Flares

This week I was able to learn about flaring brake and hydraulic tubing. I leaned to single flare and double flare. Next week will be spent perfecting each as well as bending my own tubing to fit a certain template.

Work hours:30
School hours:16

Day 37 Sheet

Couldn't Load Day 37 Sheet from my Remote Access at home but heres the answers... Ill load it up monday.

1. Lubrication, Extreme Pressure wear control, cleaning, protection, cooling, sealing, shock dampening, hydraulic actions, and additives.

2. Combustion byproducts, acids, varnish, sludge, abrasive, foreign material, fuel or coolant, environmental.

3. Model/Serial #, Miles/Hours of use, Mules/hour on engine, Oil Brand, date of collection  engine application, amount of oil added since last change, recent maintenance, analysis of new oil.

4. Bring engine to operating temp, purge sample fitting, and clean outside of valve and use a clean dry container.

5. NA

6. Ive always known oil was important but not to near the extent that it really is. Oil plays a role in alot of different things in the engine. My main thought was lubrication, yet it is a big part in so many other things. Telling someone to keep a regular schedule with oil changes can go into how the oil lubricates all parts and keeps things moving smoothly to how oil is used in removing contaminants of engine wear. Oil is also used in the process of keeping the engine cool as it absorbs the heat. One thing that i never really thought too much about is how it also absorbs shock within the engine. Having a high compression diesel engine their is quite a bit of shock produced from igniting fuel and proper engine oil and level are extremely important.

MAINTAIN YOUR OIL! Your truck will love you for it.

7. The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month is a significant date for lots of reasons, yet the most important seems to be the day WWI ended in 1918 and is now the day we celebrate as veterans day. Along with that the draft age was lowered in 1942. A big thanks to all those who have served for me and for America.

Day 34 Sheet

11    The Fuel Control Actuator (FCA ) is an electronically controlled solenoid valve. The ECM controls the amount of fuel that enters the high-pressure pumping chambers by opening and closing the FCA based on a demanded fuel pressure. When the FCA is opened, the maximum amount of fuel is being supplied to the fuel injection pump. Any fuel that does not enter the injection pump is directed to the cascade overflow valve. The cascade overflow valve regulates how much excess fuel is used for lubrication of the pump and how much is returned to the fuel tank through the drain manifold. An audible click from the FCA is normal when operating the key from the ON to the OFF position.

22    WARNING: HIGH-PRESSURE FUEL LINES DELIVER DIESEL FUEL UNDER EXTREME PRESSURE FROM THE INJECTION PUMP TO THE FUEL INJECTORS. THIS MAY BE AS HIGH AS 23,200 PSI (1600 BAR). USE EXTREME CAUTION WHEN INSPECTING FOR HIGH-PRESSURE FUEL LEAKS. FUEL UNDER THIS AMOUNT OF PRESSURE CAN PENETRATE SKIN CAUSING PERSONAL INJURY OR DEATH. INSPECT FOR HIGH-PRESSURE FUEL LEAKS WITH A SHEET OF CARDBOARD. WEAR SAFETY GOGGLES AND ADEQUATE PROTECTIVE CLOTHING WHEN SERVICING FUEL SYSTEM.

33    Electrical supply for the 2 air heater elements is controlled by the Engine Control Module (ECM) through the 2 air heater relays. Refer to Intake Manifold Air Heater Relays for more information.

     Two heavy-duty cables connect the 2 air heater elements to the 2 air heater relays. Each of these cables will supply approximately 95 amps at 12 volts to an individual heating element within the heater block assembly.

4. Codes Present: p0201-P0206- Injection (#) Control Circuit Fires improperly. This is the reason for the No start.

5. This type of Control (horn and wipers) is called Bi-Differential Control.

I found a disconnect in the harness after chasing a bird with the Fuel Control Actuator. THANKS! This bird actually was a good thing to do to keep us thinking about the reason of the codes and no start. It keeps you on track and looking in the right places rather than chasing after something that most likely had little to do with the no start when all cylinder injectors were not firing.

Day 33 Sheet

1. Antifreeze and water, being two different substances that absorb heat at different rates, should be considered in cooling system process. Antifreeze when mixed with water becomes less able to absorb heat. Specifically the loss in capability is about 1 degree Celsius for every 10% of glycol. This ratio will continue up to 50%.

2. Detonation occurs in the cylinder when the “end gas” or unburned fuel air mixture from the primary ignition will self-ignite at an imperfect or wrong time. A number of things play a part in the cause of detonation including fuel quality, compression ration, engine timing, intake air temperature, and aftercooler temperature. The “ping” or “knock” you hear when detonation is occurring is caused by the two leading edges of ignited flame colliding.

