The Pitstop

12:09 AM

@DavidLively - Um ... cool without water? It has a boil point of 375°F and freezes at -40. No corrosion. Good for life of the engine (one and done). It runs $45/gal. Easiest to do when you pull the engine because it's only good without water.

djsmiley2k

7:58 AM

Sigh

car went again this morning, ffs

djsmiley2k

8:10 AM

from reading, which is all I can do

seems to be either dodgy battery throwing the ECU out, or Throttle controller

Then again I've got a multimeter at home

why don't I just check it -_-

Zaid

9:42 AM

123

Q: HR at my new job just sent me an email saying that I am a volunteer. I've been working here two months under the impression that it's paid work

I started a part-time software development job two months ago. The company I work for has roughly 50% volunteers, but the position I applied for was paid (I still have a copy of the job advertisement). I asked a question about how I should submit my time sheets to get paid, and they replied, "As...

@Zshoulders here's a question that fits your earlier description

Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2

11:35 AM

@Zaid - What a sucky position to be in, but from the sounds of it, the dude has some recourse.

Zaid

It might just be a case of HR speaking a different language from management

Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2

Even in the States the guy would have legal standing, considering the job advertisement. Although, I wouldn't have signed anything without knowing exactly what I was getting paid.

I'm just anal like that.

@Zaid - How are things today?

Zaid

Pretty good. Still celebrating the little guy's arrival

Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2

I'm out to work on an exhaust most ricky-ticky.

@Zaid - I'm very happy for you and your family. A new arrival is an awesome event.

My youngest is 16yo ... not had the experience in quite some time.

Zaid

I'm just looking forward to checking off all the items on the to-do list. Paperwork, residency, documents and all that fun stuff

(Aside from the familial celebrations)

Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2

11:50 AM

"residency"? Adopted?

Hola, @NickC :o)

No worries. I've got to get out and about. Like I said, I've got some exhaust work to do on a pickup truck this morning. I don't know how long my Daughter-in-law is going to be staying, so I've got to get rolling on this. I haven't even looked at the truck to see what shape the exhaust is which is on there. Hopefully this will be a straight forward job.

Zaid

@Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 residence permit.

Nick C

@Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 Howdy Paul

Ceshion

12:25 PM

Hello everyone :)

Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2

@Ceshion - Morning :o)

Ceshion

Woke up to a nice error that only happened because I wasn't thinking thread safety

on something that was supposed to be running overnight

(called dbconnection.open and close in a parallel loop)

@Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 What's up with the truck exhaust? Just a leak?

Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2

@Ceshion - Leak? Um ... I think we're well beyond that! It's the son's truck. One of the two exhaust pipes has been about ready to fall off for the past year. I bought a new exhaust for it off of ebay and am going to install it. It's a muffler back system (1 in/2 out).

I think the muffler is shot on his truck as well. Really, I haven't even looked at the extent of the damage. Just going in all guns blazin' and am going to just replace most everything.

Ceshion

Oooh, full exhaust sounds fun

at least pipes are usually pretty straightforward, if rusty

I hope you have a good time with it :)

djsmiley2k

2:06 PM

bleeeeeeh

Why is it so hard to find a picture showing where I can find the throttle sensor on my focus? :/

I just feel so totally outta my depth with this xD

If only there was a site, where I could ask ;)

Is a question saying 'where is this damn thing, can someone provide a photo' off topic for the site?

Ceshion

If you don't find it by tonight, I can pull an image from my manual repo

what year/submodel?

Zshoulders

@djsmiley2k its going to be right near your throttle body. You are going to want to find the box with the air filter in it (and I think you'll be able to do that, its like the second biggest thing in the engine bay) and follow the piping out of that box until it reaches something metal

that is probably where the throttle body lives, and somewhere plugged into that chunk of metal is going to be a little connector. That connector is connecting to your Throttle Position Sensor

@Zaid How do you work for 2 months without getting paid?????

djsmiley2k

2:35 PM

@Ceshion 55 plate, Focus Ghia

@Zshoulders lol, my friend works regularly for months at a time without being paid

Zaid

@Zshoulders Funny you should say that. There's a guy where I work who interned for over a year without getting paid due to a glitch in the system. He wasn't complaining about it because he felt too shy to bring it up and he wasn't going broke any time soon

djsmiley2k

but he knows he will get paid, but his boss is a tosser

well, his boss makes excuses, then pays him off in one go, randomly

@Zaid D:

Zaid

@djsmiley2k I've been in and out lately. What's up with your car. The last thing I heard was that it didn't like the wife

The guy in the story did get paid in full eventually. Quite a sizeable paycheck

djsmiley2k

@Zaid Haha yes

Ok, 55 Plate Focus Ghia, 1.6 petrol iirc (yes, I really don't care that much, not a car guy)

Occasionally (every time while turning other than once for me, and once for the wife) it kind of... 'stalls'/shudders like it's not in gear. Drops into speed limited mode showing Engine System Fault.

