Wow, you do sound like my twin. From the time I was 7 years old and first flew on a 727 to Chicago I was sure I wanted to be a commercial pilot. At 9 I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes and that sidelined that dream. They have recently made a change so that Diabetics can get a Class 3 medical certificate and get their private license. I am chomping at the bit for that but like you said, money and time are a huge hurdle for that. You need lots of both. [:@] For now I lurk around on www.airliners.net and such because the technical end of jets fascinates me and there are all kinds of q&a sessions there with tons of commercial guys.

There is a great ski resort up in Killington.The couple of times I went it was in between fall and spring semesters and my Dad wanted to go up there but my Mom hates skiing so my Dad and I went. Flew once and drove the other time from SC to VT. I think the drive was more enjoyable than flying. Long, but we did it straight thru. Very nice and scenic. As for driving on the snow, if we get any snowfall that covers the roads here I am out the door under the guise of "checking road conditions" for the wife. I am 38 and still love to find the slickest parking lot for a few e-brake 180's or a little slow speed drifting. Not too long, just enough to have a little fun without drawing attention.

I told him that my driver's ed teacher taught us that we should pull up the e-brake in an empty parking lot after it snows to learn how to drive in a skid. The cop said he'd believe that if we'd gone around once or twice, but he'd been watching for 45 minutes.

I love that! It took him 45 minutes to figure out he was going to run you off. Sounds more like he got tired of sitting there waiting for 45 minutes for you to tag the curb and tear up your suspension so he could write the big ticket. Or he was out of coffee. I have a few friends that are cops so I am not bashing them or anything, I just think his statement sounded humorous. Guess he realized you could handle the car and were not going to bend anything and got bored. Ha, ha.

Yep, you sound like you could be a lost twin.

I am still up cause the cough medicine the Doc gave me for this pneumonia ordeal either makes me dead sleepy or it makes me wired. Tonight, I am wired. [>:] I should go down and hook the charger to my battery, it has been sitting on the ground since I pulled my engine out 3 months ago. It would make too much noise though and I have been fussed at once by my wife for still being up. I better not push my luck or my second Mom will have a real fit. [:@] I will charge it tomorrow morning and see what I can do with it to test that switch later in the afternoon. My Doctor told me to rest for the next week so I am going to have to be stealthy about sneaking off to the garage. I can hear it now. "You can't vacuum or help me clean the house because you are supposed to rest but you can work on the car!!" The joys of marriage. Luckily my wife never reads the forum.

Hopefully good news by tomorrow evening.

 

Did it work out.??? I have mine in my hands right now and debating if to buy a new one or clean mine. I have no reversing lights and issues driving the first few minutes.

 

Sorry, I am just now charging the battery to have some juice to test it with. Been downstairs with the engine out for 3 months. Engine is in but battery needs a charge. Then I will have to put the PNP back in and test it with power. Maybe late tonight or in the morning I will know for sure. It could not hurt to try cleaning it, especially since you have the classic no reverse lights and early morning shift trouble. The grease I cleaned out of mine was black, very carboned up. I would clean it up and polish the copper ocntacts with fine sandpaper or a pencil eraser as suggested by another member and put on a fine coat of dielectric and try it out.

I will post my results ASAP.

 

Well, the PNP is attached but I forgot that all the wiring to the alternator and starter and main harness are loose. I threw the engine back in and stopped for a bit while I was sick. I need to at least get the starter in and the main harness and ground lugs hooked up which I am going to do in the morning. Battery has juice now but I have plans tonight so I will have to follow up tomorrow. Sorry for the delay. Perhaps there will be good news tomorrow. I figure worst case I have to order the new PNP which I have set aside money for. Best case, cleaning fixes it and I take part of the money and buy new endlinks, maybe performance type. Or a strut torque brace. SWEET!!

 

Sorry for the delay. I got my ac, ps, and alternator as well as the starter installed but had trouble getting the main harness connected before having to leave to go help my wife out. I think once the starter wiring is connected it will be safe to install the battery and turn the ignition switch to position 2 to see if putting the shifter in reverse gives me reverse lights. I should be able to get to that point tomorrow after work and will repost.
Will follow up tomorrow,

 

Hi Rob,

I enjoy your updates.

I do hope the backup lights work. I too, went through the factory manual and there was no backup light switch.

Will wait for your reply.


JPN

 

This is a bit of delayed reply... That is definitely my fondest memory of driving in the snow. I have a daily reminder too because my friend in the passenger seat was smoking, so we had the windows open and were letting the snow pile into the car as we spun around (makes it a bit more intense). Anyway, he dropped his cigarette at one point and couldn't find it. The next morning we found it and a fresh hole in the seat.

Also, thanks for the airliners website, I'll have to check that out.

Later.

