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Posted by: ronjr8102 May 16 2011, 03:18 AM

I thought I would start a new thread cuz the "What did I do to my Elantra today" thread is one of the popular threads around was start one for our other cars. Fixing cars are pretty much the same, need the same tools and knowlegde. Also thinking it would add some more discussions and keep some of us here more (I go to a Honda Accord forum for my 93 Accord, but some people here may have answers too).

1993 Honda Accord EX w/ 170200 miles:
So on Sunday I replaced all four struts w/ Monroe Quick Struts (got them from RockAuto plus Monroe has a buy 3 get 1 free rebate until 5/31) & replaced the frt & rear sway bar endlinks. Feels like a new car, so quiet.

I keep the car maintained cuz I drive this around town w/ the kids while the wifey drives the Elantra to work 45 mins away.

Posted by: silet May 16 2011, 12:41 PM

Excellent idea!!! I've done nothing to the Elantra since the t-belt last year, but did brakes all around on 01 Legacy (son's car), t-belt, brakes, shocks and leaf spring overhaul on my 01 Tundra. Next is exhaust on the 01 Integra...

Posted by: Bobzilla May 16 2011, 01:28 PM

Well, on Sunday I replaced the master cylinder on the Vette. Flushed the brakes yet again and it took another 1.5 liters of fluid to clear the lines. Total of 2.5 liters of brake fluid to flush all the gunk out.

Posted by: slowgls May 16 2011, 08:00 PM

This is a good idea.Pinned

Posted by: silet Jul 1 2011, 07:37 PM

A few weeks ago I patched the subframe in my son's Legacy. The one side of the bushing was held on. What a PITA of a job, but replacing the subframe would have been a monster of a job.

Today I worked on his wipers. They overshot the A pillar on high speed and found out that the bushing on the motor arm was shot. I panicked, because the whole linkage needed replacement. I found it on-line for $70 and dealer wanted $99. I told him that it was cheaper on-line and gave it to me for $78!!!

Posted by: cobas Jul 1 2011, 10:12 PM

You can bargain with dealers? Nice.

I spent a minute trying to find some...any trunk release button besides the key fob on the GTI and failed. I don't know how to open the trunk without the key fob. It doesn't even unlock with the other doors like the Elantra does. Also I can't stop it from honking when I lock the doors with the remote. There must be a way... right?

Posted by: winc Jul 1 2011, 10:54 PM

Likely there are custom programming options for the horn & lights but it may need to be done at the dealer if it's not explained in the owner's manual. As for a rear hatch release, is there an emergency release handle that can be pulled (should glow in the dark) from inside the luggage compartment? All newer sedans have them but I'm unsure if that applies to hatchbacks too.

Posted by: silet Jul 11 2011, 08:37 AM

Son's Subaru again. Got the vavle cover gaskets done, oil change and replaced the windshield washer pump.

Posted by: elantragt Oct 8 2011, 02:57 PM

Hey folks, don't forget about this awesome thread idea.

Posted by: slowgls Oct 8 2011, 03:03 PM

Yea Mitch, what have you been doing to your car?

Posted by: benman Feb 29 2012, 10:24 AM

Well, I joined http://www.explorerforum.com/ and found out that I have some serious maintenance ahead of me. It seems that the 06/07 V8 Mountaineers (among other cars/trucks with the Triton V8) has a problem where the original spark plugs were a little long, causing the threads to protrude into the combustion chamber. Problem is, when you go to replace them, the carbon buildup causes them to stick and, therefore, break.

To have a dealer do it would cost $400 to start with, then potentially $100 per broken plug. People recommend that if you DIY, you should have a special extraction tool (http://www.amazon.com/Lisle-LIS65600-Broken-Remover-Engines/dp/B00267PZUK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330534667&sr=8-1) on hand for broken plugs.

Crap -- and I really just went to see how difficult putting in new plugs and wires would be--didn't expect this.

