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/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl General Category >> The Cafe >> What's yer' biggest wild goose chase?... /cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1330756566 Message started by Serowbot on 03/02/12 at 22:36:05 |
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Title: What's yer' biggest wild goose chase?... Post by Serowbot on 03/02/12 at 22:36:05 I just related a story in the Rubbersisde... Me, trying to hunt down a mechanical problem, and coming to a drastically wrong diagnosis... Point is,.. most of us, old timers, weren't born naturals... we learned by making a lot of mistakes... Here's my favourite.... What's yours?.... Quote:
Shoot!... I paid $65 to get the car towed to him... wasn't about to pay only $20 for him to fix it... Too humiliating... Hoping for some funny stories here,... ...or, at least a couple... to make me feel not so dumb... :-?... |
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Title: Re: What's yer' biggest wild goose chase?... Post by justin_o_guy2 on 03/02/12 at 22:47:34 TRailer lites crapped out on the wifes car. Did all I could to figure it out, replaced the module, about $60.00. Found a blown fuse after I had it swapped out. I still have the old one.. For all I know, it IS bad,, but I would have liked finding the fuse a few minutes earlier. That may not be the biggest one, Ill think about it. |
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Title: Re: What's yer' biggest wild goose chase?... Post by thumperclone on 03/03/12 at 07:06:13 bought a new 12 volt domestic water pump for my pop up camper thinkin it was a bad pressure switch. ended up bein a bad fitting at the faucet..will see if i did a better job winterizing this year gave the perfectly good "old" pump to a friend who uses it at his hunting cabin under $100 mistake(s) |
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Title: Re: What's yer' biggest wild goose chase?... Post by justin_o_guy2 on 03/03/12 at 07:21:37 Ive totally shafted myself many times working around the house. Built myself bear traps & stepped right in them, wasted materials & time, built substandard ( Not in structural strenght, but maybe my stuff just isnt as pretty) stuff & had to just live with it, but the $$$ Ive saved by doing as many things as I can do has saved me many thousands. So now when I screw myself, I dont get too wound up over it. I look at the guys who cant change a light switch or do their own brakes & wonder how the heck can they make enough $$$ to hire people to take care of all of lifes little things that have to get done, |
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Title: Re: What's yer' biggest wild goose chase?... Post by Boule’tard on 03/03/12 at 07:38:15 Most recently I was trying to fit a too-big-but-free refrigerator in our kitchen. My wife measured before accepting it, said it would fit in the hole.. it didn't. I didn't realize that until I'd spent 4 hours huffing it into the house. So I decided to redo the ceramic tile and plane down the cabinets with a hand planer. I did all that, making a gawdawful mess of dust in the kitchen and just about destroying the planer when the drop cloth got spooled up in it (cuz I was trying to contain the dust, ha ha). Finally got that sorted out and the cabinet bay wide enough to accept the 'fridge, so I thought. I go to push it in there and the STINKING FRIDGE HAS A WHEAT BELLY, GOD DAMMIT!!!! Yes, this apparently rectangular, LG fridge bulges out in the middle. So out it comes and again with the dust storm... which now includes me grinding my fresh tile job with a sander. Trying a 3rd time to push the fridge in there, I realized that I underestimated the extend of its deformity and it still did not go all the way in. So it sits a few extra inches out from the wall, and that is where it will sit. I meant to do it that way.. uh yeah.. for good ventilation. 8-) |
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Title: Re: What's yer' biggest wild goose chase?... Post by arteacher on 03/03/12 at 08:04:44 The home theater system quit in the middle of a movie. First thought -power failure. Nope Second thought- fuse- went down stairs and pulled the fuse and checked with a meter- good. Third thought-outlet- checked with above mentioned meter- 117 volts. Fourth thought- power bar. Everything is plugged in, check with meter- no power. Go downstairs, search through my box of electrical stuff for another one, no luck. Cannibalize one from computer, hook it up, and finish watching movie. Next day, trip to Home Depot for a new bar. Installed in computer system. Upon troubleshooting the old one I happened to notice..... it had been turned off.......$%##*&^ cat must have stepped on it. >:( |
