What Irked You Today?

[XJ6]

Careful. No politics allowed...

or I could go on about this subject for hours...

Sorry Harry my Bad ? 

[Ace-Garageguy]

Auto Parts can't  believe this so my Daily Driver '03 Nissian Altima had developed a multi miss firing about last week so I plug my OBD II into it and gives me a code P0300 multiple misfiring detected so I go after the the Boot wires to the plugs and find 3 out of the 4 tube seal chambers filled with oil ?

will of course this is my problem no way am i getting good spark ?? to my plugs from the boot wires when they are sitting in oil ? so I proceed to go ahead and rectify this problem and get it corrected and pull the Valve Cover and Yes the Seals are shot They Must be Replaced now they are just fancy looking 0-Rings that sit in the cover so me thinking heck can't cost that much ? ..... WRONG Now this is my IRK for the day Can't buy just the 0-Rings Must replace the whole Valve Cover ??. You know one of those Nissian Quirks (I miss the old Chevy Days) So no not a few cents for some 0-Rings but $130.00 + CA tax for a Valve Cover and then to look at ......i ask Steve the guy at the Auto Store where is the Gasket for this  over ? Oh will have to purchase that separate he looks at and says just use the old one ?? yea right dude. 

So Really what should just be and easy replacement has cost me $$ for what amounts to a 0-rings leaking into my tube cylinders 

and of course Murphys Law.... New Plugs, New Boot Wires , New Boot Wires, New Air Fliter , New PVC ...... Stop Oil Leak in Tube Chambers so the Boots and Tips of Plugs no longer sit in a Oil Bath hope to make  the code go away a make  my Nissian Run like it Should wish me luck guys 

Any Mechanics on board here ? Let me know if I am heading in the right direction ?

Cheers Don ?....... Are the way me feeling ??

I think your 'auto parts' guy may be a moron, or a crook. Though I really don't have time to research this entire question right now, it looks to me like the cover, gasket and seal set is only about $75-$110 for the 2.5 liter engine, you certainly DON'T have to replace the entire valve-cover (unless it's cracked), and you are correct in thinking you need to go ahead and replace the plug wires as well (cooking in oil for a time will damage the insulation). Just the gasket and seal set should be in the $25-$50 range.

Use something like a turkey-baster to suck most of the oil out of the plug tubes before you start taking things apart. Then get absorbent rags pushed down around the plugs to soak up the rest. You'll need to clean the oil off of the plugs as well, which means removing them. Leaving the outsides of the plugs oily will almost guarantee you'll have the high-tension spark tracking down the residual oil film, and you'll still get a mis-fire. Clean the outside of the plugs with electrical or brake-cleaner spray, or generous amounts of 90% isopropyl alcohol.

Clean the top of the engine BEFORE you start taking things apart too, so you don't get grit and FOD in the inside. Also thoroughly clean the surfaces of the head and valve cover where the gaskets and seals contact it. Check the cover THOROUGHLY for cracks, and don't over-tighten things when you put it all back together.

Edited September 5, 2015 by Ace-Garageguy

[XJ6]

I think your 'auto parts' guy may be a moron, or a crook. Though I really don't have time to research this entire question right now, it looks to me like the cover, gasket and seal set is only about $75-$110 for the 2.5 liter engine, you certainly DON'T have to replace the entire valve-cover (unless it's cracked), and you are correct in thinking you need to go ahead and replace the plug wires as well (cooking in oil for a time will damage the insulation). Just the gasket and seal set should be in the $25-$50 range.

Use something like a turkey-baster to suck most of the oil out of the plug tubes before you start taking things apart. Then get absorbent rags pushed down around the plugs to soak up the rest. You'll need to clean the oil off of the plugs as well, which means removing them. Leaving the outsides of the plugs oily will almost guarantee you'll have the high-tension spark tracking down the residual oil film, and you'll still get a mis-fire. Clean the outside of the plugs with electrical or brake-cleaner spray, or generous amounts of 90% isopropyl alcohol.

Clean the top of the engine BEFORE you start taking things apart too, so you don't get grit and FOD in the inside. Also thoroughly clean the surfaces of the head and valve cover where the gaskets and seals contact it. Check the cover THOROUGHLY for cracks, and don't over-tighten things when you put it all back together.

well after searching around it seems I cant get just the tube seals they are not sold separately ? they come with the cover for they are sealed into the cover as a whole 

i am taking you Good advice going to use the turkey-baster snuck it out of the house? bought new plugs be very through on cleaning must have no dirt falling in to ports this worries me 

lots of oil in these tubes of each of about 4 inch ea that a lot of oil to soak up oh and also going to replace the boots with new ones the olds are just soak with oil don't believe I will get good contact if I use the old ones ? 

