General STS thread

[bill25]

You have to admit the length is WAY better than the lawn tractor one. All three of them actually.

Yes, I am actually trying to go out of my way to not sound sarcastic and be positive since it is easy to confuse in text. I think story boarding in advance with this would help a lot to know exactly what exactly will be filmed.

Unfortunately that is not going to happen. I was already catching shit from the wife from my work on Saturday and that is repairing stuff, not recreational.

I think what you are doing is important to figure out mechanics of shooting a video, but is less fun for viewers and makers of content long term.

[kevm14]

So the clunking I was dealing with seems to be gone. I think I am starting to hear my caliper rattle as I expected. But I'm so sensitized to this that when I hear ANYTHING I freak out because I just did all that work and I am afraid it will slip in the bar hole and start clunking again. I will continue to evaluate as I drive it.

I guess I am thinking about the surface of the bar where the link inserts. It was not flat, because I kind of screwed it up with the saw. So I am concerned that it could want to slip in some direction toward a "less tight" position and then start rattling in there. Which would suggest I may want to see if I can tighten the nut up in a week. But that will screw up my loctite. So much stress from this! I guess I am simply hoping that the brand new part with new nut, tightened down properly, will just clamp so tight that slip cannot occur, no matter what kind of road conditions prevail.

[kevm14]

It is going to take months for me to feel more at ease about this. But after another commute in, it still feels nice and tight.

[bill25]

It doesn't help that half the commute is like driving on the moon.

[bill25]

Some stats on Youtube channel dollars:

http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/smallbus ... ocid=ientp

So... that idea is out.

[kevm14]

It doesn't help that half the commute is like driving on the moon.

I was going to mention something about that.

[kevm14]

Someday I may also decide to fix the driver's side 4-way lumbar system, and I also noticed one of the tab/clips is broken on the seat rear cover, which has to come off to replace the lumbar thing. So that'll happen down the road...or never. A new plastic cover is like $250 and the lumbar assembly is $139 so that job is certainly not a priority. I don't really know how likely it is to get a non-broken seat rear cover or if I'd have to like buy an entire seat and take the working lumbar unit and seat rear panel off of it and use for mine. I feel like the cost would probably be about the same, but rolling the dice on used parts...

The seat feels fine with the lumbar in the position it is in so again, this is hardly a priority.

Made sure I learned how to take this off properly and then removed it. Yep, the upper left tab broke off, which is caused by someone else NOT removing it properly. I looked around for a while for the broken piece hoping to find it so I could maybe glue it back on. No luck. Not sure what to do. I will say the cover is pretty fancy for what it is and I can see why it is not $20.

WP_20180303_16_14_46_Pro.jpg

WP_20180303_16_14_50_Pro.jpg

Oh yeah, the lumbar does move up and down....kinda. But the in and out cable must have snapped or something. I may fix this eventually but I care more about the cover fitting properly right now.

This is a pretty complicated seat when you look at it. Let's review:
- 8 way power adjustable
- 4 way power lumbar
- Heated
- Ventilated
- Stereo speakers

[kevm14]

Just installed my MAF gasket (MAF to airbox) which I determined was missing in some prior maintenance event. PO did a MAF so likely the old gasket got lost or destroyed. Now it has a gasket. That should cut the sand intake by at least 50%....

Then I did the thermostat. It wasn't that bad. Rough steps I took:
- Remove radiator cover (two plastic thumb rivets)
- Remove air intake tube/elbow (TB to MAF, two hose clamps, and remove the PVC breather line)
- Remove 3 10mm bolts and the thermostat housing pulls off the block
- Pull thermostat with gasket out of the housing
- FSM says to replace gasket but I reused it by swapping it to the new thermostat (discard the black rubber gasket that may come with the new stat; I think that is for the FWD Northstars)
- I did blow it off with compressed air to get the crap off it. It didn't look torn
- Press new thermostat/gasket into housing carefully
- Install housing back on engine
- Install 3 bolts, torque to 89 lb-in (yes I actually did, well, about 7.5 lb-ft)
- Install the rest of the crap you removed
- Add coolant. Mine took a full gallon which is actually good.

I didn't let it warm up enough to build pressure but I think I am fine. I will watch it for a few days, making sure the level is good, etc. I probably spent 1.5 hours on everything taking my time. Cost was under $20. The thermostat is really probably a 20-30 minute job, which is actually quite good.

I am interested to see if it warms up faster next time I drive it as that was kind of the reason I did the stat. The one I took out looked original. 133k and 13 years.

For the record, this is the correct gasket for the LH2 Northstar:
https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.ph ... 13&jsn=813

An OEM stat and OEM gasket would have set me back $46. Instead I bought the non-OEM AC Delco (it actually had Motorad stamped on it which Rockauto sells for less) and no gasket for $10.

[kevm14]

I finally went out and that counted as my road test.

I can't really say the temp rises faster. It may. I will have to do my commute to really be able to tell.

Also, it is nice that this cooling system has no BS needed when you open it. What I mean by that is you simply add coolant to the pressure tank, and it fills the rest of the engine/radiator, bleeding air bubbles along the way. So you just fill it, and then cap it. On my road test, everything was great. No crazy temp rises due to air bubbles. It was perfect out of the gate. It's probably the easiest system I've ever had. My Caprice would be a close second but you have to fill the radiator, and then the overflow tank. The STS/SRX is a single fill location and you're done.

In other cooling system news, I do have some debris sitting in between the A/C condenser and radiator, on top of the trans cooler. A garden hose or possibly a pressure washer may be needed. I will put that on the list. I noticed it last year when I did the other service but was reminded today.

[kevm14]

Bones drew me up a little piece in Solidworks to fix my seat. I found a cheaper website to order a 3D print from: Shapeways.com. It was $12.xx shipped, so I just did it.