Im So Tired, Tired Of Waiting

I know, the title is lyrics from a popular song. Have you not been following along, a number of titles reflect song titles or lyrics.

Anyway, I had a starter go out on my ATV. I did some troubleshooting and saw power at the relay but not at the starter. I ordered a replacement starter and when I went to swap it out, the starter has what looks like a power wire coming out of it and the replacement has a different terminal. I still have time to send the starter back for a refund, but other issues have kept me from doing that yet. The ATV is in a bad location for me to get at the starter to remove it. If I could only start the ATV to move it…

Then I had tire issues on the tractor. I had the front tires replaced but one rim had issues. The tires are very narrow for the rims but are supposed to fit. After days of investigations, the local auto shop was able to mount them. I also found that some of the bolts which hold the engine to the frame were missing. I found local bolts but they don’t have a collar on them and they were also very expensive. I was able to order the correct bolts and they arrived at the Post Office today. However I have been unable to use the truck for the past few days.

The truck has been having a misfire in cylinder 6 and I was ready to investigate that (perhaps a bad spark plug or wire) but then I saw an engine overheat warning come up. I was low on engine coolant and filled it up, and used the OBD (OnBoard Diagnostic) adapter to watch the live temperature of the engine and it kept rising. That can be caused by a bad fuel pump, a bad ETC (Engine Temperature Control) module or a bad thermostat among other causes. A current way to check if the radiator thermostat is stuck closed (in this scenario) is to use a temperature scanner which you point at an object and read the temperature. In the case of a vehicle thermostat, if it is open, there should be little to no difference temperature difference between the input side and output side of the thermostat. Since I don’t have one of these, I used the old and free method. Carefully I checked the output hose from the thermostat and it was not hot, pretty much telling me that it was stuck closed. I bought a new one and had to but a gasket for it which was not included. Putting that round gasket on the thermostat housing took over 20 minutes as it is a tight fit and difficult for one person to do. At this point I have the thing back in place and did a quick test and it looks as though the engine temperature may be correct now, but just at that point in the test it started raing and I had t ostop. Tomorrow I’ll do a long test and perhaps drive some as a test. I have t omake sure that there is not a coolant leak before I get out on the open road, since the radiator was quite low and I didn’t notice any steam. At least I know the thermostat will not be the problem.

When I removed the air handler housing to make the above repair, I also noticed that the throttle body is quite dirty. This is the input to the engine after the air filter. I bought some throttle body cleaner and the flapper is moving smoothly, but I want to clean the inside batter, but did not have the time today.

I got a ride to the church and was able to use that vehicle to get the car parts today. I had recently re-keyed a lock but could not check out if this persons key would work and they aid they would check it later. I took that vehicle to NAPAand when I got there I got the call that their key was not working. I headed to the church, fixed that problem and drove home to work on the truck.

Even though there were a few missing bolts on the tractor, the others are torqued tightly and I was able to do lots of mowing on the farm. I have about 40% cut and hope, with no rain in the morning to cut another 30%. We have been getting lots of overcast and some rain after noon and that keeps me from working late. Even if I get up early I have to wake up fully and eat something. Oftentimes I am not ready to mow until 10am and then may only get a couple hours in before the rain.

I am awaiting the crew to come to weedwhack the farm so I can put the weedkiller down I am mowing all the rows and leaving the area around each tree. The guys will whack the grass left around each tree and not have to do the larger areas. It is just that the tractor can only get so close to the trees. Personally, I cannot do the weeding myself.

I have a reasonable amount of green beans growing on the coffee trees I have left. Soon I’ll have them picked and will use some to propogate trees to fill in where I lost trees. Based upon the remaining amount I may actually have the rest roasted. It would be great to have my own coffee again for breakfast.

My power bill is up considerably (it’s still less than it was before the solar install) and that overcast and rain are part of the issue. The other overriding problem is the Lahaina Noon. Near the tropics we have a situation as the earth tilts that for a couple months, the sun is acually north of us mid day. During that period, in fact on two days, the sun, at noon, is exactly overhead and thus a flagpole, fencepost or even a person will cast no shadow because the sun is directly overhead. My solar panels are still lointed towards the southern sky and because I can’t yet adjust their angle, I am not getting much sun at all. I have cut some grass and tree limbs away so they won’t shade the panels, but the angle is my biggest issue. As you can see based upon the above issues, I have so many things happening that I have just put the panels on the back burner. I have what I think are all the parts I need, I just need time.

A week or so ago I helped install some wifi at a farm and will probably be back there this coming week to help finish.

I have been asked to help a neighbor buy a vehicle but I don’t think he understands that that is not just like a trip to Costco but rather an all day or multi-day event and used vehiles of the type he wants are $25,000 and up and new start at $35,000 and up. He seems to be under the impression that he can go into a dealer and get a vehicle AND get a good deal from the dealer without any prep work. I also will tell him to NEVER mention that he could pay by cash because that will cost him lots more.

I would love to head to the volcano (a few hours each way) to see the latest lava fountains. The other day the fountain was estimated to be 1,000 feet tall! I have only seen flowing lava and slowly at that. A fountain would be great. There are live feeds of Kilauea Volcano on Youtube but that can’t compare to being there in person.

Anyway, it is almost time for bed and tomorrow is yet another day.