SQOD Squad - Stupid Question Of the Day

[bloc]

I found a similar part only skids. Such as I am wondering if similar.

What is this thing (fell from engine bay)

Fell out of the engine bay when I removed the passenger side lower engine cover. Doesn't look like it's from any of the pulleys? Center hole is slightly keyed and there's a light coating of grease at the center and edge of the ridged side.

forum.ih8mud.com

That one was pretty definitively answered at the bottom of the first page

 

[rherrco]

Anyone know if this part is from a 200-series? Found it on top of my skids when I pulled them off the other day.

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Head gasket?

 

[teejnut]

Has your steering rack ever been replaced?

nope.

 

[TLC2013]

Anyone know if this part is from a 200-series? Found it on top of my skids when I pulled them off the other day.

View attachment 3797355
View attachment 3797356

It looks similar to the spark plug seal that you press into the valve cover. Let me track down that part in my garage to confirm my suspicions.

 

[teejnut]

It looks similar to the spark plug seal that you press into the valve cover. Let me track down that part in my garage to confirm my suspicions.

Ah dang it. I did do that semi recently.

 

[TLC2013]

It looks similar to the spark plug seal that you press into the valve cover. Let me track down that part in my garage to confirm my suspicions.

The spark plug seal has metal inside making it super rigid.

 

[teejnut]

View attachment 3797592

View attachment 3797593
The spark plug seal has metal inside making it super rigid.

Looks close but a little different I think.

 

[lx200inAR]

Right, so will my older Dewalt 3/8" driver but it's marginal at 130 ft-lbs. Some of the newer Dewalt 3/8" impacts will huff out an impressive 250 ft-lbs of tightening torque and 400 ft-lbs.

The new Milwaukee M12 stubby has 550ft/lbs of break away torque. I just picked one up after deciding to switch to Milwaukee M12 for 12v tools. Haven’t tried lugs with it. But expect it to work fine.

 

[MCtree]

While having my oil changed, I asked them to look at my headlights. I felt that they were too low. The shop told me that they were actually too high and lowered them further.

Before I take it back to them to correct, I want to make sure that I’m not thinking about this wrong.

What are your opinions on the lights in the picture below?
The closer basketball is 26’2” away from my bumper and the farther basketball is 31’9” away.

These are my low lights. Surely they should go out farther than 27’?
It just feels dangerous when driving above 20mph.

 

[peneumbra2]

I think that they may be a bit low, but it's hard to say from this pic. If they feel low on the road, bring them back up.

P.S. DON'T CALL ME SHIRLEY!!!

 

[bloc]

While having my oil changed, I asked them to look at my headlights. I felt that they were too low. The shop told me that they were actually too high and lowered them further.

Before I take it back to them to correct, I want to make sure that I’m not thinking about this wrong.

What are your opinions on the lights in the picture below?
The closer basketball is 26’2” away from my bumper and the farther basketball is 31’9” away.

These are my low lights. Surely they should go out farther than 27’?
It just feels dangerous when driving above 20mph.

View attachment 3798650

I'd want to know their process for determining they were too high. Yours are clearly far too low at this point. They should be just below horizontal, not aimed at the ground.

Also, unless you put spacers or a lift in the front they should have been correct. Your rig has the hardware to adjust the beam angle for load in the rear, such as your auxiliary tank. Have any mods such as those?

 

[MCtree]

I'd want to know their process for determining they were too high. Yours are clearly far too low at this point. They should be just below horizontal, not aimed at the ground.

Also, unless you put spacers or a lift in the front they should have been correct. Your rig has the hardware to adjust the beam angle for load in the rear, such as your auxiliary tank. Have any mods such as those?

Yes. I have a 2.5” lift.
After the lift they were too high and I added the extender to the light-leveling bar in the back.
I thought they were then too low - hence my request for this shop to look at them for me.
To my surprise they lowered them further - intentionally.

And thanks for the input. These are nowhere near horizontal. While they don’t point straight down, you can see it’s a steep downward angle.

I’ll take it back to the shop tomorrow and inquire how they measured and decided this was good.
Thanks!

 

[bloc]

Yes. I have a 2.5” lift.
After the lift they were too high and I added the extender to the light-leveling bar in the back.
I thought they were then too low - hence my request for this shop to look at them for me.
To my surprise they lowered them further - intentionally.

And thanks for the input. These are nowhere near horizontal. While they don’t point straight down, you can see it’s a steep downward angle.

I’ll take it back to the shop tomorrow and inquire how they measured and decided this was good.
Thanks!

