Jim Warman

Alberta is getting tough on inspection techs that get caught not playing by the rules... emphasis on "get caught". The CEL can be on but it can't be because of anything that will affect the SAFETY of the car. If it affects safety - I can reject it. If it doesn't - well, there is no specified penalty for that sort of non-compliance. Taken a step further... "There is no requirement to maintain tire pressure monitoring systems" - in spite of the fact that one can see grossly underinflated tires everywhere, every day. Inappropriate load range tires or inappropriate valve stems? I can only note these on the RO and on the record of inspection... there is no specified penalty... there is no "reject". Something I recently discovered... "There is no requirement to maintain the catalytic converter(s)". At one time Alberta Infrastructure told me I could not remove a catalytic converter. And here they have a regulation that infers that "somebody" is allowed to remove the catalytic converter... FWIW, these references are all from the Out of Province inspection criteria for the Province of Alberta. The hypocrisy and cavalier attitudes that so many seem to embrace are frustrating and maddening. If we can't take some of this stuff seriously, how will we expect anyone else to take us seriously? Fucking thieving greasemonkeys is something we shall remain used to being called.

I think we need to be a little careful when we start confusing "unenforced" with "condoned". I'm not going to pretend that I'm an expert on EPA regs - but it appears to this outsider thatthe EPA has set minimum requirements and that it is up to each region to police those requirements as they see fit. Obviously, if an area has only one motor vehicle per square mile, a one percent non-compliancy rate isn't going to be a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Increase the environmental load (i.e. - increase the vehicle population) and things can change). I might also challenge any statement that any diesel is exempt - Think about it... the 6.7 is a $10,000 option in Canada (not sure what it is in the US) mostly due to the cost of emissions compliance. If diesel engines are "exempt" from emissions compliance, why are manufacturers bound into selling "clean" diesels? If diesels are exempt from compliance, why did we bother with the switch to ULSD? Take a look at the number of power adders and other accessories that clearly bear a variation on "the product may NOT be legally used on public highways, streets, or other roads and may NOT be used for purposes other than off-road, legal racing/competitions uses". Alberta has a distinct lack of any legislation for the most part. Now.. before you jump all over that... Defeating any emissions control is strictly against the legislation. However, there is currently no specified penalty for contravening the legislation. As far as how any of us looks at modifications ( I have modified many vehicles.... none of them are daily driver )... we can retain our professionalism or we can squander it....

Jeez, Kieth... why not just set out a beaker of Gibsons Finest and call "Heeeeere Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy"... A daily driver is a daily driver... In the US it should conform to FMVSS regulations. In Canada, it should conform to CMVSS criteria. (looking at the BBAS website, we see many references to both legislations regarding modificatioons). DUH!!!! is, I believe, an operative term. Emissions controls, for the most part, don't play into either CMVSS or FMVSS unless the placement or design of some components might impact the safety of the vehicle. We had to get that out of the way. I don't live in the US and I can't speak for how any requirements affect what states... I can't speak for any requirements that have federal affects... Shit... I even have trouble defining Canadas requirements conclusively. Especially Alberta... There isn't one politician out there that doesn't have at least some fear that standing firmly behind clean air legislation may be political suicide. You have asked a question that is far too simple for the situation at hand. As a professional, it should be my duty (perhaps even my ability) to report anomalies and remove the offenders from the road. Sadly, we have time and again proven that we are NOT professional... We see that you or I can call something unsafe and the hack down the road will call it "good to go". Here in Alberta, I perform many different mandated inspections. There are references to the check engine light in some (but not all) insection criteria. Where there is a reference, they call attention to safety issues rather than emissions compliance issues. Vehicles registered in the Republic (sorry.. province) of Alberta that are over 10 years old are, at the request of the insurance carrier, subject to a safety inspection . The government of Alberta has standardized the form. One of the questions is "Has this vehicle been altered for speed or performance?". Amazingly, some techs will look at the programmer and tick off "NO" - DUH!!!! Trying to get back to the intent of your question... You nor I cannot step outside of our mandate... Unless we are tasked with emissions testing, we are pretty much phuqued. We can suggest to Ford that a particular failure may have it's roots in a modification... but you can bet your daughters college fund that Ford is looking to you for that unequivacol truth. They wont stick their neck out... if someone is going to fry - it will be you. It is up to the government... A visual inspection first with any and all installed accessories or equipment being Approved by CARB and/or EPA.... Follow that with a scan... there should be no P1000 (indicating that all monitors have cleared) and there should be no DTCs... CMDTC, ODDTC or pending DTC. Remember that I said any installed accessory should be approved... If you have a diesel truck that can "roll the coal", I would suggest that it has something that "isn't approved". You and I have no real position in deciding what is right and what is wrong. We can tell a customer that installing a <whatever> is in contravention of existing legislation. If we don't install it... we get that warm and fuzzy feeling from having done the "right thing". Down the street, you will find a prostitute... he will do anything for a buck. He will install anything and everything... he will keep his mouth shut as far as legality is concerned. He will get rich by not thinking about what is right and what is wrong. Life ain't simple.. and it sure ain't fair.... FWIW... there is always that portion of the populace that will continue to push at an envelope until legislation adopts a "zero tolerance" stance. Loud exhaust, bumper heights, tires that protrude beyond wheel openings... If I still smoked, I wouldn't be able to smoke in a public building... I wouldn't be able to smoke nears it's doors and I might not be able to smoke on their property... One bad apple can spoil the whole barrel.

