MP.net Auto Service Center

**mudbunny** · 12-15-2008

Originally Posted by dedbunniez

Thanks mud,

I am just thinking about getting rid of the POS ford and getting a good foriegn made car.
Now to decide which one to get. About 30k is my budget, in case you have any suggestions.

No problem man; if I help someone from going through the eternal frustration that I did with that car then it's well worth it.
If you're looking for dependable and don't mind driving a small truck then look into one of the small toyota series trucks ('86'-present), I think they're calling them tacomas now. I've known numerous people with those things and other than replacing a clutch or two, those dogone things run forever, and they're a fun little truck to drive, especially with the 5-speed manual trans.

**shocker1** · 12-15-2008

Check this out. A 2005 Chrysler Town and Country mini van has a vibration turning the steering at low speeds or at a stop. The steering rack is leaking fluid so replace the rack right? Well not so fast, while the rack is leaking and this sort of vibration can be caused by a bad rack something else is a foot here.

Replacing the rack cured the leaks but increased the vibration and widened the range occurrence. So check the TSB's and what do you know, one of those TSB's you think to yourself what the hell is this. According to the TSB I need to replace the 2 inch long power steering return hose from the cooler to the rack with a 2 foot long hose. The cooler is a small one located close to the rack. Loop the hose nice and neat and have a go. While thinking about it one can see the logic behind it using the extra rubber hose in the circuit to dampen pulsation. Then again the vibration was a rattle your teeth variety so how the hell is this gonna fix that. Well, to my amazement it did. Question is what design flaw is this covering up?

**mudbunny** · 12-15-2008

Originally Posted by shocker1

Check this out. A 2005 Chrysler Town and Country mini van has a vibration turning the steering at low speeds or at a stop. The steering rack is leaking fluid so replace the rack right? Well not so fast, while the rack is leaking and this sort of vibration can be caused by a bad rack something else is a foot here.

Replacing the rack cured the leaks but increased the vibration and widened the range occurrence. So check the TSB's and what do you know, one of those TSB's you think to yourself what the hell is this. According to the TSB I need to replace the 2 inch long power steering return hose from the cooler to the rack with a 2 foot long hose. The cooler is a small one located close to the rack. Loop the hose nice and neat and have a go. While thinking about it one can see the logic behind it using the extra rubber hose in the circuit to dampen pulsation. Then again the vibration was a rattle your teeth variety so how the hell is this gonna fix that. Well, to my amazement it did. Question is what design flaw is this covering up?

Maybe the design flaw isn't in the rack itself but something with the p.s pump itself?
I don't know man, you've got me there. I've never touched a rack 'n pinion before, or a p.s pump for that matter.

**wagon** · 12-15-2008

Originally Posted by shocker1

Check this out. A 2005 Chrysler Town and Country mini van has a vibration turning the steering at low speeds or at a stop. The steering rack is leaking fluid so replace the rack right? Well not so fast, while the rack is leaking and this sort of vibration can be caused by a bad rack something else is a foot here.

Replacing the rack cured the leaks but increased the vibration and widened the range occurrence. So check the TSB's and what do you know, one of those TSB's you think to yourself what the hell is this. According to the TSB I need to replace the 2 inch long power steering return hose from the cooler to the rack with a 2 foot long hose. The cooler is a small one located close to the rack. Loop the hose nice and neat and have a go. While thinking about it one can see the logic behind it using the extra rubber hose in the circuit to dampen pulsation. Then again the vibration was a rattle your teeth variety so how the hell is this gonna fix that. Well, to my amazement it did. Question is what design flaw is this covering up?

Resonance in the pipework?

**shocker1** · 12-15-2008

You guys would just have had to feel the vibration your self. It was very bad, you would not think it was a resonance issue. More like seized ball joints. I think they have mismatched the pump and rack. The pressures are not right for the rack IMO, too much will cause the bypass to open. I guess a new rack design with a stiffer bypass valve spring or new pump would be more expensive than a $12 hose. Makes sense.

**EZFEED** · 12-15-2008

Originally Posted by shocker1

Find a 1999 and up Camaro. The fan on those is very good, V8 or V6. Perfect size and attachment points too. If you want two speeds you can get a resistor kit from the parts store or Jegs. It will have a double pole temperature switch for high and low speed circuits, relays, low speed resistor and fuses. Let me know what you find.

Cool deal bud!

So is this fan a single fan and could you give me an idea of what circumference roundabouts it is?

I do want it to cut on at a certain temp and then shut of after dropping past a certain temp so I wil check out what Jegs has.

