98 2 door 4x4 Tahoe

Indeed. Summary, it's hard to get a 2 seater pickup into the US. My 2 seater pickup was made in CA, which barely qualifies.

I assume that is **** shower and shave.

 

Took me 1/2 the day before the light went on in my head. I'm not the brightest star in the sky.

 

 

Art - I've seen similar, not this one though. Pretty funny.

 

That definitely would've been me trying to guess. The english language is funny.

 

Hi guys,

So, I had previously mentioned that Maggie our female bulldog was going for a Vet visit last Friday the 16th for a runny nose and alot of congestion. I have purposely held off on reporting on that because things have been in flux on what was going to happen.

- First, the Vet was not as concerned about a potential cold as she was about the condition of Maggie's nose. Maggie has always suffered from hyperkeratosis, a condition usually manifesting itself in an extreme dryness of the tissue in the nose or paw pads (pic). Her's has always been on her nose. We have put recommended topical creams on it, making it somewhat better, but never going completely away. Cost of this visit $306.00.

- The Vet put her on an antibiotic, just in case she had some type of bacterial bug, and her runny nose and congestion has cleared since then. However, because of the severity of the hyperkeratosis on her nose, the Vet also wanted to do a biopsy of her nose tissue just to make sure it hasn't developed into cancerous tissue, which it can potentially do. Since they have to put her out for the biopsy, estimated cost of the surgical biopsy and lab work is $1,100. We agreed to have it done because we want to know what we're dealing with.

- After the fact, I mentioned to Dawn, since they're already going to have her under (which is a large part pf the cost), what about them doing the Nasal passage widening procedure like they did on Monty? She checked into it and they are only going to charge us $200.00 more to do the Nasal procedure, so $1,300.00. So tomorrow morning Maggie is going in for the Nasal tissue biopsy and Nasal passage widening procedure. It will be another long day and Dawn will be a wreck until they contact her and tell us she's awake and doing well. As Paul Harvey would say, "That's the rest of the story."

 

Chris - Sad about your doggies. I believe bulldogs are the most highly inbred breeds of dogs. Unfortunate for that breed. Inbreeding is the leading factor contributing to the highest incidents of disease in canines. Bulldogs unfortunately are witness to those human inbreeding events. I hope she manages it well. Very costly breed to maintain.

 

Norm - Unfortunately you are correct that English Bulldogs are highly susceptible to a number of health issues, especially breathing issues with their smooshed faces, and a wide variety of allergies. Despite our recent challenges with both, I'd say they have been better than average for their breed. Monty has actually been exceptionally healthy and is in great shape for 9-years old, when the average life expectancy for Engkish Bulldogs is only 8. He is very playful and active for his age. Maggie is a different story. She damaged a knee when she was young, and still gets gimpy from time to time. It doesn't help that she likes to be a couch potatoe and eats too much. We've got her on a strict diet right now trying to get some weight off her. It's been working and she's dropped about 5lbs now, but it would be good if we could get her down another 5lbs. I think it would help alot with her gimpiness, and her overall general health for sure. Regardless of cost (at least for us) they've been an incredible source of joy for us, you've seen the pictures. We wouldn't trade them for anything.

 

I bet she is a champion food beggar, especially on a diet.

 

Removing the Dairy Queen treats had to have helped.

 

Our fault, in the past we've been bad about giving them "treats" at the dinner table, primarily beef or chicken pieces without any sauce or breading. That has stopped, and they are besides themselves sitting there by our chairs with the saddest faces you've ever seen! Pitiful!

 

No question bulldogs have the most pitiful sad facial expressions - you can’t find a more saddened facial expression. It’s like a human looking back at themself in a mirror. Gotta love it.

 

Bloodhounds and bassets are pretty pathetic, too.

 

True, true.

 

Yep.

 

Last fall I ran into an undesirable behavior. In AC cars, from 68-71, Olds decided that there should be AC on in defog and defrost mode. However, the head unit would give power to the clutch for the compressor only in Max and Norm. They fixed it correctly in 72 and made the head unit kick the compressor on in defrost and defog, which annoys me as I go from off to vent in my 72. What they did in 68-71 is, via some electrical magic, latch the power onto the clutch if you engaged the AC compressor in max or norm, and it would stay engaged until you shut the engine ignition off.

This was done with a modified relay. Like the horn, when you complete the 12 volt control circuit, the relay closes its own circuit as long as you keep yours closed. In other words, horn makes noise when you hold button down. Similar for the AC system, you switch on the AC on the dash, it sends power to the relay, which closes a circuit sending bigger current power to the AC clutch, and the AC is on. What they did was use a hold-in relay that, once it is on via your control, it uses the power side to keep your control on, even if you shut if off. It would be like your horn staying on after you hit the button, but at least you can turn the key off on this one. I don't like this because I use the cars primarily for short drives and I will run the AC to make it work, but then I want to shut it off and run heat and dry everything out, and then I want to floor it and I do not need the compressor running the whole rest of the drive.