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Title: Re: What's yer' biggest wild goose chase?... Post by justin_o_guy2 on 03/03/12 at 08:24:53 6B667C656C7D687B6D090 wrote:
Trying a 3rd time to push the fridge in there, I realized that I underestimated the extend of its deformity and it still did not go all the way in. HO--LEE CRappola! I woulda got just as snake bit, glad it was someone else,, I hope you can laff about it. |
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Title: Re: What's yer' biggest wild goose chase?... Post by justin_o_guy2 on 03/03/12 at 08:26:10 Art,, I keep trying to tell people & they just wont listen,, Cats are the Devil,, pure evil. |
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Title: Re: What's yer' biggest wild goose chase?... Post by arteacher on 03/03/12 at 08:27:12 Part two: Years ago I was downstairs in the music room listening to the stereo. The cat (a different one) came tearing out of the furnace room screaming. She had a 2 1/2 inch diameter patch of fur AND SKIN missing on her right side. You could see the musculature of her side. Quick trip to the vet and was told either surgery to close the wound,($450) or bandaging twice a day with artificial skin, polysporin and gauze, until the wound grew closed on it's own. I chose the latter. Poor choice - the cost of artificial skin, polysporin and gauze, for the 7 months it took to heal, was more than the surgery would have cost. To this day I can only guess how she got burned. I searched everything that might get hot and found no fur or skin. The only two things she might have possibly come in contact with that could have burned her were the bottom of the gas hot water heater, or the power tubes of my amplifier, which get quite hot. I never found out for sure what happened to her. :-? |
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Title: Re: What's yer' biggest wild goose chase?... Post by Serowbot on 03/03/12 at 08:37:11 Here's one that I'm famous for at my old workplace... I was doing an outdoor sound set-up for a band on a concrete plaza,... everything pretty much set, when they roll out an upright piano,.. and I run up screaming, "Don't roll it over the snake!" (That's a bundle of about 100 wires that carry all the stage mics offstage to the mixer... So, while I'm panicking and trying to find a group of husky volunteers to lift this 1,000 pound piano over the snake, one of the guys rolling the piano just lifts the snake wire up and rolls the piano under it... Yup,.. I'm famous for that... :-?... |
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Title: Re: What's yer' biggest wild goose chase?... Post by arteacher on 03/03/12 at 08:59:43 Part three: I had a set of new tires put on the Land cruiser at Canadian Tire. Everthing was fine for a year, until I had the tires rotated front to back. Then the 4WD wouldn't work- it wouldn't engage. I thought the front differential had packed it in (an $1800repair), so I quit using 4WD. Had the tires rotated again a year later and low and behold- the 4WD worked again. In the mean time the front axle started leaking oil because the seals had dried out from lack of use of 4WD. I finally took it in to the dealer (for front brakes, actually) and was informed that one of the tires was a size smaller than the other three. When it was on the front the difference in diameter would cause the 4WD not to engage. Bottom line: rear diff rebuilt, as it was constantly rotating like I was going around a corner and it wore out the pinions. Oil seals replaced on the front, along with some bearings. And new calipers, pads and rotors on the front. Total cost: $2800. I went to Canadian Tire and was told by the service manager that because I had driven with the odd sized tire for 2 1/2 years I was SOL- no warranty. I went over his head and eventually got two tires replaced under the pro rated warranty. Then the belts separated on the older two tires and the service manager told me to take my problems somewhere else- he no longer wanted my business. I took them to another Canadian Tire and the service manager there replaced all four tires for $78, again under the pro rated warranty. |