Posted by: ronjr8102 Feb 29 2012, 07:00 PM

Forgot all about this thread.
Well last 2 weeks I changed both inner tie rods and replaced drivers lower control arm on my 2007 Compass.
Then had an alignment done.

Posted by: Red Elantra Mar 4 2012, 12:05 AM

Hey-A while ago, the spare tire carrier, which is located under the truck bed on my '96 Chevy S 10, broke. It's a cable hoist. Luckily, I had a separate cable with lock around the spare, so it was dragged until I stopped the truck, rather than just fly off into the car behind me. I unlocked the spare tire and put it in the truck bed. I recently purchased new tires, & had the tire shop mount the best tire on the spare rim. Yesterday, I installed a new carrier and remounted the "new" spare tire in it's proper place. This little hoist was an amazing 230 + dollars. It was quite easy to install but putting the crank for the hoist and other tools back in the truck storage compartment was a bear! The owner's manual was really useless.
I found on a Chevy forum that many of these carrier hoists have broken over the years. I'm surprised they weren't recalled at some point.

Posted by: Vinnie Mar 4 2012, 12:09 AM

Same deal when I had my ford ranger. Being a 95... it was expected... but unfortunately... I didnt have a spare cable around it... bouncing it went.... I didnt stop and no one was beind me....

Posted by: Red Elantra Mar 4 2012, 09:43 AM

Hey-I was on the freeway when the cable gave way!

Posted by: ronjr8102 Jun 14 2012, 10:41 PM

Added inlay to my Jeep's rear bumper. Saw decals last year but couldn't find any so I bought stainless steel inserts. I dont have any emblems on it so I painted it black to match the color.
In process:

Finished product:

Posted by: slowgls Jun 14 2012, 11:12 PM

Looks good!!!

Posted by: Red Elantra Jun 14 2012, 11:26 PM

Hey-that does look real good. Very professional results!

Posted by: Vinnie Jun 15 2012, 01:01 AM

That's decent, good job man. I like it!

Posted by: MdElantra Jun 15 2012, 01:57 AM

Havnt done anything to my Optima but im missing over 2k sucks to get old.

Posted by: Red Elantra Jun 15 2012, 02:31 AM

Hey-the soft close feature on my convertible recently stopped working, making it necessary to slam it shut to keep the lid latched. I went to google and found out you can pull a particular fuse and reset the closer, but if you repeat that too many times, it causes the pump to eventually fail. The pump is a $900. part. I decided to have the dealer replace the latch mechanism and told the service tech what the problem was & to replace that part, which I had already priced at about $350. They charged me for the part and labor, which came to $600. However, they also included a diagnostic fee of over $100. I thought that was unfair and told them so. In the future, if I know what specifically needs to be fixed, I'll request not being charged this fee.
This is the first time something broke in the nine years I've owned the car.

Posted by: Red Elantra GT Feb 18 2013, 10:18 PM

Hey-Well, the top stopped working on the Mercedes a few months ago. It was down. I usually drive with it down, but I finally had to bite the bullet and have it fixed. About $1600. in labor and $700. in parts. Ugh. Next, I'll have the new tires I ordered installed. An expensive month!

Posted by: Alex2013GT Feb 18 2013, 10:56 PM

Ouch! Hopefully it'll last you quite a while now at least.

Posted by: Red Elantra GT Feb 19 2013, 03:27 AM

Hey-Me too. lol. The folding metal top on this car is very complex and certainly not trouble free. I've had very few repairs out of pocket because I bought the extended warranty. All in all it's been (& will continue to be) a pleasure to own.

Posted by: bhorste Sep 23 2015, 07:46 PM

Time to resurrect an old thread, with a couple of caveats: 1) it's not actually my car, it's my mom's (but I'm pretty much the only one that drives it now) and 2) it hasn't happened yet. Saturday's the big day for this.

