What I’ve found is that squeals and irregular performance from the AC, which gets worse as it gets hot, is a symptom of the clutch clearance. You can often use a stick or handle to “bonk” the driven plate of the compressor clutch if it’s not engaged when it should be,and if it engages, that’s also a good indicator.

Check the clearance between the plates of the AC compressor clutch. It’s likely worn to a point that the clearance is larger than spec (IIRC, 0.014-0.020"). If it’s like most Japanese rotary compressors, if you remove the small center screw holding the outer (driven) clutch plate to the compressor shaft and remove…

Yep. And Thunderbird. The Jag boys fragged enough pumps on the engine dyno (due to plumbing them badly - we did not have the same problems in Dearborn) that they gave up and packaged a 150 amp alternator for the S-Type — which required mods to the shipping racks for the 3.0 V6 made in Cleveland, Ohio.

The total lack of scathes is indeed an added enticement.

That one *is* funky. They really wanted a single-pump solution, so the fan motor housing has a gang of control valves for each circuit (pressure control for the fan, volume control for the PS). IIRC, Valeo made it.

But the clue that wasn’t it is that people love the GC and M-Class (which to the best of my knowledge did…

Well, it’s beige AF, even with the stick, because Camry, but think of this one little thing:

Hydraulic cooling fan.

And then BUY IT.

That generation Camry V6/ES300 has an AISIN hydraulic-powered cooling fan that runs off a second pump co-axial with the power steering pump and sharing a reservoir, though the take-off for…

I’m glad there are a few people here who still remember the 60s through the roughly mid-90s when many pickups were shipped without a rear bumper and many a 3rd party made coin selling “Step Bumpers” to dealers to upsell on their stock. So common, in fact, that I recall dealers complaining when styled “factory” step bum…

It’s been 12 years since my brief stint at (pre-bankruptcy) GM, and I know most of the low- and mid-level managers who were more focused on making sure their empire-building wasn’t sabotaged by other low- and mid-level managers (or their own employees) than making good products are still there. Chapter 11 caused major…

There’s nothing wrong with this one that about $15,000 worth of rust repair and paint couldn’t fix. And then you could sell it for $12-15,000.

Oh, for sure the super-low take-rate was the deathblow for the V10. But not being able to get any kind of marketable performance numbers out of it in the DR boiled down the rapid invocation of the detonation-protect strategy that killed power. Add in the new 5.7 Hemi base engine in the HD Ram that had much of the same…

I’ve lived this. :)

Replying to myself.

I had 15-20 *parts* on that truck. Somehow, that word got lost in an edit. Oops.

Oh, for sure. Higher part count, higher price point, inherent imbalance at 90 degree bank angle — the 6.8 has offset crank pins to mitigate that.\

So I’ve got 15-20 on that truck. Well, closer to 15 on that one, because as a manual, it doesn’t have the transmission coolers or cooler lines that an automatic would have.

Sure, the input from what passes for authorities right now (certainly at the Fed level, but also here in Texas, where the state leadership on COVID-19 is a guy who thinks grandparents should sacrifice themselves to the oligarchy and doubled down with “there are more important things [namely, corporate profits and…

Ah, Howell. The Klukker Kapital of Michigan.

Surprise factor that several of their more “colorless” residents participated in this: Zero.

Good catch.

Willing to bet that might’ve been the beginnings of a GT70 powertrain test mule that had altered production Mustang body panels to somewhat disguise its true nature. Obviously never saw the light of day, but there’s a long history of “hide in plain sight” powertrain mules at a variety of automakers.

(EDIT:…

For a brief, shining moment in the mid-1980s, it was our block. My next-door neighbor, and long-time pal R had a ‘67 Barracuda Formula S fastback, his dad has (still) a gorgeous ‘73 Datsun 240Z, and I had the ‘65 Mustang I still own.

There were other cool cars in the neighborhood. The guy with the Buick-powered…

And if you read the article all the way to the bottom, you see several things: 1) they’ve postponed or cancelled the start of the season and are likely to add additional dates to that list
2) They managed to put space between the teams in the garage, but of course all the team personnel are working cheek-to-jowl
3)…

I’m reasonably certain there won’t be a 2020 season in most physical-world motorsports.

For the big international series, they won’t be able to move their people and equipment around as countries with more intelligent leadership than our own will maintain travel restrictions and gathering size restrictions until after…