Jim Warman

On systems that have small leaks, we usually hear a change in the noise before IPR duty cycle gets very high... I have tinitis so I am a poor judge of any hissing or whistling noises... Rolling the duty cycle over the top, so to speak, gives that instantaneous indication of whether the IPR is moving in response to duty cycle or not. Hmmmm.... I spend way too much time in hospitals with my loving bride (Crohns disease) and can never resist "tinkering" (within reason, of course). The oxygen systems have a very accurate flow gauge... Once again, I am thinking "overkill". As for the gauge... hindsight is ALWAYS 20/20.... Good judgement comes from experience.... unfortunately, experience comes from bad judgement.

Been more than once I've stared at the problem and not seen it.... This is where bouncing thouyghts off someone else can be such a valuable "tool"... get's all the synapses firing, so to speak.... Speaking of stuck IPRs (I'm not sure how many guys do this), our first step in the air test is to ramp up the duty cycle on the IPR while listening to the sound.... we take it right to the "top" and then roll it over the top back to zero. Can someone please move all those damned trees - I can't see the forest...

/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/banghead.gif Y'know.... even though one would expect a pressure relief valve on a pump, it's something I never considered... along with the thought that one day, one of us is going to find one with a relief valve that leaks. This is good stuff, Bruce and I envy your time for pla..... errrr, I mean research.....

Early in the run of these trucks, it "seemed" like 65 was going to be the magic number... Today, I had an apprentice play with the pressures on a brand new unit.... 60 PSI gave the low tire light.... 62 ditto, 64 the same.... 65 turned the light out.... and I assume that we will have a lot full of low tire lights when the weather turns a little colder.... Notice that retriaing the sensors will not turn the light out - you have to drive the truck to wake the sensors up and have them communicate with the SJB.

Kieth, the big concern is if there is a "need" or desire to air the tires down... We have some customers that don't like having their truck ride like a...... well, ride like a truck. And they like to air the tires down to 40ish even. So far, we have seen that the F series wants to see minimum 65 PSI in all four... and the system wont take anything less for a value.... This has become where we adjust tire pressures on a PDI... and the system will not take 64 for an answer. For me, it's not a big deal.... There's always been at least one truck in my driveway and I don't mind it when they ride like a truck.... Others, however, find this system to be more bother than safety feature.... FWIW, seems like a rare occurance to go anywhere and not notice at least one unit on the road with at least one low tire - most people NEED TPMS....

You bet... you can never have too many bumper post sleeves is what I always say.... But your Saskahoovian roots have left you with a sheltered upbringing.... diagnostic dice are a gag thing along the lines of "executive decision makers".... One or more dice will have "answers" in place of the dots... ask your question and roll the dice.... voila (rather than the Americanized "walla".... ), your answer is before you. The 8 ball reference, Kieth will have to clarify... You can find little cubes or balls with an LED readout.... ask your question and shake the ball or cube and an answer will scroll across the display.... For me, the automotive 8-ball is something I'm stuck behind when I don't have guns pointed at my head..... Say, do you think I should put running boards on my new to me Mustang? /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif

Dwayne... if you click on "Rotunda Promotions" on the ProTech main page, you can see some of the stuff they are "pushing" this <wierd time period>. The on-line flier doesn't seem to get changed quite as often as we'd think.... and it usually features the stuff the shop should be buying, anyway.... And "blatant attempt to hijack the thread coming", we get into a whole 'nother ball game.... I'm willing to bet my "first half" (of the month) pay stub that everyone here is in a shop where "not me" works.... (I am well on my way to a disgustingly "fine" month).... and I am tired.... Anyway.... tools have been known to show up missing (I looked up and there it was..... GONE!!) all too regularly.... I am trying desparately to add rhyme or reason to our shop tools.... DP is not impressed when I buy tools that we already had and is of a mind to prove a point... (I can't blame him). Torque converter line up tools (the pointy things that thread on to the converter studs) have evaporated and I bought my own..... 72 loonies for two... I only ever use one at a time but nobody wants to pony up 36 bux to have one of their very own.... Why bother when Jims tool crib is open for business? I'm pretty much torn when it comes to tools.... If I borrow something once... well, that's life.... If I borrow it a second time. my eyes should be open..... a third time is a sure sign that I should have one of my own.... One of our diesel guys bought one of those fan clutch wrench sets that you use with your air chisel.... I borrowed it far too many times and decided that it was "time".... He was upset with me because I robbed him of one reason to justify his use of my tools.... BUT.... if using one of my tools makes another techs life easier, I have no problem as long as we don't abuse the tool.... and it comes back as soon as it is done and it comes back clean.... Back to the heart of the matter... there are several tools in the Rotunda catalogue that I nwouldn't mind having... but the prices suck and you will never, ever know if you will ever actually receive the tool.... Them shrimp dippin', cruise ship ridin', leather jacket wearin', miniature truck owners just don't know how good they got it.... At the same time, Canada accounts for less than 10% of Fords worldwide production.... little wonder we are treated like the redheaded stepchild.... "Suck it up, Princess....". /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/boink3.gif

