DanD

My sister still uses her pocket fisherman, as her ice fishing rig and thinks its the cat's ass. When we tease her about it, she asks us to show her our 30+ old fishing pole. LOL Dan.

My 2 kids started working with me here at the garage, as soon as they were old enough to sweep the floor and clean the benches. No allowance or pay; they were working for the better of the family. When they wanted some money to buy something or go out with a friend; they came to us; if we thought it was reasonable they would get it. They did that until they left for university. When they were home for the summer, they'd get jobs doing whatever there was out there. We made sure that at least 3/4 of their pay went into the bank and towards their next year of school. My daughter is now a lawyer working at a well established firm here in town. My son is an automotive engineer, working for GM in the States; at there resource and development division. We are very proud of both of them; but I don't believe they would have turned out the way they did; if it wasn't for my wife's and my firm but fair hand. OK I'm done bragging; but what I think is wrong with a lot of young people; it's their parents not guiding them in the right direction. Dan.

No that is not an on demand pump; it would need to be manually turned on and off. Dan.

The high schools in this area seem too be getting back into promoting the trades. I have been approached by a couple different schools; that have ask, if I would be willing to bring coop students in. So far I have had maybe 10 or 12 kids through here; ages ranging from 15 -18 years old. It's a bit of a coin toss whether the kid is worth our time to train or if they're here for what they think will be an easy credit. It only takes a couple of days to find out who the deadwood's are. The older kids that have really put an effort into the coop; I've gone out of my way (Along with the school counselor) trying to get them into a shop and hopefully an apprenticeship. A couple of them I wish that I had room for them here; but the size of my shop and the 2 techs that I have working for me are good guys; that have been with me for years. (one approx 23 years and the other for at least 15 years). My point being is that there are still a lot of good young people out there; who are not afraid to work and make something out of themselves. There's a couple of the kids that still stop in from time to time; just too say hello and let me know how their apprenticeship is going. Those are the feel good times. Dan

If he kept the AZ up to date? Dan.

What you want is an on demand water pump. Its a pump that is switched through a pressure switch ; that when you turn the hose/tap on the low pressure is felt and that trips the switch, turning the pump on, RV's use them so that there is no pressure tank. You can get them in either 12VDC or 120VAC. I have an account with a wholesale RV parts supplier and can get a 12 volt dc for around $65. (List $117.) and a 120 volt ac for about $175. (List $316.) The 120 would pump 3 gmp @ 55psi. The 12 volt would pump 2 gpm @ 30 psi This is the 120 Volt pump; the 12 volt looks about the same. Dan.

X2 You'll be fine if the trailer has brakes. There are kits out there for around $500.00 that will give you everything you need to install hydraulic disk brakes. https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Brakes/Titan/T4843100.html The nice part about surge brakes is that the trailer contains all of the brake components; there is no in vehicle controller. Hook any vehicle to the trailer and you have your brakes. Plus disk brakes have better stopping power then drum and disk brakes don't care if they get wet; as long as you allow the rotors to cool. I really do not understand why it's not mandatory for all trailers rated 1000 lbs up to have some form of braking system. Dan.

I'm not proud of this; but I splashed a lady a couple weeks back. Didn't see the puddle (pond) on the road and hit it doing about 60Klm. Just like in the video there was a wall of water being dumped on her. The next mistake I made was to stop an apologize and offer a ride; oh man did she rip me a new one. Dan.

^^^^^

When you're pulling spoons (down rigging) on a dead quite day and there isn't a cloud in the shy; you'd wish you had something giving you some shade. On my buddies (RIP) 22 foot starcraft tin boat; I wired in a couple of removable fans. Fans like you'd see on the school buses. The combination of the bimini and the fans; we were good, not matter how hot it got out on Long Point Bay. Dan.

I was joking guys. LOL Dan.

That why we have insurance; plus the blast will hide any evidence. LOL

If you want to have some fun, all you'll need are a few things to collect. A trail cam, an electric fence charger, a few yards of electrical wire and about a two foot long steel rod. Stick the steel rod in the ground as far as you can. Connect the negative terminal of the charger to the rod with a length of wire. Strip about six inches of wire and run it up under the fuel tank door. Secure it so that it is almost a must to touch the bare wire to open the door. Connect the other end of this wire to the positive terminal of the charger. Plug in the charger; set up the camera and wait for the action to start. Get a cam that has audio it be great to hear the squealing as well as the dance they'll be doing. LOL Dan

Yes I agree, a not so bad a job, if you're mechanically inclined. Just be very careful removing the heater hoses from the heater core (hoses leading into the firewall). After the clamps are removed or slid back out of the way; I would suggest cutting the hoses off the two spigots; rather then twisting and wrenching them off. The heater core can become damaged very easily; which will cause it to leak coolant. Dan.

