pboehmer.com

2017.04.27

Nice to finally get to hit this milestone this week after the rash of repair work over the past couple of weeks:

My end goal is 500k miles. At my current average mileage, it will take approximately 9.62 years to get this, so realistically probably not going to happen. This was underscored yesterday, when I was checking on the new half-shaft that I installed last weekend and noticed a 1/4in cut in the boot that had spit the unholy grease all over the undercarriage. Since I'd had the part for a while, it was no longer under warranty (downside to having parts on hand). I'm going to try to fix the cut until I can get a new axle purchased and installed.

On a different note, my employer's board had decided after 13 years, to end our fixed wireless broadband by the end of the year. I have mixed emotions about this. On one hand, I've made no secret about how much I disliked wireless (it's black magic, I tell you), sleepless nights when storms roll through, and having to continuously maintain a fragile network due to limitations in hardware. On the second hand, there is nothing better than being on a tower on a nice sunny 70f day, sniffing and deciphering SNMP traffic for a monitoring system, and honing my troubleshooting skills. Needless to say, I will be quite busy with tower work over the next couple of months.

With wireless out of the way, I will be redirecting my attention to the routing aspect of my work. We are currently in the progress of looking at new equipment and the possibility of changing vendors. My work has been strictly Cisco from the beginning, but with rather poor technical support over the past couple of years, we are looking seriously into Juniper Networks gear. It'll be an interesting transition if we go this route. Stay tuned!

2017.04.11

It was a bit of work, but I managed to get the new exhaust complete with driver's side catalytic converter installed. The task of separating the header from the exhaust was supposed to be the hardest part, actually turned out not so bad after hitting it with a couple shots of PB Blaster. I ran into a peculiar issue with one side of the flange connecting the two parts having a 15mm nut and the other side having a 16mm nut, despite both having the same bolt size. I ended up replacing both sides with new 16mm nuts. Bulk of the time was spent on having to cut out the clamps as they had rusted together. Five hours later (I didn't rush through it), I had a brand new exhaust system installed. I ended up keeping the original O2 sensor since it was still good, so now I have two new ones on hand the when they give up the ghost.

Speaking of parts on hand, I was just about done with the exhaust when I noticed a spot of grease on the floor underneath the passenger side front axle. Sure enough, the CV joint had split and puked the most unearthly of all concoctions all over the passenger wheel well. I had replaced the driver's side some 18 months ago and when I purchased that half-shaft, I decided to buy both sides. Spent the remainder of the day and the next morning replacing the axle. Needless to say, it was a very productive weekend.

All that's left on the existing to-do list is the door hinge. I had actually started that one the weekend before, but crashed and burned. I'll save that story for when I actually replace the darn thing.

2017.03.22

Seems the 300 is starting to show it's age. At 11 years and just shy of 1/4 million miles, needed repairs are starting to add up. A couple of weeks ago, it was the rear toe links. This time it's the exhaust. I've been engaged in a losing, on-going battle with the expansion/flex link between the catalytic converter and mid pipes for the past year. Now that the rest of the exhaust is starting to rust out, it's time to start looking at repair paths. Initially, I was pretty set on cutting off the pipe from the catalytic converter and having someone weld a new stainless steel "cat-back" system on. Brands like Borla, Corsa (preferred), and Flowmaster come to mind. Crunching the numbers, I'm looking at 2k+ for the parts, plus installation cost (mostly welding). I was looking at RockAuto for unrelated parts and decided to see what an OEM equivalent exhaust would run and found out that for ~$1000 (including core reimbursement), I could replace the entire run from the drivers side headers to the tail pipe, including a new catalytic converter. Keep in mind that this is an aluminum system as opposed to stainless steel. Mindset being that the existing system lasted this long and my budget doesn't currently allow for a nicer SS system. Added bonus here is that I will have one less catalytic converter and O2 sensors to replace in the future.

Doesn't help that I'm also looking at replacing brakes and tires in the next couple of months. As long as I can keep the repair costs are lower than monthly car payments, I'll keep the ol' girl running.

2017.03.11

I replaced the drivers side outer tie rod and passenger side sway bar link a couple weeks ago. Since the 300 is lowered by 2.5in, the suspension geometry is off which increases the rate of wear on the parts, pay to play they say. Anyways, after replacing the parts, I promptly took the car to my regular tire place to have an alignment done. Couple of hours later, I get a call saying the car is ready, but they had an issue with the rear passenger toe adjustment bolt being seized up. When I picked up the car, I opted to get a 3 year alignment package since I replace these parts every 18 months or so. I went ahead and ordered a replacement bolt, offset washer, and nut. The following week, I put the car on the lift to see what's going on with the toe adjustment bolt, only to find this...

Keep in mind that the picture on the right is the drivers side and what the left side is supposed to look like. Seems seized is a technical term for "I broke the bolt, but I wont tell anyone". I was bit miffed to realize that I had been driving for a whole week with the toe link like this, that is, until I tried to pull the bolt out. It had fused and become one with the toe link. In addition to having to use a saw-z all to cut the toe link out, I had to drill out the OEM bolt in order to get the new bolt in. I ordered and installed a replacement toe-link the following week. The repair cost for this incident was fairly minor (under $100). I also ended up ordering that same parts for the driver's side since it's only a matter of time.

2017.01.11

Seems my page updates are getting a bit rare anymore. I typically do not make serious New Years resolutions, but I may try to make updating the site one of them. Since my last update, we have blown through Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. So a belated happy holidays is in order (better late than never). Here's a little update on what's been going on:

Home projects
When we finished the new family room, we were deciding on what kind of lighting to put in the cans. Until recently, we had a mix of incandescent and mixed temperature LED bulbs trying to figure out which bulb/temp worked best in the room. After several years, I finally had enough (OCD was kicking in), and replaced all the bulbs with dimmable LED 4k bulbs. While this solved the hodge-podge of lighting in the room, it introduced an issue with the "smart" 4-way dimmers I originally installed, which are not compatible with LED bulbs. The end result was a strobing effect with the bulbs that would inflict marginal insanity. I'm guessing the two incandescent bulbs offset any issues when mixed with the LED bulbs. I replaced the dimmers with Lutron Maestro dimmers (master and 2 slaves). The change in dimmers introduced a new issue, they wire up differently. After spending a couple of hours tracing wire, I finally have it working.

I still love reading various magazines in this digital age. Over the years, I've been subscribed to various car, computer, and electronic magazines. Since we started the addition in 2011, I've subscribed to Family Handyman and needless to say, I'm a huge fan. Lots of good information, tips and tricks, tool reviews, and various projects.

Car projects
The vinyl tubing I used for the Oracle halo fog rings seem to be holding up. We haven't had much in the way of snow, but we have had plenty of rain. Its also worth mentioning that I changed the sealant I used to close up the fog light.

I've purchased and I am in the progress of testing one of those Chinese eBay Android units. This will be replacing my very dated looking Pioneer AVIC-D3 which has served me very well. Initial tests look like the Tocado unit will fulfill my needs. This will be on the bench for a bit for additional testing and setup before I install it in the car. I'll try to get a write up done for the Chrysler 300 projects page for this one.

Daughter's 2012 Kia Forte seems to be leaking a bit of oil from the oil pan. It doesn't help that her car uses some pretty thin oil (5w-20). After a little research, I determined that there is no actual gasket for the pan, Kia just uses a sealant to seals things up. I've purchased some Permatex Right Stuff for the fix. We'll see how it holds up.