Peter Rolf Klaus Wagner

Archive for March, 2009

Catering to the Fortune 100 companies and those that want to be in that number!

WAGNER Associates

Located in Kalamazoo, Michigan.   My nephew’s business.

I think about him a lot.

Wolfgang M G Wagner —— 27 Feb 1985 to 13 Feb 2001

When I retire, there is one thing I”m going to promise myself, I will not do any more major repairs on automobiles aside from changing a light bulb.   It’s getting harder and harder to do things that in the past were simple projects.  Cars are getting smaller and require too many SPECIAL maintenance tools which I won”t buy.

First project – 1993 Toyota Camry timing belt and water pump replacement.    This project went  pretty straight forward UNTIL I came to the step of removing the Crankshaft Pulley Bolt.   For a small (Japanese cars are ALL small) car this should have been a cinch.    But noooo, someone torqued the bolt to Kingdom Come and there was no way for me to hold the pulley as I tried to loosen the bolt.  Even my air impact tool didn’t budge it.    I ended the ordeal there and ordered a pulley holding tool which will probably be in by the end of the week.

To think, a professional mechanic installed the bolt waaaay past the torque setting (80 pounds) of the bolt.

Second project – 1992 Plymouth Voyager alternator replacement.    The alternator caused parasitic discharge on the battery leaving Brigette stranded as she tried leaving the mall one day ( click, click).

This project is definitely not for the faint hearted.  The manual’s alternator replacement instructions are just three or four sentences, to remove a bracket from underneath and remove the alternator mounting bolts and slip it down from underneath.   Well, there is no way, I tried.  On the internet I found an instruction page that recommends removing the entire bracket (six bolts and two nuts) and everything electrical in front of the bracket.   This actually wasn’t too bad since everything is right in front, in plain sight.    We (Franz and I) got the alternator out after a few bouts of knuckle busting.

The alternator that was in the van was too small for the job I believe.   It was a 95 Amp model instead of the recommended 125 Amp for a fully loaded van.

We got the alternator back on and got into a dilemma; we couldn’t get the tensioner idler nut back on the bolt as we passed the tensioner into the bracket.  The nut kept falling off and there was NO clearance to put the box end side of the wrench to hold the nut in place.    Also, there was no access from underneath since a frame member was in the way.    Super crowded.    I first tried sticking the nut on the bracket with paste but the bolt kept popping off.   I was beginning to get second thoughts about going the top way but it was already too late; we were putting things back together and we HAD to get that nut on tensioner bolt.    All I needed to do was get one or two threads started.    Frustration.
I had no magnet to hold the bolt on the open end side of the wrench. Anyway, there wasn’t much room for a powerful enough magnet.   More frustration.    Then I had an idea.   I got a rubber band and slipped the ends around the nut on both sides and up to the boxed end.    This held the nut on the wrench well enough to send it down into the narrow cavity where the bolt comes out.   It worked;  I turned the tensioner assembly to start the nut on the threads.   Now I was able to tighten the nut, millimeter by millimeter, until the tensioner assembly was snug.    The rest of the bracket bolts were easy to replace.

The only obstacle I have this morning to finish the job is a lack of a stubby 15mm open end wrench to finish the tensioner assembly.   Harbor Freight Tools on Arline Hwy has a set (SAE + Metric) for  $16.    When I get it today I’ll finish that last nut.  I’ll just have seven 10mm bolts to go and one 15mm bolt to position the alternator in it’s final spot.    That’s all there is to it, I hope, since the job isn’t finished I can just cross my fingers.

(Update): Harbor Freight were out of stock in metric stubby sets.   I was able to get a set at Advance Auto Parts.

Installing the main serpentine belt is the easy part since nothing has to be removed.

Third project – 1994 GEO Prism - Went to the big garage in the sky.    Last week, as I was going to work I changed gears on my work car and heard a bang.    There was no more forward acceleration.   The 5 speed manual transaxle turned into a 0 speed in a flash.   At first I thought it might be the CV axle but upon roadside inspection the CVs were still tight and in good condition.    The transaxle sounded like a food grater when I cranked it back up and engaged the clutch.   No go.

The GEO was a great car and unexpectedly so since it’s really a Toyota Carolla.   I put almost 80,000 miles on it in the two and a half years I’ve had it.   The engine was in great shape (regular synthe-blend oil changes).    But it got pretty banged up in the past six months.  The door handles broke off, common problem with Toyota Carollas.   The radio stopped working.    The windshield got cracked; driving on Hwy 90 daily WILL result in cracked and starred windshields.     A tree fell on and mangled the rear door and busted the window out.   Up to then, I had ideas of repairing those minor problems.   I found a white door but wanted to wait until I would find a silver tan door like I had.

What changed my mind on repairing the car was the fender bender I got into.   Someone smacked me from behind.    That was it, the car isn’t worth the repair money with very close to 300,000 miles on it.     I know the next thing to go would be the timing belt because I drove it way past the recommended replacement interval.    Too many costly repairs.

Looks like I’ll be driving the Plymouth for a little while until I find another work car.    I need one to last ONE more year, until retirement.   The Camry goes to Franziska after it is ready.