Ghetto Tech
04-13-2004, 06:53 PM
#1
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Ghetto Tech
Just for fun, I'm curious to hear people's stories about situations where some particular tool was needed to get a job done on a car, but some totally weird solution was used to arrive at the same results. I'm not talking about putting your car together with duct tape and baling wire, I'm talking about replacing a TOOL with duct tape and baling wire or something that was not intended for the job. The more "off the wall" the better... 
I'll go first with a couple of examples:
1) Ghetto Tach: Use frequency counter on my multimeter attached to both ends of a piece of thin wire which is wrapped a few turns around two plug wires, where those two cylinders are 360º apart in the firing order. RPM is then indicated freq X 60. Going to the coil wire on a 6 gives a reading that is 1/20 of the RPM. Coil wire on an 8 cyl will indicate 1/15 of true RPM.
2) Ghetto MityVac: When troubleshooting your 928 HVAC looking for ruptured diaphraghms, you don't necessarily need a MityVac to look for gross leaks if you have vacuum locks(I have a MityVac, but was lazy on this day). First, I established that my vac locks work after parking the car for a few days. OK, reservoir & most lines up to control head check out based on this observation. Now, move HVAC control to each position & leave there for a couple of minutes each time, verify that vac locks still work. A ruptured diaphraghm anywhere along the way should have killed my vac locks...
3) Ghetto Flashlight(disco style): One night, while working on my truck, it was running and I was tweaking my idle settings on the carb. There was a power failure in the neighborhood, taking out my drop light, and in the confusion I dropped my flashlight in the engine bay. My timing light was nearby, so I clipped it to the coil wire to get more flashes per second and used it as a flashlight...
Should be interesting to see what people come up with!
I'll go first with a couple of examples:
1) Ghetto Tach: Use frequency counter on my multimeter attached to both ends of a piece of thin wire which is wrapped a few turns around two plug wires, where those two cylinders are 360º apart in the firing order. RPM is then indicated freq X 60. Going to the coil wire on a 6 gives a reading that is 1/20 of the RPM. Coil wire on an 8 cyl will indicate 1/15 of true RPM.
2) Ghetto MityVac: When troubleshooting your 928 HVAC looking for ruptured diaphraghms, you don't necessarily need a MityVac to look for gross leaks if you have vacuum locks(I have a MityVac, but was lazy on this day). First, I established that my vac locks work after parking the car for a few days. OK, reservoir & most lines up to control head check out based on this observation. Now, move HVAC control to each position & leave there for a couple of minutes each time, verify that vac locks still work. A ruptured diaphraghm anywhere along the way should have killed my vac locks...
3) Ghetto Flashlight(disco style): One night, while working on my truck, it was running and I was tweaking my idle settings on the carb. There was a power failure in the neighborhood, taking out my drop light, and in the confusion I dropped my flashlight in the engine bay. My timing light was nearby, so I clipped it to the coil wire to get more flashes per second and used it as a flashlight...
Should be interesting to see what people come up with!
04-13-2004, 07:13 PM
#2
Nordschleife Master
I was looking for a way to see if the motor would max out the AFM guage, and if so, at what rpm and WOT.
So I pulled the AFM a part, adjusted the bail on the potential meter so that when the AFM maxed out, it fell off the carbon fiber backing, and killed the signal to the brain. When I would max the AFM out, the injectors would cut out completely.
Well, I maxed the AFM out, but right at 5,500 rpm, not the 3,000 rpm that I was told. 5,500 is at peak horse power for the engine.
So I pulled the AFM a part, adjusted the bail on the potential meter so that when the AFM maxed out, it fell off the carbon fiber backing, and killed the signal to the brain. When I would max the AFM out, the injectors would cut out completely.
Well, I maxed the AFM out, but right at 5,500 rpm, not the 3,000 rpm that I was told. 5,500 is at peak horse power for the engine.
04-13-2004, 07:22 PM
#3
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Oh boy, where to begin...
I am the son of a free-spirited career factory-maintenance man. Since early childhood I was trained that the right tool -and most replacement parts- for any job must be found in your scrap things collection. Since then I have sorta grown up and developed a taste for fine tools, but old habits die hard:
I have a "hammer" that I use to knock off rusted-to-the-hub wheels. It's an old mailbox post.
