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Thread: Cuda's Cars, v2.0

  1. #501
    I have some gibberish from the FSM that probably counts as a wiring diagram, yes.

    Not sure when I will next get a chance to work on the car. T took it for the weekend and apparently it's now making a rotational noise from the right rear, and the battery died.

    Everything's happening at once.

  2. #502
    Senior Member
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    I much prefer the little bit at time maintenance approach. But, it's 10 years old, so whaddayagonnado?

  3. #503
    13. It's a teenager now. Oh dear.

    ... and it gets worse.

    Something bad happened to tonight. Well, something bad-sounding at least. I'll try to keep this short.

    Got a call from T tonight, the Z broke down on the freeway. She was a bit panicked and someone else who had broken down was with her so I didn't get a clear description of the symptoms, but my immediate priority was to dispatch a tow truck (this is where my AAA membership comes in handy ). I took my dad's truck and met her there - the flatbed driver got there first and already had the Z loaded. He drove the car up on its own. So I started asking T questions on the drive home about what the car was doing. Still not very clear on what's going on. We get home, tow truck guy unloads the car in the street and I back it into the driveway. Nothing feels funny. I take the car around the block to feel/hear what's going on for myself. But first I look underneath with a flashlight. All I could notice was the exhaust is sitting low in the middle section of the car. The midpipe lives just above a chassis brace so I figured maybe an exhaust hanger broke. But, up to 25mph in the neighborhood and everything feels normal. I get out to a major street. 40mph, not much traffic, gentle weaving side to side, everything still normal. Turn on to a more major street. 55mph. No problems. Typical of a car not to re-create the issue when it needs to. I turn towards home on another street. Hit a broken up patch of pavement (nothing we don't drive over a million times a year already) and *CRUNCH* *THUNK* *BANG* *THUNK* the proverbial hits the fan. This is definitely not normal or safe - she was right to stop the car and call for help. I slow to a crawl. I felt impacts in the middle of the car, including at my feet and in the steering. It's something BIG that's loose, not just exhaust. I limp home at 5mph, still with the occasional THUNK. It feels like the transmission is trying to fall out of the car or something. The engine runs fine, the clutch feels normal.

    My theory is the tranny mount is quite broken. It makes sense in my mind... the engine is held in by only 2 mounts (one on each side), the tranny by 1 mount, and it's a Megan Racing part at that. If the tranny mount failed, it seems plausible it could cause the engine to tilt down at the back and lower the exhaust system.

    I'll put the car in the air tomorrow in the light and see what I can find. I just hope there's no collateral damage to the driveshaft or anything like that.

  4. #504
    Corvette Enthusiast Kchrpm's Avatar
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    Yikes!
    Get that weak shit off my track

  5. #505
    Story time!

    So here's what the mount kit looks like:



    There's no way to see the transmission mount until you remove the cross brace (it sits inside the brace pretty much). So I looked around at other things and was particularly curious why I would have felt this through the steering sometimes (but not always). I found something. A spot where the header has rubbed the steering shaft.

    20160227_123117.jpg

    It was far enough away though that it wasn't going to be rubbing constantly or anything. The engine was sitting level from what I could tell. I looked at the motor mount, didn't see anything, then went to the passenger side motor mount... Here's the view looking up at subframe:

    20160227_124449.jpg

    Notice anything missing?

    In theory I wouldn't think what's happening would be solely caused by this. I wouldn't imagine the engine would come *up* so easily to come crashing down and make this noise. Because of the way the mounts are I'd think the engine would sit comfortably there unless I was going off some rad jumps or something. But, obviously, this needs to be fixed. New nut will be here Tuesday. I didn't have anything that would fit. And, I'm thinking a little blue loctite is in order!

    Still, I really wanted to check out the trans mount. First I had my assistant jack up the transmission a couple pumps, then back down, then back up, while I watched underneath the car. Trans was definitely moving up and down in the mount, but also twisting after it came up the initial half inch or so. That twisting was the passenger side motor mount coming up out of the subframe. Ok, so inconclusive on the trans mount itself but since the car was on stands I thought I might as well remove some things and visually inspect it.

    20160227_133037.jpg

    There's this tearing at the rear, almost 3/4 of the way around the sleeve. The front side of the bushing looks great. This will probably need to be replaced eventually, but at the moment I think it's OK. The squishy OEM trans mount has a lot of void area in its bushing so I don't think the small amount of movement from this crack on the Megan mount is an issue. I'm guessing perhaps the motor being allowed to tilt up on one side has contributed to the wear in this bushing.

    I'm not totally convinced yet this missing motor mount nut is the entirety of the issue but I haven't seen anything else amiss. I was expecting to find the blue metal part of the trans mount broken all the way through somewhere.
    Last edited by CudaMan; February 27th, 2016 at 05:25 PM.

  6. #506
    Oh, and on the latest O2 sensor issue (P0037), the plugs are coded side to side so you can't swap sensors easily. But, I think I found something slightly out of spec when I unwrapped the electrical tape from the extended wiring...

    Attachment 1608

    That's literally five seconds after I removed the tape. 3 out of 4 wires not even connected to the sensor anymore.

    Crimp connectors suck.. I had extra Posi-Lock connectors and fixed it all up nice. No more CEL (yet anyway).

  7. #507
    Corvette Enthusiast Kchrpm's Avatar
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    I enjoy reading the teardown/buildup/troubleshooting posts you guys make sometimes, because I don't know what's wrong/missing when you point something so obvious that you don't even have to point it out
    Get that weak shit off my track

  8. #508
    I was once that way, too. The desire to do cool stuff with cars and save money compelled me to dive in and learn through experience. I can actually say I sometimes enjoy wrenching on cars now. Never would have said that in the past. I like figuring things out. Frustrates me when I can't.

    Anyway, what's missing in my photo is a nut to hold the motor mount to the subframe. Without that nut, the engine can lift up out of the subframe on that side. No bueno.

  9. #509
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    Interesting stuff! Kinda scary what a little shoddy workmanship can net, too! Upside is that these problems seem fairly self explanatory, which is sooooooo much better than unexplained mysteries! I am better that, um, quirky motor mount is what caused the tear in the trans mount... it is definitely not designed to take a rotational force!

  10. #510
    The trick will be finding a new trans mount without buying another set of motor mounts (they come in a kit). The OEM trans mount is awfully squishy and all the other aftermarket ones I'm aware of are too solid. This is still a driver. The Megan mounts seem like the perfect compromise - added stiffness, still with NVH-absorbing rubber.

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