CZroe

How to use mount end of Pittsburgh manual tire changer (Harbor Freight) The manual doesn’t actually explain how to use the mount head. As a result, many demonstrations of this tool finish mounting with tire spoons instead. That may even be easier and potentially even less marring than using the mount end of the mount/demount bar the way it was intended, but even the few who demonstrate it correctly rarely explain the principle of how it works. Understanding that means no longer having to refer to random videos that may or may not get it right. Here is the principle: Each position along your travel arc with the mount head is like taking another bite with a tire iron, continuously pushing part of the bead past the edge of the rim lip so it can drop down on the trailing side. The part of the bead it pushes out obviously needs to be the part that is above the rim. Most people having trouble are positioning it where the bead is already below the rim lip. The longer explanation: The tire bead diameter is smaller than the diameter of the rim’s lip that we want to force it over. It doesn’t really stretch so we can’t just slip it over but you can deform it out-of-round to get some portion beneath the lip before you start levering small segments at a time like you would with a tire spoon. Getting the opposite bead into the drop center helps by giving you a bit of slack, as does pushing more of the bead over. When you lever the bead over with a tire spoon it will drop down with the rest of the bead under the lip. This means you really only need to push one small segment of bead past the edge of the rim lip and get out of its way so it can drop down with the rest of the bead. This is what the mount head does. Part of the mount head hooks onto the edge of the rim lip while the other part pushes a tiny portion of the bead out, past the edge of the rim lip. As you move the mount head toward the remaining bead the trailing bead will drop down below. This means that the mount head must be ahead of the crossover point. This is where people often get it wrong. Many people push part of the bead down like you are supposed to but then position the mount head where the bead has already crossed down below the rim lip. They rotate toward the point where the bead crosses over to the outside of the rim and just run into it. The leading bead is not seated on the mount head so it can’t be pushed past the edge of the rim lip to drop down with the trailing bead. Steps: -Push as much of the bead below the rim as you can. -Hold that bead in the drop center while you hook the mount head to the rim on the opposite side. -Keep the bar flat and move the mount head as close as possible to one of the two bead crossover points. Position the bead remaining above the rim across the vertical part of the mount head. Lever the bead out by lifting the bar opposite the mount head. If you are positioned correctly the bead at the crossover will stretch out and realign with the bead below. Holding your angle, rotate the mount head toward the the remaining bead (outside of the rim). The trailing bead will fall past the rim lip. Disgruntled Mechanic on YouTube insisted that someone make a video demonstrating it instead of just explaining it, but demonstrations already exists and he’s already rejected them. What they lack is explanation which he won’t accept without a demonstration. Having upgraded to a Mojolever and losing various parts of my tire changer in a botched move (natural disaster), I’m not even sure I have the original mount/demount bar anymore. I had to borrow footage from him and others but this should fit the bill. Sources listed in the video.

“Incompatible” parts fit 2000 Pontiac Montana shift bushing & cruise control cable end (Chevrolet Venture Oldsmobile Silhouette) I couldn’t go back and record myself installing the shift bushing after I confirmed it worked but it’s basically an insert for the domed end of the shift cable that attaches to the gear selector on the transmission. The part is perfectly compatible even though fitment databases strangely exclude these year models. If your vehicle gets stuck in park, Neutral, or in gear while the shift lever goes limp, this is what you need. Just pick out remnants of the old bushing if it didn’t totally crumble away and squeeze in the new one with channel locks or something. Some recommend using a perfectly sized socket to drive it in so you aren’t squeezing the bushing directly but I found that way too fiddly. I recorded more of the cruise control cable end replacement which was another part all databases listed as “incompatible.” Of course, GM wants to sell you a $300 cable + installation that requires removing everything around the steering wheel. That’s ridiculous when you only need a $3 part that doesn’t even require tools. I’ve used both of these for a year now and they are still going strong. No issues.

No splice/cut LS15 LS109 bulb socket installation In the process of installing my replacement turn signal side marker light bulb sockets in my 2000 Pontiac Montana I realized that they can be installed without cutting or crimping wires. These are notorious for crumbling to bits when you try to replace your burned out bulbs as the plastic has degraded and become brittle over the years. For most people, replacing the bulb is one thing, but cutting and splicing wires is another. If you can’t mount the sockets you will probably get condensation in the housing/assembly and melting around the hole where the bulb is resting, so you don’t want to drive around with dangling bulb sockets. With this trick you can swap out the bulb socket almost as easily as swapping out the bulb. Right after I ordered my replacement sockets YouTube user “Can’t Kill Me” replaced them on his Chevy Venture with crimp-on butt connectors: https://youtu.be/jiYlyjQEejo This is literally the same van as my Pontiac but with a Chevy badge and I also planned to cut and splice with butt connectors… until the socket basically disassembled itself when I tried to remove the bulb. This happened because the clips holding the socket together broke away more brittle plastic and it all crumbled apart, but I soon realized I could unclip the two parts of my replacement sockets without damage. I used a set of tweezers to retract the clips. The second-gen Oldsmobile Silhouette and Pontiac Trans Sport are also the same van but these sockets are found in a lot more GMC, Chevrolet, Buick, etc vehicles. I know they fit 3157, 4157, and 3457 bulbs… maybe others but some get hotter than others and you want to make sure your sockets can handle it. My van specifies 4157NA bulbs, which are the dual-filament natural amber krypton bulbs which are slightly brighter and higher wattage than the compatible 3157. That said, my aftermarket TRQ replacement housings are already hazing at the top after a few months so I don’t think they are tolerating the heat. It may be prudent to switch to dimmer but longer-lasting 3157NA… or LED 4157NA equivalents. ACDELCO GM ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT MULTI-PURPOSE LAMP SOCKET GM Part # 12083689 or 88953357 ACDelco Part # LS15 or LS109 Some aftermarket sockets: Handypack HP4170 Dorman 85882, 645-907, DOR2051419 Edit: Just found a Rumble user who replaced them on the same van. Hopefully you won’t end up paying too much for OEM and having to cut like he did - https://rumble.com/vg5c7n-2003-pontiac-montana-parts-unboxing.html

