Jim Warman

Does it look like it might keep us from having to reposition the branch tubes?

Weekly..... VERY weakly (notice the play on words).... Our Journeyman line techs (both diesel specialist) are flat rate... you might say that they do quite well for themselves. I'm hourly.... most people wouldn't want my job... the hours are long and just because it's coffee time or lunch time or 5:00 don't mean squat. It's important to learn how to write a repair description, make sure you list all the combinations and any extra time spent (make punches) for mud, siezed bolts or customer add-ons (remember - if you made a punch to take something off - make one to put it back on). Writing your story can be almost an art form... and doing it "right" can make or break your paycheque.... You guys just knew I couldn't give a "simple" answer, didn't you? /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/shrug.gif

To my eye it looks quite a but beefier.... does it still use the girdle?

And that has to be some special sort of idiocy... the CCV mod".... "Yup, I'ma gonna let that sucker spew whatever out the side o' my truck so everyone can enjoy it... least the inside of my pipe'll be clean"... Apparently, none of these yokels thinks about what sort of pressure might be inside the crankcase whan boost hits one or two atmospheres (hmmm, now there would be an interesting tidbit of knowledge).

Catalytic converters are very good at "desmoking" exhaust... used to be you could tell real quick if you had an oil burner on your hands but those days disappeared a long time ago. Anyone here know what a "road draft tube" is? /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif

Ahhhh, yes... the toolbox.... I always advise would be purchasers to compare the shipping weights when they are considering similar boxes. The heavy one isn't made out of tin foil. I will admit I purchased my latest toolbox more by price than anything.... already into my 50s, my 20+ year old SnapOn was just plain worn out. The box I would have liked cost more than my first BRAND NEW CAR!!!! If my current "main" box lasts as long as my last one, I'll be almost 80 when I have to replace it...

You can buy a SnapOn wrench for $25????? 5/16ths combo wrench = $40 last time I had the misfortune of needing one. I do a lot of alignment work (everyone else is too proud) and picked up a 21mm/24mm box end for a mere $75..... OTOH, I picked up a set of Cambodian (Canadian) Tires "professional quality" metric combo wrenches for $29.95 (plus gouge and screw tax) - 6mm to 24mm (sadly missing the 21mm). For half the price of ONE <brand name> wrench, these things have done everything I've asked them to. Purchased as "benders", I decided to give them a try for regular stuff. There are places where we can economize and there are places we can't... the magic is in learning the difference.... ya friggin' tightwad /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif

Today local police found a unidentified man's body in a park nearby. They describe him as having a Beer Belly, Thinning Hair,Saggy Balls, Wrinkly Ass and a Small Wiener. I was just checking to make sure that all you boys are okay.

Something I'm having trouble with convincing my young lions of.... turbochargers that "puke" oil. This was brought to a head yesterday when one of my diesel guys showed me a one month old EGR valve that was carbonned just about wide open.... (EGR from another store, thank God)... and I've been pushing coking deposit diagnosis this last while... Anyway, the new EGR goes in and the truck is running with the hot side CAC off.... Oil is dripping out of the turbo.... We've all seen CAC systems with oil in them - fact of life, right? So techs start to figure that oil in the system is normal and that's that.... But let's analyze a little (notice you can't spell analyze without "anal"?).... Where did the oil in the CAC system come from and how much are we seeing and (just as important) how much aren't we seeing. An easy check (and, for all I know, it may be mentioned in the new TSB) is to disconnect the hot side CAC AND the air intake duct. Clean out the turbocharger volute and run the truck. If the turbo starts puking oil, the seals are bad and this is up for replacement.... But some guys can't see the requirement for removing the intake duct.... but it has to be done to give meaning to the test. My point... most of what we do can be broken down in to simple ideas.... In this case, we are all used to seeing oil in the intake system.... but we have to wonder if the oil is coming from where it "normally" comes from. Or if it's oil that shouldn't be there.... Food for thought....

