As you know, spilled a bunch of oil in the asphalt parking lot of my apartment building last post.
Trying to be a good neighbor and tenant, I attempted to clean it up using some remedies I found online. First I covered it in kitty litter, rubbed it in and then swept it up. Unfortunately, it seems that the recommended kitty litter is the clay kind and I only had silica crystals. Still, they seemed to do their job. The liquid oil is mostly gone, and the smaller crystals turned brown, so I was just left with a stain.
Next, the internet said to scrub it with detergent. Once again, I failed to have the prescribed type. They call for powder, and I had liquid. I poured it on, scrubbed with a brush, let it sit, and rinsed it away. Unfortunately, this did not work so well, and the parking lot is still stained. I suspect it will go away with time, as the asphalt will absorb the oil, but I may try the powdered detergent at a later date.
Dishsoap was also great at removing oil from me, so that may also be worth a shot.
UPDATE: The powdered detergent actually did a pretty good job. You need A LOT of water to rinse it away though, so make sure you have a hose or rain on the the way. I don't recommend schlepping a tiny wastebasket from your kitchen like I did.
Sunday, July 8, 2012
In which I work on my transmission and make an absolute mess
My car is a 2001 Toyota Corolla (stick shift) which I bought from a lady in my neighborhood with 120k on it. It currently has 150k on it. I call it Blue Cyanide because it is blue and it has CN in the license plate. I don't know about you, but I cannot see CN without thinking of cyanide.
Blue Cyanide makes noise and has some things wrong with it.
It rattles in the front because the heat shield is loose
It clunks in the back for a reason that I have not been able to identify
The check engine light goes on periodically because the canister vent valve is broken.
It has spent it's life in New England without a garage and consequently is totally rusted out and a total bitch to work on. I am not going to fix these things because they don't matter and are expensive and/or difficult.
Recently, it has been making a new noise. The transmission (transaxle) kind of makes a reving noise when it is in 3-5th gear. I know it is the transmission because, (a) it comes from that location (b) it only happens in gear, clutch engaged, and (c) if you take your foot off the gas, it stops for a second while the transmission goes from pushing the wheels to being pushed by them, and then begins again.
If you look in the Haynes manual, all of the things that cause transmission noise are marked with a "don't try this at home" star. Except: Low fluid. The tranny is nocibly covered in oily grime, so I thought it might be leaking. So I decided to try to top it off.
Tools needed:
24mm Socket
Funnel with hose
API GL5 75W90 gear oil
Socket wrench and cheater bar
Jack and jack stands
Liquid Wrench or other penetrant
WHAT HAPPENED
Now, I think my first step is where I made my mistake. I jacked up the car. Don't jack up the car. Or if you do do this either: Jack up all four corners, or jack it up at a strategically relevant time (See below).
Manual transmission fluid is filled through a fill hole on the front of the transmission, which is way down where the axle is. There is no dip stick. You are supposed to take out the bolt, stick your finger in to check it, and add oil till it comes spilling out the hole. Because of this, the car should be level when you do it <sigh>.
I figured that because the fill hole was in the front, it would be reasonable to jack up the front of the car while I removed the bolt, because the oil would sit in the back of the trans. Then I could lower it to check the level. This would probably be fine if I had jacked up both sides, but I only jacked up the left side, because that was where the trans is and I could get to the bolts from there.
I loosened the bolt with the 24mm socket and a cheater bar from the top. This was my first surprise. It turns out, because of some plastic cowling on the bottom of the car, you are way better off doing everything with the fill hole from the top of the engine, fishing your arms around the battery and other components. This obviates the need to jack the car.
Of course, I did not know this, so after I loosened the bolt from the top, I climbed under the car to remove it. At this point, I was covered by the oil flowing out the fill hole and onto the parking lot. Yuck. If it wasn't low on oil before, it was now. I sopped up the oil that I could, lowered the car, and figured out how to replace the oil I had lost.
AutoZone sells a gray "transmission funnel" with a hose attachment for this purpose. The hose is not really long enough, but it will work. Jam the funnel itself between the battery and the intake hose, and then fish the tube into the fill hole in the trans. The extra inches from jamming in the funnel is all you need. Then I poured in some oil until it started to dribble out.
This is where I get unsure. I only added about half a quart of oil. It certainly seemed to have gushed more than that, but of course it seems like a lot when it is all over your arm. There it was, dribbling out the fill hole like it was supposed to though. When I stuck in my pinky (the only finger that would fit), I couldn't feel the oil surface, but it came out covered in oil. Same with the screwdriver I stuck in. So I put the bolt back in and tried to clean the parking lot.
RESULTS
When I first drove the car, the noise was gone. But I had just filled it, so there was probably oil all over everything. When I drove it the next day, the noise was back. The next thing to try was a full oil change, so I drove to autozone to get more gear oil. However, on the way home from autozone, no more noise.
