Jim Warman

The compressor is mounted about where the upper (secondary) alternator would fit... I'll see if I can muster up some pics next time one comes through the shop...

One tech at work has one and uses it constantly.... I think he's mentioned a couple of things he'd like to change about it (old man memory thing) but not bad enough for him to actually spend time doing them. I would say that he is very happy he bought it.

Now would be a good time... Alberta is in a real labour crunch, right now. Nearly impossible to find anyone in ANY trade... It costs a little more to live here but that is more than offset by the wage packages offered.

Put a dab of brake caliper grease on the end of your finger and run it around the opening for the FICM connectors.... no more struggling. I would think that everyone knows what the metal tab on the FEAD belt tensioner is for.... For the odd time you find one missing a chunk of wood can substitute - stick it in from the top.... When replacing the EGR cooler hose, remove the adapter from the top of the oil cooler.... no need to remove the intake. To remove a funky dipstick tube, clamp the bars from your flare tool around the tube.... It wont crush the tube like vise grips and can be used as a wrench to turn the tube back and forth. When removing the intake manifold, remove the intake elbow or EGR throttle body. With that stud out of the way there is no need to remove the fan stator. Speaking of the fan stator.... use a backup wrench on the lower spacers to avoid having them turn and break the stator.... When doing branch tubes.... use a thinwall deep 1/4" socket and a T27 bit.... weld these two pieces together and weld those to your extension - you will not drop a socket in the bowels of your "victim". A cut down 6mm allen socket does multiple duty.... shift tower bolts on the 6 speed and makes short work of getting the fuel pressure port plug out. When doing engine work, either remove the front wheels and let your hoist down or simply let the air out of the tires.... If you're on a 4 post, let the air out of the tires and air up the front jack beam and use it as a work platform.... These are pretty simplistic but, often, the simplest solutions to a problem are overlooked.

Ahhh, but Dwayne... with the penetrating oil you can be undoing something else whilst you wait for the ping.....

Give them a good squirt of Motorcraft penetrating oil (NOT WD40) and wait 'til you hear the sweet sound of the clamp releasing itself....

Well, Tony... it starts with the pay... A Master tech earns $36 per flat rate hour... Flag 100 hours or more in a pay period (two pay periods per month) and there's an extra $2 bonus for each and every hour.... We have three diesel techs, including yours truly, so not just one guy gets a steady diet of tough to meet SLTS. We have a very healthy retail business.... Our main local industries are logging and oilfield... this assures us of a steady diet of brakes, ball joints, spindle services and more. On top of that, we are usually booked two weeks in advance. My vacation starts at months end - they stopped booking for me a week ago. Work 6 hours every fourth Saturday and the guys will usually work three or sometimes even four evenings per pay if the job is gravy. Still skeptical??? One local independant and the local Chevy dealer are looking for techs and offering $40 per hour - that's $37.58USD at todays exchange rate. Yeah, a guy has to apply himself a bit to make six digits... but three of us do and our sole senior tech is hot on our heels... We don't do flushes.... period.

We recently had our first 6.4 with a V-Mac scroll compressor mounted on the engine.... Sorry, didn't think to get pics.... Like the 6.0, they remove the fan stator during the conversion process and the fan clutch connector gets mounted (on a V-Mac supplied bracket) to the bottom of the rad shroud..... Unfortunately, when the truck get's into some heavy going, the engine torques over just enough to be nearly spectacular.... Just some minor things like radiator, shroud, fan clutch... If you are lucky enough to have to install one of these beasts, make sure they supply you with the updated parts..... these include a fan hub extension, a tensioner bolt and a connector bracket - that doesn't seem like it will work until you get a little aggressive with it... Good luck, gents.

Glad to hear that you managed to make a decision (and come away with a bit more coin of the realm, to boot) without too much soul searching.... This whole trade is a challenge, in this day and age... Working on gas compressors would be like "putting tab A into slot B..." day, after day, after day... Welcome back to the guy that never left.... /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif

Before reinstalling the pump cover, air test the system once again to be sure the tube hasn't developed "gremlins" during the procedure.... I'm the only one in our shop that has had to replace branch tubes.... This rates right up there with a root canal or a vasectomy.....

