Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

explorerx4 · July 2019

I think I was in Germany for the summer staying with my grandparents.

imidazol97 · July 2019

explorerx4 said:
Today got off to a bit of a rough start.
Took the Mustang out for a short ride, but couldn't get garage door to shut using the opener.
Using the inside button, it would only close if I held the button until the door was completely closed.
Took a look at the sensors and the red one was out.
Sometimes they can be reset, so I looked around online for a bit.
Cleaned the lenses of the green and red sensors, no luck.
Unplugged garage door and took wires off the red sensor and reattached, then plugged in garage door opener.
Red one now blinking, green one out!
Unplugged garage door and took wires off the green sensor and reattached, then plugged in garage door opener.
No change. Guess I'm going to call 'The Guy' to fix the sensors and check out the door in general, as it is 20 years old.
A while later, I decided to water some of the outside plants.
While walking by the door, take a look at the green sensor and it is lit with a steady green and red is also on.
Opened the door using the inside button, pulled car in and closed it using the remote n the car.
I guess it just took a few minute for everything to reset.

Take a good look at the ends of the cables that plug into the sensors, and at the drive unit as well. Mine were corroded slightly. IIRC it was an aluminum corrosion--the ends weren't copper/brass. Clean those as well as the contacts they press against when they snap into the sensor units. I had similar problem with my Genie after 20 years or however many it was up. After plugging them in and out several times, the unit worked again.

I ordered replacements on Ebay, which are a newer design without the snap in connections at the sensor ends IIRC. But I found my old ones just needed cleaning because of the moisture they get when the door is open... Apparently this problem showed up and the Genie company changed the design to avoid the corrosion. Turned out I didn't need the replacements.

And then a few months later the motor started acting up on the drive unit. And then it died. RIP

Replaced with a belt drive Chamberlain.

cdnpinhead · July 2019

In an apartment in Tempe, AZ, where I watched the first step and took a photo of the TV screen which I could probably still dig out if I had to. Better times, for sure.

pensfan83 · July 2019

tjc78 said:

snakeweasel said:
Where were you 50 years ago today?
Wasn’t even a thought yet!

+1

fintail · July 2019

Indeed, 1969 was probably around the zenith of the American/Canadian working/middle class in terms of purchasing power and relative standard of living or quality of life. I was but a twinkle in my father's eye.

If I think back from what I remember about my parents' car histories, my dad had a 67 Galaxie convertible then, and I think my mom had a 61 Impala convertible. The Galaxie would be replaced by a Mustang, and the Impala by a Beetle of all things.

roadburner · July 2019

I was 12. I remember following the manned program from John Glenn's Mercury flight. I wanted to be an Air Force pilot but my lack of 20/20 uncorrected vision put paid to that.

jmonroe1 · July 2019

snakeweasel said:
Where were you 50 years ago today?

Wondering how popular I would be when Edmunds started their car forums.

jmonroe

thebean · July 2019

@jmonroe1, I bet you never thought you would have as many fans as you have now (driver excluded).

driver100 · July 2019

jmonroe1 said:

snakeweasel said:
Where were you 50 years ago today?
Wondering how popular I would be when Edmunds started their car forums.

jmonroe

I am sure you overestimated by about 95%

jmonroe1 · July 2019

thebean said:
@jmonroe1, I bet you never thought you would have as many fans as you have now (driver excluded).

I can afford a loss like that.

jmonroe

jmonroe1 · July 2019

driver100 said:

jmonroe1 said:

snakeweasel said:
Where were you 50 years ago today?
Wondering how popular I would be when Edmunds started their car forums.

jmonroe
I am sure you overestimated by about 95%

Given that I had to start over again when I lost my seniority, I ain't too far behind schedule. :@

jmonroe

driver100 · July 2019

jmonroe1 said:

driver100 said:

jmonroe1 said:

snakeweasel said:
Where were you 50 years ago today?
Wondering how popular I would be when Edmunds started their car forums.

jmonroe
I am sure you overestimated by about 95%
Given that I had to start over again when I lost my seniority, I ain't too far behind schedule. :@

jmonroe

Yes, you doubled your fan base from 2 people to 4, in 946 posts.

jmonroe1 · July 2019

driver100 said:

jmonroe1 said:

driver100 said:

jmonroe1 said:

snakeweasel said:
Where were you 50 years ago today?
Wondering how popular I would be when Edmunds started their car forums.

jmonroe
I am sure you overestimated by about 95%
Given that I had to start over again when I lost my seniority, I ain't too far behind schedule. :@

jmonroe
Yes, you doubled your fan base from 2 people to 4, in 946 posts.

