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A Mechanics Tips and Tricks


Precise1
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Get a great education, makes lots of money and pay someone else to go through the aggravation of fixing everything you have fun breaking. :puterpunch: If it's to late for that, get the Service Manual that the technicians use. I have it on CD, paper and a down load from another NPORA feller. I also have the Chilton and Haynes manuals. Between the three, you can usually get the information you need to either fix it right, or really screw it up. Also, find a really good mechanic that just plain loves wrenching to help you whenever you run into something that is just kicking your arse...oh yeah...feed him so he keeps coming back. :friday:

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When removing or replacing the thermostat, have a universal joint handy! If you try (like initially I did) to remove the housing back screw w/o the universal joint, you might spend more time cursing :rant2: that working.

After a trip to Sears and buying this little piece --> http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_0...universal+joint reaching that screw was a breeze. :aok:

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When i removed my gastank the 8 bolts or so that hold it and the skidplate up there were very hard to get off. I actually stripped the heads on 2 of them and gave up until i had a friend come over to help.

 

I realize you can only use this trick for seized nuts on the bottom of your vehicle but it got my gastank off so i'll share it.

 

Get your breaker bar,a 4 foot metal pipe that will fit over the end and a long extension for the socket.

 

Insert stubborn nut or bolt-head into socket wrench and manouver floor jack into position so it can push upwards onto the breaker bar forcing it onto the offending hardware.

 

Jack floor jack up as much as you are comfortable with I ended up lifting my vehicle about 6''.

 

Get friend to hold floor jack in place while you walk in the direction you want your bolt to turn.

 

This got every single bolt for my gas-tank off even the ones I thought I stripped.

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you can break the bead on a tire by lowering your truck onto it aftr you have the tire off. I needed to do this after I got a lot of debris on my bead following an offroad trip. about 45% of the bead was leaking and the tire would drop to about 15 pounds of pressure. After popping the bead and cleaning out all the crap, I reseated it and reinflated and no leaks. I didn't even have/get to use the lighter fluid trick to reseat it (and that makes me sad).

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For stubborn bolts/nuts heat them to near cherry red if you can and touch them with a candle. Let the heat draw the wax in do this a couple of times and Ta Da off comes the nut or out comes the bolt.

 

Additionally if you are cutting wire usually inside the cab and you don't want small copper peices left after cutting, place a small dab of rtv in the throat of you wire cutters. The waste will be adhered there in the rtv and won't go flying or fall into your carpet or seat.

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I'm currently in the process of replacing the engine and transmission. The tip and trick that will probably help me the most is, putting the bolts and nuts from different items in sandwich bags with what the are for written on the bag. It may sound simple, but I am a simple man :crazy: .

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• When removing an oil filter, enclose it in a ziplock sandwich bag so that when it starts to leak, the bag catches most of the oil.

 

• Remove tie rod ends or ball joints without having to use a pickle-fork by whacking the knuckle with a large hammer (such as a 2-lb sledge). The impact will pop the TRE or BJ loose.

 

• Always loosen or remove the fill plug on differentials and/or transfer cases before removing the drain plug.

 

• Use a safety pin or a needle to clean/aim the windshield washer nozzles.

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  • 11 months later...

LOL, been there with the fill plug. NEVER AGAIN!!!

Also, I prefer a toothpick for aiming the nozzles, less chance of buggering them up.

 

Ok, a new one I just figured out (on a 95 pathy). If the plastic shield for your instrument cluster is cloudy, has a haze or light scratches, apply rainex as per the instructions. I noted a solid 75% improvement!!

 

B

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LOL, been there with the fill plug. NEVER AGAIN!!!

Also, I prefer a toothpick for aiming the nozzles, less chance of buggering them up.

 

Ok, a new one I just figured out (on a 95 pathy). If the plastic shield for your instrument cluster is cloudy, has a haze or light scratches, apply rainex as per the instructions. I noted a solid 75% improvement!!

 

B

 

works on headlight lenses that are cloudy too (like my wife's van)

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When reinstalling the difficult bolts and/or nuts apply a coat of anti-seize on the thread for future removals. I've used anti-seize on lug nut on small trucks to large trucks (70,000 GVW) with good results over 20+ years (I've seen too many seize up and snap off). I know some folks like to install lug nuts on dry, but anti-seize works for me and all the vehicles I work on.

Edited by Wetnwild
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1. Loosening that rusty bolt and it is barely turning and think it might break? Give it anopther shot of penetrating oil and then tighten it a little bit. Repeat. Working it back and forth can really help.

 

2. Need to cleaning the rust or dirt out of a threaded hole or nut but don't have the right tap? take a dremel tool (or even a small hacksaw) and a bolt that is the right thread and cut three notches axially along the bolt. Wire brush the burrs off and presto, instant thread cleaner.

 

3. Need to to cleanout the threads of a blind hole or want to prevent dirt from falling into the engine (eg sparkplug hole). Grease the flutes of your tap to trap the dirt.

