Probably gonna have someone do it for me. Labor is actually kind of cheap

Crap just seen this for some reason. If thats the case I don't blame you. But if you ever need help with it shoot me a pm.

@JohnStrasser you need stands for the bike, a valve core tool, something to break the bead (a big plastic chisel and hammer can work but there's a tool that attaches to the wheel and uses leverage which is much easier to use), a tire iron/spoon to lever the tire off and back on the wheel, soapy water, compressed air to seat the beads on the new tire, and a balancing stand. It's a couple hundred bucks investment for the tools so it won't pay itself off until you do a few sets. It's nice to not have to trust some guy you don't know with your life, though.

What's up gentlemen, I'll be picking up from the last goy to help maintain our Mechanic portion of this server.

I've got an unusual one for you. I have a 2011 F150 supercab. It has the half doors in the back with the interior door handles. When I'm driving as I approached 75 miles per hour and above there is a severe shimmy that develops right beneath the center console area and you can watch the passenger seat back vibrate like crazy and feel it throughout your body. It has new tires the front end is in perfect shape and it has nothing to do with the steering system. I have had my mechanic check it out and we are kind of up in the air as to what the problem is. I have found on the forums where many people have had this problem and have done everything from rebuilt Transmissions to replace drive shafts. I have read one or two posts where they had some success with the driveshafts but not everyone has had success with that. Ford acts like they don't know what you're talking about but I know it is a problem with many of these trucks including some of the 250's. Do you have any advice as to which direction to go with this

That is quite a concern brother, definitely needs attention.

With something that in depth, it is quite difficult to go in an absolute direction without getting my hands on it. I'm going to ask a few generic questions and I'll send you in more of a focused direction.

1. How many miles are on the truck?
2. Where do you live and most frequently travel?
3. Have you made any modifications to your driveline, suspension or tires (up or down from OEM tire sizes)

There is a plethora of areas for a tech to look at while addressing vibration related concerns. Some of them listed could be:

Drive line angles modified (creates vibrations) when we lift our trucks

Bigger tires ( more weight means faster deterioration of shock absorbers and subsequently ending with vibration concerns)

Tires not balanced correctly

Etc.

@Deleted User ^

Does the check engine light flash while it's happening?
And does it lose power as you're trying to accelerate?

150s get the "ford shudder". Could be misfiring on a cylinder, or a O2 sensor, spark plug wires or ECU

Something like a P0306 code

Tomorrow I can get on ALLDATA and check if Ford has any Technical Service Bulletins related to the cause but in the end I highly recommend that you go to a Ford dealership and have a tech take a test drive with you with some Chassis Ears hooked up around the truck.

If you don't trust Ford or another mechanic to accurately diagnose your truck, you can order those Chassis ears and diagnose yourself with the guidance from someone like myself (or myself) as well.

I recommend a dealer because if the concern comes back, it's on then to fix the original issue. (Comebacks are free for you and a strong deterrent for techs to get the job done right)

Generally speaking with newer cars and trucks (2006 and newer) engine and transmission related concerns will often pop up as a DTC and illuminate your check engine light.

@Brenten.Ryan-AZ it's awesome you're a mechanic. Our last mechanic was from AZ too.
I'm just throwing out ideas based on common problems.

@RevStench
Thanks brother, I appreciate the praise. Keep me coming, we're not know all's and sometimes divers ideas come to be quite beneficial.

@Deleted User If you want, tomorrow I can send you a step by step diagnostic procedure from our ALLDATA or Mitchell software (one that techs will follow) to help aid in understanding / diagnosing your concern.

'Em
Not me lol

The truck is Factory. It has approximately 149000 highway miles on it. I am the second owner and the original owner kept the truck in pristine condition. There are no leaks anywhere on the truck drive line which I think is pretty impressive given the mileage. I live in Louisville and most of my traveling is here in town. Most speeds on the highway are 75 to 80 typically. If you said water bottle on the dash it vibrates very very little. Nothing more than you would expect. But if you place the same water bottle on the center console it goes crazy hopping around in the container. I was thinking it had something to do with the length of his truck and driveshaft. It's a one piece driveshaft and I know some of the trucks came out with a two piece. The overall performance of the truck is excellent It's just that shaking will drive you nuts. The Crew Cabs do not seem to have the same issue. Yes it's a real stumper.

