2002 Dodge Caravan Radiator Repair

This is me holding the worn out radiator I removed from my 2002 Dodge Caravan. My red, 2005 Caravan is in the background also.

My 2002 Dodge Caravan has had a leaky radiator for quite some time. I put some Bars leak in it a while back and it seemed to slow the leak considerably. Recently it has gotten worse. A close inspection showed I needed to replace the unit. I bought one at Auto Zone. It came to $151.00 and change, including tax. Removing the old one & installing the new on was easy. There are 5 small screws that hold a splash shield in place. The sheild spans the width of the radiator and is located on top of the radiator area. A cross member that secures the upper part of the radiator was removed by removing 4 bolts. All on top, easy to see and access. Two cooling fans held in place by a single screw each, also easy to see & get at. Unplug the electric connections to the fans. set the fans aside. Undo the upper & lower radiator hoses, lift out the old radiator. Put the new on in place & reattach everything. The entire job took me one hour and forty minutes. That time includes cleaning up and putting all of the tools away. It was a pretty nice day for working on it outdoors: 30 degrees, partly sunny, no wind. I hope all is well in your world.

Roofing, Glen Campbell

Here is waht's going on lately. I am a land lord. The tenant in my upper apartment on Franklin St., Watertown recently moved out. I noticed that the closet in the bedroom showed evidence of a leaky roof. I inspect the roof outside and see that it is in terrible shape. Evidently it has been leaking for quite some time and the tenant did not let me know. Anyhow, my celebrity brother and my brother Rocket R. and I have begun stripping off the old roof and are in the process of nailing down a new one. Asphalt shingles. This follows on the heels of me just replacing the garage roof at the same place.
Two nights ago I had to photograph a Section III Class AA boys soccer game final in Liverpool, NY. It went into two overtimes, ended in a shoot out. I got home at 12:30 in the evening. In bed at 1:00AM. Up Tuesday at 7:00AM. It was election day. So I met brother Rocket at the Franklin St house at 9:00am. I worked there until 3:00 in the afternoon. Hard work. Slipped on the roof and twisted my shoulder. Slipped on a ladder & skinned both shins. At 3:00 I drove to Fulton for election day coverage. From there I went to Oswego to cover the mayors race. I got home from ther at 11:30. Had a glass of wine & was in bed by 1:00am. Got up this morning made coffee, had SHORT guitar practice (bummer!) met my brothers at Franklin st roof job at 9:30. Worked non stop until 5:30 at which time it was dark. We picked up tools and I went home. Watched Survivor on Tv. Then, I caught a part of the Country Music Awards. I posted the following on facebook after watching the Glen Campbell tribute: "I usually don't watch the Country Music Awards, BUT.. happened to catch the tribute to Glen Campbell. As a musician I just became SUPER CHARGED as I watched the great song writer Jimmy Webb embrace the equally great Glen Campbell at the end!. Two spirits whose paths crossed and the result was magic. I truly believe that music, beyond all other arts, proves the existence of God."

What a wonderful day I have had. Thank you Lord.

"I would have been content to just do studio work, making it on my own never really entered my mind."
Glen Campbell

Garage Roof Repair

The last few days have been really nice here in the North Country, not far from the Canadian border. The garage at my house on Franklin St in Watertown is in rough shape. It was so when I bought the place a few years ago. Badly in need of a new roof I finally went at it this week. I am simply applying a tin roof directly over the old shingle roof. One spot in the roof was so bad that I fell through it with one leg. For whatever reason, it was the only spot that was that bad. I was able to walk safely over the rest of surface. The rotten spot was six inches by 24 inches. In other words, one of the roofing boards had rotted out between the rafters.



I used a metal cutting blade on a Makita skill saw to cut the tin. Cutting the tin is potentially dangerous and is NOISY! So I use ear plugs and safety glasses. The safety glasses also double as sun glasses. $14.00 at Ace Hardware store. A photographer MUST protect his eyes.

Day 252: Garbage Disposal Woes

So I have some rental units. I like to have garbage disposals in them so that all the vermin attracting food scraps can be ground up and washed away. In my latest vacancy I discovered the disposal unit was not working properly. The ex tenant said he never used the thing. Anyway, I removed it, checked it out, discovered it had seized up due to lack of use. Simply put, the rotating thing inside was rusted together. Also, the unit had evidently been leaking & the tenant never informed me of it. Hence, the mounting ring and related hardware were all rusted & difficult to remove. I finally got it apart and got it cleaned up and working. But when I went to reinstall it I could not make it fit or lock into place. Try as I might, no go. These things are simple to install. I have installed half a dozen of them. Just a ring that turns to lock it in place. But it will not mate up. All I can figure is I must have deformed it somehow when I held it in a vice and cleaned the rust off with a wire brush attached to an electric drill. Today I am going to pick up a new one and see what happens.

