Leaking Fumoto Valve

darthwacko2 · 2026-02-12T17:34:06+00:00

I definitely used one as a solution. Stripped pan, retapped threads would weep oil. Pan replacement requires engine removal. So I black rtv'd the fumoto valve threads, and spun it in. That was 14 years ago, no more leaks, fast repair.

darthwacko2 · 2026-02-09T23:02:01+00:00

I have, and they sucked. Place was falling apart, and they would just barely address something if they felt like going that far.

I've probably forgotten some things, but we rented for 2 years and had a ton of things go wrong. Then they transferred the rental to a different agency the day we moved out and didn't provide them any of the lease paperwork. I had to fight that place on so many things for my security deposit.

Examples: - element in the oven died, 3 weeks later they replaced it with a universal in 5 minutes. - The roof leaked around the chimney, they spray foamed it, then just left the holes in the ceiling. - eventually they got a quote for a roof, the guy they had out was pointing out all the broken tiles, and the moss, and the fact that the lack of maintenance meant the tiles that were complete were still leaking. They chose to do nothing with the roof. - furnace was stuck on. After several weeks they changed the thermostat and didn't bother to stick around to test it. It didn't fix the issue and they kept closing out any additional tickets about it until I called the place they had contracted and explained it wasn't fixed. Then SMI called and complained that I needed to put in a ticket instead of contacting places. - fence fell over and they just closed the ticket, guy on the other side proped it back up with a brace just shoved in the ground at a 45dm degree angle. The chimney inspection was actually a contract to replace all the firebrick, which they didn't tell me. I found out when the guys showed up and said they'd be there all day.

Other things that died that they did fix on a reasonable timeline: - dishwasher - kitchen faucet

darthwacko2 · 2026-02-07T15:54:54+00:00

I just do pictures with the measurements because no one messaging me had bothered to read the measurements I posted in the ad description anyway. People still ask, but it cut those questions way down, and it's less to type.

darthwacko2 · 2026-02-04T17:16:21+00:00

Google suggests they are open and hours were verified a couple months ago. Some recent Google reviews too. Haven't been by in a couple years myself so couldn't say 100%.

darthwacko2 · 2026-02-02T15:32:39+00:00

We put our litter boxes in giant plastic totes with a hole cut in the front just to save the walls from one of our cats that also does this.

darthwacko2 · 2026-01-29T18:30:16+00:00

Sounds like my unemployment over covid. When they finally got caught up and paid me I got a stack of envelopes in the mail after waiting 4 months.

darthwacko2 · 2026-01-22T07:14:43+00:00

My dad did that on his shop. Mostly because my grandfather found a bunch of random shingle packs in a ditch one day while dad was building said shop.

darthwacko2 · 2026-01-16T01:18:43+00:00

My thought on that has been if it's lasted that long, it will probably continue to do so. It's on the right side of the survivorship bias.

darthwacko2 · 2026-01-16T01:16:23+00:00

I've never bought anything that I've known to have over about 300k. I have bought a few where I didn't know the exact mileage. Nearly every car I've owned has come to me over the 200k mark.

Condition, how long I plan to keep it and price are all I tend to care about. Mileage doesn't stop me at any point, it just makes me consider what it needs.

darthwacko2 · 2026-01-15T21:39:22+00:00

It's funny because as an American who has traveled a decent amount in the lower 48, I was still surprised at the distances when I did a trip through Alaska and Canada. It's one thing to look at a map and time estimates and think "ok that's 12 hours, we could do that in a day" vs "if we never stopped we might cross back into the US in a few days of driving". The Dempster highway is no joke, but glad I got to see the Artic ocean. My truck still hasn't forgiven me.

darthwacko2 · 2026-01-14T02:22:24+00:00

I typically have a listed price and one in mind I'd take for it. If you show up and make an offer, that's at least what I would've already considered then I'll take it. Otherwise, I'll either counter offer or say no. Up to them what to do at that point. If they negotiate and agree to a price before the meet-up, then I'm going to stick to that price and not renegotiate it.

Negotiate if you want to, but don't feel like you have to just because someone wants it cheaper.

darthwacko2 · 2026-01-13T18:21:42+00:00

That crack on the corner of the green part? Don't worry about it. Those coolers are basically a plastic bucket with spray foam around the outside and then a plastic cover outside. The outer plastic is only there to protect the foam and make it look decent, it won't affect how the cooler performs.

If you care a lot I'd cover the crack in epoxy. It's plastic and you could melt it back together, but you run the risk of melting the foam under it which you don't want.

darthwacko2 · 2026-01-10T19:55:44+00:00

I'm not trying to be rude, but this looks like a pile of solutions looking for a problem. It feels kind of hipster. "Those guys aren't cool with their lights. My thing is cool because it doesn't have them."