I am not familiar with the chassis ears but I will look it up to see what you were talking about. Yes I've been a little reluctant to go to the dealer just because they want to act like it's a problem unknown to them

Oh weird, forget what I said. I'll ask my brother today if he knows anything.
He works at Ford and those guys know most of the problems with these trucks because so many people own them.

Brother that would be awesome if I knew that I would have hit you up a while back LOL. Did you ever decide on whether or not you're going to pick up that white truck

I got it Tuesday. 2010 f150 haha

@Deleted User I will send a link to the chassis Ears if things downer pan out with his brother. 👍

https://www.jbtoolsales.com/steelman-97202-wireless-chassis-ear/

That's good makes a lot easier working out of a pickup. It was a clean-looking truck. on the chassis years I guess they pick up different vibrations and readings and send it back to the central unit and you can diagnose from there. $200 would probably be cheaper than three or four hours at dealer

Thank you Ryan

No problem brother, that is exactly right. You can go with a cheaper on that is wired but I'm not fond of exposed wires while driving, lol.

A diag at a dealership will normally run you 1-1 1/2 hours.

Visually inspect your U-Joints for free play and your yoke at the rear diff as well.

Keep us updated

Yes sir thanks to both of you goys!

It sucks that you have that issue, but it is a great question man.

Goys for the win

It's hard to diagnose something like this over the net. If @Brenten.Ryan-AZ can't find a tsb or anything on it I would be happy to take a ride in it with you and see what we came up with. One of the reasons I quit working on cars is because of having to diagnose shitty problems like this but with that said I do have plenty of experience doing it. My initial thoughts are driveline forsure but sometimes a quick test drive with the right person may reveal the issue or at least give a good starting point. Chassis ears are a great invention and makes noise diagnosis so much easier. Wish I owned a set. I was spoiled as a dealership tech and they where always a special tool that was provided.

@JesseJames do you live near him to help out with it? If so, that's great.

I grabbed a set a while ago for a couple side jobs I was doing around the neighborhood. I don't use them all too often but they prove their worth when the opportunity arises. I'm definitely not experienced enough to feel it out with my asscheeks haha

*my butt

Yes we where actually together last weekend ha would have been a good time to check it out. I haven't been a tech for 4 years now. I was a Nissan tech for 8 years and spent at least 6 of those years doing electrical engine drive ability noise diagnosis and repair.

Yes it's a crazy problem. So far it is not been anything but a nuisance. Like I said it doesn't really affect the way it drives it tracks trade steering wheel doesn't shimmy it's definitely situated right beneath the center console

@JesseJames yes maybe at the next meet up we'll take a ride in it

Sometimes you can have a problem of a messed up bushing that could be causing a vibration and/or noise. @Deleted User anytime man.

@JesseJames you may have been out for 4 years but your 8 years in the field trumps my less than a year with Freightliner haha

I'm still finishing my program with UTI and starting my qual program with Cummins.

I'm much more proficient with body electrical and drivability than this.

@Brenten.Ryan-AZ Hey at least your going into heavy trucks and diesel repair. 08 to 10 was hard on us automotive guys and it seemed like the diesel guys where impervious to the recession. I know work on heavy equipment. All I do know though is change tires on them. So no diagnosis or repairs just change the tire and go. Most of my days are spent driving my sterling boom truck all over the place.

Hey man, I thought tires were a bitch to deal with in class 8's but fuck that noise.. haha kudos to you for dealing with those. 👍

I'll be heading to Anchorage for a field service position on Cummins power generation sideonce I'm done with my training.

Plenty of money to be made on heavy equipment side

What I thought was big

@JesseJames Badass

@Brenten.Ryan-AZ ha I would rather change those pan tires over those semi truck tires any day. My truck does all the hard work. With semi tires you have to do them by hand. I have to do some semi tires here and there but mostly Otr

Otr-off the road

Ah, I didn't know that. Haha

The tires on the machine in the photo weigh roughly 3k to 4K each

Fixing the motorcycle, looks weird naked

What is that, a Sportster?

