Ok, just got done with this a few hours ago, and it went fairly smoothly, except for my idea of putting the front on ramps before I jacked it up. Very, very dumb, but easily solved. I got two tubes of silicon from HDR, GE sink and bathtub sealant. This stuff is waterproof vs. the window sealant which is only water resistant, and is guaranteed not to shrink, crack, etc. but will maintain it's shape after cured. The window stuff is not. It was GE Silicon II, and maybe it was the non-shrinking that made it different from Ge Silicon I, I can't remember, but it seemed like this stuff was the ticket. The guy who wrote the vfaq said he used 3/4 of a tube, but it seemed like he only did the rear, hence my buying two tubes. I ended up using both, but if I hadn't squirted too much in the first one I think one tube would have been sufficient. I noticed that neither carrier bearing bushing was centered... with the driveshaft on wooden blocks, when I spun the bearing bracket and watched the inner edge (the outer edge changes thickness) I saw it wasn't true. Will this matter much when the silicon cures? It kind of seems like the rubber bushings on the bracket studs would take up that vibration, but I guess we'll find out.
But the Easter egg of the night turned out to be the gear oil on the first part of the driveshaft, coming from... the transfer case. /ubbthreads/images//graemlins/banghead.gif Not quite 10k miles ago I had the recall done at a dealership; they'll be getting a phone call from me. On the work order (I keep all records) the original typed notes read: INSPECT BOTH SIDES, REPLACED LEFT SIDE & RESEAL BOTH SIDES. I'm not sure what that means... doesn't even sound like they're talking about a xcase to me. Those notes were crossed out in pen, however, and handwritten underneath was: REPLACE SLEEVE YOKE AND REFILL TRANSFER CASE OIL. Now, I know that technically the recall was over the leaking rear seal, and that a replacement seal was guaranteed, but not the whole case unless it had been damaged by low oil. I'd requested a whole new case when I made the appt. but when I picked it up they said this was sufficient. /ubbthreads/images//graemlins/mad.gif It obviously was not and I am obviously pissed off. I want the situation rectified, but don't know how I feel about going back to that dealership. It's not exactly local to me, and when I took it there to begin with I towed the car on a flatbed. Anyone else had a similar experience? I guess I'd like to know what my rights are here in regards to the recall. Since the car has already been in for the recall, am I SOL, or is it still applicable? In the work order it also says CLAIM TYPE: C , but I have no idea what that means.
Goddamnit. All this work getting the car ready for the meet and now this. /ubbthreads/images//graemlins/frown.gif I think those dealer techs need their heads recalled.
Edit: Oh, and btw when I picked the car up afterwards it had something like 80 more miles on the odometer than when I dropped it off. Some clever douchebag mechanic had listed the new mileage as both the mileage in and mileage out on the invoice. Road test my ass; some jerkoff was joyriding in MY effing VR4. I am so friggin' mad right now. They're probably lucky I can't talk to them until tomorrow or someone would have gotten choked.