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MiCarl

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Everything posted by MiCarl

  1. MiCarl
    LOL You left one off. My wife uses a red shampoo to make the hair coloring last longer. It's thick and splatters all over the walls. Looks like the shower scene from Psycho in there.
  2. MiCarl
    Both hardly broke in. If they've got the 8 though it's going to want 91 octane, which drives the fuel bill up.
  3. MiCarl
    The house I grew up in had 2 explosions. Turned out to be natural gas coming from the water well (which was in the basement). Don't need to pipe it in for an explosion.
  4. MiCarl
    Oh, one other thing: We buy used. Bought the 97 Mountaineer in '04 and drove until Dec. '10. Not a speck of rust. Bought the 04 Aviator in Dec. 10 with 145K on it, not a spec of rust (even underneath). Bought the 03 Explorer in July with 95K on it, no rust anywhere. Also never seen rust on anyone else's either. We keep vehicles a long time. Mechanical stuff can be repaired, but rust always wins. That's the main reason we keep going back to the "Explorer" platform.
  5. MiCarl
    What explorer? There have been at least 4 platforms. We had a 1997 4x4 Mercury Mountaineer (Mercury version of the Explorer). V6, Solid rear axle, almost indestructible. Almost because turning left into J.C. Penny in front of oncoming traffic will destroy it. Mileage so-so. Had about 180K on it when totaled. Decent performance, even towing a boat. Replaced it with a 2004 Lincoln Aviator AWD (Aviator is the Explorer with lots of bells and whistles). V8 engine, independent rear suspension, requires 91 octane fuel. Accelerates like a 1st Gen. Gets 17mpg on a good day. Love the vehicle (155K miles on it) but can't afford to drive it. Recently bought the daughter a 2003 Explorer 4X4. V6, independent rear suspension. Runs on regular gas, don't know mpg. Daughter loves it. Same vehicle as the Aviator except for all the bells and whistles. There is the new Explorer. It's a unibody vehicle. Sure it gets better fuel economy than the earlier models, but I want my trucks to have a full frame. I would not have the V8 in the platform again. Between the poor mileage and the requirement for premium fuel it's actually cheaper to drive my full size Yukon.
  6. MiCarl
    Not to start a fight, but an article on the opinion page of The Wall Street Journal today. Regular business writer byline. Claims that the real problems at Hostess are on the distribution side and the Teamster work rules. For instance: bread and cupcakes can't ride same truck, drivers don't help load or unload - second vehicle sent with person to do that, same for moving inventory from stock to shelves in the store. Writer says he can understand the bakers (who have taken several hits) don't want to subsidize the Teamsters any more, especially since the company would fail without those changes anyhow. Thinks it's quite reasonable for the bakers to conclude they might end up with better jobs in a viable company when the plants are under new ownership.
  7. MiCarl
    Looks like they didn't make a deal. Hostess gets OK to begin winding down business
  8. MiCarl
    Getting it on the center stand will be easier if you fully air up the shocks before you try. The problem you're going to have with the jack is the engine and pipes drop below the frame. You'll need to come up with some creative shims to lift it on up.
  9. MiCarl
    You've gone astray. Crankshaft turns counter clockwise when viewed from the left. TDC of each compression stroke is the angles I gave you and Dingy posted the chart of. What is it exactly you're trying to figure out? The only reason I see for knowing these angles is in checking the valve lash, and it doesn't seem that's what you're trying to do.
  10. MiCarl
    Been watching the in box for an invite from Yama Mama. So far, looks like Denny's again this year.
  11. MiCarl
    Here is your firing information (taken from MKII book, but should be the same for MKI. I believe you'll find it at about page 150 in the service manual). 1 - 0 deg. 3 - 180 deg. 2 - 430 deg. 4 - 610 deg. The whole reason to rotate the 2 & 4 cylinders away from the 1 & 3 cylinders is to get a narrower engine. I suspect 70 degrees is the minimum angle they could use and get the package they needed. In other words, it's a compromise between acceptable smoothness and the packaging requirements to get the engine in the motorcycle. The angles between the cylinders in each bank is 0. The angles you see in the pick up coils are to package the coils. You'll notice the inboard/outboard offset on the pick ups. There are two protrusions on the flywheel. One triggers the inboard pick ups and the other the outboard pick ups.
  12. MiCarl
    From your description I can't understand why the needle doesn't move. The cable comes in and drives a worm gear. The worm gear runs the odometers. Assuming the odometers are working then the worn gear is turning. On the end of the worm gear is a magnet. It rotates inside an aluminum cup causing an eddy current. The magnetic field from the eddy current tends to drag the cup along with the rotating magnet. There is a shaft on the cup with the pointer on the end and a spring that resists the rotating of the cup. As you speed up there is more torque supplied, the spring gives and the needle turns. One obvious reason for the needle not to move is the bearings on the shaft are dirty. From your description though it sounded like it would bounce back to 90 after you moved it by hand - doesn't sound like the bearings are stuck. Picture for your reference: http://media.web.britannica.com/eb-media/77/62777-004-3B9B55B0.gif On your speedometer the worm gear that drives the odometers is cut into the part labeled "shaft" in the drawing.
  13. MiCarl
    Wish I'd seen this before you put it back together. Speedometer pointer will tun on the shaft. It's possible it may just need to be rotated to the proper position. Determining the proper position is the tricky part.
  14. MiCarl
    Apparently because you haven't won the Delta airlines prize. I win that almost weekly.
  15. MiCarl
    I know of an 88 that is going up for sale in the Chelsea area. If you want to look into it send me a PM and I'll pass the info along to you.
  16. MiCarl
    Apparently scammers got hold of my business email. I get deluged with similar messages that superficially appear to be from Delta airlines. I also get frequent messages claiming to be UPS and that my package wasn't delivered - click to open the attached shipping label. I don't ship UPS:confused24:
  17. MiCarl
    I put one on for a customer this summer. As of then they were available, but no one was stocking them. Order early. Not sure where he ended up buying from.
  18. MiCarl

