We all get tired and have felt depressed at times, but have you ever considered that your engine may experience the same manifestations?
The early signs of Engine Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ECFS) is a strong, noticeable lethargy that simply overpowers your engine. The profound weakness does not disappear with additional fuel feedings, oil changes, spark plug replacements, etc.
ECFS Symptoms:
· Strong and noticeable fatigue even after resting
· Increased fuel appetite
· Inability to perform with no apparent reason
· Dissipation of energy and vigor
· Painful increased toxic exhaust emissions
· Vociferous discord in engine
· Increased frequency in oil changes
· Persistent soiled spark plugs
One or more of these symptoms warrants further investigation.
How does ECFS begin?
From the first time you use either gasoline or diesel to fill the tank.
Who can get ECFS?
ECFS transcends all ages, social and economic classes, as well as geographical locations. Some members of the transportation community, and public consumers as a whole, are inexperienced with ECFS, or are skeptical of the syndrome.
What are the statistics for ECFS?
Inevitably, all engines powered by diesel or gasoline fuel are affected.
What causes ECFS?
Sulfuric acid in the engine produced by a combination of water in fuel and innate attraction of fuel to water. Although most diagnosticians thought it to be an age disorder resulting in weakness and fatigue, scientific evidence has now cast doubt on that theory.
How can consumers cope with and manage ECFS?
The Fuel Doctor suggests that “what we have here is a failure to communicate” between owner and engine. Manifestations are simply an engine’s mode of conveying the need for owner intervention.
Learning how to manage ECFS, may help improve the level at which your engine functions, as well as its quality of life. But managing ECFS requires treatment choices: short term versus long term, economical versus non-economical.
Long Short-Term Treatments -- Manage individual symptoms as they surface. For example, soiled spark plugs can be changed, or tainted oil can be removed and replaced. Not economically viable.
Short Long-Term Treatment – Manage the collective symptoms and simultaneously induce a cure – clearly the optimal economically viable solution.
The Fuel Doctor’s Treatment Prescription:
Based on scientific evidence, the Fuel Doctor strongly recommends the UBiee Power Pill Fe-3 for treating all ECFS expressions. The UBiee Power Pill Fe-3 is not only a nutritious supplement to fuel feedings, but it has shown to radically induce improvement and liberate cure for all guises of ECFS. It is the most economically viable solution available on the market.
Conclusion:
Engine Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is a condition of known causes and is an inherent disorder affecting all engines. Results of treatment with UBiee Power Pill Fe-3 have proven to work an effective and economical cure.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Durable Toyota Parts
High equipment levels and meticulous quality and refinement have been the formula for building and maintaining the Lexus. It embodies a fresh design approach, re-engineered from the ground up.
Dominated by a long cabin with steeply angled front and rear glass, the windows allow plenty of light into the well-organized interior. The Rear passengers get plenty of legroom – the wheelbase has been lengthened by 50mm – and large quarter-windows.
The GS300 Sports at $95,000 includes climate control, heated and ventilated front seats, auto headlights and wipers, reversing camera and steering wheel audio controls. The Sports Luxury model tested here adds satellite navigation, a sunroof, intelligent cruise control, parking sensors and an excellent Mark Levinson stereo system.
Operating full time, the GS300's all-wheel-drive system features a planetary gearset and a wet, multidisc clutch to couple the primary drive wheels, at the rear, to the front. The standard torque split is 30/70 front to rear, but the system's electronic brain can vary that to 50/50, making its judgments based on various driver inputs such as throttle angle and steering angle, and vehicle data such as wheel speed and yaw rate
Every GS has three variations of a new close-ratio six-speed automatic transmission, each designed for optimum performance with their respective GS applications. One of the smallest and lightest gearboxes of its type, it includes a sequential manual shift mode, with gear changes made via a lever in the center console. An outstanding feature of the car is the all-wheel-drive system. The more slippery the road, the more pronounced is its advantage over conventional two-wheel-drive systems.
The car has an all-new 3.0-liter DOHC 24-valve aluminum V-6, which replaces an iron-block straight six of identical displacement. With Toyota's VVT-i variable-valve-timing system operating on cams, plus direct injection, plus a formidable 11.5:1 compression ratio, the new six generates 245 horsepower and 230 pound-feet of torque, compared with 220 of each for its predecessor. The new V-6 is bolted to an equally new six-speed automatic transmission, featuring manumatic shifting and an electronic brain that does a good job of avoiding excessive hunting, particularly in uphill runs.
