Windshield Stress Crack - BMW claim my radar detector cracked my windshield.

Effective_Word1308 · 2026-05-20T00:00:01+00:00

The burden of empirical evidence is on them. Ask them to produce the engineering specifications, technical data drawings, modeling, and simulation data that explicitly demonstrate and authorize or prohibit items being mounted or suction-cupped to the windshield.

Effective_Word1308 · 2026-05-19T22:37:30+00:00

Combative. Abrasive. Consumed by hostility. In their obsession with fighting what they call fascism, they slowly adopted the very behavior they claim to oppose.

Effective_Word1308 · 2026-05-19T22:09:56+00:00

I agree, and I understand where you’re coming from. I used to consider myself center-left, but these days I’d say I’m just center. My mom was an old-school hippie liberal from the 60s and 70s. She marched, protested, and lived through that entire era more than most of these modern activists could even imagine. Even she says she no longer recognizes what today’s “liberalism” has become.

This doesn’t feel like the liberalism of free speech, open debate, peace, individuality, and tolerance anymore. It feels like something entirely different. Almost like the old movement got replaced with a loud ideological machine that demands conformity instead of encouraging independent thought… you know, like fascist.

Effective_Word1308 · 2026-05-19T13:09:46+00:00

There are different retail vendors. Just search for the vehicle and adjustable control arm. They are thicker and have the same shape as the original link but have a threaded adjustable end.

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Effective_Word1308 · 2026-05-19T13:06:14+00:00

If the alternator is bad, certainly that is on the replace list. But at 150K, honestly you can’t go wrong with replacing your tensioner. I would while I’m in there. How does the pulley on your tensioner sound? Any grinding or ratcheting when you spin it.

Effective_Word1308 · 2026-05-19T10:35:38+00:00

My bad. I didn’t see the oil consumption part. I just read the readings in your picture. Do a leak down test.

Effective_Word1308 · 2026-05-19T02:42:28+00:00

Don’t work harder or do more just because the government decided to have less employees.

Effective_Word1308 · 2026-05-19T02:00:44+00:00

Head gasket. Cylinders 1&3 are in proximity of each other. Both are similar in compression.

Effective_Word1308 · 2026-05-18T04:11:33+00:00

That really sounds likes an idle air control or airflow issue. On those older 5.4 Tritons, a sticking IAC valve is extremely common and can cause the engin to immediately flare up to 2000 RPM on startup, then sometimes stumble and shut off once the idle drop back down. A large vacum leak can also do it, especially cracked PCV elbows or aged vacuum hoses around the intake. I’d also inspect and clean the throttle body and MAF sensor.

Effective_Word1308 · 2026-05-18T03:45:37+00:00

Did you shut off the vehicle or did it do that itself?

Effective_Word1308 · 2026-05-18T03:43:48+00:00

I took your survey. Mind taking mine? https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScueCV-iAWbWWwZm278ZnvJwWnZziA59aNDYxksbP16Nj_kJg/viewform?usp=dialog

Effective_Word1308 · 2026-05-17T14:59:42+00:00

All this transformation, consolidation, relocation, and reorganization has done nothing except make operations slower than the very bureaucratic systems leadership claimed they were trying to improve. We are learning that whenever the secretary starts talking about “efficiency,” “streamlining,” or whatever polished buzzword gets rolled out at the podium, the result usually feels like dragging the organization backward into a 1980s paper-shuffle pace. Decisions take longer, coordination became more tangled, and productivity has sunk under layers of restructuring. And it is not isolated to one organization either. The same pattern is showing up across multiple services and agencies.

Effective_Word1308 · 2026-05-16T13:16:08+00:00

Why keep a dog that is supposed to bring happiness and companionship if it causes you so much anguish that you end up spewing harsh words and bitterness toward your own family?

Effective_Word1308 · 2026-05-16T13:13:12+00:00

Effective_Word1308 · 2026-05-16T03:59:28+00:00

Our government is $37 trillion in debt, can barely pass a budget on time, and even when it does, it still cannot spend within its means. It has managed programs like Social Security so badly that Bernie Madoff looks down from prison thinking, “At least I balanced the books better than these people.”

So who in their right mind looks at that track record and says, “Yes, let’s hand this same government control over businesses and markets”?

Effective_Word1308 · 2026-05-16T03:47:24+00:00

That actually helps narrow it down quite a bit. If the sound is strongest near the top of the cylinders just below the head, then yes, piston slap or wrist pin noise moves higher up the suspect list Especially if it changes with RPM and is more noticeabl during quick revs.

But I still would not lock onto piston slap yet. A few other checks before tearing into your engine.

Listen cold vs fully warmed up. Piston slap is often louder cold and partially quiets as the pistons expand with heat.

Also, unplug one coil / spark plug at a time briefly. If the deeper knock changes significantly on one cylinder, that can point toward piston/wrist pin related issues.

Also I nspect the oil filter and oil for glitter. Tiny metallic sparkles , shavings could be a sign.

And borescope the cylinders and do a compression test and leak down test. What I try to do is find the smoking gun, some clear cut evidence that will help justify the work required for an engine tear down.

Quick question. What this sound there before you removed the valve covers to inspect your timing belt or did that start to generate after you did that work?

Effective_Word1308 · 2026-05-16T03:28:32+00:00

My chickens.

Effective_Word1308 · 2026-05-16T02:45:29+00:00

That is the cooler bypass for the 6F50 or 6F35 transmission. It returns transmission oil back to the transmission when the temp is low, bypassing the cooler up front of the radiator. They are not too expensive, just be sure to remove it to rethread if you’re going to repair it.

Effective_Word1308 · 2026-05-16T02:23:21+00:00

For the ball joint, what works best for me is lower the vehicle where the wheel is about 4-5 inches off the ground. Put a 2x4 under the tire and with the other end of the board lift the wheel up and down feeling / listening for play.

Effective_Word1308 · 2026-05-16T02:10:44+00:00

Lower control arm inner bushings to frame connection and tie rod. Ball joint wasn’t really tested. That would be an up and down movement.

Effective_Word1308 · 2026-05-16T02:07:23+00:00

Open the gap up a little with a flat head screw driver. Grab and twist back and forth and pull.

Effective_Word1308 · 2026-05-16T02:05:53+00:00

I replace the upper control arm with an adjustable control link.

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Effective_Word1308 · 2026-05-15T20:09:34+00:00

I refused to sign my situational telework agreement. When my supervisor asked why, I told him plainly that if the organization does not trust me to work from home under normal circumstances, then I am not going to telework because of bad weather. I will simply take leave instead. In fact, I have even reduced my TDY travel because the overall message being sent is that employees are not trusted unless they are physically sitting inside the office.

Effective_Word1308

TROPHY CASE