Can’t Stop Wrenching

Joined
Dec 2, 2005
Messages
1,465
Location
Kennett Square, PA
I did all major maintenance on our vehicles before moving to the old folks community 12/18. Haven't done anything except change oil since then. Very small garage...a real PITA to move my floor jack around, etc, etc. Thought I would buy new cars and stop wrenching. However, had to replace rotors on our 2010 MDX a couple weeks ago and starting to have a few issues with my almost 21 yo 1999 Avalon. This morning I changed the accessory belt and serviced the front brakes on my Avalon. Everything is a lot harder than it used to be but, guess what? I can not find anything I enjoy more than learning how to diagnose and fix problems on my cars. I am a chemical engineer but really love the mechanical side of things.

Been messing with the AC on my Avalon and noticed the compressor MC is noisy. Confirmed this morning when I had the accessory belt off. Fair amount of bearing wobble. Heck, it could last the life of the vehicle, but I can't think of anything I would enjoy more than fixing it. Really isn't that big of a job...don't even have to lift it. Most people think I am a whack job but I bet many of you know exactly how I feel.
 
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DIY repairs/maintenance not my cup of tea, but it is something you obviously enjoy quite a bit. So keep on trucking.
 
Heh, when we bought our house, everyone looked and said it had an oversized garage. I looked and said "huh?" I can just work the floorjack handle, if I park just right, and have nothing next to the walls. It's just big enough for work, but no more, for cars. My truck won't fit on my side, and... I've been wanting to get rid of it for just that reason alone. Right now I really should drop the trans pan and change the fluid and the gasket (slow weep), but where it won't fit I'm afraid to start and not finish, and then have the door stuck open overnight or for a few days.

I have a love/hate relationship with working on cars. It feels good to fix something. It sucks when you break something and then need to order yet another part!

My background is electronics so working on mechanical things is simply thinking in a different realm.

What's really nice is having a spare vehicle. When you have to quit for the day, you're not stranded.
 
Congrats for not giving up. I recently changed the front rotors-bearing hubs and pads on my sons 2008 Ford Ranger. As you know working on the floor isn't as easy as it used to be, but it's important to maintain our productivity in what ever way we can.
 
My biggest regret was the day I, in my mid 20's, rented an apartment which had a sloped parking lot because that was the day that I stopped performing rudimentary maintenance on my vehicles. The second mistake was buying a house with a one-car garage because I didn't want to spend hours in rush hour traffic. I look back now thinking how these decisions resulted in decades of boredom and missed opportunities.
 
Doah! missed the bit about you going to the old folks community. Any chance to either borrow an offsprings garage or to make friends with the younger generation?

I'm sure you remember the days when there was oodles of things you'd do for friends... for free beer. Maybe it's your chance to be the beer guy.

Originally Posted by BMWTurboDzl
My biggest regret was the day I, in my mid 20's, rented an apartment which had a sloped parking lot because that was the day that I stopped performing rudimentary maintenance on my vehicles. The second mistake was buying a house with a one-car garage because I didn't want to spend hours in rush hour traffic. I look back now thinking how these decisions resulted in decades of boredom and missed opportunities.

I regret my first house, which didn't have a garage. Looking back though I wonder if I would have just filled it with a car that would never run again. A younger me wanted to get into the hot rod scene. Would I have done so, if I had a garage to do it in? Who knows, hindsight isn't 20/20.
 
Originally Posted by supton
Doah! missed the bit about you going to the old folks community. Any chance to either borrow an offsprings garage or to make friends with the younger generation?

I'm sure you remember the days when there was oodles of things you'd do for friends... for free beer. Maybe it's your chance to be the beer guy.

Originally Posted by BMWTurboDzl
My biggest regret was the day I, in my mid 20's, rented an apartment which had a sloped parking lot because that was the day that I stopped performing rudimentary maintenance on my vehicles. The second mistake was buying a house with a one-car garage because I didn't want to spend hours in rush hour traffic. I look back now thinking how these decisions resulted in decades of boredom and missed opportunities.

I regret my first house, which didn't have a garage. Looking back though I wonder if I would have just filled it with a car that would never run again. A younger me wanted to get into the hot rod scene. Would I have done so, if I had a garage to do it in? Who knows, hindsight isn't 20/20.



I'm happy for the OP in that he seems to still enjoy wrenching as it provides some level of enjoyment. It sure beats sitting on ones retired arse collecting dust.
 
It's in your blood, and good for you. A body in motion stays in motion. I went on a 2 week road trip with my ex last summer going hiking and camping. It was great, but I had to still open the hood just once at one of the campgrounds to "check" everything on the car and make sure it was good after driving nearly 2000 miles through various conditions. Everything was fine, as expected, and you should've seen the looks I got at the campground when I popped the hood open just to check the fluids, it was like I had pointed a laser at the sky.
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Supton, it is a 55+ community so I do have a two car garage but you can barely walk around them. My old place had an oversized three car which was deluxe. Your description of your garage is exactly the way mine is.
 
Artbuc, from your op, it seems to me you're still getting the job done, just slowing down a bit. I'm naturally drawn to a vehicle with the hood up so we would likely be good neighbors. You're probably the envy of all the guy's in your community, truth be known.
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Originally Posted by artbuc
Supton, it is a 55+ community so I do have a two car garage but you can barely walk around them. My old place had an oversized three car which was deluxe. Your description of your garage is exactly the way mine is.

Yep. Well, we all make do with what we got. Sounds like you are going to use it until you lose it--and by using it hopefully you won't lose it!

