OT - What are you fixing right now?

GrateEggspectations · November 18

zaphod said:

what do you record?

I don’t really record. More for live playing - either at home or gigs. Setup with either an XLR for vocals (or the occasional cello), or 1/4” connections for guitar or electric piano.

kl8ton · November 19

Not really fixing....

Thankful my son's 4 runner has a full size spare.

Botch · November 19

Yikes!

Gulfcoastguy · November 19

kl8ton said:

Not really fixing....

Thankful my son's 4 runner has a full size spare.

Tell him to keep it between the mayo and the mustard.

zaphod · November 19

what did he bounce off? a Panzer II?

DoubleEgger · November 19

kl8ton said:

Not really fixing....

Thankful my son's 4 runner has a full size spare.

Try Keystone Automotive for a replacement.

kl8ton · November 19

zaphod said:

what did he bounce off? a Panzer II?

Curb. Based on his description of the incident, I couldn't figure it out. Then a light bulb went off. It's cold and wet this morning. He was turning left. I think his music was so loud that he didn't hear that he was peeling out. Back end went sideways. Overcorrection. Ended up facing South in the northbound lane. Car has over 300k on it. He's just not going to have a spare any more.

alaskanassasin · November 19

Peeling out in a 4Runner? Had to be black ice lol

Buckwoody Egger · November 19

Gulfcoastguy said:
Tell him to keep it between the mayo and the mustard.

funny! surprised to have never heard that before and i like it

kl8ton · November 19

alaskanassasin said:

Peeling out in a 4Runner? Had to be black ice lol

Lol. It was cold and wet.

Tires on that thing have good tread but upon closer inspection, they are weather checked. Time for new ones. I'll have to look for the date on them.

WeberWho · November 19

GrateEggspectations said:

No pics for this one.

14.5hp Briggs and Stratton snowblower seemed to be leaking gas from an unknown location when I filled it for a test run last week. Did some research and read it was likely the carburetor (and maybe the float inside, or a gasket, etc.). Disassembled the carburetor this morning and gave it a good cleaning (it already appeared spotless). Took the opportunity to check all the connections, gaskets, etc. Figured I’d change the oil as well. The old oil seemed like maybe it had some gas mixed into it.

When all was said and done, it ran like a beaut without any leakage. Still don’t know what the specific issue was, but it doesn’t seem to be leaking anymore.

I feel like a regular @weberwho.

Have to obtain more cold temp small engine oil and a new collar for the snowthrower chute handle.

(Edit: After reading up, I’ll likely just just synthetic car oil of the correct specified viscosity in the snowblower. Searches tell me that’s just fine, but anyone who knows otherwise should please speak up!)

Nicely done! I had the same thing happen on the first generator I picked up. I cleaned it up and it ran great. I noticed if I didn't shut off the petcock on the generator overnight I would have a tiny puddle of gas under the generator in the morning. I cleaned the carburetor a second time and I still had the same issue. I ended up replacing the carburetor as I think the spring or needle were the culprit. Most likely the needle tip as they can deform over the years. The sad part is that a replacement needle costs as much as a new carburetor. A replacement carburetor was $10 with free shipping. Unfortunately/fortunately carburetors have just become plug and play nowadays. I still like to clean them up and save them if possible.

I bet something was preventing the needle from closing up. Glad to hear a cleaning cleaned everything up for you. Good deal!

sheetmetalpete · November 19

What started as front brake pads & rotors turned into a CV axle and lower control arm replacement.

The fun part was getting the lower strut bolts out. I tried penetrating oils, heat and different impact guns. These things wouldn't budge. Just before I was about to cut them off, I remembered seeing a tip about melting a crayon onto the threads. They said the wax draws into the threads and lubricates them.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5017260/uploads/editor/nx/bhbmo41lf1af.jpg

My wife thought I lost it when I asked her for crayons but it worked!

GrateEggspectations · November 19

WeberWho said:

GrateEggspectations said:

No pics for this one.

14.5hp Briggs and Stratton snowblower seemed to be leaking gas from an unknown location when I filled it for a test run last week. Did some research and read it was likely the carburetor (and maybe the float inside, or a gasket, etc.). Disassembled the carburetor this morning and gave it a good cleaning (it already appeared spotless). Took the opportunity to check all the connections, gaskets, etc. Figured I’d change the oil as well. The old oil seemed like maybe it had some gas mixed into it.

When all was said and done, it ran like a beaut without any leakage. Still don’t know what the specific issue was, but it doesn’t seem to be leaking anymore.

I feel like a regular @weberwho.

