DIY Car Maintenance

[Laner]

I just replaced the rear shocks, rotors and brakes on my 2005 Chevy Suburban. Cost of the parts was $200 CDN ($135 USD). Besides some stubborn and seized bolts, it could not have been simpler. It took me about 5 hours, and this was with a young boy for a helper and a curious wife who oddly enough loves putting her hands into these projects. It was a nice day with the family, and they were super excited jumping around when the truck came off the jack stand and drove out of the shop. As nice as it is wrenching with buddies and a few beers, they sure don't do a happy dance when the brake job is done

Every time I deal with something like this on my old vehicles, I get further from buying anything new ever again.

 

[Thomas More]

I just replaced the rear shocks, rotors and brakes on my 2005 Chevy Suburban. Cost of the parts was $200 CDN ($135 USD). Besides some stubborn and seized bolts, it could not have been simpler. It took me about 5 hours, and this was with a young boy for a helper and a curious wife who oddly enough loves putting her hands into these projects. It was a nice day with the family, and they were super excited jumping around when the truck came off the jack stand and drove out of the shop. As nice as it is wrenching with buddies and a few beers, they sure don't do a happy dance when the brake job is done

Every time I deal with something like this on my old vehicles, I get further from buying anything new ever again.

What shocks did you use? I put Bilstein 4600s on a Yukon XL, and I feel like I'm floating in a boat. I'm wanting to move up to Bilstein 6112s, but these are over US$1000 for all four wheels.

 

[Pointy Elbows]

Rings or valves? What was the PSI reading of the offending cylinder compared to the healthy cylinders?

80 PSI versus 120/130 PSI.

 

[Pointy Elbows]

How is your gas milage since this has happened?
What is psi reading the mechanic you went to determined?

If you're confident in your self I could pull coil and plug from cylinder to verify the spark plug does not have oil soak and or burned. If so it's possible your piston rings have worn out and are allowing blowby. Which in turn could be causing your low compression.

Look forward to hearing more and good luck.

Mileage is about 18 mpg, down from 19-20.

PSI on cylinder 4 was 80. Remaining cylinders were 120-130, per mechanic.

The old plug looked ok, not excessive wear. My mechanic is leery about going to the effort on the rings, as the truck has 211k miles on it. I think he's afraid to get stuck to a diminishing returns situation. No mechanic wants to be in a warranty situation with a vehicle that has that mileage. Do they even do cylinder sleeves anymore?

 

[Thomas More]

80 PSI versus 120/130 PSI.

My guess is that you have both worn rings and leaky valves as well, probably worn valve guides. They all seem to go together I think.

 

[mountainaire]

80 PSI versus 120/130 PSI.

Your mechanic should have performed a leakdown test to verify the cause of the low compression. You simply add oil into the bad cylinder, let it leak down to the rings and see if it raises compression. If the compression goes up with the oil added, the cause is piston/ring/cylinder. If the compression does not change, then the valve(s) is not seating properly. You can buy your own compression tester for cheap if you want to do it yourself.

If it's the piston rings, there's a couple things you can try to get more life out of the engine. You can start off with soaking the cylinder with Berryman's B12 chemtool, which will remove varnish and heavy carbon deposits that may have built up around the rings that can cause them to get bound up in the ring lands and stop them from seating properly. Soak it for a couple days, after it's been cleaned you can run a heavier grade of engine oil (15w-40) which will help fill the gaps between the piston and cylinder wall and may restore some lost compression. You can also try Restore additive, which has been shown to help with low compression in some circumstances:


If it's a direct injection engine, the intake valves often get fouled up with carbon since there's no fuel spraying over the valve and keeping it clean:



It's possible that excessive fouling could cause issues with the valve seating properly. There are ways to decarbonize these as well if this is the cause.

I'd try to gain some more specific information about the cause of the low compression, then it will be easier to determine if you can get a couple more years out of the engine.

