Jim Warman

Not sure about small children, but the last time I smoked a turkey, brining it made all the difference in the world for texture and flavour... I'm sorry, I could not resist....

Mike.. I am near flabbergasted... Tech A has been beating on a tapered joint in such a manner as to mushroom the end... ummmmmm , I'm glad he works there and not here. Tech B is going to use heat on front end parts... I don't care if there is a gas tank close by or not... heat is not something I enjoy around steering parts... How, in the name of God, did either one of these gentlemen make it through apprenticeship training? This is the standard by which we shall be judged... and this instance is screaming "these guys are fucking idiots". I would endeavour to distance myself from this kind of lunacy.... honest.

After what we've been through.... what can I say. It is people like you that make the world go 'round. When we were stranded in Westlock, there was one pretty young lady that kept appearing before us (I do think she was in love with our doggies)in ever so mny capcities. Bringing us water and pet food and invitations and official notices... I thanked her profusely at every turn and told her to be sure she wasn't neglecting her own family. But she was only one memorable soul out of so many selfless people. When a group people rally to the aid of another group of people.... that's one thing... exemplary and above and beyond, no doubt... But when one person responds to the needs of another... a one to one interaction.... this is the stuff that could make the world go around. There is no way in hell that I could ever pretend to repay the kindness and hospitality of the people of Westlock, Alberta. But what I can do is PASS IT ON!!!! Brad, you are one of the people that helps restore my faith in human nature.... I thank you for that.

Brad.... think "corrective lenses". I wear reading glasses... sometimes they are prescription - sometimes they are off the shelf...

In all honesty, I don't think our jobs are any more dangerous than we choose to make them. If we do things in a hap-hazard manner, we will reap the benefits of our haste and/or oversight. Something that kinda "brings this home" is our recent misfortune. Those that lost houses in the disaster want to rebuild NOW!. They see the powers that be as dragging ther heals. Those same powers that be are only trying to make sure that we do this only ONCE!! When I perform an action.... any action... be it mundane or astounding... before I commit that act - perform that action - I need to consider any and all reactions.... Will it hurt me? Will it burst into flames? Will it fry a $65,000,000 turbo encabulator? Flat rate is that condition where the false promise of a few saved seconds outweighs the knowledge that the shortcut will keep you busy for a long, long time.

Thanks, Bruce... pretty much about what I guessed... A theoretical 180 cubic inches of unreacted air. The 6.0 wasn't so much a bad engine as it was a victim of circumstance. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. FWIW, I do not own a diesel... I cannot justify owning one. I would spend less than 3 weeks a year driving it as intended and 49 weeks a year trying to kill it. Firggin' tyops!!!

Isn't it odd that (you are so very nearly right) the 6.0 was walking the edge with the 4 per cylinder/2 sharing layout but the VT365 wasn't? Stepping into the WAYBAK machine (Sherman, set the timer for 2002) I recall stories about ITEC having concerns about Fords demands for increased power levels. I have not a clue about "normal" boost for a VT365... I imagine it to be about a half atmosphere less than a 6.0PSD. The 6.0 is walking closer to the edge of the cliff than the VT.... I will assume that ITEC was faced with "suck it up princess or we cancel the order" or at least a variation on the theme. And we can't discuss some of this without mentioning wet stacking. Nobody buys a Cornbinder because it is "sexy". If you buy a Navistar truck, you will paint a name on the side of it and you will make it work for its living. All manner of people buy a SuperDuty... even people with small penises. So - now we have a truck pretending to be a Honda Civic and exhaust paraphenalia starts to gum up. Unison ring sticks and we get overboost - EGR can't open and we get overboost.... and, of course, cylinder pressures get way out of hand.... We wont blame the guy that tries to make his truck act like a car... we wont blame some aggressive marketting crap but we will call the motor a POS.... I still love the tag line "customer expectations exceed design limits"... I think there is more truth in that statement than most of us are willing to acknowledge.

Points to ponder.... when tightening a bolt - especially a fucking long bolt (let's remember that these bolts appear to extend into the main bearing web region), there is a lot of difference between the major point of friction (the threads) and the head of the bolt. I have no idea how much "wrap" a head bolt endures when being tightened. I have no idea how much torsional stress exists between the friction apparent at the flange of the bolt and the threads... I do firmly believe that there is some torsional stress that is imparted into the bolt and stays resident and that, after thermo-cycling, that the bolt is more likely to loosen (even if only a few degrees) than tighten until the torsional stress is disappated to the point it can no longer release itself. Picture a torsion bar spring - twisting one end of the bar to overcome friction at the other end. With a stud, most of the torsional displacement or loading is concentrated at the end with the wrench. The wrench directly overcomes the friction at the flange of the nut. And only a portion of the twisting motion or force is transmitted down the length of the stud (attention to proper assmbly lubrication is essential). FWIW, except for engines with the head integral to the cylinder casting (a la Offy), cylinder head studs have been part of race winning engines for many, many years.

