Advance Auto Closing 100's of stores

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Wait til you see what it takes to replace a heater core in some of the vehicles now. If you though pulling the dash back was bad, some of the cars require disassembly of the dash and disassembly of part of the engine compartment to get the heater core out. And the aggravating thing is it would be a 30 minute job if the manufacturer had an access panel in the plenum like they did decades ago.

Yup, my friend Lisa had the heater core go on her 2005 Malibu. She asked if me or my buddy Paul or both would fix it. A quick search showed that you had to rip the entire dash out plus a bunch of other stuff. We said no. The mechanic she found to do it ended up getting a real headache when the first three heater cores ordered (including one from GM) were all wrong. I was very glad it was someone else’s headache.

 

[Bill]

Yup, my friend Lisa had the heater core go on her 2005 Malibu. She asked if me or my buddy Paul or both would fix it. A quick search showed that you had to rip the entire dash out plus a bunch of other stuff. We said no. The mechanic she found to do it ended up getting a real headache when the first three heater cores ordered (including one from GM) were all wrong. I was very glad it was someone else’s headache.

There's a post on Reddit about a mechanic at a dealership who quit over a heater core. I think it was a Toyota Tacoma. Same issue. Replacing the heater core required disassembly of the vehicle. The job paid 8 hours on book, but after 15 hours he walked out and said, "I'm not working for free anymore." There's another story about something similar with replacing a transmission. Half the vehicle had to be disassembled to remove the transmission because the manufacturer placed two recessed torx bolts on the top of the transmission bell housing at 45 degrees that were inaccessible unless you dropped the transmission and engine as an assembly, which required disassembly of the suspension to get to the bolts to lower the sub-frame.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

There's a post on Reddit about a mechanic at a dealership who quit over a heater core. I think it was a Toyota Tacoma. Same issue. Replacing the heater core required disassembly of the vehicle. The job paid 8 hours on book, but after 15 hours he walked out and said, "I'm not working for free anymore." There's another story about something similar with replacing a transmission. Half the vehicle had to be disassembled to remove the transmission because the manufacturer placed two recessed torx bolts on the top of the transmission bell housing at 45 degrees that were inaccessible unless you dropped the transmission and engine as an assembly, which required disassembly of the suspension to get to the bolts to lower the sub-frame.

Dropping the subframe with the power train is kinda common on fwds. Really kind of cheating in a way... gotta have a hoist tho.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

There's a post on Reddit about a mechanic at a dealership who quit over a heater core. I think it was a Toyota Tacoma. Same issue. Replacing the heater core required disassembly of the vehicle. The job paid 8 hours on book, but after 15 hours he walked out and said, "I'm not working for free anymore." There's another story about something similar with replacing a transmission. Half the vehicle had to be disassembled to remove the transmission because the manufacturer placed two recessed torx bolts on the top of the transmission bell housing at 45 degrees that were inaccessible unless you dropped the transmission and engine as an assembly, which required disassembly of the suspension to get to the bolts to lower the sub-frame.

Yeah, that’s kinda crazy. Although my understanding is that dropping the entire drivetrain as a unit is normal for a lot of modern vehicles. I can see positives because if it’s done in a way where it’s not super hard to do with a lift, you then have 100% access to everything important. Down side is that if you don’t have a lift, you are in for a nightmare.

Right now, I have a garage, just it’s a pile of parts on a sloped lot currently. My buddy Paul has a garage but you’re not pulling any car in bigger than an RC car. 3 quads, 2 refrigerators, 1 freezer, and a pile of tools take up the entire 2-car garage. At least half of the tools are mine (my big welder, rim clamp tire machine, oxy/acetylene torch set, two service carts, engine hoist and stand, tube bender, etc). There’s limits and compromises to do what we do, lol. My garage, when I can level the ground and get it up, will be big enough for a lift. That will solve a lot of problems.

 

[ZMan]

They shut the CarQuest stores down . My neighbor had to change to Federated .

Our Carquest became an Advanced. Which makes for 2 advanced stores in my city. So I imagine one of them is going to be closing, and it'll probably be the one that used to be Carquest, I haven't driven past to see if any signs are up though.

 

[Bill]

It looks like Advance is starting to dump some items at really low prices. They have a variety of oil filters at really good prices. The Motorcraft FL-400s is on their website for $2.80 and Zerex G05 is 11.99 a gallon for the 50/50 mix. The Fram Force FF3600 filters are $2.00 each. You can have this stuff shipped if you order $35 worth of junk from them. I need coolant, so I'm going to order that. The last time I was at Carquest they had one case of 12 Mazda filters for $10 that are the same product as the Motorcraft FL-400s, but with the Mazda part number on them. They would only sell the case, but since a Motorcraft filter cost almost $9 at Walmart now, So, I have enough oil filters for a long time. That means I have to figure out what to order that I can use to get to $35 for free shipping.