For years before obtaining Air Power, my impact screwdriver was a hammer, a heavy screwdriver, and a trusted friend. Did several Honda brake rotors this way.
I have used "mommy's screwdriver" - a butter knife - and not been ashamed. I think there's still one in the bottom of my toolbox.
I am in the process of making my own one-man brake bleeding kit from an old mayonaise jar, some ancient plumbing things (I inherited my grandfather's nuts/bolts/junk collection, and he ran a fruit farm) and some tubing I found.
Last week in the midst of my 928's t-belt job, I came to the point where you simply wiggle off the harmonic damper. Nope - it's firmly rusted to the nose of the crank. I fabricated my own puller by modifying a cheap steering-wheel puller I got at a flea market some years ago. I dwelved into my dumpster-rescued box of various chunks of alumninum with many odd slots, holes, angle bends, and allen-head cap screws, and came up with enough pieces-parts to put pressure on the damper while I beat it with a deadblow. It came off.
I am the son of a free-spirited career factory-maintenance man. Since early childhood I was trained that the right tool -and most replacement parts- for any job must be found in your scrap things collection. Since then I have sorta grown up and developed a taste for fine tools, but old habits die hard:
I have a "hammer" that I use to knock off rusted-to-the-hub wheels. It's an old mailbox post.
For years before obtaining Air Power, my impact screwdriver was a hammer, a heavy screwdriver, and a trusted friend. Did several Honda brake rotors this way.
I have used "mommy's screwdriver" - a butter knife - and not been ashamed. I think there's still one in the bottom of my toolbox.
I am in the process of making my own one-man brake bleeding kit from an old mayonaise jar, some ancient plumbing things (I inherited my grandfather's nuts/bolts/junk collection, and he ran a fruit farm) and some tubing I found.
Last week in the midst of my 928's t-belt job, I came to the point where you simply wiggle off the harmonic damper. Nope - it's firmly rusted to the nose of the crank. I fabricated my own puller by modifying a cheap steering-wheel puller I got at a flea market some years ago. I dwelved into my dumpster-rescued box of various chunks of alumninum with many odd slots, holes, angle bends, and allen-head cap screws, and came up with enough pieces-parts to put pressure on the damper while I beat it with a deadblow. It came off.
04-13-2004, 10:46 PM
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Re: Ghetto Tech
Originally posted by SharkSkin
Going to the coil wire on ... an 8 cyl will indicate 1/15 of true RPM.
Going to the coil wire on ... an 8 cyl will indicate 1/15 of true RPM.
...and divided by two on the dual-coil cars...
04-13-2004, 10:57 PM
#5
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Re: Ghetto Tech
Originally posted by SharkSkin
1) Ghetto Tach: Use frequency counter on my multimeter attached to both ends of a piece of thin wire which is wrapped a few turns around two plug wires, where those two cylinders are 360º apart in the firing order.[/B]
1) Ghetto Tach: Use frequency counter on my multimeter attached to both ends of a piece of thin wire which is wrapped a few turns around two plug wires, where those two cylinders are 360º apart in the firing order.[/B]
04-14-2004, 12:20 AM
#6
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In 2000, I spent a weekend in Cork, Ireland.
We flew the 727 in on Friday night, spent the weekend, then went to the airport at 10 PM Monday night to fly to Brussels. Problem: Our 727 suddenly had a leaking hydraulic line in the right main gear well.
A formed Boeing part, it couldn't be patched or fabricated. It had to have a part. Nearest part: Dallas, Texas, according to my airline's Maintenance Control desk.
Ok..."Go back to the hotel, plan on being there at least two days"
Notions of Guiness beer in the lobby swirled through my mind as Aer Lingus parked an Airbus on the ramp in front of my leaky airplane. Their technician showed up and started to to an inspection....
I walked down there and asked him "Hey man, you think you could come look at something for me on that three-holer over there?"
A minute or two later: "Ahh yeah..that would be a Boeing part. Yer gonna need to get one".