Personally I'd be reluctant to let them touch it again. There have been a couple horror stories where people with 16+ LED lamps went too far and the adjuster ran off the end of the screw, which renders the whole assembly useless. This shop doesn't know what they are doing, and it is possible for them to make it worse.

The one good thing is if they run them off the screws they are responsible.. but again, they've shown they have some questionable decision making..

 

[MCtree]

Personally I'd be reluctant to let them touch it again. There have been a couple horror stories where people with 16+ LED lamps went too far and the adjuster ran off the end of the screw, which renders the whole assembly useless. This shop doesn't know what they are doing, and it is possible for them to make it worse.

The one good thing is if they run them off the screws they are responsible.. but again, they've shown they have some questionable decision making..

Bloc,
I’ve had all those same thoughts.

But I’ve tried 4 other local shops and have stopped using them for other stupidities - so I can’t keep running off shops.
And this forum is filled with horror stories about actual dealerships so I don’t want to go to them.

And yes, the obvious answer is to learn to do it all myself. But for regular things like oil changes, I’d rather be lazy and farm out that work.

And.. as you say about the headlight, after reading about the potential pitfalls of turning them too far, I wanted a shop to take on that responsibility in case they end up needing to be replaced. And this shop is pretty stand-up. I think they would make it right if they damaged my headlights.

So, all in all, I would prefer that they are able to fix this.
That said, it will somewhat depend on what the owner says when I ask how on earth his mechanic thought this aiming was acceptable.

 

[marketShark]

For those of you who added an M12000 winch behind an aftermarket bumper-

how did you account for the little bracket that buttresses the middle part of the bumper skin backing.

The winch drum diameter is too large to avoid hitting it. My temp solution was to bend the bracket off to the side. Would like to know what others have done.

Pics below

 

[tbisaacs]

For those of you who added an M12000 winch behind an aftermarket bumper-

how did you account for the little bracket that buttresses the middle part of the bumper skin backing.

The winch drum diameter is too large to avoid hitting it. My temp solution was to bend the bracket off to the side. Would like to know what others have done.

Pics below

View attachment 3798931

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View attachment 3798933

I cut the middle out of mine. Been like that for 4-5 years and no extra play in the grill etc.

 

[TheIcemanCometh]

So, all in all, I would prefer that they are able to fix this.
That said, it will somewhat depend on what the owner says when I ask how on earth his mechanic thought this aiming was acceptable.

I used my local Toyota quick lube for many years. They screwed up several times and I called them out on it. The second time I gave them no quarter and flat out asked for my money back on the complete service. Which I got. In doing my oil change (for the first time) on my LC I noticed that the filter housing was terribly over torqued. So much so that I had to use a cheater bar. As such, I have lost confidence in their quick lube service. Though their main service would do the work, I actually took my Tacoma to an indy shop for its 60K service.

All that aside, you are doing what I would recommend talk to the owner and see what they have to say.

 

[Heckraiser]

Lexus dealer also ugga dugga'd my oil pan drain bolt and stripped the threads. I had to replace the whole pan. Can't even trust anyone with simple stuff like oil changes. :/

 

[Ratchey]

While having my oil changed, I asked them to look at my headlights. I felt that they were too low. The shop told me that they were actually too high and lowered them further.

Before I take it back to them to correct, I want to make sure that I’m not thinking about this wrong.

What are your opinions on the lights in the picture below?
The closer basketball is 26’2” away from my bumper and the farther basketball is 31’9” away.

These are my low lights. Surely they should go out farther than 27’?
It just feels dangerous when driving above 20mph.

View attachment 3798650

When I switched out my bulbs for LEDs that had a cutoff setting, I used the setting of Flat Surface - 25ft from wall. Set the cutoff to 2" below the height of the center of the light in the bulb.

 

[FrazzledHunter]

Lexus dealer also ugga dugga'd my oil pan drain bolt and stripped the threads. I had to replace the whole pan. Can't even trust anyone with simple stuff like oil changes. :/

I'm with you here about the oil change horror stories. I recall thread a while back where someone reported checking the oil in the dealer's lot following a simple change. His question was how much damage could have been done to his engine going from the service bay to the lot because THE DEALER DIDN'T REPLACE THE OIL!

I put on a fumoto valve after hearing quite a few stories of stripped drain bolts. I thought maybe if there's no bolt then it won't get stripped and I can pay to have the oil changed. But a fumoto requires that the valve be turned back to locked. I'm now convinced that this is too hard for the oil change creatures.

It seems like there's no hope.
I still change my oil.