Jim Warman

Try this one on for size.

Today, Sunday, October 30th, I did something I have never done before on this date in Alberta. I cut my grass.... I did it as much to pick up leaves as cut the still green grass.... but, traditionally, this would be about the time for our first snow of the season. Hallowe'en is going to be strange looking this year asparents usually buy contumes to fit over snow suits. And all I heard the whole time I was cutting grass was the sound of scooters going by....

I figured I owed it to you guys to finish this one out. As I was preparing to overlay some more circuits in an attempt to verify the need for a harness, I noticed a spot under the battery that I had somehow previously missed. Why the harness from under the dash should go that far forward is a mystery to me... but there were three chaffed wires. One of them being one of the two ETCREF wires going to the APP sensor. I found out that the APP sensor and the TPS sensor on the throttle body share a V_REF power supply inside the PCM. No other sensors share this power supply. If ckt LE136 or LE137 (both of these are V_REF supplied to the APP) shorts to ground, it can set a code for the TPS sensor. Anyway, wiring repaired - truck gone for a decent amount of time and no reports of additional problems. Which is a good thing because this same customer has a 2011 F350 that lasted a day before it set a "yaw rate sensor compare failure" code. And to think I used to fix trucks with a point file and a feeler blade.

????? Tap the space bar on your lap top and "POOF" - a recording happens. (Oddly, there is the odd time where you need to tap the recording icon for the first recording). With the VCM 2 you will need to add the pendant for flight recordings... and you will likely need the laptop to set the VCM2 up as a VDR. Letting a diagnostic interface leave with a customer might seem a bit strange, but the new system seems to "promise" that the device will be useless to a thief. It would be interesting to learn the expected lifespan of the new device. FWIW, we have a VDR and the act of installing it in a problem vehicle is usually enough to cure the problem.... Other times all you get is "My buddy kept pushing the button" with no request for further diagnosis. The VDR is my bestest friend.

We live at about 580 meters above sea level. Bear in mind some of this could be the nature of our compression tester.... we have never, ever seen readings much above about 350 PSI... for my part, if I see 325ish on our gauge, I may not actually consider this as "good" but I might see it as "acceptable". A compression test is only one step in a comprehensive determination of a cylinders ability to seal compression. We are looking more for even values than absolute values. Depending on my findings, I might crank the engine "dry" about 6 compression strokes watching the reaction of the gauge on each stroke... I might crank the engine to achieve "absolute value". I might repeat the test "wet" or I might "leak" the cylinder in question. Before I do any of this stuff, I'll do a power balance and relative compression if available and likely a crankcase pressure test as well. We need to avoid reading too much into a situation. Speaking of "relative compression".... Ford watches the crankshaft trigger wheel for rpm variations to "assume" cylinder sealing ability. Back in the 80's, Sun Equipment was marketting engine analysers that used starter current draw to assume cylinder sealing ability. So far, one seems about as accurate as the other for leading or misleading the tech.

I had to buy a new water heater.... the old one is waterlogged... yes, you read that right.... I've been putting off the actual replacement - laziness is the reason but I'm sure I can find more palatable excuses. The empty box (2 foot X 2 foot X 5 foot) will find a prominent place on all hallows eve. Someone may or may nor be in it....

Everything I know about the Mayan calendar could be chiselled into a rock.... a very, very small rock. Why not stonehenge? But I guess stonehenge is more of a "time piece" like a clock or a sun dial on steroids than a calendar. Harold Camping has predicted the end of the world several times... not sure what calendar he is using. One of his predictions was this past May 21st... but Slave Lake burned down on the 15th of May. This must have upset some grand scheme of things and they rescheduled for Oct. 21st... which didn't seem to pan out. Originally, the Mayan calendar was supposed to fall off the edge of the stone tablet on Dec 21st, 2012... but was, AFAIK, revised twice to become yesterday... The only remarkable thing about yesterday was that Kenny bought beer... and it wasn't "gluten free" beer (this is a good thing). For my part, I don't see great googlymoogly ripping the earth to bits in the near future. I DO see defeating emissions control devices as one way to eventually eradicate the human race... But that might be the best thing that ever happened to planet earth. Thread highjacked in the second period with an assist from Dwayne the toolmonger.... stay tuned for the instant replay.

