When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
well...it wasn't what i had originally planned, but i got some new seats in my mini. i didn't get the back seats because i plan to remove them and build a platform.
i continue to drive after doing all the suspension and engine work. man, this car is so much more enjoyable when it's in good repair.
my washer jets have long been a problem for me. they are full derp with one going one direction and the other not even spraying. i swapped out some junk yard sprayers with no improvement, so i finally pulled the old ones.
\\\
the new sprayers are not heated nor are they even mini parts. they have only one jet per side.
these sprayers are great! they give a nice full misty coverage over the entire windshield. i snagged them off amazon, if anyone is curious.
now really, THIS is the car in its natural state...not on jack stands.
well...it appears i insufficiently tightened down the inner ball joints when i did the suspension work. that threw off the readings for my alignment as the bolts worked loose. in messing with this all, i decided i wanted to replace the ireland engineering fixed camber plates. i wanted to avoid the problematic OEM design and this was my best bet. however, i just feel like they have too much camber and i prioritize tire life over negative camber.
before i figured out the ball joints were working loose, i couldn't get the driver and passenger sides to align evenly. i decided to try my luck with some ebay adjustable camber plates. these appear to be knockoffs of the spc/eibach kit from a few years back.
Recently, I was doing a little investigation to a couple issues I've been seeing.
1) no right turn signal on my passenger front indicator
2) no horns
3) no low speed radiator fan
4) no driver front parking light
I tested the horns and they were both dead. I found some wolo horns at advance Auto on clearance and $5 bnib. So I snagged those.
The low speed fan was also dead. I used my power probe to hit it with juice and it did absolutely nothing.
The lights were fixed easily enough. Just a little wiggling of wires and they were in business.
The radiator fan was tyc but surprisingly made in Taiwan instead of China, so I'll take it.
I was able to replace it without removing the radiator, which was not a guarantee when I started. What I did, though, was use a clamp on the upper radiator hose. That was the difference.
Once I did that with the car In service mode, it was an easy remove and replace. Now I have a low speed, Horn, and full compliment of lights.
The horns are red, but whatever. They don't really show and they, again, just $5. I had to cut off the OEM connectors and use universal blade connectors. No biggie.
Last edited by phone_cover; May 3, 2025 at 05:59 AM.
i can't believe it's been since may that i updated this thread, kinda. i've been busy working on my bronco. however, i did have to do a little work last night...i'll post pics in a sec from my phone.
in the last couple weeks, i started to hear a groan coming from the front driver area of the car when driving. it would increase at speed. it didn't change when i revved the engine. it didn't change when i was in gear or coasting in neutral.
it gradually got louder from the first time i heard it over the time i continued to drive it. yesterday it was bad enough i got under the car. i had both front tires in the air and spun them by hand. i decided it was probably the wheel bearing. i am going on an 1 1/2 hour road trip this friday night, so i kinda needed to address it asap and didn't have time to order parts online and wait for shipping. so, i bit the bullet and bought essentially the only hub i could find for my 06 with the m14 wheel bolts @ $158. ouch.
in the end, it took me less than 2 hours start to finish and my new hub was in. took it for a test drive and the sound was gone. i didn't take a lot of pics b/c it's cold outside and i'm working in my driveway (my garage is currently full of bronco parts) and it was dark.
i was definitely aided by the fact i have recently had the entire front end in pieces, so nothing was stuck or stripped. i only had to pull the brakes and release the lower ball joint from the control arm. after that it was a simple remove and replace.
when the old hub came out there was some surface rust on the knuckle. that got hit with the wire brush then some rust reformer spray paint to help prevent future rust.
over the last few weeks, i've had another noise developing in the car. this time it was coming from the rear end. i was thinking it was one of the usual suspects: sway bar bushing, sway bar end link, or shock mount. however, i also accepted the possibility it could be the trailing arm bushing or control arm bushings. so, i bought end links. i already had the sway bar bushings. and then i bought bushings for the control and trailing arms and then dug in. (my rear shock mount bushings are already replaced with polyurethane so i didn't order those)
i also referenced this thread to remind myself what i'd already done to it. well, after i got into it ,i found a few things.
1) i was reminded that when i did all the front end work, i had done some rear suspension work, too.
2) sway bar end links were good as i replaced them already
3) sway bar bushings were fine. they were rubber bushings that i used b/c the PSB 16/17mm bushings didn't fit.
NOTE: i ordered 17mm bushings from powerflex for the rear sway bar for next time i get under there
4) i pulled the rear shocks and found that the shock mount nut had come loose.
i tighted the nut and reinstalled. the sound is pretty much gone.
i also was reminded that the driver rear shock is damaged. i got it tight again then put some blue loctite on it to hopefully keep it from coming loose again.
Last edited by phone_cover; Jan 12, 2026 at 10:14 AM.
alright, so i had been driving along no problems lately. then, i almost overheated. or i did overheat, potentially. my mechanical gauge was reading fine, but the dash temp gauge was getting on the hot side. then the mechanical gauge skyrocketed to 230+ then dropped right back off to normal.
well, i figured (correctly) i was losing coolant. after monitoring for a couple weeks and trying to figure it out, i finally traced it (i thought) to the thermostat. i pulled it and inspected. everything looked good, though.
i put it back together and the leak persisted.
then i continued to look and finally figured out that it was either the water pump itself or something connected to the water pump (water inlet to the block, i'm looking in your direction)
well, that water pump was replaced just about a year ago with a new gates water pump.
ultimately, i ordered a warranty replacement. when i pulled everything and inspected it, i didn't see any blatant or definitive evidence of a leak between the pump and the inlet, nor the inlet to the block. regardless, i replaced the inlet o-ring there and hit it with some RTV.
the old rubber o-ring and the felpro replacement that looks like it's made with PTFE.
inspecting the old water pump, i am 99% sure it was leaking from the weep hole. sadly, that means my ~16 month old water pump died.
my new water pump looks like it's more than 7 years old.
i installed the new one, and so far so good! also, it eliminated a noise i hadn't been able to track down. turns out the rattling at start up was my failing water pump.
hopefully this new one will last a little longer!
Last edited by phone_cover; Yesterday at 09:18 AM.
in other news, since i had the bypass valve already removed, i decided this was the best time to upgrade. i know the issues with the OEM yo-yo action was supposed to be fixed by the facelift years, but i've still had something kind of odd that seemed like it could be BPV related around 2500 RPM.
i thought i took pics, but don't see them now. i went with the detroit tuned bypass valve. i ordered it from outmotoring b/c they're geographically close to me and i hoped that would insure i got it before the water pump showed up. it ended up being drop shipped from detroit tuned directly, but still made it in time.
the throttle response is definitely improved. we'll see what happens with the acceleration anomaly and gas mileage, but i'm hopeful. the new BPV definitely has a noticeably stiffer spring.