Zaid

Not sure what the plate is supposed to tell me but go on

djsmiley2k

2:46 PM

Normally no engine management light, no other issues as far as I can tell - pull over for 30 seconds, can drive off normally again

just the age ;)

Has only ever occured with 1/4 tank or less in car but I think that maybe a red herring

Zaid

Do you have codes?

djsmiley2k

First time it happened took it to the garage, no codes shown

Appently fords don't store the code after the engine management light has gone off?

Zaid

Depends on the code

And depends on what you're using to pull the code

There were similar symptoms on my colleague's Merc. It took us quite a few sessions of just staring at the engine bay to figure out what the issue was.

And then there was a Mitsubishi Outlander with similar symptoms, but the root cause turned out to be quite different

djsmiley2k

Also the light cleared while i was driving it last time, which was disconcerting :/

from this image, I'm thinking the sensor is attached to the pivot point... so it knows how far it's rotated?

so if.... it's crap. (it's a ford, of course it's crap) at some point it's going to wear out, and be like 'wtf you put the throttle down, but it's not opened at all. ABORRRRRT!'

@Zaid What was the cause?

That was one of my things - trying to figure out probable causes :/

Zaid

3:09 PM

@djsmiley2k the Merc had an air leak. One of the hoses had developed a crack which was letting copious amounts of unmetered air through. So the engine computer thought there was less air than what was actually being pushed through. This seemingly small crack affected fuel economy and driveability. And the engine bay was hissing like a snake due to it.

The Outlander had an air leak as well albeit a metered one. The air filter box had cracked in the course of a road accident. The dealership was suspecting a bad throttle body; it didn't need replacement at all

@djsmiley2k is that your car's throttle body or just a random image from the interwebz?

djsmiley2k

Random :D

It claims to be simular to my car :D

@Zaid Ah yes, I've read about people with simular issues to me (on my car) having a leak on one of the transmission air hoses

Zaid

@djsmiley2k I don't think a bad TPS should be at the top of your whodunnit list

djsmiley2k

appently it's down the back where you can't see it...

@Zaid K well I'm looking for any reasonable suggestions other than going back to the garage, and them going 'we can't replicate the error' again :/

Zaid

Well I'd do a couple of things

djsmiley2k

My first thoughts were 'there's crap in the tank' but... someone suggested that's unlikely to cause this behavour

Zaid

3:18 PM

First would be to confirm if there is an air leak. Block the air intake off with a book or something adequately sized, so there should be no air going into the engine. If the engine continues to run you know there is an air leak

djsmiley2k

Hopefully if the kids go to bed on timish I can get a few photos

a BOOK? :D

ok, need to find where the air goes in...

Zaid

Second, inspect the throttle body. With time the back of the throttle plate can get gummed up causing it to stick

djsmiley2k

Might sound stupid, how will Isee that? Am I going to need to remove things... ?

Zaid

Sticky throttle bodies can cause the symptoms you described

For the throttle body, you will have to disassemble the intake piping. That picture you posted isn't how the throttle body normally looks like in the engine bay - it's usually hidden, tucked away

djsmiley2k

Makes sense. That'd also explain why it doesn't happen once the cars running properly (like 30mph+)

As I'm never letting up on the throttle then...

Zaid

3:23 PM

This game is best played through process of elimination. Don't be tempted to replace something just on a hunch that it might be bad

And there are plenty of suspects here

@djsmiley2k yes, it's a theory. But until you have evidence you can't be sure

I need to leave now. If you have any further questions leave them here

I'll get back when I can

djsmiley2k

When the throttle plate is in the idle (or closed) position, the throttle lever arm should be in contact with the Throttle Return Stop. The throttle return stop prevents the throttle plate from contacting the bore and sticking closed. The setting also establishes the amount of air flow between the throttle plate and bore

thats.... interesting

@Zaid Oh the whole point is i'm trying to narrow down things. It'll be replaced in the garage most likely

Zaid

4:01 PM

12

Q: How can I detect vacuum leaks without access to a smoke machine?

In the course of helping my friend sort out a lean condition with his Mercedes GLK280 we have to pinpoint the source of a vacuum leak in the intake plumbing. The interwebz tend to recommend having the car taken to a mechanic so that they can perform a smoke test. I don't know of anyone in my ci...

diagnostics vacuum smoke

Zshoulders

@djsmiley2k yes this is the throttle body, your Throttle position sensor is going to connect to that someplace

does 55 plate mean like a 1955?? did they even make a focus in 1955?!?

@djsmiley2k so this problem is no longer just during high G turns?

djsmiley2k

@Zshoulders 2005, Aug.

