2nd 100 mile trip with 5th avenue

[Justwondering]

Finally...
Finally the stars aligned and I got to take the 87 5th avenue out for its second trip.

This was 100+ miles to see the doc, run a few errands.

The good:
The shit-eating grin on my face while we drove. Dang that is a fun car to drive. I love the comfy seats. Big long hood in the front with that pentastar. Ahh... I just drove and drove.
The engine was running smooth. Gas tank was full. Wonderful!

The bad:
Windshield wipers
The temps got down to freezing last night and there was a bit of dampness. Very little bit of ice on the windshield. Was barely even there. The windshield wipers would not move. About 15 minutes of the engine warming and they worked fine. Bugs me that they couldn't move that little bit of water and ice.

Brakes?
There is a thud that occurs most, but not all of the time, when I step on the brakes. The noise seems to be coming from the driver's side wheel or wheel well. Sounds ominous.

Window Whistles
The driver side window whistles when I drive. Passenger side is fine. I'm guessing this is the weatherstripping that needs to be replaced.

The Ugly:
The heater would not heat... crap. It was working fine on the first trip a month ago. Now no combination of buttons, slider, or cussing could make the heat come on. The blower seems to be working fine. The door seems to shift correctly when moving from bi-level to heat to defrost. No heat. Next weekend I have time that I can use to review my service manual and start checking through the decision tree to determine what the problem is. Vacuum cables, thermostat, sensor, whatever.

Driver side window was lowered so I could reach out and get the mail from the mailbox. Window goes down fine. Won't go all the way back up. Stops about an inch from the top. Dang... it was cold inside cause of no heat.. and cold outside and now the window won't close. Sigh.

Any observations or recommendations are welcome.

 

[Jack Meoff]

Wipers
Did they try to move? Move at all? If not it sounds electrical. Those wipers are normally fairly potent

Brakes
I wouldn't drive without pulling the wheels and finding out what's going on. That's what I would do.

Window whistle is a bad seal somewhere.

The heater.....hunches only
The blend door isn't opening or.......don't even want to say it.....heater core? There are a few good heater related threads on here. But I'm by no means an expert.

The window
Mine is doing it too.
I'm thinking either the motor is getting weak and the whole mechanism needs to be cleaned and regreased. In the meantime I find if the car is off for a few minutes when you turn the key it'll do it....slowly. I assist a bit sometimes too.

 

[Cordoba1]

Heater: First thing check is the water control valve under the hood -- is the vacuum line connected to it? When you change the slider from cold to hot, does the valve position change? If it isn't working, you can bypass until you find the culprit.

 

[NoCar340]

Find and fix the ominous clunk before you drive it off your property again. It might be something as simple as a broken swaybar link, but it could be a ball joint or a loose caliper, either of which would be catastrophic if it were to fail in traffic. Don't be responsible for an empty seat at someone else's Christmas dinner table.

 

[Justwondering]

Thanks for the advice..
Car is staying in the drive til I can check it out.

Wipers
The wipers did try to move that morning but acted like they had no power at all.

Interior Vacuum lines
Earlier this summer I had one light green and one dark green vacuum line hanging too far down above the gas pedal, so I'm wondering if I mucked things up when I pushed them back up and loosely zip tied them higher.

Windows
I went back and checked each of the windows and turns out that the front driver's and rear passenger windows are very slow to raise. So I'll be checking each of the windows to recondition as I can.

Thunk Down Under
The driver side plastic shield for the wheel well was missing a couple of screws but that doesn't explain the loud thunk. I'll use my service manual and check out the possibilities you've all outlined. I will probably ask more questions since this is my first time for these items.

I've changed fuel filter, air filter, radiator and water pump, thermostats; but sway bars, brakes, calipers, ball joints will be my first time.

Its just a shame you folks are so far north of Texas. You could come over this week while its 65 and 70 all week and sit in the chair with a beer watching me learn to wrench... lying on my super fine cardboard under the car .... lol

 

[NoCar340]

It's all just turnin' bolts, man. They're in different places and different sizes, but if you tell yourself it's mostly turnin' bolts you'd be surprised by your own capabilities. Sooner or later, of course, there are special bolts (the upper ball joint is a bolt!) and other special processes, but undercar work is, for the most part, easily done at home.

 

[Master M]

Thanks for the advice..
Car is staying in the drive til I can check it out.

Wipers
The wipers did try to move that morning but acted like they had no power at all.

Interior Vacuum lines
Earlier this summer I had one light green and one dark green vacuum line hanging too far down above the gas pedal, so I'm wondering if I mucked things up when I pushed them back up and loosely zip tied them higher.

Windows
I went back and checked each of the windows and turns out that the front driver's and rear passenger windows are very slow to raise. So I'll be checking each of the windows to recondition as I can.

Thunk Down Under
The driver side plastic shield for the wheel well was missing a couple of screws but that doesn't explain the loud thunk. I'll use my service manual and check out the possibilities you've all outlined. I will probably ask more questions since this is my first time for these items.

I've changed fuel filter, air filter, radiator and water pump, thermostats; but sway bars, brakes, calipers, ball joints will be my first time.

Its just a shame you folks are so far north of Texas. You could come over this week while its 65 and 70 all week and sit in the chair with a beer watching me learn to wrench... lying on my super fine cardboard under the car .... lol

I would also check your idler arm for excessive play. I have seen them fail on cars with low mileage. Jack the 2 front wheels off of the ground ( use chocks and jack stands ) and push the back of the passenger side tire to the drivers side and pull it back to the passenger side and watch the idler arm for movement.If there is any play, replace with MOOG K7086. Enjoy that cardboard !!

