In the garden, and RAIN!!!!
POSTED BY: SIGNYM
UPDATED: Thursday, December 25, 2025 04:27
VIEWED: 1005090
PAGE 457 of 1154
Anyways out for my walk in a bit in the RAIN.
Saw a news blip a bit ago on this thing. Ontario is being suffocated this June. One area has already set up a cooling station for its citizens.
While we in BC are being drowned. It is pouring but I need a walk to keep moving as my left leg tried to cramp up this morning.
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Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
I'm sure you kow more about this than I do, but clearing the codes just might do the trick. Even a car as old as your has an onboard computer that comes with factory defaults, but the settings adjust to your car performance specifics as you drive.
I just learned that you are a lot better off with an older car like I've got (assuming you can pass, that is). These old dogs only have to pass the diagnostic once for things like the CAT and EVAP systems, and then they don't get run again until after the battery is pulled or the system is wiped by an OBD. New cars will continuously run things like that and fail you if they go bad in between. I saw a cool video of an app a guy was using on a tablet that he could hook up to his car and show a million more things than my cheapo little Chinese meter does.
I put two drive cycles on the car today and around 100 miles. 3 of the systems showed OK immediately upon starting up (they are the continuous diagnostics). 1 of them completed by the first stop light (I believe the ECG monitor). The biggest one to set today would be the O2 Sensor Monitor, which cleared by the time I hit the expressway. At least I THINK that should mean that my O2 sensors are good.
Still no luck on the CAT monitor, and the EVAP hasn't gone either. I'm kind of glad the EVAP hasn't gone yet. That was kind of the whole purpose of resetting everything since I've read that the EVAP is supposed to happen after the CAT.
Tomorrow I'm throwing some CataClean or at least some STP and just driving my car until it runs out of gas. I'll have a can on me to fill it so I can get to the gas station, and I'll try to run out around the place where I can buy high octane and put in half a tank of that.
Quote:
Just keep the windows open when you run the engine, and don't run it indoors anywhere. Given the way it performs, it MAY be producing a lot of carbon monoxide, and you may be suffering from carbon monoxide (not dioxide, MONoxide) poisoning.
Carbon monoxide ties up the hemoglobin in your bloodstream and prevents oxygen from attaching, so you suffer from bodywide lack of oxygen.
Early symptoms include headache, nausea, fatigue, and body aches ... like a flu, but no fever.
https://www.emedicinehealth.com/carbon_monoxide_poisoning/article_em.h
tm
One of my chemists actually got carbon monoxide poisoning from analyzying a sample with percent-level CO, and he was only using about 50mL (about a half-cup) at a time.
Thanks for the tip. I've probably already done some damage over the years with it, but I've always tried to have windows open even during the winter. I'd say right now after doing the flex pipe that my car is probably safer than it's been in years. At least I know the vast majority of the emissions are going out the tail pipe instead of under my seat now.
We almost had a tornado around here earlier. First time in my life I'd ever seen the sky do that in person. I was out in my garage working, ignoring the city's raid sirens until the third time they went and I opened up the door and said out loud "that ain't good".
I don't think I've ever seen clouds that low before. I'd look to the West and the clouds were going Northwest. I'd look to the East and the clouds were going Northeast. I never did see a funnel, but I wouldn't be surprised if they got one a little north of me.
By the time I went inside and checked the internet, it had already passed us and I went back out to the garage. I'm about 2 hours away from having everything in there completely clean and organized. Maybe another 1 1/2 hours integrating the tools in my house outside too.
Weather permitting, I'm going to finish the garage tomorrow, do the gas thing with the car, fill my tires up on my car once I get the compressor back out into its new home, and then I'm going to re-install my car radio I
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I'll be damned...
I've got two Catalytic Converters. The guy I've been watching do YouTube videos either didn't know that, or didn't bother mentioning it because that CAT isn't going to make you fail the test.
At least, I don't think it will... The 2nd one is really far downstream and close to the muffler, way past the 2nd O2 sensor. So I'm not sure how it would be able to even be tested.
But if I'm wrong and that's why the CAT test isn't initiating, I may have to bite the bullet and have somebody give my flex pipe a proper weld. At least 95% of the emissions is making it all the way down-pipe right now, but I know it can't be all of it with my temporary patch job.