Other features include leather-trimmed, heated front seats with 10-way power adjustment; SmartAccess keyless entry and a pushbutton starter; a premium sound system with both CD and DVD capability; Bluetooth wireless telephone technology; and a 7-inch multi-information touch screen for easy access to a wide range of information and commands.
Options include: a steering-sensitive Park Assist system; DVD navigation system and rear backup camera; one-touch open/close moon roof; ventilated front seats; power rear sunshade. It also has an eardrum-pounding, wallet-smashing Mark Levinson audio system, its 11 channels of sonic wash flowing through 14 speakers, Rain-Sensing Wiper package that includes adaptive front lighting and headlamp washers (standard on the GS 430); a rear spoiler; and all-season run-flat tires. Luxurious amenities, exquisite quality, and remarkable technology—these are all the things that make up a Lexus. Partstrain likewise strives to preserve these qualities in delivering only the best Toyota Replacement Parts, Performance Parts, OEM and Aftermarket Parts.
Dominated by a long cabin with steeply angled front and rear glass, the windows allow plenty of light into the well-organized interior. The Rear passengers get plenty of legroom – the wheelbase has been lengthened by 50mm – and large quarter-windows.
The GS300 Sports at $95,000 includes climate control, heated and ventilated front seats, auto headlights and wipers, reversing camera and steering wheel audio controls. The Sports Luxury model tested here adds satellite navigation, a sunroof, intelligent cruise control, parking sensors and an excellent Mark Levinson stereo system.
Operating full time, the GS300's all-wheel-drive system features a planetary gearset and a wet, multidisc clutch to couple the primary drive wheels, at the rear, to the front. The standard torque split is 30/70 front to rear, but the system's electronic brain can vary that to 50/50, making its judgments based on various driver inputs such as throttle angle and steering angle, and vehicle data such as wheel speed and yaw rate
Every GS has three variations of a new close-ratio six-speed automatic transmission, each designed for optimum performance with their respective GS applications. One of the smallest and lightest gearboxes of its type, it includes a sequential manual shift mode, with gear changes made via a lever in the center console. An outstanding feature of the car is the all-wheel-drive system. The more slippery the road, the more pronounced is its advantage over conventional two-wheel-drive systems.
The car has an all-new 3.0-liter DOHC 24-valve aluminum V-6, which replaces an iron-block straight six of identical displacement. With Toyota's VVT-i variable-valve-timing system operating on cams, plus direct injection, plus a formidable 11.5:1 compression ratio, the new six generates 245 horsepower and 230 pound-feet of torque, compared with 220 of each for its predecessor. The new V-6 is bolted to an equally new six-speed automatic transmission, featuring manumatic shifting and an electronic brain that does a good job of avoiding excessive hunting, particularly in uphill runs.
Other features include leather-trimmed, heated front seats with 10-way power adjustment; SmartAccess keyless entry and a pushbutton starter; a premium sound system with both CD and DVD capability; Bluetooth wireless telephone technology; and a 7-inch multi-information touch screen for easy access to a wide range of information and commands.
Options include: a steering-sensitive Park Assist system; DVD navigation system and rear backup camera; one-touch open/close moon roof; ventilated front seats; power rear sunshade. It also has an eardrum-pounding, wallet-smashing Mark Levinson audio system, its 11 channels of sonic wash flowing through 14 speakers, Rain-Sensing Wiper package that includes adaptive front lighting and headlamp washers (standard on the GS 430); a rear spoiler; and all-season run-flat tires. Luxurious amenities, exquisite quality, and remarkable technology—these are all the things that make up a Lexus. Partstrain likewise strives to preserve these qualities in delivering only the best Toyota Replacement Parts, Performance Parts, OEM and Aftermarket Parts.
