Flyinfool

I sent the garden hose down there with an old fashion brass nozzle. At about the 8' mark it was making a sound like tapping on something hard that I can not get it past, that and the fact that there is still water leaking into the ground tells me that there is another cave in at that point. All I can do is to repair them one at a time as I find them. Water is able to get past that point, but nothing I push down there will get past that point. That point is 1 to 2 feet upstream of where I think the laundry is connected. I will not know for sure until I break some more floor. I hope to be able to rent a drain camera to send on down there to see if there are more problem areas.

The ground in the hole is getting wetter instead of dryer. This means that there is another leak farther down stream. The ground that is getting wetter is right where I stopped digging. This means that I am going back in again and breaking more floor. While cleaning it out last time I could feel something hard about 8 feet down the pipe, that is right where the laundry is connected. There is no sign of slow flowing from the laundry connection so I am hoping that all is good after that point I was hoping that it was just a poor connection where they may have drilled a hole and shoved in a pipe and sealed around it. That laundry connection is already PVC going into the floor so it was done at a much later time than the rest of the plumbing. All of the other plumbing in the house was all poorly done so I have no reason to expect this to be done right either. This will get me almost to the 90° elbow that is under the floor. If I get to that elbow then it will be appropriate to look at getting the whole thing done all the way to the street. I am running out of clothes pins for my nose................

Most (but not all) grades of PVC have a max working temp of 140°F. CPVC is good for 200°F, still a bit short for part of the cooling system.

I'm not sure what kind of plastic it is, I tried ABS cement and it did not stick, I then bought a new one. I also ground off the corner of the engine guard so that it would not happen again.

A water noodle big enough to support me would look like the Queen Mary..............

I would but your 83 and my 88 are not plug and play compatible.

I am in a similar dilemma but for different reasons. I may be getting older but I refuse to grow up. After destroying my Achilles tendon getting my Venture out of its parking place last fall, I am looking for a lighter weight touring bike. I think I have settled on the Yamaha FJR1300, Same size engine with nearly double the HP and it is about 250 lbs lighter, but it is still a touring bike. I have not had a chance to test ride one yet so I do not know if they still feel top heavy. The luggage is a bit smaller, but then if I am on a trip I will be pulling the trailer so the smaller storage should not be an issue. I will be looking for one in the 2007 to 2010ish range.

The clutch is not difficult to do, even if you have to replace the entire clutch just adds 10 minutes to the job. Do you have a micrometer to measure the plates? You will need one or at least a good calipers. The friction discs are 3mm (0.1181 inch) thick when new, The wear limit is 2.8mm (0.1102 inch) thick. This measurement will tell you if you need to replace the clutch or not. Since you have been slipping for a long time, it is possible that you also have a worn out clutch. This is not a difficult job, with you having never done it before it should take around an hour, The next time you do one it should take 30 - 40 minuts, and if you have experienced help available, plan on at least 3 hours due to the gas bagging that will surely happen........ As far as replacing the half disc with a full disc, some people like it and some do not. With the full disc your friction zone gets very narrow, this makes slow speed even more difficult, with the half disc it is much wider. I put in the full disc and will be switching back to the half disc as soon as I find the parts.

There are 2 pickup coils, one coil is for cyl 1 and 3 the other is for cyl 2 and 4. All of the pick up coil wires come to the smaller 6 pin connector at the TCI. You can check for resistance at the now easily accessible connector. With the connector unplugged from the TCI connect an ohm meter lead to the black wire, Check the resistance from the black to each of the other 4 wires in that connector. They all should be similar and in a range of 93.5 to 126.5 ohms Because you are also checking the wire harness at the same time you might be a couple of ohms higher do to the resistance of all the wires and connectors, but not by much. By checking at the TCI you are also checking all of the wires and connectors in the system. At least this is an easy place to start looking for your gremlin. Another popular test is to borrow a known good TCI from someone just to see if that fixes the problem.

I tried it but did not like it. It is one of those apps that thinks it is the only thing you have on your phone and wants to take over the world.

