Gear Grinding 8: I Got A Lot Of Problems With You People!

[Deutsche Gopher Fan]

It’s a simple sensor issue. Basically all furnaces have a sensor to make sure the flame is burning when it’s feeding gas. If there is no flame, the furnace is shut off. Prevents the furnace from filling your house with gas.

The problem is the sensor can fail to recognize that there is a flame. It’s a known issue with my furnace manufacturer. So all you have to do in most cases is pull it apart, find the sensor, and sand off the outer layer. Takes about an hour to take things apart, 30 seconds of sanding, and another hour to put it back together.

Glad I bought the big space heater.

My furnace quit a few months ago. I was about to call someone out when I remembered I’ve been paying centerpoint for their basic repair plan. Hey came out next day and guy said a wire came loose inside. No charge, which was nice.
But it was in the 50s when mine went out.

 

[The Rube]

Re: Gear Grinding 8: I Got A Lot Of Problems With You People!

Doesn't matter. Appliances eff up. Sounds like he got a lemon. I'm thanking my lucky stars that our furnace keeps trucking. It's real old, but has been kept up with service. I'm betting they strongly recommend replacement this year.

Same goes for the AC. It's an old unit from the 60's. Keeps trucking like a champ. I am very adverse to replacing old things like this. They really don't make them like they used to.

At least with the AC I can keep it going. I picked up some tricks from my father. (He worked in the refrigeration business for many moons)

That's what I was saying. If it was something older, ok that happens. Newer, I wouldn't expect it to conk out that quickly.

 

[MarkEagleUSA]

Re: Gear Grinding 8: I Got A Lot Of Problems With You People!

Newer, I wouldn't expect it to conk out that quickly.

Nothing is built to last anymore...

 

[dxmnkd316]

Re: Gear Grinding 8: I Got A Lot Of Problems With You People!

That's what I was saying. If it was something older, ok that happens. Newer, I wouldn't expect it to conk out that quickly.

It’s a 20-year-old furnace. Maybe less. It happens. Already fixed.

The only thing I hate about this fix is that the furnace wasn’t designed with maintenance in mind. You need Donald Trump-like hands to get into where the parts are. Getting it back together is a massive pain in the ***. And hands. The hardest part is getting all the burner elements back into alignment.

I just wish my rachet set had magnetic ends. Would make putting it back together a little simpler.

Hopefully my house doesn’t blow up now. It looked like the elements were all burning and aligned correctly.

My furnace quit a few months ago. I was about to call someone out when I remembered I’ve been paying centerpoint for their basic repair plan. Hey came out next day and guy said a wire came loose inside. No charge, which was nice.
But it was in the 50s when mine went out.

I’ve looked at that kind of plan. I’m probably able to fix most small problems though. What’s your plan cost a month?

 

[Deutsche Gopher Fan]

It’s a 20-year-old furnace. Maybe less. It happens. Already fixed.

The only thing I hate about this fix is that the furnace wasn’t designed with maintenance in mind. You need Donald Trump-like hands to get into where the parts are. Getting it back together is a massive pain in the ***. And hands. The hardest part is getting all the burner elements back into alignment.

I just wish my rachet set had magnetic ends. Would make putting it back together a little simpler.

Hopefully my house doesn’t blow up now. It looked like the elements were all burning and aligned correctly.



I’ve looked at that kind of plan. I’m probably able to fix most small problems though. What’s your plan cost a month?

I think it’s around 19. Worth it for me as I’m the opposite of an engineer.

 

[bigblue_dl]

Re: Gear Grinding 8: I Got A Lot Of Problems With You People!

That's what I was saying. If it was something older, ok that happens. Newer, I wouldn't expect it to conk out that quickly.

Sensors fail on brand new stuff. Sometimes **** is designed poorly, just look at anything GM has made in the last 30 years.

 

[The Sicatoka]

Re: Gear Grinding 8: I Got A Lot Of Problems With You People!

Sometimes **** is designed poorly, just look at anything GM has made in the last 30 years.

Try to change the oil filter on a Dodge Ram truck with a V10 engine. (It's why I don't drive Dodge.)

 

[aparch]

Sensors fail on brand new stuff. Sometimes **** is designed poorly, just look at anything GM has made in the last 30 years.

Hahaha. #Fakenews.

*Remembers the check engine light that randomly activates and goes out on all my GM vehicles with no trouble codes tripped*

*Weeps silently*

 

[bigblue_dl]

Re: Gear Grinding 8: I Got A Lot Of Problems With You People!

Try to change the oil filter on a Dodge Ram truck with a V10 engine. (It's why I don't drive Dodge.)

They didn't improve it on the Hemi either. I used to always change my own oil, but after doing it twice on my current truck, I was so sick of trying to get my hand up to the oil filter that I just gave in and have a mechanic do it now. Oil filter location on many vehicles is a pet peeve of mine. Stupid, stupid designs.

 

[bigblue_dl]

Re: Gear Grinding 8: I Got A Lot Of Problems With You People!

Hahaha. #Fakenews.