In less than three weeks I will be 29....... for the 28th time. For those disadvantaged at math (a dangerous situation in this trade), I'll be 57. There are days that my back hurts so bad I can barely straighten up... the arthritis in my hands, wrists and shoulders can turn every task into the labours of Hercules.... my dogs can bark so loud I can hardly put my boots on... I have tinitis... my arms aren't long enough to read a manual... This trade can eat it's young - if we let it.... But it's not about age - how old we feel - how old we are... It's all about outlook.... You can be young and healthy yet have such a sour attitude about everything that life will never be a joy.... I don't try to work a hard or as fast as the young lions.... it wouldn't work.... Work smarter.... plan a repair ahead.... pay attention to what we are doing.... Every day is a new opportunity - a new set of challenges - and, if it don't rain, one more chance to ride the Harley. I know I'm up for it. One old guy, years ago, told me.... "Cheer up, Jimmy... things are never so bad that they can't get worse....".

Dwayne... I have to say that most of the guys I know that took this kind of career move are happy that they did. A lot of it depends on what floats your boat.... The oil patch can be a fickle bride, as you may well know but, saving grace... production is safer than exploration as far as job security... One thing to remember... the oil patch never sleeps and I really have to wonder about "holidays off" and similar claims. My son works for Kodiak Wireline (they do both slickline and e-line and, at Slave station they have two tridems and two Nodwells). When the work is there, he has to be ready... if not, someone else will surely take his place. Pay is good, but sometimes the grass ain't quite as green as it looked from this side of the fence... Whatever you decide.... best to ya, chum.... The world is a bed of oysters... a guy just needs to find the one with the pearl.. Or you could just send your resume to employment@slford.com

I still road test and measure MGP at WOT, I am usually looking for overboost. If the VGT mechanism isn't working correctly, we might still see 25ish PSI on a motor with concerns. The idle test is checking to see if the VGT is working and can go through it's full range as well as intake system integrity. Both tests, done together, can reveal quite a bit IMHO.

Apologies to Kieth since this should have gone in the upgrades forum... might have something to do with too many hours... The biggest problem is that most customers will believe what a stranger tells them in a glossy, full page ad rather than what we tell them wee see... When I was younger (much, much younger) we would turn the lids on our air filters upside down... The resulting increase in noise would have the SOTP dynamometer pegging the scale - when in reality, all we were doing was making our air filters dirty before their time....

I'm sure most of us have seen more than one of these... http://www.forddoctorsdts.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=126&cat=500 And I'm sure we've taken the filter element off and seen... http://www.forddoctorsdts.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=127&cat=500

it's time for a career change.... As shop foreman, one of my particular duties appears to be "taking one for the team" with some regularity. Now, it ain't all THAT terrible bad when we consider that I am straight time and OT has me close to $60 per hour.... but it can get old. Yesterday wasn't my Saturday to work, but one of my techs is on his honeymoon so what could I do but work his shift???? I did my day and went home to do some siding on my house. When the sun finally waned (about 11:30 PM at this time of year) I returned to work to change the cluster on an F53. Now, the way they mount this thing is to screww it to a plastic plate and glue the plastic plate to the instrument cluster trim panel... but they appear to get a little liberal with the glue.... OK... these folks will be royally p*ssed at me because, out of frustration, the motor home got put on the back burner... Tonight is an F550 for four wheel brakes, spindle service and front axle u-joints.... If I can pull this off, I will only have one customer p*ssed at us rather than two (we do work in a situation of "degrees" - don't we?).... Now... here's the question.... will any of you deadbeats move to the land where men are men and sheep are nervous? I apologize to Kieth since this might have been better placed in the jobs listing, but my two flat rate diesel guys will make 6 digits this year - WITHOUT working the kind of hours I get stuck with... FWIW, the DP takes the company bobcat to my house and clears the snow from my driveway for me.... My life is an oxymoron... it sucks to be me but it's still pretty damned good....

I get the odd feeling that I missed something and I'm probably not going to enjoy it when I see it.....

