Humor Random Comments Thread

[Andy44]

badly maintained (because of capitalism)

Huh?

 

[Urwumpe]

Huh?

Well, the companies that build and maintained the masts had been state owned until 1965, most of them had even been founded by the states of the Weimar Republic. The tax payer build the masts, replaced them, many of them had been brand new around 1960 because of WW2.

Then, the companies got privatized for a bargain with the power lines, but the companies did no longer invest into the existing lines from the 1970s on, except after 1978, when another snow storm destroyed many masts in northern Germany and the government paid extra. Then, with still good maintenance, some masts had still been standing despite 10 Bft winds and 30 cm (one foot) thick ice around the power lines.

In 2005 far less extreme weather was enough for causing much extreme damage to the power lines. Thats directly related to the age of the masts and the lack of maintenance, but the companies did get away with it. More so, many masts build new after 1970 had been build with sub-quality Thomas steel, that became extremely brittle in cold weather. In 2005, the masts already failed at 19 kg/m additional weight on the lines. The oldest existing masts are from 1940 BTW.

 

[MaverickSawyer]

How does it die? RPM lower than normal in idle and goes down when you step on the pedal? Or simply off without any warning?

Don't trust Google too much, like by asking it for medical advice, its a BAD idea. Same with most car forums. If you post your symptoms there, the first recommendations will be you need a new car, your old one sucks....

It's a 1990 Honda Civic. Enough mileage on the factory engine to get it to the moon and well on the way back home. :lol: As I step on the gas, coming off idle, it just sputters and dies, but (and I just found this out) only when the engine has warmed up to operating temperatures. I'm thinking fuel injectors or air in the fuel line, tbh.

---------- Post added at 13:47 ---------- Previous post was at 13:32 ----------

Some further digging indicates it's probably the ignition control module.

 

[Notebook]

Hm. Roads i can understand, since it's not worth the while for you to adapt and train for a week of snow every year.

But what is all that stuff about power cuts?
How can a little snow do that?

Generally roads aren't bad, if you live on a school run local council gritters will keep it passable. We aren't used to snow-chains or stuff like that.

https://www.westernpower.co.uk/Power-outages/Power-cuts-in-your-area/Power-Cut-Map.aspx

Typical power outage types.
Its not lack of generation, its usually high winds getting branches on lower level distribution lines. Not the National Grid or Super Grid.

Used to live in a village of a few hundred about 10 miles from the nearest town. Drifting snow would block the rural roads at a few inches(hedges, no footpaths). Lots of trees close to low tension lines.
Just the way it was.

N.

 

[Thunder Chicken]

It's a 1990 Honda Civic. Enough mileage on the factory engine to get it to the moon and well on the way back home. :lol: As I step on the gas, coming off idle, it just sputters and dies, but (and I just found this out) only when the engine has warmed up to operating temperatures. I'm thinking fuel injectors or air in the fuel line, tbh.

---------- Post added at 13:47 ---------- Previous post was at 13:32 ----------

Some further digging indicates it's probably the ignition control module.

Pull and clean your idle air control valve.

 

[Urwumpe]

It's a 1990 Honda Civic. Enough mileage on the factory engine to get it to the moon and well on the way back home. :lol: As I step on the gas, coming off idle, it just sputters and dies, but (and I just found this out) only when the engine has warmed up to operating temperatures. I'm thinking fuel injectors or air in the fuel line, tbh.

---------- Post added at 13:47 ---------- Previous post was at 13:32 ----------

Some further digging indicates it's probably the ignition control module.

Possible - but if it happens when the engine temperature exceeds 80°C it could also be because the control unit switches to closed loop fuel injection regulation and the lambda probe / oxygen sensor in your cars exhaust pipe is simply damaged and always signals a oxygen poor exhaust. (Older cars have no heaters for the oxygen sensor, so the sensor is ignored initially).

---------- Post added at 23:06 ---------- Previous post was at 23:01 ----------

The pilot of the missing aircraft is a 78 year old from Brunswick, BTW. They are still searching it. The aircraft is an Aquila A 210, the pilot took off alone in Osnabrück-Atterheide. The search area is near Hessisch-Oldendorf.

 

[Andy44]

Random thought. We say a car that has traveled a lot has lots of mileage.

In countries that use the metric system, does a car gets lots of "kilometerage"?

 

[Urwumpe]

Random thought. We say a car that has traveled a lot has lots of mileage.

In countries that use the metric system, does a car gets lots of "kilometerage"?

