XOLATEM
Full Access Member
I was sitting in the operators seat of an older Lee-Boy paving machine and had a desperate sinking feeling...
Now I have done it...opened my freaking mouth and stuck a size 13 wide right in and the boot leather had a lot of oil, grease, mud and diesel fuel in it...
I didn't know Jack Squat about diesel engines...except that the engine oil will ALWAYS be black as the ace of spades...
Oh...and that they did not use spark plugs...which is what I grew up with...
And here I go and make a bet with a guy that has been working on this equipment for at least eight or so years...
I am feeling like a collossal dumb fvqu and figuring that I am soon to be $100 poorer and lose what little hard-won respect I had earned from my immediate superior at this job...
Let me back up a little....
So...I was disgusted with the car repair business and figured that I could work on heavy equipment...I lowballed myself to a paving company and worked out better than I hoped so the General Manager took pity on me and raised my pay and gave me back pay from my first day to boot...
I was doing pretty good with all of this new-to-me equipment and situations...just figuring it out on my own...I could do PM's and weld and figure out how to fix stuff so the company could keep their jobs flowing...so far so good...
The guy that I was working under...he was miserable...he had been at it with this company for about seven years and absolutely DID NOT want to be a supervisor...but was booted into the position by the Upper Management because the other guy that quit had burnt out...
It was the other guy that I had met when I had applied for the job...and he was shoving the shop keys in my hand after a few minutes of looking around the shop...and then he hauled butt outta there...
So...my new immediate supervisor...the miserable one...he knew all of the equipment and how to fix it...but he was stingy with any advice or technical help and one of his perverse hobbies was to set up his mechanics for failure...and see how they handle it...
I realized it must have been his favorite pastime...he would actually want you to go on a service call with no tools or any information and then be able to tell the Boss that you could not cut the mustard...
You guys have heard me use the term Proboscis...? This guy was not any garden-variety Proboscis....oh, no...he took great pride in being an extra-special Proboscis...that was the general consensus with the other mechanics...so...it was not just me...
So...this guy...my immediate superior...I'll call him 'M'...he has me bring in an older paving machine that had been sitting for a long time because the Company was getting busy and needed another paver on line to use...and I had to get it working reliably...it had a Deutz air-cooled engine...I looked it over and recommended a new battery...fix the battery cables...oil, filters, new fuel, etc.etc. and 'M' says to pull the covers and replace the fan belt...
I pull the covers and Lo and Behold...look at that belt and what looks like to me is an oil-pressurized belt tensioner...the belt drives the cooling fan that blows air around the cylinders inside the covers...
Neat !! I call the other, younger guys over to have a look-see because I figure they are new to this, too...and 'M' comes over to see what the fuss is about...
So...'M' figures he is going to show off some of his superiority...and tell me that the pulley that I figure is a tensioner is really the main fuel pump...and that the engine will not run without the belt on...
Now...before I got this job...I knew very little about diesels...and my education was progressing slowly...but surely...but still...what 'M' said gave me a little pause...
I did not think that the people that designed that engine would drive the main fuel pump off of a BELT....hell, no...
You guys gotta know a little about me...My BS meter is analog...and I could feel the needle quivering to the...maybe ankle-deep level...
Another thing about me...a lot of times...I will rise quickly to a challenge...especially when I am reasonably sure I am right !!
As a matter of fact...I like to bet...when I think that I am right...and...I will sure as **** tell a BSer he is fulla it and why don'tcha BET ME $100...!!!
So...you know what happened next...well...it went down like this...
'M' insisted that the fuel pump was belt-driven and I said I didn't think so...he looked at me and said..."That engine will not run if the belt is off it...!!"
I said "I'll bet you $100 I can get that engine to run without that belt...!!"
Whoa...oh....shoot....now I done it....crap...NOW WHAT..? my inner self is shaking it's head and my outer self is thinking about what was going to have to not get paid this week...
To top it off...I see 'M'...in one fluid motion...pull out his wallet and a crisp Franklin comes floating down towards me...and he is wearing some kind of triumphant look...