Hybrid Trucks
We have all heard all the talk about the fuel economy and innovations of Hybrid Cars and how they are sweeping the nation. Last year in 2004 in fact over 88,000 Hybrids were sold and waiting lists are still climbing. Honda, Toyota and Ford cannot build them fast enough. Things are changing indeed. Although still a drop in the bucket considering the average 17 million cars sold each year in the United States we can see a hyperbolic trend forming as oil prices stay high. Also with China and India entering the global game for demand for oil we will see the price per barrel to continue to remain high even if OPEC decides to stay on the same team, which built their industry there.
The Japanese are now showcasing their technologies in medium sized trucks. In fact Hino Motors, which makes the very popular box type delivery trucks you see around town is now making a diesel electric version to be available in the 2006 models in the US. They have been available in Japan since 2003. The unit is called the Hino 165 Hybrid; pictured here:
http://fleetowner.com/hino.gif
The price is still a little steep at $116,000 per truck which is just over two times the cost, but Hino a spokesman said in Transport Topics that in fact the fuel savings over a three year period would cover the additional costs and the Public Relations for companies and the tax incentives in states like MA, CA and NY would more than entice buyers to switch over. The fuel saving is a solid 14 to 27% over the conventional models like the Isuzu and other competing trucks like the one pictured here;
http://www.newtrucks.com/pics/isuzublusky.jpg
Hino of North America is convinced that buyers will put up the extra money for the new hybrids and many government agencies are already trying to order them. Meanwhile waiting lists at some fleet dealership locations are not forming.
The Japanese are now showcasing their technologies in medium sized trucks. In fact Hino Motors, which makes the very popular box type delivery trucks you see around town is now making a diesel electric version to be available in the 2006 models in the US. They have been available in Japan since 2003. The unit is called the Hino 165 Hybrid; pictured here:
http://fleetowner.com/hino.gif
The price is still a little steep at $116,000 per truck which is just over two times the cost, but Hino a spokesman said in Transport Topics that in fact the fuel savings over a three year period would cover the additional costs and the Public Relations for companies and the tax incentives in states like MA, CA and NY would more than entice buyers to switch over. The fuel saving is a solid 14 to 27% over the conventional models like the Isuzu and other competing trucks like the one pictured here;
http://www.newtrucks.com/pics/isuzublusky.jpg
Hino of North America is convinced that buyers will put up the extra money for the new hybrids and many government agencies are already trying to order them. Meanwhile waiting lists at some fleet dealership locations are not forming.
Explosive Air
Have you considered your air compressor as a potential bomb?
If you have not, then you better!
Although air compressors are built to withstand high pressures, and will have all the necessary relief valves to take care of normal occurring overpressures, explosion involving fire propagation is another matter.
How can a fire occur in an air compressor?
In order to understand the phenomenon of explosion, we have to understand the nature of fire, because, after all, an explosion is a very rapid propagation of fire.
A fire will only start whenever three conditions are met - fuel, oxygen and heat.
An air compressor when operating will have a very rich supply of oxygen already in place - pressurized oxygen.
Where do we get the fuel?
If you use oil lubricated air compressors, the lubricating oil can become the source of fuel. It can also be in the form of carbon dust. Carbon is formed when oil is heated to high temperatures.
How is it possible to have high temperatures to ignite the combustible mixture?
There can be a lot of reasons - lack of lubrication due to oil deterioration, reduced lubricating quality of the oil, oil pump mechanism fault, oil filter choked, worn out parts leading to lessen oil pressures, etc. Whenever there is a hotspot sufficient to ignite the combustible mixture an explosion will occur. That is the extreme case.
Let's see what can happen that can lead to that extreme case of an explosion.
All the above reasons for lubrication failure or deterioration will gradually cause the machine to operate poorly, wear out the moving parts, cause oil spills and carry over of the oil in the air passages and increased heat built-up.
Now comes the cooling part. Is there a lack of cooling? If the high temperatures due to rubbing of parts from the above are not cooled down sufficiently, the heat will build up. The intercoolers play a very important role in removing the heat?
There are also many other reasons for the lack of cooling.
When the heat transfer surfaces have been coated by films of scale or carbon it will definitely affect the cooling process. The heating surfaces may have been reduced due to choked passages for the cooling medium in the heat exchanger. The cooling medium itself may be too hot probably due to a fault in another machine like the cooling tower where the heat can be taken away to the atmosphere.
The flow of coolant can sometimes be the culprit. When the cooling pump fails, or the driving belt snaps there will be a lack of coolant flow. One must also find out whether the valves for coolant have been accidentally closed or not.
