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unstable -> RE: Time to pay the piper...Cruise Control (5/14/2008 10:22:33 AM)
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@bigun
Nice story...I think I've tried both ways and it's not working...I'll double check it to make sure. Luckily I've got another 9 years before I have to worry about having a child on the road.
As far as the idiot of the month award...I told Disco Mike about it on the phone, but I've been soooo damn ashamed that I haven't dared to post a couple of my misfortunate adventures. Now is as good of a time as any, especially since the title of the thread pertains to cruise control, it may go un-noticed and I can confess and rid myself of the guilt of being a complete moron.
Transmission Service
So I'm doing the transmission filter etc. and by the time I get the filter back up into place and I'm ready to do the pan, the day is almost complete and the sun is setting. My lovely wife comes outside to ask how everything is going...after all, the Disco is her truck. I reply by telling her that life just became a little difficult because I cannot see to put the pan back into place. She offers to get me a light. 5 minutes pass by and she comes back outside with a broken shoplight. The light itself is hosed...I don't even know why I continue to keep it around because it will not work. She is complaining that she cannot get the light to work and I explain that it is broken and that we just purchased a new one that is down in the basement....5-10 minutes goes by and she comes back out empty-handed. She then goes to our other vehicle and pulls out an emergency light that plugs into the cigarette lighter and attempts to plug it into the disco. I tell her that she can't do that because it will drain the battery dead as the truck is not running! She replies by saying "you're a $uck$%' a$$hole!"...and she runs inside.
I go inside myself, immediately locate the shoplight and get back to work installing the pan. I get the pan up and it is now time to add fluid. I had purchased a handy-dandy hand-pump from wally world. The tubes that came with the pump were actually nice and thick so when I shoved one end into the fill hole it was a tight fit...good and bad. I pump in about 6 quarts of ATF and I begin wondering how much more the system will take. So I run inside and check the workshop manual...it says roughly 10 quarts if the system is dry...which isn't especially insightful because unless it's a brand new transmission it's not going to be dry. All sorts of fluid remains in the torque convertor and the transmission valve body etc. I go back outside and keep pumping...I think I probably pumped in 8.5 quarts before the tube in the fill hole was experiencing enough back pressure to BLOW OUT and start purging all sorts of fluid everywhere. I scrambled to catch it. After it finally calmed down, I was covered in ATF and I looked like I had been axe murdered. I got my wife, who not 30 minutes earlier was calling me every name in the book for no apparent reason...and I asked her to start the truck and move through the gears and then put it back into park. She did this and then I had to muster up the intestinal fortitude to climb under the truck while it was running and a pi$$ed off woman was at the wheel. I pull the fill plug out and begin pumping fluid. I pump in a bunch and then I got a fine little bead of fluid coming out of the fill hole...my wife is antsy to get back inside so I tell her to go ahead and shut of the truck and leave...except I forgot to put the plug back in and...yes, all sorts of fluid poured back out. So I had to go through the entire motion once again.
but that is NOTHING compared to the next bout of foolishness.
I decide to have the front driveshaft rebuilt. I'm not even going to do it myself, so how bad can it be? 8 bolts to remove it...what could go wrong?
So I climb under the truck, I'm able to get the three front bolts off but one of the bolts is in such a position that I can't get it ALL THE WAY OFF. It's hanging by a thread...so in order to facilitate the removal of the shaft, I again ask my trustworthy, albeit sometimes pi$$y but always lovely WIFE to back the truck up just a little so the shaft will spin and I can get a better angle on that bolt.
DUMB DUMB DUMB. WARNING IDIOT ON BOARD.
Yeah, that bolt hanging by a thread was swiftly removed when the transfer case engaged the front shaft. The shaft began a viscious rotation of knocking into any obstructions in its path. We shut the truck down immediately...and my heart sank because I knew, I just knew what I had done and I still feel ashamed of it. I feared the worse. I expected to see all sorts of holes in oil pans and broken housings and...the worst.
When I climbed under the truck...no damage to speak of thank god...that could have really sucked. I've been trying to use my brain a little more lately and think these stupid things through before I do them. Then at least I won't be upset with myself for failing to think about the consequences.
please don't let stupidity happen to you!...also, if anyone has any insight on cruise control that would be cool.
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