Good news and bad news:

[Bluebelles Mom]

what are you getting from the hobby shop, btw??

The Auto Hobby Shop is 10 bay garage with tools, lifts and pretty much everything any service/repair facility has. One only needs to rent a bay by the hour and all tools are available.

[dlb]

holy sh*t, you're kidding. how much is it per hour??? i would kill to have access to something like that. time to join the army, i guess.

[Bluebelles Mom]

holy sh*t, you're kidding. how much is it per hour??? i would kill to have access to something like that. time to join the army, i guess.

I think it's $6 for the 1st hour then $2.50 for each additional hour.

[Bluebelles Mom]

Oh...and after reading some other posts in here I went out and bought a new timing belt and a new generator belt just to be safe. I also decided to replace the thermostat since I was going to be in that area anyway and I bought new radiator hoses too. Bluebelle is getting younger all the time while I keep getting older.

[dlb]

she's going to love you for it. and i am so incredibly jealous of your access to a lift.

[deejay1272]

If I had access to a lift, then this would make my life 2-4 times better. That's just awesome.

I like the business concept of offering up a space with tools and vehicle lifts to do this sort of thing. Anyone want to give me some seed money to get this going in Portland?

[Bluebelles Mom]

If I had access to a lift, then this would make my lift 2-4 times better. That's just awesome.

I like the business concept of offering up a space with tools and vehicle lifts to do this sort of thing. Anyone want to give me some seed money to get this going in Portland?

I would look into the insurance issues first. I guess they can do it on base but it would probably drive the prices sky high otherwise.

[ARCHINSTL]

While OT a tad (relative to Bb M's situation), I asked the old-fashioned garage that does my MO state inspections about this (it is a friendly place that does not look askance on owner repairs). The owner said he had been approached a number of times over the years by various car clubs on renting space/tools/etc. He said the insurance costs would be astronomical and prohibitive - at least in MO. I've heard of "rental bays" being available, but in other states. I'd imagine the situation on a military reservation would be pretty different.
Tom M.

[Bluebelles Mom]

A thought occurs to me here. If there is anyone in the area who needs to work on their tercel. I would be willing to sign you into the base where 'we' could use the auto hobby shop to do the work. The shop is open Wed.-Sat. It gets crowded on the Sat. as you can imagine.

You get a lift, tools and a place to work out of the weather and I get instruction/experience on assorted fixes....and maybe some help on stuff mine needs? Anyway...just a thought.

[Petros]

More bad news....

I just heard from Bluebelles Mom today, she had been driving it by adding oil at every stop but she let it get away from her. IT started knocking, making bad noises and was down on power on her way to an appointment in Seattle today. She called me to ask what she should do. I told her to park it now and tow it back to Tacoma or she will also be replacing the engine block, crank and connecting rod. She has a tow dolly and was going to bring it back to Tacoma.

Usually low oil pressure will just damage the connecting rod bearings and they can be replaced if the crank journals are okay. Seldom do the main bearings need to be replaced. She had an appointment in the hobby shop to put in the new front seal tomorrow, but now it looks like she will need to put in connecting rod bearings instead. This can be done without removing the engine if the engine is supported from above, the front engine mounts loosened, and than unbolt and lower the front cross member (without removing it). this allows enough access to remove all the 10mm bolts from the pan and get it off to allow replacing the connecting rod bearings.

If there is anyone near Tacoma that can give Christine a hand with Bluebelle, I am sure she can use it. Now she not only has the front seal, belts and t-stat to replace, but the connecting rod bearings as well. Fortunately they are not too costly, unfortunately they are a lot of work to get to. It can be done without removing the engine, and having it on a lift really helps. The rod journals can be polished with strips of 800 grit wet and dry sand paper to clean them up of scratched. Than the new bearings installed and the caps replaced (make sure they go on the correct way) and torqued. A fairly simple job once you get the pan off. A lot of sealant on the pan will keep it from leaking, or if you can get a new gasket in time, that works too.

[Bluebelles Mom]

More bad news....

I just heard from Bluebelles Mom today, she had been driving it by adding oil at every stop but she let it get away from her. IT started knocking, making bad noises and was down on power on her way to an appointment in Seattle today. She called me to ask what she should do. I told her to park it now and tow it back to Tacoma or she will also be replacing the engine block, crank and connecting rod. She has a tow dolly and was going to bring it back to Tacoma.

