GeneralDisorder

Yeah - it's too bad we can't go back to the early 90's systems like my SS. Simple, reliable, and built for $1.00 a gallon premium...... wait that last one makes me mad.... sorta GD

Yeah - she has an appointment tommorow morning. Unfortunately (or fortunately for them perhaps) I'll be at work. If she can't get them to make it right the next step will be to call me in. Pretty it will not be, should they attempt to brush me off. And if I'm not effective - her mother will be there. Angry japanese lady on oxygen! GD

That would work except her mother is a lung-transplant patient - can't drive around here, can't be exposed to the sun much, can't take the heat, ect, ect. But I see your point I'll get a fire lit under them. GD

No - you just use the EA82 clutch disc. Swapping over to the EA82 flywheel just buys you the ability to run the EA82T/XT6 pressure plate. You need to make sure you use the EA82 disc that has the round hub and not the semi-square one as the squarish one won't fit inside the EA81 pressure plate. GD

Why not just use the EA81 flywheel? That's what I always do. Just substitute the EA82 friction disc. GD

Good to hear. Glad it was that simple. SPFI is really quite a simple beast. Just a small box of good spare parts is all you need under the seat for trouble-free motoring in all 50 states Really there aren't that many sensors though. Take your old one apart and see if you can fix it for a spare. Might just be as simple as cleaning the wipers and the PCB. GD

A lot of people wouldn't that's true. But most of those people would likely be better served renting one when they need it. They aren't 5x the price at all. They aren't even 2x the price for comparable machines when you are talking brand new. And when you are talking about used stuff from craigslist, you have no idea what kind of use/abuse the thing has had. At least buying a 20 year old Quincy you CAN get parts and make it virtually like new again for a reasonable price. And in 20 more years when the thing is 40 years old you'll still be able to do it again. You get unlucky on a Craftsman purchase of a 20 year old compressor and you're going to eat it. The beauty of air tools is how inexpensive they are for the power/performance you get out of them. I personally don't buy the most expensive, nor the most inexpensive air tools. Generally if it's not at least $100, it's chinese crap and it's going to be non-user-friendly, won't last long, and will be impossible to get repair parts for. Also - CFM by itself is a meaningless number. It has to be CFM @ psi. Such as 4 CFM @ 100 psi. A machine that makes 4 CFM @ 90 psi will not keep up with a tool that uses 4 @ 100. CFM goes up as pressure decreases. One mistake that people make all the time is they decide they need more air for whatever reason, and crank the pressure of the machine up. That does NOTHING but make their situation worse as the machine makes less air at higher pressure. Then they come to me and wonder why. I think you are missing my point - it's better, when you are talking about a power source (compressed air is a power source, or "utility" if you wish, just as is electricity) that runs many tools in your shop, to buy the best equipment you can afford. A used Quincy IS within his budget, and would be one less potential frustration for him in the future. It also supports a company that still manufactures something of quality here in the US. Something that is worth more than merely a few hundred dollars. You can have your cheap chinese stuff - I don't want it, it's frustration, or it's implications for the US economy. I know that may sound crazy on a Japanese car forum.... but if the US actually produced a quality car anymore I would be one of the first in line for one. GD

Which vehicle is this concerning? How much fluid is missing and over what time period/mileage? As pads and shoes wear, brake fluid will need to be topped off because the pistons in the calipers, and the brake cylinders retract to ever-increasing distances from their "new pad/shoe" location. Thus more of the system's fluid is contained inside the caliper's/cylinder's piston bore and not in the reservoir where you can see it. GD

The GF's car is doing strange things with the AC on. If you push in the clutch with the AC on the idle will hunt back and forth between 1500 and 2000 RPM with about a 0.5 - 1 Hz freqency. She called the dealer and they claim it's "normal" for the idle to change with the AC on, but she neglected to tell them the frequency of the hunting. This certianly can't be right. Also the car has never idled right to my satisfaction. It's always had a weird, rough idle that isn't solid at a specific RPM. It's in the neighborhood of 750 to 1000 all the time, but it's never the same and it feels rough. My hands are tied because the thing is under warantee so I have to light a fire under the dealers asses to do something about it. I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced similar problems, what the solutions are, or what potentially I should sugest the dealer inspect should they claim there is nothing wrong. I want this foolishness fixed before the warantee runs out and it's MY problem . GD

What do you need exactly? Us members in the area have been known to help each other out for no charge. If it's simple stuff (axle change, etc) or you want an honest opinion from someone that's not financially involved you could drop by and I could take a look. I'm in West Linn - just south on 205 a peice. Ritchie is a good guy, but no one touches my cars but ME, so I don't have first hand experiences with him. Seems like a nice person at the shows and such. GD