05 was begining of the year, 55 is half way

I think I've got that the right way around ;D

65 is half way thru 2015

Anyway, now you've told me the kind of thing to look for, I'm just googling and hitting more 'relevent' stuff such as popularmechanics.com/cars/how-to/a81/1272341

Which discribed almost exactly what happened this morning (Huge truck behind me, fortunately it was on a round about so he was rather slooooooooooow)

Zshoulders

the fact that the problem is worsened during a turn is interesting. makes me wonder if this would be one of those crazy one of weird issues

djsmiley2k

@Zshoulders i don't think it's worsened due to turning

wife did it at a standstill at lights

you're idea of the valve jamming makes perfect sense

I'm generally off the throttle coming around a corner on a round about, and it's only on leving the roundabout I'm putting my foot down and BLAM, stall type thing

if it's jamming, it makes sense

Also, would starting the car cause it to release more, than just putting my foot down slightly when coming off a round about / corner?

To me, the idea of it jamming makes perfect sense. More than anything else i've encountered

I mean i'ts only happend 4-5 times total over 3 months.

Zaid

4:19 PM

@djsmiley2k there's @Zshoulders, then there's me. Credit where credit is due, ahem :)

djsmiley2k

Whoops, hehe you've got near the same icon :P

@Zaid yo da man.

If I need to clean the throttlecasing etc, am I going to have to pull the whole thing out?

David Lively

@Ceshion We've all been there (thread safety). Could be worse. When I worked at ARM, I wrote a utility to move about 3 million custom records from an old Access (blech) database to Oracle CRM On Demand through a web service. Their API would only take something like 50 records at a time, and had a response latency of about 2 seconds. So, I started the export on a Friday afternoon. Our (hosted by Oracle) CRM instanced crashed. Down for a week.

djsmiley2k

Cleaning the TB can be done with the TB still on the engine.

yaaaaaas

David Lively

@Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 I'll look into that. I refilled everything this morning, idled for about half an hour in the driveway without going over 200F. Took it for a two mile test drive and didn't have any issues. So, fingers crossed. Though, when I refilled the coolant, it only took about two gallons. Should be 3 with the BAAR.

djsmiley2k

I like anything which doesn't involve me doing anything which I can't easily undo by 'put this screw back'

David Lively

4:28 PM

@Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 Probably just not drained completely.

djsmiley2k

I nearly applied for a job at ARM

Can't remember why I didn't now, I think I was unnerved by the... size... impact, something

ooooooooo home time finally o/

Zshoulders

4:52 PM

@Zaid hahahahahahahahahaha

one of us is going to have to get a different picture

djsmiley2k

5:35 PM

AAAARRRRRRRRUGH

it did it again on the way home

every time i think it's been during acceleration

gonna try just get it in the garage

it got the error light on too, so hopefully it actually logged something useful

Zaid

6:44 PM

@djsmiley2k it ought to store it, even if the error light turns off

David Lively

6:54 PM

@djsmiley2k It was a good place to work. And the stock was nice - paid off my cars, student loans and bought a house. When I started, the stock was at 80 pence. When I left, it was at 12 pounds. We had one guy in support who never sold a share in 10 years. After the acquisition, he took a small part of that and bought a house in St John (USVI)

@Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 I took it for a nice drive to lunch - 25 minutes - and temp never exceeded 200. Of course, I noticed my AFR at 10.1 at idle a couple of times. I wonder if I have a leaking injector. CEL is back. BUT - it's not overheating.

Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2

7:35 PM

@DavidLively - Running that rich may be keeping the temps down a bit as well. Sounds good though. Hopefully it will stay that way.

I mean the "not overheating bit".

David Lively

@Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 Yeah, I got it. :) It's not consistently doing that - just a few times. I love intermittent problems. :/

Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2

7:52 PM

Sux

David Lively

@Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 Well, if the damn thing was deterministic, it'd be too easy.

Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2

It wouldn't be the "Solstice of Sorrow" if it were easy.

2

David Lively

@Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 :)

Zshoulders

8:31 PM

70

Q: Someone forged my resignation letter

So about six weeks ago, my mother’s illness took a turn for the worst, and I took some time off work to take care of her. It was all very rushed because we never expected her condition to worsen so quickly and things were just very messy. I was also pretty stressed at the time and perhaps I didn’...

resignation

wow

Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2

8:56 PM

@Zshoulders - That is really sucky.

I think I would string the company up by the balls just because I could.

Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2

10:37 PM

0

A: What actually affects engine compression ratios?

There's actually another factor to consider in addition to the bore and stroke - the size of the space above the piston when the piston is at TDC is also a factor. (that dome shaped area you see within the cylinder head when the head is off). The smaller that space, the higher the compression ...

Not a bad answer, but very simplistic. I was going to write something to him about it, but decided to just leave it alone.

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