A plane requires air flow over the wings to generate lift. Visit a small airport during a storm and if a small Cessna isn’t tied down you’ll see them float. Speed under the wheels has nothing to do with lift.
Lift is generated from air flow against the lower surface of the aircraft wings. The airflow over AND under the wings creates a vortex which is controlled by flaps. This gives you altitude control. Stick your hand out the window of your car, like most people do as a kid. Keep your palm flat, and you can roughly feel the forces against you hand.
Exactly, the plane needs to "ride" on air. No moving air, no lift. It's speed of air across the wings, not speed in relation to the ground that creates lift.
A mechanic with a sense of humor and who possesses a conscience doesn't need therapy, he deserves a medal! Your humor in the face of tedium while persistently overcoming adversity is effective self-therapy. Don't change a thing Ray, just be YOU.
It's not tedium to repair things, it's the joy of seeing it work again. You should love your job . I don't repair cars but get great satisfaction in seeing something broken become useful again. The harder something is to fix the greater the satisfaction.
I had the steering rack on my 2006 Tundra replaced by a shop I like and trust. 6 months later I was underneath changing the oil and filter and found the mechanic's Snap-On magnetic rechargeable flashlight still stuck to the frame. This is after 5000 miles of driving, hunting, camping etc. I returned it and he was pretty happy. These tools mean a lot to these guys.
You’re a good person! I would’ve done the same. My conscience bothers me, even if I forget to pay for a stick of Chapstick at the store. I’ll go right back and pay for it.
I have been going through a bad divorce and started watching you about 6 months ago(about the time when things went crap) Needless to say watching your videos has helped me get through some long nights and have proved to be a great distraction. Your videos are great and thank you.
Been there, done that. Just remember there are more fish in the sea, and you will meet someone new someday and don't whatever you do think all women are the same, or It's going to be a lonely life ahead. Just when ready, get back on that bike! .life just throws you these curveballs, just make sure you don't get hit in the balls!
I find watching you is therapeutic. You're the Bob Ross of auto mechanics. Watching you do some of those difficult maneuvers without 'loosing tools' or cool brings wave of calmness to my otherwise chaotic day.
@@brettm3851 I support this coment lol. Every day. Gotta have me some Ray. =p It's almost like coffee. I work on computers and not cars, I find it fascinating.
Must admit I get the Ray hit too! it’s therapeutic watching Ray (with his classic funny comments) solve ever problem encountered by a mechanic with such gusto. and at the same time I learn how they typically “go together” & to some extent “how they work”. last nite fell asleep half way through watching it, but when i came back to it in daylight, it was clear with usual “flow”. I had to watch to end.
Ray, my trade is Marine mechanics and I do all my own automobile work. Having said that, I’m impressed that your troubleshooting technique is dead on and your mastery of your tools is impressive as well. Folks, what you are seeing here is a top tier automotive technician!!! I truly enjoy watching you work !!!
@repentandbelieveinJesusChrist1 that's what the pimp Rufus said also ....but he was talking about himsel ... and the army says ..yours is not to wonder why ..yours is just to do or die funny how that works ain't it? Or ..is it ? Maybe just call Saul.........Saul good man ...
I think he’s a therapist’s nightmare. Someone who is as mad as the rest of the world who enjoys life. They hate that. Take a cat to the movies every once in a while.
Being here in the northern part of West Virginia, I can't express enough how jealous I am of the way your bolts can be removed without the use of a glow wrench. It's not as bad here as further north, but I'm amazed at the lack of corrosion on your Floridian fasteners. It almost makes up for the mosquitoes...
@roy dunn You could also use 'Fuel Lube' on the bolt threads, without any heat needed. Fuel Lube is a wax based sealant/lubricant used in aircraft fuels systems. Very sticky and does not wash off with water or solvents.
This Nissan waz unusually rust free for Florida. The salty air is extremely corrosive for entire unit. The beach driven stuff is rusted like stuff north of Mason Dixon line. Here in CenTex I'd advise folks to trade off their rust for local stuff . Be Money ahead in the long run.
i am a pilot but common sense should be sufficient to figure that out however i became seriously concerned of our future when i had someone who knew i fly as well as being a total nerd argued to my face that the aircraft would fly if sufficient wheelspeed was achieved. Facinating.
@mcatech05 - Even worse, I’ve had a CEO of a VERY big company ask me just as we became airborne in a glider if we have any control over these things. Another was when flying a group from MENSA (IQ in excess of 120 reqd. to join) again in a glider, one member asked what would happen if the wind stopped. I looked out and said that the wind had stopped. This did not compute. The rest of the flight his massive IQ could not work out how and why we were still alive because being so clever, he had to be correct.
@@61rampy65 lol we hit -20 degrees a few days ago, with the wind chill it was -40. Was driving with the window down yesterday because it was a beautiful day in the mid 30s. 50 degrees today felt hot lol
@@catfishbilly7425 damn! I had -11 wind chill the other day and I still walked outside barefoot to get the local propaganda rag! Even do it in the snow!
@@catfishbilly7425 In the winter when it's 35* or warmer (I guess any season for that matter) I have the windows at least cracked if not all the way down as well.
I agree with the found tool rule. One exception I had is that anyone I was responsible for, if I found their tools I would put them into a cardboard box and wait until they went looking for them. Trying to teach the apprentices to keep track of their kit.
