mws

That would be a fantastic, and meaningful experiment. Blind experiments are infinitely more valid than biased. Better yet is double blind, but it would take more effort. And to improve validity, repeat the experiment. Repeatedly. One tank with, one tank without, one tank with, one tank without, etc. After 3 or 4 repetitions, you can start making some valid conclusions. I have some statistical software (and knowledge on how to use it) and would be quite willing to run the numbers for you. MS

I haven't actually installed this one yet, but I have removed and installed many while working on the various pathies in the family. Very straightforward once you find all the bolts. To be legal and environmentally responsible, you should bring the truck to the shop and have them remove and capture the existing freon. Then you can do the compressor and drier swap. Normally, you will want to evacuate and fill with freon immediately after installing the new parts, but if the humidity is very low it is not so critical.

I hear banjos...

My words of wisdom: 1) Get the system sealed up really well and stick to R-12. I believe the '87 came with barrier hoses, so if you get it sealed it will stay charged for many years. In AZ, you need all the cooling capacity you can get. With a new compressor and a thoroughly cleaned system you can swap to R134a, but you will be stuck with the reduced cooling efficiency. 2) Don't even consider a rebuilt compressor unless you personally know and trust the rebuilder. Like alternators, most "rebuilds" are now done by untrained children in Mexico. Complete waste of money. 3) I just ordered a brand new compressor and receiver/dryer from these guys: http://www.discountacparts.com/ and paid $426.78 delivered.

A lot of the TBI'd pathies have this problem. Mine does. I sneak it through by turning the idle speed up a bit. Just 50 rpm above the recommended idle speed does it for me! I use a smog tech I know, and have him hook it up and I just turn the idle speed up in tiny increments until the HC reading plummets - just a few rpm makes a huge difference. Haven't figured out why yet....

Ahhh, you speak with newfound wisdom, grasshopper. A little inside information: The batteries that Exide makes for Wal-Mart are of significantly poorer design, materials, and quality than those they make for others. Upon Satan-Marts request. After all, the only thing that matters is price, right? Exide makes at least 4 quality levels of battery, with Satan-Marts version at the bottom, and the ones labeled Bosch/NASCRAP Extreme/Exide Marathon at the top. The Autozone Dura-Last is about a level 3, not quite the best, but way better than the really cheap ones.

'89 Pathfinder, 4x4? You can tow it with the rear tires down, driveshaft connected and transfer case in NEUTRAL. In fact, you can even tow it with all 4 down with the TC in neutral. Although Nissan's official position is "no", there are pathies around that have been towed behind motor homes for many, many thousands of miles with no issues.

Easy? No. Doable at home? Yes. If your are using an aftermarket manual, keep in mind one of them (Chilton or Haynes) is wrong in defining where the thermostat is. It is where 88 described.

You'll lose. If you do ANYTHING that is different from the factory that "may" affect emissions and it does not have CARB EO paid for and assigned, it is illegal. You can try to fight, but if there is a piece of equipment that is not factory stock or does not have an EO, you will lose 99% of the time. Hence, the whole Frankenvan scenario. The fuel injection system I installed on the '79 was illegal because it did not have an EO. The 90%+ reduction in emissions was considered irrelevant.

You can install a remote oil filter and use the relatively giant and quite standard Ford filters.... They would have more than enough filtering capacity to allow for a long change interval, and you can get pretty much any filter made in that Ford size.

Please don't use gas soaked rags. Modern gasoline is an incredibly toxic carcinogen! It contains bad stuff that will be absorbed into your skin. Use kerosene, brake cleaner, lacquer thinner, pretty much anything you can get at hardware or auto parts store rather than gas.

IF (and only if) the frame is reasonably rust free AND you can do the wrench spinning yourself, then heck ya! Offer $600 and enjoy! But if you have to pay someone else to do the work, no.

Highly unusual - this is the first I've heard of it happening. When you replace them, use factory rubber bushings. Polyurethane bushings have very little "give" to them so will dramatically increase the peak dynamic loads the suspension members see. Over millions of jarring impacts, the metal will fatigue. There is pretty considerable design safety factor in the stock arms, but it would appear to not be enough to let you use poly bushings AND drive on a lot of rough roads. Eliminate one of those stress factors and you should be back in durable/safe zone.

You may also have to remove at least one of the torsion bars to get the front diff out. I did.

But any increase in alternator output WILL cause increase in engine load. More than the extra fuel will return. That is the crux of the issue - How to get more energy out than you put in?

