{"id":1540,"date":"2012-08-05T17:33:47","date_gmt":"2012-08-06T00:33:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/minniebiz.com\/gmcmotorhome\/?p=1540"},"modified":"2012-08-07T11:13:26","modified_gmt":"2012-08-07T18:13:26","slug":"up-early-and-learning-new-stuff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/minniebiz.com\/gmcmotorhome\/2012\/08\/05\/up-early-and-learning-new-stuff\/","title":{"rendered":"Up early and learning new stuff"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><!-- index.php -->\n<div\n\tclass=\"ngg-galleryoverview ngg-ajax-pagination-none\"\n\tid=\"ngg-gallery-3f673f730abf34350f66b19ce1ac98dc-1\">\n\n    \t\t<!-- Thumbnails -->\n\t\t\t\t<div id=\"ngg-image-0\" class=\"ngg-gallery-thumbnail-box\" >\n\t\t\t\t        <div class=\"ngg-gallery-thumbnail\">\n            <a href=\"http:\/\/minniebiz.com\/gmcmotorhome\/wp-content\/gallery\/working-on-the-carb-in-boomtown\/img_5864.jpg\"\n               title=\"I took lots of pictures of the top of the engine around the carburetor so I would be able to answer my own questions later\"\n               data-src=\"http:\/\/minniebiz.com\/gmcmotorhome\/wp-content\/gallery\/working-on-the-carb-in-boomtown\/img_5864.jpg\"\n               data-thumbnail=\"http:\/\/minniebiz.com\/gmcmotorhome\/wp-content\/gallery\/working-on-the-carb-in-boomtown\/thumbs\/thumbs_img_5864.jpg\"\n               data-image-id=\"1271\"\n               data-title=\"The carburetor before I start\"\n               data-description=\"I took lots of pictures of the top of the engine around the carburetor so I would be able to answer my own questions later\"\n               data-image-slug=\"the-carburetor-before-i-start\"\n               class=\"shutterset_3f673f730abf34350f66b19ce1ac98dc\">\n                <img\n                    title=\"The carburetor before I start\"\n                    alt=\"The carburetor before I start\"\n                    src=\"http:\/\/minniebiz.com\/gmcmotorhome\/wp-content\/gallery\/working-on-the-carb-in-boomtown\/thumbs\/thumbs_img_5864.jpg\"\n                    width=\"100\"\n                    height=\"75\"\n                    style=\"max-width:100%;\"\n                \/>\n            <\/a>\n        <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t\t\n        \n\t\t\t\t<div id=\"ngg-image-1\" class=\"ngg-gallery-thumbnail-box\" >\n\t\t\t\t        <div class=\"ngg-gallery-thumbnail\">\n            <a href=\"http:\/\/minniebiz.com\/gmcmotorhome\/wp-content\/gallery\/working-on-the-carb-in-boomtown\/img_5865.jpg\"\n               title=\"More pictures so I can see how it was before I started. This is the front of the carb.\"\n               data-src=\"http:\/\/minniebiz.com\/gmcmotorhome\/wp-content\/gallery\/working-on-the-carb-in-boomtown\/img_5865.jpg\"\n               data-thumbnail=\"http:\/\/minniebiz.com\/gmcmotorhome\/wp-content\/gallery\/working-on-the-carb-in-boomtown\/thumbs\/thumbs_img_5865.jpg\"\n               data-image-id=\"1272\"\n               data-title=\"Uninstalled and ready for surgery\"\n               data-description=\"More pictures so I can see how it was before I started. This is the front of the carb.\"\n               data-image-slug=\"uninstalled-and-ready-for-surgery\"\n               class=\"shutterset_3f673f730abf34350f66b19ce1ac98dc\">\n                <img\n                    title=\"Uninstalled and ready for surgery\"\n                    alt=\"Uninstalled and ready for surgery\"\n                    src=\"http:\/\/minniebiz.com\/gmcmotorhome\/wp-content\/gallery\/working-on-the-carb-in-boomtown\/thumbs\/thumbs_img_5865.jpg\"\n                    width=\"100\"\n                    height=\"75\"\n                    style=\"max-width:100%;\"\n                \/>\n            <\/a>\n        <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t\t\n        \n\t\t\t\t<div id=\"ngg-image-2\" class=\"ngg-gallery-thumbnail-box\" >\n\t\t\t\t        <div class=\"ngg-gallery-thumbnail\">\n            <a href=\"http:\/\/minniebiz.com\/gmcmotorhome\/wp-content\/gallery\/working-on-the-carb-in-boomtown\/img_5866.jpg\"\n               title=\"This is the choke side. That curvy piece of metal has to go back the same way as it started.\"\n               data-src=\"http:\/\/minniebiz.com\/gmcmotorhome\/wp-content\/gallery\/working-on-the-carb-in-boomtown\/img_5866.jpg\"\n               data-thumbnail=\"http:\/\/minniebiz.com\/gmcmotorhome\/wp-content\/gallery\/working-on-the-carb-in-boomtown\/thumbs\/thumbs_img_5866.jpg\"\n               data-image-id=\"1273\"\n               data-title=\"Another view\"\n               data-description=\"This is the choke side. That curvy piece of metal has to go back the same way as it started.