A while ago, i saw a video of a stunt plane that lost a wing mid flight. the Youtube showed the plane more-or-less landing safely, but the video had some mysterious “Vaseline on the lens” look about it. Today i saw this, and it has me thinking, maybe, if the plane has enough horsepower, it could work. This is just a model plane, but the concept, and the amazement, are still the same.
Work is slow again, so my mind is observing its tendency to go for long walks down short thoughts.
Here are a few things I have pondered as of late.
An accident between an Isuzu Ascender and a Chevy Avalanche.
A designer for Ford on the Snap-on tool truck measuring extensions and screwdriver handles in an effort to make sure none of them fit in locations where they would otherwise be useful.
Fiat is buying Chrysler. The new European company could be called Fiat Chrysler United Kingdom… FCUK.
Over the police scanner we heard a call about a man sitting in a lounge chair in his front yard cussing at no one. Sounds like my retirement plan.
In an attempt to attach a plastic molding to a car door, I pulled out a special adhesive for bonding plastic to metal. I couldn’t get the cap off. The glue was in a metal tube with a plastic cap.
Our friend Eddie Newton, who some readers know, will be on TBN television tonite for a short interview. keep a lookout for it. His website is eddyunmasked.org
If my sceptulation is correct, a problem with one sensor was showing on both of them, explaining why I had codes for both at the same time. Not enough of a problem to actually effect anything the sensor was putting out, but just enough for the computer to gripe like an old lady and throw it in limp mode.
I limped back to the shop and ordered the output speed sensor and went into pulling the garage apart to get to it. After replacing it, the car drove fine, no problems. I sliced open the wire tail on the old sensor, and didn’t see anything suspicious, but when I looked closer i saw small cracks. I pinched the wire in my fingers and the insulation between the shield and the conductors crumbled like Parmesan. Some mechanics are familiar with this, a guy i used to work for called it goat milk insulation. Seems the European car makers haven’t learned their lesson yet.
I had done my research and found other VW’s with these codes, and didn’t want to be another mechanic that threw sensors at it and sent it off only to have the problem return. However, if I had just done that, I would have accidentally fixed the car, and I would be smoking a cigar at a party a bit earlier than I did. But, a small part of me is proud. My internal Spock is happy. I found an actual problem, and I did a fix that I know is a fix. I didn’t assume, I didn’t shotgun, I didn’t send them off with something half fast. Only problem is I still go home with the same paycheck and the same grease stained bottle of Tylenol. Still, jobs like these make my blue collar feel like a tiny cape.
One hand warmed with coffee, and another hand cold with wrench, I did an experiment. With just the meter attached to the window, the airbox and several acres of plastic cover removed, I drove until the voltage disappeared again. It hiccupped on a curb near a grassy knoll, and I formed a conspiracy theory about Volkswagen engineers targeting me. In the fog, sliding on the dewy morning grass next to the road, the car still running, I started yanking on wire harness. This car has lots of wire. One eye on where I was sticking my appendages, the other on the 4 zeros across the screen. I worked my way from the TCM under the windshield, across the plenum, down the plastic channel, all the way to the plug. Nothing but 4 zeros. Humph. On the other end of one of those wires, the output speed sensor is buried where I cannot see it, even with all the plastic off. To small a gap to even fit a finger. I wiggled what I could get at, then a tiny voltage jumped. Not the voltage across that wire, the voltage across the other sensor, the input speed sensor.
A light bulb exploded over my head. Was this kraut box was using the same supply across both sensors?
I pulled out my box of electronic connectors and my scope. The trans harness wasn’t hard to get to, so I patched right into the circuit and watched the signals. As the transmission went from normal shifting to “limp mode” the signal was clear and healthy. No cause for concern. Here is where I wished The Man wasn’t so stingy and we had some kind of interactive scan tool. We ended up bidding on a chip for the Snap-Off wonder brick on e-bay. I must press on until then. I took a recordings of current, voltage and resistance of the speed sensor circuits for half of the day, finding everything fine. As I analyzed the data, I notice something Spock would call “peculiar, but logical”. A very tiny voltage DC was present across the speed sensors. About .025 volt. Just for gits and shigles I unhooked the speed sensor and measured just the voltage across the TCM directly. It went up to .750 volt. One eyebrow raised. Could this be what the TCM is using to make an assumption of the condition of the circuit? I turned the car into a Doc Brown special with meters and probes sticking out of it, and went for a drive. When all was well, the trans shifted fine, and the little voltage that could stayed in place. At exactly beyond walking distance back to the shop, the fluke meter on the windshield read 4 zeros strait across, and the trans jumped out of gear, then into limp mode. Ahah! Gotcha sucker. This was filtered DC voltage. The AC signal of the speed sensor was still clear. My first thought was the TCM. It was getting late. I parked it inside and went home to my pipe, beer and wife.
NASCAR has some serious shortcomings that seem to continue growing with every rule change. One of the oldest is summed up by this article
The above mysterious objects are called “rain tires”. Im sure some concesions can be made to fit these on those mangled pipe frames you somehow still find a way to identify as “stock cars”. Theres also a small rubber strip that can be atatched to an arm over the windshield.
That day started out simple. A 2000 Jetta comes in with the complaint “stuck in 3rd gear” Ahh Limp mode of course, this should be simple. 2 days later I’m putting an extensive number of plastic pieces back together with bandaged fingers. What could have gone so wrong.
The codes were for circuit failures of both speed sensor circuits. The likelihood of both of them failing simultaneously was doubtful, but id be willing to bet any other shop would have just grunted that both sensors should be replaced, and point them to the dealer. The problem is that one of these speed sensors is under a motor mount, under a wire harness, under a battery tray next to the main airbox. Once you get to it, its just got one bold holding it down and it pops right out. It would be like a contractor telling you that the garage must be removed in order to replace the light switch in the bathroom.
First thing I did was look for shorts inside the trans. Common problems here with the harness attached to the solenoids. One of them read a little low, so I decided to go inside. When I pulled the pan off, the trans fluid looked like it would stick to a magnet in one giant clump. I asked The Man about this, and “Oh Ya. It happened an hour outside of Vagas and she drove it home that way”. Yeesh. 5 hours on the freeway in limp mode. Car has 175,000 miles on it. Almost gave up right then. Both engine and trans shot, “Next RO please”. This was a regular reliable customer, so I kept digging. These cars are tougher than they look too. Then things got worse. With the new solenoid, the torque converter clutch stuck on. After fussing with it I yanked it back out and found the new solenoid stuck on mechanically. I put the old one back in and threw the new one at The Man to send back defective. That was day 1. (to be continued)
