I was under the coach a couple weeks ago fixing a trailer light plug bracket when I noticed a potentially serious problem. There is an angle bracket welded to the frame rail (same on both sides).
Where that angle bracket is curved 90 degs, a crack has developed. Continue reading “Cracked Trailer hitch mounting bracket”
My original mud flaps were a hard plastic, They had become brittle and were breaking apart.
I lost one of them in January some where on I-75 between Dayton and Toledo.
The I visited one of our local Auto /Truck parts stores (Advantage Auto Parts) and bought 4 new rubber flaps for $6 each. Continue reading “Mud Flap Replacement”
Prior to purchasing our “New-to-Us” 2001 Mirada, we took it on a short test drive. One of the items on the list was to evaluate the handling. During the test drive the handling seemed tight and responsive, and didn’t appear to have any nasty behaviors.
Back at the dealer, I crawled around underneath, I didn’t know specifically what I was looking at, but generally, all the bushings and movable parts looked ok and I didn’t see anything lose.
(CHECK UPDATE) When we picked up this unit (New to us) I noticed a slight “chirping” when the engine was idling.
I figured the belt has never been replaced, so its probably in need for a new belt.
The idler and tensioner bearings also start making noises, so while I had everything apart, may as well replace the idlers bearings. Continue reading “Belt and Idler pulley replacement”
I suspect these pads were original. When I looked at them at the pre-purchase, they appeared to have about 1/8 inch left, and the rotors looked good.
Removing the pads is similar to doing a car, remove the two 9/16 slider bolts, the caliper assembly will slide off.
The pads can then be slid off of the rail guides. New rail guides and slider grease come with the new pads Continue reading “Installing new brake pads”
The chrome wheel simulators are held into place with two nuts, the other 8 nuts are fake and will break off if you try and wrench on them.
Its easy to identify the correct two nuts, look / fell for a small indented line on the nut. (See it in the photo) The two nuts will be across from each other. If you have the tire fill extender hoses, they will be mounted under the removable nuts.
A 1 1/8 socket is all thats needed to remove the two nuts. Continue reading “Removing Wheel Simulators”
Our “New to Us” Mirada had 55,000 miles on it when we bought it and no service records, so we went through it and brought all the preventative maintenance items up to current schedule. One of these items was the Transmission flushing and changing of fluid.
I had performed a “Drain Fill” method of flushing automatic transmissions on my other vehicles and searched the internet to see if there was a similar procedure for the Ford F53, 4R100 transmission. I found the procedure and started gathering the stuff I’d need. Continue reading “Mirada – Ford F53 Transmission flush”
