What did YOU do today?

[Saddle Tramp]

That's the float switch for the automatic pontoons.

I need those for hurricane season!

 

[Saddle Tramp]

You should be able to just put a regular ratchet and socket on the one on the passenger side. Easiest access os through the wheel well.

The driver's side is a different story. Even with the throttle body and thermostat housing out of the way, access isn't great. A box end wrench will get in there. A deep well socket, only kind of.

One thing that makes the installation easier, is not not precharge the tensioner. That way you need less force to press the tensioner in there and get it threaded. Just remember to press the gas pedal all the way to the floor to keep the engine starting so you can prime the tensioner while cranking the engine.

The driver's side tensioner also likes to leak. So make sure to inspect it real good with a light and a mirror once you do fire up the engine so you don't fill up the valley with oil. I had that happen to me and needed to crank that tensioner down more so the crush washer would properly deform. That's where the box end wrench comes in handy. That and a can or two of brake cleaner to clean out the valley.

I think part of the problem on the passenger side was that I was using a deep well socket instead of a regular one. I think that added bulk length that changed the angle enough for it to slip off the corners of the tensioner head instead of catching them.

Thanks for the tips!

 

[Saddle Tramp]

The float ball thing was probably the vacuum reservoir for the vacuum supply to the HVAC controls. No wires to that, though. Just vacuum hose.

Thanks for solving that for me.

 

[CamTheHedgehog]

I discovered the dreaded leaf spring hanger rot today....

In the harbor freight parking lot. Long story.

Anyway, evidently the previous owner of my ranger (only one owner before me) had the rust issue as well, but it was apparently only bad enough on the drivers side to warrant replacement, not the passenger side. They are $30 dude.

So I have one hanger replaced already (AND HE ONLY PUT 3 OUT OF 4 BOLTS IN) and another with a not horrible, but significant rust hole that could possibly make it fail at any moment.

And I have my wisdom teeth taken out tomorrow morning, and can't lift anything for a week afterwards.


Ok, rant over. None of this is really a huge deal, it's just annoying. That's how life is though. Guess I have a project queued up for next week!

 

[Rick W]

I discovered the dreaded leaf spring hanger rot today....

In the harbor freight parking lot. Long story.

Anyway, evidently the previous owner of my ranger (only one owner before me) had the rust issue as well, but it was apparently only bad enough on the drivers side to warrant replacement, not the passenger side. They are $30 dude.

So I have one hanger replaced already (AND HE ONLY PUT 3 OUT OF 4 BOLTS IN) and another with a not horrible, but significant rust hole that could possibly make it fail at any moment.

And I have my wisdom teeth taken out tomorrow morning, and can't lift anything for a week afterwards.


Ok, rant over. None of this is really a huge deal, it's just annoying. That's how life is though. Guess I have a project queued up for next week!

I think you’re supposed to leave one bolt out after you do that kind of repair so the rust will leak out. I might be mistaken.

 

[CamTheHedgehog]

I think you’re supposed to leave one bolt out after you do that kind of repair so the rust will leak out. I might be mistaken.

You learn something new every day, don't ya!

 

[JoshT]

Took a break from the project and... worked on the project.

Today I took the evening off from climbing on and prepping stuff at the truck. Between disassembly, cleaning, and prep I've had touch time on it every day since last Tuesday or Friday.

Instead I went straight home after work, relaxed a few hours, are dinner and watched some YouTube. Then, instead of getting in bed like I should, I decided to take a look at the engine wiring harness. Nice thing about being a single home owner is I can stretch a wiring harness out across the living room for and work on it. Was just going to figure out how to depin the broke injector connector. Instead I ended up depinning and replacing all 8 injector connector connectors, depinned and repaired a wire near the 42 pun connector that had stripped insulation (undamaged, but poor splice by a PO), and fixed some harness wrap between there and the ECU connector. Engine harness is ready for reinstall.

Now I'm posting here and procrastinating on getting to sleep. I'm going to be one tired a$$ tomorrow. 5 am is a few hours away and this is the second night in a row I was up past 12. I know better and do it anyway.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Finally put most of the tools away from the camper repair project, much less messy... then decided to work on the Traxxas Rustler, was going to put on the fancy shocks I bought for the rear of it but they're not the right ones... they're the length for the front not the back. That's about the time I realized the reason the rear suspension wasn't working right, the rear lower suspension arms were rubbing on the inner side of the pivot so I got out the dremel and trimmed the suspension arms where they were hitting... much better now, suspension should actually work now...

 

[Roert42]

You should be able to just put a regular ratchet and socket on the one on the passenger side. Easiest access os through the wheel well.

