Something stupid

[minicooper]

You ever do something so stupid that you have to confess?

 

I had not cranked the B3C in about 6 weeks so I thought I would start it last night in the barn and let it idle. Since its been sitting in the high humidity of a late Georgia summer, the clutch was stuck engaged, unbeknownst to me. Well you wouldn't think it would start and take off in reverse (it should have lurched and stalled), but it did, and my pressure washer happened to be behind it. The pressure washer was flattened and lodged under the truck where it crushed the new fuel tank I installed this summer and tore the short rubber fuel line between tank and fuel pump. I pulled the truck forward after a few pumps of the clutch to dislodge the pressure washer and ran to get a pan to collect the gasoline then quickly gorilla taped the fuel line.

 

On the bright side - only about 1/2 a gallon of fuel leaked out and the tank wasn't pierced, although it is pretty mangled, and Gorilla tape is awesome. And I already know how to install a fuel tank.

 

? -Humbled

[Plymouthy Adams]

sorry to hear of this....when they say it happens and you then step in it....well that is the truth.....this is the price you pay when you have a well tuned vehicle and an unengaged mind...

[plymouthcranbrook]

Sigh, life.....

[Dodgeed]

my clutch plate was stuck too, and the car lurched forward, W/the driver's door open and the hood open, and both were only a few very short inches from the garage door frame and overhead door. Wow, was I ever surprised. I never even thought that that would happen. Learned a lesson that day. 

[kencombs]

 this happens with tractors a lot.  Lack of daily use and humidity.  Some even have a lock the hold the clutch pedal down for storage.  All operators manuals specify to start in Neutral.  That is good practice for all equipment.

[Plymouthy Adams]

you cannot do this with the modern standard transmissions today with the interlock safety switch in play....oh for sure you can by pass this if you wish...but not often an easy to get to connection...the modern brake light switch is multifunctional also and also prevent gear selection without brakes fully applied first.....they are tying to make things idiot proof which in turns yields better idiots daily....?

[HotRodTractor]

Several years ago I was cleaning out the shop to have a downsizing sale for the family's antique tractor collection. In the corner of the shop sat a John Deere 830I - it was a big beastly tractor weighing in at 14,500lbs. I replaced the injectors and injector pumps in it in the fall of 2003 just a couple of months before my dad passed away. The tractor more or less sat in the corner of the shop untouched until spring of 2011. We hooked a chain to it to drag it out of its corner just so I could get around it and check it out before firing it up.

 

I had the clutch disengaged (or so I thought) - but I left it in gear just because I was absent minded probably. Now - this is a nearly 500ci diesel engine on 2 cylinders that takes a small 4 cylinder gas engine to start it. It has its own decompression lever to allow the engine to get turning before putting compression to it, to get some momentum before firing. I would be surprised if I moved a single foot...... before that tractor sprung to life with no way to disengage the clutch. I nailed the decompression lever and killed it, but it could have been bad. 

[kencombs]

11 hours ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

you cannot do this with the modern standard transmissions today with the interlock safety switch in play....oh for sure you can by pass this if you wish...but not often an easy to get to connection...the modern brake light switch is multifunctional also and also prevent gear selection without brakes fully applied first.....they are tying to make things idiot proof which in turns yields better idiots daily....?

Do what?  start in neutral?  Why not?  I just slip the manual shift lever into neutral.  AFAIK, no manual trans cars or trucks prevent that. 

[Plymouthy Adams]

when was the last time you drove a late model stick shift

[kencombs]

17 minutes ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

when was the last time you drove a late model stick shift

Recently.  You have to hold the clutch down to engage is safety switch,  but that doesn't prevent you from starting it in neutral, which is my point.  If you crank it in neutral, even with the clutch stuck, it won't move.  

 

My diesel Mitsubishi tilt cab was bad about sticking as it wasn't driven daily.  So I quickly developed the crank in neutral habit.  It also had a push button mounted under the 'hood' accessible when the cab was tilted.  that one wasn't wired thru the safety when I got it, maybe altered by the prev owner, but quickly reinforced my habit.  It wouldn't start as the fuel had a manual cutoff connected to the ignition but would still jump forward and scare the stuff out of me!

