Skip

I reserve this time for a personal reflection [if you have a moment]:

After offering advice on a quantum of automotive problem areas, I must confess of my own. While it is nice to understand with great detail the car in which I travel, I sometimes wonder if I'm better off not knowing...

An example of the positive: We pull up to an intersection after running it hard in the outback of British Columbia. As I pull out to the left, the wife and I hear a screeching noise from the front of the car. My internal gears start turning as I look to my wife and view the beginnings of horror on her face. The conclusion is quick and steady as I hastily pull off to the right shoulder. At the moment I put the car in reverse I start to explain to my passenger what could cause such a menacing sound. "You see dearest," I say with conviction, "we've gathered a small stone in-between the front right rotor and the dust shield behind it. It seems our tires were hot enough to have chucked this pebble as we crossed the intersection." Almost instantly, the horror turns to a smirk. I must assume this is the look I get when being the preverbal *know-it-all*. Unfettered, I continue with my iteration. "All we need to do is back up a bit to allow the stone to drop out." I do, and, it does. While she chucks me an endearing smile, I sense it is not fully sincere. With that, we return to our romp back to the village. Conclusion: in this case I am able to overcome a troubling noise without cause to worry or even debark the vehicle.

An example of the neutral: I and a copilot friend, on the way to Ace to pick up some stainless hardware, were slowing to a stop. The stereo off so we may converse but our conversation in a lull, I hear a slight “tick, tick, tick…” as we decelerate. Without hesitation or apprehension I dictate the cause of such noise to be a right side CV joint in need of service. While I am not so adept to know if it actually needs replacement or simply a good staring at, I am quite certain of the need to abate this nuisance quickly. Conclusion: in this case I cannot react to the threat immediately, but do know what course of action is needed. Thus, I can most certainly avoid any further damage or mayhem as a result of such issues.

An example of the negative: Whilst taking a particularly long and fast sweeping right hand corner during autocross, the engine takes a slight bobble, oil pressure drops a bit, and I can feel a slight loss of power. Everything returns to normal in just a moment. The co-driver eerily comments, “That was strange”. I agree, but say nothing. The car continues to hold steady for the remainder of the run. Pulling in to the paddock area I hear a “tick-conk, tick-conk, tick…”. In shock and horror I have the unfortunate pleasure of knowing that sound coupled with the indicators while on course can mean only one thing. Conclusion: This conclusion is a bit premeditated, but none the less relevant. You see, this is the unfortunate time when I know for certain that I am truly screwed, but sincerely wish I was none the wiser.

If I embellished, so be it… If I bored you, so be it… If I warned you, so be it also… be careful what you wish for.

Skip (hoping to confuse you at every turn, I must win the race of life)

Dan in Pasadena

Reflect away Skippy! It's entertaining to know I'm not the only one

Thaddeus

Oil starvation, huh? Ouch.

Mike B

Intellectually stimulating Skip...

and I also wonder, "If a tree falls in the forest and nobody is there to hear it...Does it make a sound"

Mike (Ahhh grasshopper...If you can ****** a pebble from my hand...)

Skip

Elementary, my dear Watson... sound requires a source, medium, and sensor. Without one or more of these, there is no sound. So no, it produces no sound without a sensor. The same is true of fire.

Next?

Lemon Yellow 87 n/a

My conclusion is that yes, the tree makes a sound. Kinetic energy is transfered to sound (auditory/acoustic?) energy. There is simply no one there to receive the resulting sound waves, which travel and eventually dissipate. Now the real question is; which came first, the chicken or the egg?

belz

Skip ... you ok?
I'm starting to worry about you ....

Skip

[digs deeper]... Why, the egg of course. The first chicken was a mutation of two other forms of life. These forms of life each gave off their needed pieces of life to form a new, which in turn mutated during gestation to form the chicken... which was hatched from an egg.

[EDIT] After further study: This predicates you believe life begins at birth. If not, and you believe life begin anywhere from the zygote to the embryo, then the chicken came first.

Next?

Lemon Yellow 87 n/a

touche.

adrial

Which came first, the piston or the block?

Hans

The tale goes that Archimedes was playing in the bath with a pen, putting it back in the holder that had a small hole.
This led to the invention of the piston pump.

Conclusion must be that the piston was first...
Although on Friday you may think different about either the tale or the conclusion..
Take Care

Geo

I know only too well what you mean.

The one that gets me is knowing the car so well, that when something changes, even ever so slightly, I notice it and wonder if I have a problem (especially bad when over an hour from home). I love turning to my wife and asking do you hear/feel that? Hear/feel what? is the response. Sometimes ignorance it bliss.

PrerYDoG

Originally posted by Lemon Yellow 87 n/a:
Now the real question is; which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Actually Lemon, they both came at the same time, because if the chicken was born, it was born with an egg, and if the egg came first, it had the chicken in it.

And I too wish I was ignorant of my car(s). I was driving the Buick on X-mas day with my g/f in it to her parents house. As I was turning onto her parents road I looked at my girlfriend and said "did you feel that?" She said "feel what?". I pointed out that the car was moving and turning slugishly, but played it off as my nausea of going to another X-mas meal. Well, a mile down the road, turning into her parents drive way, the car stalled. Haven't figured out that one yet, but I think it's an electrical problem.

Matt O.

This is too much. I'm here in the library at ECU and I had to control myself from laughing outloud. HAHAHA.

Skip, I've got a question. My car is making some funny noises. It sounds ok around 1 or 2k RPM, but when I get up to 4 or 5 or 6 it's much louder, almost like a high RPM revving noise? What gives?

Thanks in advance oh omniscient guru of the water-cooled "bastard" P-car. =) =)

-Matt

Schneider

Actually, I think the piston and block question can be traced back to Adam and Eve, if you catch my drift... And if I'm not mistaken, that would mean the piston came first.

OK, sorry I turned this down the wrong road. But that's the first thing I thought of.