3. Along with the regular fluid change intervals a fluid sample, like the SOS of Cat, can be performed to analyze wear and quality of fluid.

4. Combustion air flow requirements will vary, depending on the specific engine model and rating. Specific air flow data for Caterpillar engines is given in both volumetric and mass flow terms, at standard reference conditions.

Sensor Testing

Today I was able to test a Cam position sensor for 2003-2009 International 6.0L/6.4L

Given the sensor i was not told anything about it but yet had to figure out how it worked and if it worked. What i came up with is that it was a position sensor due to its magnetic field. Using a Multimeter and test leads I found something interesting.

It carried .839 Ohms normally. As i stuck a piece of metal to it it jumped for a split second and returned to .839. When i notice a change in the reading was when i pulled the metal from the sensor it jumped to 1.4 ohms. Interesting...

After doing more research online I did find out that position sensors will actually create an alternating current sine wave in the form of a square.... this is what speaks to the ECU which then controls ignition timing, etc.

Below are some pictures of the sensor and my testing.

Thermo-STUCK

After taking all three thermostats, recording what i thought the opening temps were and submerging in water i realized that #2 was open and i wast sure when that had happened. At that point I took all three thermostats out of the water and submerged them in cold to see if i could get #2 to close again. I had no luck their, thermostat number 2 was stuck open.

This is the info i came up with for thermostat 1 and 3.

#1
Estimated open temp: 95 degrees C

Actual open temp: 90 degrees C
                             195 degrees F

#2
Estimated Open temp: 180 degrees C

Actual Open Temp: 85 degrees C
                              185 degrees F

I found that attention to detail is important! i didnt pay close enough attention to notice the thermostat that had opened and it had stuck. I also estimated the wrong degree for thermostat #2. Even though the number read on the thermostat did have a C by it, it was not signifying Celsius.

Books?

A point of interest last week, among other things, was some of the reading I was able to do about hydraulics. I knew some hydraulic stuff is going to be coming up and I wanted to get ahead. After watching the lethal strike I continued my reading in the heavy duty truck systems textbook. I studied about the basic concepts of a system and incorporated the mathematical requirements in square inches of the f pump and the cylinder. It's basic math! But to get an idea of what's all needs within a system was good to know. B

The Lethal Strike

WOW....

I had no idea the amount of the severity of high pressure hydraulic lines. I had a basic understanding that the contents under pressure could cause some injury to the skin, even to the point of losing fingers or entire body parts, or worse! I was thinking about posting some pictures with this blog but decided against it, NASTY!

The Lethal Strike video i thought was done well and informed in a way that almost scares you into taking the proper precautions when dealing with high pressure lines. It definately opened my eyes to the dangers and I can garuantee the next time im working with high pressure lines, even if there is no pressure built up, I will be remebering this and being extremely cautious. The one thing that really shocked me is at that amount of pressure leather gloves or the like would be penetrated as well as the skin of your hand or body. Even amounts as low as 100 PSI can cause hydraulic injection.

Im glad i watched this video, and I almost feel like any mechanic or hydraulic repair individual should most definately watch this video or be informed of the dangers before attempting to mess with this stuff. The only regret i have is not watching this sooner in my mechanical career. I have been in hydraulic line repair and even had one burst on me on a D4 Cat. Luckily my hands were not in the line of fire.... evidentally i got pretty lucky.

Mercedes Benz

This last week was spent mostly in Ye Mercedes Benz disassembly. By the end of the week we had the motor completely taken apart down to a bare block. One thing I spent a bit more time on studying was the fuel injection system and fuel injection in general. I feel I have a greater grasp of how these different systems work but would love to get even a greater understand I all of the different types of systems. Below are some pictures of the tear down.

Class/shop: 19
Work:25

Dive in!

This week consisted of a few new thing learned with using the scan tool to see the graphing of electric motors. I can definitely see the use of this tool being a huge advantage in diagnosing. I've used them before he never used them to the full capacity as I was able to do this week.

We were also able to drive the dodge 3500 around the block a few times after the new injector pump and fuel pump were fixed.... That could be a fun truck!

My highlight of this week was getting started on the Mercedes Benz disassembly. We were able to find quite a bit of info on the tear down process. I'm excited to reassemble and follow procedure on all aspects. This thing had got close to 900 lbs/ft web it's operating! Dang!

