The saga of the T-stat (and other stories)

blazinlow89

Original poster
Member
Jan 25, 2012
2,088
So Thursday we go to Lowes and I pick up the parts to remake my air Intake, They now sell 45* 3" conduit. It has the perfect arc to go to the airbox. I also picked up some brass fittings and nylon ones to do some test fitting, and realized the guy in plumbing at Lowes must have been hit in the head at some point in time. I asked for a 1/4" NPT, so I could tap the PVC for the fitting, He shows me all available taps. Hands me the 1/4 NPT and looks at the fittings and says it wont work the brass piece will fall right in. I have worked with all of these fittings before so I buy the tap and what do you know, it fits perfectly. So pics will come later.

Fast forward to Friday morning, I took off work to get alot done. I start in the morning putting on my new rotors and pads, Front went nice, while it was a PITA to remove the caliper bracket bolts, everything did go smooth. I get to the back, rotors are FUBAR, which I figured anyways due to the severe vibration when I would brake. So I remove the caliper and cannot get the bracket off. So I get up take a break for a few minutes and do possibly the biggest rookie mistake I could ever do. I pushed the brake pedal, with the rear caliper sitting off :duh::banghead::redface:. So I push the caliper piston back in and put it back on so I can go get a new caliper. The brakes feel spongy but not terrible, and I could see fluid being slung into the wheel well. At this point it is lunch time so I shower, and meet the GF for some Japanese steak house.

Now for the continuation. I go to my mothers house so I could borrow some extra tools and get an extra set of hands to do help with the grunt work required for my other project of the day. So I pull in we jack the truck up and get the rear tire off, look a the new one... Its for the f-ing front. Borrow my moms truck and go to get the right part. So by this time it is freakin almost 4pm. Before we left we took the lower radiator hose off so it would be empty for when we got back. Get back and put the new caliper on, go to bleed, and we got fluid to come out, but not very much. Realizing we have power brakes, we cant start the engine because it had no coolant, so on to the next project.

Replace the T-stat, waterpump, coolant temperature sensor, and both hoses. I will say for anyone attempting to remove the water pump. Rent the tool from autozone, I do not have access to pneumatic tools and basic hand tools do not offer enough. The tools consists of a large wrench and a small one, the large one fits over the bolt heads on the waterpump pulley, the smaller one goes to the nut attached the fan clutch, and with the belt on there was not enough pressure to keep the waterpump pulley from turning. So after fighting with this thing for well over 2 hours we break it loose. Ok remove the shroud and clutch/fan (around 7:30pm). Remove alternator, sucked because for some reason I do not have a 15mm socket, borrowed one from a neighbor for re installation. We remove the old water pump, CTS, and t-stat housing, water pump was probably not bad,, but whatever I know its going to last a while now. Reinstall everything, T-stat lower bolt PITA, but at this point wtf wasnt. Get the fan and clutch back in, and put the upper hose on. Filled up the radiator and ran the truck for about 30 min. Goes up to the 210* mark :wootwoot:.

Now for the back brake again (now about 9:30). GF comes over and gets us some Taco Bell, the new dorito taco btw is awesome :salivate:. Eat real quick and back to work, we tried for a good 10 min to get the caliper piston to move, nothing. So we jack the other side up, remove/replace the rotor, and pads, pushed the piston in with a c-clamp, and go press the brakes. WTF the other side works now too, bleed out the rest of the air, smack the tires back on and test drive. Truck runs a hell of alot smoother, maybe it is because all of the sensors for the intake are back in the right spots, but it runs so much better. Brakes are freakin awesome, had to test them out to avoid some deer as well, truck felt like it could stop on a dime.

So all in all, never do a rookie mistake, get the right tools, and give your self more than 2 hours of day light to do something that could possibly take an entire day.

Oh yeah my new LED bar came in, different thread though.

Anyone who reads this sorry if it is not very entertaining, but m hopefully my stupidity will prevent someone else from have to spend an extra $75 to replace something.
 

03envoy

Member
Dec 25, 2011
537
Glad you got it done, But I have been there done that on different things. I still need to do the T stat and probably a water pump soon too....:frown: I am going to be in for the ride. Thanks for the tips though man!
 

The_Roadie

Lifetime VIP Donor
Member
Nov 19, 2011
9,957
Portland, OR
blazinlow89 said:
...never do a rookie mistake...
Such is the power of forums, to help others make NEW mistakes instead of repeating the old boring ones. :wink:

I did the "test the brake pedal while an unseen caliper is off the rotor" mistake not ONCE during a brake job a few years ago, but TWICE. Double facepalm. :hissyfit:
 

blazinlow89

Original poster
Member
Jan 25, 2012
2,088
the roadie said:
Such is the power of forums, to help others make NEW mistakes instead of repeating the old boring ones. :wink:

I did the "test the brake pedal while an unseen caliper is off the rotor" mistake not ONCE during a brake job a few years ago, but TWICE. Double facepalm. :hissyfit:

:thumbsup: I no longer feel like such a rookie lol.

I know better, just seem to have been absent minded during my break
 

TollKeeper

Supporting Donor
Member
Dec 3, 2011
8,047
Brighton, CO
When I am working on brakes, I have a tool I use to prevent me from doing that. Calipers can be expensive, and I hate spending money I dont have to (do that enough with my electronics).

If you remember a few years back, they had this Anti-Theft device, I think it was called TheClub, and it had one hook that went around the brake pedal, and the other around the steering wheel. You cant press the brake pedal when this is on!!!

[EBAY]200723668905[/EBAY]

No pics, as I havent done brakes in a LONG time..
 

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