Thursday, February 3, 2011

My commute to work is about 45 minutes depending on weather, traffic and how lucky I feel on the interstate. In recent weeks as in the rest of the country we have had some cold weather. During that time my car heater quit working and it felt just as cold inside the car as out minus the wind. The fan worked so I knew it wasn’t that. My first thought was the water was low. There was the least bit of warmth coming out of the vent if I had the fan on low so I knew I had some water in the radiator. I looked at my temp gauge and it barely moved off of cold. I opened the radiator and it was full so what else could it be? HMMMMMM?

My second guess was the thermostat was sticking open. I popped the hood and looked for the ole standard gooseneck that has been common on cars for ages. They normally sit right on top the intake where they are simple to change. Wellllll, hmmmmmmmmm? Theres the top hose. Its usually on the end of that, but that’s way under there, Would they put it under there?? Uhh, well by golly they certainly did. (Makes note to chat with GM thermostat postioner/designer dude. Take cattle prod.)

This is what it looks like. $14.95 In stock.

Warning: the following pictures contain graphic images of automoble innards.


No, I dont typically jury rig my car repairs but the wire tie cruise cable repair $.25 versus $75.00 for a new cable? No contest. The Vacuun hose was done an hour prior to heading to a wedding 45 miles away. It was 97 degrees out and I will be in a suit. No vacuum means No AC and No Cruise. Sooooo it had to be done quick.


I had to take the Filter housing top off as well as the mass air flow sensor just to get to other stuff I needed to remove. I had to get physical with a couple of the water lines to get them off. Dont worry I am ok. Now. LOL You cant buy those replacement tubes from anyone but GM but if you know your local parts house dealer he will let you around back to compare with similar hoses that might work instead. I was lucky they had something I could modify to fit.


There she is. Buried way down under the throttle assembly and between the block and the exhaust header. It was hard to get the bottom bolt loose due to clearance issues but I had an offset wrench that worked nicely. I know I know you wanted to see inside the gooseneck to prove I did it but my hands we pretty nasty by that time. However, I do have toasty toes to prove it.


Here she is all buttoned back up. Well actually thats the same picture as the first one just not marked up. But thats the goal aint it? To make it look just like it was before you started? Other wise you got problems.

So now I cruising and singing in a warm car. I dont have to wear gloves as I drive and I got a rise out of the Temp Gauge needle. That was fun and rewarding.

Hope y'all are staying warm.

10 comments:

Bunnym said...

LMAO...Oh man, you crack me up using labels and red circles to show the inside of a car engine. Not only are you impressive with the computer usage but with the "innards" of a automobile. Your like McGiver...a southern McGiver.....Glad you had fun....i did...lol

bunny

PS..i just know there's gum and a paper clip in there somewhere...why didn't you circle that?....lol ;~)

karen said...

Glad you're back! I always watch my husband work on the car and then ask a thousand questions - none of which I'll remember the answer to later. I really don't think he appreciates it.

Looks good. My fav: the wire tie!

Pearl said...

I love this.

Knowing nothing about engines, I'll be in the kitchen, making guacamole and mixing up margaritas. We can go over all of this over drinks.

:-)

Pearl

J.J. in L.A. said...

My a/c went out on my car last June and mom said, "It's fine." I replied, "It's not July yet." Sure enough, July came and she changed her tune. A brother is a (former) mechanic but I wanted it done 'right'. By August, it was well worth the money I paid.

My Aimless Infatuation said...

LMAO,you just won't do! Good job,there's nothing like a good handyman!

MrsBlogAlot said...

All those auto innards kinda scared me! That's right, I'm not afraid to say it.

You should have rated this post (-:

Bobby Allan said...

You do realize that this was way too complicated so I just look at the pictures.

Not So Simply Single said...

NONE of this stuff makes ANY sense to me.

I am blonde.

I have issues with machines.

Lisa

Bobby Allan said...

Hey! I tagged you on my blog. Now you must REVEAL yourself. :-)

You're welcome....lol

KaLynn ("MiMi") said...

ok so if i take a picture of my car's innards, will you help me change the "what used to be the vacuum hose in older models" in my '06 Impala? It is behind the glove box. Minimum cost to repair:$300