I can't speak for other shops, but we are starting to see a few. Our area is still a bit of a "fronteer" where most men will stand up and face the consequences of their actions... But our town is growing and we are seeing more "citified" folk in the process.... Not to dump on those more urban, there is something about the way things are done in more populated areas that has people cover their asses or try to shift blame.... Some of this crap even seems to be gaining social acceptance.... I came from a time and place where all you really had was your integrity... lose that, and it was ever so hard to gain it back.... My God... I was born 100 years too late....

Rotunda Technician Tool Program... AFAIK, US techs can earn or win scrip that they can use in the RTTP store...

Let's change the topic of this thread to TSB 07-21-09....

You've learned about something we all seem to forget at one time or another.... "scan rate" and "update time"... The tool and/or the PCM can become the limiting factor in some instances.... Modern data rates are much higher than those we saw back in the early days of EFI... but still slow enough that stuff can fall between the "cracks". I realize that many techs just want to get the hell out of there at 5:00... others may not have shop access after hours.... the last thing they want to do is spend time in the shop after hours... especially if they aren't clocked in.... But it is times like this that we can use to make ourselves better and more valuable.... I am constantly after my guys to "play with their toys".... not that they take the advice, but the IDS is a very powerful tool... if we let it be one. The ability to tailor the display is fantastic.... histogram, digital, graph.... If we make a recording, we can toggle between these choices to see the data in different fashions.... Adjusting the scale.... defaults look at a very broad spectrum.... we can narrow down our display scale and make "mountains out of molehills" - figuratively speaking. I often look at a recording and change the usual digital displays at the top to a graph or histogram "just to see what's there".... sometimes, it can be a nice surprise.... We're always asking "what"..... sometimes "why" can be a more important question....

I think that, in my headlong rush into my "golden years", I am becoming more and more curmudgeonly... Its almost like I live for moments like that these days... Of course, we've had a steady parade of "new meat" in the trade this last while.... We are absolutely horny for warm bodies.... unfortunately, we are meeting too many that just don't live up to their "advertising".... One young fellow... green as grass with only a little over a year in the business (working in another Ford shop) watched me do a caster sweep and asked what this "machine with all the wires was"..... I can only wonder what they did for alignments at his previous shop.... Today... the 04 Freestar with the low tire warning lit.... Started right after the new tires were put on at the tire shop... (Remember I said 04).... Since there were no transmitter valve stems obvious, the tire shop *MUST* have destroyed a new style transponder.... right? This customer returned to the shop three times before "they" finally let me in on their dirty little secret...Of course they consulted the correct WSM.... the one that would have told them that this system relies on ABS wheel speed sensors for input.... the one that would have told them how to reset the message centre properly..... <SIGH>..... I see the "stupid human.... errrr, technician tricks" thread has seen new life.... gonna be some good reading tonight....

Thanks, Tony... adds a bright spot to the day... I'll have to find some time to dredge up some of the posts from the Canadian message board... One I did witness myself..... the tech filled the truck with oil and backed the truck directly out of his bay into a spot in the line - up.... maybe 70ish feet.... I asked him if he ran the engine to check for leaks and then verified the correct oil level after (I'm anal about stuff like that)... "You bet!!". Then I pointed to the brand new oil filter on his bench and the trail of oil starting in his bay and ending under the freshly parked truck.....

Usually from a cam follower... The few that I have seen have a pooched cam. I think there's an engine job in your future.

Sadly, Tony, the Canadian tech message board and the US tech message board are two separate entities. For some reason, Ma Ford has decided that you and we probably wouldn't play well together. We don't get to see your folks messages and you don't get to see ours. Too bad.... I think it would be interesting.

I AM Canadian, eh? But MGD is brewed in Canada under licence and, IIRC, is somewhere around 5% up here.... Without the chance to do one of those blind taste tests (though I'm pretty sure I can drink enough to get "blind"), I would think that the recipe has been "Canadianized".