There is still a significant "aroma" in the basement that I expect to last quite a while till the ground dries up. I'm just a bit in front of you there Puckster, Erika has now at least heard of an FJR1300. I have been thinking of trading the Venture and a wad of cash for a FJR. Or maybe even some new bling and/or performance options for the WWW

Most of the extended warranties for vehicles are a total ripoff. The only warranty I would consider is one from the manufacturer, in this case Ford. Not just a warranty from the ford dealer. Many of these require you to go to a specific shop for coverage. pays nothing if you are away from home and have a problem. Read all of the fine print very close, and believe absolutely NOTHING the salesman tells you. These warranties are the highest profit item that they sell. The push them very hard because of this. The other side of the coin, that warranty is close to the cost of an engine or trans (most warranties only cover a bone yard replacement, not new or even rebuilt). You would be better off to go to the bank and buy a CD with that 2400, and then if you do not break your car you are $2400 ahead of the game. You are betting that you will have multiple major breakdowns if you buy the car, is it really that unreliable? If you are handy enough to the the work a new engine or trans will cost less than $2400. Hows that for my ?

As far as temperature, It depends on what you are cleaning. Never go higher that the lowest temp component that you are putting in. Then it also depends on what solution you are using, Stay well below the flash point and be conscious that some solvents evaporate very fast when warmed. Now with all of that to consider, I usually go as hot as I can based on what I am cleaning and what I am cleaning it with.

Well I have it all connected, at least for now. I have used a combination of many ideas that you all have given me. Thanks a bunch.This will need more work down the line but at least it is usable for now. Where that 4" PVC enters the clay it is pushed all the way down to the first other connection so that when I dig that one up the 4 inch PVC will be there. I have to get all of the other connections done because after these connections the main line makes a 90° bend still under the basement floor. Even the places that do relining said they can not go around a corner and would have to break out floor and dig holes at each drain connection and at that 90°bend. But I am hoping that I can at least tackle the rest of this on my terms and when I have time and funds planned for it. Here is an idea of just how thin the concrete is over the pipe and this is after 10' of drop. At least the 4" pvc will allow an additional 1.5" of concrete floor. Here is what it looks like now I have added some supports under the pipe that are not in this pic. I will leave the hole open for a while to let the dirt dry out before I add the gravel and cement over it. BUTT Yippie, we can use the toilets again and after 2 days in that stinky hole it really felt good to take a shower.

Do you need for me to bring up a few Carolina Reapers? I just told Erika the menu and she is quite interested. Now IF I can just get the house put back together by then.

That is an interesting idea there @cowpuc. I did some looking and decided that it is not a practical solution in my case. In order to keep a proper slope all the way across the basement, that last vertical would start just under 5 feet off the floor. To keep from having to duck under it, I would have to follow the wall all the way around the basement. But then I am not sure how to connect the 4 other drains that join in farther downstream. I guess I have to keep it under the floor. I will not cement over this new stuff until summer. Just to be able to keep an eye on ole Murph. I just need to get another 20-30 years out of this, by then I will be to old to still live here.

I was concerned about the size change. The vertical pipe in the house is already a 4". It is the clay line under the floor that is 6 inch. I am adding about 10 feet to the existing 4" line to reach the end of the existing 6" line. So I am not reducing size anywhere, the flow will be from the 4" into the 6 inch, just like it has been for the last 100 years. (House was built in 1800s) The only difference is that the transition from 4 to 6 will now be in a horizontal run instead of at the inlet of the elbow that made the transition from vertical to horizontal. I am not putting in a repair section that will be a 6" to 4" back to 6" section. Think it will still be an issue? I can still do 6 inch for all underground and make the transition just above the floor like it was before, just a lot more work. Most houses have 4" all the way to the street. 4" will have a higher velocity to help keep it clean and move stuff along. I called a couple of local relining companies and they were all well over $10K closer to $20K. That just aint in the budget. I have managed to get a clean cut of the end of the 6" clay (only took 3 tries) and the 4" cast iron (got it on the first try), I was worried about that part.

I found the hole in the pipe. Now the problem is that some of the chunks of broken pipe got washed down stream. Don't know how to get out other than to break more floor. I have tried to hook it, to get it on the end of the shop vac hose and everything else I can think of. I do still have to break out everything to the left of the pic which is where the vertical 4" pipe comes into the floor, that elbow has a 3 inch hole in the middle of the corner. The other issue is that the pipe is only 1 to 2 inches below the floor surface, the concrete was poured right onto the pipe. This is making it VERY hard to break the concrete and not the clay pipe. I am using a light hammer (28oz) and a hand held chisel to nibble away. Anything heavy will destroy the pipe. Fortunately, so far the concrete is not sticking to the pipe, so breaking away the edges lets me pick up the piece over the pipe intact. It is a good thing that my saw cuts were only 1 inch deep, I was within 1/2 inch of cutting the pipe.