Bill.... why not check with the labour relations board and see what they have to say about it? FWIW, We tear down and build on the same bench... the one that gets used as a welding bench sometimes.... Life is full of things we hate and compromises we'd rather not make... Life's a bitch... and then we die....

Adam and I do most of the warranty automatics (aka go in, fix whats broke). Like Kieth, neither of us gets to do many of them. We are very thorough with our diag - if we are going in, we are pretty sure of what we are looking for. Usually, we can cost cap them. Back in the 70s, I worked at an LM dealer in Edmonton... the tranny guy there did good (but all he had to deal with was the C6, C4 and the FMX - no electronics). Everything he did got a master overhaul kit, a modulator and close inspection of the valve body. Try and get a master o'haul kit through warranty today... Side bar... I am still amazed that so many techs call it a "front pump" when the last transmissions with a rear pump that I can recall was the cast iron TorqueFlite (up to about '66) and the PowerGlide (again, I think it was only the iron case boxes and that was up to about '67ishishish).

Not a direct answer to your problem, but I am finding more and more that testing connections and manipulating harnesses is fixing more problems than ever before (for really tough ones, installing the VDR seems to clear them up ). On my pet MKT (for the cruise control/traction control issues it was having), the last round of testing involved reassigning wires at the ABS plug to see if the fault stayed or followed. The fault followed and you couldn't drive a half mile without the concern happening. Re-assign the wires correctly and <POOF> - it must be over two months and no problems... other than the freakin' thing wont crank when it doesn't feel like it. Seeing more and more harnesses with chaffes in the middle of nowhere - nothing close by to offer a rub yet there'll be several wires with green death... I'm at the point where the words "Hecho en..." can scare me half to death. YMMV

How about a '10 MKT... the My Lincoln Touch is sometimes untouchable. Has a very intermittent no crank - appears to have comm issues with the PCM when this happens. Previously it had issues with the adaptive cruise and the traction control... those haven't returned since the last time harnesses were manipulated...

The longest I've had a box last was a SnapOn two bay Roller Cab - slightly over 20 years. I currently have a MAC cheapy line (Tech 1000 ?) three bay roller cab and a SnapOn chest purchased used in about '89.It took less than three years to outgrow this mess and about 4 years ago I added a Beach side cab. Nothing matches... nothing pretends to match and I have outgrown this mess once again. But I am old enough that I like keeping some of my money in MY jeans. When you purchase a toolbox, look at it's shipping weight. Heavy boxes have more steel in their construction. Look at the sides of the drawers... can you flex them between fingers and thumb? Look at the roller glides... are they "manly" or do they look like they can't even support your kitchen drawers? Are the wheels robust? Do they feature a grease fitting? Are the brakes real or an apology? A toolbox is like a pair of boots.... one size doesn't fit all. Organizing your tools in a manner that suits your logic is the most important thing.... Less time spent looking for something means more time actually using it....

Like Mike asked... Injector pulse? Use a noid light to check - make sure to check as many as you can get to (all would be ideal). Where are you checking for spark? What kind of spark tester? This kind is about the best. Check right at the spark plug boot. Got any intake vacuum while cranking? 3 or 4 inches would be pretty comfortable and would indicate that the exhaust isn't plugged. Try turning the key from off to run a few times before initiating the starter... some of these older cars would grow carbon deposits on the back side of the intake valve and this would soak up much of the initial fuel delivery.

Congrats, Brad... I remember the pride I felt when my son graduated from high school... something my Dad nor I ever did. Better yet, he did it through Albertas Outreach Program and he held a full time job while he did it. My sons "almost a father-in-law" converted a bedroom into a "hockey/NASCAR" room... not yet sure what he saved from it since his house was heavily damaged by the fire to the west of town. Since we had only one child, I had converted the Jack and Jill bedroom layout to a single large bedroom (worked out that our sons room was bigger than the master bedroom) - it is now a guest room/warehouse but may, someday become home to a model train layout or whatever else may strike an old mans fancy... Word to the wise.... claim it quickly before Mrs. Brad gets any ideas....

I'm glad I don't live in a civilized area.... Our local SWAT team would likely be about 247 avid hunters with high powered scope equipped long guns and no tolerance for people that wont "cowboy up" and do the right thing... especially now we have a majority Tory government. Digression.... thanks to the bleeding heart liberal insistence on a federal election (an election that they not only lost but an election that cost them their status as the "official opposition" but nearly their creditation as well), I will soon no longer be a criminal.