Kyle (slowgls) and Kendra (slows_gurl) are driving out to MI from WI to help me with: EGR parts, valve cover gaskets, timing belt and water pump, drive belts and tune up on a 2001 Mitsubishi Eclipse GT Spyder. There will likely be pictures/videos, so stay tuned for that.

Posted by: slowgls Sep 23 2015, 09:55 PM

Oh yea!!!! Road trip in the new hyundai!!!

Posted by: RPW00Mirage Sep 24 2015, 07:02 AM

oooh the v6 model?

bring your fukitol. that bay is cramped like a tibby v6.

Posted by: slowgls Sep 24 2015, 09:37 AM

Thtas what im told. Lol

Posted by: slows gurl Sep 24 2015, 09:51 AM

Woohoo, road trip!!

Posted by: bhorste Sep 24 2015, 04:01 PM

That's why we've got manifold gaskets and a jack/jack stands to facilitate pulling the motor mount. It'll all be good (and there's beer to help with any other problems).

Posted by: bhorste Sep 27 2015, 01:34 PM

The battle is ongoing and will be waged as I have time (which sucks, because the Eclipse has now taken over the garage). The EGR, VCG and plugs went smoothly, but the timing belt/water pump is proving to be a bit difficult.

Huge thanks to Kyle (slowgls) for fighting the battle with me from ~9:30 Saturday morning until just about 2:00 Sunday morning (when he had to hit the road back to Wisky). Right now, the car runs but a bit roughly and doesn't sound quite right. I'm going to end up taking it all apart again. Chances are it won't happen until Thursday, but I have 3 days in a row off (after working 11 in a row). Ugh.

Posted by: J2Elantra Sep 27 2015, 05:05 PM

Doesn't run quite right? That's when you put it up on craigslist as "Cammed Eclipse GT!!!"
But anyway yeah that sucks. Those cars are a pain to work on.

Posted by: slowgls Sep 27 2015, 11:43 PM

Yea bout that. Lol

Posted by: bhorste Sep 28 2015, 10:43 AM

That might be the biggest understatement this side of "the Lions suck pretty big time this year." And of course, now that I know the new water pump leaked, I get to order a new gasket... nobody anywhere close to me has the part in stock.

Posted by: bhorste Oct 1 2015, 11:53 AM

About to go back out, pull the timing belt and unbolt the water pump and have a look. Really hoping the gasket's okay, but I'll probably hike up to O'Reilly and order a new one before I have to pick up my oldest at the bus stop.

Posted by: bhorste Oct 2 2015, 11:13 AM

Okay, I'm getting things back together and I've run across a bit of a concern: the camshaft for the rear bank is out of timing. The crank and front bank are lined up but the rear needs to be rotated ~10 teeth (I know, not sure how it happened). There are conflicting views all over the 'web about whether this is an interference engine or not. Am I going to be able to rotate the camshaft without creating a paperweight or am I looking at more work than I'm prepared for?

Posted by: bhorste Oct 2 2015, 02:23 PM

Turns out that side has a tendency to turn, but no harm or foul. Also amazing how much of a difference a bit of waterproof plumbing grease made in sliding the new pump onto the inlet pipe (with yet another new o-ring). A better bead of RTV helped keep the (new, metal instead of paper) gasket in place and then using the shop manual's order of putting the belt on the pulleys got all the tension in the right places. I've got it about 90% back together; one bolt for the timing cover is fighting me (although I discovered where one of the mystery bonus bolts went... and it ought to keep the timing cover off the A/C pulley) but then it'll be putting one belt adjuster back in, the crank pulley, belts, motor mount and then add coolant and fire it up.

Posted by: bhorste Jun 30 2017, 08:31 AM

4 new Continental Control Contact Tour tires for the Town & Country. They seem pretty nice so far, albeit I've only put about 15 miles on them. And I've got a $100 mail-in rebate to hook up.

Posted by: elantragt Jun 30 2017, 08:01 PM

15 miles is a start. Continentals ars generally a very good tire.