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Great video so far. Once again you show that what should be an easyish job can turn into a pain with one twist of a wrench. It shows that you should be prepared for trouble especially us diyers. Its also nice you show us how you go about fixing it and not just editing it so we just see an “easy” repair.
Eric, I own one of those hemorrhoids… Hahaha…I felt your pain every step of the way. Loved the video 1 ending….In a mildly sadistic way, it was fun to watch part one, as I knew ahead of time what you would HAVE to do next each step to gain access… Looking forward to part two… Thanks for all you endure at times to make these videos…
I think we all have had that sinking feeling in the pit of our stomachs and thinking “what in the he*( did I just do?”
That was a pretty good ending for part 1. Looking forward to part 2.
There was an ETCG1 video that referenced this incident so I knew what was coming. I kept thinking, “Oh man… here it comes”. I enjoyed the editing in this video because it added to the suspense. The ending was pure cinematic genius: don’t show the viewer the part they were waiting for and leave it up to the imagination. The Cohen brothers did that in “No Country For Old Men” when the villain kills the main character.
Sorry you had to go through this man, and I’m excited to see the second part.
It’s a comedy, really. Comedy should always be part of every task, since life requires a sense of humor.
Before GM was known as Government Motors, we called it Generous Motors. Facetiously, of course, as they’re made so cheap.
One of my favorite videos to date! I actually had to become a Premium Member because the anticipation for Part 2 was killing me. 😉
My mom used to have a 2000 Silhouette with the same engine. So glad she got rid of it when she did – that does not look like an easy (or cheap, in terms of labor cost) engine to work on!
For those who haven’t yet seen Part 2, it’s well worth the wait. My favorite Eric quote from the video:
“By some miracle, that happens to be together correctly. And I say ‘by some miracle,’ because I don’t really feel like I was an active participant.”
Because I’ve totally felt that feeling before.
I enjoy all of the Eric the Car Guy videos, but for me this one seemed like a vintage ETCG video. It shows us some tricks of the trade, and the problem-solving that is needed to be a good technician.
I own an ’01 Montana and while I agree many jobs on this thing are a PITA, the corrosion issue added considerably to the problem. I’m glad that I don’t have to deal with that on my personal vehicles or ones in the shop. The one thing I’ve learned with this vehicle is to not buy cheap aftermarket parts, especially on a difficult job because you will be doing it again.
I went through several radiators in this and as Eric encountered, getting the cooling fan out by itself is no easy task. It’s certainly less fun doing it for a second (or third) time. Like I told the counter person at A**ozone when I returned the second radiator (first one leaked at a seam after about 6 months, the second had problems with the trans cooler connections immediately) that their “Lifetime” warranty was worthless if I had to keep changing out the parts – didnt matter that the part replacement was free…
My most hated thing about this van is the stupid heater hose routing. Fairly simple matter if the van doesnt have rear heat but becomes a complex nightmare if it does. These two hose assemblies cost $230 from GM and there is NO way you can install it with the engine in the vehicle. You might be able to if you disconnected the steering column and dropped the back subframe down about 6 inches to get some clearance. Wound up buying the hoses seperately (totalling about $80 including the plastic tees from GM) and playing a reverse game of Jenga to fit them all in there. Ugh.
Haha… I’ve done that one too DurangoRich, twice. Actually, it’s barely accessible by removing the dog bones and rocking the engine forward. The second time around, I went to a plumbing supply shop and bought two 3-way pex brass pieces and fashioned my own. One of the plastic replacement tees broke after a couple months. The brass has held up fine a couple of years now…It’s a work of art I’ll tell you… 🙂 Long live the Montana/Venture/Silhouette…
[quote=”tomatofarmer1″ post=125116]Haha… I’ve done that one too DurangoRich, twice. Actually, it’s barely accessible by removing the dog bones and rocking the engine forward. The second time around, I went to a plumbing supply shop and bought two 3-way pex brass pieces and fashioned my own. One of the plastic replacement tees broke after a couple months. The brass has held up fine a couple of years now…It’s a work of art I’ll tell you… 🙂 Long live the Montana/Venture/Silhouette…[/quote]
I *have* to know, you didn’t use the spring style clamps did you? Even with the motor rolled forward, I couldn’t envision getting a pair of pliers in there at some of those weird angles to make all those connections. I had to break down and buy a pair of these to get one of the old ones out (after I had cut out most of the old hoses and broke the old tees to make room)
No sir!! I bought all new standard automotive clamps to use on the fashioned PEX bypass tees. I may have used the old clamps at the firewall heater core inlet/outlet (cannot remember). I strategically reinstalled the hoses there first. The trick was getting the new completed assemblies low enough and out of the way for the windshield wiper linkage to have clearance. They were slightly longer to compensate for the sharper turns on the older factory pre-molded hoses (if that makes sense). It works very well…looking forward to part two of the video…
A 15 y old Montana is more of a restoration project that a single fix. But sometimes, if it starts and goes, that’s enough.
If it were a car I cared about, I might have sought out a tapered pipe tap for that hole into the coolant passage, then had a local machine shop make up a correct stud with one end having the matching thread taper. Nothing quite like having tapered threads to jam and seal liquids. But this Montana is likely not “worth” it.
I think JB Weld exaggerates it high temperature capabilities. Hopefully, the goop is closer to the coolant than the exhaust.
A great show these two videos. Any customer for car repairs should realize how hard it can be for near end of life vehicle repair.
[quote=”Rereonehundred” post=125461]A great show these two videos. Any customer for car repairs should realize how hard it can be for near end of life vehicle repair.[/quote]
Especially one in a rust belt. I have an ’01 myself and watched these two videos and cringed in advance because I knew what was coming. Last summer at 170K it blew a head gasket (common problem on these). Overall it’s in far better shape than the one in the video, the wife likes it and not wanting a payment I opted to repair it. In removing the heads I broke 2 exhaust studs (one in front, one in back. I knew at minimum I should get the heads cleaned, pressure checked and resurfaced. I was looking at a $200 machine shop bill (not counting the studs) and would get back my 170K heads that probably could benefit from a valve job.
Decided to pony up the $350 for a set of remanufactured heads with a warranty. Got about 15K on them and so far, so good.
Eric, I’ve never been able to get my pressure tester to seal well on these radiators either.
[quote=”Rereonehundred” post=125461]If it were a car I cared about, I might have sought out a tapered pipe tap for that hole into the coolant passage, then had a local machine shop make up a correct stud with one end having the matching thread taper.[/quote]
The problem is you’d have to ream a tapered hole in the cylinder head to the correct bore, then use an interrupted thread tap and hope you didn’t crack the cylinder head. It can work but a lot of points of potential failure.
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