Tales Of A Mercenary Mechanic

[Rajobigguy]

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Well, this has been a fun filled and exciting day My friend past away two weeks ago today. His now widow asked if I could take a look in his storage unit, and send her some pics.

4ish years ago, I helped him put some of this stuff in there. My God, there is a lot. Today I did some mapping, like found where some of the motors were, and some other parts. Only one tool box is accessible, 3 others are not. She would like me to put together a decent set for her, but I believe the rest I will be selling at a later time. Majority of the boxes are not labled...and there are a lot of boxes. Holy crap...

So, I've been laughing at another thread. There are TDS people losing their minds about the stock market and tariffs. Troubles I assume are a well off person's issue. Over the past week I've been helping my friend's wife with stuff. He passed away in Maryland, his personal truck is in Maine. His home and wife are in Missouri, and the storage is by me. After some info hunting and phone calls, my friend's body should be in Missouri on Monday, and Death certificates as well. The VA was finally able to help.

People are crying about tariffs. I wonder what it's like for your life to be so perfect, that this is the only thing you have to worry about? I don't get it.

 

[4Waters]

View attachment 1491004 View attachment 1491005
Well, this has been a fun filled and exciting day My friend past away two weeks ago today. His now widow asked if I could take a look in his storage unit, and send her some pics.

4ish years ago, I helped him put some of this stuff in there. My God, there is a lot. Today I did some mapping, like found where some of the motors were, and some other parts. Only one tool box is accessible, 3 others are not. She would like me to put together a decent set for her, but I believe the rest I will be selling at a later time. Majority of the boxes are not labled...and there are a lot of boxes. Holy crap...

So, I've been laughing at another thread. There are TDS people losing their minds about the stock market and tariffs. Troubles I assume are a well off person's issue. Over the past week I've been helping my friend's wife with stuff. He passed away in Maryland, his personal truck is in Maine. His home and wife are in Missouri, and the storage is by me. After some info hunting and phone calls, my friend's body should be in Missouri on Monday, and Death certificates as well. The VA was finally able to help.

People are crying about tariffs. I wonder what it's like for your life to be so perfect, that this is the only thing you have to worry about? I don't get it.

Got some little converters there

 

[monkeyswrench]

Got some little converters there

There's 1 or 2 BTE power glides in there as well...we had some fun throwing together some stupid stuff.

 

[4Waters]

There's 1 or 2 BTE power glides in there as well...we had some fun throwing together some stupid stuff.

Few grand a piece, just don't let her sell them for what he told her he paid for them

 

[monkeyswrench]

Been here and there and everywhere it seems. Yesterday, went and worked on a whole slew of yard equipment. A riding mower that wouldn't start this year, one that hasn't started in quite a few, a towable mower, and a pressure washer that looked brand new...but wouldn't start.

The guy does yard and maintenance work for a rancher, and the stuff was at the ranch. I went down the road that had the name on the arch, and kept going. I passed a whole bunch of hogs in a massive pen...like a half mile long! After a bit, figured I was at the wrong part of the ranch, and headed back to the gate. On my way, saw something I wish I could have got a pic of. A small mountain lion bolted across the road and up a field...from the hog pen area.

I get back to the main road, and text the guy...oddly, I had service. He tells me that I was at the old ranch area, and to head up 3 miles the other way past the airstrip This here is a lot of land to keep track of...

I get where I'm going, and it's beautiful. Cows, pigs, turkeys and some loud guinea hen things. I spent a few hours getting the newer mower back up and running, as well as the pressure washer. Made a small parts list for the other two. Sometime during this, I tell the ranch hand about my sighting. He tells me the boss had took a couple of guys to get the cat, because it's been getting pigs. He gets the boss on speaker, to give him a location...they were getting dogs that could track it. The boss asks ranch hand if I was sure it wasn't a bobcat. "Smaller ears, long tail"
Don't know if they got it, but that cat was headed for a world of hurt...them boys take it serious!

