Monthly Archives: July 2019
I Got It Out, But . . .
This evening after we got back from our Denny’s dinner/HEB run, I changed clothes and went back outside to try to get the one remaining spark plug replaced.
I was hoping that with the engine hot, I might have a better chance due to the engine block expanding slightly from the heat. And it worked.
But it wasn’t easy. All the plugs came out with no problem once I broke them free, but I had to fight this one all the way. And once I got it out it was easy to see what the problem was
The bottom three or four threads were pretty much worn off but threads above that were fine. Plus unlike all the other plugs which were a dry light chocolate brown, this plug was slightly wet and oily and blackish.
But even stranger, this is not the plug that the engine computer says was the problem, but the one right next to it. So now we’ll see how it runs.
I still plan on doing the rear brakes on Tuesday and it’s actually supposed to be a little cooler then which will be nice.
I’ve finally got back to working on the next couple of installments on our Europe trip, Cologne, Germany and Kinderdijk, The Netherlands, the last two stops on our cruise before we finish up in Amsterdam. So stay tuned.
This weekend NASA used the Washington Monument as a screen for the projection of the Apollo 11 Saturn V launch.
You can see the entire 24 minute video at the link above.
Thought for the Day:
When the strong man, fully armed, guards his own dwelling, his goods are safe. -Luke 11:21
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One Small Step . . .
50 year ago today, at 3:17 in the afternoon, Jan scooped up our 14 month old son Chris, and pointing at the TV, said, “Chris, you won’t remember this, but you’re watching a man land on the moon!”
We were living in Tuscaloosa, AL, and were over at our friend’s Dwight and Betty Elliot’s watching the landing on their COLOR TV, the only one of our friends who had one. Which made absolutely no difference since all the landing video was in Black & White.
And I had no idea that 13 years later I would be manning the Color Convertor Console on the Space Shuttle missions. A real dream of mine, especially since my father worked for Boeing on the Apollo project in Huntsville, and Jan’s father worked for Rocketdyne at the Cape.
Well, I got 87.5% of my spark plugs and 100% of my ignition coils replaced on the truck this afternoon.
I say 87.5% of the plugs because no matter what I tried, I couldn’t get one of them out. All the others broke free with no problem. I even got out my 12” cheater piper extension, squirted PB Blaster down into the spark plug well and let it marinate while I did the rest of the plugs. But no luck.
Tomorrow I’ll try it while the engine is hot after we come back from linner. If that doesn’t work I’ll see if I can stop off at my mechanics and get them to get it out.
Hopefully it’s not cross-threaded, or maybe someone forgot the anti-seize. Either way it wasn’t me since this is the first time I’ve done the plugs on this truck.
But the good news is it seems to have fixed my problem, at least the running ragged, stumbling problem. I can still detect a bit of roughness on acceleration, but much, much better than it was. Hopefully replacement of the last plug will fix that. But we’ll see
I did have to remove the Mass Air box to get to 2 of the plugs but that was only 4 bolts and it came right off.
Note: Don’t do what a friend of mine did back in my SCCA racing days and forget to remove the rag plugging up the carb intake. You apparently can spend days trying to figure out why it won’t run.
I had originally planned to do the rear brakes tomorrow, but I think I’ll take a break and wait until Tuesday. I don’t want to make my sciatica flare up again
Thought for the Day:
“The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don’t want, drink what you don’t like, and do what you’d rather not.” – Mark Twain
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