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What DIDN'T you do to your bike today?
As some of you may recall, I have a 2004 Xterra that I use for shopping and large pickup projects, like getting my new Washing machine from Best Buy a few months ago. Anyways, I had been seeing just a few drops of oil under the engine after running it, and had also noticed some rusting around the WELD of the oil pan during oil changes, and thought I might need to replace it someday. Well, someday arrived last week after I returned from my weekly shopping trip, came out later and found a Dinner plate sized oil spot under the SUV, and when I checked it out, saw a lot more oil all around the bottom extension portion of the pan, and so I figured it had finally rusted thru enough to create a bigger leak.
So..I ordered a new replacement pan from Rock Auto for only ~$75.00, and it arrived a few days later. I then went to the local auto parts store and purchased the gasket set which essentially was the 2 curved rubber seals at the ends and 2 tubes of Black RTV for the rest of the pan seal...according to the diagram on the screen at the parts store...I didn't OPEN the package(mistake #1).
SO....that Saturday after returning from the weekly shopping, I turned the SUV around so it was going slightly downhill in the driveway, and put it up on the 2 wheel ramps to give me plenty of room without having to rely on jacking it up, or taking the wheels off, jack stands, etc.! Then proceeded to "try" to take the pan bolts off. Soon learned that I had to loosen the trans cooling hose clamps, and then had to remove the starter, and then had to remove the 2 large angle brackets that provide additional bracing/support between the engine block and the trans bell housing. AND of course there's that last bolt/screw that's around the back corner of the pan that you can't put a socket onto, and have to finger frig it along with using my small 10mm combo wrench on one eight of a turn at a time!
But..finally got all of the bolts out, and whacked the pan loose with my plastic dead blow hammer, and then attempted to drop the pan. Bump...it hit the steering arm that ran just a few inches below it....apparently the engineers designed it to NOT provide enough clearance without either pulling/lifting the engine off of the frame, OR removing the steering arm! Well, after 13 years of rust/corrosion, even after several applications of PB Blaster, I could NOT get the ball joints to come loose! I also damaged the rubber seals while attempting to loosen them with the tie end rod tool, so I then realized that I would have to replace the steering arm anyways....so I got out my trusty Angle Grinder, with the 4" cutoff wheel, and cut that sucker in half.
This provided enough clearance to be able to get the pan off.
Of course, now my ~3 hour project has just been extended to several days because I'm going to have to order the steering arm, and also a couple of tie end rod joints because I damaged their rubber seals also! Ordered the steering arm and the 2 inner tie rod ends from Rock Auto. Next day, after cleaning up the engine surface, was prepared to install the oil pan to at least get that part of the job done. Opened up the gasket kit, and found a VALVE cover gasket instead.
Took it(didn't bother to bring the receipt because they rang it up on their computer and had looked me up/found my account, so they "should " have a record of this recent exchange)(mistake #2). I showed the opened package to the guy behind the counter, he confirmed it was a valve cover gasket, but then he couldn't find evidence of the transaction in my account even though he could see the recent front brake pads I had purchased, and would NOT accept the wrong gasket package in exchange for the correct one WITHOUT the receipt. So I grabbed the package and stormed out of the store, went essentially across the street to the other parts store, they looked up the part, found it and had it in stock, and after OPENING it up to verify its contents, I then saw that the part # of 1 number off of the wrong package's part number...the previous guy hadn't written it down when he pulled it!
Went back home, applied the RTV, the rubber ends, and reinstalled the pan, and again had to FIGHT that last bolt/screw around the back corner of the pan! But got it installed, and then reinstalled the brackets, starter, cooling lines, and was DONE with that part!
Steering arm and tie rod ends arrived Thursday in time for this weekend, but now the weather hasn't been as nice, 85+ degrees with 70+dew points, and waves of thunderburst/storms rolling thru. Unlocked and unscrewed the tie rod ends, and then removed the stabilizer/idler arm from the right end to be able to put it on the new one. Then attempted to screw on the new locking nut, wouldn't START threading on the right end side. SO..I thought I had been sent the wrong size.
Went to the 2nd auto store, looked up the parts, and during discussions with the counter guy realized that the threads are backwards on one side(DUH). SO..I went back home and attempted to put the tie end on the LEFT side, and it screwed ON. So then I realized that Rock Auto had sold me 2 LEFT tie rod ends although they were listed an INNER, and didn't specify L or R side, or L or R threaded? Went back to the 2nd auto store, but the computer also showed the same tie end that I already had for the INNER unit. They listed an OUTER unit, but was much larger and much $$ than the inner despite them being the same size, just reverse threading. Went to a 3rd store, and while reviewing the computer listing for the INNER tie rods, saw an R on one with a different part# vs. the other one that was just like the one I already had and same part #, so I had him pull that one, and then verified that it did have the correct R hand threading, and bought it...$25.00 
vs. only the $5.00ea I had paid on RockAuto for the 2 Left ones!
Got back home, and got the R tie rod end and steering arm/idler arm all installed, castle nuts tightened and cotter pins installed. I tried to remember the position of the tie ends on the adjusting rod to try to maintain the alignment as close as possible. Afterwards, I measured the distance between the front of the tires and then the rear of the tires, and found about 1/2" difference, wider on the rear side, so at least I know I have maintained some TOE IN, but will probably have to also PAY to have the front end alignment done professionally in the near future!
Did I tell you how much I HATE automotive engineers!!