Bobby's idea is the best, use the lost tool to teach those who depend on tools to not lose them. You don't need anybody else's tools, so put them on the front seat if nothing else...
I did same with a couple of guys i worked with. Id hide the tool about a week and make them borrow from each other. They stopp3d loosing tools after a while
Keeping tools from a vehicle is no different from keeping things that are inside the vehicle. Theft. Put the tools in the vehicle and send it on its way.
Ray I think going out on your own was the right move. I have learned soooo much from you it's no even funny! You have great channel with great content! And I believe you are more confident and relaxed without having to look over your shoulder all the time. Keep it up buddy!
I cannot believe that NONE of those bolts broke! Love these videos, keep up the good work, and keep growing your business. The naysayers know not of what they speak.
Honestly even in the rust belt (Canada) these frontiers aren't too bad. Typically the nuts end up as a different size but making the nuts glow in the dark & hitting them with a twist socket they zip off no problems
@@JJ_ExMachina Id turn an ungodly amount of hours working in Florida.. Jealous of you guys down there! Only area I'd run into trouble is remembering to use loctite ... Pretty much any fastener you'd typically use it on where you are, we use anti-seize lol
@@Drew-wf7vw Well to be fair, a lot of modern made vehicles are much more resilient at rusting than even things made 20 years ago... Manufactures are putting a lot more thought behind treating surfaces to prevent rust.
While attending a coworkers funeral, I said my condolences to his son. He said so you’re the guy, my dad stole all those tools with your name on. I asked if he was going to give them back. He said, NO. They’re still good. The apple didn’t fall far from the tree.
What a couple of lowlifes. That is just rude. My condolences for *your* loss/theft. Do you have any friendly cop acquaintances that would visit the son so you could identify and recover your stolen tools?
I have a friend whose father had a contracting business. The son saw an add for a garage sale that included some very specific tools of his trade. Turns out the widow had a garage full of tools with the contractor's name on them He took the stuff back to his shop. Hard to tell a widow "your husband was a thief"
Always love your videos, Ray. There must be a special kind of joy listening to your offspring playing in the background while you toil to provide for them. It should remind you of the “why” when answering why do I get up every morning, take risks, bang myself up leaving my blood and skin on other people’s possessions, and put up with whatever it is that annoys me. Family is everything.
I love your kiddo's "what you doin?" in the shop. My 2yo does the same thing with similar inflection. Love it. Keep bringing the kiddos to work, Ray. Whether you know it or not, you're building life-long memories for them.
Mythbusters did an episode on the airplane conveyor belt debate so there is video proof that land speed has no effect on whether or not planes fly. It's all about the air speed over the wings to generate lift. That's also why smaller aircraft need to be tethered to the ground when they're parked outside to prevent wind gusts from throwing them into the air.
Of course, for flying, the wheels on airplanes are like lipstick on a pig, they are just there, and actually they are on the way; they are not connected to anything except the struts, brakes and tilting hydraulics.
My mom’s car car came back from the shop with a terrible rattle. She took it back and they said it was just a heat shield. I took a look and found a lovely 1/2” drive Snap-on ratchet in the engine bay. It’s mine now 😂😂
Datsun originated in Japan as DAT-GO (the DAT-car) almost a century ago in 1914. The word DAT means 'lightning-fast' in Japanese but is also a reference to the first letters of family names of the three financiers who supported the business at the time: Den, Aoyama and Takeuchi.
Ray, we had static Temps here in Montana of -25 and wind chill of -50. Of course we always have customers that want or need a battery replaced out in the parking lot. Not a big deal as its too cold to be stranded with a dead vehicle. Most people up here are very appreciative that we will help them
I'd offer the tools to the customer. This does a few things. First, it makes the customer feel like you're honest, especially if they are the ones that left them there. Second, it gives them the chance to decide if they want to return it to the previous mechanic, as they know where/who worked on it. Third, it shows a level of competence that you found that and that the previous guy was a bit careless.
If you let your rechargeable lithium based batteries get too low, gotta dig out a cheap adjustable power supply, give em a little bit of power until their voltages start to rise up a volt or couple, then stuff it in the charger. Typically a pack that doesn't want to charge is either too cold or discharged too low and the internal BMS has attempted to disable rapid charging function but will allow a little trickle action (do not leave unattended while attempting this!)
You could set the charger and battery on bare concrete. Just in case. I suspect this would work. They failed to test the battery management system properly for edge cases.
Those missing rear gaskets may have been found between the cardboard that says "Contains parts, don't throw away". Don't know bus sometimes they do that so shim gaskets wont get bent or damaged.
You do not need to be crazy to be a mechanic but it sure does help. An aircraft's propulsion is provided by the thrust created by the propeller or the jet turbine, not the wheels, the wheels freewheel. As long as the wheels do not come off it does not matter how fast the conveyor belt moves, a jet with the engines running can take off anyway.
They tested this on Myth Busters. An aircrafts ability to takeoff is not dependent on it's wheels but on the thrust of it's engines and the lift generated by it's wings. Interesting episode though just like all of Rainman Ray videos.
I remember that episode. The prop provided enough airflow past the wings to provide lift. That would not be the case with a commercial jet though, as the engines draw air from the front of the wings and discharge it behind the wings.