Me: "Damn.... Well, if this was my Porsche, I'd find a way to rig it just to get it home"
Him: "Well...I'd just pull some flexible hydraulic hose out of the crib to get it to Dublin if it was one of ours"
Me: "WHAT! What....what are you WAITING for! You got this stuff?"
Him "Ah yeah...we got enough I think"
I call Maintenance Control in Dallas: "Oh....that's...that's a really good idea! You ought to have him do it!"
::Sound of Normy banging his head against the wall, phone in hand::
Now not only am I doing MY job along with my worthless First Officers', and our equally worthless Dispatchers' who never got our flight plans right...but now I'm fixing planes for Maintenance Control. They aren't paying me enough for this sh*t!
Well, we made it to Brussels about 5 hours late. They used the plane for two days until the part came. I figured out later that if I had not tried to fix this problem, the down time on the airplane would have cost the company over $100,000- approximately my yearly salary at the time. Their appreciation: They put a letter in my file because I failed to fill out the maintenance logbook properly-
That company went out of business at the end of 2001; I wonder why~
Normy!
'85 S2 5 Speed
We flew the 727 in on Friday night, spent the weekend, then went to the airport at 10 PM Monday night to fly to Brussels. Problem: Our 727 suddenly had a leaking hydraulic line in the right main gear well.
A formed Boeing part, it couldn't be patched or fabricated. It had to have a part. Nearest part: Dallas, Texas, according to my airline's Maintenance Control desk.
Ok..."Go back to the hotel, plan on being there at least two days"
Notions of Guiness beer in the lobby swirled through my mind as Aer Lingus parked an Airbus on the ramp in front of my leaky airplane. Their technician showed up and started to to an inspection....
I walked down there and asked him "Hey man, you think you could come look at something for me on that three-holer over there?"
A minute or two later: "Ahh yeah..that would be a Boeing part. Yer gonna need to get one".
Me: "Damn.... Well, if this was my Porsche, I'd find a way to rig it just to get it home"
Him: "Well...I'd just pull some flexible hydraulic hose out of the crib to get it to Dublin if it was one of ours"
Me: "WHAT! What....what are you WAITING for! You got this stuff?"
Him "Ah yeah...we got enough I think"
I call Maintenance Control in Dallas: "Oh....that's...that's a really good idea! You ought to have him do it!"
::Sound of Normy banging his head against the wall, phone in hand::
Now not only am I doing MY job along with my worthless First Officers', and our equally worthless Dispatchers' who never got our flight plans right...but now I'm fixing planes for Maintenance Control. They aren't paying me enough for this sh*t!
Well, we made it to Brussels about 5 hours late. They used the plane for two days until the part came. I figured out later that if I had not tried to fix this problem, the down time on the airplane would have cost the company over $100,000- approximately my yearly salary at the time. Their appreciation: They put a letter in my file because I failed to fill out the maintenance logbook properly-
That company went out of business at the end of 2001; I wonder why~
Normy!
'85 S2 5 Speed
04-14-2004, 12:57 AM
#7
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Their appreciation: They put a letter in my file because I failed to fill out the maintenance logbook properly-
I have 4 rules to the way i approach my job and management.
1) speak when spoken to. (then only with representation sitting next to you and digital voice recorder in your pocket)
2) Fly when asked, no volunteering.
3) Maximum pay with maximum time off.
4) Come to work, do my job safely and professionally, go home and hang up the hat until next time.
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04-14-2004, 01:20 AM
#8
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OK. Taking the AFM out of a pre '87 requires a tool that I can't seem to envision. It takes a socket that is actually too shallow to snap onto the rachet. Go figure. Anyway it's an 11 mm socket but if you put it on the bolts that hold the AFM to the airbox, you can't put a rachcet on. so I had to use a piar of vice grips to torque the socket to turn the boldts.
It's silly I know, and I'm sure smeone here knows what I did wrong, but at least I can always tell the 11 mm socket because it has all the scratches on it! - Ruf
It's silly I know, and I'm sure smeone here knows what I did wrong, but at least I can always tell the 11 mm socket because it has all the scratches on it! - Ruf
04-14-2004, 01:33 AM
#9
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Re: Re: Ghetto Tech
Very creative, guys! It seems a little remedial math may be in order though...
