Chevy Malibu's first flush...boy did it need one

 There are funny stories of nuns and used cars... otherwise the well known little old lady from Pasadena?  I think I'm right in saying that that vehicle has not gotten a transmission fluid change all in its 80k miles.  A sort of brown charcoal colored liquid came out.  It is safe to say the viscosity was very low, literally like water spilling out the drain.  I don't have time to fumble about to do the set up for a proper full flush, so it is going to be a series of partial exchanges.  4 quarts out and 4 quarts in.  It is listed for 9.5 quarts and exchange method is not the best method, but it is easier.  It we drive around for a bit and do another 4 quarts, it would be about a 50% change.  Maybe later in the fall do it again for a 75% total?  Or I could just study up on the method that involves the disconnecting of the transmission cooler and running the tranny pump into a bucket?  We will see, but for now the 4 quarts will help out.  I hope to do that sort of flush that requires my detaching the transmission line as it would be more complete.  

 

Jeep Patriot Rear Suspension sag - confirmed...it does effect the camber.

 This sort of thing is not mentioned in manuals or at least not clearly.  It may be obvious to most folks, but I'm not a professional mechanic nor do I play one on TV.  So, after much struggling and shoulder strain, the upper and lower control arms are installed.  Rear struts were seemingly fine and will not be replaced... for now.  The lesson is... Youtube videos never cover all the pitfalls to this repair.  One I found was that if I had a tap to chase the bolts prior to attempting to remove them, it might have been easier.  9 years of built up rust obstructs the nut.  In a few cases the nut would come loose from its torqued positions only to stop turning after a few spins.  Penetrating oils are not enough as you move the nut further along and push more rusty debris along.  I didn't learn my lesson on the driver's side and aggressively wire brushed the thread prior to wrenching.

Night and day change in the camber of the rear wheels.  Now the only things left are the links to the trailing arm as well as the trailing arm bushings.  That is for another day.

Repair schedule for the Jeep Patriot (MK) in no particular order

1. Rear Lower control arms and links - done
2. Full Inspection of Rear Sub Frame
3. Front links
4. Full inspection of Front Sub Frame
5. Struts - All
6. Brakes - All Pads
7. Brakes - All Rotors
8. Full Brake System flush
9. Alignment-?
10. Transmission Fluid\Full or Partial Flush
11. Shampoo Interior
12. New Tires or just bald pair due to alignment issues
13. Rust Conversion experiments

This is after taking it to a professional mechanic who only did the brakes and I had to fix them after.  I worry it the new rear wheel bearing will hold.  The front control arms were done right.

Quick note about louvers in filters

 Just spun off the old ModilOne filter which is a louvered core design and all the louvers were clearly defined.  Not one flat or closed looking one amongst them.   The WIX XP filter was not as fully opened with about 20% not properly formed, but that is much better than the regular WIX with more than 70% in questionable condition and the remainder not exceeding 0.4mm opened.  I've tried to pry some open, but I was possibly creating metal shards.  Well.,.. end of note.

Getting into Wix filters too late... not as good anymore?

 While dealing with the next pending car chores, I thought I would give WIX a try and took Amzoil up on one of those oil change kits.  However, as you can see, this might not work out.  I'm not sure if this is normal?  Some of the so called holes or slits are not all the way open.

Above is a store purchased WIX XP filter and most louvers look ok.

The filter sent to me by Amsoil with the oil change kit a #57060 filter.  Does not look as wide open as the store purchased WIX XP and many seemed not opened at all along the top and bottom of the filter core.  I dangled a tiny mirror to see the louvers facing the other direction and it was about the same number not fully opened.  This looks wrong right?

The louvers look like thin knife cuts and I counted around 23 columns by 8 pairs of holes average for my model filter and comes to 368.

The slits seem to average to 0.4mm wide and a length of 2.2mm, that would give a respectable 32 sq. mm of openings. The thinnest are less than 0.1mm and my method to measure is a plastic feeler I made and check with a micrometer.

It could be fair to say that it roughly measures to about 11-12 square millimeters total of oil passage space or the size of a two pencil sized holes and that means more than 2/3rds holes are under sized?   The store purchased one would calculate to about 40-54 square millimeters.  The inlet holes might be about 18-22 square millimeters.  My general logic is that it should at least be slightly bigger than the inlet?