There's a great writeup to using a normal relay and a vacuum switch to get all the original function. I just want 1967 function in my 68. So, the difference in a hold in relay is an extra link from the output of the power side, back to the control input. Thus, when the relay outputs power, it self powers your input via the extra link. The solution: remove the link. These relays have them on the outside, as you will see. So, I needlessly took the covers off, and had to put them back on. Then I removed the link.

In this first picture, I have the original relay. Yellow and black ground the relay and the multimeter, red is the output to the multimeter (the multimeter is playing the AC clutch here), white is power to the relay on the power side, and green is my switch, touching positive is on, touching nothing is off. Before I have turned the AC on, I have turned the car on, but there is no power to the AC yet. Good. 0V.



Same wire layout, but I now have turned the AC on by touching the positive with the control side of the relay. 11.05 V, I believe someone stupidly painted the entire freaking relay and I have poor contact.



Same wire layout, but notice I have removed the green wire from power. This is analogous to turning the AC off, like going to vent. Note that the multimeter still has voltage. The AC compressor would still turn. This relay is "held in" now.


I have shut the car off by removing the white wire, acting as if the ignition were shut down. The relay unlatches until the next time the control side is energized. If the AC were set to on, and the car started, it would immediately energize and latch. 0V.


Now, I have switched to my new relay. Notice there is no round rod across the top of the relay on this one. I removed it. I could put it back. Same wiring. The car is on, but the AC is not, so the relay has power, but nothing on the control side to close it.


Same wiring, but I have turned the AC on by putting the green wire to positive and putting voltage to the control side. The relay closed, and the multimeter now gets great voltage with this new relay. AC on. 12V.


Same wiring, but I shut off the AC by removing the wire from the positive, so no voltage to the control side. Since this is no longer a hold in relay, the relay opens, the multimeter sees 0V and the AC is off. Off is now off for the AC, even though the car is still on.


Chicken scratch circuit diagram.


This relay sits on the passenger fender just like the horn relay sits on the driver's. I will keep the other relay with me in case I ever want AC for defrost. This would have to be a summer roadtrip in bad weather, and I just don't see that happening soon with this car. New relay matches the other one in color, too.

 

Oh, I usually use an inline fuse holder and I should have been now, I just couldn't find the thing. Fuse goes right on the positive, then everything connects behind it.

 

John - Cool write-up. I've followed the AC compressor hold-in relay latching function for some time (years) prior to when it became a sticky. You really dived right into the disparity w/ the defrost/defog AC compressor Max & Norm modes. The only reason I became aware of this peculiarity was when I purchased my 1971 CS convertible (2018) & I was evaluating that Max/Norm defrost/defog peculiarity. My 1967 4-4-2 (1969 - 1972) & my 1972 4-4-2 (1976 - 1981) didn't operate (latch) the AC compressor in Max/Norm modes in defrost/defog the same as the 1971. Albeit, I began evaluating that hold-in relay.

 

John/Norm - Electrical issues, especially automotive, have always been Black Magic to me. I don't know how I ever passed college level physics? I really admire you guys who have such a firm grasp on how that **** works, and how to methodically diagnose a problem and actually repair whatever the issue is. Kudos to you both!

 

She's always been Daddy's girl. In her favorite spot sitting in my lap in the recliner. Who couldn't love that face? She will be off to the Vet with Dawn in a few minutes. It will be a long day for me too.

 

Chris - Nothing but a thing.

 

Hope things work out well for Maggie. You both have some nursing to do for awhile.

 

Thanks Norm, appreciate the well wishes! We're hoping she won't be nearly as big an issue to nurse as Monty was. I don't know if you remember, but Monty had 3 surgeries on the same day. He had the Soft Palate surgery to remove excess tissue partially covering his windpipe, the Nasal surgery to widen his nostrils, and eyelid surgery to turn the upper edge of the lower eyelids outward so the tiny hairs along the edge no longer touch and aggravate his eyes. The healing of the eyelids was what seemed to bother Monty the most, and Maggie won't have to deal with that. Plus she won't have to be on a special soft diet without the throat surgery.

 

Another FEDEX update: Estimated between 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM, today. I awoke thinking maybe I'll jump into the Injun risk/reward decision. It then hit me like a brick - WHY? I'd gain far more happiness plugging wiring looms back into a (hopefully) fully functioning instrument panel cluster.

 

That sounds like a good decision. You need to chalk one up in the win column, 🤞, and get you some wheels back. Wishing ya the best outcome!

 

Hi guys,

No update on Maggie's surgery yet.

Got good news on the home repairs front. The window company will be here a week from tomorrow to install our 2 new windows. I was told by both my Roofing/Siding Contractor and the Window Contractor that the preferred order of install is windows before siding if possible and that's what's going to happen. No word yet on a date for the new siding. The new gutters/downspouts/fascia will follow the siding.

I was a little sad that my grandsons' Spring hockey season had come to an end since I had been having such a blast getting to watch them both play. I got a nice surprise this morning when I got a text from my daughter letting me know that both boys had been recruited to play in make-up games for other teams tomorrow evening and their games are back-to-back at 6:15 and 7:15. Sweet!!!

