What did you do today?

havasu said:

That is such a good feeling, isn't it?

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You know what's even better?
Discovering that the computer connection wasn't the problem, then finding the real cause.
When my truck died, a week ago, I was heading to the industrial supply place to buy a small sheet of aluminum to fabricate a perch, or hanger for the inlet and outlet tubes of my new heater core.
After thinking I finally found and fixed the culprit, that computer cable, I reinstalled the computer up under the dash.
NOW, it was time to head back over and get that aluminum.
I drove over there, six miles away and found a perfect scrap.. 3" X 30"..... $2. Perfect thickness and no cutting charge. It was 4:58, closing time. As they closed the big shop door, I started my truck...... And it began stumbling again.
It kept running as long as my foot was 1/2 way to the floor.
It died again in town 2 1/2 miles from home.
I folded the carpet back from the firewall, removed the computer from its position up in the dash and laid it on the floor.
The truck restarted and ran beautifully.
Once home, engine idling, I started gently tugging on each individual wire at the plug connection looking for the loose one. Nothing changed at all. I wiggled wires up under the dash... Nothing.
I folded the carpet back against the firewall and the engine immediately started missing, so I folded it back onto the floor.
I grabbed the wire bundle and held it steady, then twisted the computer left, right, up down..... The engine never missed a beat.
Ok, once again, I folded the carpet back into place against the firewall and the missing instantly reappeared.
There is a big, fat grommet where this bundle of 25 or 30 wires from the computer pass through the firewall. The hole in the metal firewall over time, had worn all the way through the grommet and was grounding a wire. That was my problem.
With the computer on the floor, there was no tension on the grommet and no shorting.
The wire bundle and grommet moved slightly as the computer was pushed up under the dash, so only with the computer in place did this short happen.
So yes, the plug not being connected may have contributed to the transmission shifts and idle speed never being consistent, but the misfires ant erratic tachometer was because of this short.
This grommet, on the lower side has become soft and sticky, almost like roofing sealant. The top half is still solid. I want to wipe off the goo and determine if the wire is good enough to be left alone, then devise a way to build up with some heater hose, or other stuff to shield and protect the wire. I'm hoping it's only a bared wire, not worn 1/2 way through.
Yes, its been a long way there, a long way....

Hey Everybody Yeah ! It’s a long long way for Randy to get to where he’s going and you gotta keep on trying, keep on trying Yeah e Yeah …. I love that band and that song may be my favorite

Thanks for sharing that repair story man, you have terrific observation talent and tenacity and I’m so glad the long long way just got shorter.

Hey guys and gals, all these years on flooring forums and I never placed a Tag on any posts except for today, in the
‘ Carpet Topic ‘ …. Who feels like sharing their knowledge on the subject of creating a good tag. Thx !

Been doin countertops the past couple days, nothing but fun. Set the top yesterday so today I can route the sink. It’s always a messy task with all those light, fluffy, static clingy bits of countertop chaff that comes flying off the router. I decided to hook up my dust collector to the sink drain. Now that thing sucks some air. I coupled that with a piece of wood to cover the majority of the sink so as to increase the suction around the router as I trimmed the sink. It wasn’t 100% but I’d say it was a thousand times better than without it. I’ll definitely be doing that again. I’ll have to fab up an adapter for a 4” hose connector to a sink drain.

I’ve started using an air palm sander to sand my tops. What a difference that makes. There’s no going back now. The downside is it has no dust collection. I can see I’m going to have to make a downdraft sanding table cus the air sander is here to stay.

Don’t worry about the stove, that’s a used one the customer picked up. He’s thinking a towel hung over the handle will hide that

MSLI said:

Hey Everybody Yeah ! It’s a long long way for Randy to get to where he’s going and you gotta keep on trying, keep on trying Yeah e Yeah …. I love that band and that song may be my favorite

Thanks for sharing that repair story man, you have terrific observation talent and tenacity and I’m so glad the long long way just got shorter.

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Thank you. I hate losing. When something isn't working, my mind goes into overdrive. I need to know stuff. I need to understand how things function. I always have since my earliest memory.
Computers, fuel injection and "sensors" scare the daylights out of me.
I grew up knowing points, condensers, carburetors, brakes, and wheel bearings.... the old school stuff, the basic nuts and bolts that make cars function.
I knew the basics relatively well.
The experiences I've gone through on "newer", meaning 1988 technology
Has humbled me as of late.
Plugs, wires, starters, wheel bearings.... Same -o, same-o.

Electrons are different.

As frustrated as I've been over the last year and a half, dealing with, then thinking I had conquered this issue time after time........... then having it come back and bite my ass.....
I can't begin to convey the frustration..... It's over the top.
Worst part I suppose, is the truck is OBDI, a rather archaic system to get engine codes from. I'm these first generation of vehicles with computers, problems in the engine were recorded. To retrieve the code number for the problem, you did a DSP h and dance, then waited for the check engine light to blink you some diagnosis in Morse code. Ok for a few things, but there is a very limited number of things it can tell you.
OBD2 computers reported a tremendous amount of information to better diagnose a problem.
It might tell you that the #4 spark plug misfired 1689 times ina period of time. OBD1 didn't even know it misfired once.
Anyway, I never got a code for my issue, so it was pretty much search and destroy.... all on me.
in the end.... It's fixed now.