It's of Japanese origin forsure.

Sportster has a v twin design engine.

Mmmmmmm

@Deleted User alright negro, I'm going to guess misfiring at high speeds. Cylinder 6 is probably the one too, which would be from the front of the truck, bank 2 right side, number 2 cylinder which is the 2nd one from the front. Check the plug, if it's ok, look to see if any other are misfiring. If you don't see any abnormal build up it's still probably the number 6 cylinder ignition coil, '09 to 14 are notorious for it. The one I bought Tuesday had the same problem, except mine shook at around 45ish. I just swapped the plug and the tube, not the ignition coil. And that fixed mine.

The guy at auto zone knew exactly what problem I was having, I upgraded the spark plugs as well

If this ends up not working I'm going to swap the ignition coil on cylinder 6.

@John O - Kawasaki Ninja 500

@Deleted User what engine do you have in that Ford?

302. Same as the Mustangs

Thanks, looking for related TSB's now.

Ty i appreciate it

No present TSB's for that specific concern brother.

Yours is a one piece drive shaft, correct?

Yes

have the other gentleman look at it when you both meet, if he can't solve it grab those Chassis ears and I'll walk you through vibration orders to get it under wraps.

Ok sounds good. Ty

@here no power to my bike. Battery is hooked up and it's reading well

Have you tried not crashing it?

@JohnStrasser Are you cables connected to the ignition sequence/not grounding out?

I think everything is connected im double checking

If it ain't the battery it's the wires.

How do I identify which wires are bad?

It's a damn good question. I'm not very experienced with electric, but if it were me, I'd probably start sampling the wires with the mulitmeter at various points around the vehicle's electrical circuit. Before and after starter, before + after alternator, whatever, try to find where there stops being electricity.

I don't even know if that would work though. We need somebody who knows electric better than I do.

Use your voltimeter the same way you already are, except instead of connecting to + / - connect to the wires themselves. Of course, the battery wires themselves should be pretty easy to inspect visually.

Does it need to be on? Or would they be live just connected to the batteries

They would be live all the way to the ignition switch

Okay

Do that and then check for 12v at the ignition switch also. Does it do anything at all? Normally if your battery is good and cables good but everything is dead it's a fuse and/or relay.

@Fvtvresoldier JohnStrasser#3954 identify the wires that lead to an ignition source and then to the starter. I am not too versed with motorcycles but testing power flow is the same for all DC circuits. What kind of bike and what year is it? For a generic example I'll give you some pointers.

Do an available voltage test through all points of that circuit, to include the ground.

Go from battery positive to your starter switch. Back probe into your connector for that switch and make sure you have source voltage. On output of that, it should lead into a relay control circuit. (Relays use low current to control high current). If you engage that switch you should have a source voltage going into the control side and mV on the ground side of that control side. on the controlled end of that relay you should have source voltage on the input end and mV on the output end while the circuit is disengaged.
Depressing the switch (if the control side of the circuit is working properly) should allow source voltage to flow through it to the starter.

A rule of thumb for power flow: If you don't have voltage what you should, you have an open in the circuit. If you have less voltage than you should, you have high resistance. If you have voltage where you shouldn't then you have an open on the ground side of that circuit.

This excludes short to grounds or a short to power.

This should be of some help in electrical diagnosis for everyone here.

For what it's worth I believe on a motorcycle the ignition switch is going to bring either the fuse box or a relay of some kind into play which is going to control all the power on the motorcycle

Ignition switch has 12v going to it, all the wires have at least some power

What you might be getting is some false readings from your digital meter. You may have to disconnect the wiring harness or connector from the ignition that is going to the loads or the fuse box. Since it is a negative ground situation if you're using the vehicle for your testing point you could get some deceptive readings through your meter. You're going to have to isolate the ignition switch output. I'm assuming that these voltage is leaving the ignition switch are very low in value

Assuming the ignition switch test good the power should leave the switch and go to a fuse box or a relay possibly controlling the power to the fuse box

The problem could be that relay which is not calling for the fuse box to energize

Bingo^

@JohnStrasser what are the values?

those numbers tell the tale of what is going on in the circuit

If we know what they're supposed to be. Of course the switch should be 12v.