The only reason I figured that out is because I was watching another auto guy I like talking about how to clean your cat and he simply threw his in a bucket with dish detergent in it overnight, and I recognized the part from the back of my car. I probably won't be able to reach and remove it with my ramps. Might have to ask around for some good jacks/stands.
I'm downloading (what I believe) is the service manual now. Time to do some real research.
If I get this to work after upping the performance beyond my expectations so far, I might just have to look into figuring out how to fix the A/C. I could probably get another 5 to 10 years out of this car.
Do Right, Be Right. :)
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All the drive cycles I've heard about from YT or all over the internet are BS... I found the exact drive cycle from the manufacture for my model within my year range.
It is actually possible that with how infrequently I drive that I just never got that to go off in a year and a half, given the parameters. The first part of the cycle that you need to hold steady is slower than I ever drive on the expressway and faster than I ever drive on side streets. It's slower than all the highway miles I've put on in the last week and faster than all the city miles I put on last week.
It doesn't matter that I've done the second part of the cycle when the first part was never completed...
I'm scrapping all plans I had for now. I'm going to try the drive cycle tomorrow with the additives I already have in the tank, which may or may not work. Then I'll fill it over 1/2 tank and do it again. Probably have to wait an extra day to do the EVAP one since you are required to leave it overnight with a cold start for that to complete as well as having 1/4 to 3/4 tank of gas for it to even initiate.
If it works, I'll get that pipe welded proper, change my spark plugs again and consider fixing my A/C and broken door handle.
Do Right, Be Right. :)
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Not only do I have to tell my neighbor thanks for all the years of cleaning out the sewers at the corner of the street, but let him know that in a perfect world the entire 3 block area around us owes him a debt of gratitude.
He lost a lot of his mobility with a back issue during the winter, and even with a shot he's not moving too well. So last night was the 2nd time I cleared out our sewers when they started to back up.
I woke up late this morning because yesterday was a long day and I didn't sleep very well. I look out the kitchen window and what do I see? Somebody bravely driving their coup through water so high I probably wouldn't have chanced it, two kids playing in the water with their parents yelling at them to stop, and the entire street is flooded and up about 15 feet on my property. My first thought was the city sewer was screwed up again!... but then I remembered the chaotic winds and near tornado yesterday and did the math...
A rake, some elbow grease, a pair of soaking shoes, socks and jeans and 45 minutes of my morning and the street is clear.
"If you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all." ~God, Futureama
But I know now...
And so does the entire family that mysteriously disappeared into their houses as soon as I got to work. Half of the work being on their side of the street.
And to think... I used to get pissed off at that neighbor for dumping 50 lbs of soaking wet helicopters on my grass in front of the sewer. I had no idea how much hassle he saved me over the years.
I guess I'm the reluctant Patriarch of the block now. I don't have any choice since my lawn will be most affected and my car will be pinned in unless those sewers are working.
Do Right, Be Right. :)
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I think the monitor for my Blair's system is shot. Going to have a look around and see if I can get another one.
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Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
I think the monitor for my Blair's system is shot. Going to have a look around and see if I can get another one.
Monitor? System?
Do Right, Be Right. :)
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Quote:Yep, I guess you're That Guy now.
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Not only do I have to tell my neighbor thanks for all the years of cleaning out the sewers at the corner of the street, but let him know that in a perfect world the entire 3 block area around us owes him a debt of gratitude.
He lost a lot of his mobility with a back issue during the winter, and even with a shot he's not moving too well. So last night was the 2nd time I cleared out our sewers when they started to back up.
I woke up late this morning because yesterday was a long day and I didn't sleep very well. I look out the kitchen window and what do I see? Somebody bravely driving their coup through water so high I probably wouldn't have chanced it, two kids playing in the water with their parents yelling at them to stop, and the entire street is flooded and up about 15 feet on my property. My first thought was the city sewer was screwed up again!... but then I remembered the chaotic winds and near tornado yesterday and did the math...
A rake, some elbow grease, a pair of soaking shoes, socks and jeans and 45 minutes of my morning and the street is clear.
"If you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all." ~God, Futureama
But I know now...
