My stupid trick for today

[rbodell]

Got up this morning to finish moving the fuel tank into the shed I built for Dilbert.

Got everything hooked up and bled the fuel lines and cranked him up.

Ran like crap. Had to hold the governor wide open just to keep him running.

Forgot to turn on the fuel.

[listerdiesel]

Goes to show you're human like the rest of us! 

I've done that, plus  few more 'sillies' that I'd be ashamed to admit....

One I can admit to because it worked out OK:

I used to work on Scania trucks for a distributor in the UK, we covered the south of England, Kent across to Sussex and south London, quite a big area. I was on call-out for breakdowns most of the time.

Got a call one evening to go to a Scania broken down on a B-road (Balcombe Road B2036) parallel to the main London-Brighton A23, with a huge tank on the trailer, Police escort etc etc. The driver had missed a downchange going up a hill, snatched at it and broke the halfshaft inside the diff. They had come this route to miss something low on the A23.

Took a new shaft out, but had to ask for the other call-out guy to come and assist, as we had to take the diff unit out to retrieve the broken end. It wasn't raining and we finished about midnight. Driver pulled away, sighs of relief as he cleared the hill and we all went home.

Woke up about 3am, "who tightened the drain plug up on the diff !!!  I couldn't remember doing it...

Called the Police, they tracked the truck down to Sheffield and running OK. Neither of us could remember tightening the plug up, but it was tight and no problems.

Had me sweating for a few hours!

Peter

[mobile_bob]

drain plugs,, i can certainly relate to that

its a real pain at 3 am to wake up and have that nagging thought, only to get out of bed, get dressed and drive back out to recheck a drain plug!
and of course it is tight

now the last tool to go back into the service truck is the one used to tighten the plug.
and yes i force myself to crawl under one last time to recheck

at least that way if i wake up at 3 am, it is to go take a leak

a loose drain plug can sure ruin ones day.

many years ago, as a young buck just starting out, i happen to witness another guy
putting in a drain plug and leaving it hand tight on an oil pan for an engine getting an out of frame overhaul.
the boss also saw him walk away and not tighten it.

he asked him to remove it and hand it to him, which he did.
the boss then took all us young guys out the back door
and took the drain plug and threw it a good 150ft out into a wheat field
that had a stand of wheat about a foot tall.

he then told the guy to go find it!
he told all of us to learn this lesson, if you put a drain plug in "tighten it"
if you aren't going to tighten it, "throw it away"

it took the kid about 3 hours to find that plug, but i bet to this day he has never left one loose again.

bob g

bob g

[Doug]

I had a large electro magnet on my beat that no one could remember the last time the oil level had been checked.

It would apear after years of trouble free service no one had ever put oil in it.....

"Red Flags"

The only hole was a 3/8 plug on top
No expansion tank for oil
No drain.....

I spent 7 hours pumping 300 gallons of Volt Esso 35 into that tiny hole to find it leaked ( after much protest this was a bad idea ).
The welders patched the tank.
Two months later the magnet is bulging, bloated up and burned out.

Sometimes you just have to stop and say HEY WAIT lets talk this threw and make a plan.
All that cause and effect stuff you know?

[oliver90owner]

Our factory burned down.  Not a small fire, you understand.  Visible from miles around, hundreds of tonnes of oil (expensive aromatic/aromatherapy oils). 

I could not remember putting the lid on our lab waste bin.  I knew the fire was not initiated from my part of the factory but just could not remember actually doing it before I left that evening.  Bugged me for weeks until I could recall my actual thoughts at the end of that day.  Yes, I had lidded that bin.  I could eventually remember being very careful about it because only that morning someone had retrieved a smouldering waste bin from the factory (some oils spontaneously combust as they dry on rags, tissues etc).  I had even checked inside that bin before leaving, but could I remember until several weeks later? No.  It just bugged me!

Didn't really matter, I suppose.  I left soon after the first fire.  I always said that place was an accident waiting to happen. 