@@GrayRaceCat regardless of the speed of the conveyor belt the aircraft will move forward. Unless the conveyor belt has infinite speed it will top out and the plane will then move forward and create its own airspeed. This will then allow it to lift. This will be true whether the propulsion is propeller (as tested) or turbofan (such as a 747 has).
Ridgid is made by the same company that makes Milwaukee, (TTI) they just market them to consumers, but in many cases, Ridgid has actually beaten their competition. The Ridgid high torque Octane impact wrenches actually beat all competition in its class for a short time and then they discontinued that line because their big brother, Milwaukee probably got jealous. BTW, if you have the correct power source, a buck/boost converter or a bench power supply, you can bring those batteries back to life, but you have to know how to do it so bad things don't happen. I've brought back many batteries from the dead. If they are defective, it obviously won't work though. Anyway, anyone who says Ridgid is crap is full of it! *Edit:* Ridgid power tools have a lifetime warranty if you register them correctly.
Love the way you snuck in "end of datsun" just before you left us, very sneaky Ray!!!!! LOL. I'm guessing the younger guys won't know what you are talking about!!!
You need to jump the under charge batteries with a charged one. Transfer some charge to them.. enough for the charger to detect a charge. You can find TH-cam vids on this.
Don't hold me to this, but I think if you unplug the charger and put the battery in and plug and unplug the charger quickly a few times, it might work.
Dude, some of my best memories are of my Dad's electronics repair shop in the eighties. I learned all kinds of cool stuff and got my hands dirty. Something I passed on to my kids.
Your battery charger: You need to bang some electrons in it, to get it to a realistic voltage for the proper one to 'see' it. Anything will do, say 0.5A-1.0A at a bit higher than the max of the pack ) if 18V, then just over 20V would be fine. Take the pack off that booster, measure the voltage. If over the minimum for the pack, you should be good to go. It's all down to the BMS in the pack. It'll cut the pack out if over or under voltage. A bit more if you want... each cell (if LiPo) can go below 2.5V ish & the BMS will probably call it dead. If you can get each cell around 3V, it'll kick in. An 18V pack has a nominal voltage of around 18.5V, but if it drops below 12.5V, it'll probably be called dead by the BMS. I frequently use a 12V lead acid setting if my pack is less than 12v... it does lose a bit of capacity if left below minimum, but hey. It's an older pack. All lithium batteries should be left around their nominal voltage, which is around 50% ish. They'll last for a long time if stored like that. Plenty of videos here on Y/T covering the subject. Great content, mate, glad you're punching forward. 👍
Hey Ray you are doing whatever a good mechanic would do looking over and seeing if there any other problems just in case the customer don't know about it
Yeah but most of the time its a waste of effort. Unfortunately, cant tell you the number of times I've found something really wrong and been yelled at for trying to upsell the owner.
Nope I’m talking about safety checks, those multipoint inspections are bs and waste everyone’s time. Stealerships are a joke. I’m talking about broken ball joints and wheel bearings and I’ve even found a few cracked brake calipers and tons of metal to metal breaks which were not upsells. Could care less about belts and air filters. You would be surprised what people call up sells.
Tony hear from Bud's Mufflers in Los Angeles California sometimes the honeycomb-shaped inverter element gets stuck in the exhaust didn't see if you vacuum that out sometimes it'll get stuck in hinder the exhaust flow in the muffler and sometimes it crumbles and just comes out the exhaust if you're lucky
Sometimes with tool batteries, if you put them in the charger and flick the charger on and off a couple times it will trick the battery into charging again.
Some batteries need a minimal charge to operate the control circuitry, without it they cutout, however for a small time before it cuts out they apply voltage to the cell or cells. Multiple attempts can get that battery back above minimum. If it’s not charging this is worth trying.
I've started keeping all my power tool batteries and chargers in the house instead of my unheated workroom. Them batterias don't like the chilly. It's routinely below freezing where I live.
Ray, another great video as always. While you were experiencing a balmy 37°, up here in central Ohio we had a high of -4. Also up here those O2 sensors would not have come off without an abundance of violence.
god i remember changing the downstream o2 sensor on my honda. damn thing was in there good. literally broke the darn thing up in there. had to take it to a shop and they used a torch and still fought with it.
You're a lot luckier than I am on bolts breaking loose, I've never took an exhaust apart that easy and simple, never in my life, and yeap I used lube too !
Hi Ray You noted that the rechargeable batteries sometimes don't work after being discharged too low, then over the weekend they might be recovering enough voltage to kickstart the onboard circuitry. It's been noted that the circuit board of "some brands" of batteries disconnect the charge/discharge terminal if the cells go below a certain voltage. Somewhere on the web I have seen people open them and give the cells a bootstrap to kickstart the circuit to reconnect the terminal, so maybe don't throw out any failed batteries. Hope this helps if not noted by anyone already.
The shop next door does primarily body work and older car restoration projects and has a ready stream of work for Ray. It looks like they are going through this truck part by part. Someone deleted all 4 cats and now the new owner replaced them. The engine had already been replaced. It will be good for the relationship between the shops to diagnose the misfire and give them the option of DIY. I suspect that the business next door owns the building as well. Leaving out those details is good business for the film producer (Ray) as it creates a level of uncertainty without cluttering the dialog.
