Jim Warman

I'm still half lost, Joey.... is this connecting to the VCM or to a network? FWIW, there is a jumper available for the Toughbook that has the USB connection screwed to the tablet. About six inches of cable and we have another USB connector. Tugging on the cable can't hurt the !@#!?$!. For network connections, the ToughBook has onboard wireless but it has to be enabled in the BIOS. While we spared no expense (other than the wireless router I donated) with our shop network, we have no concerns regarding connectivity to this point.... even when one tech (whose PC bit the big green wiener) decided that internet radio was what we needed. FWIW... I only dabble in computers.... "network bridge" has more to do with morning rush hour for me /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif

Somehow I think I would have preferred "chutzpah".... /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/blush.gif

David... I'm up for it. Ask him if I can make it a $50 donation but to our Canadian equivalent?

Are you talking wireless or ???? IP addresses are a function of Windoze and not IDS software....

Our biggest ambulance service provider has one F350 2WD bus.... The 2wd keeps entry height on par with the Econolines... Two disadvantages of this one... It has a torsion bar rear suspension set-up and this chews up a tremendous amount of real estate... enough that you can't replace the tailpipe.... ever. The second isn't apparent to us... and that is the increased turning radius. My time as an active firefighter showed the need for the extra manoeuverability the slightly shorter wheelbase affords. A SuperDuty based ambulance will work, but the EMTs will miss things that THEY like.

Lew.... as I recall, didn't the 6.0 start with a series of reflashes? I hope that this isn't a sign of things to come /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/sick.gif

But if oil was dripping off the bellhousing, it must have been a rear main seal. These things are crap and we have to replace them 70leven times before the customer don't come back no more (might have something to do with him getting rid of the truck). What amazes me is that we can get down to looking at an RMS, see for positive that it isn't leaking and still call replacement a "fix". I'm far from the best tech in the world (by miles), but I hate being lumped in with the inadequate ones....

Some things I do that seem to speed up the process (Simple Green is our weapon of choice). I remove the degas bottle before opening the petcock... messy? Yes.... But it is easier to clean off the frame than it is to remove it from the block. I disconnect the heater hoses.... at the pipe by the alternator. The other end, by the degas, gets calmped off between the motor and the T connection under the degas. I flush the heater core with hot water and the garden hose - this gets a LOT of oil out of the system. Disconnect the lower rad hose at the rad. If you are brave or not afraid of clean up, disconnect this to drain the system before opening the petcock. Don't forget the block drains. SnapOn has a long, ball end allen socket that is ideal for the right side plug (disconnect the batteries first, you are tight against the starter). Using the simple green and this technique (road testing hard between flushes) has most of them clean up in about three flushes. HTH

Talking with one of the EMTs from our biggest ambulance fleet, E-box buses are in demand (read that as can't get them). Short-term, there is no diesel E-box coming - not sure how long that situation will last. This provider is looking at alternative brands since he wants to stay with diesel more than he wants to stay with a Ford platform. In the 70s, Ford would only produce crew cabs about every three years since, at that time, it was a niche market but they could still make money off limited production. Using that as a model, there is the chance that they might think they have up to three years to fill this new gap. Some time in the not so distant future (or is that "not distant enough" future) we will see an diesel E-box.... rumours include the 4.5.

You should have been able to sign up as a tech and get into the forums for free.... On a lighter note, they may be able to attract some different (better) folks than the "other" diesel site. If you think about it, they have come full circle.... I started posting on 6.0literpowerstroke.com a long time ago. That site was absorbed by FRT and now it aappears to be getting a new life.

And in the news.... it seems like things must be getting a little thin over at FRT and they have opened up this http://www.fordpowerstrokeforums.com/forums/ making it free to the public. I'm getting confused....

Since they demoted me to foreman, quite well, actually. I don't get too many jobs where I have to "go deep" unless it's one of those electrical gremlins or similar that defies all attempts. We have a couple of new apprentices that may be suitable for diesel work in the future and one apprentice that is going to excell at mufflers and brakes (though I hope I'm wrong - in a good way). Our local ambulance authority deals with a bargain mechanic on wheels and our biggest ambulance contract bought two other areas... both with a fleet of aging 7.3s. They still pass the ambulance inspection so.... How about your end?

Dwayne... Darryl told us not to expect a diesel E-box any time soon....

Alex, there is a PID for regen status.... Done any mudflaps lately?

