[1024Megabytes]

----

 

[Rachgier]

Well now that that is out of the way...

I did a stove install that was supposed to be a simple swap out. New stove was on sight and the old stove wasn't my responsibility to dispose of. I was only involved because the old stove was the fitted kind, not cabinet style, so I was going to need to recut the counter top opening and the trim plate along the base cabinets to make a full opening to shove the new stove in.

So somebody measured the new stove wrong and it didn't fit the front of the opening, the base cabinets were too narrow at the back because they were installed crooked so I had to completely pull and reinstall the bases, the countertop was installed cock-eyed on purpose to hide the mistake so that got yanked and reset, and I had the client change her mind about the backslash AFTER I finished the install...

So yeah...stove job done. I think she should be happy I did it for free.

BEFORE SHE CHANGED HER MIND:

AFTER:

 

[Rachgier]

The auto mechanic stated what you said. He said he does not do automatic transmission flushes because it causes problems with the seals. He just drained the fluid and refilled it.

I will also do what you said and not take the car on any long trips either for about one hundred miles. The technician recommended I bring the car back in and have the fluid changed again in about 8,000 to 10,000 miles to get all the other really old fluid out.

That's actually a ploy, unless he's going to do it for free. Your new fluid is already mixed with your old fluid, and your torque converter stayed full of the old fluid. You'll never actually get all of the old fluid out, just reduce the overall percentage of the crap fluid in the system. If he was that concerned, he could have flushed your trans cooler and lines, without hurting the transmission, and increased the percentage of new good fluid in the system.

I would continue to adhere to your regular maintenance schedule, maybe change the fluid 10k earlier instead of in 10k miles.

 

[MaryB]

Well now that that is out of the way...

I did a stove install that was supposed to be a simple swap out. New stove was on sight and the old stove wasn't my responsibility to dispose of. I was only involved because the old stove was the fitted kind, not cabinet style, so I was going to need to recut the counter top opening and the trim plate along the base cabinets to make a full opening to shove the new stove in.

So somebody measured the new stove wrong and it didn't fit the front of the opening, the base cabinets were too narrow at the back because they were installed crooked so I had to completely pull and reinstall the bases, the countertop was installed cock-eyed on purpose to hide the mistake so that got yanked and reset, and I had the client change her mind about the backslash AFTER I finished the install...

So yeah...stove job done. I think she should be happy I did it for free.

BEFORE SHE CHANGED HER MIND:

View attachment 72918
View attachment 72919

AFTER:
View attachment 72920
View attachment 72921

And I thought my counter tops looked crappy... Holy crap!

 

[MaryB]

This is why I do my own wrenching as often as possible. Way too many shady places out there. Oh, did you get it changed or flushed the first time? Never flush your transmission. Run it up to operating temp, shut the vehicle off, then drain and fill only.

If anyone wasn't aware, flushing your transmission can end up causing catastrophic failures by washing out any of the built up "gunk" that seals your transmission's micro gaps and fissures during the initial break-in process. When you get your fluid changes you should also take it easy for the first fifty to one-hundred miles or so and not take any long trips. It's possible that you can destroy the new fluid. New vehicle fluids need to be "tempered" for lack of a better term, before you run them hard.

Side note: most mech shops have massive catch cans for fluid jobs since just about everything but the coolant is petroleum based. If you didn't see him pull the black trans fluid directly from your car, he may have just been blowing smoke where the sun don't shine. I always take a picture of it being removed and save contaminated fluids in a separate container to show clients if I think they're the kind of customer that wants to or needs to know those things, because I'm also one of those customers.

Glad mine is under warranty! And free oil changes at the dealer! This dealer is good, they do not hire hacks. As little as I drive I will prolly be dead before the trans fluid needs changing LOL

 

[Rachgier]

And I thought my counter tops looked crappy... Holy crap!

These people were the artistic type. Buy crap and slap a "kit" on it to make it look fancy. They looked great when I moved in. My asshole children don't know how not to abuse stuff and it's getting worse now that I'm gone.

 

[Dubar]

My phone has been ringing non-stop today with a bunch of scam calls, after about the 3rd one early this morning I started not even getting up to see what the number was.

So an hour or so goes by and the phone rings again, I look at the number/name and it's one of my old deceased uncle's names!!! OK, big April Fools joke, but then I think, one of my cousins had the same first name, so I pick it up.