Have to obtain more cold temp small engine oil and a new collar for the snowthrower chute handle.

(Edit: After reading up, I’ll likely just just synthetic car oil of the correct specified viscosity in the snowblower. Searches tell me that’s just fine, but anyone who knows otherwise should please speak up!)

Nicely done! I had the same thing happen on the first generator I picked up. I cleaned it up and it ran great. I noticed if I didn't shut off the petcock on the generator overnight I would have a tiny puddle of gas under the generator in the morning. I cleaned the carburetor a second time and I still had the same issue. I ended up replacing the carburetor as I think the spring or needle were the culprit. Most likely the needle tip as they can deform over the years. The sad part is that a replacement needle costs as much as a new carburetor. A replacement carburetor was $10 with free shipping. Unfortunately/fortunately carburetors have just become plug and play nowadays. I still like to clean them up and save them if possible.

I bet something was preventing the needle from closing up. Glad to hear a cleaning cleaned everything up for you. Good deal!

Thanks. Nice to learn a few things about small engines and their repair. Between you and @alaskanassasin, I sure know where to direct any future questions. 🙂🙃🙂

GrateEggspectations · November 19

I feel like we are missing out on some incredible @nolaegghead content on this page. Too bad he hasn’t been around as of late.

kl8ton · November 19

sheetmetalpete said:

What started as front brake pads & rotors turned into a CV axle and lower control arm replacement.

The fun part was getting the lower strut bolts out. I tried penetrating oils, heat and different impact guns. These things wouldn't budge. Just before I was about to cut them off, I remembered seeing a tip about melting a crayon onto the threads. They said the wax draws into the threads and lubricates them.

My wife thought I lost it when I asked her for crayons but it worked!

This. This i like.

DoubleEgger · November 19

Learn something new every day.

GrateEggspectations · November 20

After fixing my mic, the next in line was a carbon fibre acoustic guitar. When plugged in, sound wasn’t making it way through. Soldering iron to the rescue. Had to ask the children to use their small hands to reach inside the guitar at some key moments. Back in business.

(Edit: Didn’t actually mean to post so many photos. Attempted to load many sequentially, all of which failed, then all my attempts posted. 🤷‍♂️)

Canugghead · November 20

sheetmetalpete said:

My wife thought I lost it when I asked her for crayons but it worked!

Great idea with the melted crayon, I bet a flam-bidet (nod @botch) will work too 😂

Ybabpmuts · November 20

WeberWho said:

I've never owned a generator and really never had an excuse to purchase one. We've been fortunate here at our house that we've never lost power for an extended period of time. I saw this pop up for $25 on Marketplace. The previous owner said it ran last year but he couldn't get it to fire up this year. Yeah right...

I popped open the gas tank cap when I got home and it was pretty evident by the looks of the inside of the gas tank that it may have not been running last summer, or the year before, or the year before that one.

The screen filter on the petcock was halfway disintegrated and completely plugged up.

I removed the tank as it needed to cleaned and flushed. I poured 2.5 gallons on vinegar in it and tossed around 40 or so nuts in it to scrap away any gunk when shaking it. I let it set for 3 days and would periodically shake it during that time. It cleaned up pretty good. I finished it with warm water after dumping the vinegar, used a heat gun for 3-4 minutes to help dry it, and poured a small amount of gas and oil in it to coat the tank before dumping it. A picture of it inside the gas tank after being cleaned up.

The other tell that this thing hasn't been running in years was the carb. That thing was full so full of crap it would have been impossible for it to run within the last year. Every hole was plugged up on the carb and I even had to pry up on the needle with a screwdriver to crack it loose.

I debated on buying a whole carburetor and go the simple route or take the time to clean this one up. For $20 it makes it an easy decision to buy a new one but I wanted to put this thing back together cheap. Plus OEM is almost always better than a clone carburetor. So I sprayed it and soaked it. I replaced a couple o-rings in it for good measure as they were starting to see their better days.

I also replaced the petcock, fuel line, and spark plug. The funny part is the biggest expense on this overhaul was the 3 gallons of vinegar for $12. Ha!

It pretty much fired right up after getting it together. A couple small adjustments with the carb and it was back in business!

While it's a pretty small generator it should be able to do a couple things if things go south. More prepared then I was few days ago anyways.

Petcock .... BWAHAHAHA .....

WeberWho · November 22

Radiator for the truck.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5017260/uploads/editor/g1/a2l1kkkkm6iu.jpg

WeberWho · November 22

WeberWho said:

Radiator for the truck.

And done. I'm glad it sprung a leak with halfway descent weather yet.

