Looks good, I would make sure nothing can get in the transfer case if it's getting driven around much. Maybe a rubber plug or something. I thought about doing exactly what you did just to get mine tested and plated since I just bought the car and never drove it. But decided to do it right in case the inspection guys deemed it unsafe for some reason.

I sent you a PM about the rest but in case anyone else looks this up:

I didn't have to disconnect anything in the engine bay to lift the engine. (I did disconnect the battery for safety) I used a floor jack and 2x4 chunk to lift the motor. I also lifted the transmission tail and supported it. Removed the engine cradle / sub frame nuts (4x nuts) and dropped it 3-4" as far as it could.

 

Thank you Scumbagsleeper! good to know I can do it in my garage with a buddy's help.

Now the car doesn't start after driving it fine today. I have some spare IPDM's to try out, but the car drains 10A while sitting from my trickle charger and still hasn't started after hours of charging.

PS, last weekend the radiator blew up and I had to replace the fans (culprit) and radiator.

This car is my worst experience out of 4 cars I've worked on.



THIS CAR IS A LEMON

 

The battery terminals, with the battery removed, read 3 ohms. That's 4 amps. That shouldn't be the culprit per-se. Search continues.

 

Different IPDM did not solve anything.

lemons

 

Don't read resistance, unplug the negative terminal them set the DMM to amperage and put one probe on the negative battery post and the other one on the wire lug, use aligator clip probes if you have them so they don't lose contact. Now that you are accurately reading how much current is flowing through the circuit start unplugging fuses and relays one at a time until you find the culprit, start with the radio.

 

Also, I don't know how many.miles are on the chassis but it's hard to call a vehicle a lemon if a part failed at the end of a normal lifespan. U-joints are only good for about 100k max so...

 

U-joint failing on the front driveshaft is pretty common. Everyone with an AWD should make it a part of routine inspection to check that part and replace it.

A failing Ujoint is what did my car in when the driveshaft let go at 80MPH. Pretty sure it damaged the differential as well.

I got rid of the car, but considering i practically gave it away, i should have kept it. I would have pulled the CV axles, installed RWD front wheel bearings, and pulled the driveshaft and plugged the transfer case and then pulled the AWD fuse. Probably could have still drove the car around after that.

Actually...had i kept the car I would have LSx swapped it. I have a new daily driver, so i regret ditching the car and not doing something fun with it.

 

I didn't plug the transfer case, mainly because it only has bearing grease for the driveshaft splines that I plan on replacing.

I had a terrible time pulling the starter. It didn't want to let go until I used a crow bar.

I'm calling a lemon a lemon. Radiator, drivetrain, and starting all in 2 weeks. And a month before that I had bad ball joints and struts that I replaced.

I've only had this car 3 months

 

When trying to start it, the ground terminal became very hot yet there wasn't an absence of juice to any of the accessories.

I'm having the starter tested today.

 

i will do this once the starter issue is corrected

 

You're the second user in the last month that has had the starter Frozen in place and had to best or pry it out. Was there anything noticeable fried and was there a lot of white corrosion on the mounting bolts? My suspicion is since the ground is basically made through the mounting bolts that after enough time and weather corrosion happens it creates a lot of electrical resistance and then starts to corrode the bolts out from electrolysis.

 

The corrosion wasn't holding it in place, it could twist in place, and after coming out 2mm with a screwdriver was still stuck.

had to break out the crow bar.

JY

 

But I can't deny it may have kept it from working.

the entire underside that's mechanical looks like an offroad pickup truck, rusted, FUBAR.

 

I know what you mean, my 04' is from the north (PA) and at 125k has lot's of rust. The exhaust is about gone, rear wheel wells are pretty bad too. My 05' is from Texas with 156k miles and looks like a 80k car underneath and zero rust. Almost every exhaust bolt came off of the car without seizing up too!

 

Tested the starter at local auto parts store, it worked, so I put it back in. It works in the car, no hot ground wire.. it's fine???

car's running agaiyn.

🙃