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The automatic transmission in the 2003 Jetta TDI in my sig line has finally gone to tranny heaven. I'm looking for a source for a (hopefully inexpensive) replacement transmission. Several VW mechanics have told me that it's possible to replace an automatic with a 5-speed manual in these cars, so...

I'm traveling to Melbourne (Werribee) on business next week, and may have a free day or two depending on how things go. Anyone have any recommendations on things to do or see, or things to avoid? Any restaurant recommendations? Any and all opinions/observations/recommendations for a first time...

Another good UOA on my 2004 F150. I use this truck in my daily commute of ~100 miles round trip, which is about 80% highway and 20% in town. The truck sees no short trips. Regarding Blackstone's comment on oil consumption in this interval - in my defense I changed the oil in the previous three...

Our trusty floor vacuum finally died and we're in the market for a new one. It will primarily be used for vacuuming carpet and bare tile floors in the house. Attachments for stairs, upholstery, etc., are a must. We have dogs and a cat, so this vac will be used on a daily basis. All our vacs so...

Latest UOA on my 2003 Jetta TDI, running Amsoil EFM Full-SAPS Euro 5w-40 over 10,827 miles and 4 months. Make up oil was actually a little less that the 1 quart listed. The filter was a Mahle OX143D cartridge. Hopefully I'm on a permanent downward trend for this lead spike. Blackstone...

Another great UOA on my 2004 F-150. The numbers speak for themselves. Mileage was about 80% highway, 20% in town with no short trips (we live in a rural area so even "city driving" requires a highway trip to get there). The filter used in this interval was a Wix 51516. For anyone interested...

Latest UOA on my daughter's 2002 Passat. Oil was M1 0w-40. About 1.5 quarts were added over this 5 month, 7700 mile interval due to a leaky rear main seal. A little fuel showed up in this sample, probably due to the fact this vehicle sees almost only short trips and never really gets up to...

This could have been much, much worse. Unarmed US Marines foil attack by Moroccan gunman with Kalashnikov and handgun on train. More from ABC From Daily Mail UK

The oil in this report is Amsoil EFM full-SAPS 5w-40. Filter was a Mahle OX143D cartridge. First thing that jumps out is the lead spike that I thought was resolved is back and bigger than ever. Other than that, wear metals, viscosity and TBN look OK. For reference, the oils in the earlier...

Our 20 year old 27-inch electric double wall oven fried its controller board, and it's old enough that replacement parts are not available. I'm a little disappointed that the manufacturer (a well known US brand) doesn't support parts for this model any longer. Anyway, now I'm in the market for a...

My home has a well with a submerged well pump and a 20 year old Amtrol Well-X-Trol WX-203 pressure tank. Lately the well pump has been short cycling when water is being used, so I inspected the tank today. Long story short, it looks like the pressure tank bladder is ruptured. This is going to...

Another nice report from my 2004 F-150. The truck has 192k miles on it. This report covers a 10 month, 10,440 mile interval. The first 8k of the interval was on a Fram Ultra XG3600 filter, and the final 2k on a Wix Pro Select. I installed the second filter because I had to remove and discard the...

From NBC News: Fort Meade Incident: 1 Dead as Men Disguised as Women Spark NSA Shooting

Latest UOA on my 2003 Jetta TDI, running Amsoil Series 3000 HDD 5w-30 over 14,182 miles and 4 months. Make up oil was ¾-quart, added approximately 9,000 miles into this interval. The filter was a Mahle OX143D cartridge, and it came out great as always. The lead spike I saw over the previous...

Another good UOA on my 2003 Jetta TDI and Rotella T6. I seem to be going through a lead spike, but the trend in this report appears to be going in the right direction. The filter used in this interval was a Mahle OX143D cartridge, and it looked great as always. When I run T6 this engine seems...

Something bad is going on here. This is my second UOA on my wife’s high mileage 2004 Ford Freestar, and Na, K, and wear metals have spiked. Oil used was M1 HM 5w-20, and the filter was a NAPA Platinum 41516. Our annual mileage on this vehicle has dropped roughly in half, from over 20k miles per...

Lockheed Martin disclosed today that they have developed a small fusion reactor, measuring roughly 7 x 10 feet, and capable of 100 MW output. They are looking for partners in government and industry to commercialize the technology within a decade. Link to Scientific American article here...

I have an older 32 bit Win XP Dell desktop my daughter uses for schoolwork and email. She uses Open Office for her schoolwork and runs Thunderbird and Firefox. I don't want her to continue to use XP, so I'm considering running Linux on it. I'm looking for recommendations from experienced Linux...

This is a sample from my first OCI on a recently acquired used 2002 Passat (150k miles) my daughter drives. The previous owner was pretty good about having the oil changed on schedule (VW specifies a 5,000 mile OCI), but he frequently used quickie lubes with whatever bulk dino oil was on hand...

Just saw this in Business Insider. According to the story, many of these towers appear to be near U. S. military installations. http://www.businessinsider.com/mysterious-fake-cellphone-towers-intercept-calls-2014-9 Another story on these towers from Popular Science...