Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Critter, Foscue Creek Park, Demopolis AL

About those squishy brakes

Squishy; is that a technical term? Not really, but it pretty well describes the feel of the brake pedal. The rig will stop, sort of, but without authority. If I push hard on the pedal to make a hard stop, the pedal will go to the floor and the rig will come to a semi rapid stop. I've never felt anything exactly like this before. And I can't see any leaks and the master cylinder fluid level seems ok.

It looks like I'm going to need some help and, oh great, tomorrow is Thanksgiving. Lucky me I'm in familiar territory. Charleston WV is where I was rescued by the fine folks at Charleston Auto Towing and Pro 1 Automotive last spring on my way home Memphis TN with the newly purchased LD, stalled by the side of the road with a bad fuel pump. In the late afternoon they hooked us in to their shop in Sissonville WV, where a mechanic stayed late, quickly diagnosed the problem, dropped the fuel tank and had a new fuel pump installed by 9:00 pm and off I gratefully went. Good people and I have their phone number.

On the hook again

A call to Charleston Auto Towing about 9:00 am had me in their shop in Sissonville WV about 10:00 am where a mechanic got right to work on the problem. We agreed from the symptoms it was most likely an internal failure of the master cylinder, maybe with some contribution from weak flexible hoses leading to the front calipers.

This is turning into a long story

It wasn't either the master cylinder nor the flexible hoses; the symptoms are unchanged. We bled the system again, thinking there might be an air bubble trapped somewhere. Nope, now what could it be? There are no leaks, no air in the system. Off came a rear wheel where we found good shoes, a broken return spring and some weepage in the wheel cylinder. On went a new cylinder and springs. More bleeding. No change in symptoms. Quitting time; the mechanic goes home as do I. For a bit.

There is a night shift and on comes Wayne, the mechanic of fuel pump fame. He runs through his own diagnostics and also comes up with no ideas. Off comes the other rear wheel where we again found a broken return spring and a weeping wheel cylinder. On go the new parts, the system is carefully bled again. Twice. Still no change in the symptoms; no surprise really but at least we have touched and felt and upgraded things back there.

Off come the front wheels for an inspection. Everything looks ok except for one stuck caliper slide pin. Aha! maybe we are onto something. The calipers come off, the pins get lubed, everything gets put back together. Nope, no change in the symptoms. By now it's 3:00 am, I'm pooped, and Wayne has other emergencies to deal with so we quit.

Tomorrow (today?) is thanksgiving and the shop is closed except for the towing crews who are ready to go 24/7. Guess where I'll be thankfully spending the holiday?

Night camp: Pro 1 Automotive parking lot in Sissonville WV

Crayfish Chimney

Late one afternoon I sat upon my camera case beside the path where it wound through the darkest part of the woods, down near the pond, and watched a crayfish building his "chimney," the land entrance to his underwater tunnel. He had just started to work above the ground when I first arrived. He came up through the moist black earth, carrying a ball of it between his two enormous fighting claws. Using the claws as hands, he spread the soil around the hole to form the base of the chimney. He then backed down the hole and after several minutes came up with another armful.

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