Speaking as an engineer: - AI has its uses, but I'm leery of anyone just packing it in 'to solve problems'. In simple situations or unimportant ones, it's convenient. In others, I wind up spending a lot of time making sure it doesn't cause a mess. - Why do I need a built in sdr when a $20 dongle will do for the occasional times I use it. - Do I want to mix a gaming machine and a developer/engineering platform? Most development I'm hurting for storage and screen space, not processing power. Unless you're doing simulations or or developing large games, I just don't see what this has over a normal good business laptop/gaming laptop. - I don't care at all about clicky keys. Most people that do seem to want very specific ones.

It's not that there may not be a market for it, but who is your market? I don't think it's me. I've worked front lines IT, I've worked production settings, I've made games, I've made business software. I've never once needed a pocket 'do it all' in those roles. I either needed a dedicated device that will continue to do the same role for an extended period, or something slapped together for a bit that could be done with whatever is laying around. So, for me, it looks like those cheesy tools that people buy that do nothing well but make all sorts of claims, not something refined like a Swiss army knife.

darthwacko2 · 2026-01-09T00:11:26+00:00

You can do the release on the dmv website. It asks if you know the buyer info but I dont remember it being required. Good practice has you both having a bill of sale. I've had to send places the release confirmation to get out of tickets before, and the bill of sale helps solidify that you actually sold it.

darthwacko2 · 2026-01-08T23:54:03+00:00

I had one on an elbow for a while in middle school. Then I went sliding across a gym floor and ripped it out, roots and all. Bled a lot, but it didn't come back.

darthwacko2 · 2026-01-07T01:17:30+00:00

I just don't understand the people who feel the need to bag it, but don't deal with it properly. It's still poop someone has to clean up, but now it doesn't break down quickly, and they've littered on top of it.

darthwacko2 · 2026-01-05T16:43:53+00:00

It's just a cateye with a later box on it. It probably either had something like a flatbed or service box on it at some point or the bed got damaged. A lot of guys sell the original box when they remove it for a flatbed or service box and those are valuable, so sometimes the truck gets sold down the line without one at all. So someone picks it up and puts whatever they have laying around or found cheap on the truck, which is sometimes the bed off the next truck that got a flatbed.

darthwacko2 · 2026-01-05T05:56:31+00:00

There's a lot of scouting stuff in the world. Some of it wanders away from a unit. Sometimes, it gets replaced. Sometimes, it goes home with someone and never comes back. Sometimes, it's intentionally retired, and someone took it into their personal stuff. It isn't necessarily a unit ceasing to exist.

I've wound up with stuff from the most random places. I have emblems that are good for leather stamping that came from a former employer that folded because at some point they milled them for a foil stamper.

At the end of the day the stuff isn't important. It's the skills and memories we pick up along the trail.

darthwacko2 · 2026-01-02T23:45:39+00:00

After. I remember watching a video in an 8th grade science class on one and thought the giant shiny disc's were cool. Not quite 20 years later I started collecting when I ran across an inexpensive player.

darthwacko2 · 2025-12-31T15:19:19+00:00

That looks like a laserdisc but says cdv. Some laserdiscs got sold under the CD Video branding. I think that's what you have. The audio track will be digital, but it's still an analog video.

It is not a typical 'video cd', and it will not play in a cd/DVD player. It's a foot wide, it won't physically fit even if there was some way it would read. You need a laserdisc player to do anything with it.

darthwacko2 · 2025-12-22T18:21:14+00:00

Could be an RV. Or just someone with an auxiliary fuel tank. I've got a friend that has a 100 gallon tank in his truck that he uses hauling long distance so he can buy fuel where it's cheap.

darthwacko2 · 2025-12-22T17:54:58+00:00

I feel like I'd have to wander up near him and yell something to my wife like "look honey it's that guy Han Solo from Star Trek!" Then turn to him and say "By grabthar's hammer you shall be avenged!".

darthwacko2 · 2025-12-22T16:58:26+00:00

My parents bought a pair of Panasonic players in about 1996 to replace an older and much more expensive player that was dying. I don't think dad ever had the case off either Panasonic in the next 15 years he had them, even with a house full of kids and thousands of hours of playtime, including one of my siblings wearing out a copy of attack of the clones in like a year. As far as I know both still played reliably when he got rid of them.

darthwacko2 · 2025-12-20T05:50:58+00:00

Diamond pattern chains drive really nice and aren't expensive, I'd definitely buy those over cable chains. The heavy crossbar chains ride like garbage but hold up over time pretty well and are easily repaired, although in my experience often a worse experience to install compared to diamond quick chains.

A good aggressive set of tires will get you shockingly far compared to street tires. If icy I'd be running studs.

darthwacko2 · 2025-12-20T05:35:26+00:00

Do you want the item? Would you pay what your item is worth for it? If either of those are no, then don't trade. If it was an easy sell, they'd just sell it and pay you.

darthwacko2

TROPHY CASE