Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

 Taking a look at what the Navigator might need.

Nice and new from Amazon.

I've already covered the cosmetic work that I did on the Navigator, repainting the front bumper being the primary thing.

While I was cleaning up the exhaust pipes I took a look underneath. I found that the muffler support brackets had broken, at least the left side one.  I used a long, thick tie wrap to secure the broken support. A month or two later I looked under there again and found that now the right side was also broken. I used another tie down and this time I backed it up with a couple of wraps of picture hanging wire. In the old Days we used to use a piece of wire coat hanger, but try to find a wire coat hanger today! That wire wasn't very strong and it would usually break in a short time. My picture hanger repair might be cheesy, but I'd bet that it would last for years!

It was this short mounting strap that broke.

Both brackets had broken between the two mounting holes. I ordered a couple of replacement hangers off the internet. I was hoping that I could press the hanger out of the rubber cushion and use the existing hanger that is welded to the exhaust pipe. Since I don't have a welder available to me, I was hoping that I could make my plan work. 

That wasn't going to happen. There's no way to push the expanded end through the rubber isolator.

It looked like I would need to find a muffler shop to handle the job.

An internet search introduced me to Abuelo mufflers in San Jose. I took the new hangers with me when I went to the shop. The tech wasn't busy and had me drive the Nav onto the four post lift. When I showed him the hangers he asked how much I paid for them. I told him that I paid 11.00 dollars apiece, he told me that he would have done the job, including the replacement hangers plus labor for twenty bucks! 

I initially wanted the brackets to be bolted on, but the tech recommended that they be welded on, but he would bolt them on if I really wanted it done that way. I told him that he's the expert, so go ahead and weld them on. 

Very artistically done.

The charge for the job was still 20.00 just for the labor. I guess that he felt that the job wasn't worth doing for less than twenty bucks!  Still, I had no problem with the cost.

I also checked out the spare, it was properly inflated. I checked the jack and tire changing equipment. It was all accounted for. Lot's of times used cars are missing the jack, or even the spare tire! Better to find out now, then out in the boonies on the side of the road!

I'd noticed that the gas mileage has seemed to drop a bit since I bought the car. It could be that I'm not as light on the pedal as I once was. I wondered if I could improve it by cleaning the MAF sensor, and checking the condition of the air filter. 

I looked under the hood and couldn't find the MAF sensor out in the open. I removed the engine cover, which exposed the throttle body and I spied the MAF sensor on the left side of the throttle body. These sensors are easy to remove, and easy to clean. I found that the intake tube was loose and maybe this had an effect on the fuel metering. We'll see. 

I got this at Harbor Freight Tools.

This driver set comes in really handy. It has several different driver bits including Poziforce screw bits, which look like Phillips screws, but are actually different. The MAF sensor was held on by a couple of Torx screws.

It was very easy to remove.

The air cleaner element is held in a sliding "drawer" at the front of the throttle body assembly. It's really easy to check and replace. Mine looked like new. 

One thing that might be affecting the mileage might be my use of regular grade gas, usually the cheapest that I can find. I know that premium gas is recommended, and the car seems to run fine on regular. It may well be that the engine management controls might be retarding the spark and other settings. These retarded settings might result in the engine running at less than peak efficiency. Pay more for gas, get better mileage? Would this be a viable trade off? 

I think that I'll try that after I see if the clean MAF sensor will improve things.

The battery is clearly visible. The first thing that I noted was that the date sticker on the battery read 1/20, so the battery is three years old at this time. If I'm lucky I might still get another couple of years more service out of it. I also found that the positive terminal was encrusted in blue deposits. If  I want to get the maximum service out of this battery I better clean all these connections off! 

After a thorough cleaning, I checked the water level, which was fine. I figure that I can stop worrying about the battery for at least a year.

Next, it was time for the first oil change of my ownership. I'm a regular customer at Oil Changers on Monterey Highway. They have a special service card where you get four oil changes for the price of three. That's a savings of around fifty bucks, and I've got four vehicles. I generally only have to  change the oil in each vehicle once a year. 

All the fluids looked good, but I decided to replace the brake fluid in the reservoir. I used a turkey baster to suck out the old fluid. I stopped just before the reservoir was completely empty, preventing any air from entering the system. I'll have the system flushed and filled completely with new fluid when it needs the brakes done.

So far I've put 3,000 miles on the car without any problems. It's good to check everything before setting out on a long vacation road trip.

I'm really looking forward to driving the Navigator on some Summer road trips.