Got some stuff done today.....
Started out by airing up the flat tire, It wouldn't take air as the bead had broke loose, Pulled the car back off the flat spot & got it to take air.
Took it straight to the car wash for a good rinse & to scare any Brown Recluse's away, Tire was near flat by the time I got back.
Racked the car on my lift......
Let the air out of the tires one at a time to see if they correlated to the learned position in the Tire Pressure Monitor.....They were not.....They were cross rotated at one point.
Marked each one with a Sharpie so they get put back in the learned position.
Pulled all 4 wheels, Buffed the mounting pad of each wheel which weren't to terribly bad but still needed it.
Loaded up my 4 new Michelin's & the Rim's/Tire's from the car into my truck & headed down to Texas Tire #9. I use this location cause they have a brand new Hunter Road Force Balancer & the personnel is usually halfway competent.
Well.....The manager was there by himself & had 3 people call-in "sick", Thankfully I got there right as he opened at 10am. But he was fighting getting a locking lugnut off a Honda Accord.
It was killing me watching him struggle so much with some wore out "Turbo Sockets". He was hammering them on with little baby taps. I said "Let me help you"
I got the socket started with a few light taps....Then I wailed on it about 3 times with his baby 2 pound sledge. Don't think he knew that hammer could do that
.
It spun right off with the impact. He gets a new tire on the Accord fairly quickly.
I can tell at this point that he knows just enough to struggle/stagger though this, He had to break the beads in 4 or 5 places.
He would run the rim clamp out to much before putting the rim on the table & have to run it back in.
Got the spoon under the bead & stop/start several times while rolling it off.
Was pretty smooth putting the new tire on.....But he took the assembly off the table to seat the beads.....Never seen a tire man do that. I was taught to put the Beans to it with the air & lift up on the tire while the rim was still clamped on the table to seat the bead.
The balancer is pretty much idiot proof, Or so I thought.
The first tire called for 2 ounces on the inside.......I had to speak up with "Little 16" Michelin's don't take that much to balance", Then I saw he didn't take the old weights off. That one took a 1/4 ounce weight to balance. The next one took no weights at all, Next was 3/4 ounce, The last took 1/2 ounce.
When I was installing the wheels....The one that had 3/4 ounce weight had a old weight carcass on the rim....He got the lead off but not the steel backer. I left it alone.
The good thing is....He didn't charge me a dime & disposed of the old tires.
Got back to shop around Noon.....
Started on the front brakes, New Rotors & Pads, Cleaned the Hubs up real well, New Hardware, Cleaned up the Bracket where the Hardware sits, Cleaned & lubed the Slide Pins which were still in good shape.
Pulled the rear drums & cleaned the Shoes & Hardware...Emory Clothed the friction surface of the drums a little, Buffed clean where the wheels seat against the drum. Shoes look like new & didn't require any adjustment.
Flushed a gallon of Brake Fluid through the system using my 8 Quart MightyVac evacuator.
Applied some Antiseize to the wheel studs & torqued the wheel down to 80 foot pounds.
Drained the oil, Had a reddish/Amber tint to it, Swapped out the Cartridge Filter......It had a GM/Hengst Filter in it that looked pretty good.
Mobil 1 5w30 back in.
Needed about 8 ounces of Dexcool to bring the coolant level to full, Filled the Washer reservoir up....It works well, But needs Wiper Blades.
Transmission was full, Will Drain & Fill another day.
Decided not to do any Cooling System repairs today......Going to change the Water Pump at the same time (Probably next week) along with the Trans Fluid.
Having to rely on others to mount/Balance the tires really ate up my day unfortunately.
Drove it @40 miles to get the Readiness Monitors ready, Put $25 worth of Premium Fuel in it. (Don't fill the tank when trying to get the EVAP monitor to ready).
Need a second cold start for the O2 Heater & Evap monitor to ready.
Have my own Authorized Agent Tag from each of the car lots I do work for, Called one & got permission to use it. Car has insurance. Should be able to Inspect & Tag this week.