I give up

"AestheticsInMotion" (aestheticsinmotion) 07/19/2019 at 17:35 • Filed to: None

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39

Finally decided to replace my two accessory belts, and... Can’t even get them off. Half the bolts on the tensioners are *missing*, and the other half are stripped. And rusted. To the shop she goes. At least it’s cheap. $160 parts and labor.

I take no pleasure in working on this car. My buddy’s 4runner on the other hand is a joy to wrench on. You can crawl around underneath without a jack, there’s space everywhere, bolts actually come out of where they’re threaded as apposed to snapping, stripping, or not moving.... Hah.

Shop is seeing it on Tuesday, but just to get it drivable until then I’m going to have to use a crowbar to get tension in the belt with one hand while tightening the lock bolts with another. Wish me luck

razorbeamteam > AestheticsInMotion 07/19/2019 at 17:41

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Yikes, I know what you mean though. I love working on my own cars, until I don’t. Rusty bolts, tight clearances, and unplanned side projects make things very frustrating.

It’s good to not have too much pride that you can’t show up at the shop with a handful of broken parts knowing that the mechanic will probably laugh at you once you leave. 

someassemblyrequired > AestheticsInMotion 07/19/2019 at 17:41

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Hey if you haven’t discovered it already, Coop’s in Maple Valley is amazing. Coop is cranky in an entertaining way and does great work at reasonable prices.   I didn’t bother working on mine when I lived in Issaquah.

Sovande > AestheticsInMotion 07/19/2019 at 17:43

5

Nothing better than dropping it off and picking it up later all fixed and ready to go. I have no problem paying for the things I don't want to do. 

vicali > AestheticsInMotion 07/19/2019 at 17:45

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Rusty bolts? how did they get wet under the hood ..

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > AestheticsInMotion 07/19/2019 at 17:55

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You're having more existential crises than a 3rd-party voter.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > AestheticsInMotion 07/19/2019 at 17:56

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Also you should buy RPM's 4Runner...

AestheticsInMotion > someassemblyrequired 07/19/2019 at 17:59

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They were the first place I called, but no answer. If I end up doing an engine swap before getting a garage, I'll be going with them

AestheticsInMotion > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 07/19/2019 at 18:00

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I need my vacation 

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > AestheticsInMotion 07/19/2019 at 18:01

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I hate working on cars, so I understand this

AestheticsInMotion > vicali 07/19/2019 at 18:01

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Oh, these ones have been rusty looooong before I added hood vents. Although the extra water surely isn't helping

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > vicali 07/19/2019 at 18:02

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Have you not heard of Mazda?

AestheticsInMotion > razorbeamteam 07/19/2019 at 18:03

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I got it all buttoned up and back together.

I'm sure this is an easy job for a good mechanic but I still feel bad for whoever is going to have to deal with the two broken bolts in tight places

vicali > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 07/19/2019 at 18:04

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True, but at least Toyota has the decency to make all their hoodscoops fake..

Chariotoflove > AestheticsInMotion 07/19/2019 at 18:04

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Luck!

Chariotoflove > Sovande 07/19/2019 at 18:05

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Amen. If you have the money, it’s worth the time and aggravation.

AestheticsInMotion > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 07/19/2019 at 18:05

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My goal for this year is to have a brand new motorcycle, and a not new truck/SUV. A 4th gen 4runner would definitely fit one of those roles... 

AestheticsInMotion > Chariotoflove 07/19/2019 at 18:06

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I’ve been sitting outside for 15 minutes, putting off the inevetible startup attempt.

Please don't squeal like a banshee.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > AestheticsInMotion 07/19/2019 at 18:07

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It might be worth having them check the main pulley, too. I’ve seen the small bolts holding the two parts of the pulley together fail on a rusty miata, leading to it going home from that track day on an un planned trailer ride to the miata shop. The corner workers did pickup the piece of the pulley that rolled down the track, and it was able to be reused along with the belts with some new bolts.

That happened to by my dad’s first miata (93 black and tan leather car), and I was driving it on the track at the time. There was a sound, and then the power steering went away. A few corners later the temp gauge started climbing. We pulled in the pits and opened the hood to find the accessory belts loosely sitting on the under tray and half the main pulley missing. A corner worker brought it back to us at the end of the day.

I was just a lad learning to turn wrenches at the time, so when he bought it a few years earlier (he doesn’t turn wrenches at all), he took no notice of it being a trade-in from someone who had moved to Santa Fe from Indiana. Later on I would cut the original strut assemblies off the car when it came time for a set of Koni yellows for autocross use. It was the formation of my policy of never buying a car from East of the Mississippi and/or North of the Mason-Dixon l ine.

Chariotoflove > AestheticsInMotion 07/19/2019 at 18:08

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I’ll try, but no promises.

someassemblyrequired > AestheticsInMotion 07/19/2019 at 18:12

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That sounds about right, usually easiest to catch him by email. 

