MPG

Back in October of last year, I figured it was time to keep better track of my miles driven, fuel consumption and the like, maybe some patterns would emerge, maybe I could get a semi-accurate read on the fuel economy for my ride. 

First task: how to log the data.  I'd need to capture the miles driven, fuel cost, gallons purchased at the least to have the data necessary to calculate fuel consumption.  Here's my alternatives:

1. Old-style pen/paper.  Follow-up with a calculator, or abacus, or count on fingers, except when dividing.
2. Fancy-pants application for the mini-computer I carry with me most of the time. 

The low-tech solution seemed too hard, I just couldn't imagine writing legibly into a notebook more than twice before giving-up, so I went with the app.  After an exhaustive eight-minute search, I found a tool for my phone for mileage and fuel tracking: FillUp. Does not have fancy graphics, but it fits on my super cheap, low resource phone and works with minimum fuss.

P0171 and P0174, solved!

The CEL started to glow and the resulting error codes were P0171 and P0174 both mean that the engine is running lean, which means too much air and not enough gas.

Not being sure what the problem was, and starting with the "not enough gas" theory because, well, that just seemed a good place to start.  Up went the hood and the problem became a bit more obvious

The line from the brake booster, which is powered by the suction of the engine as it's taking in air (an engine behaves as an air pump) became disconnected and that resulted in more air making it past the throttle than the engine management system expected. 

Here's what things look like after proper assembly

Eighteen seconds later and my repair was finished.  Not having my phone handy, I used my old-timey OBD scanner tool to read the codes and then clear them from the system

The codes didn't return after 100 or so miles, so this was definitely the problem.  In anticipation of the problem being the fuel filter, I have a new one of those on hand, I'll post when I get to replacing the existing filter which appears to be old and in need of swapping with a new one.

P0171 and P0174

After a few weeks of smooth running, I see the check engine light, I thought it was the fuel cap not tightened.  Fired-up Torque and the codes P0171 and P0174 came forth from the engine management system.

P0171/P0174 means the fuel/air mixture is too lean.  That means a) too much air b) not enough fuel c) some combination of a and b or d) a defective sensor.

Air?

In the case of d, we'd be looking at the mass air sensor, but let's assume our sensor's telling us the truth and we're not getting enough gas or too much air.  Let's start with the air: I checked under the hood and the path from the filter to the throttle looked OK.  That leaves the intake manifold seals.  Not sure how old those are, could be the culprit.  Alldatadiy recommends that I also check the EGR system as well, that seemed to be OK.

Gas?

Next the gas: No leaks.  The filter (sorry, no picture!) appears to be old -- could even be original.  The fuel pump might not be moving the fuel to the I'd start with replacing the fuel filter and see if that helps.  But first, I'll clear the code.  If the code appears again, I'll know it's not just a ghost in the machine.

Environment? 

It must might be the unseasonable temps and the huge dip in temperature the last few days.  Here's last week weather thanks to timeandate

Maybe there was some condensation where there shouldn't have been with the quick dip in temps.  Or couplings cooled at different rates, allowing for some leakage. If the code doesn't come back, I'd attribute it to the sudden shift in weather; but, I think that's wishful thinking and something will need to be fixed in the near future.

Lift supports installed

Maximum package, minimum product

My new lift supports were purchased from RockAuto and shipped to me thusly.  Seems like a lot of box for not that much product.  Padding?  The padding was placed atop of the product, so it contributed to the protection of just 1/6 of the product's surface area.  The cardboard box did the rest of the work in terms of keeping things from arriving crushed.

Smurf entrails

Seeing such a wasteful way to ship products reminds me of how much it must cost to be more efficient.  Guessing that warehouse guys at RockAuto fulfilment have just a few sizes of boxes, stocking more would be more expensive than the waste of a 1/10th filled, but larger box.  RockAuto seems to be the greatest offender in the box to product waste, with Amazon being a close second.

Lift Supports and Punch Cards

Technology has a habit of hanging around well past its welcome, like a dinner guest who, despite their empty wine glass and the clatter of dishes being cleaned lingers until being handed their car keys.