OK, 4 cycle engine, right? Any given plug fires ONCE per TWO rotations of the crank. 720º degrees between sparks for each cylinder. So, two cylinders 360º apart(or as close as you can manage) gives you an average of one pulse per crank revolution[edit]-remove-per minute.-remove-[/edit].
Note that frequency is measured in Hz, Hertz, Cycles per SECOND. A motor turning 6,000 rpm is also turning at 100 revolutions per second. As I said, for this setup, indicated freq X 60 = RPM.
Connecting the Freq counter on the coil wire of a conventional 8 cylinder ignition will yield 4 pulses per revolution, true... but at 6,000 rpm that is 24,000 pulses per minute. Divide pulses per minute by 60 and you have 400 cycles per second, 400Hz. This number, read from the frequency counter, must be multiplied by 15 to arrive at the value of 6,000rpm. That's why I said it would indicate 1/15 of true RPM. You can see now how I arrived at the 20x multiplier for the 6 cylinder.
Thanks all, for sharing... glad to hear I'm not the only one who has to make do without all the factory tools...
Originally posted by MBMB
If two cylinders are 360º apart in the firing order, don't they fire at the same time?
If two cylinders are 360º apart in the firing order, don't they fire at the same time?
OK, 4 cycle engine, right? Any given plug fires ONCE per TWO rotations of the crank. 720º degrees between sparks for each cylinder. So, two cylinders 360º apart(or as close as you can manage) gives you an average of one pulse per crank revolution[edit]-remove-per minute.-remove-[/edit].
Originally posted by Old & New
If each plug fires every second revolution, then I would expect four pulses per revolution, and the frequency divided by four to equal the rpm.
...and divided by two on the dual-coil cars...
If each plug fires every second revolution, then I would expect four pulses per revolution, and the frequency divided by four to equal the rpm.
...and divided by two on the dual-coil cars...
Note that frequency is measured in Hz, Hertz, Cycles per SECOND. A motor turning 6,000 rpm is also turning at 100 revolutions per second. As I said, for this setup, indicated freq X 60 = RPM.Connecting the Freq counter on the coil wire of a conventional 8 cylinder ignition will yield 4 pulses per revolution, true... but at 6,000 rpm that is 24,000 pulses per minute. Divide pulses per minute by 60 and you have 400 cycles per second, 400Hz. This number, read from the frequency counter, must be multiplied by 15 to arrive at the value of 6,000rpm. That's why I said it would indicate 1/15 of true RPM. You can see now how I arrived at the 20x multiplier for the 6 cylinder.
Thanks all, for sharing... glad to hear I'm not the only one who has to make do without all the factory tools...
Last edited by SharkSkin; 04-14-2004 at 02:30 AM.
04-14-2004, 01:52 AM
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Re: Re: Re: Ghetto Tech
Doh! 
Originally posted by SharkSkin
Very creative, guys! It seems a little remedial math may be in order though...
OK, 4 cycle engine, right? Any given plug fires ONCE per TWO rotations of the crank. 720º degrees between sparks for each cylinder. So, two cylinders 360º apart(or as close as you can manage) gives you an average of one pulse per crank revolution per minute.
Very creative, guys! It seems a little remedial math may be in order though...
OK, 4 cycle engine, right? Any given plug fires ONCE per TWO rotations of the crank. 720º degrees between sparks for each cylinder. So, two cylinders 360º apart(or as close as you can manage) gives you an average of one pulse per crank revolution per minute.
04-14-2004, 02:08 AM
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Yeah, I know all the above Tony! But there I go trying to be a nice guy again. Of course, when you are a "nice" guy you wind up finishing last. Yeah, but when you're last at least you get to check out everyone's butt-
Tony, you work for a real company where you don't need to figure out how to "rig" a 727 in order to keep the place in business...be glad, and fly safe!
N!
Tony, you work for a real company where you don't need to figure out how to "rig" a 727 in order to keep the place in business...be glad, and fly safe!
N!
