Jim Warman

Yeah... but the problem is bigger than that Bruce.... It ain't the hooch... God knows I've tipped a bunch of them tonight... The problem is that some of this shit incenses me badly... booze or not.... The Mechanics Creed.... There will be a very few that live by it.... there will be many that pretend to it... but you, me, Aaron and anyone else involved in this trade are going to be judged by people that have been victimized by those that say "fuck that... grab the money and run....". Making it worse is that we are on the middle of a great change... and I feel nearly foolish because I'm not sure anyone else is paying attention. And I will get a bunch of these and some of those for speaking my mind on subjects that few dare to broach. Consider this.... Many of Fords "specialties" were built around a concept called "shop competency". If one tech in the shop had a certification in <that> area.... anyone in the shop could perform warranty service in that specioalty. That is changing... it is changing 'quickly' (a relative term, yes?). But we are entering a phase where Ford (in Canada, at the very least) is changing to "technician competency". If the tech performing the repair isn't certified in that specialty.... he cannot perform certain repairs to that system. At this point I start to feel like a bit of a visionary.... and visionaries are seldom treated well in the beginning. Here is an excerpt from an SVB posted recently on the Canadian corporate server.... "Purpose This is to remind dealers of the Technician Competency requirements for the Brakes Specialty that will be implemented on October 1, 2010. " IIRC there was another (might be HVAC) specialty that was to be included at that time but the parent SVB has "evaporated" from the system - at least for my meagre talents. This same missing SVB mentioned the time frame for the inclusion of still more specialties... until ALL specialties are included in technician competency. I can't stress that this will affect WARRANTY repairs only (unless Ford decides to add a codicile about service part warranty on retail jobs)... and it will only affect "specified" repairs... once the foot is in the door..... Whooppee... sounds pretty innocuous to me.... They just want to be sure ther customers are getting trained people doing repairs... right? So... for a while now, we have had "OASIS QuickStart". We can plug into the DLC and either select "new vehicle" from the menu or we can contact OASIS and OASIS will do all kinds of wonderful things... serial number... miles... DTCs.... stuff it wont show me.... Is QuickStart there to help me? Or is QuickStart there so they can test the way it works when inquisitive people use it? Or is QuickStart just "there".... a (probably) multimillion dollar "toy? Wait!!!! There's more... "interactive PC/ED".... I haven't tried this yet.. it scares the fuck out of me.... I think it wants you to connect the VMM and it will direct your diagnostic efforts.. time for a sidebar... A few years ago, Ford sent us a spendy looking battery charger. We are replacing FAR TOO MANY batteries. The Midtronics GR1 charger/analyzer was going to change all that... Yep... it will pass a battery that can't handle the load imposed by the accessory delay relay. You know the battery is bad.... I know the battery is bad..... the customer with NO AFTERMARKET TOYS knows the battery is bad... The Micro 490 knows the battery is bad and the standard load test (one half CCA for 15 seconds) knows the battery is bad. Thank you Ford... you have compromised my integrity... you are making me a liar... And the best part. When a tech makes a mistake generating the DTC and the ACES code... you think I can pinpoint exactly what battery I am supposed to retest... even if the recyclers truck was here just yesterday? Sorry for the digression.... but I think that far too many are missing the significance of some of these developments. We are truly "dinosaurs in the making" and we are doing little about it. Ford (and how many other manufacturers) are dumbing down everything. In a few short years, dealer techs will be replaced by drones... plug in the DLC... push the button.... read the screen. I'll be fertilizer by then so it wont matter much to me.... We live in a global village... there are "pad slap, ball joint guys" all over the place... People that work for what is to us "peanuts" but affords them a standard of living they could never imagine "back home". That is where the "gravy" is going to go. Technical technicians will vanish because replacing a part will be cheaper than testing it (awwwww, I forgot... we already resort to that) ... If things are bad enough... there will be a Ford employee - a virtual "Maytag repair man"... waiting in the wings... Training centre courses may be cancelled that week. Yep... Grampy been tossin' a few.... might even be seein' stuff that ain't there.... or is it? There is none so blind as he who will not see.