And so does the entire family that mysteriously disappeared into their houses as soon as I got to work. Half of the work being on their side of the street.
And to think... I used to get pissed off at that neighbor for dumping 50 lbs of soaking wet helicopters on my grass in front of the sewer. I had no idea how much hassle he saved me over the years.
I guess I'm the reluctant Patriarch of the block now. I don't have any choice since my lawn will be most affected and my car will be pinned in unless those sewers are working.
Do Right, Be Right. :)
-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake
#WEARAMASK
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I passed.
I probably didn't even need to fix my emissions because of where the O2 sensors were located, but now that it's all over with I'm glad that this happened. The car runs so much better now, and that's with my temporary McGyver fix keeping it all together. I've got an appointment with a welding guy to do it all up proper. $50 to $100 depending on how difficult it will be... he didn't want to say for sure over the phone. My cut is clean. It will be easy. Hell... If I had a welding machine I'd do it myself and I've never welded before.
Just an FYI for anybody who ever needs a CAT test to initiate. Here's the steps that I took that I think ended up in a successful diagnostic, in order of importance:
1. FIND THE EXACT DRIVE CYCLE FOR YOUR MAKE, MODEL AND YEAR OF YOUR VEHICLE. Don't listen to what anybody on YouTube says, or even what mechanics say. They don't know. They couldn't possibly know because drive cycles are all over the freaking map.
Also, DON'T try any "tricks" with revving your engine up while in park for a few minutes at a time. This DID NOT WORK at all and I easily put 30 minutes on my car at 3,000RPM while in park, which might destroy a lesser engine than the bulletproof masterpieces the Japanese were putting out back in the 90's.
2. Buy an OBDII scanner. Even a $25 one that tells you basic codes and which tests have and have not completed will be super helpful. If you have the money, spend the extra cash for one with more monitoring features like temperature values on individual sensors (although in the end I didn't need this, and I knew as much once I did the research last night and read up on the service manual).
3. Dump a bunch of SeaFoam and Heet into your gas tank. The Caveat is that you probably don't need to do this if you have a newer car and you use good gasoline. Additives were much more necessary in the old days when there weren't as many government regulations on gas quality and vehicle construction. But if you haven't treated your car right in the past and/or filled up with cheap gasoline, it can't hurt to burn off a bad tank of gas with additives while trying to get the tests to initiate. SeaFoam does a great job cleaning up carbon deposits within the entire system, and Heet will get any water out of your tank from cheap gasoline.
4. Once your just about out of gas, fill it up with 93 Supreme at a place known to have good gasoline. Look online to find where good gasoline is by you.
5. Follow that drive cycle to the best of your ability. Don't worry if you have to stop and start up again in between. Contrary to the verbiage of the documentation that people post online, the actual drive cycle documentation tells you that this is OK to do. Just make sure you accelerate slowly and coast to stops in between and don't do any hard breaking.
That being said, give it quite a bit more time to complete than they tell you in the cycle before stopping and shutting your car off, especially for a trouble monitor like the CAT. You obviously bank some of that driving time at the correct speeds in between starting and stopping, but the documentation doesn't state anywhere how much or exactly how that works. It took me over 3 times as long to get the CAT monitor to read OK than the drive cycle was supposed to be. Had I turned off the car before it cleared I would have had to start from square one.
I actually hope this doesn't help anybody and nobody ever needs to be put through that stress and BS.
Oh... total cost to have 2 more years driving my car: $34 for flex pipe and clamps (the clamps I'll probably return after the weld). $30 for gas. 1 broken heavy metal sawzall blade, and another that I dulled to the point of ineffectiveness.
Do Right, Be Right. :)
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Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
I think the monitor for my Blair's system is shot. Going to have a look around and see if I can get another one.
Monitor? System?
Do Right, Be Right. :)
Sorry. I inherited my late guy's desktop computer when he died. I've got it all wired up here in my new place but the monitor doesn't want to cooperate, so I am thinking it is dead. I turned it one once in the crap place and the acer screen came up (as it is an acer monitor) then I turned it on once after I moved and it wouldn't read the hard drive. All I got was "no signal". Now, when I tried turning it on this week, nothing happened.
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