Post-axle replacement update

"I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker" (qaaaaa)
07/27/2018 at 17:56 • Filed to: None

Both axles have now been replaced. I have been doing short test drives over the last few days but don’t really want to go on the highway yet until I get a tech to check the torque on my inner joints. Was hearing a tapping sound, but I figured out it was just a brake heat shield that got moved a bit when doing the driver’s side axle and bent it back into place.
I have an alignment and general inspection scheduled for tomorrow at a Monroe Muffler (since I found a $20 off coupon and no other shop would charge less than them). I went over to Autozone to return their torque wrench and breaker bar, and just for giggles had an OBDII scan done since I didn’t feel like carrying my laptop out to my car to use my VCDS cable.
Previous record was 3 codes, but now it’s 5!

P0131- because the front O2 sensor is bad. I will do nothing.
P0341- because the hall sensor in the distributor is bad. I’ll get to it; the new dizzy is in my kitchen.
P0133- again, bad front O2 sensor. It’s whatever.
P1128- code description is “long term fuel trim B1 system too lean.” I suspect this is because my fuel pump is starting to go- I have a spare in the car along with all the tools to fix it, just haven’t gotten to it yet. Forums say this may also be MAF sensor related, which is also well within the realm of possibility because...
P0102- “MAF sensor circuit low input”- I accidentally ran for a few minutes with the MAF disconnected, so I think this is a dummy code. I’ll do a code reset and see if it comes back.

I’m going to get a new fuel filter while I’m at it. They’re cheap. Next up is clearing codes and seeing if the P1128/P0102 come back, which means I get to clean/replace the MAF sensor. A new one goes for between $60 and $230 which... not great, but not terrible? Oh well. That bridge will have to be crossed eventually.

I also noticed that my middle brake light seems to be running on two bulbs instead of however many it should be. I’d like to get a new unit or replace bulbs, but I can’t find any replacements online for it. I might take it apart and figure out what the bulb is and just find a replacement that way.

Suzuki XL-7 for your time.

DISCUSSION (8)

Urambo Tauro > I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker
07/27/2018 at 22:30

Why not replace the o2 sensor (assuming it’s the sensor itself that’ s bad) ?

I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker > Urambo Tauro
07/28/2018 at 08:28

I replaced it when I got the car so I could pass e check, then it fouled about 500 miles later. I don't really gain anythung from replacing it again, apart from having no CEL.

Urambo Tauro > I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker
07/28/2018 at 09:17

Bank 1 sensor 1 doesn’t affect engine management on these ?

I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker > Urambo Tauro
07/28/2018 at 09:22

I don’t think it does? Unsure, really. I thought it was purely an emissions monitoring piece of equipment.

It probably woul dn’t have a noticable affect anyways, as the engine management has already pulled timing for the bad hall sensor.

Urambo Tauro > I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker
07/28/2018 at 09:32

U nless there’s something wacky about these VWs that I don’t know about, the upstream sensor monitors the unburnt air/fuel mixture coming out of the cylinders to fine-tune the A/F ratio, and the downstream sensor is just there to be compared against sensor 1 in order to monitor the c atalyst.

I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker > Urambo Tauro
07/28/2018 at 10:15

That sounds right. I don't think the ECU is leaning the mix though, as it's running pretty rich. Even the post-cat exhaust smells of unburnt fuel.

Textured Soy Protein > I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker
08/01/2018 at 10:10

MMMM dat house across the street tho. I love contemporary style houses. The subdivision I grew up in was regular colonial style houses but the next subdivision over was all contemporaries. I always thought those were way cooler.

The neighborhood where I live now is a small enclave tucked in the side of a country club that’s next to a main road, so we don’t have much ground to cover if we want to go on a walk (we’re not country club members), so sometimes my wife and I go drive over to my parents’ house and take a walk around those subdivisions. I still dig the contemporaries.

I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker > Textured Soy Protein
08/01/2018 at 10:16

Yeah, the couple who lived there when I was a kid (more of a kid than I am now) did major renovations on the inside and major landscaping outside to bring it back to it’s ~70s gradeur, when it was on the list for our town’s Parade of Homes. It was super groovy inside. There’s a 3 walled brick structure in the front yard you can kind of see that used to have a Japanese garden in it, too. They grew grapes in their back yard and made wine . The next family gutted it and made it modern, sadly.