Titan hub bearing diagnosis

Titan owner: Just to make sure before I start buying things, could [bad] wheel hubs cause an axle to not spin freely.

Intelligent Tinkering: Assuming you are talking about front hubs on a 4WD, no. The hub bearing might though. These bearings are hard to test by feel because you can't spin them without also spinning both CV axles and the diff. There's no free running hub. The diff turns all the time when the wheels turn even in 2WD. With both wheels off the ground and the car in 2WD, you can spin one wheel forward and the other will go backward and you can try to get a feel of the bearing, but it's not as easy to decide if its bad as it would be with a 2WD, rear wheel drive vehicle. You will likely have to take it apart anyway to replace whatever is making it spin poorly, so just do so. You can do this by just removing the bearing assembly as in the YouTube vid below or by taking the whole steering yoke off. I would do the latter because it gives you access to other components that need to be inspected and likely replaced, such as the CV, balls joints, tie rods, etc. It will take about two-three hours the first time you strip it down but you can do it in 45 minutes with practice. You'll want a good pneumatic impact with lots of rated torque (or you'll need to be the proverbial 500 lb gorilla). Take the yoke assembly off (by removing the ABS hex bolt and sensor, the big axle/CV nut, caliper, disc, strut top and bottom, sway link top, tie rod end, lower pinch bolt and upper ball joint, and then put the whole thing in a vise and stick your fingers inside the bearing and see what it feels like. Then take the CV joint off and manipulate that too to see if it is causing your rough spinning. The CV joints are not expensive. The bearing assemblies are more expensive but can usually be replaced by cracking them with a hammer so you don't (usually) need a press. Pay close attention to the torque loadings on reassembly, especially the caliper bolts, which need something like 140 lbs feet. A little locktitie on these doesn't hurt. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChhUMwy5JD0

Blue smoker

Titan owner: Question for all and I hope somebody could help me out with this. 

I have a 2007 Nissan titan I’m the original owner I currently have 185,000 miles on it.  I had the 2 catalyst converters gutted out a few years ago because they were clogged from which I was told was because of the fact that the engine blows a lot of blue smoke out the tailpipe. 

Obviously getting an inspection to pass on this vehicle in my State is almost impossible yet I was able to do it 2 years ago. I was given an estimate to replace the front 2 Catalyst converters which are part of the exhaust manifolds at a price of almost $4000 dollars. My issue here is the engine smokes a lot every time I turn the ignition on and then it disappears while I’m driving. Since I am now past due on my inspection I can no longer reregister my truck in my state unless it passes inspection. I would hate to invest all that money into the exhaust manifolds/Catalyst converters only to have them clog up again. 

I was told by another mechanic that it is very common for my year titan to do that and I can simply correct that issue by merely replacing the valve cover gaskets. I was told that oil is seeping through the center of the gaskets and down into the spark plugs . I also have to change out my coil packs which on the average is one per year. The only noticeable thing is that some of the spark plugs are drenched with oil when I remove them. Does this make any sense to anyone that may or may have experienced the same situation that I’m experiencing ? If so what if anything did you do to correct this problem. Thanks. 

Intelligent Tinkering: Either your mechanic is muddled more than any professional should be or you muddled what he said. Rocker cover gasket leaks cause smoke and smell from the engine bay and below. Leaky piston rings and/or valve guides causes blue smoke at the tailpipe. You seem to have both going on, but the tailpipe is the real problem. If it occurs at start up and not later, suspect valve guides. If it's rings you'd know because high oil consumption. (White smoke at the tailpipe is running rich.) What is the oil consumption? And the oil pressure (which tells you how good your main bearings are)? That and some idea of the condition of the transmission and body will tell you if it's worth fixing the cats, with or without rebuilding the engine. By far the easiest thing to do would be to put in a known good engine, either a reconditioned under warranty or a take-off from a recycler that has low miles. That way you can do the cats and headers too and you'll get good rocker gaskets and coils with the new engine. But only if the rest of the truck is worth the trouble. One way to think about it is that a decent older second hand truck is worth at least $10, 15, 20K depending on the condition. You can get there by buying a truck, or by spending money on this one. If it adds up to less, either way, you're ahead.

VW heat exchangers

Bus owner: How can I check my heat exchangers to see if they're still good or should be replaced? I have the engine out for the winter waiting on a transmission rebuild. Trying to determine if I should replace the exhaust system, and if so, do the heat exchangers as well, leave them as is, or use JTubes. Bus is '74 with single progressive webber. Based on rust, the exhaust looks original  origional.