 

[metallicaman0258]

I would also check your idler arm for excessive play. I have seen them fail on cars with low mileage. Jack the 2 front wheels off of the ground ( use chocks and jack stands ) and push the back of the passenger side tire to the drivers side and pull it back to the passenger side and watch the idler arm for movement.If there is any play, replace with MOOG K7086. Enjoy that cardboard !!

x2

My GF has excessive steering play (40k miles) and my idler arm is bad as well as my steering box. The output shaft on my steering box acts like the support bushings are completely worn out.

 

[Mr C]

Wipers: There is a grounding strap to one of the mounting bolts on the wiper motor. I recommend brightening up the contacts first. I had funky wipers in cold conditions on my 5th Ave and that fixed me right up.

 

[Justwondering]

My husband drove the Fifth Avenue up to check on the mail (about 1/2 mile round trip).
Him: " You did a great job fixing the heater!"
Me: Confused look
Him: "It was super warm, working great!"
Me: "I've been wrenching on the diesel trying to clean and/or replace the variable speed sensor. I haven't worked on the Fifth Avenue yet."
Him: "Well, no need to fix the heater. It's good. That thump is still there though"
Me: "Remember, we aren't to drive the Fifth Avenue until I fix the thump."
Him: "Oh right. But I didn't get on the highway so its all good."
Me: slapping my forehead, "Please don't drive the car til I figure out the problem. If it quits on the drive to the front of the property, we are trapped in here."
Him: "No worries. You can just use the tractor and yank it back up here."
Me: "I'd rather not have to get the tractor out, and the straps, and lay in the mud in the rain to hook up so I can yank the car up the drive."
Him: "Well, it would warm up in a couple of days and dry out the dirt."
Me: " Thanks for getting the mail, honey." as I walk away wondering how his brain works.

No offense guys. But sometimes its just amazing.

 

[bremereric]

 

[Justwondering]

The new cardboard I got for Christmas so I could continue to work on vehicles in the mud!

Eric - you are a nut case tonight...lol

 

[Darth-Car]

City folk do not realize how cool farm girls really are. I have this farm girl at the office, she is 5'10'', and raises cattle. She has plenty of muscle. I would not want to meet her in a dark alley. She is always asking me questions about how to fix something on a car, or a tractor. Her husband is a Carpenter. She admits if farm machinery needs fixed, it is on her.

 

[Justwondering]

She sounds like a great person.
We decided to build a house out here and had the professionals help us with the 2nd floor. Meanwhile the first floor had no walls.
So, October, November, December including Christmas eve and Christmas day I'm out there making concrete, moving logs, and setting walls-windows-electric to get the walls done before cold weather hit.
I did get some great help from my brother. He took over mixing the concrete (one drum at a time). Then I only had to move 192 drums of concrete, place it in the walls, set the logs, fill in the insulation and repeat til the walls were done.

Then there was the celebratory Cherry-go-round and Blueberry-go-round

So I'm hoping January weather will let me get to the Fifth Avenue.

Just a life full of memories.

 

[bremereric]

The new cardboard I got for Christmas so I could continue to work on vehicles in the mud!

Eric - you are a nut case tonight...lol

Nope but Joey needs some better smileys.

 

[Jack Meoff]

You gotta love a gal who can wrench.

 

[Darth-Car]

She sounds like a great person.
We decided to build a house out here and had the professionals help us with the 2nd floor. Meanwhile the first floor had no walls.
So, October, November, December including Christmas eve and Christmas day I'm out there making concrete, moving logs, and setting walls-windows-electric to get the walls done before cold weather hit.
I did get some great help from my brother. He took over mixing the concrete (one drum at a time). Then I only had to move 192 drums of concrete, place it in the walls, set the logs, fill in the insulation and repeat til the walls were done.
View attachment 13309


Then there was the celebratory Cherry-go-round and Blueberry-go-round View attachment 13310

So I'm hoping January weather will let me get to the Fifth Avenue.

Just a life full of memories.

There is no doubt you have the skills, and talent to tackle any project that you set your mind to, and you appear to do them all well. Please take this one line of advice from a person who has been surrounded by strong women all of his life; the woman's body is just not built like the man's body, and eventually hard work will take severe tolls on you physically.

Do not push your strength beyond what is comfortable. Watch your bones, and joints, especially those knees. That husband of yours is a very lucky guy to have such a multi-talented woman. Do not make him a widower, or the care-giver of an invalid, because you work yourself to hard.

Now keep up that great work, and send along some more fun pictures. Just like the house pictures, we will take pictures of your work on the Dodge diesel, and the occasional tractor too.

 

[80mirada]

Do not push your strength beyond what is comfortable. Watch your bones, and joints, especially those knees. That husband of yours is a very lucky guy to have such a multi-talented woman. Do not make him a widower, or the care-giver of an invalid, because you work yourself to hard.

I think this is good advice for all of us. We are all prone to pushing our physical limits to get the job done.

 

[Justwondering]

I have a much better appreciation for brick layers, that's for sure.
I did buy a powerball ticket last week, but somehow I still don't have the winning touch on that.
So my projects are still in progress and I'll be sure to cut you all in on the pictures and continuing saga.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[Justwondering]

Going to be over 60 tomorrow.. I have a date with a fifth avenue.