I haven't done any diesel driveability for a while and I was still doing the air management test "by hand".... However, the diesel performance worksheets went through a change some time ago.... Used to be we'd just hookup the scanner and go for a drive and see what we could manage for boost (a la 7.3 test).... A couple of years ago, this test was changed and what you are seeing is likely the "automated" version of the test. It's no secret that these things can be a diagnostic nightmare and I believe that their complexity has outpaced many techs abilities - either through inability to learn or lack of desire to learn. I expect that we will see more automated test routines before the dust settles. Dredging up an old thread.... we now have OASIS "quick start"... Using the IDS over our wireless network, I can start a vehicle session and perform either KOEO and/or KOER testing - start my web browser and navigate to the OASIS page and hit the quick start icon..... VIN and test results (along with God knows what else) are automatically uploaded to OASIS and a report generated. I like it... some customers may not...

http://www.safety-kleen.com/SKInternet/SKShoppingDetailParts.aspx?ItemCode=6510 is the one that has our DPs interest. Worst comes to worst, I imagine I could use solvent 3139 (varsol) in it. We have the luxury of having a "yard man" and maintaining the parts washer is one of his jobs. Waste disposal is becoming a big bone of contention for us. I recycle antifreeze but everything we see takes gold.... So, I try to find people with leaky in floor heating and charge enough to do little better than break even on recycling costs.... We do use some recycled product in the shop, but we still make more than we use. I know the people at our local oil reclaimers quite well and they would occasionally take a barrel or two of unsuitable antifreeze and gunk along with our waste oil - but even that was heading towards more made than dealt with. Now, they can take the slime without "cheating" but it costs $100 CAD per 205 litre drum. We are doing our best to be good corporate citizens and hope other shops follow suit....

Awww, Kieth, I wouldn't say anything nasty about those that cry about what they DON'T have rather than enjoy what they do have.... Not me.... Nosirreee... AFAIK, there are currently no promotions for Canadian techs... On a brighter note, we did have our own version of spin to win late last year... Both the SM and I won a set of BBQ tools. They we made in some tropical, 3rd world country and the wood used on the handles has a........ an, ahhhhh, ummm, a rather unique odour.... OK, so I lied.... Yes, I like my pockets... I love it when people fill my pockets with coin of the realm...... But if this were to be my main, #1 criteria, my pockets would never be full enough... Treat your customers the way you would expect to be treated.... Act like a professional.... Be prepared to explain things in laymans terms.... Make yourself invaluable (but don't ever expect to be irreplaceable).... Pick your employer carefully... find one that has his customer satisfaction standards. When I got this job, I told the DP that my customers are the most important people to me.... THEY pay my wages....

Has anyone had any experience with aqueous parts cleaners? We are considering purchasing a Safety-Kleen parts washer and I'd like to know what techs think of them,.... Work as good/quick as varsol? How about disposing spent cleaner?

I can appreciate the way you feel.... when I was more involved with our local fire service, I spent too much time involved in peoples personal tragedies.... I can recall one fire where we found the families leather bound bible unscathed... the home-owner was moved to tears.... leaving an indelible mark on those of us present... All the same, even the safest places can be taken in the wink of an eye...

Kieth... we all know that TDS is the "national enquirer" of all things PSD... All those knee jerk yahoos that think their trucks are more than just another machine will take care of the sensationalism.... FWIW, I just bought Mrs Grampyjim a new to her car - an 05 Mustang drop top.... Only 13000 kms.... I love it when folks ask me what she's gonna drive in the winter - they get the patented blank look and a simple "the car".... Altogether now.... "it's just another machine....".

We can call this one a fix..... Now, remember that we had the manifolds undone at the heads, the hot side CAC still connected and none of the smoke we expected.... Reinstalled the manifolds and undid the downpipe..... smoke - lots and lots of smoke. Remove the hot side CAC and the smoke disappears. Reconnect - smoke.... disconnect no smoke. I would have thought that a concern associated with the compressor side would have made smoke from the cylinders...Instead, connecting the CAC tube somehow caused the compressor side to force oil into the turbine side... Anyway, a new turbo and this one is gone.... FWIW, this new turbo came without the VGT solenoid....

Not sure how many trucks have been produced but you can be sure that those "other" forums will milk the piss out of this.... Can you spell "doom and gloom"? Every Ford hater will be out there with his best duds on. On a lighter note.... we had one towed in Friday with a massive coolant leak.... all of which can be attributed to the rigger that installed the V-Mac compressor - can you spell UGLY? All this because Henry Ford admired a dictator (or more likely just some of his ideals) and because FoMoCo has an equality in the workplace (aka condones !@#!?$! - sorry if that wounds anyones sensibilities)stance. I started buying Fords because my Dad was a Dodge/GM guy and we never saw eye to eye until it was too late.... I've never had any reason to not buy a Ford....