    .22 Hornet

    MiCarl replied to Black Owl's topic in Watering Hole

    That's not a great price if you can get 100 ready to fire from Bass Pro.
  19. MiCarl
    Nice looking bike, but then I've always been partial to blonds. Not sure there is much you can do about 2nd gear. It's either been repaired or likely to fail one day. Can baby 2nd I guess...... One maintenance item you should probably pay attention to is greasing of the drive line splines. There is one where the wheel engages the final drive, one from the drive shaft into the universal joint and the one that seems most prone to problems is the one where the drive shaft goes into the final drive. Consensus is that that Zerk fitting is useless. All three splines need to be well lubed with molybdenum disulphide grease. A small tube of Moly 60 will cost North of $10 at the Honda dealer, but is a lifetime supply for one bike.
  20. MiCarl
    Pretty common problem. A new o-ring did the trick on mine. Pretty simple and inexpensive fix.
  21. MiCarl
    I want to add that whenever your feet are on the ground you want to have as wide a stance as possible. When my Venture was new to me I was at an intersection as a thunderstorm was approaching. The down burst ahead of it nearly knocked me over. Ever since then I really spread them at all stops. My wife didn't start riding with me until after that. I'm sure the wide stance hasn't hurt us any on the mount/dismount.
  22. MiCarl
    My x-wife and I had a garage sale. First day nothing moved. At the end of the day she said the prices were too low, everyone thought she was selling junk. She jacked up the prices and stuff flew the next day. Apparently the only thing she was ever right about:confused24:. eBay will let you run what they call a local ad (automobile) for free. The ad is good for a week and they show it in a 200 mile radius. They don't handle the transaction, that must be done face to face. I found out about it trying to help my father-in-law unload an old mini van. Sold it in 2 days to a family in Kalamazoo. Way better action, and better prospects than I got through CraigsList. I just listed a motorcycle for a customer yesterday. If all else fails and you got to move it Rosenau is apparently aggressively buying used bikes right now. Doubt the price is great though.
  23. MiCarl
    Let your seafoam treatment sit for a few days. Unplug the fuel pump and run it until it quits. Reconnect the fuel pump and start it back up. You might get lucky and shake the stuck floats loose. If you've got everything else off you've already done the hard part of carburetor removal. The cables just need enough slack so they don't bind. It's not a super critical measurement. They are a bit tricky to get out and back in because there's not a lot of room to work.
  24. MiCarl
    I believe Kawasaki is a big maker of small and industrial engines. Yamaha is a big maker of musical instruments. What I want to know though is why the engine in my lawn tractor is made by the same folks that made my toilet (Kohler).
  25. MiCarl
    You cannot just "soak" the carburetors. They're full of rubber parts that will be ruined by any solvent that can remove the gunk. The constant velocity carbs on the venture are quite a bit different from the carburetors that were used on most (all?) American cars. By all means try new plugs first. Very unlikely to be all you need. Of course if you're flooding from stuck floats the best you can hope for is ruining the new plugs - worst case is you hydrolock it and bend/break a rod.
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