The FORD Lounge

[Gary Lewis]

Cool!  But the assist handles can be powder coated.  

The weather was nasty?  Oh, that's right, I was in the shop.  But, when I went in for lunch that 50' stroll was a bit damp.  

[salans7]

Did somebody say Florida Man?

[Nothing Special]

I have a daughter-in-law now!  This afternoon my younger son (Dan) got married!  Things got pretty confused in the last week with the governor tightening the Covid restrictions on Wednesday evening (which shut down their venue), and then Erin's brother getting exposed to someone with Covid so half of her family couldn't come (they live in Sioux Falls South Dakota, about 250 miles from here).  Dan said that they planned about 4 weddings in the last three days!  But one of them finally happened!  It was an outdoor wedding in Minnesota, in November.  And it snowed this morning!  But it was up to a balmy 42 degrees (and 42 is Dan's number, as well as the answer to life, the universe and everything, so we'll take that as a good sign!).  The guest list was whittled down (or "hacked down" might be a better description) to only the bridal party  (which included Erin's sisters and Dan's brother, my older son, Mike), Erin's mom and Lesley and I (her dad had to stay home with her brothers ).  Most of us wore masks most of the time, even though it was outside.  And the "reception" was roasting marshmallows for s'mores in the park where the wedding was.

It wasn't the wedding they had first planned, but it was certainly memorable!

Here they are at the end of the ceremony.  And that's the back of Mike's head on the right (he was best man).

[kramttocs]

Congrats! I am sure it was stressful with the new restrictions and unfortunate that some family members couldn't attend but the photo looks like a great location and s'mores at a reception sounds perfect!

Gary - good point on the powder coating. I have no need for them but if anyone else is looking, I can snag them on my next trip. The handles inside the doors were a similar style but I didn't look too closely.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Great news Bob!
Congratulations to Dan & Erin!   🎉

Sorry to hear the male half of Erins family had to miss the occasion, but glad that they had pleasant weather for the wedding.  

[Gary Lewis]

Congrat's!!!  That must be a huge pain to have to re-re-re-revise the wedding plans, but at least they finally were successful.  

[grumpin]

That’s great! Congrats to the newlyweds!

[Nothing Special]

Thanks everyone!  There were a lot of tears quite a few times in the latter half of last week as something new came up that suddenly tanked everything.  Because of that one of the iterations was to dump all planning and just elope.  Then when thoughts turned to an outside wedding Saturday had a much better weather forecast than Sunday (40s and sunny vs 30s and snow turning to rain, ending later in the day).  But Mike (the best man) couldn't make it on Saturday.  So they braved the weather forecast and went with Sunday.  as it turned out the snow ended before dawn and the rain never fell.  It was damp and kind of muddy (I think the dresses will all need to be dry-cleaned).  And it was cloudy.  But the wind was blocked pretty well where we were and it was a lovely ceremony!

They can't get their money back on the original venue, but they can reschedule.  So the plan is to "renew their vows" on their first anniversary.  They'll have the ceremony and reception they had originally planned, with Erin's dad being able to walk her down the aisle.  But in the meantime, they're married!  And they'll have a great story to tell for the rest of their lives (although they aren't sure how long it'll be before they're going to enjoy telling it!).

[Gary Lewis]

I can fully understand the tears.  And not being able to enjoy telling the story just yet.  But some day they will be able to, and that's quite a story to tell!  

[Gary Lewis]

We watched this movie again last night. Loved it!

[grumpin]

Funny! Now that’s a Bronco!

[salans7]

Haven't put up my Christmas lights yet, but my Ranger decided to turn its CEL on today, so I'm currently dealing with that. Truck is throwing P0171 and P0174, so the oxygen sensors are seeing too much oxygen in the exhaust (lean). I checked all of my vacuum hoses and found a few that were iffy, so I swapped them out with ones from my 2002 Ranger, and re-tested for vacuum leaks by unplugging the IAC while the truck is running. Since the rpms dropped, that tells me there are no more vacuum leaks. My STFT aren't looking too shabby at between -5 to +7, but I have seen it spike to +10 a couple of times. I am seeing +15 to +18 on the LTFT for each bank at times and that's what I'm unsure of as it seems a bit high. But I need to test drive it again since I verified the lack of vacuum leaks. It's funny because the truck doesn't seem to run any different at all.

[Gary Lewis]

Won't the long-term #'s stay the same for a while after you fixed the vacuum leak?  I think you have to drive it for a while to get them to come down.

As for not driving differently, it has to get pretty lean before you'll notice.  Like maybe 17:1 and even then it is still running ok, but just doesn't have the spunk it should have.

[salans7]

Gary Lewis wrote

Won't the long-term #'s stay the same for a while after you fixed the vacuum leak?  I think you have to drive it for a while to get them to come down.

As for not driving differently, it has to get pretty lean before you'll notice.  Like maybe 17:1 and even then it is still running ok, but just doesn't have the spunk it should have.

Yea, it will take a bit for them to come down. I just took a rip up the highway and back and no pending codes this time, so hopefully it's fixed. I'll test it for sure tomorrow. What is the long term effect of an engine running lean? This is the first time I've had a vehicle do this, so I'm learning as I go.

[Gary Lewis]

You have to get it really lean and run it for quite a while to hurt anything.  But lean can make the engine run hot and damage valves or pistons over the long haul.  I doubt you've hurt anything at all.

[salans7]

Gary Lewis wrote

You have to get it really lean and run it for quite a while to hurt anything.  But lean can make the engine run hot and damage valves or pistons over the long haul.  I doubt you've hurt anything at all.

I agree. I'm hoping it's fixed but because I can't read AFR's with my scanner, I'm having to rely on driving the truck and watching the fuel trims and O2 sensor voltage to see where I'm at.

[salans7]

salans7 wrote

I agree. I'm hoping it's fixed but because I can't read AFR's with my scanner, I'm having to rely on driving the truck and watching the fuel trims and O2 sensor voltage to see where I'm at.

It wasn't fixed.

Since I verified no vacuum leaks, I moved on to fuel. I had issues with the truck firing off a little slower than usual, and occasional hiccups at higher rpms. I stuck my fuel pressure gauge on the fuel rail and found the fuel pressure at 50 PSI. The spec in the Ford shop manual for this truck says 60-65, so I went ahead and threw a new fuel pump in it Thanksgiving night. The old one had 180k on it and was original, so it getting weak was not a surprise. On the test drive I noticed the STFT were back closer to zero, and on the way to and from work Friday the LTFT started dropping. Today saw the same reductions and with no more codes since the fuel pump replacement, I'm calling her fixed.  

[ArdWrknTrk]

Another pierce of the puzzle (or layer of the onion, as Gary would say)

Glad to be rid of that light, I'm sure!  

[Gary Lewis]

Yippee!  Glad you got it fixed - before it failed you.  

[salans7]

After ten years of replacing parts I'm running out of original things on this truck.