Fall13 Miles

Last week I finished up a could projects at Maritime including wrapping and installing the muffler pictured below. In the process of doing 10 wheel ends for my final, I learned how truck hubs with a spacer between the bearings in the hubs are preloaded. The front hubs on the Kenworth in the shop are equipped with them.

w:36
t:158

Foundation Brake Mastery Miles

Wheel bearing and brake tear down

Checking hub end play

The video:

Fall13 Miles

Last week, I was given the honor of doing some exhaust removal...... my favorite. The muffler on this Nordhavn rusted into two pieces at the top flange due to weather intrusion.  On this project, I observed a new setup (to me) to ventilate the engine room using two 12 volt blower motors and ducting to draw cool fresh air into the engine room and push warm air out of the exhaust shroud.  It requires more componentry than the "venturi exhaust system" that I am familiar with, but could be a better fit in many applications. 

w: 31

t: 122

After we cut the muffler off, I had to grind and punch out some seized fasteners.

Fall13 Miles

Last week, I refreshed my winterizing procedure (for boats) on a twin screw Bayliner. I also had the chance to familiarize myself with a 260 small block Chevy motor by removing the heads (had bad compression and leak down numbers) and inspecting them. I learned what "tuliped" valves look like and what causes them to warp.

w: 22
t: 91

Fall13 Miles

Las week, I finished doing my starting/charging tests. I now have a good grasp on how to check the starting/charging system on virtually any vehicle (except an electric or hybrid car). I developed a solid basic understanding of truck air brakes and how they work. I also started work at LaConner Maritime Service. Whether its learning cold hard facts or simply having the chance to familiarize my self with a new engine, it always happens there. Last week it was two 260 merc-cruisers. I was doing a compression test and found this beauty of a spark plug. It explains the "doggieness" the customer was talking about along with some bad compression numbers.

W: 28

T: 69

Fall13 Miles

Last week I continued to grasp the concept of testing a voltage drop between two points. It is easy to carry out the procedure but understanding why and what the readings actually mean has been a small struggle to wrap my head around. After doing a handful of starting charging tests, I established a solid understanding of what and how voltage drops are/work. I also got some time in using the Midtronics battery tester and witnessed how useful the tool is.

Hours:
W: 18
T: 41

Fall13 Miles

Last week was both a refresher and a great learning experience for me. I learned how to test amperage by hooking up a volt meter inline a circuit. I also learned how to diagnose parasitic load draws by using an amp-clamp and testing across a fuse. Overall it was a very informative first week of school

Hours: 23