What did you do today

[dbhosttexas]

Struggling with the car still. Brand new alternator worked for about 10 minutes. Once the car was up to operating temp.... no joy. Need to test again while it is cold. Starting to think maybe the alternator cable is having conductivity problems when it heats up....

Waiting for UPS to deliver my GasKnect for the water heater.

Called the machinist. Block, heads, crank, and rods are done, shipping the crank / rods back assembled with new bearings.

This is taking forever, and I almost want to chuck the truck and start over, but then I see the price tag on new, or even newer pickups and realize I just can't do that. My first new vehicle was an 89 Toyota 4x4, with the 4cyl 5 speed, I don't recall the package, but it was very lightly equipped. AM/FM CD, AC, and Power steering and brakes. And it was less than $7,000.00 brand new. My '04 F150 XLT 5.4L 4x4 Supercab had a window sticker of I believe was $28K, although I bought it on lease return 2 years later at $22K. Current equivalent trucks would run me around $55K, and they just aren't worth it to me.

Update. UPS delivered. Gasknect installed... fits perfect.

[dbhosttexas]

Still hammering out the issues with the car. Found a HUGE list of codes in the ECU. Tracked them down with some GM / Chevy experts and was pointed to a service bulletin for my model regarding high humidity environments (Texas, yeah I have humidity to spare). I had to order Dielectric grease to move forward with troubleshooting to insure the connections are clean and uninterrupted.

I'm gonna sell all this newer crud and lay my hands on a 1970s International Scout 2 just so I know I can actually fix it..

[tony.latham]

and was pointed to a service bulletin for my model regarding high humidity environments

So which system in your GM is affected by humidity?



Tony

[dbhosttexas]

and was pointed to a service bulletin for my model regarding high humidity environments

So which system in your GM is affected by humidity?



Tony

According to the service bulletin, the '04-'07 Malibu has a corrosion suceptibility due to lack of dielectric lubricant at the connectors for the Power Control Module, and the Body Control Modules, both under the center console in the passengers side footwell, and the ECU under hood in front of the battery. I am throwing about 8 Power Control Module codes all at once. This cropped up literally overnight. So either the connection is bad, the PCM is bad, or the harness got cut. I doubt the latter but it IS possible... I don't see any evidence of it.

I would LOVE a pre computer domestic full size in good shape. BIg fan of the International Harvester Scourt 2.... Rough ride but well worth it...

[Tom&Shelly]

This cropped up literally overnight. So either the connection is bad, the PCM is bad, or the harness got cut. I doubt the latter but it IS possible... I don't see any evidence of it.

Out in New Mexico, we have some dirty rats who would do just that...

Usually, we see the evidence. Usually.

Tom

[dbhosttexas]

This cropped up literally overnight. So either the connection is bad, the PCM is bad, or the harness got cut. I doubt the latter but it IS possible... I don't see any evidence of it.

Out in New Mexico, we have some dirty rats who would do just that...

Usually, we see the evidence. Usually.

Tom

Arizona was the same when I lived there. I would put a drop light under the hood overnight in my apartment parking lot. Pretty sure the neighbors thought I was nuts, but I never got a rat eaten harness...

The dielectric grease came in, literally 20 minutes ago. And i just don't care to futz with it tonight. I've got a bad knee that is giving me fits today and my give a *#$^ account for the car is overdrawn. I may have some more in the account tomorrow.

[dbhosttexas]

Feeling a bit better about the car. Did the procedure for the BCM, and cleared about half the codes. Still no functioning charging system, but discussing this with GM guys, I need to basically futz with the connector in / out more than a few times to scrape any corrosion off, then grease with dielectric grease and that SHOULD fix the issue, or move on to the Power Control Module...

I received a new Bluethooth OBDII scanner that unfortunately did NOT work. I have a WiFi one, but I want to be able to search fixes for codes so I REALLY wanted to replace a bluetooth one I had sadly broken about two years ago...

[TimC]

Waiting patiently for my bench power supply to top balance my LiFePo4 battery bank. This is the toughest part of the conversion from AGM. 40 hours and counting. Patience!

[twisted lines]

Switched Trailers behind the shed

50 deg.jpg (59.43 KiB) Viewed 647 times

Added this one to my list!
I stretched my wiring for length by the first ground.
Sure my tail lights and turn signals would work, but wont be testing with her car
Might put a wrench on my rusty old nut too

Ground.jpg (77.85 KiB) Viewed 647 times

[flboy]

Waiting patiently for my bench power supply to top balance my LiFePo4 battery bank. This is the toughest part of the conversion from AGM. 40 hours and counting. Patience!

Depending on all the cell's state of charge, it could take a very long time (also depending on available current from bench PS). I learned on my first bank, so the second bank I built, I hooked up the BMS and let it charge the bank as it would be in series with the 45A charger at 14.6V) The BMS does what it is designed to do and shuts the charge down when whatever cell reaches 3.65V first to protect it from overcharge. Then I reconfigured in parallel to top balance. It only took 2 hours after that (they were well balanced to start it appears).