No idea what other countries say. In common German its "Tachostand" (=tacho level) because it is displayed in the Tachometer (The official German dictionary translates this to "Tachometerstand"), while the correct term is "Kilometerstand" (=kilometer level) and the legal term for the device is "Wegstreckenzähler" (=distance counter). Manipulating the milage to lower values is called "Tachomanipulation".

Note: While stand is typically best translated as "level" like "Wasserstand" = water level, it means a lot more. "Sonnenstand" for example means sun angle. If a German says "Stand des Projekts", he does not always want to say that the water is standing to the project managers neck, but means "status of the project". Similar the "Stand" of a person can mean his ability to stand and his social status...

 

[jedidia]

In countries that use the metric system, does a car gets lots of "kilometerage"?

Kinda. In Switzerland we just talk about "how many kilometers" a car has.

 

[MaverickSawyer]

Pull and clean your idle air control valve.

I'll try that if the ICM doesn't fix it.

EDIT: Wait, what would that have to do with the engine having issues when not idling?

 

[Artlav]

In countries that use the metric system, does a car gets lots of "kilometerage"?

Pretty much that in Russia, kilometrage.

 

[Thunder Chicken]

I'll try that if the ICM doesn't fix it.

EDIT: Wait, what would that have to do with the engine having issues when not idling?

Misread your issue. Yeah, if you aren't having problems while it is actually idling then it isn't the IACV. Are you getting any ECU codes?

 

[Urwumpe]

I'll try that if the ICM doesn't fix it.

EDIT: Wait, what would that have to do with the engine having issues when not idling?

Does the engine run better if you disconnect the oxygen sensor? Usually, the engine should switch into emergency mode then and operate fine, but with much higher fuel consumption and you'll damage your converter.

 

[MaverickSawyer]

Upon detailed inspection, there was almost nothing left of the contact on the rotor in the distributor. One trip to the auto parts store for a new distributor and twenty minutes spent cussing at the car in sub-freezing weather resulted in a fixed car and an assured ride to work tomorrow morning.

 

[Thunder Chicken]

Upon detailed inspection, there was almost nothing left of the contact on the rotor in the distributor. One trip to the auto parts store for a new distributor and twenty minutes spent cussing at the car in sub-freezing weather resulted in a fixed car and an assured ride to work tomorrow morning.

Well there's your problem! :lol:

How many miles do you have on that Civic? I have 330,000 miles on my 2005. My next mechanical adventure will be to do the timing belt & water pump.

 

[Urwumpe]

The missing aircraft has been found crashed at the Ithkopf hills near Coppenbrügge, about 20 km away from the center of the initial search area, the closest bigger town is Hamelin. The pilot sadly died, the cause of the crash is still unknown, but the pilot flew in increasingly poor weather with a light aircraft.

 

[Andy44]

Light snow in the DC area today, not cold enough to stick to the pavement. I am out of action with a nasty sore throat so I drugged up last night and slept in. Went to McDonald's to treat myself to a double quarter pounder, salty French fries, and a large Coke, because Coke syrup and salty foods make your throat feel better, and what the heck, it's a good day for comfort food. To fight cabin fever I am watching a BBC documentary on electricity on youtube and planning to try and record some music.

Mild sickness and isolation can lead to creativity. I hope.

Meanwhile, my truck has developed a new bad habit: sometimes turning the key won't start the engine. Wait a few seconds, turn it again, starts right up. Other times it works on the first try. Seems to be independent of weather. I think the ignition switch is going bad.

---------- Post added at 02:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:15 PM ----------

The missing aircraft has been found crashed at the Ithkopf hills near Coppenbrügge, about 20 km away from the center of the initial search area, the closest bigger town is Hamelin. The pilot sadly died, the cause of the crash is still unknown, but the pilot flew in increasingly poor weather with a light aircraft.

Interesting. According to Wikipedia the primary user of the type is the Cameroon Air Force. Looks pretty sleek.

 

[MaverickSawyer]

Andy, do you hear a "click" when you turn the key but the engine doesn't turn over? If so, it's probably an issue with the starter motor. If not, check the starter relay, too.

 

[Urwumpe]

I would say starter has a problem, an old battery can cause similar problems, but those don't go away easily.

On German cars, there is a copper connection between major assemblies of the starter, that likes to corrode away. I had the same but luckily, it failed at my local car mechanic and I just had to wait a few days longer for the car...

 

[Notebook]

Don't know if they have changed much since I was a lad, but sometimes the carbon brushes can stick in their holder, and not contact the commutator. Honest, hitting the starter-motor(gently) will dislodge them. Worth a try next time.
Also as MaverickSawyer says above.

N.