After the yard equipment, was on to @The Chicken 's homestead. He'd turned out some new rollers for his tractor door. Previously, I had reattached the glass to the frame. Unfortunately, there was a first time. I'd used some 3M tape, and I got it all cattywompous. I should have made a centering jig or something. Once it was down, that was it. F'k!

So, removed door again, and stripped the glass off. Reattached with some snot that allowed a little leeway, but had to setup. Yesterday I went to reinstall the door. This door is a geometric puzzle from hell. The upper rollers are non-adjustable, so you have to angle the door just right to get it back on the tracks. The other fuckery, the top of the door seals inside the cab to the frame, and the lower to the exterior. Really cool how it works, total shitshow to install.
Oh, and the glass is something like 500$
And it doesn't really fit through the door...and you're kneeling on some medieval torture device as you fight it

Here's a pic of one of the rollers. This is a lower, much easier to install. They run on a threaded spindle, so you just have to line it up and extend it into the track.

It got some new seals too. It shuts tight, no rattles, but made me real nervous latching it the first time. The bottom 4" or so of glass is unsupported...500$!

One of the locals was hanging out by my car...highly energetic

This pic was from a week or so ago, when I was headed home. Some days are long, some aren't. Some require driving to some fairly remote locations. The days are never boring, and desk jobs wouldn't see stuff like this. Also, it helps you understand why people live out there...

 

[The Chicken]

I've had to change that Takeuchi door before.
It sucks.
I'm glad I'm not the one who had to do it this time!

 

[monkeyswrench]

Got the other front done! 2 down, 4 to go...and only 2 more Alcoas to polish. This one had never been polished. I didn't realize that until I was pulling it off. It still had lathe grooves on it, and the Alcoa sticker. Over the course of the past couple nights, I sanded it a little, and polished it up. Not a show shine, but good for a work pig. I have to fix a fuel leak on the injector pump/lift pump pickup line, and she should run again. Bits and pieces, slow going, but a truck like this is still fetching more than I'd spend, and more than I have.

 

[monkeyswrench]

Yesterday, did an oil change on a big truck. Near 10 gallons of oil, and a damn expensive filter the size of a muffler Ya'll with pusher coaches...big maintenance bills come with them. This was a known "work truck" on the boards here, the "Freightshaker". The thing is a true beast though, short of machining abilities, it can do near anything.

Today was a more "normal" day...kinda. started out with dropping a kid at school, ordering up parts for tomorrow, and doing an inspection. Inspection was on a 2018 Tahoe. Transmission done for, no codes, no tow hitch...only 68k on the clock. Poor people drove it up from the valley on Friday...and needed a ride home. The converter is shuddering, and wrecked the rest of the frictions as well. These trannys seem to have line pressure issues, valve body or pump related. Sucks, these are really nice vehicles. I like the 4L60 in the wife's car though!

From there, headed over to a lady's house to do rear brakes on a 2018 RDX. It's the one I did the timing belt on a few pages back. She'd called last week about an intermittent sound. I'd looked, and brakes were low. Weird though, squealing was far from consistent.

Got there with parts I picked up last week, and started in...

Yep, it was the snitch strip! The rotors were slightly grooved, looked to have ingested some rocks, or previous guy pad slapped. With the rears being solid/non-vented rotors, I opted to put new ones on. So much easier on small cars!

From there, went home to input my stuff from the inspection. Back to the school to pick up son, and went to pick up the parts I ordered this morning...then dropped him off at wrestling practice, filled up the 1/2 ton prius at the gas station, waited a bit then picked up son, to come home.
Luckily, by this time, wife had been home with other son for a bit...which meant dinner was already in the oven

Oh well, another day in the books. Time to hose off and get ready for bed.

 

[monkeyswrench]

Yesterday was an exercise in profanity. Tranny cooler line in a 7.3 Super Duty. Two things: The Dorman piece is close, but some bends may not lie on the same plane as intended. The other thing, I'm damn sure they are dropped in attached to the powertrain. It gets really interesting

Today, I went to Flagstaff for a couple inspections. Both locations, the service writers need a good thumpin'. The first is just a pain, leave messages, and never calls back. Got there, and at least the car was there. Did my thing, then stopped and picked up some parts for our resident off grid solar guru. He needed some things soon, but one of them has to be shipped truck. PITA, and I am in Flag once a week or so. As I'm waiting there, I see my front left is low. So, I air it up with a 12v compressor, and get going.

