Wednesday, May 4, 2016

GM 3800 Engines, Slight Mods That Help a Lot



GM 3800 Engines, Slight Mods That Help a Lot





General Motors 3800 Series Engines.
In many GM sedans, the 3800 engine resides inside in one form or fashion. Hundreds of thousands of these cars have been produced. The 3800 engine can be found in normally aspirated, supercharged, aftermarket turbocharged, bored out, heavily modified and bone stock. With some small modifications, they can last a long time. GM used some inferior components that tend to fail. Replacing these can make your car last a long time with minimal maintenance. One common issue with them all is the use of the orange Dex-Cool coolant.

General Motors sold many vehicles with orange Dex-Cool as the coolant medium, only to have these vehicles leak coolant and/or oil in a short period of time. This coolant has an acidic property that tends to eat away at the cheap gaskets used in these engines. A class action lawsuit resulted in payouts by GM, however they still use this coolant. The intake manifold gasket became another problem and many recalls have been made for this. Eventually, after all current stock was used up, GM improved this gasket. The acidic coolant will eventually blow out the intake manifold, and/or the head gaskets. Then fluid leakage occurs. Coolant leaks can cause the car to catastrophically overheat. Oil leaks can rob the vehicle of its life blood and result in a blown engine as well. At one point these cars were sold as not needing a coolant flush until they reached 100,000 miles. Well in reality, they do not make it this far.

In the case of this car, I removed the Dex-Cool at about 24,000 miles. Glycol based green coolant allowed me to drive over 150,000 miles before the gaskets began to leak. However, several recalls have been announced for this car. One was for the front head gasket leaking oil onto the exhaust manifold. In this car, the exhaust is right in front, just behind the radiator fan. The foil like heat shield can be seen. If oil leaks onto the exhaust, during hard braking for example, a fire can result. GM says to park the car outside so that the car burns and does not take the house with it.

The way this happens is, often times the coolant eats the intake manifold gasket and then pools up in between the heads, which then eats the head gaskets. This gives you two opportunities to have your car blow its engine and leave you stranded somewhere.

Spark plug wires are routed right over the metal intake manifold. No protection is provided for the wires. The spark plugs have heat shields for the boots where they enter into the car engines head. In my picture, metal foil bubble wrap insulation is added to give some protection to the spark plug wires going over the intake manifold. Some versions of this engine have a plastic intake manifold. This will crack over time, and cause leakage of coolant. This engine is a 3800 Series III, or Third Generation, where they at least decided to use an aluminum manifold. However, aluminum transfers heat more easily than plastic. I recommend the addition of foil bubble wrap to protect the spark plug wires. There are other areas GM went cheap on this engine.

GM left the front and rear strut tower brace off many of their cars toward the end of their sales life. Pontiac, Buick and Oldsmobile sedans had these at one time. However, the Pontiac and Oldsmobile cars lost this feature when those divisions of the company were being shut down. Aftermarket parts with "Pontiac" emblazed in red are available, as are hot red and chrome variants. All of these cost several hundred dollars. The stock Buick strut braces in black are available and will bolt on fairly easily into the cars. The black brace shown in my picture here bolted right onto the front tower braces. Bolts were already in place for this part. $35 cost savings per car, times several hundred thousand cars add up. The addition of these braces stiffens the suspension and makes the car ride a lock tighter. It also transfers more forces to the sub frame for aggressive driving. You never know when you may need to enter a corner at high speed or when maneuverability is needed. This particular car came with a free flowing exhaust, but many have a very restrictive intake.

The air intake is a large black box, that cuts off free flow of air. K&N intakes are worth the price of more fuel economy and horsepower. You may have a cavitation sound though, which may be a good thing for some. It is louder, some may like this, and the car sounds like it is out of tune under acceleration. In reality though, the car runs quite well. The increase in horsepower is about 5-15 and if you do not punch the accelerator too much, fuel economy does increase. These cars often get 25-30 miles per gallon. For a 3600-pound car, this is not too bad. On the highway, they have done better yet. This is all with about 220 horsepower in a normally aspirated car. So with a few modifications, you can have a long running GM product and save all that extra cash for other things.

Monday, April 25, 2016

Tactical Arm Bands



Tactical Arm Bands


Something I have seen recently has been "tactical arm bands" for sale by various vendors. I was issued one of these for a trip to the Middle East several years ago. Mine was made by the Krill Corporation and has a backlit panel for reading your information stored on your wrist. These armbands seem to have come into fashion recently.