Have you tried to roll start it by chance?

Can't roll start

It was a hlaf a volt to a volt in the wires

Taking a brake from the frustration to shower then heading to work. I did enlist some help from on of my local goys

Hopefully he'll figure it out

It almost has to be the ignition or ignition switch relay

Oh gotcha. Have you checked fuses? First thing to do on any electrical problem is check fuses. Just use a test light to both sides of the fuse.

All the fuses I could find were good

Everything goes to the ignition switch or relay

I fix the electrical problem and now the carburetor is leaking gas

What was the electrical problem?

There is a blown fuse hiding that I couldn't find until today

It was just barely blown to it was crazy I should have taken a picture before I threw it away

When I first took it out it looked fine

Where is your carb leaking from?

and how?

I couldn't quite see I had to leave for work right after I got done fixing the electrical problem. But it look like it was from the bottom of the carb

I'm going to look at it more tomorrow I disconnected the gas tank to avoid any further leakage

I did clean the carbs and take everything apart so maybe I didn't tighten something

How's the gasket? A lot of times that's just a worn gasket at the top of the carb. The liquid follows the curve of the carb and makes it look like a leak from the bottom. What do you think @Brenten.Ryan-AZ ?

Great glad you fixed it. That's why I say any electrical problem check your fuses first. And barley blow is blown as long as it isn't solid the current can not travel through it. When you took the carbs apart did you replace the gasket? Those paper gasket are made for one time use only if you take it apart you need to replace it.

@everyone I am an industrial Mechanic in automotive industry that makes bearing for BMW, Volvo, and many more. Currently in school to finish mechanical engineering program. If I can be assistance to anyone just let me know.

>german cars

There is nothing worse than having to work on a German car.

They build those bastards in such a way as to make it hard for you.

Knowing how to work on them is very profitable though

I'm a bmw fiend specializing in e9x chassis. But also have experience with many others. If anyone needs any imput on bavarias finest, Holla

@Deleted User Whew, a carb related question

Honestly the only carb I’ve had my hands on was on a 07 CR125R

Honestly I don’t remember any gaskets on her, changing jet settings was 2 simple screws on the top as the throttle cable enters the carb body, and I don’t remember any gasket that seated there.

I have a 2005 Honda civic dx and my check engine came on flashing and my engine was running rough and sort of sputtering. I've been having problems with it running hot. Hoping it's not a blown headgasket or worse.

Recently replaced my thermostat a second time. It was running perfectly until i drove about 90 miles and began to have problems with the engine heating up again.

Anyone versed on hho???

@Honneur et Patrie Have you noticed a change in the amount of coolant present in the reservoir?

@Honneur et Patrie#8729 get a scanner to pull that code to begin with. It’s a good starting point to see what your ECM / PCM is saying (a general area of concern)

As much as I don’t care for uh oh zones (Autozone) or O’Reilly’s auto stores they can pull the code for you for free.

If you get that code, I (or any other tech here) can help go from there.

One of the obvious tell tale signs of a blown head gasket is oil in the coolant, milky oil (coolant in oil), and white smoke from your exhaust.

If it is a head gasket they aren't horrible to change on honda four cylinders

german cars were made to secure the existance of mechanics

@here this is what my bike sounds like

Clean the carbs put some seafoam in it and it still sounds super strange

Unfortunately it won’t let me open the file

Me either.

If your comfortable with it, you can send it to me via email or Facebook.

You’re

[email protected]

Shiiit hold up

@Deleted User hey there brother, did you resolve the issue with your truck?

No. I havent had a chance to take it anywhere yet.

the wheels on my car get real hot and smell funny, is that because the wheel bearings need to be regreased or the wheel bearings are shot or what, they dont sound like theyre grinding at all. i think i need to bleed my brakes because the pedal goes all the way to the floor and it feels like theres no fluid pressure in there

i drive for like 15 mins and it smells like somethings burning and the metal on my wheels are super hot to the touch

@Brenten.Ryan-AZ weigh in for me on this if you can

no rush

Loaded did you recently get new wheels, or do any service on your brakes recently?