Intelligent Tinkering: A visual examination. Look for loose connectors, gaps, rusty tin, flap valves not working, seized cables. Take the concertina tubes off and check for air with the engine running. Look for evidence of oil leaks from the rocker covers. If you change the heat exchangers, you will need to fix the leaks too or your expensive new heat exchangers will get fouled up toot sweet. Check all the other pipes too, all the way to the front. A mouse nest anywhere in the line can easily stop the whole shebang up. If you don't change them you should also fix any leaks while the motor is out. It's not hard to switch out the valve cover gaskets. Depending on the mileage since the last one, I'd be at least thinking hard about taking the opportunity to do a top end rebuild. And don't get your hopes up about heat, especially if you live in a cold state. These things were never that effective even when the bus was new. I gave up, disconnected mine and got a diesel cab heater that cost less than one replacement heat exchanger.

Titan owner: WHY am i blowing wheel bearings? Can’t seem to keep one for more than a few months. Thought it was the wheel bearings so i went with precision’s this go around but still no luck. The truck has a full 6in fab tech lift and 20x12s truck did great for a good while but now I’m even scared to drive at interstate speeds. It’s also began to wear out my front tires on the inside. Has new ball joints ,wheel bearings, control arms, fresh alignment. I did notice my rack and pinion bushings are shot. Would that cause that ? Thanks in advance.

Intelligent Tinkering: Your alignment is out, for sure, whether you had it done or not. Uneven tire wear is usually an alignment issue unless the bearings were loose for a really long time, which is not that likely because when they're loose they degrade fast. If your tires are getting "cut" ie, worn just on one edge, that's one kind of alignment issue. If they have the somewhat rarer camber wear, which is when the unusual wear starts out deeper and decreases gradually across the face of the whole tire, that's a different kind. "Cut" tires are typically due to toe issues, involving tie rod adjustments, but a loose rack may do this too, while camber wear means the whole wheel is tilted in or out, and you need camber bolts or the camber bolts you have need adjusting, or replacing and adjusting. This is an oversimplification, and there are other possible issues you may have going on, but it may help you diagnose things. I would check and fix or replace the rack, examine the tie rod ends, ball joints and bearings and replace anything loose, then learn to do the home alignment with two pieces of string and a carpenters level. It's time consuming but you get a better understanding of the condition of your truck's front end that way and can then be a more knowledgeable consumer of professional alignment services. I took my lifted first gen Titan to two alignment shops before I realized that the camber bolts were stripped on one side and not working properly. The alignment techs didn't catch this.I discovered it while trying to straighten everything up myself with two long bits of mason's line and a four foot level. New camber bolts on that side did the trick. I had to replace the LCA too, though, because one camber bolt was seized in its bushing. The alignment techs had both tried to adjust it and not noticed that this was the case.

Titan trailer connector -- running lights won't work

Titan owner: Ok, have a question. I just bought a 04 titan and I have brake lights and turn signals but no running lights on my trailer plug I’ve checked all fuses and I still have no running light. I’ve got no power on the running light wire going to plug. What am I missing here any one know anything that I’m missing?

Intelligent Tinkering: But the truck's running lights are working, right? So you can bypass the faulty trailer pigtail and/or pigtail connector just for that one line. Take a 12V test light, dismantle the rear lamp unit on the truck, find the wire that goes to the running light there, test it for 12V and splice into it to go to the trailer plug. If you'd rather, you can trace from there to the pigtail and fix it properly, but the bypass will work fine too.

Heat pump compared to natural gas boiler in Maine

Questioner: With CMP hiking rates, is a heat pump still efficient enough to cost less than running my gas boiler?

Intelligent Tinkering: It depends on the heat pump and boiler specs. But generally, if you calculate your annual gas consumption from the bill, multiply it by either 91,500 BTUs per gallon (propane) or 1050 BTUs per cubic foot (natural gas), times the percentage efficiency of the boiler expressed as a decimal (usually about 96% for a modern boiler), you'll get your heating season BTU needs (BTUs per year). You then need to divide that by the BTUs/hour capacity of the heat pump (the rated capacity on the outside of the box, usually expressed as a few thousand BTUs/hour, so say 18,000 BTUs/hour, or something like that) and you'll get the estimated annual hours of full load running time for the heat pump. From that, using amps or watts draw of the pump (watts is amps times volts and a watt hour is a watt sustained for an hour), you can estimate the kWh needs and then the kWh cost. You can figure 20% either way, especially for an inverter model pump, because the mid load efficiency may be more or less than the full load.