Mine is an Army Combat Uniform (ACU), camouflage pattern and uses a CR123 battery to illuminate the inside. Two elastic straps and Velcro fasteners allow you to wear this like a gauntlet on your wrist. For my purpose, this was issued to hold a chart of: call signs, tail numbers and radio frequencies for use during military operations. Since I am old school however, my Rite N Rain notepad did just fine in its place. My go-to notepad used to be the green "Memoranda" pads issued to many military personnel. These were glued together like a scratch pad with ruled pages. The Rite N Rain version adds a better cover and water resistant paper. The tactical armband was supposed to be a replacement for my pocket notepad.

This arm band reminded me of something that a football quarterback would carry to the field. I never used it in the field and thought it was overkill for what it was. It has several layers of plastic with Velcro fasteners on the edges and made a lot of noise when opening. I also noticed a slight hissing sound from the electronic circuit that drove the electro-luminescence panel. My other thought was getting the sand of the Middle East into the barely protected electronic circuit. A small slot for a pen holder is also included, as well as a panel to place a name tape.

Since the new uniform already had pen slots on the sleeve, this seemed redundant and a waste of space. It was also another layer added to your wrist. In cold climates this may be an advantage, but in 100 degree plus heat, it is not. It could also rub your arm if you chose to wear it under your sleeve. So this sat in my Battlefield Airman Module footlocker for several years, unused.

Now I take this out, after posting a video on Youtube.com of it. And after several responses, this is being sold under different names and manufacturers once again. None of them have the illuminated back panel though; many have no lights at all, or include a third party light attached to the arm band by straps or clips. Now they are sold as an accessory you need for long range shooting. Your bullet dope charts go here on your wrist now. I just shake my head and wonder why so many people think you need more gear to take to the field. Real operators do not need more "stuff", it is only a matter of practicing the basics until you do it very well.

The basic dope chart as I was trained was to be attached to the inside of the rifle's scope cover, or laminated and attached to the butt stock. This way the information is attached to the weapon. If you were injured or killed, someone else could use the chart on the weapon to fire it effectively. Now it would seem that it is fashionable to place it onto your wrist.


Wednesday, March 16, 2016

The Umarex Buckmark Pellet Pistol

Picture above, my results of the first set of pellets fired from the Umarex Buck Mark pellet pistol. Disregart the 1000 feet per second, this is what my taerget is rated for with the vinyl inserts used inside.

The Umarex BuckMark is a spring powered pellet pistol that I recently added to my airgun collection. This was a Big 5 Sporting Goods sales item that seemed to be a good stand in for the real powder burning version. This 0.177 caliber pellet pistol feels good in the hand, is reasonably accurate and looks almost like the classic 0.22 Long Rifle version it copies. Umarex has made another great replica pistol.

Umarex came on the scene with some very good replica pellet pistols a few years back. I have other Umarex products, and they have all been well made, reasonably priced and accurate. Some are made to look like the real thing, but may not function realistically. Others are made to function like their powder burning version, but may lack the power or accuracy. This replica looks like the real deal but does function a little differently. It is after all a spring air pistol.

Being a spring air pistol means that the barrel is "broke" down to cock the pistol. With the barrel broken down, you place a 0.177 pellet into the chamber. A small lever piece can be seen under this barrel when it is ready to fire. The grip is a soft rubber that feels good to the touch. A fake slide lock lever is on the left side. Behind it is an automatic safety that engages when the barrel is cocked.

My first shots through this spring air gun were very accurate. The pistol grouped very well firing offhand. The soft rubber grips helped with this a lot. Flipping down the safety for every shot was a bit for me, but for new shooters, this does force the safe use of this pellet pistol.

For a replica of a Browning Buck Mark pistol, for indoor or discrete use, this is highly recommended.

Sunday, March 13, 2016

Icom Mobile Radios

Icom of Japan has made some good mobile radios over the years. Most of mine have held up to the

test of time. Here are two that I have owned for a while that have done well. The first is the IC-

2100H 2 meter amateur radio. The other is the Icom IC F-1020 commercial mobile. These two Icom's

have lived in a mobile environment for many years, and are now being retired to basestation use.