[Ace-Garageguy]

Pretty poor design if the seals are made integral with the cover. I'll take your word for it. I thought the PT Cruiser had some really stupid detail designs, but at least the seals (similar design) were available separately, or came with just the gasket set.

If I had your car, and couldn't get the seals, I'd probably just carefully clean the old gasket and use the old seals, with a careful, even coating on both of Permatex UltraGrey. You can make a mess with the stuff if you're not really used to using it though, and you don't want too much to squeeze into the engine, or too little to let the leaks remain.

http://www.permatex.com/products-2/product-categories/gasketing/gasket-makers/permatex-ultra-grey-rigid-high-torque-rtv-silicone-gasket-maker-82194-detail

 

A way to thoroughly clean the tubes before taking the plugs out is to use a shop-vac with a thin nozzle of some sort. Squirt plenty of brake-cleaner (make sure it's a non-flammable variety) into the tubes and suck it back out with the shop vac. Do this several times, and blow the tubes out with compressed air, if you have access to it, before removing the spark plugs.

Edited September 5, 2015 by Ace-Garageguy

[XJ6]

Pretty poor design if the seals are made integral with the cover. I'll take your word for it. I thought the PT Cruiser had some really stupid detail designs, but at least the seals (similar design) were available separately, or came with just the gasket set.

If I had your car, and couldn't get the seals, I'd probably just carefully clean the old gasket and use the old seals, with a careful, even coating on both of Permatex UltraGrey. You can make a mess with the stuff if you're not really used to using it though, and you don't want too much to squeeze into the engine, or too little to let the leaks remain.

http://www.permatex.com/products-2/product-categories/gasketing/gasket-makers/permatex-ultra-grey-rigid-high-torque-rtv-silicone-gasket-maker-82194-detail

 

A way to thoroughly clean the tubes before taking the plugs out is to use a shop-vac with a thin nozzle of some sort. Squirt plenty of brake-cleaner (make sure it's a non-flammable variety) into the tubes and suck it back out with the shop vac. Do this several times, and blow the tubes out with compressed air, if you have access to it, before removing the spark plugs.

sure like this turkey-baster sucks the oil right out great idea thanks for all your Help ?

[Ace-Garageguy]

sure like this turkey-baster sucks the oil right out great idea thanks for all your Help ?

Just don't use it to baste a turkey again...

[Tom Geiger]

My favorite auto part was the Chrysler air filter casing. The ribbed rubber hose between the filter casing and the fuel injection had cracked so it was sucking in dirty air from the engine bay. I try the auto parts store... nope, OEM only.  I go to Chrysler and they only sell it as a unit for $200!  No reason for that at all since the hose has a clamp on either end!  Hello junkyard, found a decent one, air filter box and all for $10

Headlights weren't an issue though.  Many of the older ones have gone opaque and past polishing back to clear.  I found a pair on eBay for the Caravan for $65 postpaid. I also bought two new bulbs from a different vendor for $10 postpaid.  Both of these purchases showed up the next day.  Amazing, the lights came from CA to PA.  I look them over against my worn ones, and they are exact to the makers marks. Either OEM the supplier for Chrysler or an amazing exact replica.  And then I notice that the unit has all the bulbs in it already.  I thought the lights were a bargain without the bulbs!  So I kept the extra pair I bought for another day.  

 

i

Caravan with brandy new headlights!  I can see again!

I buy a lot of my auto parts on eBay or Rock Auto.  Much cheaper than buying locally from one of those chain auto parts stores like Pep Boys who doesn't have what you need half the time.   Delivery is often the very next day, never more than 3 days.

Edited September 5, 2015 by Tom Geiger

[blunc]

I think your 'auto parts' guy may be a moron, or a crook. Though I really don't have time to research this entire question right now, it looks to me like the cover, gasket and seal set is only about $75-$110 for the 2.5 liter engine, you certainly DON'T have to replace the entire valve-cover (unless it's cracked), and you are correct in thinking you need to go ahead and replace the plug wires as well (cooking in oil for a time will damage the insulation). Just the gasket and seal set should be in the $25-$50 range.