 

[Pointy Elbows]

Your mechanic should have performed a leakdown test to verify the cause of the low compression. You simply add oil into the bad cylinder, let it leak down to the rings and see if it raises compression. If the compression goes up with the oil added, the cause is piston/ring/cylinder. If the compression does not change, then the valve(s) is not seating properly. You can buy your own compression tester for cheap if you want to do it yourself.

If it's the piston rings, there's a couple things you can try to get more life out of the engine. You can start off with soaking the cylinder with Berryman's B12 chemtool, which will remove varnish and heavy carbon deposits that may have built up around the rings that can cause them to get bound up in the ring lands and stop them from seating properly. Soak it for a couple days, after it's been cleaned you can run a heavier grade of engine oil (15w-40) which will help fill the gaps between the piston and cylinder wall and may restore some lost compression. You can also try Restore additive, which has been shown to help with low compression in some circumstances:

View attachment 3890
If it's a direct injection engine, the intake valves often get fouled up with carbon since there's no fuel spraying over the valve and keeping it clean:

View attachment 3893

It's possible that excessive fouling could cause issues with the valve seating properly. There are ways to decarbonize these as well if this is the cause.

I'd try to gain some more specific information about the cause of the low compression, then it will be easier to determine if you can get a couple more years out of the engine.

Thank you!

 

[Laner]

What shocks did you use? I put Bilstein 4600s on a Yukon XL, and I feel like I'm floating in a boat. I'm wanting to move up to Bilstein 6112s, but these are over US$1000 for all four wheels.

They were FCS not sure the model number. Significant improvement though!

Turns out I need need to replace the caliper on the rear drivers side, so the job is not over. Just need to order the part and I get to smash some more knuckles!

 

[mountainaire]

What shocks did you use? I put Bilstein 4600s on a Yukon XL, and I feel like I'm floating in a boat. I'm wanting to move up to Bilstein 6112s, but these are over US$1000 for all four wheels.

I've had bad experiences with Bilstein. I was getting repeated failures driving off road, the rod that attaches to the mounting eye would unthread itself (yes they're threaded on, a very stupid design). This was with the 5100 series. The performance while they were still in one piece left something to be desired as well.



Switched to Rancho RS5000x's and have been happy with them. They're constructed more solidly, ride better (firmer) have "Made in USA" stamped on them which surprised me, and they cost less than the Bilsteins. Beat on em off road with no problems.



If you don't drive off road and just want to restore stock on-road performance I'd just get the top tier AC Delco shocks for your GM.

 

[mountainaire]

I measure the difficulty of a job by the number of curse words spoken, and changing out a fuel pump without dropping the tank or having a convenient access panel ranks near the top of the list. Getting the new one seated properly was quite the ordeal, had to take a break and come back the next day with fresh eyes and a fresh attitude.

 

[paternos]

All of the major rust repair is done. I'm not a pro bodyman and this thing has a lifetime of little scrapes, dents, scuffs, so I'm not going to attempt to conceal my very amateurish patch panels with body filler/paint. Choosing instead to embrace the patina, it's an old Jeep so I think it suits it well.

Just want to give you my compliments @mountainaire You did amazing work. What some love, in form of hard work, smart thinking and genuine care, can do. Amazing result.

Somehow wisdom is hidden/shown in how we work on our cars and houses and the people around us. Inspiring to see.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zen_and_the_Art_of_Motorcycle_Maintenance

Don't know if you like to read, but this is a fabulous book going into this theme.

In his case a motorcycle as a symbol of life.

 

[mountainaire]

Handy little trick if you have an annoying serpentine belt squeal like I did (new belt, properly tensioned, bearings all good on all pulleys). Take a small dab of dielectric grease, smear a little on both sides of the belt in one spot, and it will silence the squeal without making the belt slip.

 

[Gazeebo]

Handy little trick if you have an annoying serpentine belt squeal like I did (new belt, properly tensioned, bearings all good on all pulleys). Take a small dab of dielectric grease, smear a little on both sides of the belt in one spot, and it will silence the squeal without making the belt slip.