The same goes for anything we install at customer request. We do a lot of positive air shut offs.... some of our techs put a great deal of thought into wiring the solenoids... some techs use this as an opportunity to turn the simplest engine related task into a frustrating labour. Even some of the V-Mac installations I have seen have been well thought out... while others resemble a night mare. It becomes obvious which body builders are interested in quality and which can only think of money (scotch locks? - c'mon, guys).... We have seen bundles of wires fatter than Ron Jeremy's dick - every last one of them is 14 ga and all the same colour. Oh... and there ain't but 1 mm of slack in any of them. If you are a tech and you don't list "drinking" as your main hobby..... you gotta be wierd.

Snow is pretty much a Hallowe'en tradition here in the great white north... except that we've had some shirtsleeve weather as recently as last week... and rain in the last couple of days. This year continues to deliver surprise after surprise. What didn't burn down in May nearly floated away in July. September had me ride the scooter to Edmonton - the leathers and rain suit taking up more room in the bags than they eventually deserved. It was nearly too hot to ride the scooter on the highway and, once I got into that wonderful city traffic, I began to regret the lack of AC. The farmers almanac, I am told, predicts a harsh winter... The wildlife I see just doesn't look like they are expecting a harsh winter.... But then we could be just waiting for a high winter kill, too.... At least we seem to have made it to October 29th..... proving that the Mayans didn't run out of "days"... they ran out of rocks on which to carve the calendar.

A customer will drive his truck and say to himself "ooooo, this thing isn't running too good". He will continue to drive it and it will develop some "new" problems... some he might notice - some he wont. But - the truck will still start and it will still move.... Eventually... the truck either wont start or, if it does, it wont move. This is when you get the truck. From here it is all downhill. You will make a quote for getting the truck to start and move. The SA will get approval for that. Once you get the truck to start and move - all the other problems begin to manifest themselves. Some techs go as far as getting pissy with the SAs... from here this story goes downhill. Customers are famous for saying "I didn't think that mattered" all the while we are busy (us and the SAs) getting pissed at each other. We stop functioning as a team. Some techs blame all the evils of humanity on "them useless, SAs". Some of us give all the help we can to them. The aren't techs and they DO ask all the questions we ask them to... but if a customer insists "he'll know it right away", what is the SA to do? Not only am I smart enough to not be an SA... I think you should take them donuts for Monday coffee.... Sidebar.... many years ago a customer brought me a F150 with a laundry list of concerns. "It ain't that check engine light" sez he... "it was on for two years before it started running this bad".

By all means. If all you need is to reseal the box, there shouldn't be anything holding you back. Used to be we could get any and all internal parts direct from Ford including everything for the recirculating ball nut as well as the spool valve. The hardest part about any of it is replacing the teflon seals on the ball nut/piston and/or spool valve seals (and I'm not sure that these are available in modern reseal kits anyway).

The best part about doing your own back ups and storing them off site is two fold. First, if (God forbid) a middle east insurgent were to fly a Piper Cub laden with convenience store fireworks into the side of your home (or something more mundane like having a forest fire sweep through your town), you will have a reasonably accessable copy of your data available. This data is under your control according to a security level of your choice. Allowing someone else to store your data for you..... there are times I have a time convincing myself I can trust people that live around me... trusting a complete stranger is quite another thing... trusting a complete stranger to do stuff for free? Drug pushers will give you the first few "hits" for free... once you are hooked.... well, that's what Mastercard is for... Yes, I'm a curmudgeon.

I'll get right on that.....

