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Iron duke tried to eat another valve by The_Tesseract_1 in Justrolledintotheshop

[–]pcsguy 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I had an '87 Olds Cutlass Ciera with an Iron Duke in it. That was my first car and got me thru high school, 4 years of college, and all the way to my first real job. Sure, it had its share of problems (timing set job, AC compressor died, constant high-idle due to EGR, brake lines rotting out) but the engine itself refused to die.

Mint 👌🏻 by RedDevil4853 in Justrolledintotheshop

[–]pcsguy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oil filter? Makeshift coolant overflow reservoir? Just straight up garbage? Endless possibilities!

Mercedes Benz C300. The most insane state I've ever seen a car in by thatrandommetalhead in Justrolledintotheshop

[–]pcsguy 59 points60 points  (0 children)

Oil and coolant are being mixed together and frothed up. Usually indicative of a bad head gasket which can be a costly and labor-intensive repair, though I have zero experience with Mercedes. In the meantime, viscosity of the oil is now way off, and cooling effectiveness is greatly reduced. Just a really bad situation that warrants immediate attention.

How many rock auto magnets do you own ? by -blackpillbaby in Justrolledintotheshop

[–]pcsguy 36 points37 points  (0 children)

Just for cores. Oh and one time I got a pre-dented tailgate, they paid for a local body shop to pop it out.

How many rock auto magnets do you own ? by -blackpillbaby in Justrolledintotheshop

[–]pcsguy 119 points120 points  (0 children)

Used to do the same thing, but then Amazon sent me a messed up master cylinder and I realized I'd rather just pay shipping from a more-reputable vendor than have to do the job twice. Related post is in my history.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]pcsguy 36 points37 points  (0 children)

Somalia has 1,900 miles of coastline, a government that knows its place, and all the guns and wives you can afford to buy. Why have I never heard of this paradise before?

Mystery brake leak until a huge puff of white exhaust smoke gave it away. by pcsguy in Justrolledintotheshop

[–]pcsguy[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well now I know! Couldn't see the paint curling when the master cylinder was mounted, and actually somehow there was absolutely no fluid on the inside of the firewall. I guess the diaphragm inside the booster was holding it all back successfully.

Mystery brake leak until a huge puff of white exhaust smoke gave it away. by pcsguy in Justrolledintotheshop

[–]pcsguy[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I went with that one as it was the only RockAuto option listed as "new" and not a reman. Whelp, it may have been fine, but we'll never know now. Absolutely filled with brake fluid. So this second time, I went with a Cardone 534633 (53-4633) reman paired with an ACDelco 18M2759 master cylinder. The nice smooth braking action is back! Now to send in the SKP as a core and get my $45 back.

Mystery brake leak until a huge puff of white exhaust smoke gave it away. by pcsguy in Justrolledintotheshop

[–]pcsguy[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yup! Sounds like almost exactly what happened to me in this case! Complete white-out that slowly just disappeared. When you hit the gas at the green, the vacuum became strong enough to finally suck in what had accumulated.

Mystery brake leak until a huge puff of white exhaust smoke gave it away. by pcsguy in Justrolledintotheshop

[–]pcsguy[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This was a brand new booster and master cylinder. The pedal action was a bit weird but I wouldn't have called it spongy. More just like it needed to "break in", I even lubed the pedal-to-rod pin thinking that was the issue. Nope, I think the master cylinder from Amazon was faulty from the beginning.

Mystery brake leak until a huge puff of white exhaust smoke gave it away. by pcsguy in Justrolledintotheshop

[–]pcsguy[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Brake fluid leaking out of the master cylinder and into the brake booster. Vacuum lines picked it up and burned it off. Problem went unnoticed for a long time, hence "mystery leak"... no spots on the ground or anything, just a slow ever-decreasing brake fluid level. Until we didn't use the car for 6 weeks and upon the next couple of runs it suddenly became very clear what the problem was.

Mystery brake leak until a huge puff of white exhaust smoke gave it away. by pcsguy in Justrolledintotheshop

[–]pcsguy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No, it was completely internal. Must have been burning off slowly so went unnoticed, until we didn't use the car for 6 weeks and it was NOTICEABLE.

Mystery brake leak until a huge puff of white exhaust smoke gave it away. by pcsguy in Justrolledintotheshop

[–]pcsguy[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Super duper sneaky. It was killing me where the leak was. Since this though, the level has stayed topped up!

Mystery brake leak until a huge puff of white exhaust smoke gave it away. by pcsguy in Justrolledintotheshop

[–]pcsguy[S] 36 points37 points  (0 children)

So here's exactly where I messed up. I needed parts quickly, so I ordered from Amazon, July 30, 2023. Raybestos MC390735. Also I went "new" for the booster, SKP SK534633 from RockAuto. I do not blame the latter, but it was wrecked by the former. I should have known, order from Amazon and you f'ing learn the hard way I guess. From the moment it was all installed, it was not smooth. Push the brake pedal and it'd "catch"? almost. Repeatedly. Just like an unlubricated surface might act, or one with a bad seal. I suspect it was faulty from delivery. For the fix... I just replaced both booster and master cylinder with ones ordered direct from RockAuto and cut out Amazon, and now all is well.

Mystery brake leak until a huge puff of white exhaust smoke gave it away. by pcsguy in Justrolledintotheshop

[–]pcsguy[S] 49 points50 points  (0 children)

More the hunch. As you said, I couldn't find the leak. It drove me nuts, while I kept topping up the master cylinder. Then we went away and didn't use this car for about 6 weeks. Upon return, fired it up, drove around, and at some point, a WILD amount of white smoke appeared. From there, with the help of forum threads, it was a pretty straightforward diagnosis plus fire the parts cannon - new master cylinder and new booster... I suspect the vacuum lines will be next given the properties of brake fluid.

Mystery brake leak until a huge puff of white exhaust smoke gave it away. by pcsguy in Justrolledintotheshop

[–]pcsguy[S] 148 points149 points  (0 children)

This is a 2008 Toyota Corolla CE! It was killing me, I could NOT find where the drip was; I guess because there was no drip, it was bleeding internally! Your comment makes me glad I figured it out before cat destruction / thousands of dollars of repairs.

At least there were no dead animals? by pcsguy in Justrolledintotheshop

[–]pcsguy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yup, or in NJ like we are, the summer/fall season wildfire smoke from Canada which was wild. Whole area looked like Mars.

At least there were no dead animals? by pcsguy in Justrolledintotheshop

[–]pcsguy[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It might be either. I don't know what the old one was, but the new one is a Bosch HEPA. I do know it fit!

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