Yes i took off the wheels and took off the brakes to see why they were acting up, and put them back on just as they were since the pads were fine

Yea concerning the weird smell and excessive heat, I would pull those hub assemblies off and inspect them for pivoting and scortching. If there are any signs of either of those two replace both sides of the vehicle’s hubs.

For your spongy brakes check your fluid and bleed the air out of them if you are suspecting that there is air in the line. Check your lines and fittings for leaks as well.

Thanks ill start on that and see where i get hung up

@loadedbrush#4901 any luck so far bud?

No, ive got a feeling its gona be a whole can of worms so i havent cracked it open yet, gotta wrangle some funds together before i crack the egg and start taking things apart. just watched a few youtubes to get a plan of attack

my entire passenger underside of the car is covered in oil and it seems to be slowly leaking multiple fluids. i have to put a quart of oil in it every 10 or so days

Oh yea, that will be a bit of work. Lol

What kind of vehicle is it?

@Brenten.Ryan-AZ question for you my brother, have you ever heard of F150s "spitting out" spark plugs?

ooosh

Wouldn't that mean a whole lot of pressure in the heads?

I don't know, it would seem like the logical thing, or do they just back out? Which I would find hard to believe, because the fuel rail is over top the ignition coil.

Like, wiggle out?

I guess I could see that. After all you really just screw them in.

I bought a used F150, fleet vehicle as is. It had a code for the O2 sensor, so I bought it thinking that's an easy fix. So I swapped it out and no more codes. It's running a little rough so I thought spark plugs or ignition coils. Spark plugs are cheaper so I started to change them and I got to bank 1 plug 2 and it's tac wielded in. The others are fine.

Ah so you think prior owner welded them?

Yes sir

That's the picture I could get down inside that hole

On the right side is the tac. I was going to knock it off, but I don't have a stick welder if I need to tac it back in.

What if it means the threads were stripped?

Or cross threaded. Would retapping it fix it? I feel like that would make the plug to loose.

I've never run into this problem.

Yeah it's a tricky one. Do you have contact for the guy you bought it from?

What year is the truck? ‘99 and later?

If so, there were only 4 threads so they popped out every so often.

Ford has a special tap and dye kit specifically for that but it’s 600$ and generic tap kits won’t work.

@RevStench it is a common issue I have heard of with the 4.2 and 4.6’s

There you go, I have a 4.6. It's a 2010. Would a dealership be able to fix the problem? Or do I have to bite the bullet and buy that tap?
The truck is like brand new, and I got it for $7500 so I don't mind putting some money into it.

It would probably be cheaper and less time consuming to have the dealership take care it.

The heads have to come off the the kit in my opinion is too fucking expensive to have a one or 2 time use out of it.

*and the kit

@RevStench but take it to an actual Ford dealership

Word, thanks man. I'm trying to treat this truck well, and I don't really trust some of these little auto shops around me, the actual Ford dealership was my only choice haha.

Good shit man, glad to help with the choice.

Keep us updated with her man

Will do, thank you.

@RevStench hey man if you search around on the web there's a tool that they use to extract those plugs because when you try to remove that it will probably break. There are techniques where you can put something like seafoam or something down in there and let it soak and saturate for a while and try to break it loose but they're notorious for that I would not take it to a dealer will be somebody else out there that can fix it for you for a lot cheaper I got the name of a good mechanic on Bardstown Road at fegenbush way.

Bardstown at Fegenbush is Bill Collins Ford?

Harpers chevron on Bardstown Road across from it. He's great! Been there 30 yrs and reasonable.

Ahh ok, I know where that is.

He's good

replaced front pads and rotors, went to bleed brakes and the brake fluid was dry. which explains why brake pedal was going thru the floor. the brake fluid reservior has a dark coloration up to 3/4 inch from the top which led me to believe it was full. itll be nice to have new brakes and rotors anyhow. its a 91 camry so parts are very cheap @Brenten.Ryan-AZ

@Deleted User sometimes the brake reservoir will leak back into the power booster and you may get some fluid coming through the firewall into the car under the carpet or you may smell something funny. You may want to look at that

>91 camry
>power booster
*what did he mean by this?*

ill look that up then check it out. whatevers leaking is under the passenger side and the brake fluid reservior is on opposite side of the engine compartment

The master cylinder typically attaches to a round drumlike vacuum assisted booster. Hence power brakes

@here halp

What’s up bud

So I just changed the spark plugs on my bike (kawasaki ninja 500), and when I turn it on and give it any throttle it just dies

Was it running well before you changed the plugs?