The driver's side is a different story. Even with the throttle body and thermostat housing out of the way, access isn't great. A box end wrench will get in there. A deep well socket, only kind of.

One thing that makes the installation easier, is not not precharge the tensioner. That way you need less force to press the tensioner in there and get it threaded. Just remember to press the gas pedal all the way to the floor to keep the engine starting so you can prime the tensioner while cranking the engine.

The driver's side tensioner also likes to leak. So make sure to inspect it real good with a light and a mirror once you do fire up the engine so you don't fill up the valley with oil. I had that happen to me and needed to crank that tensioner down more so the crush washer would properly deform. That's where the box end wrench comes in handy. That and a can or two of brake cleaner to clean out the valley.

I think part of the problem on the passenger side was that I was using a deep well socket instead of a regular one. I think that added bulk length that changed the angle enough for it to slip off the corners of the tensioner head instead of catching them.

Thanks for the tips!

When you do the one on the front, leave the thermostat housing in place. Take off the throttle body and upper intake manifold. Intake is help on with a dozen screws with torx heads. It’s got a o ring gasket so it can be reused if it’s not all dried out.
Save the effort of spilling coolant.

If I remember correctly you can get at it will a combination wrench this way.

 

[scotts90ranger]

The barrel of tools I got a couple weeks ago had someone's file based knife in it, dagger style blade with a 1/2" galvanized pipe handle where they ran out of ideas quick so it was electrical taped on... so I took the time with a diamond drill bit in the rotary tool to drill a pin hole, pressed the end of the handle flat, cut a couple small pieces of 1/8" steel for finger guards, peened the pin, welded the pieces on then sharpened the thing, will get a pic later... kinda useless but neat at the same time... a shop dagger might end up handy...

Then between rain storms I got the camper on the F350 so it's finally out of the shop. Now I gotta clean the floor, pull the '97 Ranger in for an oil change then get the wifes car in to check the cabin filter for mice, apparently it smells like a rodent invasion...

After that the '90 will end up in the shop to figure out the spindle bearing issue and fix the alignment issues...

 

[CamTheHedgehog]

I bought myself a nice Apache (pelican knockoff) case from HF to put my scan tool in, and it's surprisingly well built!

Now to fix the rusted spring hanger and shackle....

 

[2011Supercab]

Now I gotta clean the floor, pull the '97 Ranger in for an oil change then get the wifes car in to check the cabin filter for mice, apparently it smells like a rodent invasion...

Personnel experience says your list is in the wrong order.

Finding and curing smell in wife's car should be at top of list

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

The barrel of tools I got a couple weeks ago had someone's file based knife in it, dagger style blade with a 1/2" galvanized pipe handle where they ran out of ideas quick so it was electrical taped on... so I took the time with a diamond drill bit in the rotary tool to drill a pin hole, pressed the end of the handle flat, cut a couple small pieces of 1/8" steel for finger guards, peened the pin, welded the pieces on then sharpened the thing, will get a pic later... kinda useless but neat at the same time... a shop dagger might end up handy...

Then between rain storms I got the camper on the F350 so it's finally out of the shop. Now I gotta clean the floor, pull the '97 Ranger in for an oil change then get the wifes car in to check the cabin filter for mice, apparently it smells like a rodent invasion...

After that the '90 will end up in the shop to figure out the spindle bearing issue and fix the alignment issues...

Maybe the knife was made for opening snail mail.

 

[Rick W]

The barrel of tools I got a couple weeks ago had someone's file based knife in it, dagger style blade with a 1/2" galvanized pipe handle where they ran out of ideas quick so it was electrical taped on... so I took the time with a diamond drill bit in the rotary tool to drill a pin hole, pressed the end of the handle flat, cut a couple small pieces of 1/8" steel for finger guards, peened the pin, welded the pieces on then sharpened the thing, will get a pic later... kinda useless but neat at the same time... a shop dagger might end up handy...

Then between rain storms I got the camper on the F350 so it's finally out of the shop. Now I gotta clean the floor, pull the '97 Ranger in for an oil change then get the wifes car in to check the cabin filter for mice, apparently it smells like a rodent invasion...

After that the '90 will end up in the shop to figure out the spindle bearing issue and fix the alignment issues...

Sounds nice, but once you’re out of the joint, you don’t really need to go to that level of detail to impress your bitch. He’ll probably be yours just because you have a 350 and camper….

…unless it’s just for enhanced excitement with the dog collar….

 

[CamTheHedgehog]

Personnel experience says your list is in the wrong order.

Finding and curing smell in wife's car should be at top of list

I can confirm this. Not because I’m married, but because my dad delegates all the car work to me.

And anything on my mom’s Pilot is always priority one- and I gotta keep my street cred up too yaknow!