I though I kick a thread off for all those stories of cars and customers we pick up over the years, so pull up a toolbox and I'll tell you a story.
This one was handed down to me from my grandad. Just after WW1 my local city was starting to change over from electric trams to motor buses. So they ordered 14 buses, 2 each from 7 different manufacturers !. My grandad became one of the first two apprentice mechanics thery took on.
One of the types of buses was in modern terms a hybrid petrol-electric made by Tilling-Stevens.
Pre-electric starters the engines on these buses needed to be hand-cranked, not the easiest thing to do and also brings the risk of broken wrist if the ignition timing isn't fully retarded. So mostly the buses were tow or push started but because of the hybrid drive this wouldn't work on the Tilling-Stevens. It turned out my grandad was the only one in the garage who had the knack of flicking the Tilling-Stevens into life so on the times he was on vacation the two Tilling-Stevens had to be kept running 24/7 .
" We're trying to plug a hole in the universe, what are you doing ?. "
(Walter Bishop Fringe TV show)
I almost changed rear brake shoes on a 2000 Dodge RAM 1500 because it was low on engine oil today...
A relative of my wife's has been coming to me for car advice lately, and he's a cool guy, so I don't mind going over there and helping him out.
Last night, he calls me to ask if I would help him change the shoes on his truck. He wants to do the work, but would feel better if I was there for moral support.
I got there this morning, and he had the rear end up on jack stands with the wheels off. I was showing him how the brake adjuster works and he told me he's changing the shoes because when he stepped on the brakes, the "check brakes" light comes on. :blink:
He said he already did the front pads and the light still comes on.
I knocked the drum off and the shoes and hardware were all in really good shape! So I had to see this "check brakes" lamp for myself. We put the wheels back on and went for a ride. Right out of the driveway, the warning chime rang and the "check brakes" light actually said "check guages"!
The oil pressure was momentarily dropping off to 0!
We turned right around, and as it turns out, there wasn't a drop of oil on the stick!
Goes to show the importance of recreating the fault.
Similar story Ford Capri customer complains of a howling noise between 30 and 45 mph, one my guys looked at it a sugests the customer takes the roof rack off. Back the next day no improvement. I am called from the office to decide if it is the final drive or wheel bearing, so the owner takes me up the road and sure enough the noise sounds like the final drive but is only between 30 and 50 mph and have decided to say the customer either live it with or get a 2nd hand axle. At that point inspiration hits me the heater flap control is sitting halfway between two notches I move to properly to one of the notched settings and the noise goes away. :huh:
" We're trying to plug a hole in the universe, what are you doing ?. "
(Walter Bishop Fringe TV show)
Non car story.
I spent about 6 years of my life away from cars as a ships engineer, in 1976 just before the Iranian revolution I was a Junior Engineer on an almost brand new 300,000 ton BP supertanker. On large British merchant ships there is an unwritten rule that the Chief Engineer leaves the normal business of the engine room to his second engineer but the Chief looks after deck machinary to keep his hand in.
One Saturday morning we are loading crude in Kharg Island in the persian Gulf (which latter got heavily hit during the 1980 Iran - Iraq war) and the Chief and I are fixing a blown gasket on a steam pipe. On the jetty beside our ship is a smaller fairly old very rusty Italian Shell tanker, its' Captain and First Officer are out on deck doing Saturday morning inspection in full dress white uniform, of course being Italian the uniforms were perfectly cut and immaculate.
They go up to bow of the ship and start inspecting the anchor winch, they get the Bosun to release the winch brake just enough so they can check the winch is moving freely but the chain moves faster than expected and releases an enormous thick cloud of rust that rises about 30+feet into the air. When visibilty eventually returns they are still standing in the same spot, immaculately white uniforms now completely covered in a layer of brown dust.
" We're trying to plug a hole in the universe, what are you doing ?. "
(Walter Bishop Fringe TV show)
Love the stories boys.
The bus one is crazy Andy. I can't imagine how different from each other they would have been. Would have been difficult to become familiar with any of them.
matt.white wrote: Love the stories boys.
The bus one is crazy Andy. I can't imagine how different from each other they would have been. Would have been difficult to become familiar with any of them.
The saving grace was things were pretty simple in those days generally sidevalve either T or L head, magnetos were pretty much the same across the board, single jet carbs. Where they had electrical systems the dynamo field charging was controlled by a simple on off switch they called the "cut out".