Service writer #2. Get there, and reiterate that I need to see the compressor wheel on the car, it's "damaged", and some codes. "OK, no problem. I'll get the tech." Mind you, it's about 10:30. He hands me the keys, paperwork and points my to the lot the car is in. About 10min later, writer comes out and tells me the tech called in sick, "I hope you have your tools"

Oddly, tools were pulled out for picking up solar stuff. So, that was out. Pretty sure I'm not supposed to teardown anyway. I did have my scanner with me, so at least did that. Lots of other codes they failed to mention. Some of which may be important. Some not.

Did my other stuff, but really couldn't prove or disprove a damn thing. Well, I tried. Pretty sad though, looked like the car had been there over a month already.

Then, get back to my car...tire is flat! Oh, I hadn't mentioned this yet, supposed to be at a meeting at my son's school at 2
Rolled back and forth to find the puncture. I had unloaded a floor jack this morning...and also currently have a stuff piled on my spare. Time to get creative.

I keep this little purse thing and a 12v compressor in the car...luckily, in the back seat and not by the spare.

In that bag, is that green gun thing. The silver cup on the end threads on to an Ice pick kind of thing. You shove the spike in and work the cup into the puncture area. You then pull the spike, leaving the cup in the hole. You load the gun with a rubber mushroom deal, and thread it into the cup. Pull the handle a few times, and it pops the rubber patch through the hole. Use the gun to pull the cap, which pulls the thing tight. About the 9 o'clock position, you can see the exposed stub. I water tested it, then used my knife to cut it flush, and water checked again. By water checked, I mean spraying water in the area with a hole poked into the lid of a water bottle.

I then hauled ass home, stopping half way to check the tire. With the wind blowing today, and the car being so light, it was hard to tell driving what was what. Still holding air!

 

[monkeyswrench]

This week was...interesting. Started working on a crane. Not a giant crawler, working my way up. First on the list was to replace a seal in the turret motor. Just a grease seal, no big deal...or so I thought.
To remove the motor, you must remove the vertical ram. I hammered and hit, no joy. So, @The Chicken whipped up a plate to hold a ram to try to press out the pin that held the ram. When that failed, a drill was used to cut the pins...and then he got to hit the pin out...his truck is pretty, kinda glad he was swinging the sledge.

Come Tuesday, do some inspections, and head home. Easy day, kind of. While waiting for my son's practice, little old lady (one I sold the Matrix for, and did the trans)...her cigarette lighter quit. No big deal for most of us, just can't charge the phone. Well, she uses it to charge her oxygen deal when the battery is low. She was at the pharmacy, and battery was low. Quick trip, checked it out and found a blown fuse, and a bad connection.got home about 9, fueled up, and packed my stuff. The next day I was headed back to fight the crane, and from there off to Topock....

 

[monkeyswrench]

So, morning rolls around, and it's off to the adventure. Loaded for bear, but also with a duffle and food for a river trip...here's the hatch area of the POS II.

The big hammer was used, but was brought incase another pin copped an attitude. Day two was also some new and interesting mechanical fuckery. The worm driven hydraulic control was pretty straight forward. Pull the case apart, remove some keys and drop the spur gear to replace the seal. This is when the crane tried to taunt me.

Pull the shaft out, and hear the unmistakable sound of bearings hitting the metal table Luckily, they were needle, and not ball. Those bastards roll forever, these stay put. Install the new seal, and go to wiping down each needle, and placing it back in it's home. The stickiest grease possible to retain them long enough to reassemble. If you've done this with a U-joint, you'll understand.

The rotary motor thing is the portion visible at the base of the crane. She ain't light, and kind of a bitch. 2 big bolts at the rear, which is why the ram needed to be remove first.