Very often, the effects build upon one another in a vicious cycle - poor heat transfer leads to more heat that carbonizes more oil which coats the heat transfer surfaces more...which leads to worse heat transfer...
Therefore use oil lubricated air compressors with caution. If your air compressors have been running for a long time, chances are, your air compressor pipelines may have already accumulated a sizable amount of oil carried over together with the air flow during operation.
Does your air compressor work non-stop? Is the inter-cooler or the after-cooler efficient? Is your compressed air hot? These are the questions you have to ask yourself.
The oil film in the pipes turns to carbon with heat. The oxygen-rich and moist atmosphere inside the pipes can turn the oil into acids that can further deteriorate the oil to form other organic compounds, perhaps some highly flammable products.
It just needs a spark or a hot spot to ignite this.
Boom!!
Did I frighten you?
What you need is good preventive maintenance. An air compressor working at peak condition with good cooling, good lubricating pressures, and good lubricant and good parts should give trouble-free performance throughout its lifetime.
Sometimes the compressor may have reached the point of no return - coated coolers leading to high temperatures that lead to more coated cooling surfaces that lead to higher temperatures... In this case it is safer to discard the compressor altogether and obtain an entirely new compressor unit. It could be more economical - and safer!
If you do that, do ensure that preventive maintenance is done regularly to keep the unit at peak operating conditions all the time.
An explosion in an air compressor can have grave consequences. Don't take any chances. Perform regular preventive maintenance or buy a new unit before an explosion occurs.
If you have not, then you better!
Although air compressors are built to withstand high pressures, and will have all the necessary relief valves to take care of normal occurring overpressures, explosion involving fire propagation is another matter.
How can a fire occur in an air compressor?
In order to understand the phenomenon of explosion, we have to understand the nature of fire, because, after all, an explosion is a very rapid propagation of fire.
A fire will only start whenever three conditions are met - fuel, oxygen and heat.
An air compressor when operating will have a very rich supply of oxygen already in place - pressurized oxygen.
Where do we get the fuel?
If you use oil lubricated air compressors, the lubricating oil can become the source of fuel. It can also be in the form of carbon dust. Carbon is formed when oil is heated to high temperatures.
How is it possible to have high temperatures to ignite the combustible mixture?
There can be a lot of reasons - lack of lubrication due to oil deterioration, reduced lubricating quality of the oil, oil pump mechanism fault, oil filter choked, worn out parts leading to lessen oil pressures, etc. Whenever there is a hotspot sufficient to ignite the combustible mixture an explosion will occur. That is the extreme case.
Let's see what can happen that can lead to that extreme case of an explosion.
All the above reasons for lubrication failure or deterioration will gradually cause the machine to operate poorly, wear out the moving parts, cause oil spills and carry over of the oil in the air passages and increased heat built-up.
Now comes the cooling part. Is there a lack of cooling? If the high temperatures due to rubbing of parts from the above are not cooled down sufficiently, the heat will build up. The intercoolers play a very important role in removing the heat?
There are also many other reasons for the lack of cooling.
When the heat transfer surfaces have been coated by films of scale or carbon it will definitely affect the cooling process. The heating surfaces may have been reduced due to choked passages for the cooling medium in the heat exchanger. The cooling medium itself may be too hot probably due to a fault in another machine like the cooling tower where the heat can be taken away to the atmosphere.
The flow of coolant can sometimes be the culprit. When the cooling pump fails, or the driving belt snaps there will be a lack of coolant flow. One must also find out whether the valves for coolant have been accidentally closed or not.
Very often, the effects build upon one another in a vicious cycle - poor heat transfer leads to more heat that carbonizes more oil which coats the heat transfer surfaces more...which leads to worse heat transfer...
Therefore use oil lubricated air compressors with caution. If your air compressors have been running for a long time, chances are, your air compressor pipelines may have already accumulated a sizable amount of oil carried over together with the air flow during operation.
Does your air compressor work non-stop? Is the inter-cooler or the after-cooler efficient? Is your compressed air hot? These are the questions you have to ask yourself.