View attachment 6210

Good info as always @mountainaire

I recently had a car where the driver rear door was saying it was open when it was closed. I replaced the actuator in the door and it worked for a week and she came back with the same issue. Dug a bit into fuses for the door and the connector to the door actuator runs to driver front kick panel. Opened the sucker up what do you know I had water on the connectors. Blew them out pack a small amount of Dielectric grease into connectors. The grease will wick water away while also providing good electrical current.

 

[Gazeebo]

Check your brakes fellas, if yall do quick checks your cars make sure to look at the brake fluid in the master cylinder. If it's low it means a few things but the biggest is your pistons and pressed far out on your calipers which mean your brakes are worn out.

and some examples from work in the past week. First one guy was complaining about a "large jerking motion" felt from driver side front. His brakes were nonexistent and the piston was so far out it was locking the wheel. Lucky for him it did not cook anything else but his rotor caliper.

Second is the new brake tech called FNC in action. Those rotors are coated in a special chemical that is suppose to eliminate rotor lateral runout and the need to cut them. To compensate most brake manufacturers have developed pads that are thinner overall and harder which is causing uneven pad wear. As you see in the second photo the inner ring is like sandpaper and the other band was like a vinyl record. My coworker commented that is looked like the rings of Saturn.

 

[mountainaire]

This is a 31 year old Spicer ball joint that was installed at the factory, never been changed. Driven for 225,000 miles. It's still good.

I'm changing all the ball joints out while I'm in there, but it's unfortunate that I can't replace them with anything that will even come close to that level of quality. You can still buy "Spicer" ball joints but they're made in China now. No equivalent part even exists for purchase anymore. They're all lower quality and tend to last about 3-5 years if you're lucky. That goes for all of the "name brands" too.

 

[mountainaire]

When doing new tasks for the first time, the job is not complete until you have bled, cursed, messed up once or twice, and questioned your own sanity. Somehow it pays off though. When the vehicle is on jackstands and partly disassembled, giving up is not an option. Once you have figured it out, the next time you do it is a breeze.

 

[paternos]

When doing new tasks for the first time, the job is not complete until you have bled, cursed, messed up once or twice, and questioned your own sanity. Somehow it pays off though. When the vehicle is on jackstands and partly disassembled, giving up is not an option. Once you have figured it out, the next time you do it is a breeze.

View attachment 6487
View attachment 6488

Hero. I know the blood. Hands oily, rusty, not wearing gloves (I'm just doing a small thing, never mind), cut, blood, cursing, leaving everything behind, trying not to make eveything a bloody mess, washing hands, getting some iodine in there, bandage, wear gloves, trying to finish the job half handicapped for that moment.

 

[mountainaire]

Hero. I know the blood. Hands oily, rusty, not wearing gloves (I'm just doing a small thing, never mind), cut, blood, cursing, leaving everything behind, trying not to make eveything a bloody mess, washing hands, getting some iodine in there, bandage, wear gloves, trying to finish the job half handicapped for that moment.

I find that every time I wear gloves, at some point they always end up on the ground halfway through without me ever realizing it.

 

[mountainaire]

Found someone on my local craigslist who was selling a complete set of OEM factory skidplates for the old Jeep. These came on the rare "upcountry" package. Had to get 'em.



Cleaned 'em up and coated them with Brite-Zinc which is an excellent product that I love. Easy to apply, adheres great, offers excellent corrosion resistance and has many uses. Can use it on steel wheels, bodywork, chainlink fences, all kinds of stuff.

 

[mountainaire]

The ones that weren't optioned with the skids from the factory just had blank holes with no threaded nut-serts, so I had to burn in some weld-on m10 nuts.





The gas tank skid will be a bit trickier, due to clearance issues. Welding in tight areas is very difficult when you can't get good angles on whatever you're welding, not to mention it's right next to the gas tank, hopefully there will be no explosions in my future.