What do you know...one of my cousins I thought had died back in 2010 is alive and more or less well!!! I couldn't believe it

Back in 2010 I got a phone call from someone who said she was either a friend of one of my aunts, or a sister-in-law of one of my aunts that I had never heard of. She sez that both of my cousins had died.

Turned out not to be the case. One did die but this one is still with us. WOW!!! We talked for maybe 30 minutes and now I have his address down in NC and phone number so I guess I'll be taking a 2 hour trip soon to see him. He was actually in the hospital when the other cousin died. Not only that, found out my 2 other cousins (his sisters) are still living!!! They're 3-5 years older than me, it'll be nice to see them all, haven't seen any of them since 2005 when my mom and brother died. I had honestly thought nobody was left in the family down around Weldon/Roanoke Rapids/Gaston area.

Road trip!!!

 

[Stromm]

The auto mechanic stated what you said. He said he does not do automatic transmission flushes because it causes problems with the seals. He just drained the fluid and refilled it.

I will also do what you said and not take the car on any long trips either for about one hundred miles. The technician recommended I bring the car back in and have the fluid changed again in about 8,000 to 10,000 miles to get all the other really old fluid out.

That’s really only true if you wait beyond the recommended service mileage.

Which most people do, hence the reason why it’s a bad idea for most people.

Change it while it’s mostly clean and you’re good to go. Keep doing it that way and the trans will usually last longer than never changing the fluid.

 

[Rachgier]

That’s really only true if you wait beyond the recommended service mileage.

Which most people do, hence the reason why it’s a bad idea for most people.

Change it while it’s mostly clean and you’re good to go. Keep doing it that way and the trans will usually last longer than never changing the fluid.

Actually, you should only change it according to manufacturer's recommendations. Between 30 and 100k miles.

His problem is that every Mazda SKYACTIV transmission comes with "lifetime" fluid that never needs to be replaced unless a major component is swapped out, or a new transmission has been installed. So if he has a SKYACTIV transmission, he would have violated the manufacturer's power train warranty for having it serviced outside of a Mazda dealership.

This all just hypothetical, btw.

 

[Fracman]

Happy final countdown day 4-3-21

 

[Rachgier]

Sitting here irritated as hell at UPS. They're claiming bad weather in Dallas, Denver, and my house is why my transmission has been sitting there for a week. It's been sunny, clear, and in the 70's, and 80's all week here in CO...

 

[Delbert]

I got the privilege of having an engine service light come on couple weeks ago. Shouldn't of let the problem go this long. Today I got to change out an exhaust system. Being a GM it got the curse and was catilletic convertor on a 2003 ZR2 S10 Blazer. Ordered new front pipe system(Megaflow) from the exhaust manifolds back to muffler. If you've ever had a catilletic convertor's inside's break free, there's lots of rattling going on. Unhooked battery + terminal to reset while work going on.

Well, trying to change just this pipe system turned into an all day clusterfuck. Not only did I and a friend have to R&R the front pipe system, disconnect 3 CO2 sensors, but also had to remove the trans cross bar, the trans rubber mount, and then jack trans up to get this tangled pipe mess out through the front of truck. Then friend went and snapped off the old bolts to muffler/front pipe connector joint, and come to find out those bolts were stainless. Trust me, we banged with punches and 3# hammer to try and remove those bolts. Finally gave up after 15 minutes and seeing nothing work, so we had to remove rear tail pipe/muffler and have the bolts torched out by my brother-n-law, which thank God lives only about 1/8 mile away, and replace with some new bolts/nuts.

Just trying to remove the rear muffler/tailpipe system, I even had to remove the passenger shock just to get pipe over the axle after removing all the pipe's hanger mounts.

So far up to this point we'd been working to remove all this and took most of 4-5 hrs being on our backs with the vehicle up on ramps to gain better under-room movement.

Got the old girl put back together, but whole job took better than 9-10 hours, but saved pocket money over taking to muffler shop that would of cost me a good $5-750 dollars more for labor, on top of the cost of the already purchased front pipe system, which cost north of $400 already, plus the cost of new exhaust donuts, muffler gasket, bolts/nuts kit and all the tools needed and torching to remove reminants of broken bolts, to complete the job.

Now I'm sore and achy all over. AND, I'd do it again if I had to, and this system should last another 18 or more years. I had a couple years ago already changed for new CO2 sensors and just this past summer worked on engine and put in new engine electronics and new distributor, plugs, wires. Now you can't even feel it running, it's so smooth. Should also get better gas milage with new cat system and ECU having a more precise reading on the exhaust. Not that 4.3's and 4x4 getting good gas milage to start with.

