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The click noise is normal, it’s just the gear teeth moving back and forth. I used to know an old-school method of balancing a driveshaft with chalk and some hose clamps, but I can’t remember the details. I seem to recall it was to have the vehicle in drive with the drive wheels off the ground and the engine running, then you carefully held a piece of chalk up to the driveshaft until it made a mark. You would then put two hose clamps around the driveshaft with the part you actually turn 180 degrees away from where the mark was made. Google is your friend when it comes to learning how to do that sort of balancing.
As has already been stated, these ball joints are riveted onto the control arms. Just cut the heads off of the rivets, I typically use an air hammer with a chisel bit for that, punch out the remnants of the rivet and the ball joint will essentially fall off (in the case of the upper) or slide out of the control arm (in the case of the lower). The new ones should come with nuts, bolts, and potentially washers as well as some grease fittings. Put the grease fittings into the ball joints, then bolt them to the control arms. It’s a really easy job, with no real special tools required. You could use a drill to remove the rivet heads, or a regular hammer and a chisel. I use an air hammer because it’s faster, but if you don’t have access to power tools, then you just do what you’ve gotta do.
I’ve never personally cleaned out the inside of a differential, although it does sound like a good idea. What you’re describing sounds like it would work. Obviously make sure that the fill plug will come out before you remove the diff cover, since you don’t want to let the fluid out if you can’t put it back in. As for the gasket around the cover, I’ve always just used black RTV silicone and have never had a problem with it. If a gasket exists and you feel like using it, more power to you, I just never have. I also have a tendency to spray paint the diff cover with gray primer so I can more easily see any future leaks. I do that to valve covers and oil pans too.
We use Valvoline Max Life at my shop. I don’t have any personal experience driving with it on a day-to-day basis, but my daily driver is a stick shift.
That sort of movement is normal. In all honesty, I’d be worried if the axle didn’t move like that, as that would mean that your differential had seized up.
If it’s still grinding without rev-matching, I’d guess that the synchronizer rings inside the transmission are worn out. It’s possible that the transmission you got was simply used, rather than rebuilt. If it was a rebuilt unit, it’s possible that whoever it was that did the rebuild didn’t do it correctly.
According to Mitchell OnDemand, 44ft-lbs +95 degrees in the correct order. These are torque to yield bolts, and you have to use new ones, but I’m presuming that you already know that.
5328
7146Tighten the bolts in that order to spec.
That trick only really works on Honda products. I’ve had better luck using a pitman arm puller placed on the lower control arm so that the forcing screw pushes against the threaded part of the ball joint.
To seal up the two little holes, you could use some exhaust putty. It’d probably work better than some high-temp tape for no other reason that it’ll get to the holes easier. Just make sure you give it plenty of time to dry. I’ve found that using an impact gun with an O2 sensor socket is sometimes the only way to get one to come out. I had to do that the other day when I was helping a friend of mine change the exhaust on his Eclipse. The shock from the impact gun helps break up the rust holding it in place.
Double check your belt routing, and make sure that the belt is all the way on all the pullies. You’d be amazed at how often a belt will slip off on a pulley when you’re installing it and you won’t notice it happened until you let the tensioner take up the slack. There’s no need to “prime” the tensioner, as it’s a mechanical thing rather than a hydraulic one. Inside of it is a really heavy-duty clock spring, which is what keeps tension on the belt.
Silly question, but is the parking brake released? Also, there should be a screw (possibly with a Torx or Allen head) holding the rotor onto the hub. You’ll need an impact driver to remove that if it’s there.
Yep, the lower intake manifold gaskets are a known problem with those engines (as well as the 2.8, 3.1 and 3.4 engines). It’s not too terrible to replace that gasket, but it is time consuming. Just make sure that you use Fel-Pro Perma-Dry gaskets, rather than the gaskets that you can get from the dealer. I had a customer with a 3.1 powered Malibu insist on using GM parts, and it came back leaking about a year later. I replaced the leaking gasket with Fel-Pro gaskets and it hasn’t leaked since, and that was 4 years ago when I replaced it the second time.
Mistakes happen. They are also great teachers of what not to do. The first thing I tell anyone that I’m teaching how to do anything, regardless of what it is, is that mistakes are tolerated, so long as they are not repeated. Of course, “repeated” mistakes are looked at on a case-by-case basis. For example, let’s say that my trainee managed to mess up doing front brakes on a vehicle with sliding calipers (most everything). As long as they don’t mess up on that type of brake system again, I’m fine with it. If they then go and screw up on a front brake job that used fixed calipers (Toyota trucks/SUVs, Impreza STIs, etc), then as long as they learned form their mistake and don’t make it again, no harm no foul. It’s when my trainee keeps making the same mistakes over and over that I start to question myself, by asking things like “Am I just not teaching them right? Or are they worried about asking me questions for fear of looking stupid?” Given the choice, I’d rather answer a million questions then watch someone make the same mistake twice.
To sum up, don’t worry about making mistakes, just learn from them when you make them. I’ve been doing this kind of thing for a decade now and I still make mistakes from time to time. I’ve posted stories about my screw-ups elsewhere on these forums, I’m sure you’ll be able to find them if you go looking.
In a stock or mildly modified application, there’s usually no need for additional oil cooling. Making the oil too cold can actually hurt performance, as the engine will have a difficult time reaching operating temperature and/or staying at operating temperature once it gets there. About the only time you’d need an additional oil cooler would be if you were using the vehicle for towing heavy loads in the summer time and/or through mountainous regions or if it was being used as a taxi cab/police car.