Use something like a turkey-baster to suck most of the oil out of the plug tubes before you start taking things apart. Then get absorbent rags pushed down around the plugs to soak up the rest. You'll need to clean the oil off of the plugs as well, which means removing them. Leaving the outsides of the plugs oily will almost guarantee you'll have the high-tension spark tracking down the residual oil film, and you'll still get a mis-fire. Clean the outside of the plugs with electrical or brake-cleaner spray, or generous amounts of 90% isopropyl alcohol.

Clean the top of the engine BEFORE you start taking things apart too, so you don't get grit and FOD in the inside. Also thoroughly clean the surfaces of the head and valve cover where the gaskets and seals contact it. Check the cover THOROUGHLY for cracks, and don't over-tighten things when you put it all back together.

I had to soak up the oil with paper towels when I addressed this problem on my wife's Honda.

It's best not to take the spark plug out and let the oil run down into the cylinder, blue smoke out the tail pipe will be the least that will happen, you may cause internal engine problems if you let debris and lots of oil run down into the cylinders.

Your engine may also need a valve adjustment, check service requirements for this issue.

[XJ6]

I had to soak up the oil with paper towels when I addressed this problem on my wife's Honda.

It's best not to take the spark plug out and let the oil run down into the cylinder, blue smoke out the tail pipe will be the least that will happen, you may cause internal engine problems if you let debris and lots of oil run down into the cylinders.

Your engine may also need a valve adjustment, check service requirements for this issue.

well this was a concern of mine after pulling the ignition coil wires off and then  the cam cam cover I was shocked at the condition and just how brittle they had become so I was I was very concerned when I used the Turkey-baster and seen bits and prices floating in the baster? know here I am looking at four of these tubes about 4" long filled with oil and broken material ?? thinking to myself how much I sure miss the days of SBC (small block Chevys)

So any way to make a long story short I got out my little shop wet and dry vac 3.5 HP and suck the material out of the tubs oil do wonder to my nice little shop vac ? 

Anyway feel confident no debris is in the cylinders new plugs are in and time out for awhile what simple job is pain for of course the PVC hose is brittle and broken and the other do hickie line is cracked so gee it only another 40mins across town to the auto parts should be done by well I don't know ??

[Ace-Garageguy]

Sadly, shop-vacs tend to get dirty inside when actually used as shop-vacs. They're also easily cleaned.

[XJ6]

Sadly, shop-vacs tend to get dirty inside when actually used as shop-vacs. They're also easily cleaned.

I hope so this one is matted with Oil ?

And Thank You Very much for you help this Morning very much Appreciated ?

[Ace-Garageguy]

I know it's a PITA to have to clean out the vac afterwards, but there's really no better way to get the oily gritty FOD out of those tubes...and you DON'T want it in your engine.

Replace the filter in the VAC, and just wash the inside out with dishwashing-grease-cutter like Dawn, and hot water.

Unplug it first.

[disabled modeler]

Also be careful you do not use anything flammable to clean the shop vac out...if you do give it plenty of time to air out fully.  Hope you get the car fixed. 

[aurfalien]

Absolutely nothing.

[detailstymied]

you haven't been listening to the old men gurgle about rivet counting then!

[Ace-Garageguy]

you haven't been listening to the old men gurgle about rivet counting then!

If old men gurgling about rivet counting offends your delicate sensibilities to the point you become irked, one would respectfully suggest you just ...don't pay it no never-mind.

Me? I'm gonna listen to some Thelonius, Miles and Toots, and work on a model of a fast car. Gonna be 100% irk-free momentarily.

Edited September 6, 2015 by Ace-Garageguy

[aurfalien]

Well, the rivet counting thread has the resident Yodas participating so its another opportunity to learn which I'm liking.

So again, nothing irked me today

[mikemodeler]

For manufacturers and car parts stores, yes.

As someone who works in the auto parts industry, you are partially correct Lee. We catalog and sell replacement parts based on the OEM design, so if they complicate things, we are not to blame, they are.

 

Don- not sure where you went to get parts/information, but the internet can be your friend in this case. Check online  a couple of parts sellers (NAPA, Advance, etc.) as they may have options with different brands. NAPA has a line of import specific replacement parts that come from the same companies that are supplying the OE, and in many cases may be the only part listed and might even be cheaper. Advance has a couple of options too.

Google search your car and see if the problem you are having is a common one, chances are someone has a solution and can point you in the right direction with parts and procedure.

[Agent G]

In the "be careful what you wish for, you might get it" category, I submit the following "irk".

All summer we, the night watch, have been tolerating the states system of climate control in our office building. Specifically the AC goes into low mode at 11pm Friday and doesn't power up until early Monday.

