Jim Warman

There are two schools of thought regarding inventory levels. We like one of them and the bean counters like the other one.... $100K isn't a Ford number..... it IS an "accepted industry standard" for a medium sized shop. Also... in this business, the bean counter will tell you that you need to have a minimum GPM... MINIMUM GPM... of 30% (FWIW... this is NOT 30% mark up... this is more) on every part that is sold. I spent a lot of years signing the FRONT of the cheques... and I suppose that probably colours my perspective a little...

You got mail....

Came across some more fascinating stuff... just diesel, this time http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junkers_Jumo_205 is a look at a 6 cylinder two stroke diesel airplane engine with 12 pistons.. Now THIS is a cut-away A variation on the theme is at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napier_Deltic I have way too much time on my hands....

The MAF is a slightly different design... you can't see the sensing elements even after you take it out of the duct. At this point, I'm tucking the dirty intake info into my memory bank and we'll have to see if there are any obvious concerns.

I came across an "electronic copy" (pdf format) of "The High Speed Internal Combustion Engine" By Sir Harry Ricardo. Originally written in 1923 and updated in 1931, this is an in depth look at the development of the infernal (my spelling) combustion engine. There's even some neat cut-away views a-la-Bruce and info that is pertinent even today... An interesting observation considering it was made in 1923 - "The supply of both these fuels, and more particularly the latter, will soon become unequal to the demand, with the result that a critical situation is bound to arise in the not very distant future." Anyone want a copy? It's about 9Mb.....

The 366/427/454 truck engines (also called marine engines) were tall engines using a different block casting than the 396/402/427/454 car engines (these two truck engines had three compression rings on the pistons). IIRC, bell housing flange was different, to. The engines still had timing chains but I recall it being a double row roller chain rather than the light duty "silent" chain. Intake manifolds will not interchange. Here, the memory gets real fuzzy, real fast... I believe that the camshaft was also mounted higher in the block making the chain longer... but I have the nagging feeling I have this confused with another engine.

The universal story... We all know what that white stuff falling out of the sky is... we all know what it will do when it hits the ground.... but there is always that portion of the motoring public that seems to be surprised at this stuff

And Friday, I got an 08 in.... the air filter was installed backwards and only one latch was clipped... The intake is full of caked on dust... The CEL is on but I've been working with some other concerns and haven't scanned for DTCs yet. None of the people that drive this truck has complained about frequent regens or fuel consumption (but this could have more to do with the drivers than the truck).

We got some last night... leaves us in a tender position, though... It never really got cold enough for the frost to set into the ground real good. And now, the snow is going to insulate the ground and keep it from getting good and hard. If the economy was bull.... them guys would be out in the field, complaining, breaking parts, getting rich and spending money and we'd have more brake and suspension work than you could shake a tie rod end at. But I know that the service rigs are dropping their rates... and everyone is being real careful about costs. We'll survive and perservere... but I don't see a gangbuster winter heading our way... And the weather is friggin' wierd...

For the most part, it is the same aftermarket that is building the OEM part, Kieth... after that, most of it is licencing rights as far as I can see (and God knows I may look at things in an overly simplistic manner). There is little sense in someone in the aftermarket wanting to stock parts when the bulk of the vehicles that the part fits are still covered under some sort of warranty... Independents, like dealerships, consider how many times a part number "turns" in the space of a year.... The aftermarket isn't "sucking the customers out of us". We are driving those customer into the open arms of the aftermarket... We aren't cultivating our retail business in a proper and viable manner... Look at it this way.... you guys want to protect proprietary information.. No way in hell can we trust the aftermarket with "techno-shit"... "Let them do ball joints!!!!". Now... there is every chance that I don't have the foggiest idea of what I'm talking about.... But one of the overwhelming things I see being discussed is the idea that some guys are too fucking smart to do ball joints... No way are you going to pick up a couple of hours of gain time doing ball joints, or brakes, or what have you... You are going to diag a P0299... The dummy is getting the gravy... Let's flood our bays with stuff we can complain about... We still haven't touched on the public perception of the dealership tech... I've got it pretty good since I've known most of my customers for almost 30 years... But I haven't reacted like most dealer techs have, either... I can tell you about converstaions with customers that might curl your toes.... that leave you almost stammering for a diplomatic answer... We are going to look the way we make ourselves look... I'm not going to change your mind... and you will not change mine. Here in the oil patch, we spend most of our time having too much work.... Now... is it the "right" kind of work or not? Back when I was on the bench, there was the very odd day I had my "dream day"... 4 ball joints on a SuperDuty 4X4 paid 5.9... and alignment paid 3.3.... I can do two of those in a day.... I guess senility has it's own rewards......

