GregH

I finished high school and went on to college. Worked towards a degree in industrial technology - this area of the country does a lot of manufacturing, and this degree would get me a white shirt instead of a blue shirt. First choice was NASA after college, though. Got into trouble at college and was asked to leave. Spent some time rent free courtesy of the state. The only place that would hire me once I was back in the workforce was Wal-Mart. They originally placed me in sporting goods, but they didn't really read all of the application. I had to answer that one question "yes" per my parole officer and therefore cannot be within a certain distance of a firearm. The only other place in the store with an opening was in the oil change shop. I got turned down for many, many jobs outside of the automotive field when I filled out my applications honestly. However, I didn't want to get a job under false pretenses, lest something show up down the road... Now it's been longer than seven years (much longer) so most jobs are open to me again. Won't ever be able to vote or own a firearm... It's almost like a splinter in your finger that is too small to see, but catches on things now and then...

I just finished "The Accidental Billionaires" about Zuckerman and the origin of Facebook. Very interesting read. I don't facebook, and don't understand the appeal - so the book's pessimistic viewpoint clicked with me.

Careful.. The computer will compensate very well for a weak cylinder, and not code until an absurd compensation threshold is reached. Relative compression needs to be run several times in a row to avoid a false pass. Been there before - low contribution on cylinder 8, STFT high on 8, relative compression 0 across the board. Prior approval agreed on an injector, installed and cleared the tables, retest and still had low contribution. Relative compression then started to show low compression on 8 after about 3 passes.

Just yesterday I was walking into the service drive and saw one of our service writers with a handful of rags on the radiator cap of an e-150, with steam billowing out around him and a look of pain on his face. Turns out he tried to remove the radiator cap on an overheating engine, turned it slightly too far and didn't have enough rags. He was hesitant to just back up from the damn thing, and was trying to get the cap back on. I reached over the wall and grabbed a bundle of rags to assist him. I finally got him to get his hand out and let the coolant go. The cap hung on the edge of the lock, and hissed and steamed menacingly. After a mere 30 seconds, he asked me if he could knock the cap off with a broomhandle. Ha! No! Told him he needed to walk away for at least 10 minutes to let it release pressure, and asked him why the fuck was he removing the cap on an obviously overheated engine in the service drive of all places?! Years ago I had a coworker that got hot coolant to the face when a hose popped on an LS. It wasn't pretty. The vehicle he was working on was overheated, and with his face too close to the engine, poked at one of the upper hoses with the tip of a screwdriver to gauge the pressure. Said he didn't want to risk burning his hand. The hose must have been right on the edge of rupturing when he poked it. He was back at work a few weeks later, and is pretty scarred up...

I've put in a few sets of studs - maybe a couple dozen over the years. I've had one fail on an absurdly hopped up truck. The rest held just fine. As for stock jobs, I've had two fail. One was on a transit bus 30,000 miles later, and the other was a 250 15,000 miles later. I found that the 250 was running a 120 horse tune while towing a 19K travel trailer over highway 441 through the smoky mountains when it popped. Both setups will fail if pushed too hard.

I've been collecting them too.. I have 124 of them right now... Looks like I've got Christmas money..

I've got a Matco 4s triple bay box off a repo. Less than a year old, and just needed to be cleaned. Paid $2000 cash for it, and it's a $5300 box. I told the Matco and Snapon guys that I wanted to replace my Craftsman double bay top and bottom. I had them looking out for repos and damaged units, and the Matco guy came through first. I don't intend on expanding out of this one, but if I do, then I still have my Craftsman stuff at home.

Been there before. Sounds like it needs an engine control harness... You won't be able to make a recording of it because the PCM resets when the event occurs...

Another unit was brought to me today - P0272 in memory. Power balance shows #4 dropping out, and there is that characteristic pop in the intake... 128,000 miles on this one. uh oh..

At 127K miles this vehicle came in with an intermittent misfire on cylinder #2 when pulling a hill. It's fixed up as a transit bus. Tested and found P0266 in memory, and power balance showed #2 misfire when loading it in the stall. Installed an injector in #2. Started it up, and it stuttered a few times after it had been idling a few minutes. Road test, retest power balance, and still had an intermittent drop on #2. EEC test showed nothing. Overlaid harness to #2 and FICM. Reran all test, no problems found. Released vehicle. It comes back in today, P0266 in memory, intermittent dropping of #2 cylinder on power balance, and a slight popping in the intake manifold. Relative compression shows a slight drop sometimes when testing, and sometimes there is a single crow hop during the 10 second crank. I'm thinking there is an intermittent loss of compression on #2 causing the issue - likely related to the opening of an exhaust valve because of the slight pop in the intake. I haven't torn into it yet. Kinda want to speculate as to what I should find before I start searching. Possible camshaft going flat? - should be material on the drain plug, which I haven't removed yet. Maybe a sticking valve? Why would the problem be intermittent? Any help would be appreciated...

I took an old '03 ICP sensor, broke out the electronics, and brazed an air line fitting to it.

