"Tripper" (tripe46)
10/30/2018 at 09:45 • Filed to: None
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"Tripper" (tripe46)
10/30/2018 at 09:45 • Filed to: None | 1
| 9 |
My Ranger Was leaking coolant (and oil as I would find out later). I could smell the coolant, so I went looking. It was at none of the usual spots so I googled “Vulcan 3.0 coolant leak” and saw lots of posts about it leaking from the timing chain cover. I went right out and looked annnnnd it looked like my timing chain cover was growing algae.
Not my truck, actually no idea what vehicle this is from. I just wanted to get your attention.
I planned to DIY but it seems with the torsion suspension (maybe regardless of the torsion suspension) that the oil pan needs to come out and thus the transmission. I found a couple of videos that detailed shady ways of doing it without removing the transmission , but those videos were posted by people who really knew what they were doing, or had no clue what they were doing. All of them had tools/engine cranes that I don’t have. Even if I did have the gear, it did not look like something I could get done in an afternoon on the side of my street.
So I decided to let someone do it. Timing cover gasket, oil pan gasket, and I added a water pump since, it’s right there. Around $200 in parts. The grand total...$1,565! Definitely the largest gap between parts and labor I have experienced in my history of owning cars. While expensive, they fixed it quickly (4 days) and I formed a great relationship with a new shop right down the street from my house.
One of the nice things about owning and maintaining a couple of M3's over the past 12 years is that $1,500 is just another trip to the inde mech. With the ranger most fixes are had for less than $100.
I’ve been putting off resurfacing the driveway, because of the leak so now I can get to that!
Sovande
> Tripper
10/30/2018 at 10:15 |
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I feel your pain... I just spent $340 getting two radiator hoses replaced on my C30. Of course that included $80 of the most special coolant on the planet. I would have done it myself, but I just didn’t have the time.
The truck looks awesome, BTW.
jimz
> Tripper
10/30/2018 at 10:26 |
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yeah, I have a 4.0 SOHC Ranger and I’m religious about oil changes. I do NOT want the timing chain guides/tensioners to wear out, because (since it was designed in Germany) the passenger side cam chain is on the back of the engine.
Engine-out job.
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Tripper
> Sovande
10/30/2018 at 10:36 |
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Thanks!
GoodIdeaAtTheTime
> Tripper
10/30/2018 at 10:44 |
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I just rebuilt the cooling system on my Xterra. Twice, stupid seala nt had expired . Shoul d have sent it to Nissan and let them do it, the first time .Some on Nissan’s designs, I tell you. I shouldn’t complain, I kinda work for them.
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Tripper
> GoodIdeaAtTheTime
10/30/2018 at 11:01 |
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“what if I fuck it up, and have to pull everything apart again” definitely got in my head. I’m a hobby mechanic on my best day, I couldn’t risk it.
shop-teacher
> Tripper
10/30/2018 at 11:27 |
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No shame in that. I just had a shop replace all the brake lines in my truck. I’m absolutely capable of that job, but it would take me two weeks of every second of free time, with my truck out of commission the whole time. Instead the truck was in the shop for three days, and it cost me the better part of $700 to have those and an also leaking trans cooler line replaced.
merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc
> Tripper
10/30/2018 at 11:38 |
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A man’s got to realize his limitations. And be realistic about what can and could be tackled DIY. Sometimes it’s just a good idea to spend the money and send it out.
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GoodIdeaAtTheTime
> Tripper
10/30/2018 at 11:56 |
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Even those of us who do this crap for a living screw up once in a while. It happens, fix it again and go on.
Meatcoma
> Tripper
10/30/2018 at 15:22 |
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My 03 F 250 had a flashing O/D light. I figured it was from the frayed wires in the o/d on-off button on the end of the shifter. I pulled the shifter out and re-soldered the wire and tried to clear the code. No luck. Decided to take it into a transmission shop. $220 just to diagnose it. Another $ 200 to change the transmission fluid. $500 to find out it was a broken wire on the harness at the connector on the transmission. I was going to look at it but currently my shop is a boat house and it was rainy out. SMH.