mrbudge

Many years ago there was a TSB released for Pinto's, of all things, for brake pulsation. The cause was pad material transfering to the rotor causing inconsistent friction between the pad and rotor. The fix was to replace the pads with a more agressive pad that actually removed the pad material from the rotor. I believe that this is still very common, as I have put a great many dials and micrometers on rotors to identify a 'warped' rotor, only to find runout and thickness variation are well within tolerances. A fine cut with the on car lathe to remove surface deposits cures the brake shudder every time. I do not believe in re-surfacing a brake rotor during a 'brake job', however. New rotors go nicely with new pads, machining the rotors to my mind only makes the rotor that much closer to the end of it's service life, especially if half if it is rotted away.

Don't feel too bad, we put a reman 4.0l pushrod engine in an Explorer, all dressed with oil pan, cam syncronizer, etc. Started it up and no oil pressure. I guess the oil pump drive rod was on someone's bench in Mexico, cause it wasn't in this thing. So much for dyno testing before shipping the engine.

"Please state warrantable defect with part"

Air Canada GSE (ground service equipment) just brought us their 2011 F550 wrecker for a safety, I guess they take it on the road sometimes. Powered by gasoline.

I threw out my easy outs years ago. Mig weld a nut on the broken stud, then hit it with penetrating fluid while the nut is still red hot. Sometimes it takes several attempts, but the thermal cycling caused by welding then cooling with the penetrating fluid always does the trick. A torch on that big lump of iron full of coolant will never get the stud hot enough to help. I just did one on #8 exhaust port not long ago. Pull the fender liner to get at it.

Farmer's toast, we called it "fry bread" And never wash a cast iron pan.

Just remember pumps cannot pull, they only push. Atmospheric pressure pushes fuel into the pump. Not enough pressure in the atmosphere to overcome inlet restrictions.

New is just new. If new is so good why am I spending so much time fixing new cars.

Again!! My fingers are still sore from all the yelling I did on the last survey.

Started fixing snowmobiles and motorcycles probably around when I was twelve years old. If you wanted to ride, you had to fix. Did a couple of really crappy jobs before I turned 18 (ever work in a foundry? It makes a really hot day in the shop here seem like a piece of cake). Started working at a Ford dealer in 1982, changed stores but have been under the Blue Oval ever since. In hindsight, the trade has treated me well, with lots of perks from FoMoCo throughout the years. Lately, however, the way things have tightened up can wear a guy down. My first priority has always been a proper and complete repair, now it is all about cost caps and grinding for time. I tell all of the young guys that come through here to go to school and get a complete education first, as they will let anyone be a mechanic. My son will be sixteen soon, and of course is interested in cars and trucks. I got a Merkur XR4Ti for us to play with, just to be different. However, I have made it clear to him that if you want to play with cars, that is fine, but do not turn your hobby into a job. Get the education required to get a job that will allow you to be able to afford your hobby.

I am not sure if that is the case. The cores I cut open were blocked with silicates, similar to what you would find if your coolant strength is too high. If it was a manufacturing issue, why change the coolant type as part of the repair, and use the new coolant on all subsequent new vehicles. I think Ford likes to shift blame to supplier issues, therefore not opening the door to possibly having to replace coolant on all the early vehicles.

I remember working on the original 7.3 powerstroke when they were new. They were not without their problems, but I don't recall any catastrophic failures like the 6.4, or dare I say 6.7. They were also very lightly stressed compared to the new engines. I guess the shorter the fuse, the sooner the bomb goes off....

You may be aware that Ford has had problems with early Edges plugging heater cores at low milage. The fix was to flush the cooling system and replace the gold coolant with specialty green coolant, originally sourced from Mazda. All Edges built after a certain date now have specialty green as factory fill. I cut open some of the heater cores we had replaced and found the tubes on the hot side of the core blocked with silicates. I would suggest if the silicates in the Gold coolant are causing issues with heater cores, why not oil or egr coolers?

Sadly, it seems anyone can be a mechanic (note-not technician). The entrance requirements are not that tough.

Last 6f35 that I needed to get a seal kit was also B/O, so we used the 9L8Z 7153 G repair kit from the 10b15 program. Had everything we needed and the claim went through, just don't claim the 10b15.

You say it will start with ether? Does it stay running, if so you may have a TP sensor stuck at WOT. On the old OBD1 Fords the check engine light goes on with the key and goes out as soon as the pcm sees a PIP signal. Now someone may have yanked the bulb for whatever reason. Check at any sensor for vref with the key on. The old tfi cars would spark even if the pcm was not powered up. VREF is a good way to determine if the pcm is alive or not.

After having a few go missing here, I just drilled a hole in an appropriatly sized bolt (forget what size, but it was nothing exotic), brazed an air line fitting to it, and gave everyone that used them one of their own to love and cherish.

The easiest way to make yourself look good is to make someone else look bad. Unfortunately, in this business if one of us looks bad we all must be bad...in the public's eyes.

Yes, challenge, good word for it. Trouble is you forget alot if there are not enough of them around to keep you busy. Are you doing the balance hybrid?

For all you Corner Gas fans, don't miss the pink eye episode.

Google Azure Dynamics, they do hybrid conversions on Utilimaster vans built on a Econoline chassis, as well as the electric Transit Connect. There is a huge electric motor they sourced from a crane winch under these things behind the trans to drive it in electric mode, and a huge belt driven starter/generator under the motor to start the gas motor when demanded. Plus you got a hv traction battery, electric power steering, electric climate control, ..... Sounds like a lot of effort for what? But I got the training so I get to work on them.

So if you don't mind me asking, how's the pay compared to being a "technician", and do you get any perks from the mountain?(lift tickets, etc) What type of maintenance is done through the summer? I always dreamed about moving out west, doing lift maintenance, and being a ski bum. (yeah, bikini skiers!)

The saddest thing about this story to my mind is how one technician or group of technicians will criticize another technician or group of technicians in a public forum. We are all the same in the public's eyes, and fighting among ourselves as a trade only makes us all look bad. I have had my share of handoffs from other shops, but never would I throw someone else under the bus to make myself look good.

I know this is a diesel website and all, but it seems to me that a lot of people are going through a lot of effort just to have a diesel engine in their truck. I just want a truck that I never have to lay a wrench on.

I use my 3/8 gun to take them out. I still break them loose and soak them on a warm engine. Probably 95% success rate. Just make sure the socket is centered on the plug or it will break the porcelean. I used to work them out gently, but after spending 15 minutes fooling around and breaking it anyway, blasting them out with a gun is saving time even if you do break a plug. Have broken 1 plug in the last 3 tune ups, and can usually get the broken plug out in 10 minutes, even if the porcelean breaks. I would sooner have the Ford plugs to break than the Champions that some people seem to like. I bough a truck with a 5.4 and had to change the plugs because of a misfire. Someone had already put in Champions, and put them in so tight that the hex on one plug rounded over when trying to remove it. The truck only had 65000miles on it so they couldn't have been in there that long. I was able to hammer a 15mm socket on the plug and get it out, and noticed the metal shell on the champion was very thin compared to the Motorcraft plug. It also used a 5/8 hex.