Hoping you are having a relaxing holiday here in the great Republic of Alberta....

Back in the day....... way back when.... HotRod Magazine was digest size printed on pulp paper... just in the process of switching to magazine format. They had a column called "The Roundy Round Corner" dedicated to the go fast, turn left crowd. We'd read all about Glenn Roberts, Marvin Panch, Marty Robbins, Leroy Yarbrough and Cale Yarborough - can't forget Lee Petty... too many great names. NASCAR wasn't quite so civilized back then and the cars were a lot closer to stock. A racer would run out of tires and mooch some off a guys car in the parking lot. Smokey Yunick had tried about every which way to stretch the rules real thin... including a 2" diameter fuel line. Ahhh, the good ol' days...

There appears to be a blasphemer in out midst... Trevor Bayne... a 20 year old rookie (his second Sprint Cup start) in a Ford....

'nuff said....

What is even funnier..... I had one a couple of weeks back. Customer is inside the store and I'm out front with the car - and the message centre is proclaiming "No key detected". Additionally, when the start button is pushed to turn the car off, the message centre will display "Restart now or key is needed". The instrument cluster seems to be a lot like the owners manual - unread. Every time they make something more idiot-proof - God makes a better idiot.

Take a shot in the dark. That's a shot in the arm.... That's shot to shit.... He's a real hot shot. I'll take a shot at it. Like shooting fish in a barrel.

The core return bin usually has many connector hardshells in it

"Upselling warranty"..... Ford demands that we fill out a QC550 or similar on every car or truck that comes into the shop... Concerns are prioritized with a tick mark in a box that will be green, yellow or red to indicate the scope of the concern. If you look at this QC550 , you will notice that, at the top of section 2, Ford has us comment on the condition of the drive belt(s). From where I sit, this would include any condition that will allow the FEAD belt to fail unexpectedly. If you can't "upsell" something - why would they have you look at it..... and if it is bad, tick it off in red?

If you remember, I am a foreigner that lives in a province with some pretty cavalier vehicle requirements... what the EPA considers as "acceptable" isn't one of my areas of expertise.... Having said that, I sincerely believe that something like an EGR cooler would have to carry an EPA and/or CARB seal of approval to be considered as appropriate for use on public roads. At the same time, we see many areas that don't sniff tailpipes - instead, they rely an an abscence of codes (particularly the abscence of a P1000) and, perhaps, a visual inspection. Let's not forget the "programmer detected" code that Ford had in their documentation. As an aside, the IDS is automating more functions... I replaced a PCM this morning and did "As Built" rather than a PMI. IDS asked if I wanted it to access the corporate server and retrieve the files automatically. <POOF> - the marvels of the modern age... I am reasonably sure that when FRED phoned home, he let everyone know whjatever he knew (FRED = fucking ridiculous electronic device)). Given the principal behind EGR function, I'm unsure if the temperature of the gases is important. In the early to mid 70s (EGR technology was in it's youth ) and even into the 80s, several models of domestic vehicles had EGR coolers on gas engines. In all honesty, I feel that many techs believe that EGR serves no purpose and fail to understand how the system works... especially regarding the differences between gasoline engine function and diesel engine function.