Technically feasible, but financially burdensome at this time. It would take millions of wind generators or millions of acres of photo cells to meet needs of US. Several orders of magnitude more expensive than burning fossil fuels at this time. I mean, we're talking the kind of money Georgey is spending in Iraq!!! Oh, if only.... Covering the entire Prius with solar cells wouldn't meet 1% of the needs of the car. That is the challenge - getting the energy density necessary. It'll help recharge, but getting 1 minute of driving for every 4 hours of charging isn't going to meet the needs. Another example: A house COMPLETELY covered in solar cells, in direct sunlight, would still not be able to generate enough electricity to run the A/C to keep it cool. Where the sun is most intense, temps are high. So the system always needs to be supplemented. But that is a viable goal, to get every house covered in solar cells to reduce the amount of fossil fuel/nuclear. If everybody would just cough up the $30K -$200K necessary to do their home, we could be well on our way.... But most people would rather pay $100 month forever than $50K now. See the challenge? Great stuff being done in Spain: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6616651.stm But don't compare the cost per megawatt to a natural gas powerplant! The upfront costs are outrageous. And there is still a lot of maintenance and operating costs. Just to give an idea of scale dollars, it would take over 100 of these solar towers to equal the output of 1 nuke....

Hey now, don't be clouding the issue with facts! Yes, your statements are correct, but the best way to debunk these myths/fads/scams is to let honest, methodical, scientifically minded folks do the experiments themselves and publish their actual results. But don't let the fruit jar scam ruin your opinion of hydrogen as an automotive fuel source. Hydrogen IS viable and is being researched. One of the keys (as with ethanol) is the need to have a huge source of CHEAP electricity to power the production of the fuel. This is why many want to see a couple hundred new nuclear power plants be built in the US. It is working for Brazil and their nuclear/ethanol model. I believe Europe (especially France and Germany) have the potential to make hydrogen an option as they have dozens of nukes - but I'm not sure how much excess capacity they have. And how much more risk the citizens are willing to accept.

If 4wd models, the front pumpkin and suspension makes pulling the engine a bit of a pain. I wonder if it wouldn't be easier to just swap bodies?

Just scale that up about 20,000X and you're good to go!

Just be advised.... My new to me F250 came with Rancho 9K's. They're up for sale so I can get some decent shocks. God, I hate grossly over damped shocks! The compression damping on these is absurd!!! Yes, the 9K's have an adjuster, but it seems to affect only rebound damping - which is great for vehicles used for towing or carrying heavy loads. But I can't adjust the part they screwed up so badly... I'm going to try leaving the rears on for for now, but the fronts have got to go.

If the ground wire is showing 12 volts, that means it is not connected to ground. Follow that wire, somewhere it is broken or disconnected.

$: Got it for $8800. In outstanding mechanical condition, a little rough looking on the interior - all fixable. As far as gas consumption: Of course it sucks! So I only drive it when I need to - which is to tow our trailer. My thoughts on gas consumption and prices versus usage: If I care what it costs, I don't buy it. Carpool, ride my bike, motorcycle, bus, train, etc. If I want to buy it, I choose not to care what it costs. Lamenting over what it costs does absolutely nothing to change the situation, so why do it? I ride motorcycle or bicycle to work most of the time. If we want to take the trailer to camp, we're going to do it. We budget in for the fuel costs, and then choose not to care when I fill up. For the semi-annual Oregon Dunes trip, we are camping on the sand instead of at the KOA. That frees up a couple hundred bucks for gas. Back to the V10. It actually isn't so expensive to run if you keep your foot out of it. My colleague regularly gets 15-16 commuting to work (mostly highway). Not too far off from some Pathys. Around town, well, it is a tank. Most report 9-13 depending on weight of foot. Again, not too far off from Pathy. As far as towing, we've been getting 6-7 mpg using the '93 F350 dually with 460. Most report 8-10 using the V10. That will be a significant improvement! And the v10 will let me use one grade lower. Why didn't I get diesel? - Our trailer is modest, so we don't need the extra power. Gasser gets us over the Siskiyou grade at 55 just fine. - We don't tow that much, so the theoretical extra life span is irrelevant. Some V10's are over 300K and running strong. - In talking to honest folks, they are only getting about 20-25% better mpg than the V10 gasser. Diesel costs almost that much more in Cal, so not much savings to fill up. - Gassers are SUPER CHEAP right now! Like $5k less than a comparable condition diesel. That buys a LOT of gas!

What did I do? Picked up a used F250 Super Duty with a V10 Triton! They've dropped over 30% in value in just the last 6 months. Got mine for a song.

Note: I just modified the plunger/wiping contact in my pathy with 240K miles. The tip had worn down until it was completely flat. That resulted in the corners being sharp, and they scraped away the surface of the ring until it cut all the way through. Had to replace the ring, and I carefully filed and sanded the corners of the plunger to a nice smooth radius.

Yes, that schematic appears correct. The spring loaded copper wiping contact in the steering column should show 12 V. When this is connected to a ground (any ground), the relay will be energized and sound. But if the path to ground is compromised, no horn. Potential faults include: - copper wiping contact worn down - Spring broken or weak (not pushing firmly against ring) - Wiping surface ring on back of steering wheel corroded or worn through - broken wire within wheel - dirty/broken contacts on horn switch - bad ground path from steering wheel to column to chassis Good luck!