The Overhaul is Complete

Well, it's done. For the most part the job went without a hitch. The grease I got from John Deere for the birfield joints turned out to be great. It was the stickiest, nastiest crap I've ever seen. Fortunately, sticky and nasty is just the ticket.

The birfield joints did turn out to have some damage. There was some wear, and actually some pitting. Pitting is bad. It means that the joints are on the docket for replacement. At $650 a piece for two its a chunk of change. I believe, however, that the grease will serve to prolong the life for two to three more years. The damage was actually caused by the wrong kind of grease, and improper greasing. That is, I didn't find enough grease present in the knuckles to properly protect it. As a part of the job this weekend I replaced all the seals that keep the grease in the knuckle, and replaced a bunch of other parts that should give me another 80,000 to 100,000 miles. So the knuckles are good, but like I said, I will probably have to replace the axle joints.

The next project is to replace the blinker/headlight switch on the Accord. I already have the part, but I haven't changed it because I have to take off the steering wheel. I haven't done it already because there is a little challenge--the airbag. If I do it wrong the airbag could go off, which would mean a cost on the order of $1000, not to mention the possibility of personal injury. But not to worry, there are methods to this. As long as I follow the rules, there should be not problem.

After that, the next project is the power steering pump on the Land Cruiser. Replacement is $330, but I can rebuild it for only around $40 for all the new seals and O-rings. Once again, there is a great FAQ for this found on ih8mud.com.

I like to work on cars. My poor wife has to put up with it, but since I saved us $1000 this weekend, I'll think she'll cut me some slack.