After the motor deal, it was time to mess with the ram. Instead, it messed with me. It started innocent enough. Tried the ½ inch breaker on the spanner, it laughed. So, F' it, 48" ¾ bar to an adapter. Popping and creaking, both me and the ram, she broke loose. Victory!
The ram soon countered...
She didn't want to release the piston, so air was applied. Still a little stuck, but I saw the shaft was slightly misaligned. I nudged it a hair...
Bang!
I about shit myself, it popped out, but was retained from launching with a strap. I went inside, pulse pounding.
"Was it as exciting as it sounded?"
"Yep, I gotta pee now...and wait for my pulse to come back"

And then it went down hill...

 

[monkeyswrench]

By "downhill", it was more of a girl flirting with you, and then her 6'6" gorilla boyfriend sitting in on the barstool between. Hydraulic rams have a nut that holds the piston to the shaft. In this case, an 1½X12...big ass, fine thread thing. It was staked, so ground the peens out as much as possible. Then, put the 1" impact on it and went to town. 3-4 hits, and it broke free...the flirting. Then, it came off tight, like still needing hits from the impact. The gorilla had sat down. The threads from the nut were f'kd. Luckily, the shaft is made from diamond hard something, so those threads weren't too bad.

The problem is, it's 5pm, Wednesday. Nutless. One had to be sourced from Grainger, and would arrive Friday sometime. Well, this kind of works, as I was going to come home from the river Friday anyway. As I determined later, this off ramp is within 1 mile of being dead center between my house and my river place So, plans were made, and I'd be back Friday morning.

Thursday morning, I wake up at the river, and start rebuilding of carbs on a SeaDoo. Old, but still fun. Also the cheapest and easiest way to get back on the water. I do one set, and go to install...no base gaskets! Well crap. Will have to get some. Decide to get cleaned up, and head into Havasu. I figure I'll get some gasket material before meeting up with the @HNL2LHC crowd....
Well, that went sideways. My plans got slightly tossed and offset.

 

[monkeyswrench]

Where was I...oh yes, headed east on I40, towards Havasu. 80 miles an hour, and the second "Bang" in two days. Front right tire has left the chat. Now, being in a hurry, being an idiot and never having owned a front wheel drive converged at this moment.
Flipped the seats forward, and slid all my tool crap forward to get the spare...which is a bald little thing...no tread left, but no cords. What choice do I have?

The tires I run are slightly oversize, snow tires. They do good on dirt roads, we're cheap, and give me a bit more ground clearance. Typical Prius stuff, right? Well, here's the screw up for the day....

Can't do this on a front wheel drive. The traction control and antilock stuff blows a gasket, and puts it in limp.
Faaaaak!
So, not much passed that semi pulled over ahead, I pulled over again. I went NASCAR, since I had my floor jack in the back seat. I lifted the right side, and swapped tires front and rear, to appease the damn computer.
Foot to the floor, off again. As I was coming into town, I couldn't remember the goto tire shop, so I called @HNL2LHC ...Tireman! So kept rolling on the baldy.

Obviously, no matching snow tire, but they had the size, and got me in and out of there. Ordered 3 others when I got back home...road tires for this go around.

I made it to the legendary dirt lot, and spent what would be 6 or so hours there. Had some beer, a real rarity, and met a whole lot of people...sadly, I remember screen names but not actual names...getting older sucks I didn't walk much of the shiny boats, but in truth, for once in my life I was actually more there to see and meet people, than look at boats. It was a big success, and a truly great experience.

On the way home, I stopped and got some gasket material. Pulling out on to 95, I promptly got lit up...DPS, and I have no plate! The temp paper is in the back glass, but wasn't visible until all lights were on me.

I was thankful of my choices earlier in the day, and that I'd had a lot of water and not as many beers. I hadn't eaten much though, so it could have been really ugly! I was given a "warning", but told it was really just for him to justify why he pulled me over. Seemed like a nice enough kid, and I was on my way shortly.
Thursday was a long day though.