Here's what I found for pricing; Parts are a combination of AC Delco and Dayco. The labours quoted are from Mitchell Estimating guide. - Serpentine belt 37.14 - Heater to thermostat hose 47.85 - Reservoir to Pipe 1 hose 123.59 - Engine to heater hose 34.65 - Upper rad hose 30.83 - Lower rad hose 32.82 - Hose clamp 1.75 X12 - Dex cool Longlife anti freeze 6.50 X3 (mixed 50/50 with water to make the 6 liter required) - Labour (Belt 1.2hr) 108.00 (Labour based on $90.00 hr) - " (Heater hoses 1.1hr) 99.00 - " (Rad hoses 1.3hr) 117.00 - Reduced labour (.8hr) (72.00) (Reduced labour due to related work) ----------- - Total $599.38 (Plus Tax) It doesn't take long to add up the numbers and for example sake, I wrote this estimate as if I were a dealership; not the independent that I am. Dan.

I can't take credit for the Jeep's speedo; it was Wayne (irishfield) that had that fix for you. Dan.

If I tried pulling a 9 day wait on a customer's vehicle; it be the last I'd ever see of them as customers. I guess it's a different situation up there, when this might be the only shop for a few miles? You have way more patients then me, I'd be on the phone with them so much; that they'd fix the thing(s) just to get rid of me. LOL Dan.

Not crazy at all. I have had a couple customer's cars over the years; that were directly & indirectly hit. One was written off by the insurance and the other, we were allowed to repair. Didn't know what was going on with the one we repaired; it came in as a no crank & battery dead. After finding that the battery wouldn't take a charge and replaced; there were still no communications with any of the modules (computers). Then I noticed that the radio antenna was chard and twisted up like a pig's tail. Called the customer and asked if there was a storm in her area. She said yes, the pole light in front of her house was hit; which took out most of the electronics in her house. Ended up replacing 90% of the modules in the car, along with the starter and alternator. The funny thing was, the radio survived and that's where the lightening Via the antenna came in? Dan.

http://www.elklakewilderness.com/home/ This will be our 4th year going to this lodge in Elk Lake. Haven't found any reason not to go back. The owner's of the lodge have dogs and they (the dogs LOL) are always out running free, playing with the guest's dogs. Decent all-around place Dan.

If you wanted too go redneck, there is a way to provide fresh fuel under pressure to the fuel rail; with the use of a pump up weed sprayer. The ones that look like a scuba diver's tank. Like I said redneck and you'd need to make sure the hose from the sprayer to the fuel rail can handle the 45-60 psi needed. But here's how. Pull the fuel pump relay (In the under hood fuse/relay box) and make sure the pump does not run (listen at the tank) while trying to start the engine. Disconnect the in-coming fuel line at the fuel rail. Connect sprayer hose to fuel rail; securing with clamps Add a couple of liters of gas to the sprayer. Pump up the sprayer until it becomes quite hard to pump. Attempt starting. If it starts, allow the suspect fuel in the rail to be used up and fresh fuel from the sprayer is being fed to the injectors. If it begins to run "normally" you found the problem and you're now draining the fuel tank and lines. My first fuel system cleaning kit was just a glorified weed sprayer; but made from material that was not affected by gasoline. For a one time use, any sprayer would likely do? Dan.

The possibilities are all but infinite; but for 2 vehicles to have the same symptoms? I would begin looking at the common denominator; which is their fuel. Another would be what the weather could have done to them; where they both wet under the hood; due to wind blowing rain/snow in? If so borrow the wife's blow dryer and get things dried out the best you can; especially around ignition wires and coils. Dan.

If I have a customer's vehicle here and I suspect a fuel contamination issue; I supply an alternate fuel supply to the fuel rail. I understand that you wont have the equipment to do this; I just want you to know that there's an easy way for a shop to tell you whether it is or is not contaminated fuel. Here's what the fuel system cleaner tool looks like. Just a few simple steps for them and the fact that your vehicles (with help) still run, will make this test even easier. Disable the fuel pump, connect the hose from the injector cleaning tool to the fuel rails schrader test port Attach the arousal can of cleaner to the tool, Adjust the pressure reg to the required pressure for your fuel system and start the engine. Once the suspected bad fuel has been used up and the cleaner gets in there, the engine should begin to run normally; if it was contaminated fuel. Dan.

Oh Yea have the tires balanced. Bought a new Escort boat trailer; went through the trailer checking all bolts for torque, pulled the wheel bearings and repacked them; but never thought of wheel balance. From London to Elk Lake is approx a 7 hour drive; by the time we got there,one tire was so badly chopped that I had to put the spare on. Get back here to the shop and put the tire on the balancer and it was out by better then 4 ounces. That is more then enough to cause a tire to hop off the road at 100kph. Dan.

With all the thieving that's happening all over; it's nice to see and hear about the good deeds that some people still do! Dan.