Quick Bits

[J.S.@SMS]

My dad told me how he could stand inside the engine bay of some of his old cars to work on the engine. Now, I look at some of these new cars engines, and it seems like the designers motto is the more cluttered the better.

 

[Kartorbust]

My dad told me how he could stand inside the engine bay of some of his old cars to work on the engine. Now, I look at some of these new cars engines, and it seems like the designers motto is the more cluttered the better.

This is very true. And all you have to do is look at vehicles from the mid 1990s and prior. After 1996, it got very cramped under the hood.

 

[JTSpeedDemon]

My dad told me how he could stand inside the engine bay of some of his old cars to work on the engine. Now, I look at some of these new cars engines, and it seems like the designers motto is the more cluttered the better.

I say the modern designers' motto is: "The more plastic you can stuff into a car and sell it for a lot of money, the better you get paid as an engineer."
For my dad and I to replace the spark plugs in our 2012 Kia Sedona(V6), we had to remove the upper intake manifold.
Seriously.
To simply replace the spark plugs, it took us a whole two days.
But to be fair, my dad is not an expert mechanic, but still, the spark plugs should be:

1. Unplug the spark plug boots
2. Unscrew the plugs
3. Put in new ones
4. Reattach the boots
5. Drive off

But NOOOO, they want you to take it to the dealership and pay them!
And that minivan is 7 years old, so I don't even wanna know what it's like under the hood of my mom's brand spankin' new 2019 Hyundai Accent.

 

[Kartorbust]

I say the modern designers' motto is: "The more plastic you can stuff into a car and sell it for a lot of money, the better you get paid as an engineer."
For my dad and I to replace the spark plugs in our 2012 Kia Sedona(V6), we had to remove the upper intake manifold.
Seriously.
To simply replace the spark plugs, it took us a whole two days.
But to be fair, my dad is not an expert mechanic, but still, the spark plugs should be:

1. Unplug the spark plug boots
2. Unscrew the plugs
3. Put in new ones
4. Reattach the boots
5. Drive off

But NOOOO, they want you to take it to the dealership and pay them!
And that minivan is 7 years old, so I don't even wanna know what it's like under the hood of my mom's brand spankin' new 2019 Hyundai Accent.

It's the same way with the 3.6L Pentastar V6 in Mopar vehicles. Intake manifold comes off to get to the right side bank of cylinders. The job can actually be done in a few hours (depending on the mood of the person), but it's a nightmare. Makes you want to kick the engineer in the balls for designing it so stupidly.

 

[J.S.@SMS]

Even my car is a pain. Its a fwd v6, but it's old enough that I can still get to the majority of the big things at least. But I'm just going to let the mechanic change the plugs and wires. I like my arms without exhaust burns. But I swear, the way they design these things now a days they'll be using square wheels in no time.

 

[Panhead5496]

It's the same way with the 3.6L Pentastar V6 in Mopar vehicles. Intake manifold comes off to get to the right side bank of cylinders. The job can actually be done in a few hours (depending on the mood of the person), but it's a nightmare. Makes you want to kick the engineer in the balls for designing it so stupidly.

Oh don't tell me that LOL. Once my 36k mile warranty runs out I'll be doing my own service. Sounds like it's going to be fun.

When are the spark plugs supposed to be changed on the 3.6L?

 

[Kartorbust]

Oh don't tell me that LOL. Once my 36k mile warranty runs out I'll be doing my own service. Sounds like it's going to be fun.



When are the spark plugs supposed to be changed on the 3.6L?

I'll double check at work in a couple hours. Think its 100k miles. You should have a powertrain warranty of 60k miles. The standard 3/36k is an everything warranty.


It is 100,000 miles according to our service library and AllData. If a technician is doing it, it's a 2.3 (2 hours 18 minute) job.

 

[Panhead5496]

Thanks man. Yeah I meant the 3/36k warranty...I honestly forgot about the 60k powertrain warranty covering plugs and such.

 

[Kartorbust]

So did a couple PDIs on the 2020 Jeep Gladiator, we finally got 2 in today after a long wait. Of course they were loaded Rubicons, both almost $62,000 a piece. Took one out for the 10 mile test drive and of course being Nebraska its windy. The dang things handle like a standard 4 door Wrangler, just extended another 5' with a bed on the back. So it still gets tossed around in the windy. I swear, the 3.6L Pentastar is way too underpowered for these trucks. I set cruise (not a good idea the first 1000 miles, but need to check to make sure it works properly) at 55mph and it struggles going up hills, even with an 8 speed auto and 4.10 rear end.

We've already had 20 people crawl over each other to buy the only 2 we got so far. I sure hope the EcoDiesel will be available for it. Unloaded the engine is underpowered, can't imagine how bad it will be with 4 adults, loaded bed, towing a loaded trailer. Talk about an overhyped pile of garbage.

 

[Kartorbust]

Going back to this past Friday, my co-worker/buddy gave me tickets to his race. I guess his class is called Sport Modified. Anyway, I filmed all 3 races he was in, including his wreck during the first race. He was in the middle on the back straight away going kind of 3 wide. The guy on his outside (between him and the wall) got his bumper in my buddy's right rear quarter panel and spun him around. He got a bit of whiplash and the guy messaged him on Facebook saying he was sorry and what not. Ended up with a lot of sheet metal damage, front bumper got smashed sideways and popped the left rear tire.

Uploaded 2 of the 3 races from that night. Have to reupload the last one because, the announcers decided to play Disturbed Down with the Sickness, over the loud speakers as the drivers were pouring into the track from the pit. I may upload a highly edited first race of that evening at a later date, people were rude in the stands while I was filming...basically walking in front of me while filming. Didn't have the common courtesy to wait.

