+1 on the AB videos

 

Just understand that you are an "attached" D2 owner.
Therefore, you become a mechanic by default...like it or not, lol.

 

The curse like a sailor or trooper in my case, is part and parcel of working on anything. It really is not that bad to work on these.

The connectors etc are painful to mark, but that is mostly the smaller ones, but you can use a permanent marker and something like these to mark things just use numbers on each side you so both 1's go together etc. Zip lock bags of various sizes for bolts and screws, and attach the bag to the parts. I have lost hard to find bolts, I know better now.

The biggest issue is breaking bolts lose, but lots of penetrating oil a few days ahead works wonders.

Really the biggest thing is patience, and planning. Stop when you get frustrated and think about what you are doing or take a break.

But you need find the actual problem 1st, pressure testing is pretty simple it amazes me it seems unknown in your part of the world, but then I am closer to 100 than 0 so maybe it is just a old guy - old car thing.

 

I haven't found any connectors under the hood yet that will go in more than just the one connector. Other than injectors, and their plugs on the harness line up with them, you would know if it was the wrong plug. Everything is pretty self explanatory once you see it.

 

The videos are helpful and informative, thanks OverRover. I do have a second derriere but no secondary air so that helps D&D may know of a place here in TC they would recommend so I'll give him a call, thanks CollieRover. Keeping bolts in bags sounds like a good idea, tied to the part. .. thanks for the tip Richard and 'yes'.. haha, I am an attached Rover owner, you are correct Sixpack, thanks for cheering me on

I get the part about making the bread and butter doing brakes and the what not. Both places are puzzled by the 'symptoms' and when I mentioned the pressure testing at the second garage, he wanted to know 'what kind'. Perhaps since it's an internal leak he didn't know how it would help but I didn't speak to the Tech, it was the guy behind the counter and I don't know to what extent his 'detective work' really is. The Tech was on vacation - was supposed to be back this week, so I'm assuming he'll look at it before the week is over. Here's to hoping.

I called a place in TC that specializes in classic cars and they didn't want to touch it with a 10 foot pole. They had a litany of reasons from 'we don't have the diagnostic equipment for imports' to 'the place you have it at is THE import place in town' to 'if we find that we need to get parts, they aren't easy to obtain in town so we'd have to order them and that could take weeks with it parked in our lot'. Apparently they haven't heard of the internet and fast shipping

I get it.. I get that people aren't used to working on them and don't want to deal with it. I just need some sort of direction from them soon or I'll be calling AAA for the gold membership and having it towed to a storage unit where I'll rip into it myself and beg for mercy on the forum.



Thanks for keeping me smiling..
Christina

 

Did you tell the classic car people that it is a Buick 215? That should change their tune. You don't need fancy scan tools and computers to find a leak.

 

Good job calling around even though they did not want to touch it. I'd recommend a sit down with the Tech when he is back to go over what you want done. The Service Desk guy is prolly not a mechanic so maybe I was too harsh on them earlier.

First question I would ask is if this is something he wants to do. Make him commit to it, and if it isn't, find somewhere else to do it. No need to be confrontational. Then ask him what the get it done right price is. Taking his time, using new bolts or reconditioning the old and using Loctite, cleaning the parts as he goes, chasing the boltholes and retorquing everything. Not the get it done as fast as humanly possible and pray price.

Also, you won't need mercy, and you won't even need that storage unit a whole month. In a month you could take it apart, recondition, port and polish, paint, wait for tools to fix stripped boltholes, fix the boltholes, obsess over cleanliness, and make a few big mistakes, have two bad thermostats diagnose and wait for the third, and still have it done. Ask me how I know! I unfortunately did not have a Garage so it took me a heck of a lot longer due to weather.

 

I did.. and they work on old vehicles and took the info and then called me back and said 'unfortunately this is something we probably ought not do'..

 

stripped boltholes?? 'Ain't nobody got time for that...'

Just those 2 words freak me out.

First we need to determine what the issue is. I can ask him if he can do the pressure test and what that would cost.. then IF we figure out where the internal leak is, ask him what his 'get it done right' price is. I do know that if it's the front cover gasket they'll want to do the oil pump as the service guy stated that already. It needs to be changed but then when you're getting into all of that $$ with a shop, you may as well have the entire engine swapped out and be done with the leaks, issues, old equipment, etc. for a few years..

I could dig into this in a storage unit (or our 1 car garage if it wouldn't take longer than 2 months as the Jeep needs to get in there for winter) and if all else fails and I totally screw it up everywhere, I can tuck Bertha away for the winter and replace the engine next spring. That is an option.

My biggest question right now is are the bearings messed up beyond repair because it's such a large amount of coolant and also, how do I get all of the coolant out of the system when I'm working on it? It's corrosive, correct? I would think that I've done a good amount of damage already.

 

I have to be methodical, my engine bay seems to have a lot unattached connectors and I hate finding left over bolts, wiring and other stuff. Marking them just makes life easier for me, and lets me know I have not missed anything, I find for me it also helps in planning as I mark, I think about what has to moved out of the way to make things easier.