Spinnin' Wrenches - Taurus
Oooh how I hate auto design engineers.
If I start describing all the stuff you have to take apart/remove on a 2001 Taurus, to get to the stuff you actually need to work on, I'll be here all night. But trust me, it's a LOT.
"Eight pounds of crap in a five pound sack" is a pretty accurate description of the Taurus engine bay.
We did pretty well today though - went from a car that was running (albeit very badly), to having the 1-2-3 cylinder head pulled in about 5 or so hours worth of work.
Of course we had the pleasant interruptions of fixing the target stand for my godson to shoot cans with his BB gun, prepping the grill, cooking, and then eating grilled bratwurst, and the obligatory trip to the parts store for something I didn't have.
I've never actually had to disassemble a fuel injection fuel rail before - having the right tool to take the fuel line off the rail is pretty much required; you can't "fake it" with something else that's close. Not easily anyway, and the tool is only about $10. So now I have one.
Also got to show Lisa what a combustion-driven coolant/oil mixture looks like; she'd (fortunately) never seen that before. Also showed her how just a LITTLE spot messed up on a head gasket can completely screw up an engine.
Tomorrow, cap'mo and I will take the head to a machine shop at lunchtime. Hopefully it's not warped, and a new gasket is all that'll be required. I initially suspected a burned exhaust valve, but didn't see evidence of one. I'll have the machine shop double-check that as well, just to be sure.
All in all a good day - and earlier, before we started working, I cleaned off the rolling cart I gave Dad. Two shelves and a drawer, about 1'x2', all on casters - so as we disassembled things, we were able to keep parts and tools organized. Unlike last time, when the bay the car was in looked like a bunch of monkeys had been loose throwing crap all over.
One other gripe I have, though - the Taurus uses "torque-to-yield" head bolts - apparently, you torque to a certan ft-lb rating, then TWIST the damn things. So each time you remove them, you throw them away and buy a new set. One more friggin' expense cap'mo's gonna have to pay.
All in all though, a good day spinnin' wrenches. And a day spent in Dad's Garage, helping out a friend - something I think he'd approve of :)
If I start describing all the stuff you have to take apart/remove on a 2001 Taurus, to get to the stuff you actually need to work on, I'll be here all night. But trust me, it's a LOT.
"Eight pounds of crap in a five pound sack" is a pretty accurate description of the Taurus engine bay.
We did pretty well today though - went from a car that was running (albeit very badly), to having the 1-2-3 cylinder head pulled in about 5 or so hours worth of work.
Of course we had the pleasant interruptions of fixing the target stand for my godson to shoot cans with his BB gun, prepping the grill, cooking, and then eating grilled bratwurst, and the obligatory trip to the parts store for something I didn't have.
I've never actually had to disassemble a fuel injection fuel rail before - having the right tool to take the fuel line off the rail is pretty much required; you can't "fake it" with something else that's close. Not easily anyway, and the tool is only about $10. So now I have one.
Also got to show Lisa what a combustion-driven coolant/oil mixture looks like; she'd (fortunately) never seen that before. Also showed her how just a LITTLE spot messed up on a head gasket can completely screw up an engine.
Tomorrow, cap'mo and I will take the head to a machine shop at lunchtime. Hopefully it's not warped, and a new gasket is all that'll be required. I initially suspected a burned exhaust valve, but didn't see evidence of one. I'll have the machine shop double-check that as well, just to be sure.
All in all a good day - and earlier, before we started working, I cleaned off the rolling cart I gave Dad. Two shelves and a drawer, about 1'x2', all on casters - so as we disassembled things, we were able to keep parts and tools organized. Unlike last time, when the bay the car was in looked like a bunch of monkeys had been loose throwing crap all over.
One other gripe I have, though - the Taurus uses "torque-to-yield" head bolts - apparently, you torque to a certan ft-lb rating, then TWIST the damn things. So each time you remove them, you throw them away and buy a new set. One more friggin' expense cap'mo's gonna have to pay.
All in all though, a good day spinnin' wrenches. And a day spent in Dad's Garage, helping out a friend - something I think he'd approve of :)
posted by Aaron Neal at 9:44 PM
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