What did YOU do today?

[sgtsandman]

I did some work on the Escape and discovered more of why it was on the used car lot. It looks like the valve cover gasket is leaking. Looking at all the stuff that needs to come off in order to do the job, my guess is that the shop quote for the repair was high and the PO didn't want to pay it. There are all kinds of signs that someone was there. Broken plastic mounts, missing covers on things, the missing splash shield underneath. The leak isn't bad but it will eventually foul up the spark plugs because of how the valve cover is designed. Stupid design but the job is doable.

When I get to it, I'll take a gander at the oil supply line for the turbocharger. Based on what I'm seeing with the valve cover gasket, I doubt it is leaking but while I'm there... I hear that the line has a screen on it like the 2.3 does. So, if nothing else, I'll make sure it is clean.

And I did some more work on the storage rack for the carport rafters. The upper support for the tarp is almost done and I installed some hardware cloth on the sides and ends of the floor slats to keep hornets and wasps from building nests inside. The center still needs to be done but I ran out of mesh to finish the job.

 

[scotts90ranger]

I think I followed all of that, but you never finished up if you were able to get anything for your mom or your brother…

and you bought some stuff that you’re already thinking of taking to the scrapyard? That sounds like some of my wheeling and dealing…

Lol, not THAT kind of auction

Some of the stuff was just thrown in walnut crates like scrap even though there was good stuff in it, some was scrap like the random Hundai Elantra rear door and bent 20" aluminum wheel...

I ended up draging dirt around with the tractor then flattened it out, much flatter than it was... then went and pulled the tire off the boat trailer, gotta get me a plug kit...

 

[Rick W]

Oh wise ones…

Air conditioning question. 1988 Ford/Lincoln Town Car, 302/5L V8, four speed OD auto transmission.

The AC system was fixed three or four years ago in a shop, new compressor, probably new dryer, but I don’t really remember. The last two years I had to add a can of Freon at the beginning of the season and maybe 2/3 of the way through the summer. But it would still click on and off by the time the spring rolled around again, so there was definitely some Freon still in the system.

Not this year. I put a can or two in about a month ago, and it only lasted about 10 days. Then, about 10 days ago, I much more carefully put in a little can of stop leak with red dye, a small can of pag oil with Freon, and then leveled it out with the gauges which was another can of Freon. It lasted a few days. BTW, all 134a.

Here’s my problem, & here’s my question. It’s the second time I added dye, but I can’t see the dye anywhere. This was red dye, not the yellow ultraviolet dye, so apparently no need for a black light, but I have no idea where this thing is leaking. What am I doing wrong? Should I put in some yellow fluorescent dye? I do have a black light.

Regardless, obviously it’s leaking. Down here, if I take it to a shop, I’m probably minimum looking at $1000. I hate to pay that for a couple of green O-rings and a dryer. You guys helped me do the 97 XLT last year, and it’s working great.

Considering it does get cold when I put the Freon in, I was thinking of getting a new dryer, a new orifice tube simply because I’ll be in there, and replacing all of the O-rings between the evaporator coil and the condenser. I’m thinking that’s a relatively easy job, not too expensive. Yes/no? Again, what am I missing, how could I check the coils and such if they’re the leaking problem? I can do the work, but I really don’t know where to start, and I don’t want to just replace everything.

I’ve also learned on these old cars, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. There’s a lot of stuff that works fine, and then if you start fiddling with it, it acts up.

EDIT/AFTERTHOUGHT: I have a vacuum pump to draw it down/dry it down before I add 134a. It was really ice cold when it was working. Should I start by replacing the O-rings and then just see if I can draw down vacuum? Or should I do the dryer and the orifice tube to start out? I can’t see how they really need it, because again it was ice cold until it started leaking. I don’t think it’s had an opportunity to draw in much moisture in the last month.

All comments and advice greatly appreciated…

 

[pjtoledo]

I would go ultraviolet because trace amounts are easier to detect.

 

[Rick W]

I would go ultraviolet because trace amounts are easier to detect.

makes sense, thanks

 

[scotts90ranger]

Last night I pulled up the old boat floor or at least most of it and found a bunch of aluminum welding I need to do, no wonder it rattled so much under there... didn't find much in the way of fun stuff under there, the top half of a fishing pole, some tackle mostly weights, a small Benchmade pocket knife, bunch of dirt...

 

[Blmpkn]

I managed to pet the biggest bumble bee I've ever seen. Chilly up here today so they ain't movin too fast.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Set some mouse traps for the little jerk that was in the kitchen, an hour and a half later one of the 4 went off so if it is just one then it's done but I'll leave them set for a few days...

