Log 2014101001

I think this is the 7th day that I've been working on my 2008 Chevy HHR LS's rear drum brakes. They just wouldn't stop making noise no matter how many times I disassembled, reassembled, and pressed the brake pedal to center the shoes... the noise just wouldn't stop! Every time that I'd apply the weight of a wheel to the studs, it's rotation would start to cease. Then it would get worse with each lug nut that I hand tighten on.

Finally, I realized something that wasn't there before. I had my parking brake cables detached from the shoes because one was previously broken. Well, I replaced the bad one, connected them to the system and tightened the system all the way down the adjustment stem of the parking break pedal.

So, I disassembled both wheels again, and separated the shoes from the parking brake cables. I then reassembled both sides and attached the parking brake cables as they were untensioned this time. Well, I got rid of the grinding noise, but right now, I need to tension them more.

Log 2014091901

The current mileage on my 2008 Chevy HHR LS is as pictured.

I had cause to check the rear drum brakes for fallen hardware. Turns out the the spring in the rear driver's side drum did fall, but the rear passenger's side remained mounted. But I have reason to believe that the drums are warped. That's because neither side would re-mount with out an excessive amount of coaxing. Tensioning too little will make the spring's hook too loose to stay in its hole, causing it to come unmounted, then the tension rod drops to the bottom of the brake shoes and starts rubbing on the drum as it rotates when the car's in motion.

If it's too tight, the tensioner is too far out and the drum won't mount. And I think that my rotary are warped because I'm unable to find the "happy medium" that mounts the drum and keeps the spring tensioned at the same time.

On the rear driver's side, I was able to get it on, but wasn't able to rotate the drum. But the car rolled down the driveway and down the street afterwards. As for the passenger's side rear tensioning spring... last time when I serviced the brakes, I cheated mounted it's hook further on another hole. I wonder what the implications of that will be?

Log 2014062101

The right rear brake was bled, then a new left front wheel bearing, left front shock/ strut assembly and right front fender was installed installed today. I forgot to take a mileage then, but the one I have now is at 136,251 miles on the odometer.  I did forget to rotate the wheels, but if I have to get the tire stems replaced, I might as well have those mechanics do it since they have a lift and are in the neighborhood.  My 2008 Chevy HHR LS requires that they be rotated front to back and back to front.  I did it last time and it can tip if the side on my CUV is jacked up too much.

So, I've done about the maintenance that I have to skills currently to do.  I took it out for about a 10 mile drive on the freeway this morning and everything seems to run as it should.  The brake pedal position seemed to improved and so far the car is taking well to the new DOT 4 brake fluid that I added prior to this drive, but still needs improvement.  If I had to, I'd say that it could handle the roads in southern Ohio, towing a loaded utility hauling trailer as it is.  But I'd like it to be better.

Right now, I have to go find my uncle who knows several mechanics.  They're all friends of the family and have worked on our vehicles many times.  I'll have to give him a list and would like to do that tomorrow.  But tomorrow is Saturday and I have a feeling that I know where he's going to be, which is at his camper in Sandusky of Erie County. He doesn't do text messages very well.  So, I anticipate my day tomorrow as consisting of doing a load of laundry and then spending the weekend out there.

One thing that I was not able to do while I was out was test the car to see if the new air filter would alleviate the problem that starts at 60MPH while trying to accelerate going slightly uphill.  It was raining this morning and was almost flash flood conditions on the freeway today.  So, I will test it some other time.

I don't think that this kind of information is on the web yet, but on the topic of building a teardrop camper on a Harbor Freight 4 x 8 Utility Hauling Trailer in Ohio... In the past, I have learned that there is a way to build a way to do it so that the living amenities slide off so you can still have use of your utility hauling trailer.  When I had my utility hauling trailer titled, I inquired about this and was informed by a Deputy Clerk of Court in Lake County that a "convertible" trailer like this would not be legal in Ohio because the trailer has to be registered one way, or the other... either a utility hauling trailer, or a camper and it can not be both.

Log 2014061301

I bled the right rear brake line today and moved to the front left wheel afterwards. The new shock & strut was mounted in the shock housing, but remains unfolded at this time as I'm working on that side's wheel bearing, too. I was able to dismount it, unlike last time where I gave up and had the mechanic do it. Basically, with the strut/ shock dismounted from the wheel bearing, I was able to push back the axle, turn it downward and I started beating it with a metal claw hammer until it fell out.

I just now discovered that the auto parts store sold me an ABS replacement wheel bearing. My car does not have ABS and the product that they gave me is not compatible with my car. So, I'll be making a return later today.

Right now, while I'm down there, just like the other side, I have to install another stabilizer bar link there, too. Well, just recently, I picked up some Diablo Steel Demon blades for my Sawzall.  And so far, they work impressively well. It cut through the stabilizer bar link "in no time flat." But I'm not done cutting the inside nut and bolt that is attached to the stabilizer bar.

There's not a lot of room to work with and things are kinda crampt working with the Sawzall in that wheel well.  In the future, I anticipate that this part of the job will take at least 45 minutes and 4 of the before mentioned Diablo blades.

Sawzall blades get really hot when cutting metal. I learned on the Internet to use a spray bottle of water to cool the blade and surface being cut. Bleeding the brakes and changing the manual tranmission still remain on my task list for this wheel. Other than that, work on the left rear wheel and front right wheels still remain as well as a tire rotation.

For the record... my touring tires that are on the car should last until it's at 204,000 miles.

Log 2014061201

So, my brother came over to assist me with bleeding my brakes. But as indicated in a previous log, I didn't have the right wrench to open the bleeding nut on my Chevy HHR's. So, I moved on to smaller items and replaced the air filter and the one in the cabin instead.

