Tiny,

If you don't post up pics of what you are doing I will get a giant case of the ****!

 

May have mixed up the tranny lines at the pan. Except it only seems to fit one way.

 

I managed to get it figured out, I think, and I was in the process of fighting with the little retainer clips when, suddenly: rain. So, no after-dark-under-the-Jeep for me.

I've got bags over the transmission cooler lines [the bags they came in, actually], and, assuming tomorrow isn't absolutely horrible, I'm going to be back out there.

This time I swear there's only a day of work left. Damned quick connects.

I ended up having to cut the lines at the fittings, because they would not come out, no matter how much I sprayed [and I've been spraying them, only missed a day].

The parts of the day not spent under the car were spent cleaning up the gasket surfaces for the water pump and the thermostat...which I will probably do again when it's time to put them back in. And there was two more runs to OReilly [I keep wanting to call them O RLY, because that owl is pretty much the expression on my face every time I figure out I have to go back there]--one for a small, close-quarters tube cutter, and another when I discovered that the guy at the counter gave me the wrong size hose for the heater control valve. I *still* have this horrible feeling that something's off there. I can work on some of it inside, though.

As for pictures, there's only one, taken by the guy I live with [who is not the roommate]. He's the one who keeps running to the stores for me, and the reason I didn't stop dead at draining the transmission fluid, and the reason that one of the two disconnects got out.

It's kinda funny. Neither of us knows anything about cars. I pretty much knew enough, going into this, to change the oil or replace a headlight. He's a novelist. But, thanks to the internet, I'm figuring these things out, and he's following my lead.

Anyway, the sun was just about behind the mountains, I was under the car feeding the new transmission lines in, using every last bit of my...probably thirty years of videogame navigation experience to work out the up-down-left-right of it all, and I'd just stopped because I'd forgotten which quick connect got which line. So it was right around the time of my post about that.

So, yeah: under the Jeep, using my phone to look things up. It seemed weird enough to be picture-worthy to both of us.

Later, after getting a bit of transmission fluid on me, I jammed my phone into a ziplock because phones are expensive.

So, here's that, anyway.

Seriously offtopic question, yet relevant: how do you wash clothes that you spilled transmission fluid on? Any pro-tips there?

 

Scrubbing it with Dawn dishwashing liquid seems to work as well as anything.

 

"how do you wash clothes that you spilled transmission fluid on?"
I rub goop on all my auto related stains.. then wash as normal.

 

Those are now designated as work on jeep clothes. Your jeep has now marked its owner .

 

...progress halted due to snow.

Also, I seem to have angered many lesser used muscles.

...damn quick connect ends.

And I'm mostly worried about fire or machine damage with the clothes.

Tomorrow should be warmer. I can get back out there then. And put things back in.

I think I already know what's next. Engine mounts. And I'm completely out of luck there, because of the tilt of my driveway and my lack of a way to support the engine.

Also, I bet those really require proper torque.

 

Your gonna need help with those.

 

Yeah. I figured. I wish I knew someone. Maybe I know someone who knows someone.

 

Whose got a pry bar ...

 

Tranny lines back in their little brackets. Water pump on. Thermostat sealed up.

Progress!

Update: progress halted. I went to put on the new serpentine belt, and discovered that I'd managed to get the wrong one. So, I guess the old one will have to do for now.

Also, I had to pack it in because the temperature dropped rapidly for no apparent reason.

Well, almost no apparent reason. It is February, and this is Colorado.

 

How much ATF did you get out by draining the trans oil pan and pulling the trans cooler lines & couplers off?

 

I do not know yet. The old fluid is currently safe in a special sealed pan.

And yeah, I'm gonna get another belt. I was all set to finish up today when it seemed to drop ten degrees in one minute. Either my driveway got really, really haunted all of the sudden, or Ragnarok started in Colorado.

Or a bunch of clouds moved in and covered the only thing making it seem warm.

Could've been done today if that hadn't happened.

Or if I'd just gone out there an hour earlier, maybe, but I was trapped on the phone with the VA trying to track down a prescription.

 

Got the heater control valve in, and the hoses all hooked up. That took a bit longer than expected, and I'm honestly a little wary of them because holy ****, what if I didn't get them on far enough and they just explode off for no reason?

I got the radiator in today, too. That lower transmission cooler line really just clicks right into place when everything's shiny and new. That's just slightly annoying.

Things were a bit slow and scattered today, but I had to at least try to make some progress.

I blame the weird, shifting weather. No, really. It's a migraine trigger, and not the fun 'make everything dark right now or when I'm able to move again I will hurt you' migraines. Basilar type--it feels like someone's grabbed you by the base of your skull, somehow gotten their fingers inside, and is squeezing harder than humanly possible. The slightest wrong step can be so painful you almost pass out. Pain like that does funny things, like convince you that a silent little tool elf has come along and stolen the screwdriver you're currently holding.

Yes, this actually happened. "Where's my screwdriver?" "I don't know." "Nevermind. It was in my left hand."

So: that's my excuse for terrible progress on an otherwise warm day.

 

Dr. Ken says...

Stick your fingers down your throat and make yourself puke. This will cure your headache.