Brad Clayton

I went to lunch with a co-worker today and he started laughing his ass off when I told him how hot it was this week.

That's an interesting trans prop. I use a broom handle across the frame rails with 2 trans bolts hanging out to prop them up.

I got nothin'

Worked out in the yard yesterday and got fried. I look like I am walking around the shop in a full body cast today....feel like total shit. Then I get my first job today and proceed to burn the ever lovin' shit out a my index finger on a locked up belt tensioner pulley.

I'm sorry I didn't catch any of that, I had my ear plugs in.

Does any of those wires go through the harness at the corners of the radiator supports that chaffe out?

Motorcraft filters?

I thought the same thing at first also, and I was like what the duece? But then I did a little diggin' and they put that section in the first part of the assembly section of the shop manual. Go figure, it states disassembled view but it's in the assemble section.

I would say that I spoke in error when I said this was an '05, must be an lateish '06. I took the pic back in the winter when I first moved to NC.

I have noticed them come through both ways, that's why I bought a 10mm and 13mm half moon wrench to access the top of the fastener depending on which way they were oriented. The "shouldered" bolts suck, cause you have to loosen both sides of the pipe to rock the y-back to access the HPOP, I have only seen those on the 07's though.

It's been about 7 months now since I relocated from the Northeast to the Southeast. I have had some difficulty with the relocation but I am making the best of it. I was making a much better living, up there, doing the exact same jobs I do now. This is a bit confusing and is not offset by a lower cost of living, in fact the household bills are damn near the same, fuel costs are the same, ect. I thought I would like being back in an area where it's nice and warm, but it's friggin hot and it's only the end of May. There is one very nice perk though, no rust. Let's take a better look at this, shall we? Exhibit A: a 2005 F-350 powered by a 6.0L Now let's break it down for all the guys working in the salt encrusted rust belts. Starting at the bottom we see the red arrow pointing at a starter terminal connection that is pristine with no green and blue algae puking out of the wiring. Next the green arrow shows a trans dipstick tube that is not completely rotted out with cancer and you can actually pour trans fluid into it and it will make it to the sump instead of the ground. Red circle shows an exhaust fastener that can be removed with the sloppiest 10 mm socket in your toolbox. Blue arrows show absolutely no exhaust leaks and still running on factory stuff. And last but certainly not least, the red square shows that the number 5 glow plug was accessed with a minimal amount of effort, using the glow plug harness removal tool, and then reinstalling the harness without any damage. Well, I will keep dealing with the shitty economy down here, but I'll keep all my Northern brethren in my thoughts while I breeze through what these guys call auto repair down here.

Your warranty numbers must be sky high! I think my dealer is jinxed or something, we don't see too many of these in the shop except for the odd oil change here and there.

Nice, now he's gonna want you to be the caretaker of that priced possession.

From the angle I'm sitting at, it looks like your referring to yourself in the third person.

Priced out a maf connector, 45 clams!

I have never been a fan of window tint as far as the custom factor goes, my eyesight is too bad to see out dark windows at night. However the tint is a major factor in keeping the heat out of your car as far as functionality goes down here. We even have window tint on our home windows on the West side of our house.

State inspection laws and procedures around here are interesting to say the least.

Took it right down to bare metal on the underside, the outside was ok though.

North Carolina allows 35% tint on all the windows. This unit is used to check the tint and there is an additional $10 charge if your car has tint while performing a state inspection. This unit consists of the tester that slides over the window, 2 magnetic units for testing solid windows, short data cable, long data cable, and the calibrated smoked glass. The 1st step is to check the meter reading, this one is pretty darn close. Checking the solid glass sensors. The law allows the tester to dip down to 32% light transmission. This one is splitting hairs and when the glass was warm from sitting in the sun, it tested at 35% right on the button. The rear glass gets tested with the transmitter on the outside with the suction cup holding it in place. And the receiver on the inside, placed directly opposite. The magnets hold the units in place are pretty strong. The long data cable connects the 2 units together. The short cable connects them to the tester and a press of the red button gives the reading.

I guess it could have been worse. The egr supply tube sprung a leak and melted the bypass valve. It got hot enough to melt the washer bottle lid.

Finally saw one of these things up close and personal on an Expedition.

You sir, are a....BUBBLE BURSTER

That's a "BINGO"!

I can't watch any of them, the guy scares me, he's like the uncle you dread seeing at a family reunion.

I put a rag in front of the casters, works like a charm.