To the left is a punch card with an VIN, Vehicle Identification Number.  All cars produced since 1981 must be uniquely identified with a standard VIN which means there must be some agreement as to what constitutes a VIN, and such a thing exists at ISO 3833. Wikipedia contains a reasonably good description of the standard if you don't want to shell-out for

Last model year: 2012

the official document.  According to the high priests at the Universal Church of ISO, the world ends in model year 2039, so we know when to schedule the turn-in date on that low-mileage leased car: 5,000 miles a year with a dollar per mile overage.  Who's going to collect when the earth disappears in an existential poof in 2040?  Just don't lease from Sallie Mae, because they'll still be around and they'll be looking for you.

Limp Home U0101 et al...

Just doing my errands, heading home from the grocery store and what do I see but the return of the wrench and engine lights along with the RPMs leaping as the engine decides that limping home is the best way home. Fortunately, we were just a few miles from casa del 500 dinero coche, on roads where the top practical speed stays below 35MPH, so no biggie.  Can't say my passengers were all that happy, even though the car performs well most of the time, they expect to be stranded for every outing.

I was able to get the codes from the car using the Android “FordSys” program (more on that later), here’s what I have:

Code	Meaning
U0101	Lost communication with TCM (transmission control module)
P0641	Sensor reference voltage ‘A’ circuit open
U0415	Invalid data received from ABS (anti-lock braking system) module
U1900	No description
B1318	Battery voltage low
B1342	Electronic control unit is faulted

After letting things rest (and the super-cap drain so things reset), the engine started no problem, no wrench light and the check engine light turned off after the second engine running cycle, just like the last time this problem occurred.

Sometime a few months ago, I broke down and laid-out the $29, or something like that, for an AllData DIY subscription for the Freestyle. For the error codes in question, there’s a bunch of “pin point” tests to check for continuity and wiggle checks for the connectors.  What All Data doesn't provide the full schematics for the car, as I'd like to see where +5v circuit A goes, as I have an intermittent issue with some segment of that wiring it seems.

Looking at the codes above, I’m guessing a short or disconnect (somewhere?) resulted in a few components going into reset due to a voltage drop or the networking between the components failed due to signal integrity. Before replacing parts, I need to make sure the communication between said parts works properly, or I won't be fixing the problem by swapping what's at either end of a bad connection.  I’m presently replacing the brake lines on my kid’s Grand Am, so the actual checking will need to wait for a bit.

FordSys

All of the diagnostic information comes to me complements a program on my Android phone called FordSys. A regular code-checking program returns no problem codes, because what’s reported above aren’t in the standard inventory of codes for engine trouble a generic code reader reads. I very much like FordSys, I’m not so crazy about the intrusiveness of the ads.What was small ads on the bottom of the screen has morphed into full screen overlay ads. I’d much rather pay the developer, who deserves the money for his hard work, and not be bothered with ads at all.

290,000 mile mark; on to 300,000

More like 290,0017 mile mark, just 10,000 miles shy of 300,000 miles.   At my current driving pace of ~625 miles per month, that's about 16 months away, I think I can eek out that much life from the Freestyle to cross the 300,000 line.  It's the next 33,333 miles to get me to 333,333 miles that's questionable.

I'm hoping for a few road trips this spring/summer to pad the odometer.  Onward!

Happy (belated) new year!

After Christmas, we headed out to Birmingham, AL, mostly because I hadn't been there and my wife refused to visit Paducah, KY.  Why Paducah?  Not really sure, but the city's own website highlights the bridge out of town, that should be telling enough. Hadn't been there either, not really sure why anybody wants to stay there, but I did find out, while watching NOVA, that Paducah has a large scale storage facility for nuclear waste, so it has that going for it.