Fuel was supplied either by pressurising the tank by hand pump or a device called an Autovac that used manifold vacuum to fill a header pot, and of some like the Model A simple gravity feed.
One of Jay Leno's you tube video give a pretty good idea of what mechanics were dealing with it is a Cadillac but the tech is pretty much as you would find in lower end cars and trucks of the era.
" We're trying to plug a hole in the universe, what are you doing ?. "
(Walter Bishop Fringe TV show)
I waited to get home to watch that video Andy. Ended up stuck in front of the tv for hours watching more of Jays garage. Some amazing vehicles.
I guess the buses were a lot more simple. Just seems daunting for me because either way it's so foreign to what I'm used to now. From the very little I've seen of 100 year old vehicles it seemed there were so many different ways of achieving a similar result. I guess you'd get used to it though.
It really just looks different because it is arranged differently or because it is just simpler.
Take the brakes often they would be rod or cable operated 2 wheel band brakes or a transmission band brake.
No hydraulics no servo (except on very expemspive cars like Dusenberg and Rolls-Royce) really simple, nothing you haven't seen before just arranged bit differently. A band brake is just a drum brake turned inside out, transmission brake is just a brake mounted on to the gearbox tailshaft. Willys Jeep used a transmission band brake as a parking brake for years after WW2, LandRover used a drum transmission brake.until very recently.
" We're trying to plug a hole in the universe, what are you doing ?. "
(Walter Bishop Fringe TV show)
Another of those wtf stories.
Not one of mine but one I can vouch for as I watched it unfold on a specialist LPG conversion forum over a couple of months.
A guy comes on the forum saying that he had had his VW camper converted to run on LPG/CNG but it is not running quite right and although he runs 95% of the time on LPG is using more gasoline than he expected.
This type of aftermarket conversion connected between the PCM and fuel injectors, when the engine is set to run on LPG the normal gasoline injector switch on signal is intercepted by the LPG system and modified and passed to the LPG vapour injection valve for that cylinder.
If the system is setup properly the engine PCM will not sense any real difference between running on gasoline or LPG the fuel trims should stay in the normal range and all will be well.
So the guy takes it to another LPG conversion specialist, at first the new specialist is puzzled everything looks puka but then the penny drops the engine is a V6 but the LPG conversion kit fitted was for a 4 cylinder, when the engine is switched to LPG it has 4 cylinders running on LPG and 2 on gasoline.
" We're trying to plug a hole in the universe, what are you doing ?. "
(Walter Bishop Fringe TV show)
So the guy takes it to another LPG conversion specialist, at first the new specialist is puzzled everything looks puka but then the penny drops the engine is a V6 but the LPG conversion kit fitted was for a 4 cylinder, when the engine is switched to LPG it has 4 cylinders running on LPG and 2 on gasoline.
:woohoo: That is crazy Andy. Never heard something like that before. So the LPG control module was for a 4 cilinder setup? I'd love to see the configuration on this engine. Cool :lol:
This type of system has one lpg injector valve per cylinder. Normally these come in blocks of 4 or 3 injector volves.. So 4 cylinder get one block of 4 LPG injector valves, a 6 cylnder gets two blocks of 3 injectors. The injector valve block is usually bolted on the firewall or manifold and small bore hose runs from each individual LPG injector valve to individual spigots fitted into inlet manifold in the manifold runner as close as possible to the gasoline injector. Essentially it is the same as any modern gasoline injection system. It is the car's own PCM that runs the show the LPG control computer diverts the switch on signal from the gasoline injector and sends it to the LPG injector. Because LPG injection valves are bigger and slower in operation than gasoline injectors the LPG control computer also modifies the the injector duration.
" We're trying to plug a hole in the universe, what are you doing ?. "
(Walter Bishop Fringe TV show)
I once stripped a Jaguar XK for a head gasket repair, I had major problem lifting the head off and ended up using the engine hoist. The cylinder head lifted clear and it became obvious what the problem was the block was split by frost from one end to the other all 6 cylinders right down the cylinder centre line .
" We're trying to plug a hole in the universe, what are you doing ?. "
(Walter Bishop Fringe TV show)
Topic Author
Back the next day no improvement. I am called from the office to decide if it is the final drive or wheel bearing, so the owner takes me up the road and sure enough the noise sounds like the final drive but is only between 30 and 50 mph and have decided to say the customer either live it with or get a 2nd hand axle. At that point inspiration hits me the heater flap control is sitting halfway between two notches I move to properly to one of the notched settings and the noise goes away. :huh: 