The computer plug being not fully engaged, probably caused idle and throttle issues, shifting and issues with my ignition timing, causing the engine to run on the hot side all the time.... Like the radiator was too small.
This misfire tho.... Definately because of a shorted wire to the firewall.
The large, thick grommet that protected 30 or so wires in a bundle going through the firewall had worn and deteriorated over the past 36 years.... I'm not kidding! ...no joke!
It had softened on the lower side, skid down a little year after year into the protective grommet wore barely through and allowed a wire to ground it ..........occasionally. "occasionally" was the monkey on my back.
Here was my permanent fix today.
I shaped a semicircular piece of aluminum plate to fit a groove in the grommet. The interior portion was fine.
The engine misfired when the grommet was too low and bottomed out on the actual wire harness.
The cure?
Slide it back up into position and make it stay where it's supposed to be. Here's the position it's been in for years now. You can see through the gap into the engine compartment. The close up is where it's supposed to be located.

Here's my fix. A bracket to hold it in the upper position. Just a piece of aluminum plate, a couple of sheet metal screws and a 6" piece of fuel line as a spacer and gasket to align my plate parallel with the groove in the grommet and the firewall.

I'm givin' myself a gold star on this one. Turned out sweet. A couple hours involved making it, including a trip to the hardware store.
I'm done.
I'm finished.
I quit!!!
.........and I centered the steering wheel afterwards.

Dashboard is even happy now.

Pardon my French, but WTF

15 minutes before my electrical nightmare last week, I was heading to the steel supply place to get a scrap of sheet aluminum to fabricate a new hanger to support the inlet and outlet tubes on my new heater core.
The factory support didn't come close to fitting the new tube locations. Many patterns later, I came up with this.
You can't just have metal to metal contact, so I was thinking heater hose as a grommett material to insulate the bracket from the core tubes..... Then I wa these pipe lugs.
......inside diameters was perfect?
The outside diameter snapped into my bracket perfectly. The inside diameter of these plastic plugs fit perfectly to the outside diameter of the plugs.
I googled the plug manufacturer and there are rated 175f maximum.
......I'm redefining "perfectly"

I'm getting there. I want heat this winter. Last year was MISERABLE.

highup said:

Yes, its been a long way there, a long way....

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Now that you’re there, with much needed heat this winter and no misfiring or shifting…. This is the new LRB message and They are coming to Spokane soon

https://www.google.com/search?q=you...ate=ive&vld=cid:819ea5b0,vid:iyMjyGAj8Ao,st:0

Link isn't working.
....... but but yeah, the heat arrived today. It's finally plumbed in... hooked up, ....connected, and the river of green Prestone is flowing
On top of that, I got all three fan speeds working now.
....I endured a winter ...or was it two, without this basic luxury.
Brain freeze?
On high, my engine temperature is too low. The heater fan cools the engine faster than my dual electric fans.
That........ Would not be a good way to cool the engine in the summer.
....so yeah, it will be comphy this winter. We don't get all that cold. Typically, a chilly December or January morning low could be 28 to 38.
The heat isn't so much of a deal in a tiny pickup like an S10. The problem is when you're wet, you're shoes are wet, and there are two wet people in the cab.
Humidity and moisture on the windows is 50x worse then lack of heat. Chilly, I can deal with. We don't see 12 degrees here.

Wiping the condensation off the window every 30 seconds was the big issue. At night with headlights glaring at me, it was dangerous even with a full roll of paper towels..... Seriously. It was frustrating.
That actually happened last January as my brother and I headed home from a job 50 miles away . It was day two of a woven I stall. We got finished at 9:30pm
It was cool and light rain as I wrapped every tool, a tackstrip box, my shop vac, the extra pad.
I was soaked. The three mile road to just to get on the coastdl 101 highway probably saturated a half dozen paper towels.
It was cool, raining hard most of the way on this Friday night.the windows were fogged up so bad at times, when approaching headlights appeared, I slowed down to 40.
Hey, I had had hardly any work then, but this was a two day, $900 bedroom. Extremely difficult woven, but I had to do it, and I knew the weather forecast.
Miserable doesn't begin to describe that night.

Anyway, here's my Fluke reading at the transmission tunnel area vent... toasty.
Later I got it to 159 degrees , so I'm good there.
.......damn, I'm good there!


Seriously, all the time, money and frustration will be worth it. I'll literally have a totally new life now. Seriously. It's amazing on every level.
A month and a half ago, I installed a very badly worn upper A-arm.
Next was that heater core and it's fitment issues. Then, during the dismantling process, finding out I had electrical issues with my headlight switch, the heater control connections, cleaning the instrument panel circuit board and committing myself to repainting it to white to make it visible at night.
I'm just ready to make a new support for the new heater core lines.........
...at that moment, all of my fixes were done. I was exhausted.
....and then, .......my neverending engine misfire came back into my life to tease me and reminded me that I'm probably never going to discover it's cause.

