What have you done to your wagon lately? (Let's keep the thread going!)

One would think that would be enough, but...nope.

 

*shakes head mournfully*

 

Weeee...

Took Lil'Sis to work today and I'm sure she worked better then she ever did. It was awesome to finally have her out and working so well.

 

Mazel tov! It's a girl!

 

Woooohoooo. Driving them wagons is so much better than working on them!! Happy days

 

New TH350 and torque converter are in. Planning on swapping the old with the new in a couple weeks when I get access to a friend's lift.

 

Had an appointment for today at 8 A.M. at an exhaust shop within 40 mins. drive. Took the car there, the man put the car on a lift and we looked at the pipe. Once Father arrived we agreed on having the whole H pipe from the catalytic converters to the mufflers replaced and the man worked on it while we were gone. Real reasonable price, he charged $89 for it and he kept the pipe balancers on. I also looked at the undercarriage while it was up and found frame rot by the front passenger side tire; it's not critical but good to know about. He (the exhaust pipe worker) also said the brake lines and fuel lines would need replaced some time soon (in the next year or so.)

 

Worked on the old dark cherry roadmaster today. She was towed home the other day because the security system was locking the cars starter out. Found that one of the wires going to the tumbler was broken. Soldered and heat shrinked it up and we are back on the road again! (PS getting into the steering column on one of these is a real pain in the a$$)

 

Done a couple of those repairs. And if it has an airbag, point said airbag away from you!

 

Drove with my parents to Grandpap's funeral (Maybe regrettably I never talked with him to the point of writing a book with him about his 50+ years of truck driving) then to a relative's house, had food and talked a bit then went on home. Checked the ATF upon return, but isn't it too hot to check at that point? Also heard a lot of noise upon acceleration up hills (when the accelerator was far down and I had it in D instead of Overdrive) and I'm wondering if that sound is the fuel pre-detonating which I've heard is damaging to an engine so I have to do something about it; as in, maybe use higher octane fuel. I've been using 87 that has ethanol in it and the car manual says it can take up to 10% Ethanol fuel.

 

You know what canastas are, right? The clicky shell-like handheld noisemakers Spanish dancers use? Well, pre-ignition/detonation sounds like those. Lower octane can make that happen, but a problem in the cooling system can also make that happen. Which vehicle were you using? And when checking ATF, and you know it's 'just off the highway' hot, all you want to see is the fluid is not below the 'add' mark, and it's still reddish.

 

Maybe a Canasta dancer was stuck under the hood?
They crawl in there from under the car at night for the warmth.

I washed my windows, it only takes about 2 days, the one downside of being a wagon owner.

 

I was driving the Mercury Wagon which is fuel injected. Thanks, I had the feeling that was the case; it was pre-detonation. I heard the same thing in the Caprice under heavy throttle with 87. Could this pre-detonation (only under heavy load) in the Wagon still be from the cooling system? In September 2014 I flushed the whole system thoroughly. I'm thinking of running this tank down and starting to use a higher octane gas; I have 89 and 93 and (more expensive than 93) 100% Gas at 91 Octane. I thought of using an octane booster too but don't have experience with them, have any of you tried them? I was looking up information about them.

 

The EEC IV for your car is set for running either 85 or 87 octane, depending on where it was sold. If you look online, find the location of the octane plug. I cannot remember which way it has to be for each octane, but if it's set for 87 and you now run it in an area that sells 85, that can cause it to detonate. Spending the extra dough for high octane is simply a waste of money.

 

But yes, if the engine is having trouble shedding heat, it will also cause detonation. A dirty, carboned engine can contribute to detonation.