First the IC-2100H will be discussed. This was my first ham radio after completing my Technician

license test in 2005. I bought this through Ham Radio Outlet, and also ordered a magnet mount

antenna for it as well. The selling point for me was that it was only about $150 dollars, had three

power levels and the backlight could be changed from green to yellow. The hand mic seemed to be the

weakest part of the radio. It felt light and all of the buttons sometimes got in the way. Over

time,there was some audio noise with the radio. Of course this came up after the warranty had

expired. Looking online, people said it may be the lack of ground screws inside. Opening the top

cover showed 5 holes for the main circuit board to be secured to the metal heatsink/chassis. Only

two of these holes had screws in them. I placed three more screws inside, and the noise went away.

It seems many people had this problem with the Icom IC-2100H. Some said this was worse if you

actually mounted the radio inside of a car, rather than using it stationary. Even though mine was

used in a car, it had stable power and didn't get jostled too much.

At that time, I was driving a 2000 model SUV and this seemed to fit one of the crevices under the

dash alright. With the magnet antenna, a Larson, it picked up a lot of traffic in my part of the

country. The scan feature let me listen to a lot of radio nets. This radio rode in the SUV until

2004. This was when I switched out vehicles. My new vehicle, was a mid size sedan that did not have

a good spot for a radio of this size and shape. The microphone even aged well, I never had the Push

to Talk button problem others said they had. Supposedly, the spring could fail and the button would

stay keyed on. My only issue was sometimes getting it caught in the area between the console and

seats of the SUV. My Icom F-1020 had a similiar life.

In 2005,I took a job with a company that was consolidating hardware and had merged with another

company. Both companies had a fleet of ships and vessels with VHF and UHF radios on board. I was

given an Icom IC F-1020 VHF mobile to use for myself, as these were being replaced with Motorola

radios to standardize hardware. These had been used in company trucks and vessels for several years

before I started. This radio was stacked with my amateur radio.

In 2016, both of these Icoms are still running strong, in a basestation use now. I now let them

monitor local traffic. The commercial F1020 listens to weather stations and the 2100 is still

working 2 meters. Both are now connected to a Comprod antenna on the roof, and have RG-213 coax

connecting them. A generic antenna switch lets me determine which radio is connected.

After about 16 years, both have strong and bright backlights to their LCD displays, the buttons all

still work and the speakers have loud and crisp audio. They show some tarnish on their bare

aluminum heat sinks from use, but seem to have held up well. Either of these would work well for a

fleet of vehicles or vessels as used radios. They have both been replaced by newer models. The IC-

2100H was replaced with the 2200 and then 2300. The IC F1020 and 2020 UHF version have had several

replacements as well. For me they have been great mobiles and I intend to use them until they

actually fail to function.

Sunday, September 20, 2015

Kniper Multitool - with Tobacco Pipe!

          $145 Knife and Multitool

While reading about survival tools in the October issue of Popular Science, I came across a knife with some other tools built in. This knife is called the Kniper Multitool. This knife is listed for $145 and balanced to be thrown. It was at this point that I thought it was not the knife for me. Then I read that it also has a tobacco pipe too.
Kniper Multitool picture - www.urchinsky.com

Per the website www.urchinsky.com, "The Kniper is an ultra-sophisticated weaponized lifesaver that'll easily replace every piece of survival gear in your bag" - Supercompressor.

This made me wonder, is this something that there is really a market for? One of the things I learned a long time ago, was that you do not throw your knife, and if you do, it had better be a cheap one. This is why throwing knives are usually sold in sets and not made to look all that nice. This knife is an avocado green color and made to look large and intimidating.

To be honest, it looks a lot like one I saw at the Dollar Tree store the other day. Kitchen knives in assorted colors and one was green like this one. However, I could buy a whole case of 36 of these knives for $36.

Royal Norfolk Cutlery Stainless-Steel Colorful Paring Knives with Sheaths
SKU 164532 - Dollar Tree

Do we really need a survival knive with a tobacco pipe in it? The screwdriver, fork and wrench can be believed, but a tobacco pipe. Is that so essential for survival. If this had been in the April Fool's edition of the magazine, I would have accepted it. I'll use a better knife to make a fork, spoon and spear tip.

