Wrenching on a car for the first time in at least a year...

"Eric @ opposite-lock.com" (theyrerolling) 01/27/2018 at 21:25 • Filed to: wrenching

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... wish me luck with my turbo swap.

My wife trusts this dude at this battery place that claimed her car needed an alternator. It wasn’t putting out much and the battery had barely any charge after the pretty long drive out there, but it starts and runs fine, as it has for a long time. She started tripping out because we had two dead battery events in quick succession and that meant it needed something... I’m not sure I fully believe him, but that alternator is weird and controlled by the computer.

While I’m swapping it, I will also swap the serpentine belt. I also have the parts/stuff to do all the intake/MAF stuff listed in the recent Jalop tuneup article, and replace the spark plugs (which I’ve been threatening to do for two years but she didn’t believe I could do it without, “breaking my car”).

I wanted to yank the entire intake manifold off and clean the entire thing out, too, but the auto parts place didn’t have the gasket kit available.

Hoping this goes well. I’m usually good at this stuff, but this is the newest car I’ve ever done this much work on.

WilliamsSW > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 01/27/2018 at 21:54

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Ooh that will add like 80 HP at the wheels. Good luck!

ranwhenparked > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 01/27/2018 at 22:02

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If all goes well, you should get a tattoo to celebrate.

AestheticsInMotion > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 01/27/2018 at 22:05

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Must be nice wrenching on a clean, modern car!

*remembers the cut up hands from changing a bulb on the Outback*

Nevermind...

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > AestheticsInMotion 01/27/2018 at 22:20

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Yeah, there’s nothing clean about the engine on this car.

And headlight bulbs are brutal to swap on this car...

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > WilliamsSW 01/27/2018 at 22:20

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It might add a decent amount after all of this is done, oddly enough.

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > ranwhenparked 01/27/2018 at 22:29

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I don’t do tattoos. Ever.

ranwhenparked > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 01/27/2018 at 22:31

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Come on, you know you want this.

Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 02/08/2018 at 11:24

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Is that an alternator for ants?

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction 02/08/2018 at 11:28

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Pretty much. 90W. It’s the smallest-output one I’ve ever swapped.

The alternator was easy, the rest were pretty easy except the belts. The belts sucked. The outer one holding the easy one in is a “stretch belt”, which are super difficult to swap.