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Title: Re: What's yer' biggest wild goose chase?... Post by arteacher on 03/03/12 at 09:10:50 Part four: summed up in two words...... kill switch. :-[ |
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Title: Re: What's yer' biggest wild goose chase?... Post by arteacher on 03/03/12 at 09:20:57 7F6066617C7B4A7A4A72606C27150 wrote:
Difference between cats and dogs: Dogs think that you are the center of their universe... Cats think that they are the center of your universe. Once a person figures this out they will get along fine with both. ;D |
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Title: Re: What's yer' biggest wild goose chase?... Post by 12Bravo on 03/03/12 at 09:40:02 [quote author=7A717178747B7A6061150 link=1330756566/0#11 date=1330794650]Part four: summed up in two words...... kill switch. :-[/quote] I bet that its safe to say that the "kill switch" has gotten a lot of us at least once. Check engine light came on in my Jeep Liberty and the code said that the fuel system vacuum pump was bad. Luckily I double checked before dropping the fuel tank and buying an expensive pump. Ended up that I knocked a vacuum hose off while changing spark plugs. |
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Title: Re: What's yer' biggest wild goose chase?... Post by Boofer on 03/03/12 at 19:16:29 Friend of mine died, so when his wife asked me to look at his guns to determine their value. I said ok. A nice little .32 auto Guiccione? Cardone had a spot of rust, so I offered to take it home and check out the insides for rust. One button and it literally comes apart in your hands. Couldn't see how it fell apart so took a little try and fail to get it back together. Then I couldn't pull the trigger. Iknow, I know. Some of you already got it. After the fith time of putting it together it was fairly easy, but it's hard to panic a 58 yr old like I might have been years ago. I just laid it down on the rag I had cleaned it with RIGHT NEXT TO THE MAGAZINE and decided to think awhile. DOH! Stuck the mag in, pulled the trigger about 10 times and e-mailed a good friend in Alabama who would get a chuckle from it. For our gun impaired reader, it's called a magazine safety. |
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Title: Re: What's yer' biggest wild goose chase?... Post by thumperclone on 03/03/12 at 23:19:07 6B606069656A6B7170040 wrote:
Difference between cats and dogs: Dogs think that you are the center of their universe... Cats think that they are the center of your universe. Once a person figures this out they will get along fine with both. ;D[/quote] dogs have owners cats have staff :D |
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Title: Re: What's yer' biggest wild goose chase?... Post by drums1 on 03/04/12 at 10:19:27 Sticking to our friend, the Suzuki Savage, I had a problem last summer with the idle speed randomly increasing on its own, for no apparent reason. It would eventually go back down on its own. Then back up a while later, and so on. I posted a thread in RSD, got a few responses, but never did figure it out. Rode it that way all summer. This winter, along with other repairs and such, I vowed to figure it out. One day I sat there disassembling my way down to removing the carb. Seat off, Tank off, battery and box out, etc. etc.. Pulled the carb and was about to start tearing it down for yet another rebuild. Then I look at the little rubber vacuum plug I had put on when I decided to run it on prime, until I bought a Raptor. Dammed if it wasn't dry rotted and cracked, top to bottom in about 4 places. VACUUM LEAK !! Put it all back together with new plug in place and it runs like a boss again. I will now carry in my pocket no less than 3 extra plugs when riding. |
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Title: Re: What's yer' biggest wild goose chase?... Post by Serowbot on 03/04/12 at 10:59:26 6F797E66783A0B0 wrote:
Yup,.. rubber, for some reason, never lasts on that tap... Find a screw that will tap down that hole, or plug it with a wood dowel... Something solid... and it will never bother you again... ;)... |
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Title: Re: What's yer' biggest wild goose chase?... Post by drums1 on 03/04/12 at 11:02:50 Ya, it does sit right next to the jug. Lots of heat. |
