Everybody's sick. Ariana's got some congestion and a fever. Hannah's also congested. Friday I was vomiting (I'm pretty sure I caught it from one of my patients). It was a personal best! Usually I only vomit once or twice in a day. This time I threw five times in seven hours! Yesterday my body ached from the muscle strain, just like it does when you exercise too much. Could I get six pack abs if I got sick more often? I'm not nauseous any more, now I'm just congested.
The weather's beautiful! Right now it's raining, and just a little earlier there was hail!
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Buggin' me
So, my Beetle failed emissions. They (the emission folks) gave me this handout that said my hydrocarbon output at idle was 4x what it should be. The pamphlet had a list of possible causes, including the ignition system. So I turned to the John Muir Hippie Beetle book, found the section on ignition systems and timing, and gave it a go.
I found the distributor. That was easy! Going good so far. As a side note, I just got a bunch of new shiny tools! Feelin' manly! I opened up the distributor. Hey, this is going really well!
Step 2: Pull the rotor off. Something in here comes apart!? It doesn't look like it does. I pulled on this black thing in the distributor. Nothing happened. OK, time to go to the index. Ah man! I got oil on my book! I knew it would happen eventually, but I was still disappointed. OK, page 9 has a picture. Nope, distributor is closed in that one. Page 234 has a picture. Same picture. Page 16 doesn't say it has a picture, but I'm running out of options. Aha! It does have a picture! Oh, the rotor is that black thing I tried to take off earlier. I tugged a little harder, and it came off.
Step 3: Stick a tool (feeler gage) between the points. It should be .016 inches. Its off! Eureka, I found the problem! The gap is only .013 inches now!
Step 4: Spend at least an hour pushing and pulling on the point to get it to the right gap width.
OK, the gap is finally correct. Turn the page.
Step 5: Confirm the point gap by making sure the dwell time was at 50 +/- 2. Right, I knew I would need the dwell meter. I ran upstairs, put the battery in it, started downstairs, and realized I didn't know how to use it. Ran back upstairs and got the instructions for the meter. This doesn't look too hard. Plug in a couple of probes, hook up the alligator clips. Good to go. I checked the dwell and it was at 45.
Back to taking apart the distributor. Double check the point gap. Hmm, point gap is good. Back to step 4 of pushing and pulling on the point, then recheck the dwell. I tinkered with it until the dwell was at 49.3. Ready for a scream and happy dance!
Just for future reference I rechecked the gap. It was at .013. I wish I had read the whole procedure before hand. I'm guessing my dwell time was already correct. Pity. Oh well, it was an educational 2-3 hours.
I found the distributor. That was easy! Going good so far. As a side note, I just got a bunch of new shiny tools! Feelin' manly! I opened up the distributor. Hey, this is going really well!
Step 2: Pull the rotor off. Something in here comes apart!? It doesn't look like it does. I pulled on this black thing in the distributor. Nothing happened. OK, time to go to the index. Ah man! I got oil on my book! I knew it would happen eventually, but I was still disappointed. OK, page 9 has a picture. Nope, distributor is closed in that one. Page 234 has a picture. Same picture. Page 16 doesn't say it has a picture, but I'm running out of options. Aha! It does have a picture! Oh, the rotor is that black thing I tried to take off earlier. I tugged a little harder, and it came off.
Step 3: Stick a tool (feeler gage) between the points. It should be .016 inches. Its off! Eureka, I found the problem! The gap is only .013 inches now!
Step 4: Spend at least an hour pushing and pulling on the point to get it to the right gap width.
OK, the gap is finally correct. Turn the page.
Step 5: Confirm the point gap by making sure the dwell time was at 50 +/- 2. Right, I knew I would need the dwell meter. I ran upstairs, put the battery in it, started downstairs, and realized I didn't know how to use it. Ran back upstairs and got the instructions for the meter. This doesn't look too hard. Plug in a couple of probes, hook up the alligator clips. Good to go. I checked the dwell and it was at 45.
Back to taking apart the distributor. Double check the point gap. Hmm, point gap is good. Back to step 4 of pushing and pulling on the point, then recheck the dwell. I tinkered with it until the dwell was at 49.3. Ready for a scream and happy dance!
Just for future reference I rechecked the gap. It was at .013. I wish I had read the whole procedure before hand. I'm guessing my dwell time was already correct. Pity. Oh well, it was an educational 2-3 hours.
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