Leadfoot: Meet the Ball Joint Press – Solving Squeaky Steering

Why would your steering make noise if it wasn’t the power steering pump? Well, it might be your ball joints. They’re less expensive than a whole steering rack, and it’s good to check them occasionally anyhow.

I offer no real advice, because I don’t entirely know what I’m doing. But I am ambitious, so I’ll attempt to use a hydraulic press to fit the ball joints instead of the special kit. Once that goes well, I’ll lash the whole thing to a fence post and use that for leverage. 

I Found a Sway Bar! – Anti-Roll Bar Installation, But I’m Working in a Field | Leadfoot

For 12 years, I’ve driven this Sunfire without a stabilizer bar. I finally found one to make the car whole again. But I’m on vacation, and not working in a driveway or my garage, so things went wrong.

This Pontiac Sunfire came from 1999, the front bumper from 2000, and the sway bar’s origin is unknown. The mechanic shown is a 1987 model with a lot of city miles on the liver.

Fighting with Bezels – Mustang Aftermarket Head Unit Upgrade | Leadfoot

Back in the 2000s, you could design and market a crap car stereo, and people bought it. Nowadays, I like to think we’re more discerning consumers. Fact remains, that old head unit still has to come out if you want your Bluetooth for streaming the streams.

Mustang shown is a 2000 V6, but the basic principles apply to most cars. Stay tuned to this channel, because Eddie the Sunfire is getting a sway bar.

It Gets Hot in Virginia – AC Compressor Replacement & Charge | Leadfoot

Last year I bought a Mustang. It had no air conditioning. I wanted to fix that. Needless to say, I’ve never done it before. Total beginner here; I’m learning the same time you are, giving myself a crash course in automotive climate control repair. Some of it went according to plan.

Mustang shown is a 2000 V6, but the basic principles apply to most cars. Stay tuned to this channel for the follow-up on that aftermarket stereo head unit replacement.

The Bad Taste in My Mouth

Today did not feel good.

No video or pics today, wasnt able to get things together, but spent much of my day wrenching on the car. Spent the last week concerned about a misfire at low RPM, and two weeks with the return of the ABS light.

As usual, much of my spare time gets spent researching what it could be. I'm not a trained mechanic, so solutions don't always come to me right away. The trouble with asking the internet for specific answers that pertain to a 20 year old car is that you often don't get a lot of direct answers. As such I am left with the possibilities ranging from catastrophic vacuum leak to simply air in the brake control module.

Either way, it's been 50,000 miles and 3 years since I replaced the fuel filter, which may contribute to part of the issue. Easy enough, I slide under there, unbolt the old and swap in the new. While I'm under there, I see a worrying amount of rust aft of the rear axle. Really bad rust, such that it might mean failing a safety inspection if I catch the guy on a bad day. This would require cutting and welding to resolve long term: two things beyond my shadetree mechanic experience.

Nothing I can do today. Now the misfire: no signs of a vacuum leak, spark connections look all right. But a new diagnostic computer I just got shows timing advance and fuel trim bouncing around quite a lot for just sitting at idle.

Can't figure that out. Go to the brakes.

My new acquisition shows trouble with the right front speed sensor. But I just replaced all that wiring, so is the sensor itself bad? Also, the ABS module says the rear control will not move. Air in the system?

Bleed the control module, there's a fair amount of air coming out, but eventually clears. Bleed the front brake lines, okay. Bleed the rear left: nothing coming out. Check the other side: still nothing. Back to the fronts, just fine. Module again, clear. Back to the rears, nothing comes out.

Getting dark. Here comes the rain, too.

Usually, as I'm packing up the tools and putting them all back in the trunk, I feel a sense of accomplishment for the work I've done. There's no dopamine fix for today. As I set out to fix two problems, I solved neither and have been alerted to deep rust in the lower frame.

There's a half a bottle of rum on the shelf. It will likely be empty by the morning.