Welll... I see you are in Brooklyn - an old crush of mine lives there and recently remarried.... we're going back to 1966 here so don't expect any racy tales. Anyway, here you are... asking about fuel heaters in August. There is a real good chance that I might have misunderstood things.... But I am pretty sure it is august.... and I am pretty sure you are asking about fuel heaters....

Jeez Adam.. if you aren't going to trust someone.. it is the customer.... "Oh.. I didn't think that mattered" is the thing you will hear most often from the customer.... Consider this... if we adhere to what we are told to adhere to.. if we have our actions covered in print... if we do not freelance.... Remember this... the world is becoming an extremely litigious place... If you do something that the engineers told you to do.... the panel of your peers that will judge you in a favourable light. Pretend you are better than the engineer?... After 40 years... I wont do that.... you are more than welcome to prove your superiority. So... let's pretend the tire shop did a free rotation last week.... Nobody told you... nobody told the SA... take me where THAT statement is going.... You do a LOF 2 - LOF 2 says "rotate the tires". Let's pretend the tire shop DIDN'T rotate the tires and you do a LOF 2. So.... here you are.... imagining that someone else has done your job for you.... A lot of the jobs I get are jobs where "someone" has done everything they were supposed to do... and I find the concern is something BASIC that was overlooked. Even as simple as water in a fuel tank. The key..... ASS/U/ME. When we assume things... you make an ass out of me... and you make an ass out of you. If you are worried about what the tire shop did last week.... perhaps the tire shop is where you need to be. My worry is OUR shop. The tire shop can embarrass itself all it wants... You are working on the truck of someone I have known for 30 years.... do NOT embarrass me. Gee... maybe his oil was changed recently... I can get out of that.... Fuel filters? I hope he's done them.... Maybe the tire shop did.... What you are doing is NOT about what somebody else tells you... other than recreating the problem... Maybe the tire shop fixed the problem and forgot to tell the customer... Muck fe.... You do what you are told to do... you document what you find offensive/reprehensible/distasteful.... If you want a long and happy career, you work INSIDE the system... not OUTSIDE it. On the back of your RO... you write I didn't rotate the tires because I think the tire shop is a good place. One of these days you will realize how stressful some decisions are. Tire shop? Ohhh I wish I was good enuff to wurk ther. When tey give me a trukk thay cuddn't ficks.... Wow. Adam... one very important thing.... before you speak... imagine what it will sound like. I have fucked up enough times to make me am exspurt Tire shop... fuck me... next thing youll be calling Canadian Tir for advice? Ohhhh... when you get back to work

Now... if we could just find enough people to LIVE that. TRS400 valve stems in load range E tires.... I have made a study on how little it takes may impact to rattle a wheel nut hard enough to not turn under the torque wrench (you would be FUCKING AMAZED)... "He doesn't need a tire rotation"... he doesn't NEED a tire rotation because he's been having his tires rotated.... Stop rotating them and it will be too late. FWIW... I don't know about you, but I can always negotiate a better price on four than I can on two. "Have you checked OASIS?".... No... I was going to waste three hours first.... oops... he said there was a couple of things he wanted to look at first. You (or even "we") can wave the Mechanics Creed around all we want... If there were that many believers, I would never get kicked off another forum again.... The world is a sad place, Aaron... In 1974 I made a promise to my wife... her folks... my folks... all of our friends and acquaintenances.... and a God I'm not sure I believe in. I would love and cherish this woman in sickness and in health yadda yadda yadda... It has been HARD.... VERY FUCKING HARD (there's a novel in there). But I have kept my promise... Now... be assured I will never pretend to pass judgement on you - your visit to my house revealed things about you... Let's not go there... Anyway, Debbi and I have been together for nearly 40 years... not because it has been easy... but because there were promises made.... Flash forward to the mechanics creed... I am about to offend many people... I wish I could say I am sorry.... but I'm not. The mechanics creed has people making a promise.... including a phrase that will have them shun easy money.... People are people and I can't hold that against them... Sidebar... when I first got married, I found it hard to discontinue some of my former ways... Some of my inlaws added to the problem (we are gonna catch this guy with his drawers at his ankles). I removed my wedding band for work concerns... and the opportunities to stray vanished.. almost. Anyway.... I made promises when I got married... If I fail at those promises, I will be a failure... Not my cup of tea. (FWIW, the tale of our marriage is not an easy peasy thing... there is some supremem bad shit... but, once again.... What I am desparately trying to say... I made promises I intend on keeping... other people make those exact same promises.... and get divorced... The mechanics creed is just THAT kind of deal... It is a promise SO easy to make. It isn't hard to keep... but it is so easy to break. Another sidebar... if you ask a LEO about drunks he has stopped. He will ask if and how many drinks his suspect may have had "tonight". "TWO" is the "popular answer". (FWIW.. you can check this out and find that this is correct in the vast majority of scenes). Truth, in todays society, is of little importance...

