LS today and instead of doing just the v/c seals/gaskets, I did the updated valve covers. Went pretty straight forward. Some people leave the coils on the racks and just remove the whole rack and coil assembly as one unit. That last rack attaching bolt is a PITA to get to, so I remove the coils and then access is real easy. I will try to post these in order. I did p/s first. Total labor time is 2.5 hours.