After dinner I went and cleaned out the boat some more, no more treasures like the knife... which has a rusted out lock spring but no big deal. Anyway just took the shop vac and picked up like 15 pounds of sand and other grit and picked out the loose change (45 cents that I've found so far) and tackle which isn't much... After I pulled the front floorboard I found the heater hoses just had a prestone cleanout cap in the bow area... so I pulled those out. Also found 6 of those cheap orange life jackets shoved up there.

I think Saturday I need to pull the thing out of the shop and pressure wash inside since it's gross and needs a LOT of welding, the two crossmembers the front seat plates were attached to are no longer attached and several of the other crossmembers aren't very far behind... Going to have to get the spool gun hooked up for some practice, while there might as well do the other welding I've been meaning to do on the boat... On the plus side while I was cleaning out the bow I found a shutoff valve for the fuel which is a plus in the welding department (I clamped a shoulder bolt into the fuel line so far but double shutoff is better)

 

[scotts90ranger]

Forgot to look for my rubber cement I've had for a while, not sure why but 5 years ago I bought an 8oz can for some tire/tube project... anywho I found the can and it's even still good! Ordered me up some of the combo patches to fix my boat trailer tire to keep as a spare (hole is on the sidewall side of the corner... annoying) and ordered a new tire for it which should be here for next weekend... and ordered a set of door hinge pins for the F350 since the drivers door is getting pretty cranky...

Ok, now to call it a day and watch some forged in fire or something...

 

[sgtsandman]

Not too much here. I did order some more stuff for the overland project on the 2019. The fire extinguisher seat rail mount came in yesterday as well as the Ironman 4X4 folding toilet. Today, I'll be working on unbolting the RTT so I can work on positioning and marking the 2"X2"X60" square tubing spacers for bolt holes. That will lift the RTT up enough to clear the shark fin and hopefully give enough clearance to use the other awning brackets for the 270 awning. If that works out, then I can start working on the shower awning. It may still need some rectangle tubing for spacers, depending on how the RTT sits and clears the 270 awning. But I've been dragging my feet on that until I get everything else set so I'm not buying stuff I can't use.

 

[Bill]

I was feeling really good today, so I decided to take about a four mile walk along the river. Now that hip with arthritis is really killing me. Even after four Tylenol.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I was feeling really good today, so I decided to take about a four mile walk along the river. Now that hip with arthritis is really killing me. Even after four Tylenol.

I feel that. I didn’t go for a walk, but we have had a lot of cool and rainy weather. Yesterday I went down to my shop and was doing some little stuff outside when it wasn’t raining including a few walks over to my shed and to my property looking for things. My bad hip wasn’t happy at all but I ignored its complaints because I was sticking to light impact stuff and it was just sore because of the weather.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Didn't do a whole lot yesterday, did some more vacuuming in the boat tried to put a plug in the tire that was flat, turns out it isn't one of the ones I changed and was just a passenger tire which explains all the cracks... makes me feel less bad about just replacing that tire... then started moving stuff out of the way so I can pull the boat out, still got some to do but I was over it about 9:30...

oh and I cleaned some nails out of my burn pit, only filled up 1/2 a 5 gallon bucket... while it was pretty clean I figured I'd do that before I unload the pallet of pallet 2x4's (just the naily bits) that's stacked about 3' high in the back of the '97 ranger... gotta get another scrap barrel over there first, too much random metal that I've been tripping over for a while (recliner springs and the like). Gearing up for a scrap run next Saturday.

 

[sgtsandman]

I feel that. I didn’t go for a walk, but we have had a lot of cool and rainy weather. Yesterday I went down to my shop and was doing some little stuff outside when it wasn’t raining including a few walks over to my shed and to my property looking for things. My bad hip wasn’t happy at all but I ignored its complaints because I was sticking to light impact stuff and it was just sore because of the weather.

Mine bothers me from time to time after taking a hike with a pack. I think some of it may be how I was walking with the pack. I've done ti twice this year so far and haven't had an issue. Now my hands and sometimes my knees, on the other hand, have been complaining more than usual...

 

[sgtsandman]

I got the RTT reset with the 2" tubing in place to lift the thing up so it can clear the shark fin, got the awning mounts and awning installed, and put the Softopper back in place. I had to shift the RTT over even more though so that the awning mounts wouldn't hit the RTT. Now that all of that is set, I can get some spacers made for the shower awning/tent. Then I can get that mounted. I needed to tweak the bows for the one RTT side awning a bit so I could install them and clear the top of the awning housing. They were tweaked before but the setup was a bit different before the RTT was raised up higher. So, they had to be straightened a bit.

The wood work for the rafter rack has been completed. So, I can now start working on getting the carport torn down for the summer. While having the carport still up has been helpful, it's just as much in the way as being helpful and I'm about done with it being in the way. It should have been broken down for the summer about a month ago.

Pictures of both will be taken tomorrow.