Well..... I guess I am going to be a "glass is half full" guy and play up to your "glass is half empty" point of view... You don't own a 6.0 and probably never will. I don't own one and probably never will... both of us for different reasons. So.... we have one talented diesel tech with a tag line that reads "proud not to own a 6.0" (the message that sends to your customers, coworkers, acquaintances and so forth can be mixed). We have one talented diesel tech with a 2003 6.0 - head studs and an Edge set in tow mode who is quite proud to own and quite pleased with his truck. Reconcile that for me. FWIW.. MY reason for not having a 6.0... or ANY diesel? I last put gas in my pickup before my birthday (July 3rd)... the car about the same time... the bike? I bought gas this year, I remember that. I would LOVE to have a diesel when I hook up my holiday trailer.... but I put less than 100 miles a year on that puppy. I try to make sure I change the oil in my truck (and my car) at least three times a year.... that can come into an oil change in as little as 2000 kilometers... this is expensive enough, thank you very much. Now... I had written many paragraphs on a subject that had my veins pounding in my temples in this thread... I decided they were a little inciteful and I need to think more about them. Later this weekend, I hope to add to the "stealership" thread with at least part of what I was trying to say there... If you aren't pissed at me now...... My take on the 6.0? It's like chopsticks... some people can get them to work.... for the rest - there's always a spoon.

What you say is quite true... but a LOT of the problems that killed pilot injection were owners shooting themselves in the foot... Cetane can help here... with all of Fords testing, I wonder if (included in the abuse testing) things like extended idling, extended oil change intervals, using the same oil that Grandad did - all of the wonderful homeotherapeutic bullshit "what diesels like" that we see people do was part of the test regimen? I recall that switching from 15W40 to 10W30 did a LOT to help trucks that had the morning romps. I also recall that there was a distinct concern with the programming crew as each new flash seemed to create twice as many problems as it fixed.... Uncle Al may be coming to visit.... but I also have a tendency to look at the coin a different way from many... Some people call it "he wierrrrrrrdddddd". And yes... the calibration didn't work well with the injectors (planishing gave us sticition gave us running problems that gave us shit in the after-treatments) but that doesn't explain the several customers that I have that know diesels well that NEVER HAD A PROBLEM....

Wasn't 41 a WDS disc? We have some WDS stuff for sale.... including a whole box of discs (including blue ones....).

My first "real" computer... a 286 DX that I upgraded to SX.... had a 44 Mb HDD... My OS, Werd Perfeck and all my games (like Zork) fit wth room to spare... I <might> have WFWG 3.11 but anything that was on 3.5s is likely going to be long reformatted and gone... At one point in time, I had inherited a W95 installation ON FLOPPIES from somewhere. It was a HUMUNGOUS stack.... I once read somewhere that someone had installed Windoze Fer Wurkgroops on a swoopy late model system and it actually worked.... way better than it ever did in history. Makes me a firm believer that billy nerdnick is designing software that computers wont be able to run until the software is obsolete.

this.....

Let's just say I've had to remove more broken plugs than I've actually broken and leave it at that... Pushing broken bits into a cylinder just set my store bought teeth on edge... but (like the age old battle about torque sticks) it's whatever floats your boat and your comfort level.

I used to get 3 IDS discs at work plus another mailed to the parts mongers house... I downloaded 68.04 today... and I still haven't seen 67 on disc AFAIK.