I had come across the sight much earlier (but never thought to mention it, I guess) in response to a question about either the H series trucks or the N series trucks (and I suddenly remembered the W series cabovers just now). While these old girls would seem archaic by todays standards, there were innovations - in technology (ever see a 534 CID gaspot?) and in driver comforts... (I had a brief fling with a 76 Mack R700... it was a cold hearted bitch - the "winter package" was a toque and an ice scraper). I love reading about some of the old innovations... innovations that stretched the bounds of the technology available in the day.... Back about 1958, Chrysler offered electronic fuel injection on some models of Chrysler, Dodge, Plymouth and Desoto.... Yes... I said electronic... Yes... we didn't have semiconductors as consumer goods except in them new fangled transister radidios.... Yes... the Bendix electrojection featured vacuum tubes in the electronics Here is a decent write up on the system with a link to pics at the bottom I love poking at Dwayne (and so many other youngsters) who often exclaim "what were they thinking of?"... not realizing the engineers have already tried "it" years ago with slings and arrows instead of a couple of belts of .50CAL BMG. It was a very good find, Larry and I hops some of the guys go take a look to see what the stone ages were like....

Personally, I'm not sure what the hoopla is about... I can go to Haynes.com and purchase the same manuals the you and I use... They aren't cheap - but neither are the manuals we use... Our yellow disc covering 2002 is MIA... I believe it "went away" with a bad terminal changed out of our tech room.... $3500 to replace it.... The manuals have the same "description and operation" sections a lot of our techs never read Specialty tools... our parts department has ordered in Rotunda tools for customers... A lot of them are available from OTC and/or other suppliers anyway... I don't understand "proprietary" in that context. I may be missing something... but I keep coming back to considering "right to repair" as a grab for free manuals... in a world where the cost of a manual is a price of doing business... Some of you need to realize that I DID spend a lot of money on manuals... My signature appeared on the FRONT of the cheque At the same time, like I stated in the recession thread... do you want to spend your time standing in front of a 12 year old dusted diesel trying to appease a service writer and a customer with no money, trying desparately to find a way to recover at least some of your wasted time... or would you like it if you didn't have to putz around, wasting your time on trucks people can't afford to keep... Old trucks belong in a museum or an independent shop... not in your bay... Of course... the aftermarket shops will be more than happy to do brakes and ball joints while you guys are using proprietary info...

If you scroll down on this page http://www.hankstruckpictures.com/trucks.htm You'll come across a wealth of old pics... Automotive and transportation history is full of things one might never expect... from drip carburettors to the Offy 4 cylinder (no separate cylinder head) to ArDun heads on the flathead V8.... right through to the early Hemis The history of both our industry and of the internal combustion engine is rich with colour, innovation, intrigue and engineering marvels... Sleeve valve engines, the scotch yoke, rotary and radial aircraft engines... (no... not a freakin' Wankel)... The "polymotor" - Ford bought the rights to a plastic motor in the early 80s... 4 cylinder, dual overhead cams, 176 pounds and 175 HP... I recall a SAAB engine with variable compression ratio... Many of us, Larry, would do well to consider the rich and vibrant history that has placed us at this time and juncture... fucking WOW!!!!!

One of those things that is "right for the business" is to ensure that we hve a strong and capable aftermarket (read that as independent shops)... I can't speak for you or Dwayne or anyone else... But having a strong and talented independent store presence is vital to the peace of mind of dealership techs... Read on.... Forget the warranty stuff... your target audience is the owner noit far out of warranty... Ideally6, he will have a vehicle between 5 and 10 years old... He will have enough money to maintain his vehicle properly.. to perform most repairs without having to go home and count his pennies or return his empty bottles... his vehivle will be new enough to have sufficient value to justify all mechanical repairs as well as most cosmetic and electronic feature repairs... You will not, in most cases, be forced to prioritze repairs... you will not, in most cases be forced into just getting the thing back on the road... You will have the lattitude to perfrom the repairs you are comfortable with in a manner that will allow you at least sone "gain time". If you do not participate in ensuring that the independent shops in your area can handle these older yet still complex vehicles... read that as vehicles owned by those without sufficient funds to maintain these vehicles comfortable, YOU will be the benefactor of those vehicles older than ten years of age... you will "benefit" from owners unable to afford proper or complete repairs... Your bay just may be plugged with old crap that doesn't pay worth shit while work you can make good coin at goes waiting... I may be old... I may be crazy and I may be full of shit.... but there is a lot more coin to be made off a retail job on a 6 year old truck than you could ever dream of making off a 12 year old truck. But... I'm old... and what the fuck have old guys ever learned?