WeberWho · November 30

I picked this snowblower up this spring/summer for $50. Not much of a need for a snowblower in the summer so it just sat. I started it earlier in the month to warm it up and change the oil on it. I pretty much had it sold a few days ago until I started it up and engaged the auger. I was getting a noise down in back of the auger that it sounded like it was rubbing somewhere. I messaged the buyer back and told him to hold off and that I needed to track down a noise. I found the noise coming from the back of the impeller of the snowblower that was rubbing against the housing. The snowblower had to come apart. I had to remove the auger and gearbox on it.

Since I had the open space in the housing I decided I would touch it up with some paint for the new owner.

I was able to bend the impeller wing that was rubbing against the housing in the vise. A picture of it back together and painted.

The new owner just picked it up a few minutes ago. I had no intentions of selling it but luck would have it that I bumped into a guy who just retired from Toro and made me an offer on an upgraded snowblower that I couldn't pass up that he was looking to sell. I was able to upgrade to the bigger snowblower for the same price as what I sold this one for. The new snowblower has a bigger engine, 32" clearing path, assisted turn, all steel body, LED light, and heated hand grips.

I'm looking forward to messing around with the newer snowblower. I still need to do a tune-up on it before it sees any real use.

Botch · November 30

"Heated grips"!

lousubcap · November 30

Better to be lucky than good and another great salvage operation @WeberWho.

WeberWho · November 30

Botch said:

"Heated grips"!

I can see it being a selling point as they do the same with motorcycles and snowmobiles. I might disconnect it and add pod lights.

GrateEggspectations · December 1

Karma at work. You delay the sale of a snowblower to improve its state for the buyer and a better snowblower comes your way. You are one of the good ones, @WeberWho.

WeberWho · December 1

GrateEggspectations said:

Karma at work. You delay the sale of a snowblower to improve its state for the buyer and a better snowblower comes your way. You are one of the good ones, @WeberWho.

Hey thanks! When I sell something I try to sell it the way I would want to buy it. The new owner is a great guy. I ended up talking to him on the phone for 23 minutes the first time he called. He was buying it for his future son-in-law. I'm glad to see it go to a good home!

WeberWho · December 1

GrateEggspectations said:

Sale of a snowblower to improve its state for the buyer. @WeberWho.

I was able to grab this snowblower for $100 off Marketplace a few months ago. The previous owner used it a couple times and let it sit for a few years with gas in it. He couldn't get it started last year and thought it was too big for his garage and wanted something smaller. So he decided to sell it. I brought it home and cleaned the carb. It fired up the first pull! The snowblower still had its price sticker still on it!

I had a buyer who was interested in it who was also a really nice guy. He had an old single stage snowblower that hardly worked. He said he switched over to shoveling because it worked better. He also shovels his 90 year old neighbors house. He asked if I would take his snowblower for a discount. I told him to keep his snowblower and sell it for what he can get for it and I'd knock down the price. I had a few others who would have bought it full asking price but it felt right helping him out. We ended up getting measurable snow a few nights ago. I received a message yesterday afternoon from the buyer that said, "This thing is wonderful and just chews through snow!" So that felt good. Good to see people happy and make work a little easier for someone else!

fishlessman · December 1

WeberWho said:

GrateEggspectations said:

Sale of a snowblower to improve its state for the buyer. @WeberWho.

I was able to grab this snowblower for $100 off Marketplace a few months ago. The previous owner used it a couple times and let it sit for a few years with gas in it. He couldn't get it started last year and thought it was too big for his garage and wanted something smaller. So he decided to sell it. I brought it home and cleaned the carb. It fired up the first pull! The snowblower still had its price sticker still on it!

I had a buyer who was interested in it who was also a really nice guy. He had an old single stage snowblower that hardly worked. He said he switched over to shoveling because it worked better. He also shovels his 90 year old neighbors house. He asked if I would take his snowblower for a discount. I told him to keep his snowblower and sell it for what he can get for it and I'd knock down the price. I had a few others who would have bought it full asking price but it felt right helping him out. We ended up getting measurable snow a few nights ago. I received a message yesterday afternoon from the buyer that said, "This thing is wonderful and just chews through snow!" So that felt good. Good to see people happy and make work a little easier for someone else!

i rolled one of those home from a neighbors house this summer. he hit a curbing and bent the edge of the auger. said he used it three times and just went out and bought a new one......hopefully i just need to remove the auger and hit it with a hammer. looks to be the same width craftsman. funny what people just toss out on the street

Canugghead · December 1

My neighbours don't throw out stuff because I fix for them, sucker

OT - What are you fixing right now?

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