Prospective bus owner: Are 1979 VW bus, fuel injection, type 4, 2.0L engines hard to remove and rebuild compared to say a 1970’s upright bus engine? Thank you.

Actually looking at buying a 1979 bus where engine doesn’t run OR a 1970 bus upright where engine does run.

Intelligent Tinkering: If you're planning a full rebuild, and have access to a decent shop, it's actually slightly easier to remove the Type 4 with a lift and a heavy stand about four-five feet high, just tall enough that you can stoop to reach the last few fasteners and get full clearance when you raise the vehicle away from the lift. I believe, but don't know for sure, that this was the technique the dealers tended to use when these things were new. Mine is just a heavy wood frame, but a very strong transmission stand, one meant for big trucks, might work too. I leave the transmission attached, disconnecting the cv joints and shift rod and front transmission fork-mount instead. This saves having to futz with the two top engine-to-bell housing bolts, which are not terribly hard to reach, but still pesky at times, and you can then inspect the transmission and CVs and service the nose-cone parts in full daylight. The transmissions are fairly solid. I have only had two in 480,000. But they have their minor issues too, so it's best to take a look at them if you plan on doing the engine. It would be a shame to have a nice running engine then get stranded somewhere for a worn nose-cone ball or something like that. And yes, I've had a few dropped No. 3 cylinder exhaust valves over the years. That cylinder is furthest from the old pump. The heads are the weak point. I rebuilt the ones I had for years but then got refurbished ones on my last rebuild about 20,000 ago, made a big difference. New heads and a new oil pump should set you up.

VW engine bottom end doesn't turn easily after rebuild

VW bus owner: I have my engine case, crankshaft, and flywheel assembled. No camshaft, no distributor drive, no connecting rods.  The case halves are clamped with the six large bolts (only), torqued to spec.

The crank endplay is set to 0.003". The bearings and journals are coated with assembly lube and motor oil.

The crank turns easily and smoothly, yet there is one spot in the rotation with just a little more resistance than the rest. The crank won't "coast" through this spot at a very slow speed.

Is this expected / normal?

Intelligent Tinkering: It's possibly a bit of work debris, a thread of cleaning rag or or something like that on a bearing surface, but it could be a pinched or off-round bearing too, or an off-round journal that has been "hammered" and that wants a line bore. The engine turns. That's something. You could take a flying chance that it is actually debris AND softer material than the bearing and so will get better once started and run. You'll know if you turn the crank pulley later, once it's installed and run. You'll feel it, and you know what it feels like already. VWs are renowned for being able to run and give service for long periods with internal damage that would fry a less tolerant engine in minutes. Or, and this is the "right" answer, you can take everything back apart and look for someplace on one or more bearing surfaces with discoloration or other signs. Pinched bearings can be ground on the ends (with fine wet-and-dry Emory cloth) to make them fit better. Biting the bullet like this is wearying and isn't easy, but it will pay off. I find that I get more at skilled and dismantling and mantling complex assemblies if I have to repeat steps, and it always goes faster than you would think. Engineer's blue can be used to find binding and pinched bearings that don't show obvious signs of damage. If you don't find obvious damage, rebuild to this stage again with blue, then dismantle again and you'll find it. 

How to troubleshoot old VW bus starting and ignition circuits

Bus owner: I bought the Gus Bus and ran it through the car wash. It died in the car wash. It was idling just fine and then it just died. Didn’t even sputter. I had it towed home. No lights would come on or anything when I turned the key. I posted and people said to check the fuses. Two days later the lights did came on when I turned the key, but that was it. The battery was prehistoric and barely held a charge so I replaced it. Today I dove into the fuses. There was one that was definitely bad. The metal was broken. These are the other ones. How do they look? Can they be bad even though the metal is not broken? Gus still didn’t start. Lastly, what would I check next? TIA. 