Hope everyone is having a great day!

Update - Maggie is out of surgery and doing well, and should be ready to come home later this afternoon!

 

Hi everyone.

Slow to spool up from lunch. It's been a long day. Things have been steady but my wall guy is slow. Only another hour.

Chris hope Maggie does well today and recovers easily. Will she need to wear the cone of shame?

Norm we are right in the sweet spot. Has the cluster arrived yet?

John my 70 does the same thing with the clutch not disengaging until the engine is off. I attributed it to the system being low on freon. But it is(was?) performing as designed.

I'm no genius when it comes to electrical, either. But one thing I'd like to do is add cornering lamps to a car that never came with them. I know GM's cornering lamps get their power through the turn signal switch in the column. Is there any way to isolate the power from the switch so it illuminates a lamp but doesn't flash when the signal is activated?

Okay things are picking up. Have a good day everyone.

 

Chris that's good news about Maggie. You got in there while I was lollygagging getting my post together. Also good news about the house. I must have missed it, what are you doing about the mismatched color that is sure to occur with the siding?

 

Mike - Thanks for the well wishes for Maggie. She may or may not have to wear the cone of shame without having the eye surgery done like Monty did. Since her only sutures will be in her nose, we'll just have to see if she starts trying to paw at or rub her nose on stuff.

As for the Siding, we've been able to come up with what we think is a best case scenario that the insurance company is willing to pay for. Keep in mind 97% of the damage is on the Left (as facing the home) and the Front of the home. Very minimal damage on the Right, and one very tiny area on the Rear.

- We were finally able to get the Insurance to pay for all new siding on the Front and Left of the home where the majority of the damage is.

- The small areas requiring repair on the Rear and Right will be replaced with undamaged pieces from the Front or Left.

- So, at a minimum, all the Siding on any given side will have a consistent color, and hopefully make any mismatch less noticeable.

Hope that makes sense.

 

Makes perfect sense, and sounds like a good plan. One thing you could do is ask your real estate agent if this will have an adverse effect on resale? I didn't realize the insurance company only wanted to replace the actual pieces that were damaged. That's taking things a bit too far.

State Farm charges me over a thousand bucks a year for my Charger because the Hemi and the Hellcat are the most stolen cars. My car is neither. And now instead of sending me a 12 cent plasticated paper proof of insurance card, they sent me a xerox copy on regular paper and I have to cut it out myself. I can tell you that will last about 30 seconds in my wallet.

We should be able to deduct 100% of what we pay for car insurance because the government requires it. Well the State of Georgia requires it. You'll never convince me the politicians aren't getting kickbacks.

Sorry, didn't mean to get torqued up on insurance.

 

You and me both brother. The thing that chafes my *** the most about the Storm/Wind/Hail damage part of my policy is that it is not a standard flat fee type deductible like a $1,000 or $2,500, it's 1% of your Total Home Replacement Cost Coverage, which for me works out to be a $4,800 deductible from the get-go that I will not be reimbursed for. Many home insurance policies these days, I would venture to say most, have went to this type of deductible for Storm/Wind/Hail damages because of the frequency and severity of storm damage across the entire U.S.

 

Chris, Glad the pup is on the mend

 

Thanks Jim, very much appreciated! 👍

 

At my fav pizza joint. Instrument cluster panel done.

 

Well deserved

 

Wow, that was quick! So tell us, did it resolve all issues, inquiring minds want to know?

 

Jim - Thanks.

Took forever it seemed (20 minutes) negotiating the tight space getting the shift selector mounted back into the instrument cluster - the one item I definitely wasn't about to go all magilla gorilla ape ****.

ALL issues resolved - ALL of them. I think it 'might' be better than the basic resolution I hoped for since it appears ALT voltage delivered (measured) at the battery is now 14.2 VDC whereas I was measuring ~13.5 - 13.7 VDC at the battery (ALT running, of course). I keep track of those annoying/pesky details when diagnosing this stuff. SWAG suggests maybe there existed some parasitic draw (ground faulting) contained in the faulting instrument cluster panel. As stated previously, the issue w/ these Ford pick-ups is the solder on the many various pins begins to crack over the years, rendering intermittent gauge functionality until, such as the case for me - the entire instrument panel goes TU.

 

Think I'll take a short drive to begin re-establishing transmission shift points. Transmissions these days are real beasts - everything electronically controlled w/ servos & managed via on-board modules. This beast has a six-speed 5R110W (TorqShift)Transmission. Advertised as a 5-speed but is actually a 6-speed (forward gears). The sixth gear is a shorter version of 4th gear & only used in extremely cold temperatures to improve engine speed. The stuff they come up w/ these days - boggles my tiny cranium.

 

That's wonderful news Norm! Glad you got your ride back. 👍

 

I don't know the exact type, but the Auto Trans in my 2000 F150 is only a 4-speed, and they recommend not using Overdrive (4th gear) when pulling very heavy loads or using 4WD. The Overdrive can be engaged or disengaged via a pushbutton on the column shift lever.