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

[OR VietVet]

Now some bad news: I worked on the next door neighbor's 2010 Toyota Camry and did the two tensioner assemblies, both serp belts, water pump, thermostat and housing, alternator and new front pads and rotors and an oil change. Just this last week the wife was involved in an accident about 3-4 blocks from home and the vehicle will be towed away this coming Monday as a total. I want to get the hood up and take the alternator off but I don't think the neighbor will allow it. Up close, it looks worse than the pic. It twisted the body and the passenger side rear door will not hardly open. You have to really pull it to get it open enough to step in to sit. Fortunately, their new baby was at home with dad. They plan to buy a used SUV in a couple of months. They have a beat up Corolla that he is going to have me inspect and just get reliable enough for a couple months.

 

[Fless]

That'll make a good parts car.

 

[OR VietVet]

More good news. The neighbor lady that drives the 98 Suzuki Sidekick just came down to give my girl some fresh vegetables and blueberries out of her garden. I let them talk for a while and then interrupted them and asked if she wanted to see the video of the surprise failed fuel pressure regulator. She had crawled under the vehicle with me when I did the complete inspection before the work was scheduled, so I knew she would want to see the video. Then I showed her in pics of the work where the regulator was in reference to me gaining access to getting the valve cover off. She agreed that I would not have touched the regulator to get the cover off and besides, the failed diaphragm is internal anyway. She thanked me a couple times for it all happening and getting fixed before she was stranded on the road somewhere. Crazy things happen when working on vehicles and it is the shyster techs out there that lead to the mistrust that the public has. This whole thing could have gone south real quick with a neighbor that my girl has known over 10+ years. She assured me that her and her husband trust me and he will be calling me to schedule his 86 Nissan Hardbody pickup for an inspection and needed work. He had been waiting to get it back from the body shop and it came back to him today. I am sure he is going to ask me to inspect the body work and paint that was done. It was not in a wreck, he loves the truck and wanted to freshen it up a bit. More tales to follow.

 

[OR VietVet]

Turns out my girl's landlord is a great work flow manager for me. Another golfing buddy of his, in his 80's, has a 2020 Acura RDX and he hit something with his passenger side outside mirror and is very loose at the pivot/fold area and can hear crunching when move it and the painted cover has a hole in it. Landlord called me and I walked up to his place to inspect. Gonna require entire mirror assembly and they are listed with the different option painted covers. I have to wait till dealer is open tomorrow to make sure I get the correct one because this vehicle does not have the "power fold" option. I have looked at two different Acura oe parts supplier web sites and found what I need and my cost is over $500 for the assembly but I want to make sure I order the correct one, if the lack of power fold option makes a difference on the harness plug ins. More info coming as I progress.

 

[OR VietVet]

The neighbor with the wrecked 2010 Camry will have the vehicle towed away tomorrow by the insurance company and then he wants me to inspect the older Corolla to get it road ready for the 2 month window before they get a replacement for the wrecked vehicle. That will likely happen this coming week.

 

[OR VietVet]

The landlord's golfing buddy, that I have worked on his wife's Honda Pilot and his daughter's Lexus RX350, wants me to inspect his vehicle for supposed steering and suspension problems, that a local tire shop said they noticed when doing tire work. He had no known problems before or after this approach by the tire shop. The tire shop had also told them that his wife's Honda Pilot had steering and suspension problems, again out of the clear blue sky, and my inspection revealed no problems at all. He had even told me to order in and fix whatever is needed. If I was a shyster, I could have pocketed many $ but I am not made that way. I told him that even if I again find no problems, it is not a bad idea for a complete inspection every now and then.

Turns out that the same "tire shop" had told my neighbor with the wrecked 2010 Camry, that they would not warranty the previous brake work on that car, because the lower control arm is cracked and that contributed to the brake problems. They did not say which control arm or where it was cracked or even show him or document that statement on the invoice. I found no cracks anywhere, at the arms or frame mounting. I did see, at full droop, very slight surface cracks in the rear bushings from age but the bushings were still fine. See pics of that in previous posts in this thread.

 

[OR VietVet]

I also have a complete inspection coming up on the neighbor's 86 Nissan Hardbody, that I just did the work on his wife's Suzuki Sidekick.

So, to sum up, in my future, I have work coming in on a Corolla-unknown year, Acura-unknown model, Acura RDX and a Nissan Hardbody.

Plus, it looks like I am going to be wrenching at my buddies new shop that he just opened recently. I will be doing that just 1-2 days a week, no more than 3. I wanted to stay busy to stay active and now I am getting buried. All good in my book.

 

[OR VietVet]

On to updates now.

The 2008 4Runner had codes P0441 and P0455. Turns out there is a Toyota TSB about when these two codes show at the same time. Failed gas cap that was not sealing properly because the ratcheting mechanism in the cap was failing. I did replace the gas cap and cleared codes and she will drive till I see her Tuesday when I go to Sonny's for tacos. May need to eventually replace a purge valve but will wait and see. On Tuesday I am going to pull and clean the MAF and if is filthy enough, I will recommend a throttle bore cleaning. The MAF is easy access, so I will do the cleaning where she parks her vehicle. I am also going to re-align the air filter housing cover. The dealer did not hook in the back hinge correctly when they last did her new air filter.

Ok, no CEL since replaced the fuel cap. I went ahead, while I was out yesterday and had needed tools and cleaner with me, stopped where she works and cleaned the MAF. The side of the sensor wire that faces the air cleaner was filthy with buildup and the backside was clean. Cleaned to like new again and reinstalled. Very easy to do this MAF cleaning. Can be done in 5 minutes easily. I showed her the buildup and explained why the throttle bore would need cleaned to address this concern and again, while I was looking I found corrosion build up at the positive battery cable. She is gonna bring to my home for this work. Hope the CEL stays out as well. While I had the time, she had all her paperwork for repairs and maintenance done at the dealer in the glove box and I read thru it all and got it in chronological order. She had the diffs, transmission and transfer case fluids done at 90k but the rest was all about oil changes, one air filter and 2 cabin air filters. By the way, I did release the air filter cap and realigned the J hooks at one end, the way they should have been done when the dealer replaced the air filter, and reattached the spring clips at the other end. I did also show her an oil leak at the passenger side valve cover.

 

[Fless]

Is that a crack in the coil?

 

[OR VietVet]

Is that a crack in the coil?

View attachment 405168

It sure looks like it is and she had plugs done by dealer about 20k ago. I will contact her.