Ontopic The new car-seching thread

The pieces of the Audi came in the mail today too.

Put the head gasket down.20200518_194204_HDR.jpg

Liquid in the image is just a bunch of PB blaster that I sprayed down the bores to help displace any water, because I pressure washed the SHIT out of that greaseball.
 
That stuff looks brighter red than just rust from here. Hope it's not some "head gasket in a bottle" shit that just clogs up heater cores and any other small passageway.
VW G13 is pink/red.

Best guess at the head gasket corrosion is that someone left coolant in the motor long enough for the gasket to become the sacrificial anode.
 
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VW G13 is pink/red.

Best guess at the head gasket corrosion is that someone left coolant in the motor long enough for the gasket to become the sacrificial anode.

Aha. The pink antifreeze I've seen seems a lighter pink starting out anyway but age and reaction makes sense.
Was trying to expand the pic to see if there were fibers in that gunk but it got blurry.
 
Dead battery in my van last night when I was leaving work. Thankfully my employee hadn't yet left so I got a jump start from his vehicle. Not sure if it is the original battery that it came with the vehicle, it is Chrysler OEM battery, so it could be 8 yrs old. Kinda crazy life out of a battery. Heavy as fuck. Went to Autozone down the street and got a new battery and installed it in their parking lot.
 
I expect that. But I wasn't about to drive across town to O'Reilly Auto Parts, AdvancedAuto, or some small auto parts store. Definitely wasn't going to buy one from the stealership.

Check the alternator output just to be extra sure you caught the whole problem. Unless you have an actual volt gauge in the dash and not just an idiot light.
 
There's only a few companies left that make lead acid batteries. The Autozone battery probably rolled off the same Johnson Controls or Exide manufacturing line as the OEM battery.
Same is true for vacuum tubes. That doesn't mean all the rebrands have the same spec, tolerance, QC, etc. Budget brands gladly pick up at a discount the ones that don't pass muster for premium while others really are the same thing with a different label.

Maybe not worth worrying about much for a car battery. A duralast or Walmart one keep you going for a few years anyway.

Tubes may not be the best analogy. None of them are made like they used to be because things like militaries and hospitals and things don't depend on them anymore.
It's just a piece of old tech that has very few initial manufacturers left in the world. I think 2 in Russia and 1 in China or something like that.
 
I was smart enough to not trust harbor freight for jacks or jack stands in the first place.

Don't know how their new stuff is. My floor jack of theirs has to be 20 years old by now, maybe more, maybe not. Lots of use from me and a few other folks. Never twisted or bent or let a car down when it wasn't supposed to.
Plain old heavy steel one wheels and all, no low pro or quick rise or anything. Solid piece of equipment.

It has recently started losing a little oil, as in top it off once or twice a year little. Should probably fix that.
 
Actually her kid did buy a new aluminum low pro one from them earlier this year, to get under their dumb fart can lowered Civics and things. It works like it's supposed to.
Those guys are dicking around with cars all the time, it'll get a lot of use. We'll find out in 15-20 years if they're as good as the old ones.
 
^ theirs are light little cars, it'll probably be fine.

I think I worked the seals in mine a little too hard once when I used it to repeatedly jack up the front of an old RV higher and higher all in one go instead of one side at a time.
Basically a 1 ton or better dually chassis with a van cab and a big heavy box that hangs out over the cab and an old Ford 360 or 390 or something in it. Lol
 
Got the Audi's timing buttoned up - what a nightmare. Turned it over a couple times with the plugs in, and it made all the right noises.

Still have to get the manifolds back on and the crank bolt tightened down to 258 lb-ft.

2020-05-20.jpg
 
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