*Remembers the check engine light that randomly activates and goes out on all my GM vehicles with no trouble codes tripped*

*Weeps silently*

My favorite GM oopsie is the the era of GM trucks that couldn't keep both daytime running lights lit. It was like that for about 5 years. Replace the bulb, 2 days later, burnt out. You'd see many GM trucks a day driving around with 1 daytime running light.

 

[Twitch Boy]

Re: Gear Grinding 8: I Got A Lot Of Problems With You People!

Sensors fail on brand new stuff. Sometimes **** is designed poorly, just look at anything GM has made in the last 30 years.

Have to admit I'm having ha-ha-only-serious thoughts about the Camaro ZL1.

Basically a Z06 with the heat soak issue fixed, heated seats, and $20K-$40K knocked off the sticker depending on how you look at it? You'd be a fool NOT to buy one. That's the performance bargain of the millennium.

Only issue is the sight lines - drove a V6 Camaro as a rental a few years back and it was like sitting in a bunker. (Sorry, Brent.)

 

[FlagDUDE08]

Re: Gear Grinding 8: I Got A Lot Of Problems With You People!

Try to change the oil filter on a Dodge Ram truck with a V10 engine. (It's why I don't drive Dodge.)

Not limited to those two brands. It's called dealerships are seeing declines in their overpriced service departments that drive the recurring revenues, so they lobby the manufacturers of the vehicles they sell to design them to be near impossible for a traditional mechanic to work on the vehicle. That way, the owner is forced to utilize the service of the dealer.

 

[aparch]

Try to change the oil filter on a Dodge Ram truck with a V10 engine. (It's why I don't drive Dodge.)

Is that one of the engines where to change oil, you actually need to remove the engine mounts and hoist the engine up to get to everything?


I had a 1990 Ford Thunderbird that required double jointed-ness to get to the oil filter, because they thought it needed to be wedged behind the motor against the firewall.

 

[aparch]

My favorite GM oopsie is the the era of GM trucks that couldn't keep both daytime running lights lit. It was like that for about 5 years. Replace the bulb, 2 days later, burnt out. You'd see many GM trucks a day driving around with 1 daytime running light.

Still see some of those trucks running around. I think most owners just don't use daytime running lights anymore on those year trucks.

 

[dxmnkd316]

Re: Gear Grinding 8: I Got A Lot Of Problems With You People!

Have to admit I'm having ha-ha-only-serious thoughts about the Camaro ZL1.

Basically a Z06 with the heat soak issue fixed, heated seats, and $20K-$40K knocked off the sticker depending on how you look at it? You'd be a fool NOT to buy one. That's the performance bargain of the millennium.

Only issue is the sight lines - drove a V6 Camaro as a rental a few years back and it was like sitting in a bunker. (Sorry, Brent.)

Some of the newer mustangs had that same problem. Horrible sight lines. My MDX has fewer and smaller blind spots.

 

[Twitch Boy]

Re: Gear Grinding 8: I Got A Lot Of Problems With You People!

Some of the newer mustangs had that same problem. Horrible sight lines. My MDX has fewer and smaller blind spots.

Blame the new regulations requiring higher doorlines and gigantic A-pillars. Even the new Ford GT has a bit of Steve Urkel syndrome and that's otherwise one of the sleekest cars on the road.

 

[bigblue_dl]

Re: Gear Grinding 8: I Got A Lot Of Problems With You People!

Is that one of the engines where to change oil, you actually need to remove the engine mounts and hoist the engine up to get to everything?


I had a 1990 Ford Thunderbird that required double jointed-ness to get to the oil filter, because they thought it needed to be wedged behind the motor against the firewall.

No, it isn't that bad, it still is a truck, afterall, so much more room than most cars.

They just put the filter on the side of the engine, behind the exhaust piping, so you have to reach up between about 5 different exhaust and front-end components to even touch the filter, much less get a filter wrench on it. It was such a pain on my truck, that I started going in through the front wheel well, reaching behind the wheel, then up and under the inner plastic wheel well to get to it. It was easier, but still a massive pain in the ***.

 

[St. Clown]

Re: Gear Grinding 8: I Got A Lot Of Problems With You People!

I access the oil filter on my car by popping open the hood. Then I screw it off because it's right there in plain sight. Boxer engines FTW!

 

[The Sicatoka]

Re: Gear Grinding 8: I Got A Lot Of Problems With You People!

Is that one of the engines where to change oil, you actually need to remove the engine mounts and hoist the engine up to get to everything?

It helps. If you have a really strong person with long arms you can hoist the vehicle, crank the front tires way left (?), and wedge between the tire and fender and reach through the fender into the engine space.

Want an easy filter to change? Buy a Subaru. (It's the blue thing in the photo.)

 

[The Rube]

Re: Gear Grinding 8: I Got A Lot Of Problems With You People!

1. The serpentine belt on the old Corsicas were beyond horrendous in placement. My brother PRAYED to never have that be a problem in any Corsica he worked on.
2. The sightlines in a Camaro are very limited. I was NOT prepared for that compared to my Wrangler. Took quite a while to get used to.