4x pads and rotors on a Mazda CX5

9/29/2026 6:36:05 PM

Put the plugs in the Mercury and fixed the vacuum leaks. Fuel trims are improved. The misfire followed the coil. Ordered a coil.

Alternator in a Lexus ES 350. Alternator changes should not require draining coolant.

9/30/2026 6:22:21 PM

God thats awful(alternator/coolant thing)

9/30/2026 7:18:57 PM

It's really not that bad if you're in a shop, but I guess I come from the school of thought where an alternator is something you can easily do in the parts store parking lot in about 15 minutes. Hell, I used to do them there just so I didn't have to find a ride or make another trip to return the core. The car was at a Sheetz and when she said alternator, I was like, hell yeah, we'll knock that out right there and then she said ES 350 and I was like you're gonna need to figure out how to get it here if you want me to fix it.

9/30/2026 7:39:37 PM

Charged the AC on a G37.

Buick guy called me worried about a low oil pressure warning. Confirmed oil pressure was good. Oil pressure switch was leaking and connector was full of oil. Replaced the switch.

Somebody brought a 1992 Maxima that is running like shit. Found a dead miss on 3 cylinders. All have spark at the distributor. Compression is good on all cylinders. Spark plugs look decent, but I need to check for spark at the plugs themselves. I suspect fuel injectors. Need to spend some more time diagnosing it. It's cool to have to go old school with no OBDII scanner and data to rely on. Reminds me of working on my first car, a 1991 S-10 Blazer.

Went and diagnosed a 2011 CX9 with that 3.7L abomination from Ford. Coolant pouring from the water pump weep hole and a busted seal around one of the VVT solenoids letting oil spray out of the valve cover. It had some codes for cam timing, but they were gone when I was there. I think the oil got in the solenoid connector and caused the timing issue. Recommended that stupid chain driven water pump if she wants to sell it and the whole timing set with phasers and solenoids if she wants to keep it. Honestly hope she just sells it as-is with the coolant leak. Fuck that timing job on the transverse mounted version. Probably easier to just pull the engine than work in that tiny gap between the front of the engine and the frame.

[Edited on October 1, 2026 at 8:12 PM. Reason : df]

10/1/2026 8:10:32 PM

lol I checked alldata and step 1 of that CX9 water pump job is remove the engine/transaxle unit fml

10/1/2026 9:05:10 PM

Lol damn step 1 is a doozy

10/1/2026 10:40:45 PM

Complete and total garbage design. It's only designed so they can hit you with a quote higher than the car's value so you junk it and get another car payment. I wish people would google this shit before they buy a car.

10/2/2026 9:19:42 AM

Checked injector coil resistances on the Maxima and 1 was slightly over spec and 2 were way over spec, but there was no correlation to which cylinders were missing. Put new plugs in and it seemed to be hitting on all but #2. #2 actually showed only 30 psi compression yesterday, but I thought it was because I could only get my gauge screwed in a thread or two before the hose started spinning in the threaded fitting (that plug was tight the whole way out and I guess the threads are boogered up). I figured the compression was just leaking past the threads, so I screwed it into a good cylinder only a thread or two and it still tested over 130 psi. Customer says it broke a timing belt and someone else put a new one on and then this issue started, so maybe it bent a valve. Didn't see any damage with the borescope. I guess I could do a leakdown test. Dude was seriously considering pulling the head and replacing valves. I tried to talk him into a $2k-3k marketplace car, but we'll see.

10/2/2026 4:16:25 PM

Quote :

"I could only get my gauge screwed in a thread or two before the hose started spinning in the threaded fitting (that plug was tight the whole way out"

Man i had that hose come off once...i thought i was supremely fucked for like an hour cause the fitting was screwed in well

10/2/2026 8:19:46 PM

My kit has a hard tube that I try to use, but the wings on it interfered with the intake on that one cylinder.

It does run a lot better on 5 cylinders now. Not sure what the dude is gonna do. Apparently the lady who drives it loves it and has had it forever. It's not in terrible shape and like 210k miles iirc.

10/2/2026 9:26:11 PM

Replaced the belt tensioner on the TL. Way quieter now. Owner is happy. Also replaced one of the eBay headlight ballasts with one from before the wreck. It was heating up and flaking out. Unfortunately junkyard OEM seems to be the way to go on those, or maybe change to LED, but not sure what's involved there.

Rear pads and rotors on an Altima.

Started disconnecting everything on the Equinox. Planning to pull the engine tomorrow.

10/3/2026 8:04:39 PM

Engine out of the Equinox. What a garbage vehicle. Don't think I'll ever work on one again. They all belong in the crusher, honestly.

Jeep Patriot came in with xmas tree lights on the dash intermittently at highway speeds. Tons of communication loss codes and most significantly a CAN B (-) ground code stored. Found a very shoddy aftermarket stereo installation. The CAN B (-) that goes to the factory radio connector had a wire in the aftermarket harness adapter that was soldered to another wire in the adapter that went to the antenna. I think that at highway speeds, the antenna would get to flapping and ground intermittently. Snipped the solder joint off and taped up the ends and it seems good to go.

Went and picked up an engine stand from marketplace. I have to swap the oil pan from the old AWD Equinox engine to the FWD donor, so that will be a little easier with the stand.

10/4/2026 8:00:28 PM

Let my 13yo son take the lead for the first time on 2 of 3 oil changes this weekend (Cayenne and Cayman).

Dropped some shit in the oil drain pan. Dripped oil onto concrete and cardboard. Over-torqued oil filter housing (spec is 19 ft*lb) when I got distracted. All in all, a pretty good start

After 1st car:
"Having fun?"
"Yeah it's actually kind of fun"

After 3rd car:
"Had fun?"
"Nah, not really. I mean, it was OK but I'd rather be playing Roblox"
"Well obviously"

[Edited on October 5, 2026 at 11:49 AM. Reason : ]

10/5/2026 11:49:07 AM

^^Love this insight.

10/5/2026 1:22:12 PM

Replaced radiator and radiator hoses on a Lexus ES350. It was leaking pretty bad.

Went mobile and replaced an alternator on a Honda Odyssey. Kind of a pain, at least compared to the usual non-van J series alternators.

Didn't have much time to make any headway on the Equinox. I'm waiting on some seals for the oil pan swap anyway. I did pull a few things off the replacement engine and went and got some bolts to put it on the engine stand. Gonna try to have the bellhousing bolts in before I go to bed tomorrow.

[Edited on October 5, 2026 at 8:21 PM. Reason : adf]

10/5/2026 8:19:33 PM

Also put the coil in the Mercury. Misfire is gone. No CEL on the test drive. Fuel trims could be a little lower, but I think it's good.

10/5/2026 9:28:41 PM

Got the remaining wiring harness off the replacement engine. Swapped over the oil pans and some other small stuff. Got it in the hole and bolted up to the transmission and the engine mount. Tore the old engine down to a bare block for scrapping. Maybe I can crank it up tomorrow.

10/6/2026 10:11:37 PM

I changed an oxygen sensor on an equinox once...it was a pleasant experience. I just assumed they were kinda an "easier" vehicle to work on because of that

I just noticed last post of last page you mention "that equinox" but trying to find post you originally mentioned it...curious the year etc

10/7/2026 7:14:35 AM

Is the Equinox yours? Or this for some unfortunate customer?

10/7/2026 1:12:44 PM