Just one more conumdrum.... I am hourly.. I am hourly partly because I can deal with the written word... I am hourly partly because there has been a LOT of water under my bridge... "Back in the day" flat rate was a reward for efficiency... Today, flat rate is a "dangling carrot"... an enticement to improving efficiency... even if there is no way to improve it. The problem... and this is something you need to consider... appears to be in your store. You perform a diagnosis and fail to get paid for it.... Is that Ford? Is that your store? The car has a lift kit... it has a chip... it has "something" to make it more attractive to a customer... in todays marketplace, this is a requirement... Yes... in the long run it IS all about me. My job is built around what MY customer thinks about ME.... I tell them that I will make sure their concern is fixed... I desparately need to make sure that whoever is doing the fixing doesn't turn me into a liar.... If I don't, it is ME that will explain.... If yu aren't getting paid for something, it has fuck all to do with a lift kit or a chip. Got a driveabilty concern? Lose the chip... get it out of here and come back with the truck "au naturelle". Got a mechanical concern? The mod was/wasn't a contributing factor... If you aren't getting paid for time spent... it has little to do with the subject at hand - and it has much to do with the people you work for... I don't think that I have ever made a secret out of my customer orientation... I am my customers last defence against the mother corporation. If he isn't the author of his own demise... I need to be on his side... At the same time, the decision isn't mine to make. I suggest... I advise... I diagnose... I do not choose. I fix cars... that's all I do. I suggest priorities... I suggest warrantability.... I suggest repair strategies... In the end... all I can ever hope to do is fix cars... FWIW.. all youi or I can ever hope to do is to report the conditions as we find them.. Oh... wouldn't it be nice to play God and allow or deny warranty as we see fit.... Sadly, allowing or denying warranty is a political thing. We are mechanics... we are "machine" people. We generally have little in the way of diplomatic skills... we should stick to doing what we know. If your boss said "do this" and didn't pay you for it..... who do you address? Do NOT go drinking with me... I am an opinionated old bastuhd that refuses to give up his antiquated ideals... The whole problem is extremely complex... yet everyone tries to deal with it in compartmentalized little "sub" problems... A young man has AIDS.. does he have it because his sex ed class in school was inadequate ( when I was a kid, sex ed was something to be dealt with AT HOME) - does he have it because he had unprotected sex? (Back in the day blue ointment or penecillin could fix whatever ailed you) - does he have it because he reamed some guy named Bruth (whoops, Bruce)... For this young man... what is the concern... how he got it? or that he has it? Bottom line... it doesn't seem to matter what might be right... it doesn't seem to matter what might be wrong... Bitching about stuff is much easier than doing something about it. The regulations are there in black and white... The penalties for violation are a joke.... We "professionals" will continue to flout the regulations... we will break the laws that have no teeth... we will break the law... we will break the law... This business is so full of conumdrums and oxymorons...and it is because we have a cavalier atitude towards things... but we need to have a cavalier atitude towards things because, if we don't, the other guy (obviously he has a high level of integrity) will have all the work. What is right isn't right ( according to public opinion ) and what is wrong has gained public acceptance (to a point). I am only one voice... without support offered by those that have truly considered the options, I will only ever be one voice... No big deal... Once we start treating it like a complex problem (instead of trying to simplify it), we might begin to fix it...

