Good morning!!!!

[kenmbz]

Happy birthday Mrs. PopGadget !

 

[rswyan]

Often really tight things like that can be accomplished by others WITHOUT pulling the engine, but just not as guaranteed as when pulling the engine.

Yup.

I saw the shop owner's call (as the final authority) to pull engine more as an effort to make sure it was done right than anything else.

My Ford E350 diesel (van) was going to require dropping the engine to get to the injectors. Otherwise one injector was deemed inaccessible. After significant web research I found someone who advised how to just loosen the mounts a bit.

Reminds me of the tales of having to do similar on 429 CJ to get at one of the sparkplugs to change it out.

Never did replace that injector, vehicle started without it, just rougher.

Several of the glow plugs on the van are kaput. Makes getting it started in cold weather a real bear. Have to double-cycle the GP's when it's really cold (<30F's) just to have a shot.

Meant to get to that last summer when the weather was nice ... but the GP's are only required for starting ...

I replaced the glow plug controller once. Mercedes screwed up on the design of that part initially - was fused (non-replacable) and the fuses would blow if the plug shorted to ground (one of two failure modes)

They eventually updated the part - supposedly after input from Andy Bittenbinder - with resettable circuit breakers. Unclear if my replacement part was that newer version.

Guess I will find out when I replace the bad glow plugs.

Besides, how much does the dealer make on doing it the cheap way with the possibility of messing something up?

Yup ... not all that much in the big scheme of things. Can't really blame them.

I do hold Cub Cadet responsible though for the poor design on that aspect.

Would have been so easy to handle at the design stage ...

And you've witnessed the adequacy of his labor force.

Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it.

 

[rswyan]

62F and sunny @ 12:30, calling for a high of 64F today with periods of light rain then down to low 51F with more rain overnight.

Big dip in temps Saturday night going into Sunday, low temps back down in the 20's/30's with some snow for a day or so and then back up to 50's and 60's for highs.

Noticed the east peach tree appeared to be starting to bud on my way out the drive yesterday. Maples also starting to bud out as well. No signs on the redbuds yet.

Collected up the driveway markers on the north side on my way back in yesterday, along with the mail.

Got dining room table all cleaned off the other day and got a bunch paperwork moved out to there to be sorted out which The Woman worked on yesterday.

Probably going to spend today out in the garage working on wiring and getting things straightened up due to the warm temps.

Maybe work on finishing up the repair on the Keurig.

Hopper feeder probably due to be refilled.

Other than that see what comes up.

Hope everyone is having a great Friday ...

 

[sodamo]

Good Morning David,

All this tractor work has me wondering about your SCAG ! Any new news ?

No news, repair guy ordered set of gaskets etc. I’m sure they haven’t arrived. One of the challenges of living in paradise, shipping delays.

Amazon has gotten ridiculous. Seems many things just sit waiting to be shipped longer than it takes to get here. Rare are the days of receiving something same week as ordered.

 

[m7040]

Yup.

I saw the shop owner's call (as the final authority) to pull engine more as an effort to make sure it was done right than anything else.



Reminds me of the tales of having to do similar on 429 CJ to get at one of the sparkplugs to change it out.



Several of the glow plugs on the van are kaput. Makes getting it started in cold weather a real bear. Have to double-cycle the GP's when it's really cold (<30F's) just to have a shot.

Meant to get to that last summer when the weather was nice ... but the GP's are only required for starting ...

I replaced the glow plug controller once. Mercedes screwed up on the design of that part initially - was fused (non-replacable) and the fuses would blow if the plug shorted to ground (one of two failure modes)

They eventually updated the part - supposedly after input from Andy Bittenbinder - with resettable circuit breakers. Unclear if my replacement part was that newer version.

Guess I will find out when I replace the bad glow plugs.



Yup ... not all that much in the big scheme of things. Can't really blame them.

I do hold Cub Cadet responsible though for the poor design on that aspect.

Would have been so easy to handle at the design stage ...



Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it.

Andy was very active on the T1N vans. Last I heard he had moved to Florida
The NCV3 glow plugs are easy to break when trying to remove. I use the dealer with the expensive repair tools just in case.

 

[daugen]

had a nice day with my friends here in Lancaster, bought lots of good stuff at central market, including some of the most beautiful radishes I've ever seen. I grow radishes and they sure don't look like these. Not just large but beautifully colored.
they even had a watermelon radish which I had never seen before.

bought some cranberry, apricot and something bread,
that half goes to brother, a half loaf of some wonderful smelling cinnamon bread goes to a neighbor, and some home made sausage. Which unfortunately I left in friend's car, and that stayed at their house by mistake. darn. Lastly, a fruit scone for tomorrow's coffee. A good haul.

we drove all through town, this is a larger city than I thought and very nice and clean. Unfortunately the Rough & Tumble place was not yet open, only for special events so we could not go there. Fine with me, I'm tuckered out and ready for a nap. Had such a big burger for lunch no desire for dinner

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Good Morning!!!! 62F @ 10:30AM. Plentiful sunshine. High 68F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph.
Still no rain in the 10-day here, but it's wet up north for the weekend and into the middle of next week. So I'll stay planted here until it clears up there.

On those valve cover bolts, RS, if you can get them out, you might make it easier next time if you trade them out for hex heads or external Torx. I've done that, and gone the other way, too, where access is limited and one tool would fit better than another.