The current milage on the car today is 136,231mi.

I purchased two more wheel chalks for about $4 each at Walmart in Mentor of Lake County. 

I purchased new screws to bore into my manual transmission shaft and finally hold my after market T shifter in.

Earlier this evening, I cyphoned the old brake fluid out of the master cylinder and replaced it with new DOT 4 fluid. But at this time, the air in my brake lines has not been bled yet.

I purchased new clear hose that will fit around my brake caliper bleeder nuts. The other end of the hose will be inserted in a modified Gatorade bottle and I'm hoping that I'll be able to observe their stream by sticking my head out of the window or watching in my rear view mirrors as I pump the pedal from the driver's seat.

I have my repair strategy laid out in my "Construction" task list tomorrow because each brake caliper has to be bled one at a time, while some of the wheel sites have other tasks to perform there as well.

Log 2014061101

The brake bleeder valve bolt on the rear drum brake caliper requires a 5/16ths wrench. The metric equivalent is not precise enough and will round it. So today, I purchased a new 1/4" and 5/16" SAE wrenches from Lowe's in Mentor of Lake County for about $5 each.

Log 2013091601

filling master cylinder
I do not prefer using a cyphon pump. I can't get it to pump yet with out plugging one end with my thumb.
My trailer will now carry DOT3 Brake Fluid, a corrosive chemical.
I rebuilt the right rear brake system today and installed a new brake cylinder at 126,563 miles on my 2008 Chevy HHR.  It seems to be working.  But my brake pedal goes almost all the way to the floor.  Also, a new cabin air filer was installed.
I changed the oil, but later found out that I purchased the wrong oil filter. So, I test drove the car afterwards.  It does brake, but still, my foot goes all the way to the floor. At present, I believe that it will still haul my trailer, but on county roads and under 45MPH. The trailer's light enough for me to pick up still.  At present, I guess that my next camp, Harrison Lake State Park will be about 45 miles from here.
I can rule out the hydrolic brake system's master cylinder as a problem since the brakes were responding today. That leaves only one problem to check... When the previous brake cylinder was destroyed, it unleashed an ample supply of hydrolic brake fluid inside the drum.  At which time, the seals on the hydrolic fluid ruptured, causing air to get in the lines.  That air needs to be relieved by bleeding the fluid to that brake only.
Now, I just hand crafted a "2nd person." Apparently, somebody needs to depress the brake, while another person releases one of the brake's relief nuts under the car.  That "2nd person" is a hand crafted 2" x 2" made to fit between the driver's seat and the depressed brake pedal.  What I have to do is release the nut and watch for air bubbles in the leaking brake fluid, while at the same time monitoring the brake fluid resevoir under the hood to make sure it doesn't run out of fluid in the process. She (the car) just has to get me to Harrison and I'll have all the time in the world to get done there.  Right now, because of the state campsite maximum stay is 14 days, my time will be up in about 40 hours from now, or 1300hrs on the 18th. She'll do it so long as I bleed it at Harrison.
While I was out, I drove to Napoleon on the old Buckeye Trail route, where I picked up 5 quarts of oil, the proper oil filter, a wire spark plug gapper, a 3/8th nut socket for the oil filter canister and some shop towels. Tomorrow, I plan to spend the day packing and maybe do some more tune ups and repairs.

Log 2013082401

There's no point in waiting until tomorrow to leave.  I think I'll leave tonight.  I think that the ear shaped piece that is supposed to hold a spring on my right rear brake shoe is floating around the drum somewhere and a couple days ago, the top of the shoe lost contact with its piston.
I'm going to my parent's camper in Sandusky next and its only 42mi.  I think I'd rather service it there.

Log 2013071501

2008 Chevy HHR LS had both rear struts replaced at 124,144 miles on the odometer.  Brake shoes, pads, discs and drums were replaced sometime around 124,115 miles.  I still have yet to change the driver's side front ball bearing, engine oil and bolts to the plastic air filter manifold that were lost after a professional oil change.  It still remains uncertain as to whether the new struts lifted the back end enough to keep the hitch from scraping the ground when the car and trailer go over a raised curb, or back down from one.

This past week, gear was obtained from storage, which includes:

4L Water Bladder and drink tube
8GB Flash Drive
Two empty plastic containers
A small bottle of Febreze
A small bottle of water with approximately 8% Clorox Bleach
Sleeping bag compactor, size M
Blue jacketed speaker wire
Powered 7 port USB hub
Bluetooth wireless keyboard and trackball combination unit
75ft of outdoor extension cord

This week, the roof rack bag, music, cookware and laptop bags were all weatherproofed.  The 40lb weight vest was also used this past week.  So far, the repairs had little positive effect on the unit's performance and running with it is out of the question. 

Months ago, I requested an offline PDF copy of the Haynes repair manual for my HHR.  And from the reply email I received, I was under the impression that they have no desire to either make such a product, or even consider it.  They have a web version, but its no good to me if I'm somewhere remote.  I bring this up because the manual was stored in the laptop bag on the roof rack prior to the weatherproofing.  This past week, I was able to use a blow dryer to dry out its pages and save it.  The manual belongs in a pouch behind the driver's seat and I can place it there from now on.  But what if I use it in the car, but my wet, sopping hands have to turn the pages when it's raining outside?  I once considered taking a razor to its binding, then placing it's pages through an Automatic Document Feeder and making my PDF copy of it.  But, I'm not sure that the wheels in scanner's ADF will handle it's newsprint pages without tearing it up?  And now that it's damaged, I'd have to purchase a new manual to get it done.