Well I think there's an air leak somewhere but it was running better before I changed the plugs

I’m not too versed with motorcycles but the same foundation of drivability applies.

It’s either fuel, air or spark. Did you go with OEM plugs?

Also, it idles okay?

@Brenten.Ryan-AZ no they aren't OEM and it does idle like it did before this particular issue began, I think there's an air leak somewhere though, because it is idling rough

Is it misfiring? I suppose on a motorcycle misfiring will cause a stall when you give it gas. @Brenten.Ryan-AZ ?

@JohnStrasser ?

It is possible, I’d back track every step that you took while changing spark plugs and make sure everything is installed correctly. You can take a hand held propane tank to check for intake leaks (lean condition) and see it it changes idle at all

Are spare tires really gonna wear out after 50 miles? I had to put one on the other day and won't have a chance to get a replacement until tomorrow.

You should be okay if you haven’t used it before and you drive slow

Just keep an eye on the tread, most donuts have bright color striping that uncovers as the tread wears. Donuts are typically made out of soft rubber, and the nature of a spare tire means less surface area to spread the weight of the vehicle, so don't rely on them any longer than you need to.

Good tip about the paint. I put about 120 miles on it before I could get it changed out and it hadn't worn the tread out completely. Maybe another 30 miles

How do I tell of my truck has over head cams or valves ?

Overhead cams operate the valves.

An overhead cam is just the camshaft mounted on top of the engine block

In this gif, the cams are at the top and the crankshaft is at the bottom.

oops. @Mark Vandal

Long story short, you can see overhead cams on top of the engine block.

@this_that5553 this is a good place to get car help.

@bostoneuropean For someone looking to buy a car in the 10k - 12k range, what might you recommend? Where from and any specific models?

@this_that5553 Sedan wise go american for multiple reasons of course and because its cheap also cheap to fix you can find something newer around (2014) 65k miles for 12k no problem look into chevy sedans they are always dirt cheap

Is the Honda craze a fad? I've always driven asian cars that were from the 90's. Amazing cars. Have american ones gotten better?

Not really

See, I've heard American sedans used to be total shit from like 2000 to 2010, but now have gotten better

Tbh I just prefer something younger like a Civic. My parents and grandparents all drive American sedans that feel like I'm in a nursing home lol

american cars have 100% gotten better for example gm look at how their product has gotten better ever since the bail out i would suggest a 14 malibu w 65k miles would cost you around that instead of going asian and joing the libtards driving toyotas and hondas

if i were you i would take that 12k a buy a nice truck

by all means go buy a used prius

I just bought a car at CarMax, got a great deal

@John O -#7072 what did you get?

2015 Impala

13k

40k miles

Goin undercover as a black guy eh? Nice!

Yeah, that's my joke with the guys at work

My local police actually used to use impala patrol cars

@John O - thats actually a good deal LS, LT, or LTZ

Mine too, but I didn't want to deal with a decommissioned cop car

LT

LTZ actually

damn fully loaded huh? for 13 k thats like 50k brand new

my example exactly about getting something american almost new for cheap

@Deleted User @this_that5553

Hahahaha

u bout to lose me 4 a bit. imma get back on my grind

DOXXED

🤣

Any day now literally

Same goes for all of ua

Us

we should get @bostoneuropean SME status. He knows things lol

Troll to much from my desk

@this_that5553 I️ like the sound of that hahaha

@bostoneuropean I’m actually down a mechanic SME if you’re interested

@Deleted User of course shoot me a DM if you wanna follow through

I’m pretty good with mechanics so between the two of us we should be able to hold the fort down. I’ll designate you when I’m back at my computer

sounds good ill help out with the buisness and sales end for fellow bros you help out with mechanics combined we will hold it down pretty tight