The oil film in the pipes turns to carbon with heat. The oxygen-rich and moist atmosphere inside the pipes can turn the oil into acids that can further deteriorate the oil to form other organic compounds, perhaps some highly flammable products.
It just needs a spark or a hot spot to ignite this.
Boom!!
Did I frighten you?
What you need is good preventive maintenance. An air compressor working at peak condition with good cooling, good lubricating pressures, and good lubricant and good parts should give trouble-free performance throughout its lifetime.
Sometimes the compressor may have reached the point of no return - coated coolers leading to high temperatures that lead to more coated cooling surfaces that lead to higher temperatures... In this case it is safer to discard the compressor altogether and obtain an entirely new compressor unit. It could be more economical - and safer!
If you do that, do ensure that preventive maintenance is done regularly to keep the unit at peak operating conditions all the time.
An explosion in an air compressor can have grave consequences. Don't take any chances. Perform regular preventive maintenance or buy a new unit before an explosion occurs.
Vintage Cars
While talking with a helicopter pilot a couple of months ago, I found out about a new way to look for those original car parts or even whole cars you might be looking for. This pilot worked for one of the local medical transport and rescue services. In that capacity, he flew over lots of remote areas. He told me about several of the things that he was keeping an eye on. But, he did not give me real good details of where things were that he wanted for himself.
One of the things he described was a field full of old cars including Model T's and Model A's. He said it was not even close to a road, so you would not see it except from the air. He had a lot of other sweet cars spotted as well.
That got me thinking. Why not start asking small plane pilots about the interesting cars that they have seen from the air? You could ask people like the pilot I was talking to. But also cropdusters, flight instructors and flying clubs would be good resources. These people have a huge number of flying hours and have been all over the country.
What I would do is head out for the nearest small town with an airport and start asking around. You are bound to find some good leads.
One of the things he described was a field full of old cars including Model T's and Model A's. He said it was not even close to a road, so you would not see it except from the air. He had a lot of other sweet cars spotted as well.
That got me thinking. Why not start asking small plane pilots about the interesting cars that they have seen from the air? You could ask people like the pilot I was talking to. But also cropdusters, flight instructors and flying clubs would be good resources. These people have a huge number of flying hours and have been all over the country.
What I would do is head out for the nearest small town with an airport and start asking around. You are bound to find some good leads.
Robotic Conveyor
Robotic conveyor systems are used in modern automated factories, warehouses and cleaning processes. In fact robotics and car washing are nearly synonymous really. There are many cross over scientific technologies used in car washing indeed. Lots of stuff is involved in car washing that relates to a wide variety of sciences and all things in life for that matter. For instance; Physics, Water, efficiency, chemicals, environmental, pollution, energy, ionic bonding, lighting, crime prevention, labor management, signage, advertising, location, flows, cycles, temperatures, robotics, sonar, electronic eyes, video surveillance, impulse purchasing, manufacturing processes, quality control, building, contracting, computer kiosks, time, customer service, automotive. You name it, car washing has some of it, it is a lot to think of and everything relates to everything else in car washing.
Being involved in the car wash industry for 27 years taught me a lot about robotics. Automated car wash systems have been around now over 70 years, think about it, this was the very beginning of robotics, especially conveyor type robotics. Even in my other life endeavors such as becoming a pilot, athlete, motorcycle racer, franchisor and even politics seem to be aided by the many modern principles of car washing. There are few things missing from the car wash model. In car washing you deal with car owners from all professions, nationalities and walks of life, as everyone owns a car. Everyone you see? Everyone is your customer or future customer. It's all one really. Everything kind of bleeds into everything else, no real definitive barriers like dimensions, airflows, songs & tunes, weather, cycles and the like. One is ending as another begins. Life kind of is like that too.
What I am getting at here is life really is like a conveyor type car wash if you think about it, isn’t it? You see artificial intelligence, trans-humanism, life-extension, robotics and car washing have lots in common. Just think much of the methodology of processes in manufacturing robotics today and assembly line type services originated at the car wash. As we develop Artificial Intelligence it will need to do many more of the things we are asking car washes to do today.
The key to the future of the car wash industry will be robotics and conveyor system processes along with artificial intelligence; so the machine will actually wash the car and dry it, take your money and tell you to have a wonderful day! Currently we are at 5.2% unemployment Nationwide and car washing is hard work. Kids in school are entering robotics contests and robotics are heavy in play as the next generation will be big time into it and some; well, yes indeed, they will be working in the car washing sector.
