In the garden, and RAIN!!!!

POSTED BY: SIGNYM
UPDATED: Thursday, December 25, 2025 04:27
VIEWED: 1005090
PAGE 459 of 1154

FIRST PAGE PREV PAGE 454 455 456 457 458 459 460 461 462 463 NEXT PAGE LAST PAGE

SIGNYM

Friday, June 12, 2020 8:05 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
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. :)

WOOHOO!!!!
SO HAPPY FOR YOU!!!
I'll bet that's a load off your mind

SIGNYM

Friday, June 12, 2020 8:07 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by 1KIKI:
I got my car back! It was the gas tank.

YAY!! I have wheels!

ANOTHER WOO HOO!!!!
A good day for cars today!

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

#WEARAMASK

SIGNYM

Friday, June 12, 2020 8:14 AM

It does sound like the monitor BRENDA. Just make sure that you have actual power going to the monitor... there can be three "wires" going to the back of a standard monitor from the desktop, and one is a heavier power cable that has actual power connections on it, like a rwo or three-pronged plug and its inverse. For some reason, our monitor is kinda hinky and the power cable comes loose a little bit, so unplug and plug back in the connector from the PC to the cable and from the cable to the monitor.

Sorry if you've been thru that already, I have't had a chance to read all of the back-and-forth and in a bit of a hurry.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

#WEARAMASK

6IXSTRINGJACK

Friday, June 12, 2020 8:54 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
It doesn't have a video card as when my IT friend flipped it from Linux (which my Blair loved) back to Windows, he forgot that. I told him not to worry about it as I wanted to wait until I moved before really taking a stab it. NOW, that I have moved and all this flap happened I can't get a hold of him.

It has to have video output. If there isn't a card, it has to be on the Motherboard. That would surprise me though. It sounds like this is a fairly old computer and having an onboard GPU would have been pretty pricey. It's a common thing for Laptops to have the GPU on the board, but desktops almost always use a video card, unless you've got one of those micro-PC units that are pretty tiny, or an all-in-one destop. In all the computers I've built over the years I've never owned a desktop that had on board graphics and always bought a video card for it.

Which plug of the two I posted above (or HDMI) goes into your monitor?

Quote:
I saw my IT in the local mall and hollered at him but he paid me no mind. So I called him and left a message. Granted I know he is busy and most like behind on stuff because of the lockdown. So, that means I am in a pickle.

I did try to rewiring of the monitor and put on the drive, it light up and beeped. The monitor did nothing when I tried to turn it on. So, I just rewired it the way I had it.

My knowledge is I know basically what the parts are of a hard drive but I don't totally trust myself to take it apart and put it back together.

Hmmmmmm... I hope the guy gets back in touch with you soon. I think we may be talking past each other, and without being able to see any pictures of your rig I can't really offer any assistance.

Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:

The monitor belongs with the desktop. What I use to type to you guys is a laptop.

The power button on the monitor maybe gone. When I press on it, it won't do anything and it used to make sort of a clicking sound when the monitor would turn on. The light on the button would then be blue.

Yeah... I can't really help you with that. Maybe try what Kiki suggested? I had two flat screens go bad on me over the years, and one of them sounds like what you're describing. But by the time mine went bad I either already got another hand-me-down from my brother or co-workers or bought a 2nd monitor that was bigger myself so I just threw them to the curb when they gave me trouble.

Good luck!

Oh... and if you do decide to get another monitor, you should ask your friends if they have a spare or go to Goodwill or a thrift shop first. These things have been out long enough now that you can get pretty nice ones that people got rid of because they went bigger and better. Just make sure you can plug it in and see that it at least turns on before you give them the cash.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

6IXSTRINGJACK

Friday, June 12, 2020 9:08 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
WOOHOO!!!!
SO HAPPY FOR YOU!!!
I'll bet that's a load off your mind!

Thank you Sigs. You don't even know...

I was so excited about it that I've been up since 2:30 this morning and wasn't able to get back to sleep. By 7:00 I was outside working again.

I got the garage completely clean and organized. I still have tools in the house to integrate and I have to put together my core indoor set together, but it looks fantastic and I have easy access to everything and a huge 4' x 12' work bench that is completely cleared off with nothing in front of it blocking my way to actually being able to do work on top of it now!

I fixed a few things inside my car that haven't worked for years because for the first time I felt they were worthwhile to do. I vacuumed it and spent about 4 hours cleaning the insides of the window and getting 12 years of nicotine stains out of everything.

I tried to put the radio back in, but it's not working right. I have yet to determine if the radio went bad or if I have a ground problem with my car. Something to do for another day, but it's a damn shame because when it does work it reminds me of how much I missed having a radio in my car.

Oh, and I got the pipe welded too. Found a guy who did it for $35 at a legit shop and he did a great job. Told me if he didn't have to dick around with my temporary patch it would have only cost me $20.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

BRENDA

Friday, June 12, 2020 9:41 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
It does sound like the monitor BRENDA. Just make sure that you have actual power going to the monitor... there can be three "wires" going to the back of a standard monitor from the desktop, and one is a heavier power cable that has actual power connections on it, like a rwo or three-pronged plug and its inverse. For some reason, our monitor is kinda hinky and the power cable comes loose a little bit, so unplug and plug back in the connector from the PC to the cable and from the cable to the monitor.

Sorry if you've been thru that already, I have't had a chance to read all of the back-and-forth and in a bit of a hurry.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

#WEARAMASK

The monitor power cord is plugged in and the only cable I touched is the one that goes from the monitor to the hard drive.