<SIGH> And my entire point was missed.... Let's back up a step.... I don't know how it is with you.... For my part I do not decide policy.. I advise, I suggest... but, I do not make the decision. Apparently, some of the stuff I have been saying all along has been for nothing... What do I constantly say about teamwork? About working together for the common good? I take it even further in my daily routine... I punch in at 8AM and I punch out at noon - Effectively, I have sold that block of time to my employer... it is no longer "MY" time. Yet we're going to try our best to take a simple statement out of context... Fuck... we're even going to try and build a whole new context around it... As I was saying... we cannot base our actions on the fact that somneone else is doing something we find offensive. Sales sells a truck with a lift kit. So fucking what? When we repair the truck, add a line "removed front wheels and settled suspension onto wood blocks due to lift kit". Other than that, how will this decision to sell such a truck affect us? Was the failure a result of the modification? I told the powers that be about the modification - what's my next step... a full page ad in the local paper? I have fulfilled my part of the equation... I suggest that a particular repair is or isn't warrantable. I do not make the final decision... nor do I want to make that decision. In our store THAT is someone elses job and he can fucking have it for all I care. So that all isn't forgotten, we should be in a position to prioritze repairs for retail customers... what needs to be done now? What can wait? Bottom line... all we're going to do is fix a car... Not long ago, I can across a cracked DPF... tailpipe full of soot... a cloud of black dust every time you revved it... Aftermarket, open weave filter under the hood. This job was going retail, I was assured... good deal - no warranty class story. Some tiome later, I was handed the RO and admonished for the shitty story I offered for warranty... You're going to bust my chops for a decision I wasn't allowed to make? A decision that got changed, anyway? Look at it this way... all we fucking do is fix trucks... we can make suggestions and give advice as to the warrantability of a repair... but, in OUR STORE, we DO NOT make the finbal decision... Ergo, all we do is fix trucks. Now.. it is up to each and every one of us if we fix them right, if we fix them poorly, if we have no attention to detail or if we agonize over every detail, do we replace more parts than we need to? Do we replace parts that even needed replacing? Do we return the truck in the same or better condition that we received it? If we do more than fix trucks, what is this magical labour op? Fuck me.. the sales department is busy trying to make a sale... they are doing questionable things to a truck because if they wont - somebody else will (imagine how some guy that has integrity feels when he realizes he has to compete with people that have NO integrity). The sales department is busy trying to cultivate repeat sales... in a marketplace filled with people that have no integrity... Gee... isn't that getting to be a catchword?

I'm allowed to be a sinner because other people sin..... Interesting concept. So... sales dept put together some travesty. That has to do with the sales dept. We fix broken things.... we do not get to choose what is warranty and what isn't. We can advise.... we can write our story... but we do not make policy decisions and we should never pretend to do that. WE fix trucks.... Thats all we do.... If somebody else wants to be a !?@#%!, that is his decision... why should it affect you?

Employers should pay their workers fairly.. no problem.... Ermmmmm - are we talking about the employees that will install an EGR delete on a daily driver? The professional tech that should be paid for his forsight, knowledge and integrity? Or are we talking about the "Hey, sailor... wanna get lucky"? I'll do anything for a fucking dollar prostitech?.. whoops, prostitute. What can I fucking say? If you want to be treated as a professional, you need to be sure that we are all looking like professionals. As it is, we all look like a bunch of dorks because of cavalier attitudes regarding emissions controls... FUCK ME!!! Is anyone awake in here? If you act like a pro.. you will be treated like one... if you flout the law.... gosh - what can I say? Yes... we deserve better than what we get... unfortunately, we haven't earned it.

Before I "came back" to Ford dealer service, the IDI was the last Ford diesel I could actually work on (HEUI sounded too much like "HUH"). I feel the need to remind the young'uns that there was a time when having a timing light put you on the cutting edge.... Diagnosing a concern is as easy as performing the appropriate test at the appropriate time

I've set out to answer this a few times... and scratched every last one of them.... Trying to keep it as simple as possible.... we are the reason jobs get shipped overseas... Consumers looking for cheaper prices.... employees looking for higher rewards... businesses looking for bigger profits... Throw all of these in a big pot and stir.... Sadly, there are no surprises here.... we got what we've been asking for.

What Kieth posted looks like the broadcast message... Let's be real blunt about the "no mods" statement... ain't nobody looking over your shoulder.... I'm still not up to speed on everything the PCM looks at to determine a regen need.... and I see the 6.7 using this exact same technology....