Careful, you're going to force me into calling for a vote. :@

jmonroe

explorerx4 · July 2019

@driver100,
A fan base of 2 is something you should be aspiring to.

oldfarmer50 · July 2019

snakeweasel said:
Where were you 50 years ago today?

Washing dishes at a Howard Johnson’s restaurant. Smuggled a black and white tv into the back room to watch the moon landing. Turned out they didn’t walk on the surface until about 2am my time. I remember the HoJo cook was an original moon landing skeptic who claimed that the fuzzy images were no proof and could have been pictures of someone putting tar on the supermarket roof next door.

oldfarmer50 · July 2019

Another victory (sort of) for the 5 minute mechanic. I went to load the cargo van last night only to find a dead battery. Got the charger out and within a few minutes it started right up.

It was then I noticed that the defroster blower was running. No matter what, it wouldn’t shut off, like all the switches had been disconnected. Somehow, while parked the blower had turned itself on and because the van wasn’t running it drained the battery.

I was worried that if I turned the motor off I’d drain the battery again so I got out the owners manual and pulled all the fuses to the heater system...no good, blower still ran.

Finally, I located the blower motor and disconnected the power to it. Problem solved for now but I hope I don’t need to defrost the windows anytime soon. I suspect since removing fuses had no effect, I must have a short somewhere.

kyfdx · July 2019

explorerx4 said:
Today got off to a bit of a rough start.
Took the Mustang out for a short ride, but couldn't get garage door to shut using the opener.
Using the inside button, it would only close if I held the button until the door was completely closed.
Took a look at the sensors and the red one was out.
Sometimes they can be reset, so I looked around online for a bit.
Cleaned the lenses of the green and red sensors, no luck.
Unplugged garage door and took wires off the red sensor and reattached, then plugged in garage door opener.
Red one now blinking, green one out!
Unplugged garage door and took wires off the green sensor and reattached, then plugged in garage door opener.
No change. Guess I'm going to call 'The Guy' to fix the sensors and check out the door in general, as it is 20 years old.
A while later, I decided to water some of the outside plants.
While walking by the door, take a look at the green sensor and it is lit with a steady green and red is also on.
Opened the door using the inside button, pulled car in and closed it using the remote n the car.
I guess it just took a few minute for everything to reset.

Do you have any failing CFL bulbs, or LEDs nearby? They can cause intermittent interference.

explorerx4 · July 2019

@kyfdx,
We had a big thunderstorm last Thursday.
Suspect it was due to that, as the sound went out on my TV that night too, but only 1 jmonroe length story per day.
I hadn't opened that garage door in about a month, so it could have been out since the storm.
Garage has 3 150 watt incandescent bulbs to make some heat when it gets really cold out during the winter.

jmonroe1 · July 2019

explorerx4 said:
@driver100,
A fan base of 2 is something you should be aspiring to.

Way ta go. You tell em.

jmonroe

explorerx4 · July 2019

We have kind of an Area 51 corner in our kitchen.
The leftmost cabinet is sagging.
They are builder quality, not a solid wood back panel, and I don't think the original developer thought any of he original owners would still be here after 20 years.

Trying to figure out how am going to get them back to level.

Attempt 1.

Attempt 2.