What do you call "long crank"? Not stopping there, what's your ambient temp? What weight of oil? Cranking RPM? IPR and ICP while cranking (does ICP take a while to come up). How long does it take for FUEL_PW to start up? Pesky questions, I know... But if there is something bothering you about a motor, there is a chance it might bother your customer...

Not "better".... merely "different". I make it a point to watch at least the Daytona 500 (though my loving bride is a big fan and watches almost all the races) and I usually have a good giggle over all those folks bundled up in the stands in weather we go shirt sleeve biking in. My son doesn't have his "own" service rig yet so he is what they call a "relief driller". He fills in for drillers that are taking time off or are sick or whatever... the rest of the time he is a "derrickman". When he is doing this, his "office" is 30 feet in the air and has no walls or roof. Something like this.... Bear in mind that we see -40 at least one week a year. My only suggestion... you can dress to be comfortably warm or dress to be comfortably cold... Have you considered a radiant heater?

Spend a couple of years up here.... 60 is a nice hot summers day... at 70, I start to shut down and go into cold beer mode... at 80 (the very odd time it ever makes it there ) I'm nothing but a puddle on the sidewalk... After a couple of years of our weather, 60 will feel like heaven What might strike you as really odd is that I try to keep the shop thermostats around 12 or 15 C (mid to high 50s) in the winter since this is about most comfortable - especially if you are in and out of the shop at lot. I always take the temperature sensitive jobs that have you working outside even when it gets to -30ish. It's invigorating. If you wear long sleeves, you can always roll them up or down as circumstances dictate. Occasionally, I correspond with a British tech that has set up shop in the Dominican Republic.... sadly, he isn't looking for techs at this time.

If it was the coolant side of the oil cooler that was restricted, I think I'd be replacing the EGR cooler again just to be sure I didn't marry this thing.

What? No sense of adventure? Can't handle the sound of rolling dice? In Olde Blighty there are some that would consider you a bit of a "poofta".... just sayin'. Seriously, in a retail situation I can see the fat old redhead quoting a long block or a complete - I want to fix the damned thing... not marry it.

Thanks for the heads up - we'll have to check that out...

So...... I'll bet nobody knows that "the cat came back the very next day, the cat came back, we thought he was a goner....". This time, it brought with it codes indicating the ETC plate is stuck closed.... and stuck open... and the TPS is low... and the APP is low..... and the TAC motor is a concern... and that this truck loves to be in FMEM. Every problem with this truck revolves around the electronic throttle control system. And every timne it comes back, it is giving codes indicating a concern with different parts of the system. So.... I'm sitting there doing some "navel gazing" - you've seen pictures of me... navel gazing is easy for people shaped like me... and I had an epiphany. Contacting hotline, I asked if this truck had multiple V_REF power supplies in the PCM. Hotline replied that this was the case... indeed, the APP and TPS share a V_REF power supply that no other sensors share. The plot thickens.....

+1 on the utility knife... no material will be removed using this method. I don't think we've ever had to replace the front sway bar bushings on a late SuperDuty with coil springs.. Leaf spring trucks... now THERE'S a bird with different feathers - you could depend on changing those.

Watch out... you may have coined a phrase... The "fresh air" kit has a hose that runs to a box floor support X-member. We regularly see this hollow crossmember filled with "natures own concrete".

What Mike said. I would also endorse a new oil cooler. If the oil filter entered bypass mode in the interim, there is always the chance for metal debris to hide in nasty places.

To verify if the concern is a kinked fill hose or a restricted EVAP vent system... connect the IDS and monitor the FTP PID when filling (or trying to fill ) the tank. If the FTP pressure PID rises when the nozzle trips prematurely, then air cannot escape the tank. If it doesn't rise, then the fuel isn't making it into the tank. Where we live, Fords "fresh air" kit is waste of time and will soon plug off with mud and/or ice/snow. Instead, we run our own vent hose up into the cavity behind the left tail light.

They both do for me as well... except that I have reached into my pocket and found keys that shouldn't be there as often as I have looked for keys that are in someone elses pocket.