What Kieth said... When air testing a trans, you are listening for that <clop> sound as a piston moves to it's end of travel. Listen to no other sounds. Like air testing a 6.0 HPOP system... once you get all the oil out of the rail, you can get air to come out damned neart everywhere. Good judgement comes from experience..... unfortunately, experience comes from bad judgement. The very first auto trans I ever repaired was a C-6 out of a 67 Fairlane 390 CID that belonged to a very good friend. We put it together with the low OWC backwards....

For the worlds best apply charts for the 5R110 (and a few others) visit HERE . Consider purchasing their software. The author is a pretty good guy. However... what you are really after is in the "downloads" section. Apply charts along with paths of power... Some of you might recognize this stuff...

There's nothing special about an EGR delete kit. The seem to come with instructions written well enough so that even the neanderthals can get the things installed. The one thing we all need to remember is that every EGR delete kit sold states "For off road use only". And this is about as gentle as I can get on the subject.

Do you have all other gears? Clear codes and take it for a drive cycle. Monitor GEAR# (which will be the gear commandewd by the TCM), GEAR_RAT (the ratio the TCM expects to see - this is the actual physical ratio of the trans) and TRAN_RAT which is the transmission ratio computed by the TCM using TSS and OSS signals.This will alert you to "missed" ratios and and slipping friction elements. The reason you want to clear codes - the TCM will not attempt to make any shifts it feels are not "viable"... kinda like going into a self preservation mode. Clearing codes will have the trans attempt shifts that it might otherwise miss when codes are present. The presence of some codes may also affect the trans pressures you see during testing. Once you have a clear idea of what shifts are affected, you can drop the pan and inspect for debris. After that, drop the main control and do an air test using 307-457 test plates.... Now... I'm a fussy old !?@#%! and I like to know exactly what I expect to see once I go into any transmission.... opening these damned things up and praying you will find what ails it can be time consuming, frustrating and even be overlooked during component inspection. Like Kieth has stated... it's a pretty fair bet you are going to find a concern with the direct clutch since this clutch is applied in reverse, 5th and 6th gears... Important to remember - when TFT is above -15C the trans shifts 1 - 2 - 3 - 5 - 6. Direct clutch failures are rare in this puppy (my humble experience). And you still want to have a good idea about the rest of the trans before you commit to the teardown.... When the trans is scattered across the bench is a bad time to start wishing you had checked something before you dropped the pan the first time. I've seen several 08s with reverse clutch failures... been a while since I had a 5R110 open but I recall that the reverse clutch was updated with a rather large chunk of the stack being replaced on failed units... HTH

Well, this particular friend does a lot of catering.... I can't remember if I told everyone about one of his big gigs where three of us grilled nearly 1000 rib eye steaks for a raffle/party/dinner/dance... not to mention the corn, taters, dinner rolls and dessert. (A small due might be 300 people). Anyway... he uses his Grammas recipe to make some "killer" Borscht. He'd made some on Saturday and I was over to gather up a couple of jars. I always told people he makes Borscht to die for and he took me literally. Not to worry, though... at least my leg was there to keep the pellet from damaging the toilet.... I just got back from Edmonton and I'm told that the pellet will be taken out before next week ends and I wont have to worry about any lengthy convalescence... I did get to see some really cute nurses (just about made the trip worthwhile) and we all shared a chuckle over my adventure...

Well, Saturday evening I got to cross an important milestone off my bucket list... the list of things for me to accomplish before I kick the bucket... Y'know, I don't even recall adding this particular event/experience/happening to the list.... but, none-the-less, I can safely strike "get shot" from it.... Oh, yes... there I was at a friends house, minding my own business and taking a leak in his downstairs pisser... long story made short - he picked this particular time to move his pellet rifle away from the back door (he's having stray critter troubles). Naturally the weapon discharged and a .177 pellet went through the bathroom door and lodged deep in the back of my right knee. I have an appointment with the orthopaedic surgeon in Edmonton tomorrow. I can wiggle the toes of my foot, but I cannot feel my foot. Both of us have been around fire arms pretty much all of our lives and still - all it takes is one little lapse... remember... there is no such thing as an "empty" gun... And oh - have they been having fun with this at work....