I will drive it this week, and if the noise is back, I'll change the oil next weekend. The drain hole is a bit caked over, so I don't want to try to take it out if I don't have to.
NEXT TIME
Here is the plan for next time:
1. Loosen, but do not remove fill plug (It is important to make sure you can remove fill plug before removing drain plug.
2. Jack up front left side of car.
3. Remove drain plug with oil pan underneath.
4. Lower car
5. Remove fill plug
6. Allow oil to drain
7. Jack up front left side of car
8. Replace drain plug
9. Lower car
10. Using funnel and tube, add three quarts of oil. The trans should hold 2.7quarts, and the excess should come out, so there should be no question about how full it is.
11. Replace fill plug
Blue Cyanide makes noise and has some things wrong with it.
It rattles in the front because the heat shield is loose
It clunks in the back for a reason that I have not been able to identify
The check engine light goes on periodically because the canister vent valve is broken.
It has spent it's life in New England without a garage and consequently is totally rusted out and a total bitch to work on. I am not going to fix these things because they don't matter and are expensive and/or difficult.
Recently, it has been making a new noise. The transmission (transaxle) kind of makes a reving noise when it is in 3-5th gear. I know it is the transmission because, (a) it comes from that location (b) it only happens in gear, clutch engaged, and (c) if you take your foot off the gas, it stops for a second while the transmission goes from pushing the wheels to being pushed by them, and then begins again.
If you look in the Haynes manual, all of the things that cause transmission noise are marked with a "don't try this at home" star. Except: Low fluid. The tranny is nocibly covered in oily grime, so I thought it might be leaking. So I decided to try to top it off.
Tools needed:
24mm Socket
Funnel with hose
API GL5 75W90 gear oil
Socket wrench and cheater bar
Jack and jack stands
Liquid Wrench or other penetrant
WHAT HAPPENED
Now, I think my first step is where I made my mistake. I jacked up the car. Don't jack up the car. Or if you do do this either: Jack up all four corners, or jack it up at a strategically relevant time (See below).
Manual transmission fluid is filled through a fill hole on the front of the transmission, which is way down where the axle is. There is no dip stick. You are supposed to take out the bolt, stick your finger in to check it, and add oil till it comes spilling out the hole. Because of this, the car should be level when you do it <sigh>.
I figured that because the fill hole was in the front, it would be reasonable to jack up the front of the car while I removed the bolt, because the oil would sit in the back of the trans. Then I could lower it to check the level. This would probably be fine if I had jacked up both sides, but I only jacked up the left side, because that was where the trans is and I could get to the bolts from there.
I loosened the bolt with the 24mm socket and a cheater bar from the top. This was my first surprise. It turns out, because of some plastic cowling on the bottom of the car, you are way better off doing everything with the fill hole from the top of the engine, fishing your arms around the battery and other components. This obviates the need to jack the car.
Of course, I did not know this, so after I loosened the bolt from the top, I climbed under the car to remove it. At this point, I was covered by the oil flowing out the fill hole and onto the parking lot. Yuck. If it wasn't low on oil before, it was now. I sopped up the oil that I could, lowered the car, and figured out how to replace the oil I had lost.
AutoZone sells a gray "transmission funnel" with a hose attachment for this purpose. The hose is not really long enough, but it will work. Jam the funnel itself between the battery and the intake hose, and then fish the tube into the fill hole in the trans. The extra inches from jamming in the funnel is all you need. Then I poured in some oil until it started to dribble out.
This is where I get unsure. I only added about half a quart of oil. It certainly seemed to have gushed more than that, but of course it seems like a lot when it is all over your arm. There it was, dribbling out the fill hole like it was supposed to though. When I stuck in my pinky (the only finger that would fit), I couldn't feel the oil surface, but it came out covered in oil. Same with the screwdriver I stuck in. So I put the bolt back in and tried to clean the parking lot.
RESULTS
When I first drove the car, the noise was gone. But I had just filled it, so there was probably oil all over everything. When I drove it the next day, the noise was back. The next thing to try was a full oil change, so I drove to autozone to get more gear oil. However, on the way home from autozone, no more noise.
I will drive it this week, and if the noise is back, I'll change the oil next weekend. The drain hole is a bit caked over, so I don't want to try to take it out if I don't have to.
NEXT TIME
Here is the plan for next time:
1. Loosen, but do not remove fill plug (It is important to make sure you can remove fill plug before removing drain plug.
2. Jack up front left side of car.
3. Remove drain plug with oil pan underneath.
4. Lower car
5. Remove fill plug
6. Allow oil to drain
7. Jack up front left side of car
8. Replace drain plug
9. Lower car
10. Using funnel and tube, add three quarts of oil. The trans should hold 2.7quarts, and the excess should come out, so there should be no question about how full it is.
11. Replace fill plug
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