How well I know that feeling if this weather holds much longer, gonna be time to start mowing grass again Still got to tackle that inner primary bearing on the scooter, camping season is coming up...... don't know when I'll find time to work

 

Afternoon gentlemen. Sure is a nice day out there in Carnage Misery. The weather guessers are reporting 62F right now. I know the sky is a crystal clear blue sky...and my scooter is sitting in Fort's Myth. At least I got the last of that winter crap washed off the truck & cleaned out the cab today. I'd almost forgotten what it looked like when it was this clean and before the kids started to ride in the back seat.

It's at this point I need to make a confession...I've sinned in the world of not only Fords...but domestics. This week a '02 Honda Odyssey joined my fleet of Fords at the house. Granted (A) it wasn't my idea to get a Honda, let alone a mini-van and (B) I didn't buy it...it was a "gift" from a family member; it's another Jap ride at the house that dominated by Fords. When my uncle first emailed me about it...I politely said no thank you; trying to save up for that '14 Shelby GT500 I want for a "mid-life crisis". I made the mistake of letting my wife see my email. When she saw the email and the fact that the van was looking for a home (free)....Houston bound I was headed. I will say this about the thing...a DVD player for the kids is nice and at 23-25 mpg it beats the Exploder in mileage. I changed the oil on the stupid thing Monday...I don't like it already, sits too low to the ground. And the earl filter is behind the passenger front tire...right at the frame rail. I guess since my wife is happy, I'll just have to get over the import in the yard problem.

 

Yep, whatever keeps Momma happy

 

I'm lucky, I guess. My wife would never even look at a mini-van.
When I got Lynn that Jeep at Christmas, I was trying to find her a nice Grand Cherokee. You know, 4 doors, a/c, automatic, 4x4, cruise, power windows and seats. Something that would be more comfortable for her, right?
She test drove one. Just one. Then she went looking for what *she* thought she ought to have......a '95 4 cyl, 5 sp, soft top Wrangler. Granted, she did manage to find one with a/c, yet how effective it is in a soft top vehicle with a black top remains to be seen.
It's not exactly what I pictured when I set out to get her a Christmas present, but, as you say, momma's happy.
I got it up on the lift the other day for it's first oil change(had a fresh one when we bought it)and now I can say I'm happy with the purchase too. The only leak it's got is a t/case output shaft seal, and I couldn't find a spec of rust anywhere. Ain't gonna take much to keep this rig happy.
My f-100 will be happy too in a couple of days because I've almost got *my* Jeep fixed and I can retire the pickup from daily driver status again and start paying attention to it again.

 

Good morning gents. weekend starting out pretty,pretty,pretty. Got to check out the lawn mower, get it ready for grass cutting and wife-the operator. every one have a nice day and get lots of work done

 

What a beatiful day to be out riding the scooter. But where am I? Sitting in a rules class instead of enjoying the weather.It wasn't by choice that there's a mini-van (let alone Honda) in my driveway. But like I said, she seems to be quite happy with it...and it does get better mileage than the Explorer. The slightly smaller fuel tanks gives the false impression that really fuel efficient, or at least someone seems to think it is.I did that once...after spending an hour digging the blade out of an exposed root...I'll never do that again.

 

So, I'm out in the shop by 6:30 Saturday morning. By 12:15 I've got the Jeep together and driven it up the driveway to make sure it's got all it's gears and 4x4 working.
Cleaned up and headed down the hill to my son's house. Had a big going away party for my other son who is on his way to Japan for 3 years courtesy of Uncle Sam's Navy. Noticed on the way down that the speedo was inop. Well, there's 2 ways you can orient the speed sensor, and obviously I got it in wrong. Came to the stop sign at the bottom of the hill and the Jeep refuses to idle. Got to my son's and again...won't idle.
When I left the party, the Jeep started and idled fine. Got to the stop sign again and it won't idle. Now of course the Check Engine light was on, I figured because of the speed sensor.
So yesterday morning I went out, crawled under the Jeep and turned the sensor to the other position. Took it up the road and the speedo was fine. Drove about 50 miles around the county yesterday and it never tried to die once.
Just wierd that it wouldn't idle without the speed sensor input.