Reverse Polarity

This past week was alot of fun being able to use what i know and create a circuit that took alot of thinking, brainstorming, and testing. Using a switch, 2 relays, and a "door lock type motor" we were able to reverse polarity to get the motor to operate properly. We didint have a 2 way rocker switch so we ended up burning up a couple fuses in the process but were were able to find out just how to connect all of the components in correct sequence. Exciting...

Lab hours: 22 Hours
Work Hours: 18 Hours

DC Motor Video

Below is a video i found about DC motors that explained well how the brushed DC motor works.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-YXBxzKx7g&feature=related

One think I for some reason was confused with is the brushes. I wasnt aware polarity was changed as the rotor turned. It makes sense now...

Week 1

Getting back into class was pretty exciting for me after spending the summer learning about Anaerobic Digesters and working.

This week we dove back into electricity in a few different ways. I spent alot of time on the Truck Lightening system learn boards and was able to connect the lights in correct circuits to work. A few more things need to be connected to get it working fully which is something I will do in the following week.

I also spent some time creating a relay circuit with a bulb, 9V battery and test leads. Being able to create a circuit from scratch is something that seems somewhat basic but can really help in diagnosing or chasing down electrical problems. Trying not to get lost in the web of a wireing harness by getting back to the basics of a circuit will cut down on diagnosing time and frustration/confusion.

Hours
Class/Lab: 28
Work Hours: 13

Vanderhawk dairy

Run off the digester!

Transmission removal and clutch

This week we took the transmission off one I the floor display motors. We r/r the clutch and flywheel along with the pilot bearing. We also made needed inspection to the run out and play in the flywheel and housing.

Paying for my education!

Work today:
We switched things up from the trailer and continued working on the Vicwest panels. It's been months of work for the company (good news for me!) These panels are made to be a seamless wall... Finished product will be pretty sweet looking! Constructing involves bending the panels, cutting the extrusion to length, and aluminum welding. Hope it's counting for hours ;)

LAST 2 WEEKS

Having been very busy the past 2 weeks i have neglected to blog everything i have done. In class I have bee working on alighnments and as of recently looking to the stearing gear. I also did a flow test on the freightliner which i will put pictures up for.

I have been able to tie in some hours at work this weekend building a trap shooting trailer for a customer. It consisted of lots of different things. Sheet metal, welding, electrical, ect... PRETTY SWEET! I learned something somewhat valuable in building this trailer. WE have two 6 volt batteries we are going to run the thing off of rather then a 12 volt. For some reason its better because having two 6 volts, the batteries recover faster, stay maintained, and hold a charge better? or so i was told from a guy at the battery store.

hmmm...

Class hours in 2 weeks: 62
Work hours: 8

Stearing Gear

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7Ar1VxE4JU

Alignment

Last week i spent most of my time studying and trying out alignments on the different vehicle in the shop. Alignment was always a bit intimidating to me for some reason due to the fact we always sent out alignment jobs to actual alignment shops. I guess i just wasn't positive on how things got to be exactly correct in the procedure yet the tool jeff had shown us with the aluminum bars and string made things simplified and took away all of the intimidation. Its basic measurements is all it is. Having been in the construction line of work for many years as well as architectural metals at this point in life, measurements and a tape are things I use on a daily basis and feel very comfortable with. Not a problem this last week in class at all..

Hours: 35

2nd air brake week

This week I finished up my air brakes, and did a lot of book study learning about the air system and how it all works. I learned an expensive lesson as well this week about correct torque specs. I did brakes and wheel bearings on my 93 dodge and decided toque for the lug nuts was good at 95 lbs/ft. Guess it wasn't...
Classroom/shop hours: 35

Moving On!

Now that electrical has run its coarse... Its time to move onto brakes, and drivetrain! Last week was a good successful week. I spent most of my time doing the 7 different brake jobs on all three of the trucks in the shop.
Below are the videos i made going through the process of a brake job. The rest of my time was continued with CAT Basics Drivetrain portion of the learning as well as spending some time studying through the Heavy Duty truck systems getting acquainted with the functions of an air brake system.
Hours (classroom/shop): 35

Hours

Last week I put in a full week with mostly Internet study and caterpillar basics. I watch a video explaining the sequence to remove an replace drum brakes and wheel bearings. I finished up the drivetrain section of cat basics except for the test.

Hours: 35

Torque Converters.... VERY COOL!

Doing some studying today and came across a video that was pretty informative on explaining how and lock up torque converter works. After watching this, the cat basic videos made a whole lot more sense. Being able to see the real thing torn apart and put back together solidifies the info I have read.