They seem more like auction cars destined for the used car lot if I had to guess but work is work. And Ray is not taking regular requests from individuals for service at this time for some reason. A few local maintenance jobs that I have referred to Ray (via his email address) have gone unanswered. Not sure he ever plans on working on locals' individual vehicles. (I don't blame him) Unless or until he hires some help and that's a whole different game with workers comp insurance and all the bull that accompanies finding reliable employees in the area his shop is located.
Ray, just a footnote to your comment about better quality fuel to improve emissions. My wife's 2010 Camry failed emissions test on yearly safety inspection (car does not burn oil), so I came back a week later for retest, after filling it up with high test gasoline and it passed with flying colors. Fill up your tank with high test gasoline before inspection folks. PS: Back in the day when they let you in auto junk yards to find your own parts, I always left with more tools than I came with....LOL
They STILL let you into auto junkyards aka Pick a part. And what are these inspection you speak of? We have no such thing down South here (must be a Yankee). And I prefer used cooking oil to run my big wheels.
@@mod_incllc3235 Florida does have on the books safety rules that require repairs be made if defects are discovered at a traffic stop. You are right no state inspections, but if your vehicle is determined to be unsafe they can make you fix it by issuing a citation on the defects
Ray about your batteries not wanting to charge when they are low…. If you take a 9v battery and jump some wires ( or use a 9v battery wire clip ) and briefly touch the terminals on your ailing battery pack … it will charge it up enough to accept a normal charge from your charger. This is a TH-cam trick I have seen and used… it does work.
The best part of this video is the diagnostic effort at the end. I like the way you verified the bad boot, and carbon on the boot showed it wasn't just artefact from pulling the coil out to make a huge gap. Is it possible to just replace the boot and a plug, rather than the whole coil? Or are boots by themselves nearly impossible to come by?
Man between you and Scotty y'all are all I watch on TH-cam. Honestly, I've learned so much from you. I even work on my own cars now because of y'all. When they say TH-cam university they mean you guys. Thank you for doing what you're doing. Love you man!!!
we have the same scanner in our shop (UK) there's a 'userdata' folder that I clean up every couple of months as it seems to affect the speed of the tool sometimes, you need to be careful of which files to move out of the folder since they are system files
@@Delekham no, more like deleting the stuff you dont need. which is like throwing bricks out of your trunk. full storage slows computers down way more than you think, and id bet that didnt come with much. defrag is more of a reorganization, it's purpose isnt to delete it just shuffles the files around so they're in physically different places on the drive. solid state drives cant be defragged because they have that built into their firmware
@@bradhaines3142 Yes! That I understand! I was using it a "layman's" way to understand it! Too bad you never picked up on that :( Most people DON'T understand what a "Defrag" is! Most people just hit "Clean it"! As the OP said..."you need to be careful of which files to move out of the folder since they are system files." So you are right and wrong at the same time!. That tool is a Computer? YES? NO? If it is, then a "Defrag" would be helpful, since it is NOT searching the HDD as much...hence SLOWING IT DOOOOWWWWNNN! YES, NO, MAYBE SO? I do know that SSD's can not be "Defragged" I Will bet Dollars to Donuts that in the Future it will happen! :) The "Cleaning UP" of said Computer is needed though! Two or Three years of "cookies/vehicles" will slow down ANY computer!
@@Delekham yes, it is a computer. I'd very surprised if it had a spinning disk ... that would make it not very rugged. It probably has some eMMC for storage and operating system.
That battery issue used to happen with my old Ryobi 12V system. I'd have to connect a newer battery to the old batteries with a couple of jumper wires. I'd hold them on there for about 5 seconds and it would give the old batteries enough life to take a charge.
Great video. BTW, regarding the battery issues. When batteries like those start wearing (shorting cells) the can start to overheat internally which increases resistance and can trigger a "bad battery" behavior / indicator. It's not uncommon to cool them down and have then accept a charge. Whenever you charge any battery, best to let them cool down first and then charge them. Remember those Batt cells heat up when being used and heat up again when working to accept a charge. Best to have a few extra batteries and let them sit (especially as they get older) maybe 15 - 30 min and then charge. Also, you can revive some old batteries by placing them in the freezer for several hours (sometimes over night) and then try to charge them. Some Batts will work better than others with this method.
I have a feeling the customer is not going to be happy about spending that much on Cat's to find out they still have the same problem they were trying to resolve. I wonder if the other shop even took a look at the coils....Another Great Video Ray!
@@bjkjoseph I didn't say the cats didn't need to be replaced, I'm talking about the customer that thinks this is why it was misfiring or the other shop that thinks this was causing the misfiring....." it was in the comment"
@@PatricksDIY you’re probably right he probably will be pissed off, even if things are explained, and he is showing proof that it needs to be repaired, you’re right though there’s a lot of people like that
"Lube on your pants in the winter", for me, that's what makes Ray soooo loveable and of course RAY!🤣🤣🤣 These are just the kinda quips that makes your channel so easy to watch, especially when you're not the mechanic type, like me! Ya drop things, grunt, and get frustrated, which gives me pause when I'm about to SCREAM at my quad ( the pros work on my real vehicles 😁). Thanks Ray, owning a newer Frontier, I found the latter part of the video most educational. 👍👍 Bob from Nevada (where 41 was the high today😲).