\"\n               data-image-slug=\"another-view-2\"\n               class=\"shutterset_3f673f730abf34350f66b19ce1ac98dc\">\n                <img\n                    title=\"Another view\"\n                    alt=\"Another view\"\n                    src=\"http:\/\/minniebiz.com\/gmcmotorhome\/wp-content\/gallery\/working-on-the-carb-in-boomtown\/thumbs\/thumbs_img_5866.jpg\"\n                    width=\"100\"\n                    height=\"75\"\n                    style=\"max-width:100%;\"\n                \/>\n            <\/a>\n        <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t\t\n        \n\t\t\t\t<div id=\"ngg-image-3\" class=\"ngg-gallery-thumbnail-box\" >\n\t\t\t\t        <div class=\"ngg-gallery-thumbnail\">\n            <a href=\"http:\/\/minniebiz.com\/gmcmotorhome\/wp-content\/gallery\/working-on-the-carb-in-boomtown\/img_5867.jpg\"\n               title=\"I was operating on this on top of a blanket that I use for crawling around on the ground when I have to. Those are the \\&quot;main metering rods\\&quot; I think.\"\n               data-src=\"http:\/\/minniebiz.com\/gmcmotorhome\/wp-content\/gallery\/working-on-the-carb-in-boomtown\/img_5867.jpg\"\n               data-thumbnail=\"http:\/\/minniebiz.com\/gmcmotorhome\/wp-content\/gallery\/working-on-the-carb-in-boomtown\/thumbs\/thumbs_img_5867.jpg\"\n               data-image-id=\"1274\"\n               data-title=\"Lots of very small and very sensitive parts\"\n               data-description=\"I was operating on this on top of a blanket that I use for crawling around on the ground when I have to. Those are the &quot;main metering rods&quot; I think.\"\n               data-image-slug=\"lots-of-very-small-and-very-sensitive-parts\"\n               class=\"shutterset_3f673f730abf34350f66b19ce1ac98dc\">\n                <img\n                    title=\"Lots of very small and very sensitive parts\"\n                    alt=\"Lots of very small and very sensitive parts\"\n                    src=\"http:\/\/minniebiz.com\/gmcmotorhome\/wp-content\/gallery\/working-on-the-carb-in-boomtown\/thumbs\/thumbs_img_5867.jpg\"\n                    width=\"100\"\n                    height=\"75\"\n                    style=\"max-width:100%;\"\n                \/>\n            <\/a>\n        <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t\t\n        \n\t\t\t\t<div id=\"ngg-image-4\" class=\"ngg-gallery-thumbnail-box\" >\n\t\t\t\t        <div class=\"ngg-gallery-thumbnail\">\n            <a href=\"http:\/\/minniebiz.com\/gmcmotorhome\/wp-content\/gallery\/working-on-the-carb-in-boomtown\/img_5868.jpg\"\n               title=\"There were instructions I was following but the nomenclature was a little obscure if you know what I mean. The top is called the \\&#039;air horn\\&#039; and it is held in place with 9 screws. After the screws are out the bent metal rod has to be maneuvered loose with other things interfering.\"\n               data-src=\"http:\/\/minniebiz.com\/gmcmotorhome\/wp-content\/gallery\/working-on-the-carb-in-boomtown\/img_5868.jpg\"\n               data-thumbnail=\"http:\/\/minniebiz.com\/gmcmotorhome\/wp-content\/gallery\/working-on-the-carb-in-boomtown\/thumbs\/thumbs_img_5868.jpg\"\n               data-image-id=\"1275\"\n               data-title=\"The screws are out and now comes the puzzle\"\n               data-description=\"There were instructions I was following but the nomenclature was a little obscure if you know what I mean. The top is called the &#039;air horn&#039; and it is held in place with 9 screws. After the screws are out the bent metal rod has to be maneuvered loose with other things interfering.\"\n               data-image-slug=\"the-screws-are-out-and-now-comes-the-puzzle\"\n               class=\"shutterset_3f673f730abf34350f66b19ce1ac98dc\">\n                <img\n                    title=\"The screws are out and now comes the puzzle\"\n                    alt=\"The screws are out and now comes the puzzle\"\n                    src=\"http:\/\/minniebiz.com\/gmcmotorhome\/wp-content\/gallery\/working-on-the-carb-in-boomtown\/thumbs\/thumbs_img_5868.jpg\"\n                    width=\"100\"\n                    height=\"75\"\n                    style=\"max-width:100%;\"\n                \/>\n            <\/a>\n        <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t\t\n        \n\t\t\t\t<div id=\"ngg-image-5\" class=\"ngg-gallery-thumbnail-box\" >\n\t\t\t\t        <div class=\"ngg-gallery-thumbnail\">\n            <a href=\"http:\/\/minniebiz.com\/gmcmotorhome\/wp-content\/gallery\/working-on-the-carb-in-boomtown\/img_5870.jpg\"\n               title=\"I used the dining table with a blanket for a work surface - great because stuff does not roll around and is easy to see when you drop it.