Now that you mention it - no.... If I'm looking at something I already know is a repeat or similar to a repeat concern, I check history... but, on no brainer stuff, who bothers? At the same time.... one would expect to see the bracket installed on the fitting of the failed branch tube if this was a contributing factor... Quite some time ago, I think I may have missed something "significant"... an 05 or 06 with oil coming down the right rear of the engine. No complaints of hard starting or such and, without a clear idea of what we were dealing with, we decided to replace the hot side CAC boot at the turbo.... Indications were maybe yes - maybe no but it was (and is) a loyal customer and the powers that be decide no more time would be spent but we would have the appearance of "doing something".... About two days and about 500 kms later, the truck wont start in Edmonton and the rear cover is cracked.... coincedence? blind old guy? We will never know....

At various times, I have had others busting my chops over my thoughts on hand tools... particularly my stance on "tool truck tools".... Now, I do have my fair share of SnapOff and Mac tools but, at my age, I need to be preparing for my golden years - not sending some toolmonger off to Cancun for the winter. Over the years, I have developed a "taste" for tools that has proved to be both economical and given me some tools that are, indeed, superior to those brands we accept as "the best". For an open end wrench, I have yet to see the superiority of "flank drive".... Instead, I watch to see if the open end will spread under torque... Here, in Canada, one very popular brand of "professional quality" is Westward tools. Let's start out by saying that these wrenches are ugly... bone ugly... if this wrench was a girl, she'd be leaving the bar alone even after 2 AM - they're that ugly. But if I have to use the open end, the Snappy stays in the drawer... And this holds true for so many "bargain" brands.... A long time ago, I got tired of paying for that big shiny truck and all the fuel it gobbles.... I got tired of waiting two weeks for the truck to park in our driveway just so the toolmonger could tell me that the wrench is worn out - not broken - no warranty.... Oh, there are many things I prefer to purchase off the tool truck... but there are so many more that we can shop wisely for - and come away with an equal (if not superior) product for a lot less money - that's money that we get to keep in OUR jeans. So here's the question.... Do you blindly crawl up in the tool truck (being careful to bring your own jar of vaseline)? Or are you like some disagreeable old farts and say things like "What - your eye candy wont undo that? Try this old <blasphemous brand>... I got this when you was just a gleam in your Daddy's eye"? The idea is to maximize our personal profitability - part of that will come from selecting tools that have a better warranty, equal or better performance, convenient warranty exchange - and a lower selling price... Side benefit..... If I need a custom wrench, I don't feel bad about heating and bending an affordable wrench (I've even had bent wrenches warranteed when I snipe it and break off part of the open end).... but my eye candy is still eye candy - and I just can't bring myself to bend an over priced wrench...

You do realize that you have now jinxed yourself..... there is no offering that youy can burn before the altar of the branch tube gods that will change your fate..... Another neener.... our DP is of the mind that it is far better to have a tool and not need it than the need a tool and not have it... We have an aluminum gun for the MIG welder so, therefore, we keep a bottle of argon on hand (and there's only one of us in the shop silly enough to try welding aluminum - and I do not too bad, if I do say so myself) even though we only need it maybe once a year.... I'm not sure what our demurrage bill is for a month but there's two oxygens, two acetylenes, two mig mix, the argon and the nitrogen... If there's anything that we have in good supply, it's toys... Like those little boxes of odds and ends a guy collects... it's only junk when it's sitting there.... but it can be worth a million bucks when you need it.

This was $274 CAD from one of our industrial suppliers... haven't had the chance to look at what they have for accessories yet. Used it the day I got it to inspect turbo fins without removing the intake duscting... For my wonky old eyes, this thing beats the bejayzus out of our dorky little borescope. Don't tell anyone.... but I think this might be my "feminine side" surfacing... When my loving bride feels "in one of those moods", she buys a new purse or pair of shoes (she has so much "nothing to wear" that her closet rod collapsed at one time). I, OTOH, browse tool departments....

