v42.9: Engine Boring for Dummies

Howdy folks,

I finally got my truck up and running and back on the road.  It's been out of commission for a few weeks due to an issue with one of my spark plugs blowing out of the engine stripping all the threads in the aluminum head.  Vehicles can be a pain in the ass sometimes, and my truck has definitely had its fair share of problems over the last year and bit since I bought it.  I realize it is a bit older, but the thing ran so well for the first 6-8 months I had it, I never imagined I would have this much trouble with it.

Now you're probably wondering, so what?  Well I'm no mechanic but I do understand a bit about the internal combustion engine.  For those of you who don't have any clue about when I'm talking about, the spark plug plays a very crucial role in the engine.  It is the piece that generates the "spark" required to ignite the fuel inside the engine causing a small explosion which will force the piston downward turning a crank which powers all the mechanics in your vehicle.  These spark plugs are designed to fire a certain sequence to ensure the crank is constantly spinning.

Now imagine, if you will, this firing sequence was disrupted and one of those spark plugs was no longer firing.  The crank wouldn't be turning as well as it should be which means there will be a loss of power and the engine will be shaking quite a bit.  In my case, since the spark plug was no longer in the engine, there was a small hole exposing the inside of the engine.  This means that not only was the truck running badly, it was also producing a LOT of noise; same as when a vehicle has no muffler.

As I mentioned initially, the hole in which the spark plug would normally fit was now stripped.  This means replacing the spark plug wasn't going to work since there were no threads there for the plug to latch on to.  So what is one to do?  I called around to various mechanics to get a quote.  The prices varied, but the best quote I could get approximately $800 (estimated parts and labour).  One place I called quoted me $2000 stating I need to take the engine apart and have the head examined and machined.  I was pissed off and figured I would be without a vehicle for quite a long time; I know $800 doesn't seem like a whole lot of money, but right now money is pretty tight so having to drop $800 like that wasn't an option.

I was shown a website which seemed to be dedicated to post how-to guides on how to fix various issues with Ford trucks.  It was great and come to find out the issue with spark plugs "blowing" out of the engine on some of the older model Triton engines is quite common.  This particular post I was looking at was talking about a kit one could buy for fairly cheap that would allow someone to bore out their own engine and insert an "insert" into the newly bored hole which, in essence, would re-thread it allowing a spark plug to be screwed in.  I was very hesitant to do this as I am definitely not a mechanic thought I have worked on vehicles before and even assisted in tearing down a couple of engines and rebuilding them.  I understand what all the parts do and how they work together, so I guess you could say I have a better working knowledge of vehicle mechanics than the average person.

I decided to take the chance.  I dropped $250 on parts and yesterday after work I decided to roll the dice and get the job done.  It was a lot harder than they described in the thread.  Obviously I don't have the best set of tools for doing this type of operation on a vehicle, but I was able to bore out the hole using a steel tap and a socket wrench.  I had to be very careful with the aluminium pieces that would be peeling away as the jagged steel bore slowly dug the hole.  I was so worried that I would end up with an engine full of pieces that I over did it on the grease on the tap.  I managed to capture all of the aluminium pieces in the grease and successfully bored out the hole so I could put in the insert and screw in the spark plug.  When the spark plug initially blew out, it also broke one of the ignition/oxygen sensor coils (which are conveniently mounted on top of the spark plug) so I had to replace that as well.  There was also one other ignition coil that wasn't working quite right, so while I was at it I decided to replace that one too.

I took the truck for a test drive last night and it worked perfectly fine.  The engine seems to be running perfect and I feel pretty good about being able to fix it.  I'm quite confident the new insert will stay though I've been going easy on it just to be safe.  It also felt good to save myself a few hundred bucks :)

With that I will leave you with the following funny story which was shared with me this week:

From a teacher -- short and to the point  In the world of hi-tech gadgetry, I've noticed that more and more people who send text messages and emails have long forgotten the art of capital letters. For those of you who fall into this category, please take note of the following statement: "Capitalization is the difference between helping your Uncle Jack off a horse and helping your uncle jack off a horse." Is everybody clear on that?

Cheers,

Al

v41.6: Thursday O'Clock

Howdy folks,

-slurp-

It's Thursday!  Isn't that exciting?!  Not really, but Thursday means the work week is nearly over and the weekend will be here.  I have no plans this weekend so I'm not really sure why I'm looking forward to it.  Normally I would say that the weekend means no work but lately work has been the only thing keeping me sane.  I've actually started to enjoy things there and the work is actually starting to get a LOT better; which is nice for a change.

-slurp-

So if you've been following along with my Roll up the Rim winnings you've probably noticed that I haven't had a Tim Horton's coffee in a few days.  Actually, I had one last night but I didn't get a Roll-Up cup so I was a bit put out by that.  Allow me to explain.