 

Okay, I made a little progress but have some photos that I need to seek advice on to I can hook the battery up without fear of shorting something. I have 2 red cables that go to the starter and one white wire that looks like it goes on the post with the two reds. See picture, is this right?

Also, I bolted the neg. cable to the block but there is a clamp that goes around the wiring harness and looks like it too should bolt to the bolt that has the negative cable connect to the block. Is that correct?

So much to sort out, PTA ran late and I am feeling like crud again. Made some progress though and I am going to order the transmission rebuild manual tonight. Anyone take a look at the pics and tell me if I am on track?

Thanks,
Rob

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Hi Rob,

I too, would like to suggest that you rest until you have completely recovered.

As to the wiring connection at the starter, I am not much of help, as I don't even have a tricycle. I could only attach a diagram, which will go down the drain in the next few days so be quick! It looks like the ground is located at a different area as compared to the rest of the wires.

Quote:
Hey, any word on what caused that fire on that 737 the other day? I heard a fuel leak maybe and once the engine shut down the thrust that was blowing the fuel back and away was gone so it dripped on the hot section.

According to what they found:
Cause-1: Incorrect installation of bolts inside the leading edge flap.
Cause-2: The bolt dislodged and when the flaps were retracted, it was pushed by an arm and penetrated into the fuel tank.
Cause-3: Kindling point of the hot section of the engine did it.
Cause-4 Chin@ Airlines (Not a Chinese airline but T@iw@nese). Their safety record is horrible. But who knows, the entire airline industry may be in danger, as technicians are treated less & less important and jobs are outsourced[8D].When you fly, I suggest that you sit in theback seat, the one at the furthest rear (unless you insist on the business-class, which Icouldn't afford anyway).Some may argue on this, but voice & flight recorders are located in the empennage section[8D].

Anyway, I wish you luck on the starter.


Kanji/JPN

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[quote]ORIGINAL: JPN

Hi Rob,

I too, would like to suggest that you rest until you have completely recovered.

As to the wiring connection at the starter, I am not much of help, as I don't even have a tricycle. I could only attach a diagram, which will go down the drain in the next few days so be quick! It looks like the ground is located at a different area as compared to the rest of the wires.

Quote:
Hey, any word on what caused that fire on that 737 the other day? I heard a fuel leak maybe and once the engine shut down the thrust that was blowing the fuel back and away was gone so it dripped on the hot section.

According to what they found:
Cause-1: Incorrect installation of bolts inside the leading edge flap.
Cause-2: The bolt dislodged and when the flaps were retracted, it was pushed by an arm and penetrated into the fuel tank.
Cause-3: Kindling point of the hot section of the engine did it.
Cause-4 Chin@ Airlines (Not a Chinese airline but T@iw@nese). Their safety record is horrible. But who knows, the entire airline industry may be in danger, as technicians are treated less & less important and jobs are outsourced[8D].When you fly, I suggest that you sit in theback seat, the one at the furthest rear (unless you insist on the business-class, which Icouldn't afford anyway).Some may argue on this, but voice & flight recorders are located in the empennage section[8D].

Anyway, I wish you luck on the starter.


Kanji/JPN

Hey Kanji,
I think I have the starter wired correctly and if not hopefully the fuseable link will do its job.
I am going to attempt to get the rest of the harness mounted and make sense of the wires that are left. I labelled them and took pictures but a word of caution from experience, when pulling an engine and thinking you have enough photos to show where everything should go back, stop and take about 40 more photos. You can never have enough. And if you are not using a digital camera, stop, givve your film camera back to Fred Flintstone and get a digital.

I saw Natalie Morales (has to be the most attractive female on the Earth today hands down, but I digress ) talking about the fire this morning on The Today Show and they were pointing out exactly what you said. They mentioned a washer being left off that let the bolt slip through the mounting hole. I guess I better check my garage floor real well for extra washers when I finish the car. Guess they are not just for corrosion prevention anymore.

Never flown business class myself. Just cannot see spending the extra money unless it was a transatlantic flightand even then not sure it would be worth the extra cost for the stretching room. I find that on the few transatlantic flights I have been on a Xanax and a glass of wine and I am off to sleep for the duration of the flight and never notice the tight quarters of coach for 9 or 10 hours. Wake up refreshed and just in time to enjoy the decent and landing. My wife has a cousin that is a Doctor and is usually with us on those long family trips where all 25 members of my wifes family go together so she takes care of us.

Talk to you soon with more progress I hope. [&:]

 

Well, this is an update to cleaning the PNP switch. It did not fix the reverse lights which stinks. It did not make anything worse but it did not help. Guess that is why there are not more posts of people trying it. I did get the engine together and started after pulling it out to do the RMS. Need to replace the antenna mast and get the battery bolted it and top off the coolant. Little things but so far so good. Guess I will be pulling the air box and battery later to replace the PNP switch. [:'(] Oh well, I tried.