The new building used, an old cement asbestos corrugated roofed one, was only in use for about 18 months before there was another devastating fire.  I could see it coming before I left, 200 litre drums of oil stacked close under that roof in the heat of summer, an unsealed concrete floor soaking up spilt oil and drips from the drums.  Insurance did not pay up that second time (were unwilling for the first fire as well).  At least I had a clear conscience - after I could remember for sure....

RAB

[Stan]

Bob, What, you only do 1 stupid thing per day, think you're pretty good don't ya?   
Stan

[rbodell]

Bob, What, you only do 1 stupid thing per day, think you're pretty good don't ya?   
Stan

That was at 6 AM. Nothing like an early start I always say.

That was engine 101, Turn on the fuel. My school shop teacher would have had a heart attack over that one.

Well, maybe not I remember a question on one of his tests was to draw a diagram of a diesel engine and don't forget the spark plug. Sure enough, I put the spark plug in the diesel engine.

[draganof]

I was servicing a truck and pulled the driveshaft to replace a u-joint. Noticed the front joint was out of phase with the rear. When I replaced the joint, I clocked the slip yoke back into phase with the rear joint.

Took the truck out for the test drive and the thing liked to shake the crap out of me. After a couple of hours of scratching my head and a call to the driver who said it hadn't shook before....I pulled the driveshaft back out, put it back out of phase and you guessed it. No more shake.

Jeff

I may have sold a vehicle years ago because I couldn't get it to stop vibrating after I changed the u joints!


John

[Stan]

I had a 74 Dodge crew cab 350 standard which I put my souped up 440 with auto tranny into.  Had to shorten the front drive shaft.  It took 3 trips to Calgary (5 hrs each way) to get it right.  Shook and shuddered all over the road.
Stan

[swedgemon]

Stan & Dragonof,

Sounds like both of you put the Cardin shaft(s) back together out-of-phase.  To be "in-phase", the yokes at each end of the intermediate shaft must be in the same plane...if out-of-phase, even one spline tooth on the slip joint, the shaft will run rough, tearing up the U-joint needle bearings, the transmission, differential, pinion bearings, etc. 

Swedgemon
GM 90 6/1
Somewhere in Kentucky

[Stan]

Yup...I can't remember how many times I took that %$#%^@%$#%#$&% thing apart and changed it by 1 spline. 
Stan

[dpollo]

The best lessons are learned in the school of hard knocks.  Today I was reassembling a Chrysler six after having the block rebored. It brought to mind a rebore job I did on my 37 Plymouth many years ago. I had just finished assembling the block with all six pistons in place, bearing clearances checked and everything torqued up. This engine had cotter pins in all the rod bolts and I had installed them.

 A friend stopped by and as we had a beer, I remarked that in the ring set, there was an extra steel rail for an oil ring.

He said, "You hope".
 
Three o'clock in the morning, I could stand it no longer. I tore that engine down again.  All the ring grooves had their full complement of rings. There was indeed an extra in the package.

 I guess I do my best thinking at three in the AM, but better safe than sorry.  That particular engine has run now for 30 years and three owners but it would not have run ten minutes with  half an oil ring missing.

[Stan]

I've seen slant 6's "rescued" from auto wreckers in Dawson Creek, put on old threshing machines and run all day long until their exhaust manifold is red hot, year after year after year.  One tough engine.
Stan

[lowspeedlife]

It seems the inline six is a wonder of modern engineering. my grandfather had a 67 chevy stepside pick up (ugly as hell but i loved that truck) that went over 300,000 miles with nothing more than oil & filter changes, oh and an occasional spark plug.

[dpollo]

my motto is " Six in a row, the way to go "   maybe 'cause I couldn't afford a V8. 

 Back on topic, my Lister is a twin.  It surely is a lot smoother than the Armstrong Siddley single I traded off for a Fargo pickup. I realize now, that Armstrong Siddley was a rare piece and I should have kept it, if only to use as a soil compactor. I have never seen another like it. Enclosed flywheel, electric starter, air cooled.  10 hp at 1200 rpm as I recall.