I'm thinking I should level the left cabinet first, then level the center. Microwave unit is very heavy.

ab348 · July 2019

Are they screwed into studs? Without a solid back panel I might be tempted to unscrew them from the wall, install some kind of 1x strap across the width of the inside of the cabinet back partway up (screwed in from the outside where the screws will be hidden by adjacent wall/cabinet), then reinstall by screwing through the strap into studs.

explorerx4 · July 2019

@ab348,
You can't see it from the picture, but there is one screw in the middle of the cabinet at the top.
If the back was more of a more rigid material, everything would be ok.

oldfarmer50 · July 2019

ab348 said:
Are they screwed into studs? Without a solid back panel I might be tempted to unscrew them from the wall, install some kind of 1x strap across the width of the inside of the cabinet back partway up (screwed in from the outside where the screws will be hidden by adjacent wall/cabinet), then reinstall by screwing through the strap into studs.

What’s in the side wall behind the open door? If you have a stud there you could drive a long screw through the frame into the side wall. When I did my cabinets 36 years ago that’s how we fixed a long row of cabinets together. The front frame is the strongest part.

I know some of those cheap cabinets have something like fiberboard in the back which doesn’t hold well. Maybe you can use washers over the screws to strengthen the connection.

imidazol97 · July 2019

Is there a stud in the corner of the back wall to get a second screw into at the top? Judging distances, it looks like it's less than the usual distance from the side of the duplex outlet, but there has to be studding of some kind there.

Is there a screw in the horizontal framework at the bottom of the cabinet into the one stud that runs up the middle? I'd give the cabinet a little extra lift and put a screw into the base skeleton either inside the cabinet or exposed under the cabinet. Dab a little of the touch up clay color they sell to match the cabinets if the screw head shows.

driver100 · July 2019

explorerx4 said:
@driver100,
A fan base of 2 is something you should be aspiring to.

Well, I have JMonroe and you = 2

jmonroe1 · July 2019

explorerx4 said:
We have kind of an Area 51 corner in our kitchen.
The leftmost cabinet is sagging.
They are builder quality, not a solid wood back panel, and I don't think the original developer thought any of he original owners would still be here after 20 years.

Trying to figure out how am going to get them back to level.

Attempt 1.

Attempt 2.

I'm thinking I should level the left cabinet first, then level the center. Microwave unit is very heavy.

That corner cabinet doesn't look wide enough to hit more than one verticle 2x4 stud. That means you can only use one screw at the top cabinet horizontal mounting rail and another at the bottom horizontal mounting rail. Since you will only be using 2 screws they can't be any smaller than a number 12 screw that is at least 2 1/2 inches long but I'd use a 3 inch long screw and better yet use a number 10 screw that is 3 inches long.

Your cabinet size is typical for most kitchens which is why when we were framing the kitchen for
Son # 1's flip house we installed a 2 x 6 between all of the 2 x 4 verticle studs at the point where the cabinet top and bottom horizontal mounting rails are located. A 2x6 is overkill but that size will allow us to change the height of the wall cabinets if we want to since there is no bulkhead above the cabinets. AND, more importantly, we are not limited to finding the 2 x 4 vertical framing studs to screw into. Therefore, we can use more than one screw at the top and bottom cabinet mounting rails even on narrow wall cabinets. I know you can't do this but that is why long heavy duty screws are a must for mounting narrow wall cabinets.

If you can drop by in a couple weeks when we start installing the cabinets, you can see how and why we did it the way we did it. No charge for watching.

jmonroe

driver100 · July 2019

explorerx4 said:
We have kind of an Area 51 corner in our kitchen.
The leftmost cabinet is sagging.
They are builder quality, not a solid wood back panel, and I don't think the original developer thought any of he original owners would still be here after 20 years.

Trying to figure out how am going to get them back to level.

Attempt 1.

I'm thinking I should level the left cabinet first, then level the center. Microwave unit is very heavy.

Explorer......you guys must go through a huge amount of salt.......looks like you buy in bulk from Costco. That container should last most people about 6 years.

tjc78 · July 2019

That looks the normal box of salt most people have, no?

Don’t look i our spice cabinet. We have that one, a giant box of Kosher salt and some others.

The box of Kosher salt is probably 1.5 years old at least

ab348 · July 2019

driver100 said:

Explorer......you guys must go through a huge amount of salt.......looks like you buy in bulk from Costco. That container should last most people about 6 years.