AND, when the parts come in, I will then get to repair a dryer that's gotten noisy. Have to replace the bearing/spindle drum support system, along with drum belt while I'm in there.

Couple days ago, I even got to go into my basement and rocky crawl space area and lay on my back/side on some cardboard to spray all the wood joists/beams for termites and wood ants. What fun that was. I did use some natural chemicals(white vinegar/d-lemonene/water) for the animals and family. Now waiting for couple more days to lay down some granule termite killer to let rain soak it in the soil around the outside house perimeter.

This isn't all of it either. I still got to service my mower(s) and get them ready for spring, along with tilling the garden and start planting.

I think I wear too many hats.

 

[MaryB]

Assembled new BBQ pit yesterday, heavy duty construction! Weighs 125 pounds so kinda overdid lifting things even with a friend helping. Going to burn it in today so I can break it in with ribs next weekend. While it burns off the manufacturing oils going to try to move some stuff around in the garage.

 

[moona11]

Easter with the family

 

[1024Megabytes]

Because of the price of ammo I am now spending more time on a bicycle riding with my kids. Going to the shooting range will unfortunately be a rare day now. I have grown to loathe goat head thorns that puncture bicycle tires but otherwise I am enjoying myself.

 

[1024Megabytes]

Actually, you should only change it according to manufacturer's recommendations. Between 30 and 100,000 miles.

His problem is that every Mazda SKYACTIV transmission comes with "lifetime" fluid that never needs to be replaced unless a major component is swapped out, or a new transmission has been installed. So if he has a SKYACTIV transmission, he would have violated the manufacturer's power train warranty for having it serviced outside of a Mazda dealership.

You are correct Rachgier. The Mazda 5 I have recommended maintenance for the transmission fluid is never change. I do not believe it though. After the fluid was changed I noticed the transmission seems to be working better.

I will likely have the transmission fluid changed again when 50,000 miles passes. I doubt it will hurt the transmission doing this maintenance.

 

[Chef Duane]

Took down a tree in the front yard that was severely overhanging our circle drive. Did it with a Harbor Freight chainsaw. Bit of a job but got er' done.

 

[Rachgier]

You are correct Rachgier. The Mazda 5 I have recommended maintenance for the transmission fluid is never change. I do not believe it though. After the fluid was changed I noticed the transmission seems to be working better.

I will likely have the transmission fluid changed again when 50,000 miles passes. I doubt it will hurt the transmission doing this maintenance.

Yeah, I don't blame you. I've never been a fan of "forever" fluid in a vehicle. The same fluids that people with our experience are used to seeing burnt, broken down, contaminated, or other bad things due to time and heat.

Could you imagine if Mazda, Ford, BMW, or whatever motor corp truly managed to invent a "forever" fluid?

It started with sealed transmissions because they wanted to try and force service back in to the dealerships. Now it's proprietary forever fluid from the dealer or forfeit your seriously limited warranty.

 

[Chef Duane]

Ironically, my Ford Edge AWD has a 'forever fluid' recommendation on the PTU (Power Transfer Unit). Its not really 4WD or AWD but has the 'intelligent' AWD system that transfers power to the rear wheels as needed via the PTU. Don't really know how 'intelligent' it is as the AWD models have problems with burning out the PTU's. Seems the PTU is bolted on right near where the header routes down to the exhaust pipe. The 75w140 in the PTU eventually sludges up under heat and the PTU burns up. So much for intelligence in engineering. I've changed it twice since there is a suck/fill port on the top of the unit. Bugger to get to but so far no problems at 125k miles.

 

[Rachgier]

Ironically, my Ford Edge AWD has a 'forever fluid' recommendation on the PTU (Power Transfer Unit). Its not really 4WD or AWD but has the 'intelligent' AWD system that transfers power to the rear wheels as needed via the PTU. Don't really know how 'intelligent' it is as the AWD models have problems with burning out the PTU's. Seems the PTU is bolted on right near where the header routes down to the exhaust pipe. The 75w140 in the PTU eventually sludges up under heat and the PTU burns up. So much for intelligence in engineering. I've changed it twice since there is a suck/fill port on the top of the unit. Bugger to get to but so far no problems at 125k miles.

The burban has that "Auto 4WD" button that engages the transfer case and leaves it up to the wheel speed sensors to detect slip and engage the front axle on the fly.... the very same thing chevy recommended you not do back in '01.

It's just a part-time AWD system, like yours. Only mine runs with a full fledged 4WD system.