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Title: Re: What's yer' biggest wild goose chase?... Post by Savage_Rob on 03/04/12 at 15:22:18 Umm, yeah, I have a brand new voltage regulator for my Savage on a shelf because I was tired and frustrated after a long week of various trials and tribulations and just neglected my basic electrical/electronic troubleshooting and jumped to conclusions. After I got a decent night's sleep, I found and replaced the bad connector after the part had shipped and before it was received. Oh well. I got a decent price on it and I'm sure I'll need it some day. :-[ And JOG's descriptions of various ill-conceived or ill-executed projects just sounds all too familiar. If I think about it much I'll start to remember too many misadventures I've spent a lot of time forgetting. Edited to correct a spelling error I spotted later. |
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Title: Re: What's yer' biggest wild goose chase?... Post by justin_o_guy2 on 03/04/12 at 16:05:04 If I think about it much I'll start to remember too many misadventures I've spent a lot of time forgetting. Aaaaamen Brother.. |
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Title: Re: What's yer' biggest wild goose chase?... Post by prechermike on 03/04/12 at 16:40:58 I am glad I have no stories like those to tell. You believe that, right, right? |
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Title: Re: What's yer' biggest wild goose chase?... Post by Serowbot on 03/04/12 at 17:22:25 707265636865726D696B65000 wrote:
Sure I do... You're 12... Right?... :-?... |
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Title: Re: What's yer' biggest wild goose chase?... Post by prechermike on 03/05/12 at 03:29:56 I already had stories like that when I was 12. :-? It seems l remember something about a dead battery, mostly good results when I checked everything, battery, rectifier, stator, connections and so forth. Those random things are tough to figure out. But I did it. Bought a battery tender, use it every so often and the battery stays good now, mostly. ;) |
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Title: Re: What's yer' biggest wild goose chase?... Post by justin_o_guy2 on 03/05/12 at 09:19:36 I remember trying to work out what could be wrong with old cars I had when I was young. I lost a battery,, so, got a new one, a few days later, it was crapped out, cuz the regulator wasnt firing the alternator & charging the battery, so, Id get another battery & a regulator, just to find it was the alternator,,There was a couple times I just replaced all 3 before I learned some "How to figure out whats wrong" stuff,, been so long I nearly forgot,, gee, thanks for the thread, now I feel stewpid, again. ,, |
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Title: Re: What's yer' biggest wild goose chase?... Post by Serowbot on 03/05/12 at 09:58:10 I was trying to fix the temperature gauge in my Metro about two years ago,... ...by laying on the seat with my legs sticking out the door, and wedging my head under the brake pedal,.. I was able to wiggle my left arm up under the dash and touch the gauge, but I couldn't push the connector... after about ten minutes of trying, I decided to give up. That's when I discovered that my arm was stuck up there... 20 more minutes of wiggling,.. and I was still stuck. I had the portable phone on the passenger seat and spent the next 20 minutes trying to kick my shoes off and use my feet maneuver the phone over to my right hand... No luck... (Don't know who I would have called if I'd managed it anyway)... So,. I returned my escape artist contortions, but this time with my legs somehow in the area of the passenger side dashboard. I guess I got better leverage that way, because I eventually managed to get my head out from under the brake pedal which released my arm and I got out... All by myself.... a proud moment... :-?... The gauge is still broke... :-?... I don't need that gauge anyway... |
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Title: Re: What's yer' biggest wild goose chase?... Post by justin_o_guy2 on 03/05/12 at 10:03:01 That one would hafta stay busted, Id hang a new one under the dash,,or on top O the dash, but calling the fire department to come help you get loose from the car would just stink,. Im guessing access to the gauge by taking some of the dash loose isnt a good option? Seems most dashes are assembled like a top secret Chinese puzzle, getting them apart in such a manner as to make it possible to reassemble is a challenge. |