There are a few key things that far too many dealership techs... especially "long term" dealership techs are overlooking.... Let's take a brief look at Joe Customer.... These guys always want to know the bottom line first... And, like idiots we usually tell them straight up expecting we can tell them what we will give them for the money. Except Joe is already steaming at the figure we quoted and he is going to hear precious little else we tell him... Something you have to realize about Joe... He don't know nutthin' about mechanicin' 'cept it's a lot of money and why do you guys get a hunnert bucks an hour. All he knows is that his truck is broken and the guy down the street only charges $60... So now, it's time for one of my famous (or is that infamous) digressions. About 25 or so years ago, we bought a love seat. Paid way too much for it... about $1400 back then.. and the Brick Warehouse had the same one just about for $400. About 5 years ago, we gave the love seat to some friends because we plain got tired of looking at it... Looked like the day we got it even though we've always had dogs and cats and we've never made a big deal about them and the furniture. Anyway... the frame on the spendy love seat was hardwood and the covering was very high quality. The frame on the Brick Warehouse "bargain" was S-P-F (that's spruce, pine or fir to the uninitiated) and the cheap covering had to last only as long as the frame which would barely last until the warranty expired. And so it is with Joe Customer... He doesn't see better training, superior tools and the foresight we put into addressing some of the complex problems on these engines.... He thinks the cheap couch is just as good as the spendy couch because they appear to be the same.... He wants his truck fixed and you want that much and the other guy wants this much. Both are mechanics - both have tools - what could be simpler? (I think we both knnow the answer to that). If the other guy has trouble fixing it then you would have probably had trouble fixing it, too... Step one... educate your customers.. do it before you piss in their cornflakes (or do it while you are pissing in their cornflakes, I guess). Informed customers are good customers. It's called SELLING a repair... so SELL it... make the customer see that buying the spendy couch has benefits... That's the tip of the iceberg.... more later.

or is there some weird shit going on? We see it every day... "stealership", "I don't like to send things to the deeler(sic)" and, in minced words, I can't figure out how to fix this so I HAD to send it the people I don't trust... From an iATN post <This one went to deeler under warrenty , was trying to get rig back in service faster . The deeler instaled the FICM under warrenty but also found a few hundred bucks worth of stuff to charge customer , not a big fan of deelers>. From another <we reccomended sending it to the dealer, maybe its something they will find>. I have to include this... nothing to do with what I'm trying to say but oh so precious <Replaced seals in oil injection pump. Filled pump with oil. Attempt to start, cranks, no start, 45 psi oil pressure. Vehicle ran good before seals replaced. What did we do wrong?? any help is appreciated! thank you> This was on a 7.3 so I'm betting there is a checkball and spring laying under his bench. Anyway... there seems to be this great schism betwixt "us" and the independant techs (them)... Sadly, the only real difference I can see is that we have better books (well, that and some classroom time) but isn't that what the "Description And Operation" section is for, anyway? I am getting fed up with being called a thief and a charlatan by my peers (independant techs)... especially when we are expected to fix those things they can't. I have to go cut the grass, now... but thanks for letting me rant...

Whoa, big fella... back before stiction became an issue... way back when we still had pilot injection... I recall the 6.0 as being a real eye opener in the performance department... To this day I can recall my first 6.0 PDI (I can recall my first over-full crankcase on one, too... but that's a whole 'nother story). Upstairs at work, I have a big box of WDS discs and downstairs at work I have another big box of IDS discs (if you open the dictionary to "packrat" you will see my handsome face staring up off the page at you) but I'm not sure either WDS or IDS will let you proceed with "stale" software... Considering the software issues we had in about 2004, I'm not entirely sure that current 6.0 software isn't just a bunch of patched patches. I was digging through some old boxes the other day and came across DOS 6.0 on five and a half inch floppies... Ohhhhhhhh the temptation... if only it would work in this Windoze world.... Sidebar.... one of our techs was working on an Expedition with a 5.4. Ran like a bowl of smashed assholes... a reflash fixed it right up.... Back in the day, we would have had to change some parts to get it to do that... Today? If a computer strategy worked yesterday... why doesn't it work today? As usual... I feel soooooooooooo ooooold!!! but at least I still have my hair.