It was like watching a train wreck in slow motion...and I was along for the ride...that wallet appeared to come out of his back pocket magically...as if he had metal imbedded in his hand and the magnetic strips on his credit cards pulled the wallet out and it unfolded and the $100 bill popped up like it knew it was called upon to make an absolute fool out of this loudmouth upstart once and for all....
He walked off and let me stew in my juice...oh, jeezz...
The other mechanics heard and saw everything...they are used to me and 'M' getting into it from time to time and to them...it is great fun... and they usually root for me...but this time...they say nothing...
What in the hell...I gotta study this thing...and I don't have a lot of time...the belt is off of it...I get the battery in and fix the cables...I do the oil and filters...while I am at the fuel/water seperator...I get to looking at the IP area...I see a bulge in the block...like an oil passage that leads to the end of the engine...
I follow the bulge and at the end of the block...there is a rod sticking out...and...it is spring-loaded....
Hmmm....I follow the bulge the other way and note where it would be approximately at the IP...hmm...I look at the belt-and-pulley arrangement and see how the rod would sit with the belt on...
I root around for a piece of metal and...fortunately...there is a threaded hole to bolt the piece of metal to...and fix it so it will hold the rod in the block against the spring tension...
Well....here goes nuthin'...I hit the key and....IT COMES TO LIFE....
I resist the urge to do my Rebel Yell....but I do yell...."OH...'MMMMM'....!!!
He is shocked....he looks at the missing belt area...and is stunned....
The ****** is running...without a belt....I got 'is a$$ now....!!
I could do nothing but just grin my big grin...and I am relieved like all-get-out..."Whew"....
Now comes my empathy test...I could have pocketed the Franklin...
But...I didn't...
I told 'M' that he did not have to pay me...He had a family to take care of...and I didn't...and a fancy house to pay for...and I didn't...
But...to his credit...he said..."A bet is a bet".
I just could not take his money...even after all the crap he tried to set me up on...I just...didn't have it in me...I am a sap...
When he wasn't looking...I set the bill on his desk with a paperweight on it to keep it from flying off...
I was satisfied...and relieved...just winning the bet and letting the other mechanics see that I was smarter than I looked....
Now I have done it...opened my freaking mouth and stuck a size 13 wide right in and the boot leather had a lot of oil, grease, mud and diesel fuel in it...
I didn't know Jack Squat about diesel engines...except that the engine oil will ALWAYS be black as the ace of spades...
Oh...and that they did not use spark plugs...which is what I grew up with...
And here I go and make a bet with a guy that has been working on this equipment for at least eight or so years...
I am feeling like a collossal dumb fvqu and figuring that I am soon to be $100 poorer and lose what little hard-won respect I had earned from my immediate superior at this job...
Let me back up a little....
So...I was disgusted with the car repair business and figured that I could work on heavy equipment...I lowballed myself to a paving company and worked out better than I hoped so the General Manager took pity on me and raised my pay and gave me back pay from my first day to boot...
I was doing pretty good with all of this new-to-me equipment and situations...just figuring it out on my own...I could do PM's and weld and figure out how to fix stuff so the company could keep their jobs flowing...so far so good...
The guy that I was working under...he was miserable...he had been at it with this company for about seven years and absolutely DID NOT want to be a supervisor...but was booted into the position by the Upper Management because the other guy that quit had burnt out...
It was the other guy that I had met when I had applied for the job...and he was shoving the shop keys in my hand after a few minutes of looking around the shop...and then he hauled butt outta there...
So...my new immediate supervisor...the miserable one...he knew all of the equipment and how to fix it...but he was stingy with any advice or technical help and one of his perverse hobbies was to set up his mechanics for failure...and see how they handle it...
I realized it must have been his favorite pastime...he would actually want you to go on a service call with no tools or any information and then be able to tell the Boss that you could not cut the mustard...
You guys have heard me use the term Proboscis...? This guy was not any garden-variety Proboscis....oh, no...he took great pride in being an extra-special Proboscis...that was the general consensus with the other mechanics...so...it was not just me...