Word of advice, wear ear pro when at an event with open headers. I could hardly hear myself think and I didn't realize that my phone could even capture my voice with it being so loud.

Anyway here is the 2nd race of the night.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiu2H_gN1eM

 

[JTSpeedDemon]

Ahhh, you went to see World of Outlaws, too!
It's dang cool!
I like the Modifieds, they're a lot more competitive than the outlaws, and even though they're not quite as fast, they really wrestle for position!

 

[J.S.@SMS]

Well, I found a rotating assembly for the engine in the truck that my uncle's going to give me. Eagle Specialty Products 14120 kit. Forged 4030 rods and crank. The rods are rated for up to 750hp and the crank is rated for up to 1500hp. And the kit is rated for 7500 rpm with 8740 rod bolts and 8500 with ARP2000 bolts. Also has 4032 forged .030 over pistons. I'd probably only build it to 500. But that's still not bad for an old 351 windsor.

---------- Post added at 12:16 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:49 AM ----------

Well, I just talked to them, and the stock stroke crank has been discontinued, so that kit's out. Time to start looking around, again. I'd like to keep it around the stock stroke, since strokers don't rev as high. It does appear that summit racing carries a SCAT kit that's good for 750hp and 7200 rpm for $1873.99.

 

[Kartorbust]

Saw the Aladdin movie this morning. It was pretty good, I'd recommend it. Havent seen the cartoon one in well over 20 years so, I didn't have a good memory of what to expect. But Will Smith did a great job of making this version of Genie his own, while respecting Robin Williams.

 

[JTSpeedDemon]

Happy Memorial Day everyone!!!!
If we had a big American flag, I would strap it to my go kart and take it for a patriotic ride!!

 

[J.S.@SMS]

Well, I had an eventful weekend. I spent some time mowing, which is rather boring since the grass is so thick that I con't go faster than 2-3mph. But, I also got my minibike going better. I was using a ar3910x plug in a pretty much stock engine (no governor), and it was bogging, bad. I re-gaped the original plug and installed it, and what a difference. It now reaches its top speed which should be 59.6 ish according to kartcalc (it has a 30 series).

I also got a free weedeater. My dads boss was throwing it away because it wouldn't run. It's an easy fix (like my dad tried to tell them), all that's wrong (that I can see) is that the primer bulb on the carburetor disintegrated. Other than that it's out of gas. It has compression and turns over, but it's got some sort of weird spring assisted starter thingy. It's a troy-built that looks almost brand new. Is it just me, or are millionaires a bit wasteful.

 

[JTSpeedDemon]

J.S! Stop being stereotypical!
Naw, it's all good, it just seems so cliche.
Fun fact: Did y'all know that PB Blaster can rejuvenate rubber? I drove my go kart down to my neighborfriend's house, and he helped me air up the tires since they had a slow leak.
Then he told me that PB Blaster can fix leaky tires!
So we sprayed down the two front tires since they're original, and sprayed around the bead of the rears(Since I don't feel comfortable with lubricant on my rear tires), and the slow leak seems to have stopped!
Any other little miracles PB Blaster can do that I don't know about?

 

[Dingocat]

I used it to get a tire off a rim. ~11in Goodyears with split rims. rims are rusted and were rusted to the tire. the PB Blaster helped with the rust and helped to soften up the tire a bit.

 

[J.S.@SMS]

I'll have to try that on my tires, though they might be too far gone. 10psi lasts 5 minutes in a 16x7.50-8 tire. Now, I have found axle grease to be a good bead sealer.

 

[Panhead5496]

What's up guys! Been busy lately getting settled into the new job and schedule. Hope I haven't missed too much

@Kartorbust, the new Jeep pickups look, ah, interesting. I don't really like the looks of them. I haven't really heard too much about them, but can't believe they put the 3.6L v6 in them! Wow! I bet that is underpowered. They are great engines for what they are, but not in a big truck like that. Is there an option to get a v8 in them? I wonder why they didn't put a 5.7L Hemi in them? A diesel would be pretty sweet though.

 

[Kartorbust]

No plans on a Hemi option in the Gladiator. People have been asking engineers for a Hellcat option. The thing is, the Hellcat will fit like a glove and that's not a good thing. No room for a radiator or any room for crush zones for an accident. So you crash and engine gets pushed into the passenger compartment. The EcoDiesel will more than likely be an option, but only with the 8 speed automatic, no manual with that.

I thought it would be a great mid sized truck, but its garbage. It was way overhyped. Kind of wished I worked at a Ford dealer at this point, kind of want to test out the new Ranger.

Anyway, I'm working on a plan "B" career at this point. So, any hourly guys at my work, mainly in the service department (lot porters, Express Lane, hourly technicians) cannot have any over time. Which sucks for a lot of us who use OT as a supplement for our paychecks. I guess our General Manager wants to keep the overhead to a minimum. On top of that, at least once a week my wife goes to work at 6:30 and gets off at 4:30, which means I have to work from 7:30 to 4:30. No problem for me, except my boss I deal with every day is a real cactus and says that he needs my help until 5.

Long story short, yesterday was a day that I needed to get off at 4:30 and I ended up being stuck there until 4:45, helping my buddy with a vehicle that didn't go too well, and ended up with about 15 minutes of OT. So my plan "B" is, there is a shop on the north end of town that does small engine repair, they are also a dealer for Briggs and Stratton and they also sell the racing engines too (Briggs LO206, Animal, Model 20/19, World Formula), I figured this could be up my alley and should give me more knowledge to help out on here for engine diagnosis. However it's a family owned and operated business, which means, they may only hire friends and family members only.

The upside of small engine repair is, they start out at around $15 an hour, that's a bit more than what I make currently, which is always a win in my book.