Washed it and changed the oil. 15 miles away from 200k!

 

Waxed it at 4 am b c in a caffeine overload sugar overload situation

 

I walked by my L today does that count?

 

Left my SC2 in the garage with just about every automotive and general tool in a tool box which I had to
--pull the drawers from
--rotate the empty tall toolbox itself on two different axes to get it behind the passenger seat, into the rear seat without damaging the headliner
--find out there is NO orientation besides laying on its back that (the lid can be opened far enough to retract the slide bars that secure the drawers when closed)
--find out it's really hard to hold a tool tray w 25-30 lbs of tools in it steady enough to reattach it to the rails, one of which you can't see because it you rotate the box to see it, there isn't enough clearance to put the tray in. And I'm too stubborn to unload the drawers because I just cleaned and organized my toolbox 3 days prior
--find out how heavy all of these tools + case actually are while trying to maneuver the whole thing up against the back seat to hold the drawers closed for the trip

This was/is for a trip to Atlanta to tear down the dash of my niece's 2004 Nissan Titan pickup jut to replace the blend door actuator. $1400 at the dealership. Otherwise she and the kids wear blankets in the winter. Her husband is an xxxxx and they are getting divorced and I am not touching any of his tools.
I could go down and just buy cheap tools at lowes or lord forbid a Sears that hasn't been shut down to buy the more obscure tools now of lesser quality than home depot's if they made them. But i will eventually be on a goose chase for something I can't find and don't have enough time for Amazon prime to bail me out. I only have a few days to get down there, fix it and get back, I will likely pull the trays and put them in the trunk with covers between so they don't puke tools on bumps;
I'm sure I don't need 90% of it and have a good idea of what holds on what, but I can find no writeup on the net specifying connectors, order, etc I even found the FSM for the truck online (100% complete) that does not seem to mention how to pull the dash. yes I know to disconnect the battery and wait 30 min for the SRS module to bleed its reserve charge, though being struck in the face with an airbag might break my nose along with my neck and I could get a nose job.

 

Derf, maybe this will help a little bit? It's for an 06.

 

And I found this one for an 08. I don't know if there's that much difference from 04 to 08 or not. At least it will give you a general idea of what's involved. Figure 4-6 hours.

 

Godspeed derf. Today my Saturn passed the 200k mark!

 

Rube, you rock!

I had seen the first one which is great for showing how it works, what goes wrong, and equally importantly, the orientation of the actual actuator in the vehicle.

The owner, my niece, bruised her arms getting the front two screws out that hold the actuator in place. She did this by going in through the glovebox cavity, removing the heater core cover shield, and jamming her little hands in there. but the third screw is way in the f'ing back and she has muscular forearms so she could not get to it.

I am much more motivated to tightly wrap my forearms in saran wrap then duct tape to compress and keep the saran wrap in place without tearing as I jam my forearms in there. I would rather bleed profusely while removing this through the glovebox and replacing the actuator, which is, in addition to the slide popping off the peg, a problem because the internal gears on the actuator motor wear out as well. The **** always lands back in the track so although I'd like to find a way to keep the two from separating, I do not have time to do the fix in the video, nor do I know where the other end of that strap attaches to. Looks like he jb welded it as I see no screws nor welding. Plus he doesn't say whether he replaces the actuator or not. I would since I'd never want to do that again.

So I will spend a few hours bleeding before I do the dash as a last ditch approach. The other options are to rubberband the **** to the slider in the position that is full heat and deal with it in the spring OR the **** game he plays at the very beginning of the video. I would put the two front screws back in first, and then the next time she can come up HERE with the truck, I'll take the dash off OR totally shred my forearms going after the back screw FIRST.
------------

I had not seen the second vid which will now allow me to only break half as nuch as I otherwise would have. Seriously, priceless find
But hey, it's family. If I have to bleed for family, then I will bleed for family.

 

Always happy to help, derf. Let us know how it turns out and be careful in your travels.

 

This thread has been badly neglected.

Today I listened to rain overnight hitting my Saturn SC2 in the driveway while I waxed, wheel cleaned, cleaned and rain x d all glass, and tire shined the Escape for the upcoming winter.