 

4. If you have a pilot bushing in your flywheel that will not come out, fill the hole with grease and the put a steel shaft (old input shaft if you have one) in and whack it with the hammer - it will hydraulic the bushing out (may not work on pilot bearings).

 

5. Here is a silly one likley everyone knows. When pouring oil from a 1L container, hold the bottle opening away from the funnel/container (the offset of the oil bottle top). This allows air into the container easier and stops the 'blub-blub' erratic oil flow and making a mess of your valve covers etc.

 

6. I find sometimes my shortest socket extension is still too long. In those cases I use a 3/8 to 1/2" adapator and a 1/2 to 3/8" adaptor. The two together make no effective change the socket/ratchet connection but space the socket away an inch or so. These are cheap to buy.

 

7. The previous poster who mentioned about putting teflon tape on a bolt (or pipe threads) the correct way, they way the nut would go on, is 100% right. Do not use teflon tape on flared fittings (AN, JIC) etc. if you have them. The flares do the sealing.

 

8. If using a standard gear clamp for your heater hoses or rad hoses- when tightening the hose should not squish through the slots on the clamp - that is too tight and wrecking the hose.

 

9. Take the time to clean the threads of all fasteners and holes. Throw away any baddly rusted fasteners. Not only do clean ones assemble a lot nicer, they will give you more accurate clamping forces when torqued with a torque wrench (with clean threads as much as 90% of the torque is lost to friction).

 

10. Never hammer something that is threaded. When you must ( ;) ) use a brass hammer or a lead hammer. When those are not available, double nut the end of the threaded item so the nuts pretect the threads. If you are going to cut a threaded item, put a nut on first to use both as a cutting guide and to smooth out the thread lead-in.

Edited by BowTied
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you can break the bead on a tire by lowering your truck onto it aftr you have the tire off. I needed to do this after I got a lot of debris on my bead following an offroad trip. about 45% of the bead was leaking and the tire would drop to about 15 pounds of pressure. After popping the bead and cleaning out all the crap, I reseated it and reinflated and no leaks. I didn't even have/get to use the lighter fluid trick to reseat it (and that makes me sad).

lighter fluid? hmm, never did that one, starting fluid, yea, that was cool, tire bounced 50 ft into the air . was neatest trick i ever saw, next to the grease in the pilot bushing trick that is.

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When reinstalling the difficult bolts and/or nuts apply a coat of anti-seize on the thread for future removals. I've used anti-seize on lug nut on small trucks to large trucks (70,000 GVW) with good results over 20+ years (I've seen too many seize up and snap off). I know some folks like to install lug nuts on dry, but anti-seize works for me and all the vehicles I work on.

as a general rule of thumb I put a dab of grease (antiseize works too) on every fastener that that goes into my vehicle makes metal to metal contact. not only does it prevent seizing but it also dampens vibrations that would cause a fastenter to back out. On screws that go into plasitc clips and such I leave alone because I think the grease might soften the plastic.

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works on headlight lenses that are cloudy too (like my wife's van)

Absolutely, but I went over the GF's plastic lens covers with a stitched muslin polishing wheel and plastic polish mounted in a hand drill. It took some patience but made a heck of a difference!!

****Note**** It took a while because if you spin too fast or dwell too much you will melt the plastic and make 10X the work for yourself. Trust me on this, go light an easy, then it will work fine. I had to take 600 grit sand paper the the first lens, then 1000, then 2000 then re-polish... :blink:

 

10. Never hammer something that is threaded.

I often do this to help break free anything that is corroded and have not had any problems. This is called 'ringing' and specifically calls for a non-dead blow type hammer. :shrug:

 

Here's one that I re-learn every time I crawl under my truck...

ALWAYS WEAR YOUR SAFETY GLASSES.

 

I'll scream this from the roof tops!! Here is my solution. Need easy eye protection and hands free lighting ? Lets face it, it can be too dark even in mid day. This is what I got and they work perfectly!!! I'll slide under, turn on the lights, position them and do what I need to do. If only I could remember to wear a bandana so I don't need to spit so much... :D

 

http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/NNSRIT?PMPXN...PMT4NO=50278244

 

B

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  • 3 weeks later...

when drilling a broken stud, if you drill all the way thru the bolt and feel the drill hit the gap between the bottom(it wont hurt anything if you tap the bottom), make sure you use a straw on your penetrating oil and stick it to the bottom of the hole and then oil can get to the inside of the threads and out side, also they make penetrating oil that has c02 in it to cool

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  • 11 months later...
4. If you have a pilot bushing in your flywheel that will not come out, fill the hole with grease and the put a steel shaft (old input shaft if you have one) in and whack it with the hammer - it will hydraulic the bushing out (may not work on pilot bearings).

 

Only comment here: The shaft to bushing fit has to be really close or the grease will come back at you when you whack the shaft. I once used electrical tape to build up a rod that was close but not quite close enough. 1 to 3 layers of tape did the trick.