I agree with Keith... There is nothing new under the sun. The fridge I have is an inexpensive fridge on bottom, freezer on top model with an ice maker. I bought it 20 years ago right after we got married. The deciding factor on that model was we could afford it. Nowadays, thank God, we have a bit more disposable income. But that fridge is still chugging along. If it becomes necessary, I'll replace it with a freezer on the bottom model with a cold water dispenser through the door. There is a monthly flea market in town held at two of the furniture market buildings - Tupelo Flea Market - and there is an appliance reseller there. He's got good stuff, with manufacturer warranties, for way below list. Hurricane Katrina saw the end of both my brother's fridge and freezer and my sister's fridge. There are some things you just don't try to clean... We've had a bad month of tornadoes and strong storms around here. Smithville, MS - about 1/2 hour from here - was completely destroyed. Large swaths of Tuscaloosa and Birmingham were leveled, and there are obvious tracks visible from the road to and from work. One of these tracks took out a TVA high tension line and removed several houses about 15 miles from Oxford, MS. With cleanup slow going, I'd hate to see what is going on in their fridges.....

10 years ago we didn't even have catalytic converters on diesels... Black pipes, bed sides and rear bumpers... We've been cleaning the air in some parts of the country since the 6.4... Where will we be in another 10 years?

Enigmatic.. Intriguing... What compounds are the DPF designed to deal with? Is Bruce's diagram correct with the CO conversion? Is the silicon carbide coated or doped with something? Is this above our pay grade?

I think that if we consider the removal of particulate matter from the exhaust stream by the DPF enough to classify it as a catalyst, then I concede. However, I don't think mechanically removing particles suspended in the exhaust stream should qualify. The DPF on the 6.7 is made of silicon carbide, per the workshop manual, as both Bruce and Keith stated. I also see where the workshop manual specifically calls the DPF a catalyst. However, I don't see where the DPF is assisting in a chemical change in the exhaust stream. Silicon carbide is used in a variety of applications. One of those applications is in catalytic converters, as a Catalyst Support. In this case, the only requirements of the material is that it be inert, thermally stable, and mechanically robust. From wikipedia, the characteristics of a silicon carbide wall-flow filter are as follows: No mention of catalyst action. However, of interest to me is the diagram of material into and out of a DPF. Hydrocarbons, PAH (is this redundant?) and particulate matter are stopped by the filter, as expected. CO, however, is also stopped - I didn't expect to see that. CO, as a relatively inert gas, should continue through the filter as if nothing has happened. It could combine with oxygen in the presence of sufficient heat (such as during regen) to make CO2, but the diagram doesn't make that connection. The Edmonton Trolley Coalition has an article about DPF that also mentions the CO to CO2 conversion, but does not describe the actual mechanism. If the DPF is actually a catalyst, then all I can see is that it catalyzes carbon monoxide into carbon dioxide...

I'd like to argue the semantics of classifying the DPF as a catalyst. The DOC and the SCR are made of materials that participate in the chemical reactions the exhaust gasses go through. While not being consumed, they provide an environment that allows the reaction to continue. The material they are made of is very important. This fits the definition of a catalyst. Once the gasses make it to the DPF, the breakdown reactions are complete. The DPF simply screens out particles bigger than a certain size and hold onto them. Later, during regen, it holds onto the soot as it burns and contains the ash that results. The DPF remains chemically inert the whole time. The material the DPF is made of is chemically irrelevant - as long as it can be made with sufficiently small holes and can withstand the temperature and vibration. So, the DOC and SCR are catalysts, of which there are two each. The DPF is a filter, not a catalyst. Final count is four.

I had an old body style explorer (97 or so) 2-door with the 255 tires that did the same thing. New tires fixed it..

I always enjoy your cutaways, Bruce. Thanks..

My condolences... I've been on the receiving end of similar complaints... Hope yours pans out into a warrantable repair...

My daughter saw the brand new bucket of sidewalk chalk in the truck... She hasn't stopped salivating yet... Now when this rain stops, I'm sure I'll be treated to some creative artwork as well...

I've got an '02 4 door 250 (weekend truck), '00 pontiac sunfire (my work beater), '97 explorer with the small v6 (spouse's work beater), '65 mustang with a 289 and a c4 (weekend car), '04 craftsman DLT3000 with a 25hp briggs, manual transmission and 42" cut (excuse to drink beer while mowing), and a '00 Trek 4300 with a Manitou Black front fork (makes me feel better about drinking beer) I also have a mid-2000's 8" Meade Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope with a computerized mount and a variety of accessories. It's doesn't count as literal transportation, but we do travel to the stars with it. My garage keeps most of it out of sight...

Put the 11B23 calibration to it and ship it...

Whoa, whoa, whoa... Staph does not come from poop! Speaking of which, I am on round "can't keep count" with staph again... Back in my nose, and this time it is making blisters on both the inside and outside of my nose. I've been fighting this since around Christmas last year. I'll take your 3 days of pinkeye over my four months of on again, off again staph...

After removing the screen and suctioning our the reservoir, run a suction hose up into the channel feeding the high pressure pump.

I moved to the south side of the shop a year ago, the side with all the water. I bought a drier after my first day... They are less than $100 - some far less. I consider it cheap insurance...