For Canada, Ford has been pretty tight lipped about the new tool. I read broadcast messages like it was a religion and I had never heard of the tool until our 6.4 instructor showed us. In the first few minutes that I waS allowed to fondle this new article, I realized that the sensor is bulky enough that it may cause installation concerns (I hope I'm wrong). At the same time, my diesel guys are good enough at PID data diagnostics that it doesn't take long (as long as the concern is present) to decide if we need to go after the turbo or not. It's an interesting idea but I'm not going to rush out and buy one just yet.... I have a nagging suspicion that it might turn out to be another CMP sensor tester.... But that might be just me....

I sneaked out of the shop "early".... sneaked being redundant because the only people there to see me sneak out was the janitor crew. Just a little after 8PM.... I will admit that I was in Edmonton for the 6.4 school and I do have to play a bit of "catch-up".... 10 hour days are more normal than 12 or more, lately. Winter is having one last kick at us but I expect break-up will be here soon and we should drop back to being booked only a few days in advance - until the summer crunch. In the Alberta oil patch, slack periods rarely last more than two days,,, usually because something is going on oin the field and customers need their trucks - no matter how bad they run.

You are out of the loop, Joey.... this new strategy has no more injector rattle at shutdown... Instead, they are energizing the injector coils when the wait to start lamp is on.... Looks like it is working quite well...

In Kieths vein.... My sporty side says " I have no problem with someone having a modified truck/car/boat/airplane/motorcycle/skateboard/ironing board... or what have you and going for a Sunday cruise...". When it comes to warranty - you play = you pay.... My "tree hugger nazi" side says " Vehicles meant for daily use are required to meet various tailpipe and evaporative emissions requirements.... If it is good for my lungs, it will likely be good for my (yet unmet) grandchildrens lungs. I can extrapolate that it will most likely be good for the lunbgs of all reading this and most of the people they know and love.... If defeating emission controls or sidestepping emissions requirements by changing fuel and timing curves is "OK", why would we even bother to try and clean up the atmosphere to begin with?". I'm not naive enough to think that we will ever achieve "zero pollution".... at the same time, I expect that it is the duty of all responsible "adults" to minimize the pollution that we leave behind.... Not to the point where we exclude our own personal brand of enjoyment, but at least to the point where we can use words like "in moderation".... I'm that wierd old, crusty guy that every town has.... I compost, I recycle, I stoop down and pick up that stray piece of refuse and drop it in the can it was dropped beside..... And I have been known to confront the odd "litterbug". Looking around our shop, I'm even trying to convince the DP that I need to prepare a course on "the care and use of garbage cans".

Pretty much, kieth... The Ottocycle motor is a heat engine. The more heat that we can produce in the combustion chamber, the more power we can make.... Through camshaft design, intake and exhaust design and other considerations, we can design for low fuel consumption in low to mid range rpms at the cost of high rpm power - or, we can design for max power output at the cost of midrange driveability. In either case, tailpipe emissions will suffer in some form. Since I've said all this, remember that my version of hotrodding is long overlap cams, Holley carbs with sewer pipes for venturis and the idea that there is no replacement for displacement...

Alex, A while ago I got an "attaboy" from John Cannataro for a previous post of some sort the same day I had two posts that didn't make it and one that got pulled... Go figure...

Not sure how it would work with a diesel (other than what is used in a regen) but way back in the early 70's we saw reduced tailpipe emissions and fuel consumption went into the toilet.... Lean idle mixtures, retarded timing and really crude EGR valve control all added up to lousy fuel mileage...

If we read the SSM carefully, it refers to LSD fuel. Since we are supposed to be getting ULSD fuel, I wouldn't get too concerned. Yes, I am all too guilty of "flat rate reading" too....

Some time ago I was diagnosing a recurring ETC concern that wouldn't give us any identifiable concerns.... Hotline engineer had me enter an area in the IDS that I'd never felt the need to use and enter what appeared to be a memory address (to my limited geekness)... Several lines of data appeared on the screen and, after a very few questions, I was told there was an internal PCM hardware concern. I was advised to replace the PCM and avoid doing a PMI... I have no doubts that there is stuff in there that we will never know... stuff that, at our level in the food chain, we don't need to know in the grand scheme of things.

Hi, Dwayne.... kinda nice not having the censorbot breathing down your neck, ain't it?

OK... it's making sense now, Scott.... We are instructed to remove the FICM power relay when reflashing trucks since sometime last year, IIRC. Now... I have to wonder what we might see with this induction heating strategy...