\"\n               data-src=\"http:\/\/minniebiz.com\/gmcmotorhome\/wp-content\/gallery\/working-on-the-carb-in-boomtown\/img_5870.jpg\"\n               data-thumbnail=\"http:\/\/minniebiz.com\/gmcmotorhome\/wp-content\/gallery\/working-on-the-carb-in-boomtown\/thumbs\/thumbs_img_5870.jpg\"\n               data-image-id=\"1276\"\n               data-title=\"Working intently on my \\&#039;workbench\\&#039;\"\n               data-description=\"I used the dining table with a blanket for a work surface - great because stuff does not roll around and is easy to see when you drop it.\"\n               data-image-slug=\"working-intently-on-my-workbench\"\n               class=\"shutterset_3f673f730abf34350f66b19ce1ac98dc\">\n                <img\n                    title=\"Working intently on my \\&#039;workbench\\&#039;\"\n                    alt=\"Working intently on my \\&#039;workbench\\&#039;\"\n                    src=\"http:\/\/minniebiz.com\/gmcmotorhome\/wp-content\/gallery\/working-on-the-carb-in-boomtown\/thumbs\/thumbs_img_5870.jpg\"\n                    width=\"100\"\n                    height=\"75\"\n                    style=\"max-width:100%;\"\n                \/>\n            <\/a>\n        <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t\t\n        \n\t\t\t\t<div id=\"ngg-image-6\" class=\"ngg-gallery-thumbnail-box\" >\n\t\t\t\t        <div class=\"ngg-gallery-thumbnail\">\n            <a href=\"http:\/\/minniebiz.com\/gmcmotorhome\/wp-content\/gallery\/working-on-the-carb-in-boomtown\/img_5871.jpg\"\n               title=\"I guess you have to preserve the memories so you can remember what happened later (CRS). The sweatband is made from one of our \\&#039;shop\\&#039; towels by Carol.\"\n               data-src=\"http:\/\/minniebiz.com\/gmcmotorhome\/wp-content\/gallery\/working-on-the-carb-in-boomtown\/img_5871.jpg\"\n               data-thumbnail=\"http:\/\/minniebiz.com\/gmcmotorhome\/wp-content\/gallery\/working-on-the-carb-in-boomtown\/thumbs\/thumbs_img_5871.jpg\"\n               data-image-id=\"1277\"\n               data-title=\"The Samurai carburetor technician\"\n               data-description=\"I guess you have to preserve the memories so you can remember what happened later (CRS). The sweatband is made from one of our &#039;shop&#039; towels by Carol.\"\n               data-image-slug=\"the-samurai-carburetor-technician\"\n               class=\"shutterset_3f673f730abf34350f66b19ce1ac98dc\">\n                <img\n                    title=\"The Samurai carburetor technician\"\n                    alt=\"The Samurai carburetor technician\"\n                    src=\"http:\/\/minniebiz.com\/gmcmotorhome\/wp-content\/gallery\/working-on-the-carb-in-boomtown\/thumbs\/thumbs_img_5871.jpg\"\n                    width=\"100\"\n                    height=\"75\"\n                    style=\"max-width:100%;\"\n                \/>\n            <\/a>\n        <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t\t\n        \n\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"ngg-clear\"><\/div>\n\t<\/div>\nI was up and ready to get going on either fixing the carburetor or calling for a replacement. I had the writeup in the maintenance manual to refer to and how hard could it be anyway? I uninstalled the carb and put it on a makeshift workbench &#8211; a blanket on our dining table &#8211; taking lots of photos of everything before I started. I took more photos at each stage of disassembly. You really are supposed to use compressed air to clean out passages but, since I didn&#8217;t have any handy, I used an aerosol can of carburetor cleaner I had with me instead.<\/p>\n<p>It took me less than 2 hours from start to finish including cleanup &#8211; not bad for an old guy. Carol was amazed but I kept telling her that I had the manual so no problem. It was actually pretty interesting. Another skill to add to my on the road repair repertoire.