Vulcan

The largest cast iron statue, Vulcan, resides in Birmingham.  The work itself can be found atop a hill in sturdy park that has the look of a WPA project -- The kind of public works the U.S. desperately needs but no longer undertakes. Unfortunately, the pedestal on which the sculpture rests was the victim of a late 1960's improvement where an elevator shaft was installed directly in front of the pedestal, obstructing the view of the original architecture and visually competing with the structure from nearly every angle. The impressive fountains were replaced by grass and the statue itself was actually painted dirt red.  A complete disaster for such an impressive work of art.  In the 2000's the statue was refurbed (as the picture shows) but the terrible elevator shaft remains; hopefully, somebody will get the sense to tear it down.

Returning from Birmingham, I was sent to San Francisco; actually, Sunnyvale, which is an edge city with who's primary resident is Google along with a smattering of other high-tech companies of all flavors.  While in Sunnyvale, I had lunch at a place called Barn Thai, who's decor was decidedly un-barn like, I think "barn" might not mean "barn" as in Pottery Barn, or maybe it does and the decor was just that bad. Despite the confusing name, the food was excellent.

As we were leaving lunch, I spotted this gem of a Chevy Astro van:

Not really sure why the owner was decorating his van as such.  The group I was with thought this was a soccer fan, but the appearance of several bicycles didn't seem to jive with that theory. I would have liked to get some better pictures, but all I had was my cell phone and we were running late by the time we left.

Car problems; or, lack thereof

Unlike the last time I returned from CA, when my car didn't make it home from the airport due to the water pump failing, this time, the ride home was uneventful.  I was very happy because the weather was unpleasant when I landed and I wasn't much in the mood to call for another tow.  Oddly enough, I did share a flight with another pair of basset hounds.  Different than the pair before, not sure what's going on here, maybe some elaborate basset hound migration scheme?  I'll have questions if I encounter another set of hounds on my next trip to SFO.

Over to the left is a picture from window of the snow covered Pittsburgh suburbs on my approach to PIT when returning home.  The prior week in Sunnyvale, temperatures remained in the low 60's, maybe in the 40's at night.  In the greater Pittsburgh area, the weather told a different story, with snow accumulation and temperatures rarely rising above the teens.

Here's the good news: I think I've reached steady-state with the mechanical condition of the Freestyle.  There's still problems with the car, but none interfering with the daily driverness of the car:

1. Rear lift supports not working
   More of an annoyance than what would expect.  I like taking the Freestyle for grocery shopping as the flat folding back seat is great for loading the bags.  To use the back gate, I need to balance the door on my back while loading/unloading.  I think I'll tackle this next.
2. Exhaust leak
   A small leak has blossomed into a more agricultural exhaust note.  The sound seems to be emanating from the far side of the catalytic converter, so I'll just need an resonator and muffler. I hope.  Working under a car tickles some deep-seated entrapment fears, I'll need to get other these to fix this problem.
3. Air conditioning system recharge
   The compressor failed, resulting in the accessory belt breaking regularly.  While no article has been written on the subject, I replaced the compressor and while I was at it, the rest of the A/C system.  The system hasn't been recharged, I task I felt could wait until the arrival of warmer weather.
4. Transmission not shifting smoothly
   The symptom I'm seeing is the transmission not wanting to shift into glide or sometimes not up-shifting, as much as that concept exists in a CVT.  I've found putting the car into neutral and letting is drift for a little will result in the return to correct behavior.  The weird thing: the RPMs  don't drop below 2000 when in neutral in this state, so we might not be seeing a transmission problem per se.
5. Airbag light
   This turned on a few months ago, I need do some continuity tests to chase down this problem, as I'm not sure if the sensor failed or if the wire to the sensor failed.
6. Traction control and ABS lights
   We have some dashboard lights for traction control and ABS.  I have the codes for these, it's   a matter of chasing them down and figuring out what's really wrong.
7. Suspension
   The Freestyle has the factory dampeners, at nearly 300K, well past their service life.  This mildly inteferes with the handling under regular driving conditions and when a bumpy road the ride becomes, well, let say spirited.

Over the next few months, I'll be knocking things off the list as I have the time, unless something else crops-up that takes the Freestyle off the road.