I dunno... "revenge is a dish better served cold". Personally, I think we are stooping to their level... Some of this shit just doesn't feel quite right.

I think you mean if the NHTSA didn't exist. I would highly recommend "Unsafe At Any Speed" by Ralph Nader. Through the late 50s and even into the early 60s, motorists risked decapitation as their hoods were not designed with crumple indicators and initiators at the hinges. Seat belts - supplemental restraints - knee bolsters - collision avoidance electronics - daytime running lights. I am openly amazed at people that feel cars should net be made safer and, in the event of an event - more survivable... I think those that feel like that should go out there and help their local EMS scrape some of these victims up off the road... Just sayin'....

You will make yourself redundant... Bobby Flay can cook you a hamburger to die for... Billy Zitface can put <something> on a bun and hand it to you in less than 30 seconds. One is cheap and quick , the other is not. One is a treat to the palate... the other is... ummm the other is approved by the health department... usually. As long as the employees haven't done a youtube thing. Your instructional analyzing and set up fee doesn't account for much if people aren't willing to pay it. Working for the dealer has jaded too many of you guys. In the retail world, you will often see customers that have spent all of their money in the store of the "low bid". Once they are out of money, they will visit you because they heard that you can fix anything. They didn't come to you when they had money because they also heard you were expensive. While I'd be stretched to the limit to call you "pretty", I don't think you should bury your head in the sand like an ostritch. "Known for its never-ending hunger and its mind boggling stupidity, the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal is such a stupid animal that it thinks if you can't see it, it can't see you"

Whether it is television (Jed and Bubbas shop that is cleaner than your kitchen and we can fix your car with a $19.95 code reader) or the internet doesn't really matter. The word is printed and presented in a format that can only be described as "glossy, full colour magazine advertisement". This is a compelling argument for the veracity of the statement. (years ago it was discovered that full colour ads sold products better than black and white ads.... most youngsters wont appreciate the evolution of early media). OTOH, you are a living breathing entity... therefore a customer can argue or barter with you. I've seen apprentices act like customers... They don't like your answer because it involves work... so they ask another senior tech... and another... hoping to find an answer that suits their desires... As for inaccurate diag? The current state of many systems can be acertained using nothing more than an up to date IDS... Look at the headlights (cell 85-1 in the wiring diagrams) on a new Super Duty. You (the driver) do not turn on the headlights... The steering column control module can assume many things using the information from the headlight switch... notice that the SCCM never sees a "no ground" condition from the headlight switch. Notice that the SCCM never sees a multiple ground condition from the headlight switch. Notice that the SCCM does NOT turn on the headlights... It merely indicates your desire (over the MSCAN network) to the BCM... The BCM is kinda neat because most (if not all) lighting circuits are MOS-FET controlled. An interesting feature of these metal oxide semiconductor - field effect transistors and their related circuitry is its ability to sense current flow. It can tell if you have an open or a high current draw situation. Congratulations - you have just been replaced by a "burger flipper". At every step along the way, there is the ability for any of these circuits to, with a reasonable amount of accuracy, self diagnose.... How long before this ability is ported to every system on the truck? How long before sites like auto MD are replaced by kiosks at the mall.. plug in your car... swipe your debit card and drive away with a print out. Off to the local "tech" and ask him "How much to do what is written on this paper? Fuck you, I'm not asking for your opinion". Thankfully, by the time this happens, I might be wearing a blue vest handing out sales flyers.

I'm submitting my resume at Mickey D's tomorrow. How can I ever succeed when faced with THIS!!!

I can't offer any insight into the failure.... but I must suggest that we understand the difference between Fords warranty and Navistars warranty. Ford isn't playing the part of a saint... but we shouldn't blame them for ITECs decisions.