a little rant

Ok, so as you know, due to my belt squeaking, I decided to not only replace it but the tensioner and idler pulley too. Normally, this wouldn't seem that tough of a job, except......

Since I could see that none of my existing wrenches were going to be able to reach either the tensioner bolt, nor the tensioner itself for removal, I decided to first get one of those serpentine belt kits that has the long wrench. Also, I realized I was going to need a T47 torx bit and I was just going to pick up one locally. Yeah right.....

The first hitch was the da** T47. Of course I don't have a set of these and of course you can't buy them single. Online is always an option, but only IF you have the extra time and I didn't. So, I visited Harbor Freight and a local hardware store. Despite everywhere I checked at HF, they didn't have one darned set with T47.... all their sets would jump from T45 to T50. The local hardware, same thing... not one with a T47. I FINALLY located a set that also had a T47. Wasn't happy to shell out $20 as I could only get a set, but better than nothing.

Next problem came with the new tensioner. It had larger bolts than the original and wouldn't you know that I didn't realize that until I already had the old one removed. As luck would have it, that torx bit set actually DID have the T50 the new tensioner needed, so didn't feel quite as bad about the $20 spent, but there was a new problem: NONE of the "crowsfeet" with the serpentine belt wrench set were large enough for the new tensioner! So, I set out on a search for a 16mm crowsfoot. NOT ONE of the stores locally had one, not even HF. All of their sets had 15mm and then skipped to 17mm. In a pinch, I used some tiny hose clamps I had to couple a 16mm standard wrench I had to the extra long bar that came with the serpentine belt set. This worked, but just barely because the hose clamp width almost prevented the wrench from reaching the tensioner bolt.

Can someone tell me why when there's a set of crowfeet, torx, or whatever that they decide to skip over certain sizes? Nothing more frustrating running into this when you need something fast. By the way, for the 16mm crowsfoot, I ended up having to get it online as I found no other choice. I was just lucky I was able to couple the existing 16mm wrench I had.

AJ

Reply to
Aj St. Johns
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Did it never occur to you rhat 16mm bolt hesd just MIGHT have been a

5/8"??? A 5/8" crowsfoot is about .005" from 16mm. Not ALL bolts on a Ford are Metric - and sometimes metric kits don't have the sizes that are duplicated that closely in imperial sizes.
Reply to
clare

"Aj St. Johns" wrote in news:o43aie$r5j$1@dont- email.me:

Its possible because the 47 is one odd size in the US. I have never needed one. I do need a 45 and 50 all the time. Oh and note, the cheep wrench sets are the only ones that skip any wrench sizes. KB

Reply to
Kevin Bottorff

It wouldn't have mattered if it had been 5/8" or 16mm because the highest value the "kit" had was 15mm which didn't fit in any case. I still would have had to buy separate crowsfeet. Now the places I looked

*may* have had 5/8" as part of their bundles.... that I don't know.
Reply to
Aj St. Johns

That may be true, the the only issue is that if I spent enough, I might as well have gotten my local mechanic to do it. In fact, the *only* reason this was still a cheaper than mechanic task was because I used my makeshift 16mm substitute wrench to save the day, otherwise it would have been cheaper to have someone else do the job.

Reply to
Aj St. Johns

On Fri, 30 Dec 2016 04:51:11 -0500, "Aj St. Johns" wrote in

Which is the whole idea of the design.

Reply to
CRNG

Which is so very often the case.

Reply to
clare

Well, my mechanic is going to retire one of these days. His prices have always been very fair, but the next cheapest mechanic charges almost double what mine currently does. So, over the last several years, I've gone from knowing almost nothing about cars to actually doing quite a bit of repair myself, thanks in part to groups like this as well as some instructive Youtube videos. My biggest impediments though are lack of time and tools, so there is always going to be stuff I'll have to have a mechanic do, but if I can at least do some of it myself, I'll be more than satisfied.

Reply to
Aj St. Johns

Where I get stuck is when I need a hoist in the winter. Over the summer, when we can put my friend's Aercoupe out side I can use the hoist in the hangar. In the winter the 'coupe is up in the air.

Reply to
clare

"Aj St. Johns" wrote in news:o45ajk$c2s$2@dont- email.me:

you relize mechs do not always make money on the first job if special tools are involved. its the following jobs that are faster that start to make them money. If your only doing one it seldom is cheeper to do your self. KB

Reply to
Kevin Bottorff

I'm looking at replacing the back bank catalytic converter/manifold on my 2002 Taurus DuraTec. The labour to change it is about 5 hours with the right equipment . Not sure what I'll do yet.

Reply to
clare

snipped-for-privacy@snyder.on.ca wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

the first thing to do is soak it in pent.oil for a week. KB

Reply to
Kevin Bottorff

Ha, I don't see what you choice you have, I think that one requires an engine pull or transaxle dropped and the engine dislocated afterwards to get at it. The local shop around here wanted $1600 to replace it.

I never had it fixed but does it have a hole in it or just the check engine light?

If it's just the CEL, if you look around, there is a way to bypass the O2 sensor using a resistor and cap soldered across a couple wires that are easily accessed from underneath the car. It makes the computer think the sensor is reporting back normal.

It's a european fix (look around for a Mondeo cat fix) because those cats aren't required over there and it pisses the owners off they still have to deal with them.

It's probably illegal in north america to mess with it like that but I don't see why you couldn't temporarily put the fix in to see if it's really a bad part and not something else for that kind of labor/money. Just remember to remove it (wink wink) when done.

By the way, unless you have one of those OBD readers that can reset the code to turn the CEL off, there is a proceedure of driving around at different speeds and stop/starts, it takes a while (week, week and a half of daily cycling) but will eventually turn it off.

Of course if it has a hole in it, you don't have much other choice except to replace it. If you do decide to try a DIY replace, check the cost of the replacements before you start, that thing wasn't cheap over the counter.

-bruce snipped-for-privacy@ripco.com

Reply to
Bruce Esquibel

No, the first thing is to get to it so you CAN soak it with tenetrating oil - - -

Reply to
clare

At this point it is just shedding catalyst, plugging up the reduction catalyst downstream, but eventualklt it will turn on the CEL (Just before I have to get it smogged)

Oh, I know it's the cat. It was grossly overheated due to a misfire on cyl #3, and chunks of it are falling out after getting worn down to a small enough size to slip down through the narrowed neck. What hets worn off comes through as powder, plugging the back cat. It rattles like crazy both while bouncing around the neck and after it gets ito the "Y" pipe, where the chunks also wear down to powder. No doubt about it - the cat is in kitty heaven!!!

Will never turn it off if the post-cat O2 sensor keeps mirroring trhe pre-cat sensor

List price is $975 from the aftermarket - my cost was $472.

Reply to
clare

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