I've left the Toyota Fold, AKA my Montero Build Thread

[red87]

I forget the guy's name who was the caretaker when we were there. He has a built red wrangler if that rings any bells. We definently walked though that tunnel. It was a nice reprieve from the hot sun

The kern river wasn't too impressive when we drove over it. We did hit up the kern river brewery the first day. Good tasty beer there. Pictures are trickling in from the crew so I'll look at t some later on and post the good ones.

 

[red87]

Small but important mod today:



Found some bolts to attach my new recovery point! I managed to increase my departure angle AND give myself to recover (or be recovered) from the rear. Thanks to scrubber3 for getting it to me.

 

[red87]

Here's a couple shots from my most recent trip up Sherman Pass and up to Monache Meadow up in the Sierras.









There should be some sweet water crossing shots eventually, once the photographer uploads them...

 

[red87]

Some more pictures of that last trip. I like the water crossing one the best

 

[red87]

Now its time for a question. I used my truck for work the other day and I got check engine light and my rig started running like garbage. I made it to Kettleman City (awful place) and ended up being stuck there for almost 11 hours trying to get my truck diagnosed. There's no autozone to rent me a code reader there so I had to find a mechanic to do it for me. Turns out the code was for a misfire on cylinder 6. He pulled the spark plug to check compression and found this:



Compression was fine but I'm pretty out of ideas how this happened. There wasn't any mark on the electrode like something hit it or anything, it was just pretty black. I'm not sure how a spark plug gets crushed without anything foreign in the cylinder. No weird noises from the engine when it happened and everything has been fine since that plug was replaced. Thoughts?

 

[BlueBomber]

weird....quick question. Was there any carbon built up between the grounding strap and the electrode or is it mashed to the point that they are touching?

 

[red87]

weird....quick question. Was there any carbon built up between the grounding strap and the electrode or is it mashed to the point that they are touching?

They're touching and kinda melted together

 

[LaOutbackTrail]

I'm thinking it wasn't gapped properly and finally built up enough carbon to cause the misfire. But that is purely speculative.

 

[off-roader]

Glad to see you're making some progress there. Can I assume the original plugs are quality denso or ngk iridium plugs? If not, they will wear very very quickly and as you can tell they're far from easy to access.

There's no autozone to rent me a code reader there so I had to find a mechanic to do it for me.

I bought a 'cheap' $60 actron obdii reader from pep boys.

This is the same one on amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/Actron-CP9125-PocketScan-Code-Reader/dp/B0007LEG2K).

I store it in the cubby hole for the bottle jack and have used it many times (mostly on other rigs) and IMHO it was well worth the $60.

 

[red87]

There isn't any carbon build up to speak of on the plug; the electrode is smashed together.

The plugs were all densos but that stupid town I was stuck in didn't have any so cyl 6 now has a normal copper one. I had to get home somehow

Good tip on that code reader, thanks. I may just pick one up. Either that or a scangauge so I can monitor the engine too.

 

[off-roader]

If you have an android phone it's even cheaper with bluetooth scanners as cheap as $25 (http://www.amazon.com/BAFX-Products...8&qid=1346876239&sr=1-2&keywords=obd2+android) and a reader app like Torque at only $5 or Dash Command for free!!

 

[red87]

Oh really? I wonder if iPhones have the same kinda thing...

 

[off-roader]

Yes but as you might imagine they're WAY more expensive. Check out http://www.amazon.com/PLX-Devices-Kiwi-Bluetooth-Wireless/dp/B004B0C1NE/ref=pd_sim_sbs_auto_4 which is $100. I had considered buying one for my iPod Touch but the cost put me off. Then I found the android option for my phone with a free or $5 app plus the $15 bluetooth reader. Ka-Ching. 2 day shipping with Amazon Prime so it should be here by the 6th.

 

[red87]

Stupid apple products

 

[Monterorider]

Yes but as you might imagine they're WAY more expensive. Check out http://www.amazon.com/PLX-Devices-Kiwi-Bluetooth-Wireless/dp/B004B0C1NE/ref=pd_sim_sbs_auto_4 which is $100. I had considered buying one for my iPod Touch but the cost put me off. Then I found the android option for my phone with a free or $5 app plus the $15 bluetooth reader. Ka-Ching. 2 day shipping with Amazon Prime so it should be here by the 6th.

Just got one of those. Ka-Ching wouldn't connect to truck nor to phone.