What are you working on today?

Had an interesting one today. 2017 ford explorer police interceptor came in for multiple warning lights on and a parasitic draw that would drain the battery completely over night. Checked for codes with IDS had multiple misfire codes for specific cylinders and random. Also had air bag light, but I could not communicate with it. After a little further investigation I could not talk to any modules on the HS1 can network. There were several of them.

Hooked my meter up to find a 6.53 AMP draw that wouldn’t let up. No wonder the battery was dead! Took a while to isolate it but narrowed it to cooling fan B+ from the battery junction box, and the problem was in that spot. Not outside of it. I removed the BJB to check the rats nest of wiring underneath it (this fuse box is integral to the body harness) and found the B+ fan wire melted with several other wires, including can bus wiring and relay grounds and other “switched hot” wires (this fan wire is hot at all times) which explained why I could energize and de-energize the PCM by removing the fan power fuse. I had to depin the fuse spade from the BJB (had to remove every relay and fuse within this fuse box to remove the locks for the terminals) and remove the terminal to repair the wire. I was able to save enough of the wire to reuse the spade, but the plastic lock was so brittle it broke when trying to release it. I had to epoxy the terminal in, which was a success (the other option is to replace the BJB and the body harness which was not happening).

After repairing all the wiring I ended up with 0.014 amps, or 14 milliamps. Very acceptable.

got my module communication back and had a 2 fold issue with the air bag. The clock spring failed (steering wheel buttons did not work) and the air bag failed (deployment loop resistance). Replaced both and that fixed those issues.

The misfires were repaired by a set of spark plugs. Nothing exciting there. There may be a small growing issue on cyl 1 with a little bit of a suspiciously clean plug, but no issues at this time. Will monitor.

Now waiting for a mid pipe for the exhaust and a RF wheel bearing for next week!

Not sure why it turned my photos…there correct before attaching them

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I've been using axle straps to hold the water tote on our little utility trailer but they walk along the rails, which annoys me. I added a pair of 1/2" D-rings
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Also I kinda wanted additional tie-down options on the front rail. I'm always hoarding old u-bolts for reasons like this and finally put a couple to use:
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Rattle canned black after photos.
 
Digging another huge carpet roll out from a fence line.

This is cosmic payback for digging the rock up! The property had some crapper house that the local county FD around 2012 used as a practice burn. But first took the carpet out. But to roll and bury it?? Nasty practice. Illegal and ugly.

This one is well embedded and huge and deep. Fack. Made a start. Now gonna shower and get out of here.

Then the Boss starts in about me being obsessed when I start a task. That carpet needs gone. It's nasty. I'm not obsessed. I will get that bugger out this week!
 
WHAT is happening with that headstock? I see a jagged reversing (?) switch and a clown nose? Where do you select your feeds and speeds?
To change the speeds, there's different gears that are changed out. I basically turn everything at one speed.:) It's a very small lathe, so 5" piece is about as large as it gets.:) I'm on the lookout for a real lathe in future, for the big pieces I use a friends real lathe to turn flywheels and such.:)
 
Busy weekend got alot done. Went down to the farm Friday night. Got the fresh water transferred to the RV and the tire back on the mower and fired up. Saturday morning started transferring water to the sprayer and got to spraying the fence rows. Bought the wrong stuff so probably have to do it again. The co-op stuff was for crops which kills grass better than weeds, Gordon's Brush killer is the best expensive but the best. After that the family came down and the oldest started mowing and the wife/youngest started picking up sticks. After 5 wagon fulls I started running the disc again. No idea how many wagon fulls and not even close to done. After they left fixed the push mower, didn't put the choke lever back right. Looked the rider and why it was running terrible, spring on the choke is broke. Got out the grease gun and greased the disc and tractor while I was at it. Started the tractor again and disc'ed the rest of the area, lots and lots more sticks. Back up to the city after.

Today got tired of setting around so started cleaning, the town place is starting to get neglected since I'm down at the farm every weekend. Worked on the bosses plants a bit, put 7 in pots and feed the rest. Cleaned the porched and put a few things into the truck to take down. Washed the uhh city Festiva including all the jambs etc. Sets under a tree which is kinda rough on it. Of course it started pouring rain which it wasn't LOL. Figured it would. Think I'll take a break next weekend!

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Not much since it's been raining all night and day. Took the Mach e to town for lunch and when we got home, I went to charge it. Well the charge door won't open. The stupid push latch wont release. It would periodically stick here and there but today was the day.

No way to bypass this latch. It looks like there are wires going to it but it's just not accessible from the inside. I lightly pryed the door a bit and shot in some silicone spray. Doubtful any made its way into the actual mechanism.

Well, I'll call the dealer tomorrow and they can fix it. I had to bend out the surrounding panel as I caught a bit of it giving the thing a love tap. That material they used is the only thing thinner than the paint on my 2017 Ram.

The car is a 2022 with 22,000km and only summer driven. Quality is job 1....