I'll see your bet and raise you a F350 with a 6.2.... intake manifold full of water (yes... I'm talking slosh slosh gurgle gurgle kinda full)... I can't tell you how the water DID get in there - yet... but I can tell you how it didn't....

Used at an appropriate moment, I kind of like "Let's get the fuck outta Dodge...".

The Y pipe for a late model 5.4 will bolt up to a late model 6.8.... DAMHIKT!!!

I once had a plaque with Murphy's corollary on it.... "Nothing minor happens to a car on a long weekend" "Nothing minor happens to a car on a long trip" "Nothing minor happens to a car"

These two fittings make up OTC 6763. The fitting on the right is also sold by Rotunda (p/n 303-765). The male end screws into the ICP port as well as the test port on the secondary fuel filter (you may have to trim the hex back a little). The female end is 1/4 NPT. FWIW, both of these fittings came in a Ford ESST kit... I'll try to find out the kit number tomorrow.

On my first day back, after my "holiday"... I had one - an 08, IIRC, with a rattle noise and a P0022. A no-brainer, I figured and called a phaser for bank 2. Another tech changed the phaser and we both looked at the tensioners - what we could see of them, and they appeared OK. Needless to say that the noise re-appeared and the tech replaced the tensioners - which did have blown out gaskets. With everything back together again... the bank 1 phaser decided it was about time for it to act up... Go figure....

Tony, you folks have had your hands full with the devastation at Joplin, Mo. Except for a few of us mouthy pricks getting in Yankee faces, we expect a rousing chorus of "Slave Who?". We're only a small town and many Canadians have never heard of us... well, until recently... My point is that you and all of your friends and acquaintances should donate money to the American Red Cross and specify that the funds are to help the people of Joplin. Material goods are usually welcome at the beginning of any disaster recovery, but cash allows the disaster organizations to target whatever resources may be required. For us, the people of Westlock,Alberta (where we spent most of the nearly two weeks we were displaced) were amazing. It may sound selfish, but I honestly pray that I never have to repay the kindness and compassion that these strangers showed to all of us. I will be there in a heartbeat if needed.... but they are such wonderful people that I never want to see them in the position we were thrust into. The aid, both government and private, continues to pour in for those that need it. The number of dwellings that need to be rebuilt is staggering. The people that used to live in them need to live somewhere and the last thing we want is for them to abandon Slave Lake as their home.... Me? Except for some emotional baggage I now carry because I was spare a great loss and others weren't, life has returned to as close to normal as it can... except driving across town, I keep reminding myself that this is home and not Mogadishu or Beirut.

This fridge started out at $3400ish CAD in Alberta. All they had were already scooped save for the floor model they wouldn't part with. By the time they got through with the instant rebates and the charity discount for Slave Lake residents, we have just shy of $2800 into this technological marvel - GST included and extended warrantys included but shipping extra. Sears is also offering discounts for Slave Lake residents. The Brick in Westlock gave us a discount on the bar fridge we picked up as interim storage... The Brick in Slave Lake? No discounts... not even the offer of free delivery in and close to town. (One customer was told "You can pick it up when you're ready") In fact, they brought in a whole bunch of low end fridges. Most people I know that have surviving houses are taking their insurance cheque, adding the difference and buying upgraded appliances. My wife showed them an ad for one of her short list fridges and the store manager got cross with her stating that he wasn't going to match that price if she didn't give him a web address to check out... So much for charity begins at home. With nearly 400 homes destroyed by fire, homes that will require even the most basic of furniture and accoutriments, one has to wonder if this store hasn't embarked on a path they may well regret. We aren't looking for free shit... but we are trying to keep our money in town... in store undamaged by the fire... staffed and managed by people as lucky as we in-so-far as their property is concerned. FWIW, we spent nearly 2 weeks in the town of Westlock, Alberta... The compassion, help and open hearts of these total strangers still chokes me up when I think of it... Our mere presence turned their town upside down and they took it all in stride. There are no words to describe the emotional roller coaster we are all riding as we rejoice the good luck of some and mourn the bad luck of others. We need to ask friends and acquaintances "How did you make out".. all the while dreading what might be the answer.

Sadly, you do not get to choose what you recall and what you don't.... When I was a youngster, we travelled great distances often as we followed Dads Army career. I've been across Canada as many times as some folks have been across town (or so it seems). In all that travelling, I do not remember any clean bathrooms at service stations.... but I recall nearly every last dirty one. Upside... I do recall many Burma Shave signs. (If you have to ask..... it's an old folks thing). Life is like that.