I picked up a new garbage disposal at Home Cheapo, uh.. I mean Home Depot, it is a 1/2 horsepower Insinkerator Badger model 5-81. The one I removed was an Insinkerator Badger 5-75. They appear to be identical. Only difference I noticed was the way the discharge tube connects to the body of the unit. The new one slipped nicely into place and the mounting ring turned smoothly to lock the thing in place. On closer inspection of the old one I could see how the mounting ring became deformed, probably from over exertion when I removed it, breaking it free of the rust. The old one also showed evidence of internal leakage and rust inside the electrical connection chamber. It's been running well for about seven years. The new one cost $108.00 with the NY State sales tax. So, I would rather ave salvaged the old one and gotten 2 or 3 more years use out of it, but it wasn't really practical.

Need a photographer in Watertown or Syracuse New York? Call me, Gary Walts at 315-649-4174.

Hey, I can install garbage disposals too for a small fee!

Day 171: Home Work

Well, not home work in the usual sense, but work around the house. Today I have been tidying up the sidewalk project that leads to my back door. The pictures show it is pretty much finished. Still have to pick up a few scraps of debris. Did it all myself with help from a friend on one ten hour day, and from the Better Half, here and there. This was something I had never done befor. I had to dig out the earth, lay in some sand for a base, level it, lay in the 16" x 16" paver stones (actually some sort of concrete product), suround it with some edging, fill in the cracks with a polymeric sand mixture, and finally fill in the edges with some of the dirt I originally dug out. I worked at it alone on three different days for a solid ten hours each day. Then I had a ten hour day with help from a friend. So, for a 100 square foot area I gues I have invested about 40 hours. Hmmm... I think next time I can do it quicker, and better. Total cost for raw materials works out to $7.86 a square foot.




So today the first thing I did was get a fire going in the Chargriller and put a pork butt and two whole chickens in it for a long slow cook with Hickoty wood. From there I put in two plus hours on the guitar, and then proceeded to take care of a lot of small stuff, most related to the above side walk project. My celebrity brother will be stopping by later with some Dundee India pale Ale beer. Terrific. Hope all is well in your world. What a wonderful life.

Day 161: Walkway Project

It was foggy and warm in Chaumont, NY this morning at 7:00am. The following pictures are from a walkway I have been installing at my home. I had to dig up some large tree roots, excavate out some dirt, lay in some sand, and place the paving stones. It's been physically hard work, which I like. However, it has left me worn out, tired, too tired to give the blog any attention. There are only so many hours in a day and something must give. I am off to play guitar at Teaism in Clayton NY today, then guitar lessons at Musicology in Watertown. If not for that I could get the walk project completed today. Anyhow, the photos:

Day Seventyfive: Doing It Yourself

My Maytag Jetclean Dishwasher

Now listen up. In this day and age, thanks to the internet, it's easier than ever to be a do it yourselfer. Let's go back to my Maytag dishwasher as an example. First of all, I could have called an appliance repair guy to come to the house and fix it. The fee would be at least $125.00 for parts and labor. Maybe more. I found I could buy the part on the internet for $26.00 plus shipping. The local appliance repair place wanted $66.00 for it. Well, $40.00 is more than I am willing to pay for instant gratification. I need to save cash wherever I can, after all, I am a victim of this recession in more ways than one. So, I ordered the part online and did the job myself.

Here is how I went through the process. The dishwasher would not fill with water on the rinse cycle. Sometimes it would work, sometimes not. I go to Google and search that symptom. In a few minutes I learn that the water fill valve is most likely the culprit. I down load a PDF copy of the repair manual. I read a few postings from others who had the same problem and read their stories about fixing it themselves. Sounds like I am on the right track. Most of them said it took about a half an hour. Is that all? How hard could it be?

A brief digression:

In the pre-internet days when I would have a problem I would begin by talking to everyone I knew, telling them my problem, asking them if they had any experience, or knew what to do next. Very often I would get wrong advice or mixed advice. The library would never have the books, manuals, literature related to such a problem. Then, if you did know for sure what the problem was you would have to go for an extended search looking for the replacement parts. Invariably someone would sell you the wrong part. If you called a repair person you would be at their mercy with no way of determining if they were on the level with you, or taking advantage of you. Every time I had a furnace problem, an appliance problem, a car problem, (or one time I had a problem with bats in the house), I would go through all sorts of crap trying to take care of it. Sometimes I got screwed because I didn't have the knowledge. Well, the internet has changed all of that. Hallelujah!
Anyhow, the photo left is the defective water inlet valve. There are two wires that clip to the electric connector. Simple. The hot water supply line screws onto one port. Then a rubber fill hose clamps on the other port. Then the piece is mounted to the side wall of thye washer with two screws. Simple simple. Truly a half hour to an hour job, including searching for your pliers and screwdriver, and putting the tools away afterward.