GregH

Does it have ABS and a PSOM? I had a speedometer module that tossed out some hash on the VSS line to the PCM when the vehicle would start to move. Sometimes the PCM would interpret this hash as a speed in excess of the vehicle speed limiter. The PCM would respond by killing the injector pulse and making a stumble. The whole event would be over in less than a second.

My coworkers and I have often talked about "exit strategy." We see around us that there are no old techs. Our dealer provides us with access to 401(k) but does not match contributions. There really is no good retirement for techs in our area. One of my colleagues has started earning extra money buying and selling cars. You can buy/sell up to 50 times per year here and not be licensed - he's making a nice bit of change on the side doing this. Another of my colleagues is not planning for the future at all - no retirement funding, living paycheck to paycheck, etc. Then there is me - the state of MS has a great retirement plan for educators. And I got hired before Barbour got his mitts on it. Slight cut in pay, but once we get our housing situated, we'll be money ahead again. Right now I'm still making a house note as well as paying rent at school... I'm not doing what I love... I found that once you get paid to do something, the joy in it diminishes... So I do what I like, and can do beyond my years as a tech, and save what I love for the evenings and weekends.

you could use bittorrent...

If the truck is not setting codes, the turbocharger system passes pinpoint test KA, and there are no external oil leaks, then no additional service is required at this time. It's easy to get too close when working on your own vehicle. I had difficulty when I replaced cracked cylinder heads on my own 4.0L Explorer. Drawing the line between "good enough" and "perfection" was tough, and as a result I second guessed myself the whole time. If it were a customer's vehicle instead of my own, I'd probably have done it in much less time...

My family and I were in Sevierville, TN last week for vacation. They had 100+ most of the week and a severe set of popup storms on Thursday. We were on the whitewater on the Pigeon River, and the storm blew right over us. Knocked down trees and whipped up the water something fierce. Late that night we got back to our cabin to see trees down across the road, blocking the access and knocked out power and phone. Didn't find out until later that the storm blocked all access to Wears Valley, and killed someone on a motorcycle riding through the Smoky Mountains on Highway 441 - a tree fell on him. Worst storms in 20 years. Highest temps ever recorded on Mount Leconte - 81F... Here's us on the whitewater:

May I please have a copy? holekampg@bellsouth.net Thanks!

The last no start I had was an in range bias on the ICP sensor. No codes present. .86V, 580psi at KOEO. If P2614 sets with extended cranking, then I'd look elsewhere..

Every now and then I get another truck with concerns caused by a biased ICP sensor. Most recent one was a tow in complaining of a normal crank and start, but it will not rev up or move. When I checked it it was a crank no start. ICP is .86V, 580psi at KOEO, so of course it won't start. However, when I turned the key on I didn't hear the injectors precycle! So, my first step was to check for codes - none. Datalogger shows VPWR and LPWR at 12V, MPWR at 48V. Cycle the key again, and still no injector precycle. Then I looked at ICP and saw the biased reading. Once I jiggled the ICP connection, my precycle came back and the engine would start. I don't think I'd ever seen the FICM fail to precycle the injectors when the ICP reading was off.. Interesting idiosyncrasy in the PCM calibration...

I spent the last few months at my new career - teaching automotive technology to community college students. Well, the semester is over, and I decided to come back to the dealer for the summer. It's been an interesting few months. I'm teaching in an economically poor area, and 80% of my students receive some sort of financial aid. This means the tools that students are "required" to purchase end up never bought, or almost worse, are cheap made in china crap that doesn't hold up through it's first job. Everytime I turn my back, someone else is trying to make off with shop tools or old batteries. Someone even stole $10 from my office! But, it is a relief to be back at the dealer for the summer. Having to only worry about my two stalls takes a load off. Make a little extra money, get to cut up with the guys, get to work on diesels instead of outlaw crap built with junkyard parts... Also, there is a feeling of detachment from any drama that goes on in the dealer. Not that I took part in the drama to start with.... But I'll only be here ten weeks and then go... Most of the drama becomes moot knowing I'm a short timer... Anyway, I'll post more about my teaching experience later...

Glad you posed this - I'm going to show it to my engine repair lab class...

Thanks, Jim.

I'm putting in valve stem seals on a 1966 Mustang with a 289 and the kit came with two sized of seals. Do the large seals go on the exhaust or intake? Thanks!