After 110-115 degree days this just doesn't cut it, it's at least 85-90 at night in the building.

As of this weekend, now that the hottest days are behind us, the AC is at maximum all night.

You could hang meat in my office right now.

G

[mikemodeler]

Not saying that the car parts stores are to blame, just mean that designs like this benefit manufacturers and parts stores as they make more money that way versus just selling a bulb.

Yeah, that sounds logical, but try explaining that to someone who says "I remember when a headlamp was $6!".  It truly is a changing world out there in the auto repair business. We don't have to do yearly tune ups anymore but when the car won't run, people forget that part and are in shock over the high $$ it might cost to replace sensors or coils.

Try explaining to someone who buys a new car that requires synthetic oil that their oil change is now $80 or more because the filter is no longer $2.99 and 6 quarts of oil is $60. Funny how the salesman didn't tell them that when they signed the papers!

[XJ6]

you haven't been listening to the old men gurgle about rivet counting then!

what ?? you know sometimes your postings just makes no GOOD Sense!

Edited September 6, 2015 by XJ6

[Danno]

In the "be careful what you wish for, you might get it" category, I submit the following "irk".

All summer we, the night watch, have been tolerating the states system of climate control in our office building. Specifically the AC goes into low mode at 11pm Friday and doesn't power up until early Monday.

After 110-115 degree days this just doesn't cut it, it's at least 85-90 at night in the building.

As of this weekend, now that the hottest days are behind us, the AC is at maximum all night.

You could hang meat in my office right now.

G

  SN-AFU!  

Sounds familiar.

 

 

 

[disabled modeler]

Getting repeatedly bashed on here by someone without a clue...thought this was forbidden here and grounds for being ban.

[Tom Geiger]

Pool Repairs!  I have a Polaris 260 pool bottom vacuum.  In their defense, it comes apart and is very easy to work on. Which is a good thing because I'm always fixing something on it.

There's a part on the water line called the 'back up valve'. Simply put, if Polaris paints itself into a corner, this valve squirts water sending it backwards, and hopefully on it's way again.  It's shaped like an egg.  I noticed the Polaris was flailing about and sure enough this egg has a crack right down the middle.  It was only a year old, my pool guy charged me $75 for it and I saw it in the trash. I check the local Leslie's Pools and yup, they get $75 for this part.  Then I check eBay... I can buy one for $45 postpaid, great idea. Then I notice that you can buy the parts.... outer assembly, interior pump etc.  I order the outer assembly for $19 postpaid and when it arrives I find it's three pieces. Two egg halves and a ring that screws on in the middle.  I take my broken one and find out that it's just the ring that's broken.  So I use the new assembly and put the perfectly good egg halves in a box to use some other time.  Then I see I could've bought just the ring for $10.  So I now know that last year we threw out a perfectly good unit.  Argh.

I toss the thing back in the pool which was necessary since the bottom had a week's worth of junk in it.  In a short time I notice the thing is running in circles, and I see a wheel in the bottom of the pool.  I immediately see that the plastic wheel screw that held it on stressed out and broke.  I'm looking at this plastic screw and figure it can't be worth much. I check Leslie Pools catalog... they want $12 for the friggen screw!  And $8 for the plastic washer behind it.   Check eBay and I can buy the same name brand screw... 4 for $7 postpaid. Amazing!

[Rob Hall]

Last week, the city was doing some work on a water main down the street..water was off several hours...came home from work, and there was a lot of air in the lines, strange colored water, and stinky water.   When I first flushed the toilets, the sound was wild..like something blew up in the wall...I called the city, they sent someone buy who took a water sample from the outside tap.   Said that the air in the lines, etc was because there is no hydrant for them to let it out or whatever.   After a while, the water ran clear from the taps and toilets.   

However, one of the toilets wouldn't stop running..flush it, it filled and kept running...hadn't had any problems with it before the outage.  Hmmm....   So I turned off the valve until the weekend....got a float valve replacement at Ace Hardware, and replaced it myself with a minimum of screaming and swearing...and the toilet flushes smoothly now w/ no excess running. I had to improvise on a chain clip (was missing from the kit, used a bent paper clip).  I'm no plumber, but it was fun to do a little bit of DIY on the holiday weekend..

Speaking of pool repairs, I've been having issues for months w/ my pool sweep (Barracuda G3, 2nd one I've had in 5 years)..it keeps getting confused and hung up under the ladder...my pool guy every week seems to adjust it's mapping so it doesn't hang up, but it seems to happen intermittently..

Edited September 9, 2015 by Rob Hall