Good luck. I could easily sign up for a newer car but it sure does feel good to turn the wrenches from time to time.

Question: have you thought about some bottle jacks? Floorjacks are awesome but I got by for a long time without one. Reason being, no long pole to smack into the wall. I know HF has one that is air driven, too bad they don't make one that could be driven by a drill instead.
 
I got dragged into doing rear shoes on a 93 Ciivic DX a couple days ago. I owned at least 3-4 Civics and CRXs over the years. No problem right? What A PITA this one! As always the drums were locked on. Not fond memories! Pulled out the shoes , gee they don't really look the same in the spring holes position. Oh I knew the wider and thinner trick Honda stuck us with so we got the supposed right ones. Well, WRONG. Back they went. Only Thing that got learn by this adventure was how awful drum brakes are when they are that small...–.
Next day, yesterday Son in law wound up hitting every part store in town after work next day to finally get right ones, 🤣ALMOST. There's a stud that the E brake sits on and the new ones have a hole there., great. Honda said they came with them then looked at a set whoops, not any more...–. Just use the old ones pound them out. Duhhh. I'd ground the studs top off to get the old brake off on one stubborn side. Why not there's no core☹ï¸. Oh well Honda can order studs.
So we decide to do the one side and call it another day so I tell him to go get the car, the one with no brakes on it. Now he put it away with no brakes so surely.......... I look up seeing it coming over at 10 MPH and by the time I Hollared he'd already discovered🙈 the brakes were gone. Over the apron and into the waiting cedar hedge it went. He caught reverse right when it hit and it came peeling back out. Well we got one side on as the oil all drained out the other side leaving the driveway looking like the Exon Valdez mess. What will round 3 bring , who knows. At least I thought to plaster the bleeders with ATF/ Acetone. I just can't wait for the next round🤥
Then I got to finish what I'd fought with all day prior. Knocking down the rust under the box of my trusty old Sierras box . I've been dirtier but not lately . One long day for sure. How I pulled all this stuff off prior to retiring I still wonder often.
 
This is so funny! A couple years ago my nephew asked me to replace the rear drum brakes on his daughter's car. I had never turned him down before but I told him I will never do another drum brake job. Even I have my limits.


Originally Posted by Driz
I got dragged into doing rear shoes on a 93 Ciivic DX a couple days ago. I owned at least 3-4 Civics and CRXs over the years. No problem right? What A PITA this one! As always the drums were locked on. Not fond memories! Pulled out the shoes , gee they don't really look the same in the spring holes position. Oh I knew the wider and thinner trick Honda stuck us with so we got the supposed right ones. Well, WRONG. Back they went. Only Thing that got learn by this adventure was how awful drum brakes are when they are that small...–.
Next day, yesterday Son in law wound up hitting every part store in town after work next day to finally get right ones, 🤣ALMOST. There's a stud that the E brake sits on and the new ones have a hole there., great. Honda said they came with them then looked at a set whoops, not any more...–. Just use the old ones pound them out. Duhhh. I'd ground the studs top off to get the old brake off on one stubborn side. Why not there's no core☹ï¸. Oh well Honda can order studs.
So we decide to do the one side and call it another day so I tell him to go get the car, the one with no brakes on it. Now he put it away with no brakes so surely.......... I look up seeing it coming over at 10 MPH and by the time I Hollared he'd already discovered🙈 the brakes were gone. Over the apron and into the waiting cedar hedge it went. He caught reverse right when it hit and it came peeling back out. Well we got one side on as the oil all drained out the other side leaving the driveway looking like the Exon Valdez mess. What will round 3 bring , who knows. At least I thought to plaster the bleeders with ATF/ Acetone. I just can't wait for the next round🤥
Then I got to finish what I'd fought with all day prior. Knocking down the rust under the box of my trusty old Sierras box . I've been dirtier but not lately . One long day for sure. How I pulled all this stuff off prior to retiring I still wonder often.
 
I know the feeling. I still have a bunch of stuff I need to do to my '05 Impala, but I'm to the point now where I'm not sure how comfortable I am doing it in my apartment's parking lot.
 
I like doing the easy things like changing oil and filters. I can change the AT fluid in my Civic. Anything else forget it since these cars are not
that easy to work on. I do change serpentine and AC belts. I like door ding repair or light bodywork.
 
Artbuc, you're not a whack job. The trick is to find a 55 community that allows that kind of hobby. I'm 70, and my hoa frowns on cars on jack stands in driveways, oil changes, pounding on stuck wheel bearings, that kind of stuff. If you're a shade tree mechanic a lot of 55 and over communities are not a good fit.
 
Originally Posted by Aredeeem
Artbuc, you're not a whack job. The trick is to find a 55 community that allows that kind of hobby. I'm 70, and my hoa frowns on cars on jack stands in driveways, oil changes, pounding on stuck wheel bearings, that kind of stuff. If you're a shade tree mechanic a lot of 55 and over communities are not a good fit.


Noise is my biggest concern. Fortunately my garage is too small for air compressor so I put it in basement and piped air to garage. However, using impact tools on the weekend may get complaints and I never use impact tools before noon. I'm usually not in a hurry anyway so I very seldom break out my air tools. However, if I ever do another timing belt on my MDX I will let my Aircat sing it's song.
 
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I just changed the oil and filter last week. I'm 82 years old and maybe have one more brake job in me this fall. Hunching over and getting up off my knees or back is getting tougher though. Carry on till I can't. Ed
 
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