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Title: Re: What's yer' biggest wild goose chase?... Post by arteacher on 03/05/12 at 13:20:35 I restored a '37 Enfield when I was 15 in the basement. Had it all together, gas in the tank, and was trying to fix a leak in the primary chain cover with my legs under the bike. It fell over on me, and I couldn't push it off. Gas leaked all over me. My parents were out, so I lay there for a while. I heard them come home so I started hollering that I was stuck. My mom came down the stairs, which I was under, with a lit cigarette in her mouth with a couple of inches of ash on the end. fortunately the ash stayed on the end, and my dad came down and helped get the bike off me. I was red for 3 days where the gas had made contact with my skin. Probably lost a brain cell or two as well. ;D |
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Title: Re: What's yer' biggest wild goose chase?... Post by Boofer on 03/05/12 at 13:48:59 Then there was the time I lost oil pressure on a car when I was a teen. I towed it home, and being the great mechanic I was--No, no, I really was a great mechanic, ;D I dropped the oil pan. It had to be the oil pump. Just as I dropped the pan I looked over to the side of the block and saw a sending unit wire blowing in the breeze. :-[ |
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Title: Re: What's yer' biggest wild goose chase?... Post by justin_o_guy2 on 03/06/12 at 18:10:17 You were young enough to call that a learning experience,, It hurts when yer 30+ YEARS OLD & build a bear trap & then step in it. Its a fine story, tho,, Ill bet you talked bad a few minutes,, & if I had been there, Ill bet I woulda laffed longer than you cussed.. |
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Title: Re: What's yer' biggest wild goose chase?... Post by Ed L. on 03/09/12 at 19:45:23 I rebuilt a 69 GMC pickup and stuffed a 350 in it along with headers and dual exhaust. The 305 that came with the truck had puked it's guts at 120K. About three months later it developed a real loud engine knock which sounded like a rod or main bearing going bad. I dropped the pan and checked the bottom end, since I was in there I changed out the bearings anyway. Put the engine back together and found that the knock was a loose baffle in one muffler, boy did it really fool me. Just about anything that could go wrong with that truck did. |
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Title: Re: What's yer' biggest wild goose chase?... Post by justin_o_guy2 on 03/10/12 at 03:48:50 knock was a loose baffle in one muffler Daanng ITTT! |
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Title: Re: What's yer' biggest wild goose chase?... Post by joeyzaza on 03/10/12 at 09:04:12 I have a ton. But illstart with two short ones.I used to be the founder and owner of a large offroad jeep club. By the point of this first incident my jeep was still within semi legal order. We were running this pretty heavy trail that was a washed out ex river bed but being early spring it had a decent flow in it making it unstable and tough. We all had front and rear locked axles and at least 25" tires so we were set up and all armored well. I tried this really foolish line that no one else wanted to run and I was at the roll point which I had a custom cage and didnt care so I pop up over the tippy 5' rock and then the ground under the landing zone lets go, so I slide out of control and slam against a thin large rock blowing the bead on the tire right in the flowing water. crap. well no biggie I had on board air system. so we rathchet strap the tire and seat the bead and off we go. the day ends and i air up to road pressure and start driving. the jeep is all over the road Im thinking jesus I have one ton steering maybe when I hit the rock I bent the tie rod. so Im out there measuring center to center front and back. Its lined up.hmm totally baffled. I had bias ply tires so it wasnt a broken belt in a radial. So I drive home in the breakdown lane 40 miles at 5 mph. i get home its 3 a.m. im pissed. turns out the next day I rolled the jeep a few feet in the driveway to get by it and I hear this noise. I had 5 GALLONS OF WATER IN THE DARN TIRE!!!! NO ONDER IT SPEED WABBLED. WHAT AN IDIOT. THE OTHER STORY WAS WE WERE OUT LATE AT NIGHT RIPPING AROUND IN THIS PIT AND I BLEW THE BELT THROWING IT THROUGH THE RADIATOR AND MAKING A DECENT LITTLE HOLE IN IT. GREAT!!! ITS TOO LATE FOR AN AUTO STORE AND NO TOW TRUCK WOULD EVER MAKE IT WHERE WE WERE. THEN I REMEMBERED AN OLD TIMER TRICK. I SENT MY BUDDY TO THE QUICKIE MART AND AFTER AN HOUR AND A HALF HE GETS BACK. I START CRACKING EGGS INTO THE STEAMING HOT RADIATOR. AFTER ABOUT THE 5TH EGG IT SEALED. NOW HERES THE FUNNY PART. NO WATER OR COOLANT. AND BEER ISNT A GOOD OPTION. GODS HONEST TRUTH. 6 OF US PISSED IN MY RADIATOR AND I MADE IT HOME WITH ONE DISGUSTING RADIATOR MESS..LOLOLOL :o |
