Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Heater core repair, day three

Finished the bulk of putting everything back together. Remaining: glove box, left bottom panel, kick plates.

And my lights will not turn off....

Work log
  • Worked from 6:00-11:30 p.m.
  • Able to work after sunset after I remembered my Petzl headlamp x_x Doh.
  • I decided to detach the dash once more to double-check I had not missed a connector on the passenger side
  • Turns out I had, so I am glad I did
  • Re-attached dash and secured with four bolts to the tunnel
  • Re-attached blower motor connector--have to remember to troubleshoot due to corroded lead
  • Re-attached center console
    • Had a lot of trouble re-attaching the cigarette lighter connectors
    • Shorter wires, which meant I had to hold the center console with one hand and reconnect with the other
    • Decided to re-attach the HVAC control cables later
    • Took quite a bit of trial and error to figure out how to route the HVAC control cables, but finally figured it out: the left side has a cable channel and the right side just goes over the heater box tube
  • Vacuum connectors took a bit of looking at before realizing it does not matter what way they go on (I think)
  • Re-attached the instrument cluster
    • Had to really yank on the speedometer cable to get it back through the firewall 
    • Then I had pulled it too far, not leaving me enough room to re-attach to the instrument cluster
    • Finally got it just right
    • Then realized I could pull the speedometer cable from the engine compartment and simultaneously pull the instrument cluster into place : o )
  • Re-attached the cluster bezel
  • At this point, realized I had forgotten to re-attach a little metal plate on the right side of the cluster bezel and the left side of the center console
  • Detached the bezel, added the plate, re-attached the bezel
  • At this point I felt a shock: the rear of the steering column had detached from the mount plate
    • Taking the advice of a FEOA post on a possible shortcut, I had removed the steering column support bracket
    • This allowed the steering column to drop freely all the way to the floor
    • Unfortunately, in my moving the steering column back and forth during repairs, I ended up detaching the steering column from the mount bracket x_x
    • I felt a bit of relief after realizing I had not sheared off any metal bits
    • I had bent one of the brackets, however...eventually I bent it back into shape with a pair of pliers
    • I CANNOT TELL YOU HOW MUCH TIME I SPENT ON THIS
    • Each of the two brackets has a clip
    • The steering column weighs a bit
    • It swings awkwardly due to weight and cables
    • The clips love to detach when attempting to put the brackets onto the mount plate
    • The clips love to detach when tightening the 10mm nuts
    • The brackets love to shift when tightening the 10mm nuts
    • The brackets love to come loose after tightening one side
    • I tried re-attaching from outside the car with a 10mm wrench
    • Then I tried re-attaching while attempting to hold up the steering wheel with one hand
    • Then I tried re-attaching the support bracket
    • After this, I got on my back and stuck my head under the dash
    • I FINALLY figured out a way to tighten the bracket/clips to my satisfaction
      • Screw two steering column support bolts loosely into the dash
      • Get the clips onto the brackets
      • Swing the brackets into place
      • Tighten with a 10mm socket with an extension
    • I think this represents the solution anyway...I kid you not this took me 90 minutes to resolve x_x
  • Re-attached the clutch pedal chain I had detached while messing with the steering column
  • After this point, I re-attached the steering column shroud, the middle and rear console, re-attached the front seat
  • I re-attached the HVAC control cables--will test out when I drive the car
  • Re-attached the negative battery cable
  • Noticed my head lamps come on! : o (
    • Does not matter what position the light switch is on...they still are on
    • Turning the light switch does turn on/off the running lamps
    • Fog lamps go on/off OK
  • Started the engine: success
  • Stripped some wire and twisted together the wires I had cut, then wrapped with electrical tape
  • Head lamps still light up when the negative battery cable applied
  • Noticed some loose tubes under the hood
  • Figured out two of them but not a third one, a vacuum hose...cannot see where it goes, and it seems pretty long : o P
  • Cleaned up
Next steps
  • Figure out why head lamps stay on all the time
    • Probably a limited number of things which I could have messed up
    • It seems like the head lamps get power without considering the steering column control
    • I guess I may have to bust out the electrical guide to refresh my memory on what I did when I wired the fog wiring
  • Figure out where missing vacuum tube goes
  • Likely something to do with the wires I cut...but maybe something else?
  • Replace glove box
  • Replace kick panels
  • Replace lower driver side panel
  • Replace side sail panels
  • Clean 

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