What a PITA weekend!

[pharm_rodeo]

What a crappy Rodeo maintenance weekend!

On Saturday I decided to change the fuel filter before starting the brakes. After I purchased the filter at Advance I headed home and crawled under the truck. I put the new filter up to the old one, but the new one was a bit small. I knew it couldn’t be right. I go back over to Advance and the “knowledgeable” parts guy is adamant that the part is correct. Eventually, the manager gets involved and says that the computer system is right and I didn’t know what I was talking about. I get my money back and head to O'Reilly Auto Partsand buy the CORRECT larger filter. I’m never shopping at Advance again!

Once I got the filter done I directed all my energy to replacing the rotors, pads, and repacking the bearings. The process isn’t difficult but it is very time consuming. The hardest part was removing the 6 bolts to transfer the hub assembly. How come no one mentioned that in the forum threads…lol. It took me over 2 hrs just to get ALL the necessary bolts removed. Remember that’s just the passenger side! I got the bearings repacked and just had to install the new pads. I knew it wasn’t going to be that easy. The ceramic pads I bought from Advance were the wrong size!!! They were actually an 1 & ½ too short. Man I was pissed. I put the old ones on and went to O’Reilly again for the correct size pads. After I slapped them on it was already 7 pm and I was beat.

So Sunday I decided to tackle the drivers side. Equipped with my propane torch, nothing could stand in my way…….EXCEPT a rounded caliper bolt. I got the top one removed but the bottom one seemed a bit rounded. I decided to try and get it out but ended making the problem worse. I couldn’t figure out how the “professional” mechanics got this bolt on. I checked the previous owners records and apparently he went to Firestone for his last brake job. A big middle finger to Firestone!

Anyways, I called around today to find a caliper bolt. Both the dealers in my area didn’t have it in stock. None of the parts store had it in stock. The only store that could get it in one day was…….you guessed it O’Reilly. LOL! I ordered 2 just in case I need one in the future. It’s a good thing O’Reilly opened a month ago right next door to Advance, Autozone, and Pepboys.

What’s the moral of the story? Don’t shop at Advance. LOL. I know it’s unfair, but Advance has pissed me off one too many times. In essence, it took me 3 days to change the fuel filter, repack bearings, and replace pads & rotors. I'm still pissed....

[FL 3.2L]

Always seems to be something. I gave up on the rotors when I couldn't get the carrier bolts free. Someday...

[Cat Fuzz]

Air tools. 'Nuff said.

[pharm_rodeo]

Originally Posted by Cat Fuzz

Air tools. 'Nuff said.

I'm very close to going that route. Life would be so much easier.

[Cat Fuzz]

Originally Posted by pharm_rodeo

I'm very close to going that route. Life would be so much easier.

Do it and don't look back. So many wonderful things can be done with air power.

[Gizmo42]

Glad my weekend wasnt quite that bad. I did lower ball joints (again! stupid mechanics), tie rod ends and SS brake lines. Everything went pretty well except flare nuts rounding off on the brake lines even though I bought flare nut wrenches (spent an hour searching my tools for a 2nd pair of vice grips), and lower ball joints are NOT easy to do without popping the top ones off but it can be done. Then I ran into a problem with bleeding the hydraulics. Did it once and they felt ok but not great, bled a second time along with flushing the clutch system. Lost all pressure to the clutch (took an hour to get any pressure at all) then found out the brakes didnt have much pressure. Had to drive it to work that way. Finally got everything bled right after work today (total of 3 quarts of brake fluid used).

I hate most auto parts stores. Almost everything I got for my mitsu from checkers, auto zone, or pep boys was wrong. I started going to napa only at that point.

[95passport]

it's our responsibility to know the right part numbers, life is a lot easier that way. When it's a belt or part, bring the old one for a visual.


as far as carrier bolts and other hard bolts, you can get a dc powered torque wrench at checker for 20-30 bucks that is great for occasional use if you don't have air tools.

[pharm_rodeo]

Originally Posted by 95passport

it's our responsibility to know the right part numbers

Should a patient know ALL the side-effects of a medication before I fill their script? I guess I should memorize all the aftermarket part numbers.

God forbid we hold businesses accountable for their inablility to provide customer service.

[95passport]

i just don't like making two trips. it is unreasonable to assume the guy behind the desk knows every part for evry car and it's basically up to the database and considering programs like ALLDATA are filled with mistakes, you can bet the AZ computer has mistakes too.

[pharm_rodeo]

I have a feeling you work for a parts store. LOL

It stands to reason that the "knowledgeable" parts guy isn't really needed. All they do is hit a few buttons and read what's on the monitor? Even a caveman can do that!

[95passport]

i buy fix and sell a far number of cars and know what working at a parts store entails. the only people who know most parts are dealers who sell the same parts all day long,.

nobody in the world has every part for every car memorized or even close. all I was saying is bring your old part if you can or at least get the number and there will be no mistakes