I figured that you would go through one of those every couple of months from the volume of salty comments you post here.

explorerx4 · July 2019

Yes, it's a normal size salt container. I guess driver has small cabinets.

oldfarmer50 · July 2019

explorerx4 said:
Yes, it's a normal size salt container. I guess driver has small cabinets.

In Canada they put all their salt on the roads in winter so there’s little left for cooking use. (Insert non functional emotorcons here)

Pictures are out again too.

abacomike · July 2019

I had to drop off some mail I received for my daughter at her new job Friday. It’s about a mile south of the Boca Town Center Mall where I walk 5 days a week.

The park facilities are quite impressive. She looked great and she seemed quite relaxed after that long drive in from northern Illinois. The most exhilarating aspect of her move down here (to me) is that she appears to be happy! What more could a father hope for than that? 😀😛😁

Grandchildren would have been nice, too, but it’s too late for that to happen. At least I have 2 grandsons by my son.😋

jmonroe1 · July 2019

explorerx4 said:
Yes, it's a normal size salt container. I guess driver has small cabinets.

Yes, that is a normal size salt container. Only people who take handfuls of salt packs when they go to fast food places would think that is large salt container. People that take salt, more than likely take packs of sugar too and don't know sugar is bought in four or five pound bags.

jmonroe

driver100 · July 2019

explorerx4 said:
Yes, it's a normal size salt container. I guess driver has small cabinets.

We buy this size (salt alternative - probably just as bad for you)330 mls.

We do use ones like Explorers to put on our sidewalks in the winter....if I was here.
btw....looks like a commercial grade microwave oven....do you have a restaurant in your home?

ab348 · July 2019

oldfarmer50 said:

Pictures are out again too.

Just bizarre. They were working last night and earlier today, not now.

stickguy · July 2019

Explorer, I vote sledge hammer and redo the whole kitchen. Must be my new career as a house flipper coming out!

cdnpinhead · July 2019

Well, we're back from the drive to AK which we tacked on to our annual summer visit to the Winter Park, CO, area. Saw lots of wildlife (but no so much as 12 years ago, when I went last) and were disappointed to miss views of quite a few of the mountains in AK owing to the wildfires and resulting smoke. Had to replace the battery on the '17 Forester (2.5 litre NA engine), but otherwise had no issues whatever -- no oil consumption. Did replace all 4 of the OE tires (Yokohama) with Michelin Defenders when we got home. Drove 400ish miles per day and had a couple days of little or no driving (Fairbanks & Vancouver, BC). Anyway, here are a few numbers:

Total Miles -- 11,473
Avg MPG -- 35.7
Avg amount trip computer was high on MPG - 6.3%, never less than 3.5%
Days gone -- 35

Got mpg as high as 39.2 and 40.3, both at high elevation (reduced drag). Shades of the kind of driving I used to do in the KW. The Forester was a very capable vehicle in this application.

explorerx4 · July 2019

@stickguy,
I'm thinking about a whole new house!

explorerx4 · July 2019

@driver100,
Those are not commercial grade appliances, but they are what my wife wanted.

jmonroe1 · July 2019

explorerx4 said:
@stickguy,
I'm thinking about a whole new house!

You're just in time. I know of a flip house that should be ready in a month to six weeks. And the kitchen cabinets won't fall off the walls. That's a guaranty.

jmonroe

ab348 · July 2019

Plumbing problems descend on me this weekend. My main shower which was new in early 2017 had a drip for a few days which I blamed on the showerhead retaining some water and then dripping it out. But then yesterday after I finished my shower I discovered that turning the water off didn't shut it off completely and there was still a trickle of hot water coming out. After some fiddling I found I could stop the flow by moving the handle from full off to the on position very slightly.

After my shower today I couldn't even do that and found that a good-sized trickle of hot water would come out no matter what I tried. Well, obviously can't have that. I went downstairs and traced the Pex lines that were installed in 2017. No shutoffs anywhere, dammit. So I turned off the house water at the meter to see what I could do with the shower.

