Delivery day on Maui!

[PHO2GR4]

Oh boy, bandit's got his ride.
Someone here posted about taking their car into a dealer friend or something and they used a ozone machine that takes out all the smells. Don't know much about it but it sounded pretty cool at the time and it might be something for you to might check into.

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That was me, John. My VX had a weird sweet, sour, blehhh smell when it was delivered to me. The ozone generator got rid of the smell completely...

...until it came back. I was considering getting new carpet, but it ended up being unnecessary. When I had the new stereo installed, they removed my driver's seat to do some wiring. Underneath the seat was a cracked plastic bottle of some cheap Chinese "Barbie" perfume for little girls!

Threw away the kiddie perfume = no more smell.

My guess is, an ozone generator will work wonders for cigarette smoke. Industrial ozone generators are used to remove smoke smells from buildings with fire damage, and also used to "clean up" hotel rooms. Give it a shot!

[Dino]

The smell is going away...

So, I opened a door panel this morning with my trusty panel popper






...and found this!






I'll bet most of you have seen this one.... the nylon gets brittle with age and SNAP! The window is loose from the track!!

So, I have what I think will be a pretty good solution and here's my supplies...



Earlier today when I was under the hood, I did the "ounce of prevention" procedure.





I bought brake pads to go all around and while I'm down there, I'll start troubleshooting my ABS. Still no worky, which explains wheel spin when I'm in 4 low with a wheel off the ground. As I understand it, that wheel should lock thus transfering torque to the other wheel on said axle. NOT!!

The TOD kicks in nicely on gravel roads. On pavement while driving I see one light on per side to the front axle. I'm sure the fluid is low, it has the symptoms but I've got that covered too.

I like the cargo net! We used it for groceries today and it ROCKS!! The handling is sweet and firm. It's like riding in a corporate jet. The Climate Control works like a dream, factory shocks still in good shape, radio/CD OK, interior in good + condition.

FIRST MOD:
Removed rear seat!

....we figured out that there's enough room to lay down in the back... ya know just to errmmm relax and stuff! :_drool:


...more pics on my window fix later.

[TexVeX]

Right. Relax. Of course.

The day you started this thread the forums were down for me all day from the time I typed the post below and it apparently didn't post, so here it is.

Enjoy your new ride as I know you will. And good luck with all your fixes and mods.

My first mod was to cut up an old Husky bed liner and make it fit perfectly into the entire cargo area of my VX (when the seats are folded forward). So the guide dog could have a place for his bed, but I could minimize the fur collection in my vehicle. He's a yellow Lab and very much prefers to shake off his loose fur before jumping out of the truck even though I beg him to wait. heheh

Had to cut out slots for the seat belts and hatch of course. But I have not yet cut out slots for my tie downs. I never used the tie downs in my Rodeo, so may not use these. If I go camping or to Moab though, I'll be cutting those slots because I will need my cargo net to hold the supplies in place.

PS: Cool signature.

[Triathlete]

I bought brake pads to go all around and while I'm down there, I'll start troubleshooting my ABS. Still no worky, which explains wheel spin when I'm in 4 low with a wheel off the ground. As I understand it, that wheel should lock thus transfering torque to the other wheel on said axle. NOT!!

The TOD kicks in nicely on gravel roads. On pavement while driving I see one light on per side to the front axle. I'm sure the fluid is low, it has the symptoms but I've got that covered too.

ABS has nothing to do with wheel spin...only braking.
In 4Lo TOD is not in play. The transfer case simply splits the power 50/50 between front and rear axle. Your rear differential is a LSD. If one wheel loses traction the clutches heat up and engage the other wheel. The front differential is open. Only one wheel will spin...unless you (or the previous owner) have installed a locker. Only two lockers are available for the front Isuzu 10 bolt...the Aussie auto locker and the ARB selectable air locker.
Hope this helps your trouble shooting!

[Dino]

Thanks for the better understanding of the TOD.
That info will indeed help. Maybe someone put the wrong diff oil in. I've seen it happen before. I"ll be checking all the fluids anyway.

So, here's what I did with the parts:




...and here's the one that needs to be raised in order to tilt the glass:




The part is a roller assembly for glass shower doors. Just abourt every hardware store has them. I paid about $17 for four of them. I pulled the roller hardware off them, drilled holes in the proper locations and bolted them to the lift bar with two M6 bolts and nuts. Then I smeared some Weldwood contact cement (I didn't like the Goop stuff) onto the rubber pieces that I cut from the shower door bottom seal I bought. I placed them on the new clips, got the window in place and smeared some cement in the glass then pushed them together firmly. It took some doing to get the rubber to slip in the slot and pinch the glass, but it's there now and holding.

I tried it once going up and it worked fine. It just needs an overnight cure now. Before I put things back together I lubed the track with copper anti-sieze. Tomorrow I'll get some dry graphite powder into the rubber channels and free that friction point up a bit. I like it way better than silicone spray.

Total cost of mod, about $25 and an hour and a half of work.
Time will tell...

[Kenny]

I'm interested in the dry graphite in the rubber slides... Most of the stuff I tried other than silicone just gums up with dirt after a while.

Keep us posted. Nice fix.

[Dino]

I ended up using a bit of Rain-x and graphite!
Got em workin fine!!

I did the front and rear brake pads this morning and
I put two quarts of trans fluid in the tranny in using this...



...and this controlled the flow...


About 1 quart ended up back in the pan and I poured in 3 quarts.

We're about to load up and take a drive around the backside of the island and get it off road a bit.

[Kenny]

...
I put two quarts of trans fluid in the tranny in using this...

...

LOL!!! Right on!

[rowhard]

Bandit, thought you said you were a mechanic, looks more like something a nurse would use.

Pretty cool Dino

[TexVeX]

Well, he is nursing his vx back to health.

Cool contraption.

[Dino]

Thanks! It shifts much better now. Smoother and a more solid feel.