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**qldit** · 04-10-2007, 09:59 PM

G'day justo, yes I managed to get involved with a lot of stuff because sending it back to Australia or getting and expert sent up was either too time consuming or expensive, so I cut my teeth with the 71 series GM's and Borg-Warner 35 transmissions and all that kind of stuff.
Just having a few spares and getting bits sent up the next day kind of thing reduced downtime by 90%, so then I managed to get a few courses on the machines.
There was rarely anything unrepairable after that.

So I got a few odd jobs with generator systems and it was good money.
I never worry about any different type diesels these days but it is dirty work on that stuff.
Most of it is old dinosaur stuff that no one will touch these days, and some generator regulator systems are really prehistoric.

Some of the computer controlled vehicles can be a pain, the fault codes are usually unreliable.
I have one here where the coil is inside the distributor and it occasionally arcs internally under load, the owner had it to several places and they didn't pick it up.
I am waiting for a coil for the stupid thing.
They are usually encapsulated and also contain some kind of oil, and the tell-tale is a black oily residue in the distributor.
So many of these things are back to basics, I often pull the computer controller out and inspect it, it is not uncommon to find printed circuit damage in them, small cooked areas where the tracks are damaged.

Half the problem is finding where the damned computer is in the vehicles, some are buried in the dash and others behind the side kick panels.
Many of these vehicles use a more or less conventional ignition system except that they are solid state and pointless.

I have struck quite a few machines where the drive belt had broken and the pistons and valves had made love, one had stripped all the rocker support bolts and had a lot of other damage, valves, pistons and a conrod!

We have used spare half-life engines sent here from Japan so that resouce is often the best.
One diesel car I was presented with was something in the order of $2K just for engine parts and I got another complete motor for $600, so it pays to know this stuff is available.

I have a good hydraulic cylinder repair workshop not far away and they are good with repairs for those big cylinders on your type of equipment.
They get a bit heavy and can be a real pain to remove and refit.

I am going to have to give the Linux away for a while here also, I have several water tanks I need to make bases for and set up.
We currently have a terrible water shortage here, the worst for 150 years so it has caused a lot of problems. One drought after another!
Water is limited to 140 litres per person per day, so things are pretty tight.
No water usage outside at all.
People are using their used washing machine water for their gardens.

Cheers, qldit.

04-10-2007, 09:59 PM	#61 (permalink)
qldit TSF Gearhead Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Brisbane Australia. Posts: 592 OS: All Systems, mainly Linux	Re: Old PCs & low memory & Linux G'day justo, yes I managed to get involved with a lot of stuff because sending it back to Australia or getting and expert sent up was either too time consuming or expensive, so I cut my teeth with the 71 series GM's and Borg-Warner 35 transmissions and all that kind of stuff. Just having a few spares and getting bits sent up the next day kind of thing reduced downtime by 90%, so then I managed to get a few courses on the machines. There was rarely anything unrepairable after that. So I got a few odd jobs with generator systems and it was good money. I never worry about any different type diesels these days but it is dirty work on that stuff. Most of it is old dinosaur stuff that no one will touch these days, and some generator regulator systems are really prehistoric. Some of the computer controlled vehicles can be a pain, the fault codes are usually unreliable. I have one here where the coil is inside the distributor and it occasionally arcs internally under load, the owner had it to several places and they didn't pick it up. I am waiting for a coil for the stupid thing. They are usually encapsulated and also contain some kind of oil, and the tell-tale is a black oily residue in the distributor. So many of these things are back to basics, I often pull the computer controller out and inspect it, it is not uncommon to find printed circuit damage in them, small cooked areas where the tracks are damaged. Half the problem is finding where the damned computer is in the vehicles, some are buried in the dash and others behind the side kick panels. Many of these vehicles use a more or less conventional ignition system except that they are solid state and pointless. I have struck quite a few machines where the drive belt had broken and the pistons and valves had made love, one had stripped all the rocker support bolts and had a lot of other damage, valves, pistons and a conrod! We have used spare half-life engines sent here from Japan so that resouce is often the best. One diesel car I was presented with was something in the order of $2K just for engine parts and I got another complete motor for $600, so it pays to know this stuff is available. I have a good hydraulic cylinder repair workshop not far away and they are good with repairs for those big cylinders on your type of equipment. They get a bit heavy and can be a real pain to remove and refit. I am going to have to give the Linux away for a while here also, I have several water tanks I need to make bases for and set up. We currently have a terrible water shortage here, the worst for 150 years so it has caused a lot of problems. One drought after another! Water is limited to 140 litres per person per day, so things are pretty tight. No water usage outside at all. People are using their used washing machine water for their gardens. Cheers, qldit.