It is a Moen Positemp valve and after some fiddling around I was able to expose it and tried to pull it out. Wouldn't budge. I was afraid I was going to break something inside the wall if I pulled any harder so I stopped. Moen suggests a cartridge removal tool which of course I do not have. But it may have been just as well since if I got it out and couldn't see anything obvious it may have leaked even worse when I tried reinstalling it, so I'm frozen for the moment. I get to call Moen tomorrow and they will send me a free replacement, and I'll try to convince them to include the removal tool too. But that will take a few days to get here so until then I'm using the downstairs bathroom and keeping the house water turned off most of the time. PITA.

If I had been able to get the old one out I was thinking I would just go to HD and buy a replacement cartridge, then return the one Moen sends me to them later in the week. But I discovered that none of the local home centers has the 1222 cartridge listed as available in-store. Bizarre.

omarman · July 2019

tjc78 said:
That looks the normal box of salt most people have, no?

Don’t look i our spice cabinet. We have that one, a giant box of Kosher salt and some others.

The box of Kosher salt is probably 1.5 years old at least

A few years ago my friend was going to the grocery and asked if she could pick up something for me. I needed sea salt and after a pause she asked, "You don't use table salt?"

Well yes. Kosher salt, table salt and sea salt grinder.

jmonroe1 · July 2019

omarman said:

tjc78 said:
That looks the normal box of salt most people have, no?

Don’t look i our spice cabinet. We have that one, a giant box of Kosher salt and some others.

The box of Kosher salt is probably 1.5 years old at least
A few years ago my friend was going to the grocery and asked if she could pick up something for me. I needed sea salt and after a pause she asked, "You don't use table salt?"

Well yes. Kosher salt, table salt and sea salt grinder.

Sea salt seems to be the in-thing these days. You can't go anywhere that serves food that isn't touting, "made with sea salt". Almost like it is health food or something.

jmonroe

explorerx4 · July 2019

@jmonroe1,
You are rehabbing that house like you are going to live in it, not flip it.

jmonroe1 · July 2019

explorerx4 said:
@jmonroe1,
You are rehabbing that house like you are going to live in it, not flip it.

You make a good point. When this flipping thing started, my Son had to create a company for tax purposes and to be able to buy from wholesalers. Since it has his name on it, he wants people to associate that name with a quality house for future business. I told him I don't plan to do this kind of stuff in the future. His response to that was, "after a small break with this house you'll want to do it again. This is what will keep you young". He's dead wrong, this flip house has convinced me that I belong in retirement. :@

jmonroe

jwm40517 · July 2019

A day late but 50 years ago I was two weeks into basic training at Ft Polk, La. For a long time I wondered why I could not remember moon landing or Woodstock and finally realized both happened during basic with no knowledge of events off post at the time.

Michaell · July 2019

jmonroe1 said:

explorerx4 said:
@jmonroe1,
You are rehabbing that house like you are going to live in it, not flip it.
You make a good point. When this flipping thing started, my Son had to create a company for tax purposes and to be able to buy from wholesalers. Since it has his name on it, he wants people to associate that name with a quality house for future business. I told him I don't plan to do this kind of stuff in the future. His response to that was, "after a small break with this house you'll want to do it again. This is what will keep you young". He's dead wrong, this flip house has convinced me that I belong in retirement. :@

jmonroe

Maybe you need to be a 50% partner to keep you motivated

jmonroe1 · July 2019

Michaell said:

jmonroe1 said:

explorerx4 said:
@jmonroe1,
You are rehabbing that house like you are going to live in it, not flip it.
You make a good point. When this flipping thing started, my Son had to create a company for tax purposes and to be able to buy from wholesalers. Since it has his name on it, he wants people to associate that name with a quality house for future business. I told him I don't plan to do this kind of stuff in the future. His response to that was, "after a small break with this house you'll want to do it again. This is what will keep you young". He's dead wrong, this flip house has convinced me that I belong in retirement. :@

jmonroe
Maybe you need to be a 50% partner to keep you motivated

Better yet, if I decide to become a snowbird in Florida this winter then decide to live there permanently, he'll forget all about me and look for a younger partner.

jmonroe

explorerx4 · July 2019

How cool is this feature?

ab348 · July 2019

Local bar here has a setup like that.

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