"Talking to myself again...": Yea, blogging is light.

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Yea, blogging is light.

.
Started the new job full time on Monday, and my humungous OCD invested 'YOU WILL EXCEL!' monster kicked in at Monday plus .0001 seconds. Now I'm hard on the heels of 'Acclimated to the site managers job in the fewest days ever' record.

On the plus side, I have a pretty decent crew to work with, and they (most of them) are willing to get better. On the negative side, some asshole flipped the heat on by mistake.... and it's been pushing at, or over, 100 degrees in the shop each day. Today I took in two fans, a case of water, and all the cold Gatorade I could carry. Must look after my minions you know!

On the whole, I am okay with my progress, and well on track to meet my own self imposed timelines and goals. Go team me. The price? Home to collapse each afternoon so far, after long days working at fast pace in the heat.

An interesting problem this morning, on a company owned vehicle. The vehicle: 2005 Chevy Venture van. The symptoms:

AC inoperative almost constantly, but the compressor would kick on for a second every once in a while.
ABS system faulting
Fuel gauge inoperative after self test
Traction control intermittently engages, limiting vehicle to 5 mph top speed and all but losing brakes.
DTC's for Fuel tank pressure sensor, ABS fault, and..... 5v reference issues.

I fed all that into the superbraniacevacometronical device, along with some wiring diagrams. WHIIIIRRR brrriiinnggggg KLUGKLUGKLUGchucnkachunkachunka.... BING!

Moving under the vehicle, I examined an electrical bulkhead connector, and finding no outward flaws, unplugged it. Blue green obnoxious slimy crud ran down my hand, and the connector looked like this:

Verdict: Something, at some time, had been spilled inside this van over the well where this bulkhead connector passes through the body. This was the result.

Holy Hell Batman! Did THIS make some weird stuff happen. The fix? Make and solder in a new harness connection. Maybe an hours work..... if I ever get an hour in a row.

Ya'll play nice now....... Daddy's gonna go lay on the floor and pass out.

2 comments:

og said...: Have had two issues with the Exploder, both minor but extremely annoying. One, the compass/temp sensor stopped lighting- I disassembled it to find one of the surface mount resistors had gone; I found it rattling loose in the case and re-soldered it, and now it works fine. The other, the heater control valve failed (Damned plastic crap) and spewed coolant all over the blower fan wherupon the blower resistor corroded and lost all speeds but "Full bore" I took THAT apart and soldered a jumper wire around the bad trace, and now that's in fine fettle once more.

People who just pay others to fix crap have no idea what a sense of satisfaction it imparts, to troubleshoot, find, and fix things, especially electricals in vehicles, one of the most difficult diagnostic tasks.; June 22, 2012 at 5:48 AM
Peter said...: Looks like something out of one of those alien movies!; June 23, 2012 at 12:58 AM

Robert Heinlein

"Do not confuse "duty" with what other people expect of you; they are utterly different. Duty is a debt you owe to yourself to fulfill obligations you have assumed voluntarily. Paying that debt can entail anything from years of patient work to instant willingness to die. Difficult it may be, but the reward is self-respect.

But there is no reward at all for doing what other people expect of you, and to do so is not merely difficult, but impossible. It is easier to deal with a footpad than it is with the leech who wants "just a few minutes of your time, please — this won't take long." Time is your total capital, and the minutes of your life are painfully few. If you allow yourself to fall into the vice of agreeing to such requests, they quickly snowball to the point where these parasites will use up 100 percent of your time — and squawk for more!
So learn to say No — and to be rude about it when necessary.
Otherwise you will not have time to carry out your duty, or to do your own work, and certainly no time for love and happiness. The termites will nibble away your life and leave none of it for you.

(This rule does not mean that you must not do a favor for a friend, or even a stranger. But let the choice be yours. Don't do it because it is "expected" of you.)"

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.