New England B.S. Thread

Hahaha it's fine once I start it, it's after it's sat for a bit that it hates starting

 

Since I know you guys love Jeep stories…

Wife pulled up after getting the kids yesterday and all I could smell was coolant. I popped the hood and saw a puddle under the water pump in the front crossmember. Fantastic, water pump is leaking.

But Mike, how do you know it’s the water pump and not something else? Well, friends, it’s easy to know it’s the water pump when it’s the replacement of the replacement of the replacement (yes, that’s not a typo). This is the fourth pump that’s leaked since May of last year. So far I’m into this for the $200 deductible for Maxcare and all the replacements have been done under warranty, so at least my only problem is coordinating something for the wife to drive while it’s at the dealer.

How does three replacement pumps go bad in under a year? A quick search shows I’m not the only person facing this with the Pentastar in the same timeframe so maybe there’s a junk batch of pumps out there. With the Maxcare warranty we have it’s crazy not to drive the Jeep into the ground but I guess it’s finally starting to live up to the Jeep reputation. It’s been pretty bulletproof otherwise.

The dealer’s been pretty decent to work with, so hopefully they don’t fight me on replacing this part under their replacement part warranty (free) versus trying to fit it under Maxcare ($200). Everything I’ve read says parts are 24 mo / unlimited mileage, so…

I’ve gotta get my lawnmowers prepped for the season today and start knocking back the jungle that is my yard. To whomever placed the oil filter on the Deere tractors I hope you have a lifetime of rocks in your shoes and Legos on the floors of your home.

 

Reconnected the firestone bags on the infiniti this morning. Added 1 inch spacers on it last week and it's riding great now. Towing should be even better this year.

Also added the rear diff breather this morning.




@crashngiggles it was the right fitting lol. Correct thread and it looked smaller because it was a smaller hose. I used the ARB kit lol

 

Jeez, what do you have for miles on that? Seems a little early to need one in the first place much less all those replacements.

 

The Camry has more off road suspension mods than my truck now.

 

Already broken or did you cut it out?

 

Just about 61k when the first one went. We’re at just about 71k right now. I really like it outside of the brakes and the water pump.

I went to do the annual service on my lawn mower today and bought one of those home maintenance kits from Deere as the complete kit is like 50% of the cost of doing it piecemeal. Of course they provide two quarts of oil when the capacity is 2.2 and even though the part number was right on the oil filter box and unit itself it would not spin on and wasn’t right. I had to run to my Mom’s and grab a spare quart I had there and then pay $20(!) at Lowe’s for a new oil filter. The whole maintenance kit was like $55 and included two quarts of oil, two plugs, fuel filter, air and air pre-filter and oil filter.

I finally tamed the jungle in my yard but it needs so much more than I have the time to do myself or the cash to hire someone. Hopefully next year I’ll be in better shape. My wife’s school system is doing layoffs again and she’s low enough on the seniority list we are a bit touch and go for the week. Hopefully she’s in the clear but we shall see.

 

The thing about Jeeps is people seem to either get really good ones or really bad ones, no in between.

 

I had the pump go in my Olds Achieva at around 50K, though partially bc it wasn't driven for a few months I surmise. That was a bag of shit..back of the engine, 6-8 hours and need to lift it..

I really need to do a service on my tractor, I know it's overdue though I don't use it much except in fall. Really should do the snowblower too. Yucky.

 

I don't know which end link was smoked but I knew one of them was from noise. Experience from my old Mazda told me when one goes they're all gonna go - so just whip them all out in one go.

Front went dandy. Maybe 20 minutes a side including getting it in the air and wheels coming off. Rear upper bolts came out "okay" but the bottoms are just gone. Decided to just pull it, but there's an exhaust in the way and I spent 10 ish minutes wrestling it and then the sawzall came out.

No more noise and I sent it into a turnaround on 114 and it still felt fine so scrap metal it is. She's got 120k on her. with the rust i saw i figure she has another 100k ish before trade in, or my wife gets another car and i transform this (hybrid) into a road trip warrior.

 

My tracked motorcycle thing claims to have arrived in Oak Grove IL as of yesterday.

 

So I picked up that B3000 a while back, it's been on loan to a friend who needed some wheels. Got a call from friend yesterday - "hey, the truck just blew the fuck up way out yonder, it made a sucking/whistling noise then suddenly the temp gauge shot up to H real fast, I got it pulled over immediately, no CELs, no Christmas lights, what do you want me to do?"

So I grab a bunch of coolant, hose clamps, tools, etc. and get out there. Expansion tank is full, rad is empty. Put a gallon of coolant in and I can see dripping under the truck. Play fiddlefuck and trace the dripping up and it just kinda disappears at one point, near the top of the water pump. I put another gallon of coolant in to fill the rad, start it up, and sho nuff she is PISSING coolant out the bottom. Trace it up again, and again, it's like the coolant is just magically appearing somewhere.

Well, after screwing around for a while longer, I find a hairline crack in the casting of the month old water pump, up near the top by the top coolant bypass hose. It was fine for a month of daily commuting by my friend, but I guess enough heat cycles popped the casting flaw open.

Never seen such a thing happen before in my life. Anyway, not limpable in that condition, so I pulled out my problem solver - a large caliber, high capacity 100 mile/no questions/ no fees roadside assistance card

They'll stick it in my driveway tomorrow morning so I can replace the pump. SIgh.

 

Ive got a set of 1st gen alloys with so-so tires on them. The wheels are by no means perfect but they all have center caps. No lugs. I just want to get rid of them. If anyone can use a set of spares, etc, more than welcome to them. And yes, they all hold air just fine.

Hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful day. Thanks

 

It's easier when you can put your vehicle on a lift to work on it.

 

Met up with a friend and took my dog camping this weekend at My Tabor. Just the main forest roads open it seems but there is an area that got swept up, just about a mile past the lonesome pond trail from the silver bridge fyi so if you wanted a spot beyond it you should go in by landgrove

 

What size wheels?

 

So... whacked my rear bumps for sure today, and if I didn't hit the front, had to be pretty close...

So, I'm stuck on the fence.

Think I am going to follow suit with @AllTacosFloat and @crashngiggles and go with the Icon RTX rear pack, and have some flexibility.

But, I'm stuck between just getting 700# springs for my current 5100s, or... if it I really worth it to go 6112s and 700s.

No complaints on my current set-up... until it started getting heavy...

Doing UCAs and, probably the ECGS bushing at the same time as well, since, I will have it all apart... again....
It needs an alignment again ANYWAY, so, I will be doing a few other things as well.
For the foreseeable future, nothing bigger than 255/85s or my 265/75s.

I know this isn't the proper spot for this... but... here we are...lol

 

What's your current front setup? 700# is a stiff spiring...

 

It's amazing how much difference cleaning and lubricating the chain makes. I used dry lube, which isn't dry but is for dry conditions. I did the cleaning with an Ozzy chain cleaning tool I got a few years ago on Amazon. I used Simple Green as the cleaning agent and it works well. Then dry the chain as much as possible. The put the lubricant on and turn the crank to get it all in where it needs to be.

Not only was it more quiet, but there appears to be less friction or something, so I managed to maintain a decent speed. 13 miles in one hour, not bad.