**shocker1** · 12-15-2008

Originally Posted by EZFEED

Cool deal bud!

So is this fan a single fan and could you give me an idea of what circumference roundabouts it is?

I do want it to cut on at a certain temp and then shut of after dropping past a certain temp so I wil check out what Jegs has.

I want to say the diameter is 18 inches, not 2 feet but more than 1.5 feet. You can do the math.

**EZFEED** · 12-15-2008

Just looked it up! 3000CFM seems like it'd work! Thanks I will be hunting for one (or two) this weekend!!!!

**wagon** · 12-17-2008

Ezfeed, I have come up with a circuit to flash your brake lamp for an indicator... it uses 4 relays and 2 diodes (to do both sides). Would be easy to wire up.

**hell** · 12-18-2008

Originally Posted by shocker1

Replacing the rack cured the leaks but increased the vibration and widened the range occurrence. So check the TSB's and what do you know, one of those TSB's you think to yourself what the hell is this. According to the TSB I need to replace the 2 inch long power steering return hose from the cooler to the rack with a 2 foot long hose. The cooler is a small one located close to the rack. Loop the hose nice and neat and have a go. While thinking about it one can see the logic behind it using the extra rubber hose in the circuit to dampen pulsation. Then again the vibration was a rattle your teeth variety so how the hell is this gonna fix that. Well, to my amazement it did. Question is what design flaw is this covering up?

Sounds like a pressure problem to me. Too much hydraulic pressure could cause the seals to blow out in the rack, and since you replaced the rack, closing the seals helped restore higher pressure, making the problem even worse. Adding the longer hose created a pressure drop since the same ps pump had to move more fluid across a longer distance. Just my take though.

**shocker1** · 12-19-2008

Originally Posted by hell

Sounds like a pressure problem to me. Too much hydraulic pressure could cause the seals to blow out in the rack, and since you replaced the rack, closing the seals helped restore higher pressure, making the problem even worse. Adding the longer hose created a pressure drop since the same ps pump had to move more fluid across a longer distance. Just my take though.

I agree but the pump was replaced twice by another shop. I think the pump and rack are not matched right. The long hose is cheaper than a new design pump, which would have been replaced under warranty, that is until the warranty ran out. Why they ignored the leaky rack is another story.

**hell** · 12-19-2008

Originally Posted by shocker1

I think the pump and rack are not matched right.

You're probably right. I did some Googling and found that p/s problems appear across alot of Chrysler products from mid/late 90's to now. Alot of people have had to replace their p/s resevoir as well, apparantly a non-replacable mesh screen gets clogged quite a bit. More people said they had to completely top-off their p/s fluid instead of just filling to the indicated line, and most of them were advised to change to a different viscosity fluid and adding an agent by their dealership mechanics. Appears to be a bit of a fiasco.

We just need a pic of the Chrysler design team with the caption

ENGINEERING FAIL

**2Sheds_Jackson** · 12-19-2008

Originally Posted by wagon

Resonance in the pipework?

Yeah my guess is that the length of the old hose was a multiple of the wavelength of the vibration? Change the length, and it dampens the effect. I think there was a Mythbusters episode about that principle. Or alternately...maybe they're just using the elastic property of the longer hose to dampen energy of the hydraulic hammer?

**EZFEED** · 12-25-2008

Originally Posted by wagon

Ezfeed, I have come up with a circuit to flash your brake lamp for an indicator... it uses 4 relays and 2 diodes (to do both sides). Would be easy to wire up.

I'm back Wagon! Replied!

Here are some recent vids that were taken over this passt week!

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v4...t=DSCN0164.flv

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v4...t=DSCN0165.flv

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v4...t=DSCN0166.flv

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v4...t=DSCN0167.flv

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v4...t=DSCN0178.flv

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...s/DSCN0177.jpg

I also dropped the oil pan on my truck and took some video and pictures of the guts. This is a new engine but I wanted to double check the torque on the rods and crank “just in case” some lazy Czech mechanic decided to take a shortcut.
Wonderful piece of engineering, everything is on roller bearings, even the mains which are HUGE (basketball size)J

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v4...Picture056.flv
(dont know why I said overhead cams by the way, shoulda said dual cam)

**jmatucd** · 12-25-2008

Originally Posted by dedbunniez

Thanks mud,

I am just thinking about getting rid of the POS ford and getting a good foriegn made car.
Now to decide which one to get. About 30k is my budget, in case you have any suggestions.

consider a subaru too. You can get some turbocharged performance from the WRX / Legacy GT and they are pretty reliable. The AWD comes in handy too

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