Hey Ray, Congrats again!!! You made the best move, being your own boss and doing things right and honest is harder work, but definitely more gratifying. On this video, the only thing, being you were replacing “All the Cats” they should of used your time wisely and replaced the O2 sensors while you had easy access. It was probably due to $$ because I always recommend OEM O2’s, but it would of eliminated future issues in the exhaust portion (at least) than having to do them in the future. May you continue with your good fortune and you give honest mechanics a good name, and show people the crap we have to go through a lot of the times due to these car designers/engineers when the shove 2lbs of bologna in a 1 lb bag……. Take care.
Due to living in the rust belt I couldn't believe how easy it was to "unclick" the fasteners! Rust literally destroys the vehicles in my neck of the woods
As a Nissan Technician in the rust belt (Canada) I enjoyed watching this lol .. The "That better not be factory" cracked me up - but yes, that's factory - for whatever reason most Nissans have one or two studs that don't face the same way as all the other fasteners. It's a good time! Also this truck wouldn't even register as rusted here.. pretty typical after the first winter! I was very jealous watching you break the 02 sensors free with an open end wrench and your foot - the vehicle would have to be pretty new here to even consider not chucking the cat in the vice and pulling out the bigger tools
Penetrating oil can make a huge difference! I use it a lot. For best results, spray, leave a bit, tap it gently with a hammer, spray it again, wait a bit longer, tap again and then remove. In extreme circumstances you will need to leave it overnight and possibly use heat.
Wrong. The conveyor belt makes no difference. Mythbusters proved it with both a small RC plane and a real plane. Planes do not drive themselves forward with their wheels.
@@jeremygarwood Yep, I've been trying to tell people this for years. Plane wheels just spin freely, the plane really does not care. You'll notice in the video that not only does the plane take off, the pilot said he couldn't feel any difference.
Your videos really are therapy. I usually watch them to wind down from a day of dealing with people. I am amazed that you work on cars without full use of the 4 letter word dictionary. It is very rare to get through fixing vehicles in the rusty midwest without dropping some f-bombs at the very least. The jet on the treadmill would be irrelevant as it is jet engine powered which pushes the air, not ground. The air is not moved by the conveyor belt so the engines would produce just as much thrust and actually overpower the conveyor belt. The jet would take off. The wheels may or may not hold up to the increased speed they would be spinning due to the conveyor.
You’re 100% right about the fuel. What you get at the pumps now is trash compared to race fuel or pump fuel from many years ago. In the northern “ cold “ states from November to April it gets even worse with oxygen infused gas. Causes about a 10% reduction in power and MPG.
I have had those kind of issues as well with batteries. And what it is is the batteries get too low and the charger just doesn't like to do it. If you have a battery that's doing that look up how to jump them. You basically take a known battery that's good and has a full charge and you jump it like a car positive positive negative to negative for a couple minutes and it gives juice to that bad battery and then when you throw it on the charger it will more than likely take the charge. I have hart tools because I'm a truck driver and I don't want expensive as power tools that could end up getting broken just rattling around in my truck. I bought a bunch of "dead" 2 amp hour and 4 amp hour batteries of theirs and out of the 10 batteries only one kept failing. The rest after they failed the initial time once I jump them they charged right the hell up. Saves you buttload of money. And the worst that can happen is you try it the battery doesn't work and it's dead dead.
Nice video - don't think I have seen a cat replacement one before. Seems simple - when you know what you are doing :) Hopefully the coil pack replacement work gets the go ahead... I know everyone is stretched financially these days, but I can't help but feel letting that situation get worse will cost more in the long term.
As a pilot, i can answer that airplane on a treadmill question... the wheel speed has nothing to do with air speed, the airplane will still be able to take off since its Not the wheels that propell the craft, its the jet engines/propellers, those two use the air as "traction" to accelerate to lift off speed, so it doesn't matter at which speed the wheels are going.
The wheels are there to help the plane move on the ground, for the plane to lift off it needs forward momentum from the engines and lift from the the wings, if the aircrafts engines are on i.e idle rather than thrust. The plane would take off from the treadmill as it would have speed and lift but only for a second or two, without forward thrust from the engines to propell it forward.
Ray, that happens when a converter is at operating temperature and then the vehicle is driven into water rocker panel deep. The thermal shock causes the honeycomb inside to fracture. The exhaust flow will then blow it out of the tailpipe
Watching this having seen South Main, doing an exhaust, the difference is amazing. Ray didn't have any stuck hardware, Mr O favourite tool is a gas axe! I can't be rusted on if it's molten!!!
Hi Ray! As a non USian not living in the US I can tell you that ramblings about the quality of US fuel are for the most part people who don't realize that the octane number stated in the pumps in the US is measured differently from Europe and most of the rest of the world. Europe/most of the rest of the world measures using RON (the older standard, using a completely unloaded reference engine), US averages the RON and MON numbers (MON is the newer standard which uses a slightly more realistic reference engine with some accessories like a 'nator), with minimum admissible RON and MON for each grade. US Regular/87 octane is somewhere between 91 and 93 RON, US 91 is ~95 RON, US 93/Premium is >=~97 RON (equivalent to Premium in Europe). The standard ethanol content in the US (~15% typical as of the war in Ukraine) does mean each gallon of fuel has less energy than a gallon of fuel with no alcohol, but the difference is not that big. The one thing I personally find appalling about US fuel (besides Mountain Fuel, although I can't comment too much as there are very few pumps above ~3500 meters a.s.l. in my country) is that Regular fuel isn't required by law to have an additive/cleaning pack (it won't save you from all the emissions equipment in cars, but it should make it last longer). (Yes, more minimum octanes allows more compression which is more efficient, but no country can throw the first stone in this regard)
Hey Ray! What you are experiencing with your Duramax is normal for cold weather starts. I live in Michigan and my Duramax does this too. The alternator is controlled by the ecu and will not trigger after a high draw event. On cold days, turn the key to the "on" position and wait about 10 seconds. This let's the glow plugs warm, then staring z engine. After the two batteries equalize, usually a couple of minutes, the alternator will turn on.
