k9sar

I just have my fogs set with a little toe-out (so to speak) and use them when I want a wide-angle view of the road and shoulder. They still work for fog and heavy snow too.

think about doing your cam seals while in there. they're cheap and fairly easy to do if you have the front apart.

they pop off fairly easy. Have you checked the local mall or grocery store?

torch the place! (ok guys, I'm just kidding. I certainly would not condone any illegal or violent act no matter how satisfying it would be)

you could also install one of those battery cutoff switches and kill all power when it's gonna sit for awhile.

you need to replace the nut with either an external lockwasher nut or a serrated flange nut (I'd go with the first) nut page (examples) Get it started and pull on the bolt to hold the nut against the body as you turn it. The lock washer will hold it in place and you will be able to tighten it sufficiently. Definately get the old one out of the body though... that rattle would drive you batty over time.

In Pennsylvania, You may want to look into your area's program and see if there is a similar waiver if you are unable to get it to pass.

I feel your pain. When I spun the bearings on my last VG30E, I went the cheapskate route and dropped the pan etc to get at it to do the work myself (being 4wd, there was lots of crap to remove to get the oil pan off). I checked the crank shaft and there was absolutely no scoring on it. I checked the thickness and it had not worn any significant amount. In fact, there was no difference between where the bearing had spun and where the good bearings were. Naturally, I assumed my crankshaft was still good. That's some hard metal so you may be ok there. I checked the connecting rod and found that the little hole that shoots oil up into the cylinder had gotten clogged wioth metal shavings. I drilled that out without much difficulty (tiny hand drill and lots of patience). I bought new bearings at something like $3 each and replaced the entire set. Since my crank shaft measured close to original spec, I chose not to get the thicker bearings that you would need if you had your shaft machined (perhaps I should rephrase that ) Anyway, I made the mistake of not replacing the bearing caps on the connecting rod. Apparetly, this is what got worn when it spun. Now, I can argue that, since the bearing attaches to the cap and does not move (or is not supposed to), there was no reason to think it would be worn. There did not appear to be any scoring on the surface etc but I should have replaced everything that touched the problem area. Upon reassembly, I fired her up and all was well.... until... there was this little tapping sound. Over a few weeks, it got worse and worse and I realized what was happening. With the little looseness that was introduced when I spun the bearing, the new ones were now being hammered flat with each firing in the piston chamber. If I still have the bearings, I'll post a pic but it was obvious what had happened. I decided not to fool around anymore so I bought a "guaranteed to work" engine with only 80K on it for $750. (The pathy had been rearended by a semi so there was no damage to the front at all.) A long weekend and lots of cussin later, I had new life in my pathy. As for the 'value' of your 91... think of it this way... It's not valued at what the insurance company says or what NADA says, it's valued at what it would cost to get something comparable to replace it.

I've melted toggles in the past. Relays are definately the way to go.

two words.....

great... another post-whore. sheesh (and my count bumps by 1 )

definately let us know what you find and how. This may help someone in the future if they have a similar situation.

I guess I'd start by pulling the oil plug and the tranny plug and looking for metal. If nothing there, I'd try to turn the motor by hand (not the starter) and see if the motor is seized. Next, I'd pull the starter and look at the flywheel. Could it be possible that the starter tried to engage at high speed and ate itself on the flywheel causing parts to get caught in the housing and lock the tranny and the motor together? This would definately make some noise in the bell housing and I have heard of it happening before (though only once in my lifetime). If all this checks out (and you can bench-test your starter at the same time), I'd then look to unbolt the housing and slip the tranny back to see if anything bad has happened in there. Each time you take something apart, you should check to see you have movement in the motor, tranny, drive shaft, etc. You could then gradually isolate what's happening and continue to disassemble based on where the problem still exists. Definately not a main bearing though. That would sound like a hammer on your engine block as the thing got looser and looser on the crankshaft. (been there also). Good luck.

if you can get under it at all, slip a putty knife or nail puller under the head and pry as you turn it. Same effect as the vise-grips but easier to maintain presure and continue to turn. It may grab and unscrew. You can also dremel off the head and just pop it out the other side, retap the hole and put a different bolt in it.

I agree with 88. Make your own gasket but I'd also give it a thin coat of high temp RTV to take care of any imperfections in the surface that may exist.

After muddin', blow through the biggest puddles you can find. That'll help rinse (so to speak) your undercarriage. The engine compartment gets a bit spotted but at least the clumps aren't there. Alternatively, a quick spray with the hose will help too but that's much less fun.

my wife needs a body lift. (hears rimshot in the background)

I didn't think that was a problem on the '04's. Is it a ticking or a metallic rattling (like a heat shield or something)?

Easiest solution is to classify it as a Radio Problem. Turn up the tunes and the ticking goes away.

next time you stop and it's idling rough, pop the hood and jump out. Grab the connector and wire on your MAF and wiggle. If it peps up again, you have a bad connection (common). You describe the EXACT symptoms which led me to rebuild my connector. problem solved and never returned.

Just a side note... I was looking at a couple of companies that sell Neodymium magnets. The ones I have are rated N38 with a pull force of 10.3 in-lbs but I have seen ones of N45 grade that are 6" diameter discs (2" thick) that can lift cars. They run about $300 each but it may be worth it to order one. I can just imagine the postman coming to the door saying that he had a package for me but he can't get it off his truck because it's stuck to the wall. Word is that these big magnets will effect everything electronic in your room. Check out the description of just the 2" cylinders:

Lemon Law Info You may want to browse here before entering "discussions" with the stealership.

I used one (1/2 x 1/2 x 1/4) to stick a $5 bill to the fridge. I told my 7-year old that he could have it if he got it out from under the magnet.

one word... GRENADE!!

Mine would start to run crappy and die when I hit a big bump or really torqued the engine. Turns out the connector on top of the MAF sensor was bad and the movement was just enough to flex the wire (since it actually hit the underside of the hood) and give me an open circuit. I'd bea ble to catch it acting up, jump ut real quick, open the hood and wiggle the wire. All world be fine until the next time it got flexed. A little creative cutting and soldering and I turned the connection into a 90-degree so the wire doesn't go up anymore. I have not had a problem like that since the repair. Be sure to let us know what the problem turns out to be as these boards are a great source of troubleshooting and such.