When it rains it pours... Rear brakes on the VW

So, Just before I left for the AGU meeting for a week, the rear brakes on the Golf started to let it be known that there was NO PAD LEFT.  Yes, metal-on-metal.  Surprised me that the pads wore out so fast.  But then the rear brakes had been dragging a bit so I should have been more watchful.

In any case, nothing like a job that has to be done right away.  Down to the parts store, picked up some ceramic pads this time for longer life, and some upgraded rotors for a few bucks more...  And of course the 'borrow' brake rewind tool.

And then what should have been a 1-hour job became epic.  Why?  First, unbeknownst to me, the brake rewind tool was broken in a subtle way.  On these rear brakes, the piston must be rotated clockwise as it's pressed back into the caliper- so an ordinary c-clamp wouldn't do the job, and this tool has special pawls to grab the piston and rotate it as it presses.  But the pin on the shaft that forces the rotation was sheared off inside, so it wasn't rotating.  All I knew was that no matter how much force I used, the pistons would not go back in.  And just about hour 2 trying to do this, in spite of the fact that I'd dutifully hung the calipers on 'coat hanger' wire to keep any strain from the brake hose, the hose broke on the RH caliper right where it attaches to the caliper.  And, of course, it's a pre-bent hard-line grafted to the flexible hose (no fitting, just crimped on), so not available at the parts store- special order.

So, order the parts (and rebuild kits for the calipers, since I've got them off, I might as well and that will hopefully eliminate the dragging).  Then borrow a car for the week and go to the meeting.

It wasn't until I tried putting the calipers back together that I discovered the problem with the tool.  But the parts store gladly exchanged it and, after some significant effort getting the pistons back in past the new rubber seals, it was back to the 1-hour job it was supposed to be.

All this to say:  new rotors, pads, and rebuilt calipers on the golf.  And a newly-borrowed Honda CR-V which might just become a third rig in the stable, while the Trooper's laid up.  Sorry no photos on this one, but the job was more of a "get it done so the car can be back on the road" kind of thing.

Trooper Engine Trouble

So, about a month ago I was driving to the airport when the engine started making a strange new noise.  What was ominous was that the noise was growing steadily louder...  But I figured- if I pull over to investigate, I'll probably get stranded on the side of the highway and miss my flight- so I drove on.  After a while, the noise was accompanied by a loss of power.  No overheating, no oil pressure loss.

Eventually, the engine stalled and would not re-start, about 3/4 mile from the airport.  The tow truck driver (thanks AAA) dropped me off at the terminal right after we loaded the trooper up, and I made my flight with no problem.

When I got it back in the garage, I started by running a compression test.  The numbers came back low, but not horribly so- 340/410/380/415.  So the rings, valves, etc are still ok, even if worn to the overhaul point.

This leads to suspect the fuel injectors, so I pulled them out- I don't have the tools and test equipment to service injectors, so I'll bring them in to an injector shop.  But look at the difference between injector 3 and the others!  I suspect that one strongly.  Or if there's something else wrong it seems to definitely be in that cylinder...

Hopefully the injector shop will confirm this, and refurbishing them will solve the problem!

Bodybuilding

So, I bought a 1994 Toyota truck from a neighbor- the reasons for which are a longer story that I don't need to post here.  One of the issues with the truck was a significant amount of body rust.  I decided there's no way that I'm likely to really repair all of the rust, but I needed to fix a couple of the most gaping holes.  So I learned to do a little bodywork!

 This is what it looked like when I started.  Not a lot of fender left! 

 I cut it back to metal that I could work with...  You can see below the piece of utility shelf that is about to become donor steel for a new fender. 

Cut, bent, shaped and now welded in place, a new fender.

Then some bondo over the seam, sanded, painted, and it doesn't look "good as new" but at least that part looks like pickup truck!  Fun to learn a bit about auto-body, even though this one's not really pretty! 

Front brake shudder

Front brakes have been shuddering and I don't know why...  got under there today to check it out and currently I think the rotors are warped - but I put new ones in just a couple of years ago...

I now suspect seized slide pins; creating caliper drag on one side only.  Remedy- replace slide pins, new rotors and pads.  Also really clean up the hub surface to make _absolutely_ sure the rotor is normal to the bearing axis.  Should do it.  Ordering parts today!