Well, mister, I'll have you know I got a really neat "ProTec" decal and hat and golf shirt (I don't wear golf shirts). Actually, this was an "attaboy" from the engineer that was minding the message board at the time - apparently I pissed off some people that needed pissing of, or something like that. The day that my "attaboys" came in the dealer mail, I had several message board posts either taken under review or deleted.....

Just to drive the point of this thread home..... we had one come off a hoist Friday afternoon.... A 15,000 pound BendPak two post(I've always had trouble with a hoist with "bend" in it's name) and an 06ish SRW F350 CC 4X4. The hoist is less than 6 months old. Usually, if something goes bad, we'll see one arm kick out and the truck get's wobbly..... On this one, I "think" I know which arm kicked out first, but I have no proof nor real world logic to support it.... Somewhere during the incident, all but one pad came out from under the truck and most of the pad extensions came out. Two of the locks on the arms are bent back so they no longer touch. The truck had been suspended on the hoist for over 10 minutes... the tech had just finished removing the starter bolts and had just walked back to his bench to swap tools.... Thankfully, no one was injured and the truck belongs to a customer that accepts the fact that "shit happens"... Take care out there, boys and girls.....

Kieth... bottle of nitrogen - maybe 50 bucks plus demurrage..... regulator and hose - maybe a C-note or so...... finding the leak quickly - PRICELESS!! "It's never too late to start all over again...." - Steppenwolf....

Kevin... just as a little food for thought.... think "nitrogen". We use nitrogen and an ultrasonic leak detector as one of our AC diag strategies.... Of course we regulate this down to about 150 or 200 PSI for the AC work.... If you choose your hose and such carefully, you can use this same gas regulated to 300 or 400 PSI for high pressure oil leaks.... You can either apply B+ (and a ground) to the IPR to close it or use your IDS/PDS/WDS to duty cycle the valve up... I prefer to use the scan tools.... first, you can roll the IPR "over the top" top be sure it is moving half assed correctly... second, you can duty cycle it to 85% or so and not worry about the coil overheating. Nitrogen (and it's cheaper cousin "compressed air") should be available through the supplier that you use for oxygen, acetylene and MIG gas. The cylinders will be the same sizes as offered for O2 - nominal pressure of a full cylinder will be ~3000 PSI. An O2 cylinder regulator will work just fine. If something like this isn't in your shop budget..... think about your local fire department.... Many are volunteer and some even have their own "cascade system" for filling breathing apparatus bottles.... The worst of these systems can deliver 2200 PSI or better of dried air. There is always the chance that you might do some horse trading for high pressure compressed air (talk your boss into lending parking lot space for demonstrations or displays, monetary support - helping the communtiy - , old wrecks for extrication exercises... name it....). I like to "think outside the box".

In retrospect... and here is could get gnarly.... Ford reserves the corporate website for dealership use since they have this fear of someone misusing proprietary info or exposing trade secrets.... Now, I don't think that Ford is offering too much exposure on any of this stuff.... Shit... we see recalls on the evening news long before they ever get to us in an "official" form on either PTS or inFord. At the same time, what I see as a common expectation from many is that this access to information should be "free"..... Ford does offer "free access" to information.... however, they don't offer "access for free" to it... Still, as far as the message boards on the corporate websites are concerned, there are times where some "dirty laundry" makes it past the censorbot and Ford would rather keep that stuff "in house". If you have a subscription to motorcraft.com stuff, you aren't missing anything of importance that is presented on inFord and probably PTS. Broadcast messages aren't archived and SSMs aren't searchable.... so there is no benefit there.... Just some late night ramblings from a guy that had another "interesting" day....

Best of luck, Larry.... Word of caution.... do what you can to stay in step with technology (DTS is a good place to start). I've seen a lot of dealership techs get swayed by "the dahk side" only to find out that, three years later, they are obsolete.

Darryl would probably congratulate you for finally "using your head" /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif Glad to see you came up smiling.....

Not to try and "re-engineer" anything... I don't think it is crappy parts.... The engineers have tried putting a size ten foot in a pair of size 6 boots.... Ten head bolts ain't near enough for something like this... Hell, we had problems with the old Chev 396 and it had FIVE head bolts per cylinder (two sharing)... Look how many head bolts the 7.3 had.... Used to be that most everything was "overbuilt"... now the engineers and bean counters have us walking a tightrope.... And I don't see things getting any better....

Aaron is in Canada and there are many US rules that don't apply up here... I used to be able to "back door" into a lot of the US content but, other than powerstroke central, that is gone. Bulletin Q118 on the truckBBAS website pretty much sums it up, though.