repair

Finally, I have got my 1998 A8 Quattro ready to roll after dealing with a few last major issues. It's been quite a saga, and it's not over yet, but the big major tasks have now been completed, and it's a car. Read on for the tale of how I got from nowhere to here.

I just got a nice Samsung EVO 850 SSD, and therefore got the chance to remove two spinning disks from my PC. But in order to make this happen, I had to move Windows to the SSD I had in my PC already. So I mounted the new SSD and formatted it ext4, and transferred Linux without a hitch. Then I booted up and used gparted to transfer Windows to the old SSD I'd just vacated, and it wouldn't boot. I thought these problems were over? I used my Linux install (with vmware player) to fix the problem just as I had used it (with gparted) to copy Windows from one volume to another.

It's been about forever, but my F250 is once again on the road, having had the turbocharger replaced. During the downtime I also completed several little projects. I've taken it down the road and picked up a yard of dirt, so I know it's working. I still need to deal with two or three more things and then I can attack the Mercedes again.

Today I replaced the passenger-side braking support rod bushing on my 1982 300SD. The job didn't go so well on the driver's side, because I attempted to use all of the specified replacement hardware. Unfortunately, Meyle is currently delivering substandard and improper hardware for remounting the bushing carrier, with the effect that the nut shears off of its captive shim and causes you to live in a world of hurt. Using the original hardware with some red thread locker seems to be a workable solution; I've done it on the other side with good results, and now I've done it on both sides. In the process, I also learned that one can trivially press the new bushing in with the old hardware.

When a one day job becomes a two day job because a part is incorrectly specified or otherwise wrong, you can be sure that you are having an excellent time. When the new self-locking nut intended to retain one end of my driver's side front suspension carrier sheared away from its magical captive shim during yesterday's automotive repair attempt, I knew that I was in for a really good time.

Ever since I got it, my 1992 F250 has had a bad wiper motor. The symptom, which can be caused by several different kinds of faults, is that it didn't "park". That is to say, the switch turned the wiper motor on and off, regardless of setting. High speed always worked, but park never did. I proved that the motor was the problem by taking off the cover and cleaning the contacts, and having it work for a short time. Rather than fight corrosion and continually shave switch contacts, I decided to drop the forty bucks retail on a new window motor.

With the heat coming on I decided to browse through eBay for A/C compressors, rebuilt or what have you, and found that a new compressor is about the same price as a reman, at least from buyautoparts.com. This is partly due to where I bought it (everyone else seems to want more) but also because it's a common GM axial compressor which is used on many vehicles. It's a really small little sucker that can turn 7,000 RPM, and Mercedes wisely used a V-belt pulley which makes it easy to source.

Well, it wasn't 102 like yesterday, but it was a pretty hot one here at about 96. Around 10 AM, as it really started to warm up, I decided to take on a couple of simple W126 300SD repair tasks: steering damper replacement, and shift bushing replacement. These are both conceptually simple jobs, and replacing the steering damper is even simple in actuality. The shift bushing replacement is a little trickier, but I had purchased a parts kit that made it at least reasonable.

I have finally concluded the repair of my 1992 Ford F-250's steering system. I say "repair" but "replacement" is a more honest description, as I have replaced everything but the intermediate shaft. I find it interesting that this component is in such apparently good shape (it slides and rotates without any sound or feeling of friction) when everything else in the system was shot, especially since several Diesel Stop members have complained about its failure.

When I bought a 1992 7.3 4x4 with a turbo that leaked from every pore I knew it was going to be an ongoing hassle, and this last week I ended up diving into the steering system. I was having problems with nearly every part of it, and I'm still not done. Right now I'm rebuilding the steering column.