So...this guy...my immediate superior...I'll call him 'M'...he has me bring in an older paving machine that had been sitting for a long time because the Company was getting busy and needed another paver on line to use...and I had to get it working reliably...it had a Deutz air-cooled engine...I looked it over and recommended a new battery...fix the battery cables...oil, filters, new fuel, etc.etc. and 'M' says to pull the covers and replace the fan belt...
I pull the covers and Lo and Behold...look at that belt and what looks like to me is an oil-pressurized belt tensioner...the belt drives the cooling fan that blows air around the cylinders inside the covers...
Neat !! I call the other, younger guys over to have a look-see because I figure they are new to this, too...and 'M' comes over to see what the fuss is about...
So...'M' figures he is going to show off some of his superiority...and tell me that the pulley that I figure is a tensioner is really the main fuel pump...and that the engine will not run without the belt on...
Now...before I got this job...I knew very little about diesels...and my education was progressing slowly...but surely...but still...what 'M' said gave me a little pause...
I did not think that the people that designed that engine would drive the main fuel pump off of a BELT....hell, no...
You guys gotta know a little about me...My BS meter is analog...and I could feel the needle quivering to the...maybe ankle-deep level...
Another thing about me...a lot of times...I will rise quickly to a challenge...especially when I am reasonably sure I am right !!
As a matter of fact...I like to bet...when I think that I am right...and...I will sure as **** tell a BSer he is fulla it and why don'tcha BET ME $100...!!!
So...you know what happened next...well...it went down like this...
'M' insisted that the fuel pump was belt-driven and I said I didn't think so...he looked at me and said..."That engine will not run if the belt is off it...!!"
I said "I'll bet you $100 I can get that engine to run without that belt...!!"
Whoa...oh....shoot....now I done it....crap...NOW WHAT..? my inner self is shaking it's head and my outer self is thinking about what was going to have to not get paid this week...
To top it off...I see 'M'...in one fluid motion...pull out his wallet and a crisp Franklin comes floating down towards me...and he is wearing some kind of triumphant look...
It was like watching a train wreck in slow motion...and I was along for the ride...that wallet appeared to come out of his back pocket magically...as if he had metal imbedded in his hand and the magnetic strips on his credit cards pulled the wallet out and it unfolded and the $100 bill popped up like it knew it was called upon to make an absolute fool out of this loudmouth upstart once and for all....
He walked off and let me stew in my juice...oh, jeezz...
The other mechanics heard and saw everything...they are used to me and 'M' getting into it from time to time and to them...it is great fun... and they usually root for me...but this time...they say nothing...
What in the hell...I gotta study this thing...and I don't have a lot of time...the belt is off of it...I get the battery in and fix the cables...I do the oil and filters...while I am at the fuel/water seperator...I get to looking at the IP area...I see a bulge in the block...like an oil passage that leads to the end of the engine...
I follow the bulge and at the end of the block...there is a rod sticking out...and...it is spring-loaded....
Hmmm....I follow the bulge the other way and note where it would be approximately at the IP...hmm...I look at the belt-and-pulley arrangement and see how the rod would sit with the belt on...
I root around for a piece of metal and...fortunately...there is a threaded hole to bolt the piece of metal to...and fix it so it will hold the rod in the block against the spring tension...
Well....here goes nuthin'...I hit the key and....IT COMES TO LIFE....
I resist the urge to do my Rebel Yell....but I do yell...."OH...'MMMMM'....!!!
He is shocked....he looks at the missing belt area...and is stunned....
The ****** is running...without a belt....I got 'is a$$ now....!!
I could do nothing but just grin my big grin...and I am relieved like all-get-out..."Whew"....
Now comes my empathy test...I could have pocketed the Franklin...
But...I didn't...
I told 'M' that he did not have to pay me...He had a family to take care of...and I didn't...and a fancy house to pay for...and I didn't...
But...to his credit...he said..."A bet is a bet".
I just could not take his money...even after all the crap he tried to set me up on...I just...didn't have it in me...I am a sap...
When he wasn't looking...I set the bill on his desk with a paperweight on it to keep it from flying off...
I was satisfied...and relieved...just winning the bet and letting the other mechanics see that I was smarter than I looked....