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Title: Re: What's yer' biggest wild goose chase?... Post by joeyzaza on 03/10/12 at 09:10:46 Im sorry I had to tell this other one. I was wheeling in the jeep again. by this time it wasnt legal and was on one ton axles with 38's. i was determined to get up this rock so I kept hammering at it then I HEARD BOOOM. oh boy now what. I had blown the front pinion bearing. With little to no options I couldnt drive forward but the spider gear allowed me to go backwards. so I drove 3 hours home illegally BACKWARDS in the breakdown lane, one cop stopped me and after the explanation he actually escorted me to the next town and there another cop led me along to the end HAHA it was funny until the next day. I woke up and after all that time with my head turned sideways I pulled a muscle in my neck, I had to go to the doctor and wear a brace and take muscle relaxers for two weeks... sometimes I dont miss that darn rig!!!!! |
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Title: Re: What's yer' biggest wild goose chase?... Post by justin_o_guy2 on 03/10/12 at 09:22:49 You DO realize that maybe some of the problems that rig had that caused you suffering may not have actually been the fault of the rig, right? Besides, it had reason to get back at you, imagine the disrespect the poor thing felt, having its radiator whizzed in, I wouldnat have wanted to be the guy doin that repair,, ughhh! |
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Title: Re: What's yer' biggest wild goose chase?... Post by arteacher on 03/10/12 at 12:04:18 Friend of mine's son bought a new Jeep and decided to see how it performed in the water. He drove it into the lake to the point that water was over the door sills. Then he stalled it and couldn't get it started. He and his friends tried to push it out but by then the tires had sunk into the sand. So they came and got me and my Land Cruiser. I backed into the water, hooked up a 10' tow strap, and pulled them out. On the Jeep the vents for the differentials are on top of the diffs. When he stalled it the air in the diffs cooled down and sucked sandy water into the diffs through the axle seals. Major rebuild. On the Cruiser the vents are way up in the body, and the axles have double seals. The vents allow air to pass both ways unlike the Jeep, witch only lets air out, so when the diff cools down it sucks air (or sandy water) in through the seals to help stop oil leaks. I never let him live it down. ;D |
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Title: Re: What's yer' biggest wild goose chase?... Post by thumperclone on 03/10/12 at 12:16:11 was a maintainence man at a factory..the receptionist called me on the radio that the fire alarm panel was beebing..when i was able to get away from the assembly area she called me and said it stopped.. so i turned around,few moments later she calls again beeb,beeb,beeb.. i hurried to the panel,it was silent..waited a few moments and trouble light for tamper switches came whith the beep beep beep... i start my rounds checking all the valves on the fire sprinkler system thinkin one of the fork truck drivers had hit one..checked all dozen or so and found nothing wrong..mean while the beeping stopped again..i had to get back to assembly but b4 i made it another call,beeb beeb beeb... ??? so it dawns om e to check the fire pump outside but its in a locked cage nothing could happen in there..get it all checked out nada.. meanwhile beeb beeb beeb then nothing she was giving me a running report.. getting pretty fustrated by this time..started heading back inside across theparking lot i spied the backflow preventer for the sprinkler system 10" pipe with 2 huge valves.. open up one of the junction boxes that houses the tamper switch to find 6 or 8 thumbnail sized green frogs in there!!!micro switch has a lever that they were using as a perch.. found the hole where they were getting in and sealed it up.. not a wild goose chase but a wild frog chase!! |
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