Sure - but how many actual run hours are on it? Age doesn't matter as long as they are stored in a clean dry environment. I doubt it has 1000 hours on it. Most inexpensive reed valve machines are rated at 1000 on the valves. The Quincy reed valves are rated at 3000 hours which is typically about 3x what other manufacturers give them. GD

Oil-free recip's are TEH SUCK. When they fail, they fail in a big, nasty, loud way. Usually accomanied by a lot of smoke. You may not have oil in your lines, but one day soon you will have compressor metal and teflon in them . If you want decent oil-free, look at a scroll compressor. Powerex makes a neat little unit. http://www.powerexinc.com/index.asp?fuseaction=productDetails&product_subcategory_id=23 GD

Then you need to go to a lighter weight oil. SAE 20 is what I reccomend for cold environments. All reed valve machines make a lot of noise. It's the valves, the fact that there is just less metal in the machines, most small ones have no intercooler, and then they have use an external tank-check valve which rattles when the compressor is in operation. Then they blow-down the discharge line using a form-x pressure switch because reed valve machines are unable to start under load (discharge line to the tank must be depressurized). Then they mount them on un-reinforced tank saddles and spin them at horribly fast RPM - people want CHEAP is what it comes down to. They take a small, cheap pump and spin it very fast... it's going to be loud. People want cheap - that's why wall-mart makes so much money. Even Quincy has to compete against IR and even Craftsman. There is a market for it and unfortunately that drives UP the price of the decent machines because fewer people are buying them. Beleive me.... I know this all too well and I deal with it every day. It's sad - I'm rebuilding a 43 year old QR machine at the shop this week and besides needing a good overhaul it still performs TO SPEC! It's weeping oil from everywhere - but it still makes just as much air as it did when it was built in 1965. Try that with your Craftsman. Spin a smallish QR at a nice 750 RPM and you will know the definition of quiet. They are so quiet in operation that you can hear the disc valves clicking. Plus they have a nice low-pitched rumbble - sort of like the difference between an idleing mopar and a weed whacker. GD

Don't bring that poor Alpha owner into this. That thing's owner has enough problems without being accused of stealing your trim. GD

They did that to eliminate the field circuit (and the charge indicator lamp). By tying it back into the output they made the alt self-exciting (the output see's 12v from the battery when the alt is not making power). This way they didn't have to rev the engine past 3k to get the alt to self-excite. GD

The disc and the calipers will work, but the rest will not. The hub, and the backing plate (which is also the caliper bracket) are totally different. GD

The cone washer is worn out and needs to be replaced. No amount of torque will get it properly seated now as there is a ridge worn into it from the nut being loose and allowing the whole thing to wear against the mating surface of the hub. You could torque it to 500 lbs and it would still not stop the noise. It will keep coming back till you replace the cone washer and potentially the hub (I certainly would), or until you strip the splines out of the hub and and are forced to replace the hub, axle, cone washer, and maybe other things. GD

That is 100% correct. I just had one done about 3 months ago. $25 to code cut a brand new key for my hatch (my only copy was too worn). And $3 for each copy of same. I had 4 made and hid one under the car in a mag box. The code is on the tumbler and takes all of 5 minutes to remove. It's just a spring clip that holds them on. GD

You need more than a push-button. You need some switches as well to turn on the accessory circuits or nothing will be powered after you release the momentary starter button. At least a three position switch - off, acc, and run. It's not hard to wire it - take the column apart and remove the switch from the back of the lock tumbler. Get out your DMM and it shouldn't take long before you understand. Or find the wiring diagram in any of the commonly available manuals. GD

Engine x-member only - 1" isn't enough to need to drop the leading rod plates (where the trans bolts to) but you can if you like. The PK-Davis lifts have the leading rod lift blocks 1" shorter than the engine x-member blocks - the difference is not an issue in practice. You will need longer bolts to bolt the x-member to the frame rails if you only do 1" though. If you go larger than 1" and use channel you can slip the nuts through the sides and reuse the stock bolts. GD

Change your fuel filters (front and rear, but mostly the rear will be the clogged one). GD

It screws up the camber quite a bit and isn't recommended for tire life if you are running on pavement most of the time. It's also only good for about 1" to 1.5" of additional height. The wheels look funny at the camber it puts them at. Better to make some small 1" lift blocks for the x-member to avoid the camber problems. Then you can crank them up and have them straight. GD

You didn't have the belt on right. With the belt incorrect, the valves don't actuate in sequence with the piston reciprocation and you will get intake valves that don't open at TDC, and don't close and BDC (and exhaust valves that do similar). This doesn't allow the cylinder to reach full pressure so you can't get an accurate compression reading. I would say you pulled the heads for no reason. GD

Way too much work - pull the inner control arm bolt, and the sway bar link. Two bolts and no stepping on anything. GD

The VSS is inside the speedo head. So yes - making it work again will fix the code. Whether it's the cable or inside the tranny.... you'll have to check. GD