Quick bits

[J.S.@SMS]

Yesterday we went to a flea market nearby, and Me and my dad got some goodies. I got a 12" craftsman crescent wrench for $3, a 2 ton floor jack for $20, two in line fuel shutoffs and a fuel filter for $5, and some bullet connectors for $1. And my dad got a slightly rusty, but un-used eastwing hammer for $15, that still had the original sticker on it. However, the one thing thay didn't have was a briggs flathead. I've been looking for one of those for months.

 

[Kartorbust]

You might be better off going to like an ACE Hardware store for a flathead. A lot of them do small engine repair.

 

[J.S.@SMS]

Thanks for the tip, that is the last place I would have thought to check.

 

[Kartorbust]

Usually its engines that people have abandoned there because they didn't want to pay for work done afterwards. So you should be able to get an engine that was repaired in one form or another. Hopefully one does it around where you are at. Seems to be a rare occurrence nowadays.

 

[Budget GoKart]

i traded jhoppe two briggs vertical engines for a clapped snapper frame that was full of mouse poo and nests. got a free battery though! wiring is intact suprisingly and i might need to air the tires up. after i do the pulley swap on the engine side (i have a stock 16.5hp briggs opposed twin on there) i have to set the tension correct and mark for new holes in the frame. Then wiring woo.

 

[Kartorbust]

Anyone who ever buys an FCA vehicle with the 2.4L Multiair engine, DO NOT let the oil go below the main fill, add oil as needed. These engines run what we call a "Brick", its oil pressure that actuates the intake valves, while the camshaft operates the exhaust valves. Not changing the oil regularly can cause significant damage to the engine. Working on a 2017 Renegade with the 2.4L Multiair and it's down 1.5qt of oil. When taking a turn hard (like avoiding an accident), the low oil pressure warning would pop up on the dash. This vehicle was a leased vehicle with just under 36,000 miles and may need a new long block...yay me.

 

[landuse]

Slowly slowly getting there. Kitchen cabinets and clothing cabinet are being made

 

[ezcome-ezgo]

Anyone who ever buys an FCA vehicle with the 2.4L Multiair engine, DO NOT let the oil go below the main fill, add oil as needed. These engines run what we call a "Brick", its oil pressure that actuates the intake valves, while the camshaft operates the exhaust valves. Not changing the oil regularly can cause significant damage to the engine. Working on a 2017 Renegade with the 2.4L Multiair and it's down 1.5qt of oil. When taking a turn hard (like avoiding an accident), the low oil pressure warning would pop up on the dash. This vehicle was a leased vehicle with just under 36,000 miles and may need a new long block...yay me.

Fix it again, Tony.

 

[J.S.@SMS]

Well, that sucks. So how the heck are you going to get the engine out? I imagine an engine bay in which if you drop a bolt it's lost to never land. Another reason I like older cars, much easier to work on.

And Landuse, that is starting to look like a real room. What kind of flooring are you using?

 

[Kartorbust]

Well fortunate for me, its above my pay grade. The previous owner went 6000 miles over the recommended oil change interval and the engine was a quart and a half low on oil. So an oil change fixed it. But I'll bet it'll get an engine by 40,000 miles.

 

[J.S.@SMS]

Isn't the oil change interval usually 3k for conventional and 6k for synthetic?

 

[Kartorbust]

Not anymore for FCA vehicles. Starting with the 2013 model year all FCA vehicles built has a "smart" system for oil changes. Accordingly, given some circumstances you can go 10,000 miles or 1 year between oil changes with conventional and full synthetic oils. All of us call BS. If the reminder goes out, you can supposedly go the 10,000 miles. But it's better to bring it back in before that. When I do oil changes, I check AllData if I can and look to see if there is a Severe maintenance interval. Severe includes city driving (stop and go traffic), towing, hauling, short trips, use of Ethanol 10% or higher, and biodiesel. Normal service interval is just nonstop highway driving. Less wear happens when you are cruising. I think engineers say like 60% less wear when doing highway driving.

With this 2.4L Multiair engine, FCA states that it is normal to burn/consume 1qt of oil ever 2000 miles. The 2.4L Multiair uses full synthetic 0w20. Over time with the low tension piston rings (as required by "agencies"), if the oil level decreases or doesn't get changed, normal consumption will go to 1qt every 750 miles. Now think about that. This engine pan holds 5.5qt of oil. If you followed the 10,000 mile rule, there would be only 1/2qt left in the pan. Now when it goes to 1qt every 750 miles, that's adding a quart every other fuel up.

So if anyone ever buys this engine (common in the Renegade, Compass, Cherokee), get the oil changed like every 5,000 miles or sooner to avoid problems. Better yet avoid this engine at all costs. The older 2.4L was not a Multiair, it is a DOHC, holds 4.5qt of 5w20. It can be turbocharged as well (SRT Caliber had it like that). Its now only available in the Journey.