BRENDA

Friday, June 12, 2020 9:48 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
It doesn't have a video card as when my IT friend flipped it from Linux (which my Blair loved) back to Windows, he forgot that. I told him not to worry about it as I wanted to wait until I moved before really taking a stab it. NOW, that I have moved and all this flap happened I can't get a hold of him.

Quote:
It has to have video output. If there isn't a card, it has to be on the Motherboard. That would surprise me though. It sounds like this is a fairly old computer and having an onboard GPU would have been pretty pricey. It's a common thing for Laptops to have the GPU on the board, but desktops almost always use a video card, unless you've got one of those micro-PC units that are pretty tiny, or an all-in-one destop. In all the computers I've built over the years I've never owned a desktop that had on board graphics and always bought a video card for it.

Which plug of the two I posted above (or HDMI) goes into your monitor?
Quote:

It is a fairly old computer. Not sure how long he had it before I inherited it and the monitor is second hand as well. A friend brought it to him from his work place as they were getting some new monitors. I'll have to back and look at what you posted to then add it to this reply.

Quote:
I saw my IT in the local mall and hollered at him but he paid me no mind. So I called him and left a message. Granted I know he is busy and most like behind on stuff because of the lockdown. So, that means I am in a pickle.

I did try to rewiring of the monitor and put on the drive, it light up and beeped. The monitor did nothing when I tried to turn it on. So, I just rewired it the way I had it.

My knowledge is I know basically what the parts are of a hard drive but I don't totally trust myself to take it apart and put it back together.

Quote:
Hmmmmmm... I hope the guy gets back in touch with you soon. I think we may be talking past each other, and without being able to see any pictures of your rig I can't really offer any assistance.

Me too. I could really kill him right now.

Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:

The monitor belongs with the desktop. What I use to type to you guys is a laptop.

The power button on the monitor maybe gone. When I press on it, it won't do anything and it used to make sort of a clicking sound when the monitor would turn on. The light on the button would then be blue.

Yeah... I can't really help you with that. Maybe try what Kiki suggested? I had two flat screens go bad on me over the years, and one of them sounds like what you're describing. But by the time mine went bad I either already got another hand-me-down from my brother or co-workers or bought a 2nd monitor that was bigger myself so I just threw them to the curb when they gave me trouble.

Good luck!

Oh... and if you do decide to get another monitor, you should ask your friends if they have a spare or go to Goodwill or a thrift shop first. These things have been out long enough now that you can get pretty nice ones that people got rid of because they went bigger and better. Just make sure you can plug it in and see that it at least turns on before you give them the cash.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

I did try the flipping the cord around and I think all it did was mess up my lap top because it is all plugged into a power bar. I will look at some thrift shops if I decide to get one.

ETA: I had another look at the picture you posted and both ends sort of look like the cable I've got.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME

SIGNYM

Friday, June 12, 2020 1:03 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by 1KIKI:
Dang, it was supposed to be cooler today but the max temp here was 94F (34C).

Well, yesterday it was 98 at our house, so today's 93 seemed cooler!

Did my usual one hour of yardwork. Today it was a combination of things... raking avocado leaves (STILL) in prep for weeding and mulching, taking apart an old Texas tomato cage that that rusted together, binning up weeds, tossing out palm flower stalks (greenwaste won't take them) and raking out the shredded-leaf mulch that we dumped under one of the avocados. Also went grocery shopping and mailed out some bill pays and made a couple of phone calls still trying to fix some bills that Medicare fucked up when they randomly changed their status from primary to secondary insurance. Also tried a very new chicken recipe on hubby who "hates chicken". this was an "oven fried" chicken but the secret to success is to marinade the chicken in milk/paprika/garlic/salt/sugar/bay leave mixture for a few hours, then coat it with an egg/mustard/garlic powder/fresh ground pepper mix, then roll it in a panko/parmesan/olive oil before baking. Also, I have learned over the years that chicken breast is dry and flavorless when overcooked, so I start the wings, thighs, and drumsticks 20 minutes early and bake the chicken breast for the shortest amount of time after that ... maybe 15 minutes. Served with cucumber salad and a tomato/parsley/oinion/s&p/vinegar/olive oil salad. It must have tasted good because family asked for seconds!

But the big cooldown is coming tomorrow ... 80 degrees. WOOHOO!

Just in time to be working in the garage. I love my hubby but this garage fixup is getting kinda ... old. In addition to my yardwork yesterday we replaced the last of the 6 flourescent tubes in the garage and also the 4 fluoresecent tubes in the kitchen with LED tubes plus we had to fix the thermostat in the livingroom because the batteries pooped out and the newer ones didn't quite reach the contacts, which had corroded. Long story.

Tomorrow I edge the lawn and cut down some large elephant ears that just sprang up (I sure didn't plant them!) and rake out the new flower garden. And then we put in the last two upper shelves. Maybe the brackets for the workbench too. And then I say fuckit and lay down and read a stupid woman's magazine!

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

#WEARAMASK

SIGNYM

Friday, June 12, 2020 1:54 PM

Also, I harvested my very first "crop" from the garden, which was beet greens (from thinning), and parsley for the tomato salad. In the coming week it wll be basil for chicken parmagiana and pork tenderloin stir fry with basil and Thai red curry sauce. By late next week the zucchini will be ready to pick!

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

#WEARAMASK

1KIKI

Friday, June 12, 2020 2:23 PM

I ... uh ... went grocery shopping today and ran a bunch of errands ... what I was going to do a couple of days ago when I discovered the gas tank leak ... and then when I got home the heat just knocked me out and I slept a fair bit of the evening.

FIRST PAGE PREV PAGE 454 455 456 457 458 459 460 461 462 463 NEXT PAGE LAST PAGE