They have the FL-910s, which is a shorter version of the FL-400s for the same price. The FL-1A is $3.00. All three are interchangeable if clearance allows it. Fun fact: The FL-910s was made because the longer FL-400s faced forward in some of the Ford and Mazda cars. People were smashing the oil filter or snapping off the 90 degree oil filter adapter because the oil filter would hit the curb or parking blocks when people were parking. I know someone who did that on a Focus about ten days after she bought it.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

@Bill , the FL-1A has a different thread than the FL-910s, not sure about the FL-400s. I was going to put an FL-1A on my 5.0 in my green Ranger because I have the clearance to fit it with how I set things up, but it doesn’t screw on.

*edit, I was mistaken, the FL-1A (3/4 x 16 thread) and the FL-820s (M22 x 1.5) don’t match and the 5.0 from an explorer uses the FL-820s

 

[Bill]

@Bill , the FL-1A has a different thread than the FL-910s, not sure about the FL-400s. I was going to put an FL-1A on my 5.0 in my green Ranger because I have the clearance to fit it with how I set things up, but it doesn’t screw on.

Fram states the FL-1A cross to PH8 has a 3/4-16 thread, as does the other two. My 2007 2.3L came with an FL-400s. The first time I went to buy a replacement filter the parts catalog said it took a FL-910s. I noticed it was shorter, so I crossed the FL-400s to the PH3600 and noticed the thread was the same and I've been using the FL-400s. I had an FL-1A sitting around and I really think I used it on this Ranger, but that was years ago and it may have been an oil change I did for someone.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Fram states the FL-1A cross to PH8 has a 3/4-16 thread, as does the other two. My 2007 2.3L came with an FL-400s. The first time I went to buy a replacement filter the parts catalog said it took a FL-910s. I noticed it was shorter, so I crossed the FL-400s to the PH3600 and noticed the thread was the same and I've been using the FL-400s. I had an FL-1A sitting around and I really think I used it on this Ranger, but that was years ago and it may have been an oil change I did for someone.

My bad, I got it mixed up with the FL-820s, knew I should have checked, lol. FL-820s is what the 5.0 out of the Explorer used and that has a M22 X 1.5-6H

 

[Brain75]

I will say 2 things on filters since this seems to have really become a filter discussion at this point... I stocked up a bunch of Wix 51515 filters (since my '89 took it and I knew the old '81 on the farm also did)... the filter stock outlasted the vehicle and my next one took a different filter so I gave em all away. Then during the rebuild on my 302 I noticed it took a FL-1A and kicked myself (they are a direct interchange) for giving away a bunch of filters... fast forward to now and once again driving a vehicle that takes a 51515/FL-1A... It is at least nice that Ford used the same filter for 60 years+ in "most" of their vehicles. (and my 89 was not even 1/10th similar to the 300 or 302 or or, sideways mounted 1.9L.)

My sister/brother in law have a frickin fleet of vehicles (2 kids, farm) and not a one of em takes the same filter. Japanese for the kids and wife, chevy's and dodges and lions and tigers oh my - every one of em different.

 

[RobbieD]

That's one thing that the early RBVs are good about- common oil filters. The five I have in the fleet have a 2.3, a 2.8, a 2.9 and a pair of 4.0s, and they all take an FL-1A.

 

[Brain75]

Has anyone here put a FL299 in where the FL-1A is called for? (longer, larger capacity, but 30 micron filtration instead of 20)

 

[Bill]

Has anyone here put a FL299 in where the FL-1A is called for? (longer, larger capacity, but 30 micron filtration instead of 20)

You can look up the specifcations by cross-referencing the filter on the Fram webite. Gasket diameter, bypass settings, and thread. If the gasket surface fits the mount, it threads, and the bypass setting is comparable, I don't see why it will not work unless the physical size of the filter will not fit due to clearances. There's a Motorcraft website that has all the filter specificaitons too.

 

[Brain75]

yeah I know it fits, it is the same pitch thread diameter everything, just longer (for the 7.0L)

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

That's one thing that the early RBVs are good about- common oil filters. The five I have in the fleet have a 2.3, a 2.8, a 2.9 and a pair of 4.0s, and they all take an FL-1A.

My F-150 and F-350 dump both take the FL-1A as well. I’m annoyed that the Explorer 5.0 in my Ranger doesn’t use the FL-1A and neither does my 3.0 Ranger, but it is really nice having one filter that fits most of my fleet. My parents vehicles take FL-1A for two of them and the FL-820s for two. Then there’s the Murano which will be going at some point when we can find a replacement Explorer…