These LifePo4 batteries have such a flat curve, no telling the SOC when you receive them by simply measuring the voltage. Mine were below 50% based on aH from charger, so a 230ah bank would have taken a long time at 10A and 3.65V (4x aH in parallel) . I think it would have taken 46 hours or more with my 10a bench PS if it was 50%.

[TimC]

...
These LifePo4 batteries have such a flat curve, no telling the SOC when you receive them by simply measuring the voltage. Mine were below 50% based on aH from charger, so a 230ah bank would have taken a long time at 10A and 3.65V (4x aH in parallel) . I think it would have taken 46 hours or more with my 10a bench PS if it was 50%.

An update on the task is here...
http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=74052

[dbhosttexas]

Busy day at home so far...

#1. Spent about an hour and a half testing and wiggling connectors on the malibu. I have literally about a half dozen codes for the Body Control Module, and another dozen related to the Power Control Module. I have mentioned the issues indicated previously on a recall / service bulletin on corrosion issues with the BCM and PCM connectors. The Power Control Module connectors were absolutely crusty. Only got about halfway through before the heat started getting to me, so went back inside. I need to move my wood shop to a shed in the yard so Ican use my air conditioned garage for working on cars... But I digress...

#2. Made breakfast for my wife and I. She does it during the week so Sunday is my day to make her breakfast...

#3. Wife and I prepped and have on the stove a small size batch of Caldo de Pollo, A.K.A. Mexican chicken vegetable soup. Except our version is sort of like Abuela and Mrs. Boudreaux got together to make Sunday soup...

#4. Sewed up a blown seam in one of the doggie beds, and started taking half the stuffing out of them and transferring to laundry bags so that we can launder the doggie beds at home... Wife got busy with laundry by this time...

#5. Replaced crushed male hose end with a hose end mender. I am NOT giving up on my garden hoses. I have seen what new ones go for and I am keeping these old ones going a while longer!

#6. Made blank out patterns for the truck side windows. I am planning on making Reflectix insulators for the truck windows. Most likely back them with fabric from some pulled out black blackout curtains a friend was throwing away. The idea is in camp. I want to keep the cab of the truck as cool as physically possible.

#7. Spent a little bit of time practicing aluminum welding / brazing for the truck camper. build. Tested joint strength.

4' segment of square tubing, brazed at 90 degrees, with simple triangle gussets, attached to 3' segment, that is anchored to the ground via sliding it under a floor jack and applying light lift pressure to subframe of the car. Then apply a 350lb human weight to the end of the 4' segment, and lean into it.... The result? 3' segment bent, joint unfazed.

Given this information, I can safely assume that brazing the frame for foamie camper, combined with the remainder PMF build should provide a more than amply strong, while remaining light structure for a camper.

#8. Measured, double checked, did the math to add the corners, cut, and made screens for the living room windows. Started with one. My math with fractions still stinks, and I forgot to include the space the spring takes up. I can fix this thankfully, but that is about a yard of pet proof screening that is now gone... WIth the springs the screen is too snug going into position, need to shave about 1/32" off to make it fit well. And I believe I ended up 1/2" too narrow on the cross pieces. I can reuse them as uprights on the next ones... I miss the connectors that allowed me to miter the frame and get a better fit without funky math... I did the screens on the front of the house last year, and I am hoping to have them back of the house done for the fall so I can open the windows and air out the house without worrying about the cat chasing a bird through a screen...

#9. Bathed the dog. He NEEDED it... STANKY!

#10. Giving LOTS of thought to how to mount / store / haul the on demand water heater. I am pretty sure I do not want a permanently mounted wart on the side of the camper, so removable is the way to go, yet I do not want it getting smashed up bouncing down the road. Mounting inside a Pelican or similar case would be good idea... But none of the affordable models seem to be sufficiently long enough for the heater and quick connects. The Pelican 1600 would fit, the Monoprice would BARELY fit, but none of the others are long enough... I might have to build a PMF road case for it...

#11. Spending a considerable amount of willpower to not pull the trigger on a Sportsman 1000 Inverter generator from Tractor supply. I like that the smaller generator uses less fuel than a bigger generator. But I want to run a 5K BTU Window AC, a 12v fridge, and keep my laptop going at the same time via inverter... Oh and keep the CPAP battery pack charged up. Thinking about holding off for a 2K inverter generator instead.

[*Inside]

Dropped the trailer off to be powdercoated and then spent a few hours in solidworks vacillating about hwhat the trailer will look like in the end.

[dbhosttexas]

Got up, got dressed, made my coffee, threw the battery charger on the car. Been grinding away at work...

Took the charger off, battery charged up. More work grinding...

I will head out and test. Honestly not looking to the results as I have been disappointed so far... And it is already nasty hot at 96 deg F.... I think I will wait until the evening.

This used to be easier when I was younger because A. I was younger, and B. nobody was dumb enough to put computers in cars...

[MickinOz]

This used to be easier when I was younger because A. I was younger, and B. nobody was dumb enough to put computers in cars...

I'm with you on this one, one of the main reasons I love my little diesel ute is about the only electronic bit on it is the timer for the glow plugs.