what did you wrench on today??

[dorkburger]

My Echo leaf blower has been an incredibly dependable machine for the last 15 years, but it has become a bit cold blooded over the last few years. I figured it was the carburetor.
The other day it straight up gave me the finger and did nothing. The plug was either bone dry or soaked. I took it apart checked the carb, etc. nothing. Compression was good, spark was good. I bought a cheap Chinese kit from eBay to replace the cheap Chinese OE carb. It came with an equally cheap Chinese spark plug, fuel lines and an incorrect air filter- for $14, free shipping. It arrived, I installed it, and.... same exact thing. I was frustrated and felt like a low level parts changer.

Licking my wounds, I turned to YouTube. A million carb replacement videos and only one that made sense and was a quiet whisper in the back of my mind.
Spark timing. Turns out that there must have been some ?value engineering?. The crank has a spot machined for a woodruff key. The rotor simply has a built in tab to engage slot instead of a key and slot. Or in my case... had. Not wanting to spend more money and with leaves piling up, I put the rotor in its proper location, blue locktited the crank taper and reinstalled the rotor. ?Fixed? for now.

 

[Brendan W]

BMW 520 turned up with lots of water in the rear passenger footwell. Owner was seriously considering swimming lessons for the child.
Looks like the RHD versions have history with a bizarre water management system in front of the blank plug for the steering column hole on the passenger side.
Followed the footsteps of others who posted their experience. We'll see.

 

[93Bandit]

I didn't wrench on the bikes, but I did install a heater in my garage. It's a necessity in MI! Now that my garage is heated, I'll have more motivation to work on the bikes throughout the winter. I never have time when the weather's nice so it'll be great taking advantage of my spare time during the colder months.

 

[Brendan W]

Fitted a new plastic thermostat housing with thermostat and temperature sender to the car, a Renault Grand Scenic.
The temperature gauge displays bars. Five bars is normal. Recently in had started dropping to four.
Scanner showed it running at 77C/170F. One bar on the display is a big chunk of temperature.
An analogue temperature gauge would have showed this up earlier I imagine.
Who knows how long it had been running cool.
Cycling away now in the low to mid 90s C.

 

[Big T]

Spiffing up a bicycle I got for the wife for Xmas.
It's suffering from a bit of neglect, as the previous owner had a year plus battle with cancer.

It's hard to find bikes with really large frames. The prior owner is 6'6", so the frame should keep her from being hunched over.

A bit of polish and lube, and it will be ready.

 

[GS1150Pilot]

I spent some time today working on a used kids' mountain bike for my nephew. Trued wheels, adjusted shifting, lubed chain, adjusted brakes, installed new tires and new grips.

 

[Guest]

Found that my battery runs dead in 3 days on my GS1000E so without a multi meter i checked wiring around reg/rec and found dry solder joint in reg/rec earth , as well as a stator lead not connected properly
With those rectified and temporarily insulated i will test charge rate at work in a 4hrs

 

[Rich82GS750TZ]

Wolf. Buy a voltmeter. They?re cheap. Gotta Harbor Freight nearby? As Ed Ness always says ?to measure is to know.?

edit: sorry, don?t know what stores you may have in SA.

 

[Guest]

Have one but its at work thing can even read rpm if the pulse clamp is connected

 

[ddaniels]

I had to put new front wheel bearing hubs and rotors on my 2015 Altima, which my son drives. Not too bad of a job really.

 

[Grimly]

Unexpected item in the battery area.
To wit, one flat battery.
I discovered that I'd left the ignition switch on when I parked it up.
Luckily, the XJ battery is the same type and fit, so today was the perfect chance to give it a workout.

 

[Jerry]

Yesterday Hew tires today sync Carbs. With my new Morgan Carbtune pro . So much easier to sync carbs with it than my old gauges and more accurate
IMG_3935 by Gerald Kaiser, on Flickr

 

[GS1150Pilot]

Changed the oil and filter on the Soul yesterday. The best laid out car I've ever seen for that. Would have been a 15 minute job if the gorilla who tightened the drain plug last oil change (before I bought it) hadn't treated it like it was a crank pulley bolt.

 

[93Bandit]

Finally getting started on my 750. Carbs removed and disassembled. Plan to begin cleaning tomorrow

 

[Guest]

Got the GSX rider peg plates fitted to my Gs1000

 

[dorkburger]

Jeep math.... The week plus saga wrapped up yesterday. The wife?s Jeep needed $1275 worth of tires. Instead, I bought a set of 5 takeoff wheels with PO mileage from the dealer to his house for $600. It wasn?t without pain, but the pain was mostly self inflicted. The new wheels sure are shiny.

 

[KiwiAlfa156]

Dropped the gearcase off an 8HP Evinrude outboard, yesterday. Was blowing steam. Impeller replacement and thermostat clean out on Thursday.

This evening replaced a starter motor brush in the GS650G. Stopped cranking this morning, had to bump start her to get to work and back. Had a new spare in the box. About an hour to do, carbs and cam chain tensioner off to get the starter out.

Bike got all Christmassy today, thanks to my workmates.

 

[Brendan W]

Opened the microwave oven to find out why it was cutting out randomly.
The three door switches are one shot plastic rivet melted to the plastic switch carrier, no adjustment, no replacement without major surgery.
The main push button circuit board was a bit loose on it's mounting screws.
Flooded them all with alcohol and so far so good.

 

[93Bandit]

Put heated grips on the 850 yesterday evening. Going to go for a test ride today

 

[DaveR]

Finished adapting the used Shindegan rr to the ‘79 gs1000 electrical panel. Getting closer to completing the list for a spring launch.