Check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2fRCITXn4o&feature=player_detailpage

Quick question for Jeff

I could always ask ya in class tommorow but i thought you may take a look at blogs tonight so here was a question that crossed my mind.

I know alot of parts on vehicles as well as commercial are flat out replaced if gone bad. It was rare as an auto mechanic to ever rebuild a part, it was always replaced. In fact i dont think i have ever "rebuilt" a part or an engine for someone who was paying for service at a shop. Is there anything on these commercial tractor or trailers that are rebuilt or is it like auto shops and everything is just replaced?

Just the beggining

Hours for the week: 35 hours

A few hours of my time this last week was spent replacing lower control arm bushings on a bmw. THe rest of my time was spent continuing testing the boards, and struggling with the cavalier light board. This one gave me a stretch. It was a challening looking at the schematics and trying to figure out exactly what was going on. Once you saw it though it suprised me how i didnt just spot it in the first place. It seems somewhat basic when you really divide and conquer.

I title this post appropriately because as we are moving away from electrical towards drivetrains, i know this will not be the end of the learning on electrical. I will have to continue my learning throughout this class on the subject as well as in the job field.

Helpful Tool

Today, I was finishing up boards 1-3 and i was quite confused with some of it. I had a clue on what was going on in the circuit but had a hard time proving it and explaining why it was doing what it did. I did a bit of research on the internet and came across a pretty helful tool online... it allows you to build circuits (parallel or series) use a multimeter, ammeter, ect.. I found it to really be helful for understanding what was actually going on in those boards.

heres the link:

http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/circuit-construction-kit-dc

2nd week

Last weeks hours: 35hrs

I continued with the circuit boards and took a break from the cat basics. I also have watched the OEM test done 3 times now by other people and should have an easy enough time doing it for myself before my test tommorow 11:30.

I did come up with a question over the weekend about Pos. ground electrical systems. I beleive Kenworth has some of these. I will do some more research myself and maybe jeff could shine some light on this subject?!? what do ya say Jeff?

Week 2: Learn and Re-Learn

So today in class we started on the 2nd set of 16 circuit boards which included the BLACK SPOT boards. These boards contained shorts to ground. Boards 1-16 i got the hang of but thrown in the mix with these new boards i was lost all over again.

As i said before learning by being repetitive and spending time testing, re-testing and re-learning the ins and outs of this current project really seems to ring true. Having an instructor show me how to do something and talk the class through a certain task only does so much for me. There comes a point where i need to get in and teach myself. And it does just stop there. I gotta continue to re-learn the things ive done the day before to really get this stuff to sink in.

Looks like its in the beginning stages of actually becoming permanent in my mind. Wish i had a few circuit boards at home i could mess around with.

Building without a foundation, BAD IDEA!

2nd day of class was a lot more hands on, which I enjoyed. We were able to get our hands on the fluke meters today and use them starting with the absolute basics. Prior to this class i was working as a auto mechanic in Seattle and spend many hours diagnosing problems with a multimeter. The problem with that is all i ever did was read off Identifix (a site to help diagnose problems) and follow instructions on what leads to attach to what wires and what my reading should be. I had no clue what was actually happening when i read 12 volts or when i read 4 volts or when i read 0 volts.

In my last blog i asked the questions what would be a good way to get this stuff locked into my mind. My answer today, after spending time with it for multiple hours, is exactly that. SPEND TIME WITH IT! all the analogies and world pictures that explain volts, amps, ohms, and so on dont seem to stick. But after spending time plugging in the multimeter and challenging myself to think and test these boards, i feel i have a better grasp on it now then ive ever had before. I say that knowing i have plenty to still learn, practice, and understand.

Electric First Day

1st Day way was good. Informing and also confusing in some areas. The little stuff will work themselves out as we go along I'm sure.

As for electricity; what do i know and what do i know i don't know about the topic. I've learned about electricity in school, work, from friends, co-workers, instructors, and occasionally with a paper clip and and outlet... I get the basics of positive, negative, current flow and can load test a battery or alternator on a vehicle as well as can test certain wires to determine wear a faulty part might be. But when it comes to actually remembering volts, ohms, amperes, ect... and how they all work together and what exactly they are, i have yet to find an explanation or a way of learning it so i can keep this locked in to my head. I have heard explanations ranging from water in a pipe to a photographer lens. Evidently none of which have been too successful due to the fact that when i read the question at the bottom of our task sheet about discussing what i know, i found i had to reteach myself the basics so i could have something to say tomorrow.

I wonder what is a good learning style for me with electricity being that I tend to be an accommodating/hands-on learner?