I'm usually a pretty lazy guy first thing in the morning.  I'm also a create of habit and when I get into a routine, I tend to stick with it and rarely deviate.  Lately I've been finding myself going to the local Irving near my apartment to get coffee.  First off, the price is right ($0.99 for any size) and they lots of different flavors to choose from.  Secondly, it is quick and it doesn't taste all that bad.  Thirdly, they give me a little card that is stamped every time I buy a coffee and after 6, the next one is free.  Normally I don't ever use the free one, so I have 3-4 cards in my truck that have free coffees on them (2 per card) that I'm saving for when I don't have any money on me and really need a coffee.

This works out since I had an unfortunate incident with the truck last weekend.  For whatever reason, the driver's side window started to act up when I used it.  I was heading to the Tim Horton's drive-thru to get a coffee last weekend and when I pushed the button to lower the window it began to lower (slowly) and about half way down I heard a bit of a crunch sound.  I was a bit worried, especially when the window failed to go down any further.  I pressed the button up and down and it didn't seem to be doing anything.  I could hear the mechanism in the door moving, but it wasn't moving the window.  I pressed the down button until I couldn't hear it moving any longer and then I gently pushed down on the window and it just slid down.  Of course it was raining out and I was getting wet while waiting for my coffee and I was mildly annoyed that the window was having issues after only owning the vehicle for a little over a week.  Regardless, I drove away, hit the up button and low and behold the window began to raise, VERY slowly.  I was a relieved when it went all the way to the top.  The last thing I wanted was a broken window in the down position during a rain storm.

It seemed to work on and off most of Friday and Saturday, but Saturday night the thing really broke.  The window wouldn't go up or down and the window was sitting about 1/4 of the way open.  I could slide the window up with my hands, but it would just slowly crawl back down again.  It was frustrating.  Thankfully we didn't have any snow or rain that night because I was forced to leave the window down all night because it was late and I didn't feel like fumbling my way around in the dark trying to figure out how to keep it closed.

The next morning I woke and went outside with my son and we took apart the door to see if we could figure out the problem.  The door was fairly simple to take apart and after getting it open, I noticed a snapped cable inside which (I assume) is responsible for pulling the window down and pushing it up.  A quick trip to my local Canadian Tire told me that due to the year and the type of part that was busted, I would need to take it to the dealer.  I figured out a way to keep the window up so at least I could remain dry and warm this week, but it has really sucked getting into the parking garage and going through drive-thrus when I don't have a window to roll down.  Needless to say, I haven't been to a drive-thru since this happened which means I've been drinking a lot of Irving coffee and haven't been going to Tim's.

-slurp-

Last night Kate had a job interview at one of the Tim Horton's near our place and when she left, she grabbed a free coffee (interview perk maybe?).  Of course because the coffee was free, there was no Roll up cup with it.  The funny part is, I had sent my son in to buy me a coffee while I was waiting because I wanted to be able to roll-up and post about it, but alas, it wasn't meant to be I guess.

I plan on giving the dealership a call tomorrow to see if they have time for me to take the truck in and look at it.  I'm not sure how much this is going to cost me, but I suspect it will be expensive.  the part itself seems fairly simple, so I don't suspect that will cost me much, but the labor will definitely cost me.

-slurp-

Well folks, time for me to take off for now.  Hopefully I'll get some time tomorrow to post again.

Cheers,

Al

v41.4: The Truck

Morning folks,

-slurp-

It's hump day!  At least for those of us who typically work a Monday to Friday work week.  For those of you who don't, this is Wednesday to you and could be the start of your work week or the end.  Either way, Happy Wednesday.

Last week I took a drive up to New Brunswick to visit my father and to buy a new vehicle for the family.  My family has grown a bit over the past couple years and there is no way a standard 5 passenger vehicle is going to cut it any longer.  We got by for a few months after the baby was born last year, but it is starting to take its toll on us and we needed to get something a bit larger.  Originally I had driven up to visit my father to buy a mini-van, but after arriving at the car dealership, I was surprised to see they had no mini-vans in stock.  I was a little distraught by this as I was really looking forward to getting a vehicle that day.  I did, after all, drive all the way up there to get one.

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After looking at the few vehicles at the dealership (which also happened to be a full service garage), I finally found the one I wanted.  Normally I wouldn't look twice at a vehicle like this because they are typically very expensive.  Fortunately for us, this vehicle is a few years older than I was looking for and it was going for a great price.  It is a 2003 Ford Expedition Eddie Bauer edition.  This truck is fully loaded (and I mean fully loaded) and seats 8 people very comfortably.  In fact, the middle row has 3 seats and we can easily put the two car seats  there with lots of room for a 3rd person without begin squished.  In the old Matrix we had, two car seats took up most of the back seat with a small spot for my 8 year old daughter to sit; and she was squished.  Needless to say, this vehicle will serve its purpose and there is more than enough room to take everyone out at the same time and do whatever we need to do.  The one downside is the size of the engine and how much gas it consumes.  With the prices of gas being so high right now, it is a pain in the ass when it comes time to fill it up.  Oh well, the price we pay for the convience of having a vehicle that will seat at least 6.

-slurp-

Well folks, it is time to do some work.  This week promises to be as busy as previous weeks and while it is only Wednesday, it feels like it should be Friday for me.  I hope everyone has a great day and hopefully I will get a chance to post again tomorrow.

Cheers,

Al