Broken Idler Pulley Mount. Ford 5.4, Expedition, Excursion, F150 Idler Pulley Mount busted off.
So I just picked up an old 1998 Expedition. The truck is in pretty good shape. But it had a belt squeal. I figured no big deal as you can get a new belt, tensioner and idler pulley for about $100. So when I got it home I went to Autozone and grabbed the time belt pulley kit. Easy job about 30 minutes max. So I went to pull off the idler pulley and the mount fell off. This mount is on the upper left of the front timing chain cover. Just a little 5/8 dia by 1/5 long crap aluminum dowel looking piece with a M8 bolt running through it. So I thought it shouldn't really have a loot of pressure on it with the bolt running through t Wrong answer. Even with the bolt in it was wobbly and would allow movement on the idler pulley. So my first thought was to weld it up. But with it being Aluminum no easy way to get a TIG torch into the area. So my mind went to JB weld as I have used that on a few projects and it worked well. After looking at the bolt and threading it in separately. I noticed I had an additional 1/4 inch plus additional room to screw into the block mount that was left. So I go a 2 inch M8 hardened bolt. Took the broken piece off cleaned it up and drilled some small holes into it . Hoping to give the JB Weld something to hold onto and add pressure to the break area. Let it sit overnight came out unbolted it and it didn't work worth a damn. The JB Weld did not hold at all. Finger touched it and it broke back off right away. So my next attempt was going to braze it with Blue Demon Triple Play . Cleaned the parts back up and ground a little bit off to make room for the new material to flow in and make a good bond. So with the Blue Demon you need to get the metal up to about 700 degrees. Pulled out the propane torch set in place and protected the belt and rest of the block with a piece of 1/4 steel plate. So this aluminum is some super soft crap probably closer to tin. Took about 2 minutes and the broken mount started to melt and warp out. My thought was son of a bitch. Time to tear off the time chain cover. Looks like about 6 hours of jack en around for a damn 50 cent mount. I sat for a second grabbed a beer and looked at this shit show for about 20 minutes. Than I looked at the old tensioner I had and it has the same size mount on that pulley. So I thought what the hell. I took the chop saw out and cut the mount off. Went to the hardware store grabbed a hardened m8 2" bolt. Brought it back and ground the head off. Screwed the bolt into the block and used JB weld it lock it in place. Than took the mount I cut off. JB Welded that and screwed that tight to the timing chain cover. It finally felt solid. So I let the JB weld sit over night to harden up good. Placed the idler pulley on and put on a hardened nut with a outside cut washer. Tightened it down. Fired the old bitch up and bingo. No more squealing.
2005 Nissan Quest Not Start No Crank
2005 Nissan Quest. My van was running fine with no signs of any issues. Parked it in the driveway and the next morning. Turn the key Get lights on the dash, windows roll down, the back door opens but trying to start and I get nothing. I figured maybe an open door or something draining the battery. Grab my spare battery and jumper cables. Hook it up and nothing. I jumped online for ideas. The list is a long one. First was the battery block/battery fuses located right on the positive side of the battery. Looked for blown fuses. Nothing I could see but replaced it anyway. It looked corroded. I also replaced the cheap-ass terminal connection. No luck for me with this part of the repair. Next, I went online and found a list of fuses that could be an issue. Which covers 3 different fuse block locations including the fuse box relay. I checked the starter relay and had it tested. Nothing! Next is the Brake sensor. Pulled that out and ran a test on that. Looks good. At this point, I figure it has to be the stater itself. Pulled the starter out located on the driver's side behind a heat shield. Located just inside of the front frame bottom of the van. This is a fun project with a little swearing. Took the stater to Autozone for a test. Tested out great! So, of course, I was thrilled that I spent that much time jacking around with this. So put it back in. Next on the list was the Neutral safety sensor. Pull out your battery, airbox, and battery plate. I found my ground cable was corroded. So, of course, the cable is some typical special part from Nissan. Bought a longer generic cable and 2 more connectors. Cut about a 4-inch piece off the end added terminals. So you can body ground and bring the cable back up to the battery. Thought for sure this was going to be my answer. Put everything back together and still nothing. Back to the neutral safety switch. I pulled everything back out. Checked over the wire harness going to the switch and there it is. 2 broken wires on the switch. I am not sure how in the hell these wire got messed up. Pulled the switch out. Soldered up the 2 wires, silicone wrapped and taped the wire harness back up. Put it together and bingo. Took it out for a drive and now the back passenger side brake caliber is acting up. Guessing nothing to do with the rest of this crazy story. But just my luck with this van. I hope this helps someone out there! Best of luck with your Nissan issue.
Bar's Leaks - Head Seal Blown Head Gasket Repair
I have a beater with a heater that blew a head gasket. It's a 1998 Ford Expedition with a 4.6 Liter, just hit 117,000 miles. These trucks are great for hauling and oddball jobs. To replace the head gasket was going to either cost $800 + at the shop or do it myself and spend hours in the garage. I am sure as you can imagine this truck is not really worth that kind of money or time. To be honest I was getting ready to let her go to the junkyard. I started digging around for low mile trucks and unless you are dropping around $10K you are going to get anything worthwhile.
I had heard a few people a long time ago talk about a product like this and did some online searching on head gasket repair products. I stumbled across the Bar's Leak Professional. It does have mixed reviews but I thought for $34 it was worth a try.
In my research, I did find our that people used it and grenaded the motor. Come to find out if the head gasket is allowing coolant into your oil system this might not be the fix you are looking for. If the Sodium Silicate gets in by your piston and combustion chambers it is going to create huge problems for your engine. The military used Sodium Silicate to destroy motors by putting it in with the oil. So double-check your engine oil before using this. If your oil looks like creamy coffee I would find other options.
I put together a little video showing how I installed the Bar's Leak. It doesn't get any easier than this. Best $34 I have spent in some time.