Sheesh, as I was writing this earlier, the Xfinity home internet connection failed. Switched the iPhone to cellular and used the Xfinity app to confirm. ET for repair was 1:40, but it came back on around noon. Would have been nice to get an email or txt from them to let me know the service was out., but they did send a txt when it came back up.

Yesterday I finished unpacking and putting away this trip's load, and got the lathe moved close to its final resting place. Not real happy with it, as one of the entrance doors to the garage is not that accessible. Not a lot of choices: Smaller garage, and the lathe is on the large side. Did some more tidying this morning and I'm ready for the next load. Think it'll be the work bench and roll away tool boxes, and maybe some more power tools if there's room in the trailer.

Mail delivery here has been especially sporadic this trip, and day before yesterday I caught the post person at the box to ask why. Turns out she never got the hold mail cancellation I filed on the website on the 25th of last month. So yesterday she delivered several packages and a few inches of accumulated mail. She said she'd let her supervisor know, as he's the one that's supposed to keep up on the mail holds and pass them along to the carriers.

Today I'll get a start on repainting the guest bath here. The POs had little boys, and they painted dinosaurs on the walls with black paint. They also painted the wainscotting an ugly shade of dark green that makes the whole bathroom feel small and closed in. Might take a few coats to turn it all eggshell white.

Still no symptoms of alligatoritus, and my buddy's daughter (my virus vector) is feeling better. She's still testing positive, though, so I'm not goin' over there anytime soon.

Got an email from the alternator's importer yesterday with a long and detailed trouble shooting article attached. I don't have the tools here to get very far with it, but I should once I bring them down next trip.

TGIF gang!

 

[two_bit_score]

You don't have to worry about driving,

Where did you depart from? There is a lot of good things about cruise line vacations. Obviously, a lot of people love them. Just have never been my thing, yet anyway.

 

[daugen]

Where did you depart from? There is a lot of good things about cruise line vacations. Obviously, a lot of people love them. Just have never been my thing, yet anyway.

It's a two hour drive for me to Port Jersey across from NYC, and three hours to Baltimore. Since I'm usually headed South, Baltimore is my first choice. I've been a water person all my life and this is just one more way to be out on the water.

My wife and I were pretty quiet, we always had a private table for dinner. I've done the earlier cruises getting stuck at a big table with 4 guys and their wives and they all wore denim overalls. Right off the farm and just so tickled pink to see us.
I think it was some ag group that sponsored them, it was the first cruise for all of them. My wife got her ear bent one night and said never again, we learned to ask for a private table. We usually had some kind of suite which apparently entitled us to that.

I've never had a bad cruise. Important to go with right cruise line. No Disney or Carnival for me. Enjoyed every one and have taken several bridge tours, so I could check out the electronics and compare them to my boat. Everyone wants to see what the steering wheel is and sometimes it's a joystick.
Everything fairly industrial looking. I was more interested in the nav screens.

had a nice nap. I expect to have a very quiet evening and will head out 8'ish tomorrow for home. Trying to beat the rain coming at home.

twobit, I think a cruise to Alaska would be memorable for anyone. that's one I haven't done and likely won't.
TxDon's vegan cruises are great ideas. Not many of those out there.

 

[two_bit_score]

Bright, beautiful day 81f and calm winds. The bluebonnets are starting to bloom, the Mountain Laurels have been blooming for a week or so, getting bigger. It's Stihl Days so I may go take a look. I did go ahead and order that Milwaukee battery top handle saw from Northern Tool for $309 and they threw in a case. The Stihl gas top handles are nice but almost double the price and it's not that much a need, just a want.

Low 50s this morning high in upper 60s .34 in of rain in bucket. Still dealing with pain behind head and ears

Prayers for all our Country

Continued prayers Buppies!

Wife on antibiotics as she had not fully recovered from last virus and may have a sinus infection.

Sorry to hear hope she gets well soon!

Also I had mentioned to her that she should stop and get new plates previously and that was to much trouble for her to do. Of course after she got the ticket we went and got her new plates that same day and now we get to waste a half hour driving each way and sit in Town Court for who knows how long. Going to be a fun afternoon.

That officer is what we call "feather legged" in Texas. Should have been a warning. I hope you got the new plates befor going to court to show the judge and maybe he would dismiss it.

Good Morning!!!! 50F @ 8:15AM. Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy this afternoon. High 57F. Winds NW at 15 to 25 mph.
Picked up almost an inch of rain here yesterday, but it looks like the rest of the 10-day is clear to partly cloudy.

Got the zebra bike running with just a battery swap and some gas, but the alternator wasn't charging reliably. This from one that was replaced only a few thousand miles ago for the same issue, so now I'm wondering if there's a production problem over in Taiwan. I have other bikes I could cannibalize an alternator from, but between this and the alligator exposure, it's enough reason to cancel the campout this weekend for me. Maybe next year. Today I'll put all the parts in the saddle bags and switch back to hanging cabinets and unpacking boxes. Headed north again next week.

Hang in there, gang, Friday's comin'!

Sounds like no fun.

Got back from the Vet, with only his leash and collar. He was my my fourth dog and the third I had to put down. Sure will be quiet around here...

Very sorry for your loss.

we are going to go out driving tomorrow and I'd like to find a scenic overlook or some place interesting to send the drone up 400 feet and take some pics.

Good luck for clear skies and good pictures!

We might make a Costco run, maybe go out to lunch, it’s her birthday, and I remembered it, which is a good thing. It didn’t go well when I forgot.

Happy Birthday to Mrs. Popgadget!

Everyone have a good afternoon and evening, stay well or get well, eat some good food and have fun!