I love Ford. When they have a design problem, the engineers look at it like "we need to go from a to b. So let's design a multi step process, add European levels of complexity and then still not address it in a recall. I also think we should design seatbelts that catch in fire."
 
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Not much since it's been raining all night and day. Took the Mach e to town for lunch and when we got home, I went to charge it. Well the charge door won't open. The stupid push latch wont release. It would periodically stick here and there but today was the day.

No way to bypass this latch. It looks like there are wores going to it but it's just not accessible from the inside. I lightly pryed the door a bit and shot in some silicone spray. Doubtful any made its way into the actual mechanism.

Well, I'll call the dealer tomorrow and they can fix it. I had to bend out the surrounding panel as I caught a bit of it giving the thing a love tap. That material they used is the only thing thinner than rhe paint on my 2017 Ram.

This car is a 2022 with 22,000km and only summer driven. Quality is job 1....

I love Ford. When they have a design problem, the engineers look at it like "we need to go from a to b. So let's design a multi step process, add European levels of complexity and then still not address it in a recall. I also think we should design seatbelts that catch in fire."
They went from 2V spark plugs with ~2 threads that blew out and figured the other extreme would be great, so the first 3V plugs had so many threads they'd get deposits, seize up and NEVER come out. Go Team TFI!!
 
@D60 that's exactly right. I had a friend that lost some plugs in his 2V. He too spoke very highly of ford.

We have a 2v 5.4 in a 1999 F250 at my wife's work. It had some decent engineering that allowed things to be fixed easily. Too bad it doesn't have the power to go fast enough to break anything....
 
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@D60 that's exactly right. I had a friend that lost some plugs in his 2V. He too spoke very highly of ford.

We have a 2v 5.4 in a 1999 F250 at my wife's work. It had some decent engineering that allowed things to be fixed easily. Too bad it doesn't have the power to go fast enough to break anything....
I've got three Fords and Jeep JL but I never pass up an opportunity to bash either manufacturer when it's deserved!

Just today the wife and I ran errands in my '07 F150 with 2V 4.6 at 240k miles. It's slow but reliable!!
 
I actually enjoy cruising in my beater 2002 Sunfire, nothing fancy but it's nimble and I can reach the passenger window crank to really get that climate control going.

I think the homeless, weirdos, walkers, scrouts, shtties and rubbies feel sorry for me as I drive by.
 
Worked on finishing the lamp for my mom. I’ll post a pic of it soon.

Finally did the math on my yard size, and I’ve not been using nearly enough fertilizer or weed stuff. Also the pH is off, favoring more weeds and less grass. So I put down lime treatment and then nitrogen with the rest of my weed stuff, and may need to do once more this summer. It’s rained almost daily but I ran the ZTR without tearing up too much lawn. Only got stuck twice.

Threw 35 lbs on my back and hiked 2.5 miles since I missed the workout yesterday.

Not really the day of rest that id normally aim for, but these things seemed good.
 
Leaving the rink yesterday with my son, got this.

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Didn't see any bulbs out, when I turned on the flashers, headlights, and walked around. So we went into a strip mall, and backed up towards a store front. I saw 1/2 right brake lamps was out, fine.

I've had this car 18.5 years, and the only bulbs I've changed are the front DRLs, so was not familiar with the bulbs (2007--only the markers are LED). Opened up the trunk and exposed the tail lamp but not obvious what to do next.

This is funny--the most popular YouTube that came up, was a kid. He completely removed the lense from the car (like a body shop would to repair the rear quarter), and he showed the part he bought ($50). He said you could just change the bulb but this is easier. I was lost, do I have to spend $50 and wait for a part? Huh?

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At any rate, it took < 10 sec to open it. It's a 921LL bulb which I already had, so I installed it and no more error. The above is the right side, the amber is the turn signal which is in the lower right, for orientation's sake. Center is the reverse, and top 2 are the brakes.

I went on amazon and bought a 10-pack for $14.xx, way better than 2 for $6.50.

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Then I weeded and mowed the lawn (our house is tiny, 1/5 acre, but I still complain it's too humid lol)
 
Tried clear coat in a spray can for the 1st time on a car bumper. Touched up the paint with a brush tip applicator ( looks terrible ), Prepped the bumper with Prep Solv, then started sraying. Came out terrible too. I don't even care. It's a P.O.S. I'm giving to my daughter when she starts driving soon. I can just imagine what she's gonna do to the car. LOL :)..." Oh Daddy, I scraped a hydrant while trying to park my car, can you fix it ??? Sorry, can't help you out kid. Go on Scamazon , buy an " OUCH " sticker, and slap it over the dent/scrape..:)

My oldest of 3 daughters obliterated 4 maybe 5 aluminum rims on her '09 Civic EX before I bought some factory steelies, I stopped trying to keep a front facia on it real quick & screwed the license plate to the crash bar.

Wait 'til the "My boyfriend was driving" saga ;)
 
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