Well folks..... I'm one happy guy.

Engine misfire problem fixed.... forever.

Heater core replaced and I have heat, plus have all 3 fan speeds working again.

I cleaned all the circuit board contacts cleaned up and all of my dash lights working.

I soldered connectors and wiring so that now, all 3 of my aftermarket gauges, temp, volts and oil pressure gauges have working lights..

I have a new knock sensor and a new pigtail connector to match.
I have a new coil, distributor cap, rotor and ignition module.

I found a few wire issues during the investigative process.... something I would never discovered and could easily have fried my alternator.

I also know now, where a lot of my wires go to and what they do. Something I previously would have never learned or even cared about.

My 3 week nightmare is over now. I'm actually glad now, that I endured all this pain and these frustrating and costly setbacks.
I could have easily had the truck stop running 50 miles from home, in January, and when pouring rain at 38 degrees.
I'm so thankful my dad started my automotive "trainings"
I was 8 or 10 years old and without watching dad work on the family car and pickup is he lost.... Thank you dad!
Oh yeah, we got heat.

highup said:

My 3 week nightmare is over now. I'm actually glad now, that I endured all this pain and these frustrating and costly setbacks.

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PARTY TIME and thanks for sharing the virtue of endurance, because just like your Dad mentored physical automotive skills, now your story has just mentored to us, emotional skills we can learn from.

MSLI said:

PARTY TIME and thanks for sharing the virtue of endurance, because just like your Dad mentored physical automotive skills, now your story has just mentored to us, emotional skills we can learn from.

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The truck is still a POS, but it's now a friend instead of just being a neighbor.

Went grocery shopping this morning. There’s a Winco near by. I love Winco, they have bulk food bins. They also have Dukes mayonnaise now. That made my day.

C.J. said:

Went grocery shopping this morning. There’s a Winco near by. I love Winco, they have bulk food bins. They also have Dukes mayonnaise now. That made my day.

View attachment 20182

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I do Dukes too as of a year or so ago. Squeeze bottle tho. No knife to wash... Squirt and go.

Highup, that sounds like a nightmare but I'm glad you finally got it fixed.
Rusty, I hope your heartrate is back to normal.
CJ, nice work, as always. Ooh, food.

I don't know if I had a sinus infection, stomach bug or what, but last week I got sick the night before Mom had an appointment. Headache, lightheaded, nausea, and chills. But I kept waking up sweating and then having chills again. I was sweating when it was cool outside. We're talking in the 60s and I was overheating and sweating like crazy. 72-hr antiperspirant failed in under 5min. After I got dressed I was sweating profusely after just 2 minutes. Was sick a few days. Finally starting to feel a little better. Appetite still isn't back though. I binge-watched the Lord of the Rings movies since it had been a long time since I last watched them.

I did some cleaning in the kitchen. Still battling the stupid roaches. Wasn't able to meet with my friend to look at my microwave. Hoping its just a fuse.

Found a came called Unsolved that I've been playing-- hidden objects and puzzles.

The lever on my front door kept coming off (on the inside). The lock button fell out and went missing. Not sure if the set screw was borked on the lockset but without the button we can't lock it so I ordered new levers and went to pick them up at HD. Found out there's a lady who might be able to rekey them for me. Also got a keypad deadbolt for the front door. Waiting on the better batteries to arrive in the mail.

Picked up some large backer rod while I was up there. Glad I got 2 because I used up the first one pretty fast. There were large gaps around the door. Borrowed a chopstick from Mom to push stuff in place. Found an old discarded wooden skewer to help. I ended up having to pin large and small backer rods together with toothpicks to fill some of the gaps. At one point I don't know if something bit me or of I touched something I was allergic to but my hand started having a burning sensation. I went and washed it off immediately and it itched for a couple of hours. Followed up with some door & window Great stuff. Used 2 cans and might need to get another. I'm going to clean it up and probably do a little more (I think there's a little more left in the can) in some spots. It already has reduced the cold air coming in from some spots around the door. Hope that will help with heating and cooling bill.

highup said:

Pardon my French, but WTF

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Do they have the day old bread store where you’re at? I suppose they’re called a Franz outlet store or something like that now. There was one at the end of Johnson Creek that I would go to and you could get the best deals on everything. Bread, danishes, muffins… pies, great prices, too.

C.J. said:

I would take my old man to his Dr. appointments and the nurses would always freak out at his heart rate and BP. I would have to remind them that he’s old and just walked halfway across the damn hospital grounds to get here. Then he would get pissed off sitting in the waiting room having to wear a mask the whole time. Might be time to bring back house calls again.

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Can't get accurate BP unless you have been sitting still 10-15 minutes and your arm is supported.

C.J. said:

Do they have the day old bread store where you’re at? I suppose they’re called a Franz outlet store or something like that now. There was one at the end of Johnson Creek that I would go to and you could get the best deals on everything. Bread, danishes, muffins… pies, great prices, too.

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Our store closed several years ago.

Spent a few days making doors n drawer faces. They still need a little tweaking but they’re done so I can cross that part off the list. Now I get to prep and paint them.