 

Since I was bringing the Princess to KC for a couple weeks of class (several guys rode with me) I spent the time Friday to give it that good cleaning inside & out that it had needed for a while. Wake up this morning with about an inch of snow on the ground outside my hotel room...and it's still snowing. I was really hoping we were done with the white stuff.Interesting.

 

Not real good with the automobiles, but I know most of the heavy duty trucks either won't go above an idle or will derate the engine severely when the speedo doesn't work. I changed a speed sensor on a Mack last week, driver said it was like driving an old 250 Cummins and this truck is 460 HP.

 

Make sure you keep that stuff up there, don't want to see anymore this year.

 

It's been a few years, but I seem to remember the KW's we drove at Riggs (Caterpillar dealership) wouldn't make their full HP until the trucks got above 35-40 mph. But that was before Tier 1 engines (non-ACCERT)...I have no clue on the new stuff, let alone a CumminsAre you kidding? I've got a coal train loaded up & headed your way with 14k tons of it. But all truth betold, the stuff isn't sticking to the roadways. Just the grass and cars/trucks in the parking lots.

 

So my employer has sent me to Kansas City...Overland Park for a couple of weeks for some Special High Intensity Training. They've got a couple of us spending time in a simulator learning about a different kind of train handling. Anyway...yesterday was the first time in the simulator running this type of train. The problem is they didn't exactly give us a fair shake/familiarization of this route. Part of the exercise is we have to pull up to a stop signal...stop (duh) then take off again...consistent with good train handling. Without going into allot more useless information...I sailed right past this stop signal because of a miss-communication in the cab of this simulator with my fellow student. Basically I failed the test at that point. Had it been the real world..and I hadn't smacked into a train going the other direction. I would have been fired, my engineer's certificate pulled for a minimum of six months; and more than likely would have had all kinds of $%^& finding another railroad that would be interested in hiring me.

We spend two hours in the simulator...swapping off half way through since both of us in the sim are students. Since the other guy got to see my mistakes (two of them) as well as my comments of what I did; he had a heads up towards what's coming. Needless to say he had allot better run than I did. Then they put back into the same sim today...running the same route/train, everything was exactly. I like to think I'm a quick leaner. And sure enough I not only corrected all my mistakes, I passed the test (not the signal) with flying colors. And just like yesterday, after an hour I swapped seats with my fellow student (same guy). But unlike yesterday he was the one that had the rough day. Needless to say he sailed past the same signal I did yesterday. FRA FAILED...had it been the final run (our final exam is three parts, one of which is in the simulator) he'd would have had to score 100% on the other two parts after that to have a reasonable shot/chance of passing the class. I don't want to sound mean, but when he sailed past the signal like that...I felt allot better about my run yesterday.

 

I don't have much experience with the computer stuff on the Jeeps. I've had 3 Wranglers and 3 Cherokees, all either '94 or '95s. The electronic engine controls on all of them were virtually identicle(even between 4 cyls and 6 cyls)and, apparently bulletproof.
I've got plenty of GM computer experience, and they don't behave that way. Had me looking for a vac leak or something else broken or unpluged besides the speedo. Next time, I'll know.

 

Spring has sprung and along with it comes all of the activities we all enjoy so much, BBQ in the yard with friends, sitting on the porch with a cup of coffee in the morning and my favorite camping Headed out tomorrow for a 4 day at Beavers Bend State Park in OK with my teardrop camping group. I'm so ready for this!

 

Good luck, I hope the weather guessers are wrong and it stays dry all weekend. We've got a birthday party for the youngest this weekend...and there's a 60% on Saturday. The wife isn't too happy since we've rented one of those inflatable bounce-around things.