I'm surprised Adam hasn't put his two cents worth in on this thread... the rest of this post was deleted...

Jayzus...... you can remember that?

The old days were exciting.. the brave new world we live in (apologies to Aldous Huxley) is exciting. It's all exciting. At one point in time the Plymouth and the Dodge were vastly different (digression.. if you ever want to see a truly fugly car, Ford tried building a for Canada version of the falcon calling it a "Frontenac". Mercifully, it died an early death). Anyway... the "early" 318 was the polyspherical combustion chambered 318... Now... polyspherical is just another word... a $5.00 word, yes... but let's try to understand it a bit... Mostly, it is engineering jargon. The engine wasn't a hemi... but they wanted to give it the "flavour" of a hemi.,,, I'm not really sure that it "wasn't" a hemi - sorta. It had "canted" valves (much like the 351M/400) it was such a long time ago (and I am nearly sure that somebody here must know a DB kinda guy) and should be able to remind us if it was or wasn't a pentroof style combustion chamber. Along about 1967, Dodge introduced another 318.... this one based on the 273 wedge head motor... We were left to deal with two different motors called by the same name... Much like back about 1997 when we had the F250 and the uhhhhhh F250 - both completely different trucks. The important thing is to learn from our history, revel in our history for all the wonders it gave us ( Turbine engined cars... how many realize that Chrysler gave us electronic fuel injection in the late 50s) Bosch Jetronic fuel injection... Rochester fuel injection somewhere around 1956, multiple carbs off the showroom floor and even factory supercharging... Larry, you remember a lot of the neat shit... Some of the youngsters (and some of the middle aged) people I work with seem to think that the infernal (sic) combustion engine is a recent development. If we do not learn from our history, we are doomed to repeat it. FWIW, I still have a pdf of Harry Ricardos book "The High Speed Internal Combustion Engine". This is the 1931 version... I believe this was the last update to the tome. Ask and ye shall receive... You can't remember the red 318? Fuck... I can remember 1967.... sorta...

'Zackly.... the E series has a CAC half the size of a F... and reduced boost to match.... Cornbinder (AFAIK) doesn't have near the problems Ford did but the hottest 6.0 you could get from them was 230 horsepressures... FWIW, I think it would be important for anyone to compare the 6.0PSD and the VT365. When I first met the VT365, I was immediately stricken by the obvious differences... Kinda like having someone rapping on your forehead saying "Helloooooooo... anybuddy home?".

Island blue? you're pegging the gayosity meter, Jeff. Colours.. I paint the wall... My wife says "Oops". I paint the fucking wall again. My wife says (oh you could see this coming a mile away) "oops" and I paint the fucking wall again. The wall will never be teal (at least not to me... but I don't watch homogardenTV)The wall will never be island blue... at least not to me... It will be blue or it may be "kinda" blue. We are true men.... if we are describing a colour, the key modifiers are "kinda", "sorta", "a little like" but we can save our asses if we can include food, beverages or dog excrement in the description. Anything else is going to increase your !?@#%! quotient. Ascribing a specific name to a colour will forever mark you as a SNAG (sensitive new age guy) and there is every chance you might wind up married to Elton John, Boy George or Dennis Rodman... Forget about Jesse James.. Sandra Bullock wasn't good enough for him... and that means you're fucked. Back up real hard now.... say the fucking truck is "kinda blue" and we can forgive you.... FWIW... my scooter is black - we haven't decided if it is dark black or light black.... On edit... !?@#%!... too cool.... f a g g o s i t y quotient

Teal? Jeff... fucking teal? Is that a colour? Colours are black, blue, white, green, red, yellow and orange. Other colours are kinda greenish, sorta orange, reddish and maybe purple. Teal? You got a limp wrist happening there? Youda been further ahead saying "sorta blue"...

