Autyomotive odds and ends (part2)

[Jeremy airjer W]

Part 2

 

Getting back to the motor on the GMC. We had some theories as to what caused the failure and after swapping the engines I decided to pull the valve covers. My hunch was correct. Lack of maintenance combined with some other factors. If you think running 6,000 miles plus on conventional oil is just fine this may change your opinion....

 

The first major snow storm was a little harder on some vehicles than others. This vehicle came in with almost no body damage but the impact from hitting the ditch wiped out the radiator, condenser, and cooling fan.

 

Ford truck vacuum leaks. the cooler weather has brought in a couple. This is the elbow for the PCV hose where it attaches to the intake. First photo is the badly deteriorated old one and the second photo is the new one installed.

 

This is a really common problem with the dodge stratus. The upper strut mount is aluminum and basically rotted way. This customer was lucky they didn't blow a tire as the spring had almost wore through the sidewall.

 

We are starting to see this more frequently with the bolt in style TPMS sensors. Snow and ice along with the salt corrode and break the mounting nuts. Most of the time we see just a crack in the nut. This one is so bad there is a piece of the nut missing.

[Ufatz]

Interesting stuff. Thanks for posting it.Might provoke somebody into checking their own vehicle. I suspect driving MN roads in winter does more long term damage than most people think.