T.C.
As some of you may recall, I have a 2004 Xterra that I use for shopping and large pickup projects, like getting my new Washing machine from Best Buy a few months ago. Anyways, I had been seeing just a few drops of oil under the engine after running it, and had also noticed some rusting around the WELD of the oil pan during oil changes, and thought I might need to replace it someday. Well, someday arrived last week after I returned from my weekly shopping trip, came out later and found a Dinner plate sized oil spot under the SUV, and when I checked it out, saw a lot more oil all around the bottom extension portion of the pan, and so I figured it had finally rusted thru enough to create a bigger leak.
So..I ordered a new replacement pan from Rock Auto for only ~$75.00, and it arrived a few days later. I then went to the local auto parts store and purchased the gasket set which essentially was the 2 curved rubber seals at the ends and 2 tubes of Black RTV for the rest of the pan seal...according to the diagram on the screen at the parts store...I didn't OPEN the package(mistake #1).
SO....that Saturday after returning from the weekly shopping, I turned the SUV around so it was going slightly downhill in the driveway, and put it up on the 2 wheel ramps to give me plenty of room without having to rely on jacking it up, or taking the wheels off, jack stands, etc.! Then proceeded to "try" to take the pan bolts off. Soon learned that I had to loosen the trans cooling hose clamps, and then had to remove the starter, and then had to remove the 2 large angle brackets that provide additional bracing/support between the engine block and the trans bell housing. AND of course there's that last bolt/screw that's around the back corner of the pan that you can't put a socket onto, and have to finger frig it along with using my small 10mm combo wrench on one eight of a turn at a time!
But..finally got all of the bolts out, and whacked the pan loose with my plastic dead blow hammer, and then attempted to drop the pan. Bump...it hit the steering arm that ran just a few inches below it....apparently the engineers designed it to NOT provide enough clearance without either pulling/lifting the engine off of the frame, OR removing the steering arm! Well, after 13 years of rust/corrosion, even after several applications of PB Blaster, I could NOT get the ball joints to come loose! I also damaged the rubber seals while attempting to loosen them with the tie end rod tool, so I then realized that I would have to replace the steering arm anyways....so I got out my trusty Angle Grinder, with the 4" cutoff wheel, and cut that sucker in half.
This provided enough clearance to be able to get the pan off. Of course, now my ~3 hour project has just been extended to several days because I'm going to have to order the steering arm, and also a couple of tie end rod joints because I damaged their rubber seals also! Ordered the steering arm and the 2 inner tie rod ends from Rock Auto. Next day, after cleaning up the engine surface, was prepared to install the oil pan to at least get that part of the job done. Opened up the gasket kit, and found a VALVE cover gasket instead.
Took it(didn't bother to bring the receipt because they rang it up on their computer and had looked me up/found my account, so they "should " have a record of this recent exchange)(mistake #2). I showed the opened package to the guy behind the counter, he confirmed it was a valve cover gasket, but then he couldn't find evidence of the transaction in my account even though he could see the recent front brake pads I had purchased, and would NOT accept the wrong gasket package in exchange for the correct one WITHOUT the receipt. So I grabbed the package and stormed out of the store, went essentially across the street to the other parts store, they looked up the part, found it and had it in stock, and after OPENING it up to verify its contents, I then saw that the part # of 1 number off of the wrong package's part number...the previous guy hadn't written it down when he pulled it! Went back home, applied the RTV, the rubber ends, and reinstalled the pan, and again had to FIGHT that last bolt/screw around the back corner of the pan! But got it installed, and then reinstalled the brackets, starter, cooling lines, and was DONE with that part!
Steering arm and tie rod ends arrived Thursday in time for this weekend, but now the weather hasn't been as nice, 85+ degrees with 70+dew points, and waves of thunderburst/storms rolling thru. Unlocked and unscrewed the tie rod ends, and then removed the stabilizer/idler arm from the right end to be able to put it on the new one. Then attempted to screw on the new locking nut, wouldn't START threading on the right end side. SO..I thought I had been sent the wrong size.
Went to the 2nd auto store, looked up the parts, and during discussions with the counter guy realized that the threads are backwards on one side(DUH). SO..I went back home and attempted to put the tie end on the LEFT side, and it screwed ON. So then I realized that Rock Auto had sold me 2 LEFT tie rod ends although they were listed an INNER, and didn't specify L or R side, or L or R threaded? Went back to the 2nd auto store, but the computer also showed the same tie end that I already had for the INNER unit. They listed an OUTER unit, but was much larger and much $$ than the inner despite them being the same size, just reverse threading. Went to a 3rd store, and while reviewing the computer listing for the INNER tie rods, saw an R on one with a different part# vs. the other one that was just like the one I already had and same part #, so I had him pull that one, and then verified that it did have the correct R hand threading, and bought it...$25.00 vs. only the $5.00ea I had paid on RockAuto for the 2 Left ones!Got back home, and got the R tie rod end and steering arm/idler arm all installed, castle nuts tightened and cotter pins installed. I tried to remember the position of the tie ends on the adjusting rod to try to maintain the alignment as close as possible. Afterwards, I measured the distance between the front of the tires and then the rear of the tires, and found about 1/2" difference, wider on the rear side, so at least I know I have maintained some TOE IN, but will probably have to also PAY to have the front end alignment done professionally in the near future!
Did I tell you how much I HATE automotive engineers!!
T.C.
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