Back in the mid-80s, what was the AMC (American Motors Corporation) proposed a car with a "sealed" engine compartment. Everything (for my part) on the subject was purely anecdotal, though the source pretty much impeccable... What I heard was access to fluid levels but any repairs would require the removal of the front clip.... Far fetched? Perhaps... today it is a reality. We can be unhappy that we need to remove the cab for some 6.4 repairs and be blissfully unaware that things probably wont change for the 6.7. What are other manufacturers doing for these mundane tasks? Are other techs finding it easier to remove cabs at the behest of their manuals? Or are they removing cabs in spite of their manuals? can't tell because I'm spending my time trying to stay abreast of "OUR" product line... adaptive headlamps and adaptive cruise control included... A very wise man (no, not me) once said that "if you can imagine doing something with the internal combustion engine, chances are that somneone has already tried it...".. At this stage of the game, that is more of a paraphrase than a quote... In 1957, Chevrolet sold fuel injected cars..... In the early 70s, VW and Porsche sold cars with electronic fuel injection that offered rudimentary feedback (mixture control in response to exhaust indication). I recall an article on a Chrysler fuel injection system that featured an electronic control system using vacuum tubes... this was from the late 50s... CAUTION, memory thing happening and I will try to rediscover the article. In the late 1960s, Jack Brabham was experimenting with center dump exhaust system in his F1 cars. Admittedly, these were spark ignition engines without turbos but worthy of comment all the same... is one example.... A better pic can be seen at http://media.photobucket.com/image/1968%...Classic-070.jpg Many early innovations were too "energetic" for the technology available at the time... we may see some of these go through a rebirth as technology (and memories) allow... Many of these ideas were just a bit far fetched.... but who am I to judge? I recall the "drisk" brake... yes... "drisk"... yes, that is an 'r'... Be amazed... but never be astounded....

In all honesty, the only way to take on a WDS is for free.... Investing coin in one of these units is only going to draw you away from your goal... not get you closer. Buy the best tool you can find and only cry once... buy a cheap one and cry every time you use it. For a personal use scan tool, you must decide what features are important to you... remember that every feature you discard is an opportunity to regret the decision. Side work... I have my own views on that. Like I've said before... most of my side work is of a charitable nature. If you want to do side work, pick the easy stuff.... Imagine telling your buddy he is going to have to help pay for an inadequate scan tool that told you both that you need a better scan tool.

This is where Dwayne and I have been going back and forth... on "traditional" engines you removed the oblect of your desires... Times changed and, while the Windsor block engines were still basically "traditional", some non-traditional changes were beginning to take place (remember, there was a day that I looked under a hood and said "Holy shit... an aluminum intake!!")... and now we had to remove the upper intake to remove the right side valve cover... and then we started removing upper intakes to change plugs of some V6 engines... As engine design and technology changes, I expect we'll be seeing subassemblies that are extremely demanding in an R&I situation.... more-so that removing a pan to get at cooler fasteners. Looking at current designs, we can see changes that have been made not to make something more serviceable - but to make something easier to assemble in the factory. With the Eco-boost already here and the 6.7 well on its way, I'm sure we will see many things that will both amaze and astound us. Incidentally.... the Borgward Isabella (late 50s/early 60s) had a 1.5 liter pushrod engine that used a 2 barrel downdraft carb... The carb was bolted to the middle of the cast valve cover which also served as the inlet manifold...

So..... I'm sitting here snacking on a tasty little Canadian variation of the "Texas Torpedo" (nothing deep fried... just a yummy little red jalapeno stuffed with feta cheese in extra virgin olive oil) flipping through my e-mail..... I am on the mailing list for i-ATN Ford related help requests. Used to be, years ago (I joined i-ATN back in it's early days... in the early 90s - I had discovered them when I got my first 14.4 dial up... more on that in a bit). Used to be that you would see no more than a half dozen help requests... No doubt, in part because membership levels were lower than now... but also the vehicles weren't quite as complex as today. Indeed, with the popularization of the diesel, there isn't a day goes by without several 6.0 no starts and one or two 7.3 problems. It won't be long before we see 6.4 help request. Here is a group of guys trying to help each other out (Bruce is a member, as well) as best they can... Without the classroom experience... without the web based courses and without lukewarm line to help them along, they do what they can... All in the name of trying to make this trade (and themselves) look good to the motoring public... We can hide our "intellectual property" from all others... we can lock it away.. hide it from prying eyes.... I share mine... I share it with people that share their intellectual property with me...