Chevy Traverse Surgery -

[goodfellow]

The AC system on my wife's 2012 Traverse gave up the ghost last Wednesday. No cold air, no compressor activation -- nothing. Luckily GM adds dye to the system as a matter of course, and with a black light flashlight I was able to quickly see the glowing tint all over the discharge line and the condenser. Long story short, bumper and most of the front end parts have to come off.

Since I was already this far I decided to remove the radiator as well and get a close look at the entire front of the engine in order to clean/inspect all the thing that are normally a PITA to get to. Most notably the starter --

Glad I did the full inspection. Not only was the discharge hose split, but the condenser was also showing a small leak at the lower passenger side corner. It hardly showed up with the black light. That make perfect sense since we've had a small leak for about a year. The local repair shop couldn't find it, I couldn't find it, hence we just recharged the system as needed. About once a season.

While I had access, I also changed both Schrader valves on the AC suction and high pressure sides.
This is how she sits until Rock Auto delivers a new Denso condenser and OEM GM discharge hose.

[Uncle Buck]

You have her ripped down pretty good there Ray, nice...

[goodfellow]

You have her ripped down pretty good there Ray, nice...

Yeah, they strip down pretty fast. Reminds me of industrial LEGOs to make assembly at the plant simple. Hardest part of the whole process were the transmission lines to the radiator. They use those pesky Jiffy-Tite clips -- and even with the special Lisle tool they were a royal pain.

[slip knot]

From what I'm seeing, an evap swap is SOP now days with any A/C work. Good call on the schrader valves, Those are notorius for leaking.

[muddy]

From what I'm seeing, an evap swap is SOP now days with any A/C work. Good call on the schrader valves, Those are notorius for leaking.

Evaporators on new vehicles are s nightmare to replace.

Sent from my Twisted Mind Of The Mudman

[muddy]

Great job Ray. How do you find working on today's cars compared to cars back in the day?

Sent from my Twisted Mind Of The Mudman

[goodfellow]

Great job Ray. How do you find working on today's cars compared to cars back in the day?

Sent from my Twisted Mind Of The Mudman

No comparison Tim. They're built better, the overall quality is better, they're more reliable (for the most part), and they last a lot longer than their 60's, 70's, and 80's counterparts. That said, modern cars require more rigorous basic maintenance and upkeep, and the micro electronics in these cars are a PITA to maintain and diagnose. Quality control in modern automotive electronics is often very lacking.

[fatfillup]

Good catch on the extra parts needed.  Good luck getting her back together

[stokester]

You many want to change oil and filter too.  With that access you won't burn your hand and arms on the cat when taking off the filter.  Then there was the risk of dumping the filter oil on the alternator when extracting it from the top.  I changed out a few of those after the customer made a trip to Jiffy-Lube.

I avoided those vehicles for oil changes when I was at the Chevy shop.   

[goodfellow]

You many want to change oil and filter too.  With that access you won't burn your hand and arms on the cat when taking off the filter.  Then there was the risk of dumping the filter oil on the alternator when extracting it from the top.  I changed out a few of those after the customer made a trip to Jiffy-Lube.

I avoided those vehicles for oil changes when I was at the Chevy shop.   

I did exactly that Nick. Took care of all the "gotcha" items while they were easily accessible.

[muddy]

Great job Ray. How do you find working on today's cars compared to cars back in the day?

Sent from my Twisted Mind Of The Mudman

No comparison Tim. They're built better, the overall quality is better, they're more reliable (for the most part), and they last a lot longer than their 60's, 70's, and 80's counterparts. That said, modern cars require more rigorous basic maintenance and upkeep, and the micro electronics in these cars are a PITA to maintain and diagnose. Quality control in modern automotive electronics is often very lacking.

I agree. Every time I hear someone say "they don't make them like they used to" I kinda laugh inside. Not they don't, but they make them better.  Tighter tolerances and finer quality control makes a big difference. Today's cars will easily run 100,000 + miles.

However like you said it's 10 lbs of crap in a 5 pound bag. And we're already seeing electronic components failing and not being able to repair or available.

Sent from my Twisted Mind Of The Mudman

[fatfillup]

As to quality of cars and trucks and longevity, absolutely far better then it used to be compared to mid 80's and back. 

By late 90's, cars were going big miles without major issues.  Those were still decent to work on.  (some exceptions)

Problem with modern cars is a DIYer can't do a lot (except for Ray ) and the electronics can be expensive to fix and hard to diagnose. 

In some ways the pendulum is swinging the other way as it always does.

What I like about modern cars,
Power, no shortage of HP
Braking, 4 wheel disc are great
Navigation built in


What I don't like about modern cars
Trucks are too damn high
Low profile tires are expensive and don't ride as well
Complicated electronics
NON GREASABLE STEERING COMPONENTS

[goodfellow]

Absolutely right Phil! Even though we have these modern marvels of technology, in 30 or 40 years will anyone remember them fondly? Will they hold them in the same regard and restore them in the way our generation embraced the cars of our youth (i.e., 60's, 70's. and 80's cars) ? --- I don't think so.

With few exceptions, no one will give a hoot about the current crop of cars. They will be quickly forgotten. Even if someone were to try to restore one of these cars, chances are that there won't be any computer modules available to make them drivable again. There's already a shortage of electronic components for cars produced over 10 years ago. In 30 years there probably won't be any aftermarket support for anything on the road today.

[Lookin4_67GalaxieConv]

Today's cars feel 100% disposable.  There's some cars from the '80s and even '90s that have some sentiment.  I can't think of anything being built today that will.

[fatfillup]

Today's cars feel 100% disposable.  There's some cars from the '80s and even '90s that have some sentiment.  I can't think of anything being built today that will.

I disagree, there are some that will be desirable

Think of the special Challengers, Mustangs and Camaros, not to mention some of the BMW M class
Most anything over 400 HP will have some future interest I would think

Now the generic cars we drive daily, yep nothing special but that has always been true to some degree