 

[JTSpeedDemon]

Hehe, recently we replaced the alternator on my dad's car. We were swapping the pulley components to the new one, and he was looking around for a wrench to get the nut off.
I basically said "Hey Dad, WATCH THIS!"
So I broke out the trusty cordless impact with the adapter and socket, and that nut buzzed right off!
He was gobsmacked......:lolgoku
He didn't even know WHAT the cordless impact was!
He was also amazed when I found the front to rear stereo balancer in that car yesterday, because he didn't even realize what the control was FOR, and he thought that his front speakers were dead/unplugged!
My Dad needs me.

 

[Kartorbust]

Never knew you could buy a new alternator/generator without a pulley.

 

[JTSpeedDemon]

DONK Lego car....

It was the Wilson remanufactured type.


I built this awhile ago, but it's been sitting since the battery is dying.

It's a Lego car I built from a set as a wind up car, but after awhile, I was thinking about how to stick a motor in it and where to get one.
Then I remembered we had a broken RC helicopter(that I wrecked )
So I took it all apart and ended up with 3 motors! The tail prop one was effectively too small, so I didn't bother.
The 2 main propeller ones were perfect though.
I didn't really know what voltage they usually run on, so I just grabbed a 3V CR123 we had, which sounded about right.
To transmit power, I just got a small rubber band and mounted the motor to tension it, it works great! It rides directly on the motor output shaft, the tension keeps it from slipping.
There's no off switch, I just use electrical tape to hold the wires onto the terminals and pull 'em off when I want to turn it off.

In the 1st iteration, it had 4 wheels and a very high gear ratio, with the motor output shaft diameter/axle diameter(less than 1/8") as the gear ratio with big wheels. It hooked up pretty well and went like stink! Probably 15-20 MPH!

The 2nd iteration is when I played around with drive wheels, I put the little wheels on the back, and it took off significantly faster.
I also played around with which wheels were driven, so this car has been RWD, FWD, and AWD! Since it was the same gear ratio front to back with different size wheels, it couldn't have front tires, because the ratios would conflict, making it stop after a short distance.
Just the AWD factor was cool though.-EDIT - This was when it was still wind up powered.

The 3rd iteration is essentially how you see it, I call it:
DA WHEELIE MONSTER!
It's actually a trike, but the second wheel is actually a huge pulley on the rear axle, giving an utterly ridiculous reduction and absurd amount of torque for this tiny motor. Plus there's less weight in the front.
So yeah, it will do ridiculous wheelstands(continuously, if the battery is full), and sometimes even flip itself over!
The first motor I had on here is gone now, the wire leads came out, so I got the other one.
But yeah, it's a really fun Lego car, and it was very fun to build and play around with!
In all of the iterations, if I take off the rear tires, it will do really entertaining donuts...

 

[J.S.@SMS]

I built this a while ago.


It doesn't go, but it was fun to build (I was 11, and hadn't discovered the wondrous headaches of briggs engines). And if I want to make something go, I work on my karts.

 

[Kartorbust]

I wish I had a smart phone back about 10+ years and took pictures of all the crazy stuff I built as a kid from Legos. I've had a few kits, but like 90% of lego builds I did were just from scratch using what parts I had laying around from other model kits.

 

[JTSpeedDemon]

Wait a second...
Oops, I got a little mixed up. This Lego car has never had a motor and AWD, the AWD was when it was still on wind up power.

 

[Kartorbust]

Proof that salesmen are the scum of the Earth and are the true con-artists. The brake pad has 3mm left on it, brand new they start around 10mm up to about 14mm depending on the manufacturer and whether or not it's a pad for the rear or front of a vehicle. The truck this pad came off of was one that a salesman traded in, for a used Ram 1500, with Brodozer wheels and tires. The rotors were very rusted and would not machine properly. So it got new pads and rotors for the front. The salesman came out to the shop and saw how much pad was left, because he did not want to have to lose money on new pads and rotors (rotors are $150 each for the front). He saw the pad and called the technician who was working on it a con-artist and chewed out our service advisor for it. In order for a brake pad to pass, it needs to be 5mm or greater. This one is at 3mm.

The amount of stupidity one has to deal with while working at a dealership is unreal. You will question your sanity.

 

[JTSpeedDemon]

One time, when our family was looking for a brand new car, we found a good one at a nearby dealership, with a discount that would put it in our price range. So we called, and they said it was a military discount. Well that didn't show up in our browser, so by the time we switched browsers and saw it, the salesman literally said something like: "You know I don't think I want to sell you this car anymore." And then we heard frickin' APPLAUSE in the background as he said that and hung up!!
What a scumbag. Glad we didn't buy a car there. We called in to another dealership that I had heard good things about, and we had them send us a full quote via email with all of the fees and everything on an(I think it's a) order sheet. But yeah, Dad just took that in there and said that he was not gonna pay any more than what it said, and he got the car with positively no hassle. Boom! Done!