Stuff we've owned? You just HAD to open that door... When I got rid of each and every one of these gems, they were just another old friggin car.... A 64.5 Mustang convertible, a 61 Falcon two door pillar coupe (sedan to the uninitiated), a 67 Fairlane two door hardtop, a 72 Cougar XR7 vert... with the 351C 4V, a 68 Malibu 2 door hardtop and even my 74 Cutlass with an emasculated golden rocket 350.... and that barely scratches the surface.... Back in about 57 I used a Mickey Mantle baseball card in the spokes of my bike..... a card that would be worth a thousand bucks today.... And you guys wonder why I'm a grumpy SOB.... Flip side of the coin.... a 1962 Beatles album "Twist And Shout" is something I DID keep (amongst others) and it ain't worth shit. Life is a bitch..... and then you die... Oh... I forgot my 53 TR3... this is the one convertible that lived up to the "cold/windy/noisey" idea that people that have never owned a convertible like to tell us about.... Most of you guys can appreciate being in the right place at the wrong time.... Me? I'm always in the wrong place at the right time....

I'm not sure about you but this is why I bought insurance... Something bad happened to me... I had something to do with it... or maybe I didn't. Question one.... am I covered? After that, we can go to question 2. I buy insurance because I expect <A>... someone else is going to get stupid or <B>... I will get stupid... Warrantees are for defects in workmanship... Insurance is for defects in people... Any questions?

If worst comes to worst, you can send your heads out and have them ringed. We did an early build many years ago... I can't remember how much boost the owner was running... but 50 PSI sounds close. If you don't think a little hammer will work - you can use a really fucking big one.... But, like people are saying.... ARP studs is going to be all a stock or mild truck is going to need.

My "main" daily driver is a 2002 SuperCrew - underpowered for my holiday trailer but I got such a deal I couldn't say no (lease return). The sportster is a daily driver to a point - you ain't gonna do THAT in an Alberta winter. And the Mustang convertible is mostly parked in the winter too. I mentor the owners of a host of toys and have a few exotics at my disposal... the Viper is for sale, BTW... and it is much more fun to spend other peoples money... Interesting factoid... My Dad and I were never what you might call "interested" before we adopted our boy. He was first a Dodge man (a 49 businessmans coupe and then a 52 4 door sedan) and then a GM guy. My first car was a Ford... My second car was a Ford... and most of the subsequent cars were Fords... I like Fords and (even though I toiled at a VW/etc dealer and even spent time at a Chev dealer - I drove an Olds Cutlass at that time). I had bought a '68 Malibu for my wife... my girlfriend drove a Charger (it is a long story with an unhappy ending... after 30 years I am finally learning to deal with it.... pray like hell you never get to go there). Anyway, I digress (what I do best...). I am unsure of how it goes... do I drive what I work on? Or do I work on what I drive? Of interesting note... when I worked at GM... I drove GM.... When I worked at VW, I drove a Datsun... I blowed up all my own cars.... sold my Triumph Tiger to buy an engagement ring and the soon to be blushing bride came equipped with a who could ask for anything more? I wont tell you what her Dad said to me when we first met.... When I worked at or was an independant shop, It was almost always Fords FWIW... if you drive a piece of shit that is barely on the road... your customers see that... and they begin to wonder about you. I can't stand to drive a car that has "problems" I refuse to allow my wife to drive a car that has problems... The shoemakers kids run barefoot....

A thought that I had as I arose this AM (Larry, you can read that as "discovered gravity still works" ) deals with electrical systems. Something tells me that Stupidbaker was the first 12 (actually 14) volt system... But I would like to believe that it was our old buddy Henry (I imagine by that time it would be Edsel) that brought it to us. What you youngsters missed.... the 318 Poly motor, the slant six, the 144 Ford with the integral intake manifold.... cartridge oil filters... polarizing generators (watching the guy in the next bay try to polarize one of them new fangled alternator things).. adjusting the air gap in a voltage regulator.... the most exotic tool in my box was my dwell gauge... As an addendum to my previous post... what's with Dodge and all this Hemi bullshit. The "new" hemi has about as much to do the gen 1 or gen 2 hemis as Dennis Rodman has to do with "normal". We don't see Ford comparing the current gas engines (4.6, 5.4 and 6.8) to the 427 SOHC