Saw this on the “LiveNOW from FOX” YouTube stream February 3rd, 2023. It started with a Pentagon press briefing about the Chinese spy balloon and moved on to other things including the Attorney General’s announcement ~2:10PM Eastern Time. That’s where AG Garland discussed redistributing money seized from Russian oligarchs for Ukrainian reconstruction. Someone wanted us to know they didn’t like that. They didn’t want us to think it was just a glitch so they demonstrated control/intent by slowly lowering the volume while saying “blah blah blah blah” over it. I skipped back and did a screen recording then did it again on the Apple TV. The stream ended but here’s the link: https://www.youtube.com/live/_oLmXa1Z8iE?feature=share

This Pokémon Game Boy Color had extremely low sound (virtually none). Replacing the capacitors had no effect. I looked around and it seems there are at least two different kinds of GBC speakers and the one inside this unit is known to go bad. I had already tried brushing it and filling it with isopropyl but that also had no effect. In the time it took me to find the donor GBC I lost my footage of the capacitor replacement and earlier attempts to diagnose/repair the speaker. Oh well. Here is the speaker replacement process, at least. Decided to re-up at double-speed with new voice-over to start a “5min fix/mod” series. ;)

N64 DX256 5min mod: Use originals / backups Nintendo 64 Super Game Saver Bung Enterprises Doctor V64 V64jr jr512 backup unit The DX256 Super Game Saver from Bung Enterprises was primarily intended for use with backup units, though Bung would never admit that. Indeed, Bung’s regional distributors usually configured them as Emulation Adapters and bundled them with V64 and V64jr backup units AKA “consumer devkit and piracy device.” ;) DX256 units configured that way wouldn’t even work for original games! The pirates needed a way to play games that expect to save to an EEPROM built-in to the original cartridge. They typically only owned one or two original cartridges just to bypass the console’s security lock-out, but they couldn’t save progress for dozens of pirated games on a few originals without a lot of tedium (backup and restore to PC, Controller Pak, etc). The DX256 solved this by giving them 256 banks of simulated EEPROM save slots with a single cartridge inserted (255 if that was a non-EEPROM cart). Actual game developers did occasionally use these backup units as budget development kits but they were marketed to consumers just as much. Devs could also use the DX256 to replicate Nintendo’s 4k EEPROM when developing a game that uses it. The Emulation Adapter function disables the inserted game’s program ROM while passing through the EEPROM and security chip (CIC) so that the console can boot a copied game from the console’s EXT port instead. To use the DX256 with an original game you usually have to open it up and make a couple small changes to disable the Emulation Adapter function, restoring access to the program ROM. If you can’t boot a game through the DX256, take it apart and check J1 + R1. You will probably find a trace cut at J1 with silkscreened text saying “Open for Emu.” J1 = Jumper 1 and the entire point of that jumper is that you can add solder to close it and restore the trace. Unfortunately, there is no helpful silkscreen instruction at R1, which must be disconnected. You can remove the resistor or leave it attached on one side. It doesn’t really matter if you lose it since the value is silkscreened on the board (10k Ω). Voila! You can now multiply the save memory slots on loads of Nintendo 64 games that use 4k EEPROM save. This includes including Super Mario 64, Mario Kart 64, Goldeneye 007, and several dozen others. There are literally more slots on the DX256 than there are games that can use it! Yeah, not much of a mod since it was intended for both configurations but what else am I going to call it?

The Mega Memory Card is an unofficial / unlicensed Game Boy accessory manufactured by Datel for Interact. It has the exact same shell and cartridge slot as their Action Replay Pro and GameShark Pro for Game Boy Pocket/Color. The same fix should work if you have a mangled pin on one of those. More on the device: The Mega Memory Card can backup and restore most battery-backed SRAM saves from Game Boy game paks. It saves several of them to non-volatile storage (internal flash or EEPROM; can’t recall which) so the backups are not in danger of being lost from a drained battery. With the switch in the left position it will boot the game (pass-thru). With the switch in the right position it will boot the Mega Memory Card operation menu. I couldn’t get it to run on Analogue Pocket unless I flipped the switch after booting a game but that often results in a freeze instead of booting the Mega Memory Card menu. I couldn’t get it to work for some games at all… likely anything with an MMC… which probably includes all the SRAM games. I recall corrupting my old GB Camera save decades ago by trying to backup/restore with this but that has a particularly large save file. I didn’t really expect it to work but I it seemed like it was going to until I restored the backup. Part of the issue may have been compression, in which case you might have better luck with a largely empty camera roll. I recall it used a huge chunk of the Mega Memory Card storage as well and I had to delete almost everything else for my initial backup. For whatever reason, I didn’t back it up to my PC with my Bung Enterprises GB Xchanger. Note: The MegaMem card is not compatible with the original Game Boy. It doesn’t have the notch for the power switch but it’s a bit more than that since it isn’t compatible with Super Game Boy either. I believe it does work for Game Boy Pocket.