My last thought on this knife is, who would buy this? I have spent a lot of money over the years for knives, but most of them have one purpose, to cut things. Some also have a couple of tools, or folding accessories like a Swiss Army Knife. Others have a whistle and some have a screwdriver. But none of them are meant to be thrown or used as a pipe. My guess is that the type of person that buys this knife, will not be using tobacco in it, it will be something else.

Sunday, September 13, 2015

Use Road Flares Against Gophers

 Use Road Flares to Get Rid of Gophers

Do you ever get mounds of dirt in your yard from those little critters known as gophers? You know the rodents that make all of those ugly mounds of brown dirt pop up overnight. It always amazes me that a small rodent can make such a mess in such a short time. This year, I tried something different than my usual road flare solution.

In previous years, I used road flares to keep the gophers away. Each hole got one road flare. My yard once looked like a mini war zone, with red flames and smoke coming out of holes in the ground. Well this year the solution was supposed to be "Gopher Bombs". These were sold in packs of 8 at a local big box store. They were meant to be used specifically for ridding your yard of gophers. I thought this may work better than road flares, as their use is to be a bright light for road emergencies.

After placing one in each hole, and taking a few pictures to note the occassion, I hoped this would work. Well it did not. More holes came a few days later. In a couple of the holes, there was evidence that the gophers moved the "Gopher Bombs" out of their holes. I also noticed that they did not burn all the way down like a road flare.

So short story, use road flares. Road flares work as gopher repellant. Road flares burn all the way down and do not leave half a stick un-burned. Bought in bulk they may even be cheaper. I will be sticking with road flares in my future.

Saturday, September 12, 2015

Used Briggs and Stratton Engines



Well Used Briggs and Stratton Engined Generator


Have you ever been offered some cast of item with a Briggs and Stratton gas engine? Perhaps someone left an old lawnmower by the curb. Ormaybe a relative had a weed wacker or generator they no longer wanted.

About ten years ago, I was given an already well used Briggs and Stratton engine generator. It was an old 6000 watt Craftsman from Sears. It was in rough shape and did not run. The previous owner gave it to me for that reason.

Looking it over, it had a clogged fuel filter and possible a dirty carburator. Seeing that it had sat outside,and was covered in rust and dog hair, I figured maintenance was not adhered to. The fuel tank was filled about a quarter of capacity.

Unlike many peole who store their gas engines dry, I usually keep them totally filled to the brim. About a cup of Stabil and a topped off tank later, I changed the fuel filter. The carb was primed and I gavethe pull start some pulls.

The choke was leaking a bit of fuel and the carb was trying to let fuel flow. After a few pulls, there were some chugs.Flipping the choke off, the engine started. All this thing needed was good fuel and a new filter. Stabil has saved many a gas engine for me. Craftsman used to warranty everything they sold. But this did not apply to generators. Luckily Briggs and Stratton engines have been made forever. They are usually fairly easy to work on.

Fuel filter, eventually new fuel hoses, and cleaning some corrosion is about all this engine has needed. Corrosion forms in the pull start mechanism. Small ball bearing use centrifugal force to act as a clutch to engage the pull rope to the crank. Compression and a spark plug then do their work to fire off the engine. Thisengine probably has many years left in it now, with just minimal maintenance.

For all two stroke gas engines, make sure you use some sort of fuel treatment to keep water sepration and shellac from forming inside the carb. This is why I prefer to keep all fuel components "wet" instead of running them dry. Ran dry, shellac can form from the ethanol gasoline sold today. Next, checking and adding oil as needed is about all you should need to do for maintenance.

Of course, keeping the engine out of the weather helps a lot. I made a nice wood cover for this generator. A custom pigtail cable lets me run about 2/3 of my house off of this generator when needed. The custom pigtail was made from a section of large industrial grade generator cable and connectors from a big box home improvement store. This lets me connect the generator to a connector on the outside of my house. Briggs and Stratton engines have been used in many items, not just generators, and many of them use the same parts.

My John Deere lawnmower, even though being a smaller egnine, is still a Briggs and Stratton. They both use the same air filter, fuel filter and spark plugs. They even have the same carburator. This makes maintenance easier as you are not buying spare parts for multiple models. Thiscan be a great thing if you are needing or wanting to keep things simple.

If you find an old Briggs and Stratton engine in a lawnmower or generator. Give it a second look, it may be an easy fix. It may even use parts you have for another item. They are relaible and easy to repair in most cases.