Intelligent Tinkering: Get a VOM and 12 V test light. Study the instructions for the VOM. Focus specifically on the 20V DC and continuity settings. Test for 12V at the coil + terminal. If there isn't any power there, jump it from the battery with a wire and two alligator clips and try for a start. If it turns over and fires or starts you found your problem. Use the two settings to find out why there is no power to the coil and fix it with new wire or connectors as needed.  If it doesn't turn over, you may have two problems so now troubleshoot the starter circuit. Disconnect the alligator clip for now so you don't melt your coil. Measure the voltage across the battery terminals. It should be 12.5V, or at least above 12V. If not 12.5V, disconnect and charge it until it is, or if it won't hold a charge, get a new one, or "rob" some other vehicle of a known good used one to use for testing. (This is where it helps to have a buddy with some yard trucks and junkers.) Then reconnect and try again for a start. If instead you get 12.5 V right off the bat, take the VOM to the starter solenoid terminal. You roll under the bus with the wheels chocked and gear in neutral (waist measurement must be less than 36") and measure voltage at this terminal, which is or should be a 13 mm nut, with the key held on to the starter setting. Vice grips and six feet of string or a buddy help here to hold the key on. You may need to take a piece of sandpaper to clean up a spot to make a clean ground on the bell housing or some other piece of engine aluminum. If you have 12.5 V here, the starter solenoid should at least click. If it doesn't, take the starter off -- two bolts and three connections. Remember where they go. Bench test it, with the spare battery and a pair of jumper cables. A big vice helps here. If it doesn't turn at all on the bench with a known good battery, get a new starter and fit it, and reconnect the alligator clip and try for a start. If it does turn, clean up the contacts, reassemble it to the car, and troubleshoot the wiring from the battery to the key and back to the solenoid using the 20VDC and continuity settings on the VOM. There are no fuses in this circuit. An easy test is to jump it using one side of a jumper cable, car chocked and in neutral, right to the solenoid terminal. If the starter clicks or turns, you faulted the battery to solenoid wiring and you may need to replace some of this wiring, or use the old relay mod. Start a new post for the relay mod instructions if that's where you end up. Otherwise, once you have a turning starter, reconnect the alligator clip to the coil and try again for a start. It should start. If it does, troubleshoot the wiring to the coil. If it doesn't get back to us with a fresh post.

Titan owner: My frame and suspension is starting to show its age on my 06. Has anyone found any success with grinding/ surface rust converters and paint? Want to try to slow down the issues I’m starting to see!

Intelligent Tinkering: I spray POR15 on all my vehicles, refreshing once a year. Then sometimes I add Fluid Film on top of that too. I have an outdoor lift, which makes it easier. You can pressure wash the underside thoroughly beforehand. If you dilute POR 15 heavily with Zylene about 50-50 or 60-40 (experiment beforehand) it sprays well from a pneumatic sprayer. A gallon will do several vehicles. You have to be ready to clean the pot quickly (Zylene again) or it sets up in no time at all, especially on a humid day in summer. I use a dedicated gravity feed HPLV pot, a cheap one, and stand ready to toss it after only four or five uses. It's cheaper than a new truck. And you need to suit up and wear a decent respirator and goggles. The stuff is very toxic, and it sets up with humidity so just a tiny droplet in your eye or lung becomes a small rock. In general it can save the outside of your frame for many years more service, even here in Maine, but my Titan is rotting from the inside out too, so it's not a perfect answer. A heavier truck, like a big GMC, would last longer because the metal is thicker. Fluid film is just "belt and suspenders" too. There are guys around here that specialize in these coatings, so you wouldn't need to do it yourself if there are some wherever you are.

VW bus runs rough on cold start

Bus owner: Might be a broad question, but what is the main cause of a rough and sputtering idle with a cold start. 1978 Westy Fuel Injected. the bus really sputters and struggles for the first 1 minute or so. Thanks!

Intelligent Tinkering: Poor idle on cold start is typically mixture too weak, whether EFI or carbs. The gas has to vaporize correctly for the motor to settle down. If it fires up right away and then runs rough, the cold start valve is probably working (and so the thermo-time switch is too), so I would suspect fuel pressure or some other aspect of fuel delivery after the cold start sequence. If it doesn't fire up right away I'd suspect cold start. You would have to rule out weak compression and bouncy timing issues to be certain. Thin rings or a worn distributor driveshaft wouldn't help matters either. But everything is relative. How rough is it? A lot of VWs are like this. I have a 75 with twin carbs that fires up right away and then likes at least thirty-forty seconds to settle down before you can goose the throttle. A second too soon and it will cut out. It then proceeds to run like a top all day. You could take the Zen route and use those few seconds for something else. The "How to Keep your VW Alive" author, John Muir, suggested rolling a hand-rolled cigarette while waiting for the engine to settle. I suppose these days we would all check our phones.