Edited by andreus009
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Vacuum Leaks:

 

There are a number of ways to find that pesky vacuum leak but the one I have used in the past to find a small cracked vacuum hose or missing connection after doing engine work is to take a propane torch (don't light it!), start the engine and turn on the propane and slowly move it around the connections, etc and when you hear the engine slightly rev or idle up, you are very close to the leak. (The propane gets sucked into the vacuum leak and in turn revs the engine).

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Yet another pilot bushing puller...

Borrow a metric M18 tap ("draft" tap will be better choice) and a steel ball (13-15 mm diameter) from a big ball bearing. Insert a ball to the bushing hole, then screw tap into a bushing (like you try to thread bushing). When tap end will set against the ball, subsequent tap rotation pulls bushing out of the crankshaft.

I don't know which "inch" tap can be substituted instead of metric M18. Try on yourself.

Also this trick is suitable to extract almost any worn bushing from a blind hole. Just select a right size of tap and ball.

Edited by Terrano1992
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Vacuum Leaks:

 

There are a number of ways to find that pesky vacuum leak but the one I have used in the past to find a small cracked vacuum hose or missing connection after doing engine work is to take a propane torch (don't light it!), start the engine and turn on the propane and slowly move it around the connections, etc and when you hear the engine slightly rev or idle up, you are very close to the leak. (The propane gets sucked into the vacuum leak and in turn revs the engine).

I prefer wd-40 spray due to the ease of use and safety factor. It gets the same results but with probably more precision...

 

Yet another pilot bushing puller...

Borrow a metric M18 tap ("draft" tap will be better choice) and a steel ball (13-15 mm diameter) from a big ball bearing. Insert a ball to the bushing hole, then screw tap into a bushing (like you try to thread bushing). When tap end will set against the ball, subsequent tap rotation pulls bushing out of the crankshaft.

I don't know which "inch" tap can be substituted instead of metric M18. Try on yourself.

I have heard of this trick. M18 has an major diameter of .708", the closest US equivalent is 11/16 (.6875") which may work also, but I'm not sure of the amount of thread engagement... :shrug:

 

B

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Vacuum Leaks:

There are a number of ways to find that pesky vacuum leak but the one I have used in the past to find a small cracked vacuum hose or missing connection after doing engine work is to take a propane torch (don't light it!), start the engine and turn on the propane and slowly move it around the connections, etc and when you hear the engine slightly rev or idle up, you are very close to the leak. (The propane gets sucked into the vacuum leak and in turn revs the engine).

Also you can use "Carb Cleaner" or "Easy Start" spray instead of propane. Use with caution, these liquids are extremely flammable.

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Few tricks I learned the hard way.

 

1. Bolts where the head has broken off. Use an air hammer ($20 at Lowes, complete with 3 bits) to hit the area on the other side of the bolt or, failing that, in the general vicinity of the bolt. The vibrations from the air hammer will often work just enough of the bolt loose for you to grab it with pliers or hands and unscrew it. It should be fairly easy to unscrew now that the head's bust and the threads have been worked loose a bit.

 

I have used the same trick when removing bolts that are stuck/rusted in place. If I'm worried the head will snap, a quick set of whacks with the air hammer, with or without a gentle turn on the head of the stuck bolt, has sometimes worked wonders.

 

2. Use a rubber mallet if you can. I only go to hammers as a last resort. The mallet will often provide the shock you need without denting/bending/twisting the part

 

3. Buy fasteners in bulk, particularly the common M6 and M8 sizes. It turns out to be cheaper and faster than constantly running to the local hardware store or auto parts shop. MUCH cheaper. You can also be certain you're getting the class and type of fastener you want. I keep a full set of Class 10 metric and Grade 8 SAE bolts (flanged and regular), washers and nuts. This also makes it economical to replace fasteners as you work on the car.

 

www.boltdepot.com

www.nutsandbolts.com

Edited by GoPathyGo
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I prefer wd-40 spray due to the ease of use and safety factor. It gets the same results but with probably more precision...

WD-40 dries out too slow for me (I am impatient sometimes :rolleyes: ), and all parts gets oiled inside the spray area. I prefer to use "carb cleaner" (cheapest one, not a "synthetic formula") for this purpose. It dries quickly, so you can spray a relatively wide area and, if engine reacts to spraying, wait 1 minute and re-test it with a narrow target to pinpoint a leak place.

Safety measures are simple - don't spray carb cleaner on plug wires (or any other potentially sparky places) and very hot places (exhaust manifold, etc.). And have a fire extinguisher on hand (it's a standard safety measure when working on a fuel system).

Edited by Terrano1992
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WD-40 dries out too slow for me (I am impatient sometimes

Fair enough...

 

Many flammable aerosols will work. Hell, I bet you could even use old style hair spray. I am under the impression that WD-40 is more gentle on rubbers, etc under the hood though which is why I prefer it, not to mention I always have some to dry electrical components... :D

 

And have a fire extinguisher on hand (it's a standard safety measure when working on a fuel system).

Absolutely!! I'm ashamed I didn't say it. Always have one handy, it can make a huge difference.

Everyone should also have one in the vehicle, they cost about $20. That's about the cheapest insurance there is...

 

B

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