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > AestheticsInMotion 07/19/2019 at 18:19

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Didn’t you just have a 6-month vacation?

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > AestheticsInMotion 07/19/2019 at 18:20

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I also hated working on my other Miata sometimes, anything that didnt have oil leaking on it was rusted to shit. Thankfully many things were oiled well so they werent all that bad. But the new Miata is tons better, everything comes off like it’s supposed to. I do have troubles with jacks though with my car being too low for them. It is slightly inconvenient having to drive onto pads or something to raise the car enough to fit a jack under it. Those tensioner s aren’t that hard to access though, especially if you pull out the rad. But I hear you, there are plenty of times where its just worth the money to put in zero effort for a task.

Having a working car at the end of the day is more important than saving some money. 

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 07/19/2019 at 18:22

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unpaid vacations arent really vacations lol

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Sovande 07/19/2019 at 18:24

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My problem is that most shops are too busy to turn things around quickly. Dropping a car off and having to wait a few days for it back is a much bigger problem than spending 8-10 hours slugging it out myself. Even if they can actually do the work in 2-3 hours instead, my 2-3x time of labor is still shorter overall.

But I enjoy the shop I found for my Miata, they can do most things same day which is great. And having two cars so that I am not stuck in limbo in the mean time. And being walking distance from home to start with. So the convenience factor is much higher than anything I have experienced in the past. 

random001 > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 07/19/2019 at 18:27

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How’ s my STI?

AestheticsInMotion > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 07/19/2019 at 18:28

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Teeeechnically I started two businesses and sold one during that period. And took two college classes

Honestly the past 4 months have been some of the most productive in my life... 

AestheticsInMotion > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 07/19/2019 at 18:31

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My Supermiata radiator has a different upper radiator hose location than stock, so there’s a massive hose right in the way. I considered removing the rad and intake manifold, but at that point I’d rather just pay someone $150

AestheticsInMotion > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 07/19/2019 at 18:32

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I just want to do mods on a squeaky clean car

With a garage

And a lift

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > random001 07/19/2019 at 18:36

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Lol I thought something was wrong with the STi because when changing the rotors, they just came off without effort. There was no hammering required to get them off. But instead, that was just the result of rust not being a thing. 

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > AestheticsInMotion 07/19/2019 at 18:39

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Did you get the SM crossflow rad or one of the others they sell ? I am currently shopping radiators and in between the FM crossflow and the SM crossflow options. I am running 215-220 at the hottest while stock right now and my goal is to get below 210 as a peak. I dont have to worry about freezing either so I can run 100% water with some water wetter thrown in there for protection. 

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > AestheticsInMotion 07/19/2019 at 18:41

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#thedream

Installing my rally lights was awful.  COLD and wet as hell.

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > AestheticsInMotion 07/19/2019 at 18:56

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Working on my E90 or my brother in law’s JSW is great. They are just so... not rusty... yet

AestheticsInMotion > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 07/19/2019 at 19:23

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T he S M crossflow, but I don’t have the coolant reroute installed, because.... Well. It looks like a massive pain....

Seemed to be the best option without spending $$$$ on Trackspeed Engineering’s radiator. I did the hood vents at the same time though, so I can’t really give you any accurate data. It’s definitely made well though!

215-220 was about where my hottest was, now it doesn’t get over 190 even if I’m going all out in 90° weather. 

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > AestheticsInMotion 07/19/2019 at 19:37

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Coolant reroute is gospel for most people who seem to really care about cooling, especially if you are going as far as the hood vents anyways. I do wonder how much work it actually is. I havent really looked into it because the ‘01+ requires a head gasket change to work with the reroute and I really don’t want to do that. Should I ever need to replace the headgasket though, reroute will definitely get done at the same time for future proofing. Reroute is basically a requirement for any power increases but I plan on staying stock, just want better track longevity. So a bigger rad will do just fine. I didnt actually log my coolant temps on track but I think my canyon tests are accurate enough to be representative of a 20 minute session. If anything I might be abusing my cooling system more than a track session so the big rad will certainly do the trick. 

random001 > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 07/19/2019 at 20:03

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You are taking excellent care of it! I appreciate this!

Heh.

His Stigness > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 07/19/2019 at 20:10

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DO HOOD VENTS!

NojustNo > AestheticsInMotion 07/20/2019 at 02:10

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Use stews garage.

https://stewsgarage.com/

MM54 > AestheticsInMotion 07/20/2019 at 17:36

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Come work on my 4Runner sometime, everything is rusty underneath because SALT (despite having only 113k miles).

Sometimes you have to throw in the towel and just get the work done - this sounds like one of those times, and it will be worthwhile to have the new belts on and know that the bolts are not rusted/stripped for the next time around.

wkiernan > AestheticsInMotion 07/30/2019 at 10:33

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The engine compartment of an NA or an NB is an easy-access wide-open space compared to the engine compartment of an NC. Ev erything is so tight in there.  I wish I had a lift.