[Plymouthy Adams]

yes....you can start in neutral...which is a good idea but I was referring only to the safety switch and clutch disengagement before the starter will engage...as I said...even the automatics cannot be pulled into gear unless your foot has fully applied the brakes...I can see the reasoning behind most of this....but it is a slap in the face in round about way...thank you Mr Ford for having to have sensors in your tires also.....

 

on another note...Sally is a steady rain for us and at the moment very light winds....I do not like winds......too many trees here....but I do like my trees.

[pflaming]

I threw my old rags on the floor. I believe they self lit. A tough Sunday morning! 

[kencombs]

9 hours ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

yes....you can start in neutral...which is a good idea but I was referring only to the safety switch and clutch disengagement before the starter will engage...as I said...even the automatics cannot be pulled into gear unless your foot has fully applied the brakes...I can see the reasoning behind most of this....but it is a slap in the face in round about way...thank you Mr Ford for having to have sensors in your tires also.....

 

on another note...Sally is a steady rain for us and at the moment very light winds....I do not like winds......too many trees here....but I do like my trees.

My first encounter with this was '97.  Rented a new Dodge Neon in PHX.   Took me a few minutes to figure that out.  The first year didn't have the 'instructions' on the shift quadrant.  Now most have 'apply brake to shift', or something printed on the indicator.

[Plymouthy Adams]

my 1948 Plymouth business coupe has this feature now with the retrofitted 5 on the floor in place....

Edited September 17, 2020 by Plymouthy Adams

[minicooper]

On 9/17/2020 at 4:57 AM, pflaming said:

I threw my old rags on the floor. I believe they self lit. A tough Sunday morning! 

 

Wow, I've read many posts about your "Phoenix Rising" but didn't know it happened because oily rags!

[Plymouthy Adams]

man told me on the phone morning of the fire that he  had been welding and grinding near the rags and went in for coffee and lookup a bit later to a host of flame....I don't view this as self lit but lit by self...we joke about blaming it on the cat....story has morphed for sure...

[Los_Control]

Rags do scare me, I put all my old rags outside as I get them oily. is only 1 or 2 at a time. I let them air dry in the sun for several days, .then dispose of them.

[kencombs]

Engine oil soaked rags will not spontaneously combust.  That requires a different type, linseed or any of the 'drying' oils used in finishes. 

I may have told this here before, but here it is again, a cautionary tale.

 

Years ago my wife and I bought a large commercial building to start an antique business.  The building was 125x75, with a third of that an added basement area.  It was originally a clothing store and the main sales floor was 75x75, floored with the original 1x4 T&G vertical grain pine.  Beautiful stuff.  Anyway, it had been vacant for 35 years, and the floor needed refreshing.  I decided to lightly sand a top with a linseed oil, spar varnish, thinner mix.

 

I just poured it out on the floor, spread with a squeegee and cotton mop.  After it soaked in, picked up the excess with a fresh mop head.  I paused for lunch and just left them sitting in the corner since I was only planning to be out 30-40 minutes.  When I returned and picked up the mop, it was already smoldering.  Just a few more minutes and it would have burst into flames.  It's a real danger!   Especially in large quantities that cant readily shed the heat, like a commercial  mop head with lots of oil in it.

[Los_Control]

My habits are to change my oil, when finished I pour gasoline in the drain pan and use the dirty oily rag to wash it out.

Past week or two been using a lot of lacquer thinner. still 1 rag at a time, and it does dissipate pretty quickly.

 

I just treat all rags as a potential fire hazard, probably a good habit to get into. When was younger and worked in tire retread shops, we used several different solvents, glues, chemicals ... By code we had to have a fire proof can to store dirty rags in for cleaners to pickup.

 

Since I do not have a fire proof can to store them, why I set them outside in a safe spot ... even if they did catch fire would not hurt anything.