The cheapest hammer from HF is $269 and to rent the hammer is $10 per hour, 4 hour min. I have had some luck in the past with my air chisel to break concrete, not fast but doable. Now that is an interesting thought IF I have to get that far into it. There is a 90° bend in the sewer line between where the problem is and the beginning of the straight run to the street. I will consider this IF I end up digging as far as that last elbow. It sure would prevent future issues. Just for fun I just called a place that does trenchless repair and he said a minimum of $10k to reline the full pipe. Back to the digging plan........

Ummmmm.......... I have bushes in the back yard..........

Hold your breath I'm going in..... I mean that both figuratively and literally. Tonight I start breaking the concrete floor in the basement to track down and hopefully be able to repair a sewer pipe break. Somehow I just know this is going to turn into a really crappy job. I think I know where the pipe is broken based on how far I could get a snake to go before it ran into impenetrable dirt, clay, and stones. A drain camera was no help either. I have already used a concrete saw to cut about half way thru the concrete and am hoping that the sledge will leave me a fairly clean edge. The basement ceiling is not high enough to get in a full swing so if I can not get enough to break it then I will have to go rent a demolition hammer. Once I get thru the floor then I get to dig down thru what will most likely be some nasty mud till I find the pipes. Then I get to try to cut 100 year old clay AND cast iron pipes without shattering them so I can splice in new PVC. Then I have to find a place to dispose of the dirt and broken cement and pipes. I will use gravel around the new pips like there is supposed to be. The current sewer pipe is 6 inch clay, there is 4 inch cast iron feeding into that below the floor. My plan is to do all replacements with 4 inch PVC and just join that to the 6" clay with one of those rubber boots. Is there a reason that I might want/need to keep the under floor part 6" and then transition to the 4" as soon as it goes above grade like it is now. Most houses have 4" sewer all the way to the street. I could only push the power snake about 5 feet into the clean out, so the break starts within 3 feet of the 90° elbow that goes from the vertical to the horizontal. I called a couple of plumbers and got estimates of $3,000-8,000, I am looking at $400-500 in parts to do it myself. Me being both cheap and poor and still able bodied, means that I have to at least try this on my own. I may very well get in there and find it is way above my pay grade and have to still call someone in. At least I will have saved some of there precious time buy already having a hole in the floor and most of the dirt gone. Doing it myself I do not have to pour the new cement right away, I can wait till spring or summer to get to that part. A pro will want to do it right away. My biggest fear is that once I get in there I will find that there is a lot more pipe in pretty bad shape beyond the cave in that I know of. I could end up trenching across 50 feet of basement floor and then having someone come in and dig a trench to the middle of the road in front of the house, in whic case this job will end up well into the 5 figure price range by the time I also pay for road repairs, sidewalk repair and yard repair. I have never done anything like this before, any tips would be helpful, if not wish me luck. This will be a scary weekend. It has to be working by Monday night when Erika starts her colonoscopy prep......

I am both cheap and stubborn. Some times it is just the principal of the challenge at hand, sometimes it is worth it to spend more on the tools to fix it that what it would take to just buy a new one. If the vice grips and PB Blaster do not work and you manage to break off the stud that is still showing, you can drill out a cobalt drill bit and the screw. To do so you will need preferably a milling machine but a drill press could work, forget trying to do it by hand held hole shooter. You will need to use a 3 flute solid carbide drill bit or center cutting end mill and lots of cutting oil. Do not break off the carbide in the hole. The only thing that can cut carbide is diamond. Or find someone that has access to an EDM machine which will cut/burn thru any metal that conducts electricity. You can try heat on the master but take all of the rubber and plastic parts off first or they will melt. You have to completely disassemble it. And when you are done having fun with new toys, then get a hold of @cowpuc and Tweeks.

When I have no power somewhere the fuse is always the first place I look.

Welcome to VR. Always love pics of a nekid blond. (The bike, I'm talking about the bike........) Couple of things. 1. As Freebird mentioned, make sure that you battery tender is working correctly. 2. Check for a parasitic draw. Battery tenders put out such low power that it is possible to have a draw that is more than the tender output that will still kill the battery even while on the tender. 3. Take the battery someplace else to have it checked, maybe the dealers checker is bad. Make sure the battery is fully charged using a battery charger, not a tender, when you take it in for test. Many auto parts stores will check a battery for free. To get 3 bad batteries in a row is not likely.

Dang that is tempting. Maybe if I can finish the kitchen and get the basement put back together by then......... We can play spin the white washer and see who gets hit...................