Blog
Final Check In
Today we fixed the oil leak by using a tube in place of the oil cooler and we tweaked the wiring again. This ties in with inquiry because we used problem solving and numerical literacy to fix the oil leak.
Skills
Day 9 - Another Problem
The part that the oil cooler connects to is broken. Causing the oil leak. The only way to fix it would be to use an aluminum welder. This can be expensive and we've already spent about $500 on new parts and tools. Luckily, my dad had an idea to fix it. This fits in with agency because we had to use problem solving.
Skills
Day 8 - Troubleshooting
Today we figured out that it wasn't the battery that is dead, instead the starter and oil cooler are broken. After my dad bypassed the starter, the oil cooler started leaking. There's no way that we can fix this unless we buy new parts. The cost of getting these 2 new parts would be about $170. This ties in with agency because all we did was try to problem solve.
Skills
Day 7 - The Final Day (hopefully)
Today we finished everything by rewiring the whole engine, putting new tubes and parts on it, and putting all the fluids in it (like transmission fluid and oil). When we tried to start it, it did not work. We think that the car battery that we used is dead so we are going to charge it and try again tomorrow. Today used a mix of community and inquiry because I needed to use a lot of numerical literacy to use the correct sized tools and community because my dad really helped and I needed to collaborate with him.
Skills
Day 6 - Rebuilding
Today we started the rebuild process. We put all of our painted parts back on along with new ones. We made a way for the transmission fluid to not leak out of the transmission (we are not putting back on the axles because they are annoying and not really needed now). I learned more about what the parts do and their names. Lastly, we cleaned up some parts and pained 2 more parts before putting them back on. This used inquiry because we needed to use a lot of numerical skills to use the correct sized tools to put old parts back on.
Skills
Day 5 - Cleaning More and Painting
Today all we really did was clean and paint. We cleaned out more oil from the engine and painted the pieces that we previously took out to make them look better. We painted the pieces black and yellow because we thought that it would look good. Today ties in with community because I used a lot of collaboration with my family members to get this done.
Skills
Day 4 - Dismantling More and Cleaning Up
Today we dismantled the engine more (as seen by the before and after pictures above), and we cleaned up the parts that we took off. We cleaned them up by power washing some of them, de-rusting them, and cleaning off any dirt of anything else on them. We also ran into a problem, there is a oil leak. This can be fixed easily but it's super inconvenient. This used inquiry because we needed to use a lot of numerical skills to use the correct sized tools to take these things off and clean them up.
Skills
Day 3 - Focusing on the Transmission
Today we removed the transmission (the3 photo above shows the engine without the transmission). We also took the axles out of the transmission, removed the starter from the engine, removed the break cover from the axles and emptied the transmission fluid from the transmission. This falls into the inquiry category because today we needed to use innovative problem solving to get all that stuff off and numerical literacy to use different sized wrenches and other tools.
Skills
Day 2 - Measuring Parts of the Engine
Today I used a vernier caliper (the metal tool above) to measure the different nuts and bolts on different parts of the engine so that we can get the correct sized tools to remove them to fix the engine. This falls into the category of inquiry because this involved numerical literacy to get the sizes of the bolts.
Skills
Day 1 - Starting to Dismantle Engine
Today I disconnected the ignition from the engine, disconnected the battery wire from the starter and started to remove the axles from the engine. My goal was to fully disconnect the axles from the engine but I was unable to do that because I do not currently have the correct tools. This falls into community because I collaborated a lot with my dad who helped me throughout today. He taught me how to do everything and made sure I was doing it right.