Being involved in the car wash industry for 27 years taught me a lot about robotics. Automated car wash systems have been around now over 70 years, think about it, this was the very beginning of robotics, especially conveyor type robotics. Even in my other life endeavors such as becoming a pilot, athlete, motorcycle racer, franchisor and even politics seem to be aided by the many modern principles of car washing. There are few things missing from the car wash model. In car washing you deal with car owners from all professions, nationalities and walks of life, as everyone owns a car. Everyone you see? Everyone is your customer or future customer. It's all one really. Everything kind of bleeds into everything else, no real definitive barriers like dimensions, airflows, songs & tunes, weather, cycles and the like. One is ending as another begins. Life kind of is like that too.
What I am getting at here is life really is like a conveyor type car wash if you think about it, isn’t it? You see artificial intelligence, trans-humanism, life-extension, robotics and car washing have lots in common. Just think much of the methodology of processes in manufacturing robotics today and assembly line type services originated at the car wash. As we develop Artificial Intelligence it will need to do many more of the things we are asking car washes to do today.
The key to the future of the car wash industry will be robotics and conveyor system processes along with artificial intelligence; so the machine will actually wash the car and dry it, take your money and tell you to have a wonderful day! Currently we are at 5.2% unemployment Nationwide and car washing is hard work. Kids in school are entering robotics contests and robotics are heavy in play as the next generation will be big time into it and some; well, yes indeed, they will be working in the car washing sector.
Oil Changing
It is fun to look back every so often and see if the industry analysts where correct or not. More often then not they are incorrect. Hindsight is always 20/20 as they say. The oil change industry is no exception either. In January of 2002 there were some pretty aggressive predictions made in the fast lube industry.
This was right before a major player Penske Auto Services at all the local Kmarts, took a big hit with 500 Kmart stores closing. I also see a new trend with Wal*Mart lowering prices and killing business due to the cost issue. Everyone want a good deal and an oil change from Wal-Mart is just that at $12.95. According to the bureau of statistics there is a shortage of over 60,000 auto technicians in the industry now and growing; big problem for service. No one seemed to mention the shortages leading up to 2000. Unemployment is also a significant factor because people were be cutting costs, that means going to Wal*Mart for $12.95 oil changes instead of industry averages of $26.95.
Training is also still an issue. Turn-over was an issue but may not be in the future. For the most part add-on services kept the business alive in 2001, but did not really propel it, rather more participants and increased competition hurt many owners and old owners did better than newer stores, except in expanding areas. I have to say however I am quite excited about the upgrade in that industry; no more Mickey Mouse places everything is professional now. Even in the truck oil change business Speedco is doing a great job of customer service, even though the price is a little out of line, the service makes up for it, also the quick turn-around time makes since for many drivers. I think a mobile oil change business such as the the Oil Change Guys can really build on this model on the mobile side of the industry, after all it is still relatively young and nobody gets it yet.
This was right before a major player Penske Auto Services at all the local Kmarts, took a big hit with 500 Kmart stores closing. I also see a new trend with Wal*Mart lowering prices and killing business due to the cost issue. Everyone want a good deal and an oil change from Wal-Mart is just that at $12.95. According to the bureau of statistics there is a shortage of over 60,000 auto technicians in the industry now and growing; big problem for service. No one seemed to mention the shortages leading up to 2000. Unemployment is also a significant factor because people were be cutting costs, that means going to Wal*Mart for $12.95 oil changes instead of industry averages of $26.95.
Training is also still an issue. Turn-over was an issue but may not be in the future. For the most part add-on services kept the business alive in 2001, but did not really propel it, rather more participants and increased competition hurt many owners and old owners did better than newer stores, except in expanding areas. I have to say however I am quite excited about the upgrade in that industry; no more Mickey Mouse places everything is professional now. Even in the truck oil change business Speedco is doing a great job of customer service, even though the price is a little out of line, the service makes up for it, also the quick turn-around time makes since for many drivers. I think a mobile oil change business such as the the Oil Change Guys can really build on this model on the mobile side of the industry, after all it is still relatively young and nobody gets it yet.
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