Usually low oil pressure will just damage the connecting rod bearings and they can be replaced if the crank journals are okay. Seldom do the main bearings need to be replaced. She had an appointment in the hobby shop to put in the new front seal tomorrow, but now it looks like she will need to put in connecting rod bearings instead. This can be done without removing the engine if the engine is supported from above, the front engine mounts loosened, and than unbolt and lower the front cross member (without removing it). this allows enough access to remove all the 10mm bolts from the pan and get it off to allow replacing the connecting rod bearings.

If there is anyone near Tacoma that can give Christine a hand with Bluebelle, I am sure she can use it. Now she not only has the front seal, belts and t-stat to replace, but the connecting rod bearings as well. Fortunately they are not too costly, unfortunately they are a lot of work to get to. It can be done without removing the engine, and having it on a lift really helps. The rod journals can be polished with strips of 800 grit wet and dry sand paper to clean them up of scratched. Than the new bearings installed and the caps replaced (make sure they go on the correct way) and torqued. A fairly simple job once you get the pan off. A lot of sealant on the pan will keep it from leaking, or if you can get a new gasket in time, that works too.

Uhoh....Maybe I didn't understand you. I just went out and bought "crankshaft bearings". Are they diffent from "connecting rod bearings"?

I am currently tackling the crankshaft seal. I figured I would get the "easier" job out of the way first. Not that I am finding it particularly 'easy'. The crankshaft pulley is fighting me. I currently am waiting for penetrating lube to soak in and hopefully make a difference.

[Petros]

Yes, my instructions were to replace the connecting rod bearings. You will not be able to replace the main crankshaft bearings with the engine in the car, it is not possible, and they rarely fail even if the connecting rod bearings are completely wiped out.

Once you get the rod bearing caps off you will be able to see the main bearings are not even similar to the rod bearings. The connecting rod bearings are usually much less expensive than the mains anyway. If the connecting rod journals on the crank are smooth and shinny silver you are good to install the new bearings. If they are scored or scratched or discolored blue, you will have to polish them. This is easy to do with the crank in the engine, rotate the crank so the journal is down, take some strips of 800 grit wet-n-dry sand paper as wide as the journal (cut it neatly with a cheap knife or scissors) and wrap it around the journal with some light oil like WD40 on the paper. I wrap masking tape around it to hold it on, and than wrap a cord around it several turns and pull on the cord back and fourth. This will polish the journal, clean up the damage and will not take enough metal off to affect the oil clearance. Pull the cord back and forth about 20 to 30 times and check the results. clean it and put more solvent or light oil and do 20 or 30 more pulls. likely only the rear or number 4 journal will need this treatment. Clean all of the crank journal off good and the oil pan, there is going to be small flakes of bearing metal down in the pan, so clean that out while you are at it (perhaps in the oil inlet screen as well).

Good luck.

[Bluebelles Mom]

Oopsie. So the main bearings I bought will go back tomorrow and I will get the connecting rod bearings instead. I am not going to attempt this in my driveway. I will tow the car over to the hobby shop as I don't have jack stands and a torgue wrench. I am also worried about the timing since the belt is being replaced. I have it at TDC as near as I can tell but I am the gal who trashed the engine and bought the wrong bearings too. LOL...this "2 hour job" has taken me 3 days so far and I am currently floating quite nicely on muscle relaxers and pain meds as my back was trashed by this afternoon.

[Bluebelles Mom]

This certainly falls under the heading of good/bad news. I finally got the timing belt pulley off with the help of a propane torch. The bad news is even with heating it up about a inch or so of the back lip broke off while trying to pry it loose. So, I will have to start shopping for one of those. The seal was seriously messed up, I am not surprised it was leaking like a sieve.

A little more good news. I priced connecting rod bearings at O'Reilly, they wanted $49 for them which was actually more then they charged me for the main bearings. So I tried Rock Auto and got a set for $18 including shipping. I took the main bearings back to O'Reilly and just took a refund.

[xirdneh]

This certainly falls under the heading of good/bad news. I finally got the timing belt pulley off with the help of a propane torch. The bad news is even with heating it up about a inch or so of the back lip broke off while trying to pry it loose. .

i forgot to add
its better to push than pull the prying instrument
less likely to damage gear
i can mail you another gear