Rebuild our Kubota B6000 ourselves?

Kubota owner: G'day all.

My 14yo son is wanting to attempt to restore an old B6000 that's be sitting a few years now on the farm here. Wanting to start with an engine rebuild. I'm sure as no mechanic. I was wondering if it's something we will fumble our way through ok? or if there is any vids or help guides to get or advice anyone has we would really appreciate it.

Intelligent Tinkering: The Kubota B6000 is a good candidate for this, although there is some new gear that will be needed: jack stands and good sockets and calipers and so on. This is all a nice excuse to go Christmas shopping for yourself. It certainly isn't so heavy you need a winch to split it. You can manage with jack stands and a floor jack. The difficulty will be when you encounter a seized fastener or some procedure that requires a "knack" you don't just have. You can spend hours, days even, just trying to shift one seized nut, if you don't have the reservoir of technique and gumption that experienced mechanics build up over decades. What I would suggest is finding a "spare" mentor for your son that does know these things to hold in reserve when you get stuck. There's no shame in this. All the experienced and able craftsmen were callow youths themselves once, and some cunning old bar steward took pity on us then (while others gave us the brutal hazing we probably deserved!) As for videos and such, you need a manual for a rebuild because you need the specifications. And make sure you have a machine shop in the vicinity that will do the specialized work on the case and other components: boring, line boring, and so on, and that you can source the oversized components. Machine shops are kinda thinning out the last few years and those that have survived are getting more specialized. Look for one that still has old guys that can use manual, not computerized equipment. There won't be a program for this machine.

Titan misfires on shift

Titan owner: Anyone have a problem with your truck cutting out while shifting in tow mode, was pulling a 6000lb trailer. It made the check engine light come on.

Intelligent Tinkering: Lots of us first gen owners have had a problem with the transmission crapping out, overheating and fading out, usually when NOT in tow mode and/or not 3rd gear and when towing heavy loads for long distances at relatively high speeds. But not the engine. But this isn't much info. Was it just as you pressed the tow mode button? Is that what you mean by shifting? Or was it in tow mode already and shifting gear normally? Did it cut completely and shut down? Or cut momentarily and pick up again? Does it run now?

Titan owner: It's a 2017 5.6, just bought this truck. It has 72000 miles on it. Just hooked up to my trailer and took off in tow mode .I would say I was coming out of second gear and as the rpms were peaking to shift it started to flutter so I let up on the accelerator and then slowly tried it again and it shifted fine.Then it did the same thing. Still runs fine but it cause the check engine light to come on.

Intelligent Tinkering: Pull the codes. Then try clearing the codes and see if you can make it happen again in drive and then again in the next gear down so it hits that same rpm but doesn't shift. Run this test a few times to be on the safe side. You'd like to know for sure that it isn't just a simple misfire that happens at that same rpm. Two repeat occurrences under the same conditions is better than one for diagnosis but still not a slam dunk. Chances are still fair to middling that it's not connected to the upshift, and you'd like to know for sure. But if it is there's an explanation: on most electronically controlled transmissions the TCU does send a signal to the ECU to change the timing on gear shifting, and if the value the ECU gets is wrong you can get a misfire or loss of power. I'm not sure if this applies to the Titan, but since it does have a separate TCU this seems likely.

Later:

Titan owner: Just took the truck out and drove it with and without tow mode and it did just fine, but wasn't pulling a trailer. Will take it to the dealer and see what they say.

Intelligent Tinkering: I hope they manage to understand what you're trying to tell them -- a big "if" because you're talking to the "service associate," not a mechanic. Getting through to these desk-bound numpties is very hard sometimes because they are trained to discredit what the owner says. It's true the the average owner knows diddly squat and misreports symptoms and invents them in their muddled head, so we perhaps can't blame them for that. But the whole corporate "customer experience" interface bullshit makes life hard when you have a real engineering problem to report and solve, especially one that can't be replicated unless the tech goes for a test drive with a 6,000 lb trailer. But they will probably say that a couple hundred rpm drop is not unusual when upshifting with the heavy load. This is for the reason given earlier: TCU tells ECU to retard the timing momentarily on upshift. What is unusual is that it caused a misfire. We assume that's what it is, since you haven't pulled the codes. But that's the most likely explanation. (The P300 code series.) So make sure they hear that loud and clear. Good luck. (You'll need it.)