Thanks for this, Brad... Excellent job. Wish I had this back in December - the last job I did for Ford was building up a 6.7 that someone had tried to drive through a lake bottom - water ingestion and all the chaos that erupts from there... Second swapping this tone ring as soon as possible. The engine will start and run fairly normally without this ring.... This torque to yield bolt will not accept much overtorque. I didn't feel my torque wrench click at the 20 or so foot pounds that the spec calls for, and one of my new bolts snapped off in the head. I don't know if it was distraction on my part, but I don't think I pulled it very bard... Just be careful torquing these bolts..

You would read the ICP sensor... The graph on the IDS for ICPV is fast enough to show the peaks you are talking about... On the old style barrel pumps, there are only two pumping chambers... So if every other peak is low or missing, then one chamber is failing or failed. I thought there were only two chambers on the newer STC style pumps, too...

I have showed my class of community college vo-tech students a few videos off the web. Just for fun we watched Ken Block do a gymkhana run at an airfield, and as a counterpoint Mike Ryan do a similar run in his semi. Yesterday I showed them the ecoboost torture test video that Mike Rowe hosted. I also find useful animations off the web - the four stoke cycle, suspension articulation, and other stuff dealing with the current class work. So far they have been enjoying them. Do you know of any other videos - especially ones like the ecoboost one? Maybe similar promotions from other manufacturers? Thanks!

Wouldn't cycling the key with the injectors out dump fuel all over the front cylinders?

Well, I've finished my first week of instruction. It's not so much a sharp learning curve as it is an acute corner... There is a lot of paperwork. There is a lot of accountability. There is no framework for what goes where when. I am not made aware of requirements until after they are overdue. And these kids are morons. But there is lots of room for improvement. Some of the kids show real potential. And some of them are enthusiastic about the program. Interesting that potential and enthusiasm are mutually exclusive... My colleagues are very supportive. My department heads have said that their expectations for the first three years are the equivalent of babysitting. Seems this program has been a dumping ground for the students who couldn't do anything else. All in all, I think this is the best move I've ever made.

One of my former coworkers uses a gopro on his dirt bike helmet to record their rides. He had an issue with the mount failing, but the company fixed him up. He's been pleased with their products, and they record well.

My shop graciously gave me one of their two obsolete WDS's. I'll take it to my classroom and it'll be more of a museum piece than a diagnostic tool. I'd like to have it as functional as possible, though. Right now it'll come on, boot in windows 98, and start the WDS software, then locks up. I've got all the software disks, I think, and most of the cables. I'm working through restoring the image from the red disk, but my two black disks have some pretty severe scratches on them. Anyone have a spare set of black disks I can have a copy of? I'll pay for the disks, shipping, and your time to copy them... Thanks!

You sketched her? Nice job... She has a pretty good dental plan, I see...

There is a flea market once a month here. One of the vendors who's been coming there for years sells this cheap blatant knockoff stuff for a dollar. Some of it is really funny:

A trailer. To load my shit on. 'cause I'm outa here!

I've taken to purchasing most of my auto parts from Amazon. Consistently the lowest price, if you have the time to wait for shipping. On my Sunfire, the fuel pump failed. I had an extra car, so I didn't need to fix it right away. Less than $100 from Amazon, but over $300 from anywhere in town. When it came in, it even had an FTP sensor installed. It looked factory except for the Airtex sticker: Airtex E3507M at Amazon versus E3507M at NAPA I tried it again with a 7.3L fuel pump. Save $40. E2236 at Amazon versus E2236 at Advance Wal-mart is killing the little guy. Online is killing the big guys... Not just car parts. Some pendants I got for my spouse a while back. $10 compared to $30: Birthstone Kids necklace pendant versus Same pendant at another retailer

Finally got approval to perform the work. Swapping the long block on this bitch sucks - there is a lot to transfer over. However, if anyone finds themselves in this position, do not forget the crank sensor tone ring. It is a little disc that goes between the crankshaft and the flywheel - looks almost like a seal protector. Contrary to the PC/ED, the engine will start and run without the crank sensor tone ring. However, the high pressure fuel test and KOER test refuse to run because it doesn't think the engine is KOER. The tach on the dash shows an RPM, but datalogger shows 0RPM. Pulling the transmission is not as bad as expected - there is a video link in the workshop manual showing how to remove the starter that was quite helpful.

Nice writeup. It looks like in the oscilloscope graph that when the fault occurs, the voltage at the fuel delivery module goes to 12v. Was the chaffed wire shorting to power, going open, or shorting to ground? It looks from the picture that it was open circuit. If so, then does the fuel delivery module supply a 12V, low amp signal and the RCM provides a pulse ground?