|
Decided to remove the front air dam as there was one (frozen) bolt left holding it on and it flopped and flabbered all over. Due to frozen bolt, I had to remove the front bumper. That was interesting... didn't even know about those big plastic blades on the fender that hold the wrap-around in. Anyway, got the bolt off by breaking it, pitched the old n busted air dam in the dumpster. Removing those guide blades was easy, no rust there, got the bumper back on without much trauma. Dang, it sure looks weird without the air dam, but a new one is $99 at Tasca and they also have new bumper covers so at some point I'll replace both. Luckily they're about a 90-minute drive for me. Saved the half-moon washer things, broke all the bolts except one getting them off. Stupid road salt...
Next, tried once more to replace the crank position sensor. First time I tried, the bolt wouldn't budge and not wanting to risk breaking it (and the expense of a transmission R&R!) I left it alone. Nailed it with PB Blaster a few times over a month. Today, the stupid bolt was completely loose! But I couldn't figure out how to get the sensor out, so I put it back and snugged it down. If it ain't broke, etc.
So, on to the window scraper rubber. The IPD kit tells you to watch a movie. Yay, movies! But it's done with an old 240, with the old-school chrome mirrors. It looks like I have to remove the (black, new-school) mirror to get the metal carrier out. Correct? I did one of the back windows for practice, not hard exactly but not a fun job. Cleaned the glass under the scraper, 18 years of crud there. Had a hell of a time getting it back on the door, then I remembered I had a long, wide ice scraper in the trunk that worked great pushing down on the top of the carrier, so, free tip.
So, that's one question: mirrors need to come off to get that scraper carrier out?
The window motor on the one I replaced seems unhappy and groany with the change. I'd imagine over time that the rubber will put less pressure on the glass, but hope the motor doesn't burn out before then.
The other question: the lower radiator support is badly, I mean badly rusted on both ends. Crumbly. You could push a finger through it from the outer side. This is the piece that the fender supports attach to, and one had broken loose so I removed it. Is this a safety concern? I thought it might have been from a leaky battery on the driver's side, til I saw the other side which was just as crumbly. Sure I have plenty of rusted fasteners and a little on the inside bottoms of the rear doors, so finding this was kind of a nasty surprise.
Sorry to be so windy, but that's how I roll.
|