I've had several instances of slow downloads or refresh rates.... As far as I can see, it is the internet simply being the internet (and our computers being the unforgiving motherf@ckers they always have been). I'm 4 blocks away from my ADSL gateway.... and it can take a long time for that porn clip..... I mean "movie vignette" to load and play.... I'm what you might call "chronologically challenged".... I can remember when we used to complain that people were slow.... now everyone can blame it on a slow "connection".... (Shit, I can remember when I didn't know what TV was...). We don't suffer from a slow connection as we do from "modern anxieties".... pretty deep for a grade 8 drop out, huh? Sigmund Freud... move over - Grampy's here.....

http://www.ridgid.com/seesnakemicro/ neener neener neener...... Too big to be a borescope but I think it's going to be pretty handy.... If nothing else, I can now delve in to the exciting world of proctology... perhaps even making money off what used to be simply a hobby.... /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif

Nathan.... this horror story is totally amazing... But we see it repeated on other forums too many times.... I don't see how guys like those techs can remain employed... I don't see how they could ever ask for a raise with a straight face and I don't see how their employers can keep the doors open.... And I'm surprised their service advisors aren't on a suicide watch list.... I sure wouldn't want to be the guy dealing with you and trying to justify that kind of shoddy sh!t.... I'm quite soft-spoken and very reserved.... I certainly couldn't see myself looking that tech in they eye and telling him I think he's a hack and should go back to work for the auto wrecker.... Since the truck still has warranty left, I'd think long and hard about pulling it out of that shop and handing it off to another Ford dealer... maybe the specter of a work order full of ineffective repairs might have them see the light.

This thing doesn't sound like it would be hard to cost cap.... If you go for a long block, all you need to assure anyone of is that the bolts are all tight. If you fix it from the inside out, you'll be on the hook for everything - including the stuff you missed....

Welcome to our world, Kelly... We have a "tire tax" here in Alberta.... It's been $4.00 per tire for a long, long time.... People b!tch at me, our tire guy (who sometimes is me, too) and the tire manufacturer.... While we all supply tires, none of these are worn out tires.... the customer supplies those and the tire tax is to deal with the tires the customer supplies... not the ones we supply.... But, let's not allow common sense to get in the way of a good "mad". Same with the truck.... we didn't design it, we didn't build it and we didn't break it.... It's not even our place to decide how much a repair will cost - the truck has already decided that and we are merely the "translators". We're booked two weeks right now... that makes for a LOT of mad people.... All we can do is point out that we are giving the truck that is in the bay right now the same care and attention that we will give this guys truck when it gets in... Sympathize with him, empathize with him.... understand his frustration. But we rarely, if ever, get to tell someone something they really wanted to hear... I can often be heard saying "Where's your bowl of cereal... I need to pee....". You don't really get used to giving people bad news - all you can do is tell them sh!t happens and it happened now. Worse yet... not the customer himself but a service truck with a hired driver.... billowing white smoke, coolant level goes down... looks like an EGR cooler to me and I advise him not to drive it. He's mad at me because I have just told him he will have to drive his employers "spare" truck (usually dubbed the "punishment truck")... Sh!t happens.... and Seagrams makes whiskey.... Life is grand....

Yes... not sure what the fitting will hold, but there should be no reason to go past about 3-400 PSI and if you crank up to 500 you may find more than what you were looking for. Any local hydraulic shop can make up a hose (1/4 inch should be more than big enough) that is rated easily for higher than needed pressure....

Nitrogen.... yes, it works...

Did you read Larryatmcf's post? Not exactly ford or cornbinder, but it's a source anyway....

Check out THIS thread. Should be what you need.

I do them in the truck with the heads on.... you'll need an assistant when it comes time to torque the branch tube into place (just to line up the socket). Instead of using a torx socket on your extension, I recommend taking a 1/4" deep socket with a thin wall and welding a torx bit in to that and then welding that on to a 10" 1/4 drive extension.... There will be no chance of losing anything inside the motor with that set up. Once the job is complete, you'll wonder what all the hoopla is about.... T'ain't half as bad as we make it sound /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif

We've unearthed a couple with bad vanes..... Indicator is a low and fluctuating ICP.... While air testing, use a starter button to bump the motor over..... listen for the gurgle in the oil filter housing.... Too early to tell if this is something we can depend on....

Holy Shrapnel, Batman!!!! It takes a really "special" kind of customer to drive something to that sort of destruction... A sign of things to come???? Several years ago I saw warranty on an aftemarket rebuilt gas engine denied because the customer drove it to destruction... This rebuilder had, in the past, been very, very fair with their warranty treatment but, in this particular case, there was no way to determine the root cause of the failure... Of course, we all see those motorists that wont have something fixed until it just plain wont move any more....