<\/p>\n<p>After I figured out that cleaning out the carburetor actually fixed the problem we headed out on our way to Penn. We made it to Elizabethtown, Kentucky &#8211; about half way across the state the long way. This is my first time in Kentucky &#8211; I&#8217;ll bet that there aren&#8217;t many of the 50 states I have not been to now. Just before we got here we crossed into the Eastern Time Zone.\u00a0 Doing the time change gradually like this makes it a lot easier. Tomorrow we plan to be in West Virginia.<\/p>\n<p><strong>GMC content:<\/strong> When I figured out that the carburetor had a definite problem I called Frank Condos, a quadrajet kind of guy. Frank has given seminars at GMC rallies on quadrajets and I asked him for advice. He told me that taking the &#8216;air horn&#8217; (the entire top) off the carburetor and cleaning out the inside was probably my only choice besides ordering a rebuilt. He told me that the maintenance manual &#8211; I have a copy on my computer &#8211; has instructions.<\/p>\n<p>The maintenance manual instructions assume a lot of knowledge of terminology but at least but they are not hard to follow if you can read between the lines. I arranged my camera, my computer, and the carburetor and in no time I had it apart, cleaned it, and reassembled. I only had to refer to my photos twice. I reinstalled it and it started right up and ran great.<\/p>\n<p>My biggest problem yesterday was that I was chasing what I thought was a vacuum problem but that turned out to be a symptom rather than the cause. The engine not running well can be fuel or ignition related and it is very difficult to tell the problems apart &#8211; the symptoms are the same most times.<\/p>\n<p class=\"facebook\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/share.php?u=http:\/\/minniebiz.com\/gmcmotorhome\/2012\/08\/05\/up-early-and-learning-new-stuff\/\" target=\"_blank\"><img src=\"http:\/\/minniebiz.com\/gmcmotorhome\/wp-content\/plugins\/add-to-facebook-plugin\/facebook_share_icon.gif\" alt=\"Share on Facebook\" title=\"Share on Facebook\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/share.php?u=http:\/\/minniebiz.com\/gmcmotorhome\/2012\/08\/05\/up-early-and-learning-new-stuff\/\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Share on Facebook\">Share on Facebook<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I was up and ready to get going on either fixing the carburetor or calling for a replacement. I had the writeup in the maintenance manual to refer to and how hard could it be anyway? I uninstalled the carb and put it on a makeshift workbench &#8211; a blanket on our dining table &#8211; [&hellip;]<\/p>\n<p class=\"facebook\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/share.php?u=http:\/\/minniebiz.com\/gmcmotorhome\/2012\/08\/05\/up-early-and-learning-new-stuff\/\" target=\"_blank\"><img src=\"http:\/\/minniebiz.com\/gmcmotorhome\/wp-content\/plugins\/add-to-facebook-plugin\/facebook_share_icon.gif\" alt=\"Share on Facebook\" title=\"Share on Facebook\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/share.php?u=http:\/\/minniebiz.com\/gmcmotorhome\/2012\/08\/05\/up-early-and-learning-new-stuff\/\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Share on Facebook\">Share on Facebook<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"armand","author_link":"http:\/\/minniebiz.com\/gmcmotorhome\/author\/armand\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/minniebiz.com\/gmcmotorhome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1540"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/minniebiz.com\/gmcmotorhome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/minniebiz.com\/gmcmotorhome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/minniebiz.com\/gmcmotorhome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/minniebiz.com\/gmcmotorhome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1540"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/minniebiz.com\/gmcmotorhome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1540\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1545,"href":"http:\/\/minniebiz.com\/gmcmotorhome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1540\/revisions\/1545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/minniebiz.com\/gmcmotorhome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/minniebiz.com\/gmcmotorhome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/minniebiz.com\/gmcmotorhome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}