Fun Fact: The eye is the fastest healing part of our bodies. Did someone take out the cores before installation just to get more cash? What should those converters look like on the inside? I'm good with the lost and found unless the customer owns it.
Happy New year to you and your family, I hope that 2023 will bring joy and happiness. Don't work so hard that you wife forgets who you are !! Most of all hug your wife and kids every day. Good luck with the business I'm sure you will go from strength to strength.
I clicked on this not noticing it was 6 months old and wondering why Ray was talking about cold! Boy oh boy, with 95 degree temps I will gladly take that cold again!
I know you just getting your buisness up and running, but I hope you have a second person such as a apprentice just to be around you for safety issues just in case any accidents could happen or a mechanical fail happens and possibly injury to you might occur.... mind you we all love and care for you and wish you much success!! local high schools have techinical classes that could assists yiour needs.
I think his wife unit fills that purpose...lol. But that said tech schools would love to provide students I think, but in my day we brought our own vehicles to work on at the schools to get hands on experience and even got donated cars that we repaired and sold to needy families at a very good price. Often cars were provided by the salvation army & thrift shops that they got as a donation. Sometimes they got a vehicle that was undergoing a complete restoration those were a lot of fun, often they had to work with a tech school machine shop to make parts for those when none were available or adapt others to fit
Most likely, the converters weren't emptied out by anyone. The internals have a habit of disintegrating and blowing out the tail pipe. It's not that uncommon.
For those "failing" batteries, it's because the lithium pack in them has dropped below the threshold to be charged. Doesn't mean the batteries are dead, but as a precaution the MFG has to make sure a bad battery won't explode on the charger. Take your bench power supply and set the voltage to the pack voltage and limit the current to half an amp and just let it charge for 10-20 minutes. This will put enough juice in them for the charger to see a voltage higher than the lower threshold and all your packs are good to go.
@randy beard Eric O always simply states the "panther pee doesn't do anything". As you note, if it does anything at all, it takes much too long to be useful in a profitable shop.
The plane on the conveyor belt thingy is very interesting from the human behaviour point of view: the description describes something physically impossible (the conveyor mechanism has a feedback loop that makes the description non-sensical), and people "patch" its behaviour in their brain by ignoring the words and using their imagination instead - in two different ways. In my humble opinion, there's no point talking about planes at all if that conveyor action does not add up - and that should be the answer. [edit] everyone who talks about planes and lift missed the point I am trying to make.
The airflow from the engine pushes the plane forward just like if you where pushing it from behind, what happens with the wheels doesn't really matter. The conveyor belt cannot prevent the plane from going forward.
@@MeepChangeling mythbusters allowed the plane to move, which violates the description of the conveyor behaviour: the conveyor belt is supposed to match the speed of wheels. Since speed of wheels is speed of conveyor plus speed of plane, if plane moves the description is violated. The rule is "A is governed by equation A = A+B for any B". At the other hand, nothing prevents the plane from moving (B > 0), so of course it will take off. The conveyor cannot stop this. It is the description (A=A+B) which is is nonsense.
Hey Ray, mythbusters actually did the airplane on a convyerbelt myth years ago. thats where I'd first heard of it. they took a super long tarp and pulled it with a truck as a small plane on it tried to take off in the other direction. it took off in the exact same distance as it normally did (it could take off at like 60mph so thats what the truck was pulling the tarp at) its a cool watch since they started small with an RC plane on a treadmill, then went to full sized planes!
I was just thinking about this, the plane doesn't care about the treadmill/tarp because it doesn't have any power to the wheels so they can spin as fast as they want
Happy new year Ray, weird to see you in a long sleeve sweat shirt and long pants, probably a once a decade event for you guys! On the tools in the wild, I worked for a tow truck company in Lake Tahoe in the early 1970s that also had a vehicle junkyard. I still today use some of the tools that I found in the junk cars that we scrapped back then.
Ray excellent video I really do appreciate it but I have an announcement for you Ray and all the people that view this channel my wife and my kids got me a gift on Christmas and it’s nothing I ever expected in my life . I’ve personally have never ever ever owned one but I have now in my hands a ( D 8 X TOOL ) car diagnostic computer I am so excited I’m thrilled you have no idea, according to some of the techs here on TH-cam they have used it and compared it and a lot of technicians here on TH-cam are saying it’s a whole lot better than the snap on diagnostic equipment they have ever work with and simple to use and the fastest in react time. I just wanted to say that now that I’m a lot older I finally got a toy that I’ve always wanted. God bless you my brothers and sisters please take care of yourself your family and friends and a happy new year I hope everyone had a beautiful Christmas and I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s video thank you so very much everyone. ✝️✝️✝️🇺🇸
Sorry to hear about your 34' , to me here in Montana that's nice, we just had -31', not counting the wind chill. Now that's frigid cold. Have a great day ray.
The last time I visited Miami in the winter the temperature was 50 degrees. Our native friends were wearing coats and my buddy and I were in the pool!!! We had come from 20 degrees in NYC.
At 21:32, when you're trying to get that nut to turn, if you push on the wrench counterclockwise until it is firmly tense by, let's say, 15/25 pounds, hold that with one hand while taking a medium hammer with the other and firmly tapping several times on the wrench three or four inches away from the nut, it significantly mimics an impact wrench and will break past the rust/torque bind. It also helps prevent the bolt (which may be heat/rust compromised) from breaking because of the extreme torque that may otherwise be applied while simply torquing it with muscle.
👏👏👏👏. Ray what you’re doing is your Therapy. Don’t change a thing. Ray you were talking about quality of gasoline, if they made good quality of gasoline, then there wouldn’t be anyone making a fortune on the anti-pollution devices. I believe that politicians / EPA are the number one cause of our pollution problems. I glad that we live in a area where we don’t have sniffers sniffing our vehicle exhaust. Ray I bet that your viewers up North are saying that you don’t know what Cold is🙂. Keep’m coming, God Bless
I built a seawall for the vice president of rigid about 15 years ago really nice guy gave myself and co-worker each $500 rigid tool expense cards I still have all of my rigid tools and they still work 4 of the 8 batteries are original as well Rigid gets an A+ from me
A plane requires air flow over the wings to generate lift. Visit a small airport during a storm and if a small Cessna isn’t tied down you’ll see them float. Speed under the wheels has nothing to do with lift.
This! 👍🏼 it’s about airspeed, not groundspeed.
Yep might have double the wheels rpm but still the same airspeed
100% correct 👍
Lift is generated from air flow against the lower surface of the aircraft wings. The airflow over AND under the wings creates a vortex which is controlled by flaps. This gives you altitude control. Stick your hand out the window of your car, like most people do as a kid. Keep your palm flat, and you can roughly feel the forces against you hand.
Exactly, the plane needs to "ride" on air. No moving air, no lift. It's speed of air across the wings, not speed in relation to the ground that creates lift.
A mechanic with a sense of humor and who possesses a conscience doesn't need therapy, he deserves a medal! Your humor in the face of tedium while persistently overcoming adversity is effective self-therapy. Don't change a thing Ray, just be YOU.
Exactly! Well said!
Nailed it
His work is his therapy. The humour and conscience are wonderful bonuses.
The guy is stealing tools. What "conscience" do you think he is displaying here?
It's not tedium to repair things, it's the joy of seeing it work again. You should love your job . I don't repair cars but get great satisfaction in seeing something broken become useful again. The harder something is to fix the greater the satisfaction.
I had the steering rack on my 2006 Tundra replaced by a shop I like and trust. 6 months later I was underneath changing the oil and filter and found the mechanic's Snap-On magnetic rechargeable flashlight still stuck to the frame. This is after 5000 miles of driving, hunting, camping etc. I returned it and he was pretty happy. These tools mean a lot to these guys.
You’re a good person! I would’ve done the same. My conscience bothers me, even if I forget to pay for a stick of Chapstick at the store. I’ll go right back and pay for it.
Was it still illuminated?
was it still charged?
Was it Ray's?
@Repent and believe in Jesus Christ next time your car brakes down, try that instead of a garage.
I have been going through a bad divorce and started watching you about 6 months ago(about the time when things went crap) Needless to say watching your videos has helped me get through some long nights and have proved to be a great distraction. Your videos are great and thank you.
Hang in there Bob, It gets easier everyday. Stay positive and don't let things you can't control change you!
@@dcruz5157 Thank you!
@@jamesl9686 Thank you!
Been there, done that. Just remember there are more fish in the sea, and you will meet someone new someday and don't whatever you do think all women are the same, or It's going to be a lonely life ahead. Just when ready, get back on that bike! .life just throws you these curveballs, just make sure you don't get hit in the balls!
Just get a silicone love doll from japan... after your done you dont have to talk to it
I find watching you is therapeutic. You're the Bob Ross of auto mechanics. Watching you do some of those difficult maneuvers without 'loosing tools' or cool brings wave of calmness to my otherwise chaotic day.
Bob Ross of auto mechanics is perfect LOL
@@brettm3851 I support this coment lol. Every day. Gotta have me some Ray. =p It's almost like coffee. I work on computers and not cars, I find it fascinating.
I've considered VGG a Bob Ross of automotive. Though his methods for fixing aren't very proper
Must admit I get the Ray hit too! it’s therapeutic watching Ray (with his classic funny comments) solve ever problem encountered by a mechanic with such gusto. and at the same time I learn how they typically “go together” & to some extent “how they work”. last nite fell asleep half way through watching it, but when i came back to it in daylight, it was clear with usual “flow”. I had to watch to end.
It would have been priceless to hear Bob Ross drop a brush and let out a "gravity"
Ray, my trade is Marine mechanics and I do all my own automobile work. Having said that, I’m impressed that your troubleshooting technique is dead on and your mastery of your tools is impressive as well. Folks, what you are seeing here is a top tier automotive technician!!! I truly enjoy watching you work !!!