 

[HNL2LHC]

Where was I...oh yes, headed east on I40, towards Havasu. 80 miles an hour, and the second "Bang" in two days. Front right tire has left the chat. Now, being in a hurry, being an idiot and never having owned a front wheel drive converged at this moment.
Flipped the seats forward, and slid all my tool crap forward to get the spare...which is a bald little thing...no tread left, but no cords. What choice do I have?

The tires I run are slightly oversize, snow tires. They do good on dirt roads, we're cheap, and give me a bit more ground clearance. Typical Prius stuff, right? Well, here's the screw up for the day.... View attachment 1501087
Can't do this on a front wheel drive. The traction control and antilock stuff blows a gasket, and puts it in limp.
Faaaaak!
So, not much passed that semi pulled over ahead, I pulled over again. I went NASCAR, since I had my floor jack in the back seat. I lifted the right side, and swapped tires front and rear, to appease the damn computer.
Foot to the floor, off again. As I was coming into town, I couldn't remember the goto tire shop, so I called @HNL2LHC ...Tireman! So kept rolling on the baldy. View attachment 1501088
Obviously, no matching snow tire, but they had the size, and got me in and out of there. Ordered 3 others when I got back home...road tires for this go around.

I made it to the legendary dirt lot, and spent what would be 6 or so hours there. Had some beer, a real rarity, and met a whole lot of people...sadly, I remember screen names but not actual names...getting older sucks I didn't walk much of the shiny boats, but in truth, for once in my life I was actually more there to see and meet people, than look at boats. It was a big success, and a truly great experience. View attachment 1501089 View attachment 1501090
On the way home, I stopped and got some gasket material. Pulling out on to 95, I promptly got lit up...DPS, and I have no plate! The temp paper is in the back glass, but wasn't visible until all lights were on me.

I was thankful of my choices earlier in the day, and that I'd had a lot of water and not as many beers. I hadn't eaten much though, so it could have been really ugly! I was given a "warning", but told it was really just for him to justify why he pulled me over. Seemed like a nice enough kid, and I was on my way shortly.
Thursday was a long day though.

Thought about you yesterday. Was on our way to Vegas and saw a POS just like your’s on the side of the road. But it was near Searchlight. I resisted the temptation to call you at 6am to make sure it was not you. It would have been so off your path that you would have been pulling the ripcord of life and said F it. LOL. I know that is not you @monkeyswrench I hope tha tall is good at the home front.

 

[monkeyswrench]

Friday morning comes around, time to pack up and roll out. I put the new SeaDoo batteries on tenders, turn off the water and set the AC to 90.

The new nut wasn't supposed to arrive until noonish, but there was still stuff to be done. One of which, resealing the winch gear drive. This is actually very similar to the turret drive. Where this is a keyed shaft to a spool, the other the shaft is a gear on one end.

One of the things I learned last week was how to make hydraulic hoses. I'd never done them, always paid a shop. After being learned on the equipment, I now know why some shops will only do them with hoses and fittings they sell. It turns out there are specific measurements that differ from the type of fitting and/ or hose used. In this case, a finished crimp was to be either .950" or .800". New hoses were made as well, complete with chaf socks. I always thought it was strictly to protect the hoses from dirt and wear. It was brought to my attention that UV degradation can be limited with the sheathing as well...big deal on equipment always in the weather.

New nut arrived, and some time was spent repairing the first couple threads on the shaft...hard metal, files and patience. Replaced the seals in order, one at a time, and got the barrel of the ram situated for assembly. I lubed the seals and rings with a coat of motor oil. Grease seems to always fight me, and hydraulic fluid is too thin to help slick things enough. A bit later, the ram was almost ready. The new pin was not exactly falling into place. Some persuasion was required. A strap to pull the ram into position, and then a large hammer to coax it into the opposing bore.

Fired up the pto and sucked the ram in to get it lined up. Then, the boss-man put it in motion, checking function as well as any interference with the new hoses. If one were to snag, the unit itself could pull it apart, rendering the crane useless. It passed, nothing blew up! Time to clean iron and pack up.
Oh, and my favorite rag of the project: