I think, “well that took longer than expected,” is going to be a theme.
We started by taking a closer look at the coolant leak that Evan tracked down yesterday. We re-seated the coolant hose feeding the heater core after determining that the hose port is brass and does not appear to be broken.
Then we spent the rest of the afternoon replacing the clutch slave cylinder and flex hose, then bleeding the system, which was straightforward but took a while. Also we learned that the truck has a clutch damper, which seems unnecessary and an an excellent opportunity for air to get introduced to the system. Might also explain why the clutch in this vehicle feels feather light and spongy.
Looks like the leak was either the hose or its input into the old slave cylinder, both of which were caked in generous coatings of gunk. But this did demystify the hydraulic half of the clutch system for me: it’s quite a production just to make — and I cannot sufficiently emphasize this — a booper that pushes on a lever.
Clutch rebuilt, we sent for takeout. It’s gotten much colder, so we got fancy delivery ramen from Jinya. It was super excellent. After dinner, we had broke out the jackhammers to get the rear drum apart. Drum brakes are stooooooooopid.
After we finally got the rear right brake exploded, we found that something about the shoes that RockAuto sent are very different from the shoes we pried off the truck. The drums are correct, but the shoes and springs kits don’t line up with the attachment points on the hardware.
We determined that the “I Need to Replace my Brakes” kit they sent me does match the spec sheet, so I suppose their kit definition has an incorrect part in it. We called it a night and put together an order for a new set of shoes and springs. That’ll be here Tuesday.
And because scope creep is real, and because when I do the window seals, I’ll need to take the door cards off anyway… I ordered new door speakers. Because look at this shit.
So it wasn’t a hugely successful day, but we did get a lot done. And we still have all week! Too bad we all go back to work in the morning.