As a tech having worked on autos motorcycles and aircraft, I concur.
@repentandbelieveinJesusChrist1 that's what the pimp Rufus said also ....but he was talking about himsel ... and the army says ..yours is not to wonder why ..yours is just to do or die funny how that works ain't it? Or ..is it ? Maybe just call Saul.........Saul good man ...
@Repent and believe in Jesus Christ Truly a sick person here, what channel do you think your on , on to many whiskeey
@repentandbelieveinJesusChrist1 And remember, Never trust a Jew!!!
Ray, you do not need therapy You are therapy. Watching your videos is often the highlight of the day.
I came here to say this but several of you peeps already said it. 😅
I think he’s a therapist’s nightmare. Someone who is as mad as the rest of the world who enjoys life. They hate that. Take a cat to the movies every once in a while.
Being here in the northern part of West Virginia, I can't express enough how jealous I am of the way your bolts can be removed without the use of a glow wrench. It's not as bad here as further north, but I'm amazed at the lack of corrosion on your Floridian fasteners. It almost makes up for the mosquitoes...
LOL ALMOST. Love that part.
😂
@roy dunn You could also use 'Fuel Lube' on the bolt threads, without any heat needed. Fuel Lube is a wax based sealant/lubricant used in aircraft fuels systems. Very sticky and does not wash off with water or solvents.
"Glow Wrench" I love it (never heard that before).
This Nissan waz unusually rust free for Florida. The salty air is extremely corrosive for entire unit. The beach driven stuff is rusted like stuff north of Mason Dixon line. Here in CenTex I'd advise folks to trade off their rust for local stuff . Be Money ahead in the long run.
The #3 reason to watch Ray. All the fun of working on cars without rust in the eye.
I find myself at my job welding or grinding things while listening to Ray's shop on my headphones.
Weird.
i am a pilot but common sense should be sufficient to figure that out however i became seriously concerned of our future when i had someone who knew i fly as well as being a total nerd argued to my face that the aircraft would fly if sufficient wheelspeed was achieved. Facinating.
Really sad, those people get to vote.........
The supply of common sense for distribution dried up around y2k, no one seems to have it anymore
@mcatech05 - Even worse, I’ve had a CEO of a VERY big company ask me just as we became airborne in a glider if we have any control over these things. Another was when flying a group from MENSA (IQ in excess of 120 reqd. to join) again in a glider, one member asked what would happen if the wind stopped. I looked out and said that the wind had stopped. This did not compute. The rest of the flight his massive IQ could not work out how and why we were still alive because being so clever, he had to be correct.
Just think how much more money that Boeing could make if they didn't have to stick expensive wings on their fuselages!!!!!
the secret is the wings also flap along with wheel speed. they dont call them birds for no reason!
wouldnt that be scary if i was serious?
I can see Eric O rolling his eyes when he sees how "tough" you had it getting those bolts and O2 sensors out. 😀
😂😂🤣🤣
Don't forget about Ray whining about 37 degree cold. I must admit that I'm no better, anything below 70 is cold to me.
@@61rampy65 lol we hit -20 degrees a few days ago, with the wind chill it was -40. Was driving with the window down yesterday because it was a beautiful day in the mid 30s. 50 degrees today felt hot lol
@@catfishbilly7425 damn! I had -11 wind chill the other day and I still walked outside barefoot to get the local propaganda rag! Even do it in the snow!
@@catfishbilly7425 In the winter when it's 35* or warmer (I guess any season for that matter) I have the windows at least cracked if not all the way down as well.
I agree with the found tool rule. One exception I had is that anyone I was responsible for, if I found their tools I would put them into a cardboard box and wait until they went looking for them. Trying to teach the apprentices to keep track of their kit.
Bobby's idea is the best, use the lost tool to teach those who depend on tools to not lose them. You don't need anybody else's tools, so put them on the front seat if nothing else...
I did same with a couple of guys i worked with. Id hide the tool about a week and make them borrow from each other. They stopp3d loosing tools after a while
In the air force, every tool kit was checked out. Every tool had to be accounted for on cheak in before any one could leave for the day.
Keeping tools from a vehicle is no different from keeping things that are inside the vehicle. Theft. Put the tools in the vehicle and send it on its way.
Nah, you're a cool dude and we love your vids. No therapy needed, but we do need more people like you. I can watch you for hours. PD
Ray I think going out on your own was the right move. I have learned soooo much from you it's no even funny! You have great channel with great content! And I believe you are more confident and relaxed without having to look over your shoulder all the time. Keep it up buddy!
a good honest mechanic will be a big success.
All he needs is maybe a phone to ring once in a while.
A different one, not that same
" doodle- oodle- ooo "
I cannot believe that NONE of those bolts broke! Love these videos, keep up the good work, and keep growing your business. The naysayers know not of what they speak.
That's one of the best things about being a mechanic in Florida... Even the things that do rust aren't really that bad.
Honestly even in the rust belt (Canada) these frontiers aren't too bad. Typically the nuts end up as a different size but making the nuts glow in the dark & hitting them with a twist socket they zip off no problems
@@JJ_ExMachina Id turn an ungodly amount of hours working in Florida.. Jealous of you guys down there! Only area I'd run into trouble is remembering to use loctite ... Pretty much any fastener you'd typically use it on where you are, we use anti-seize lol
@@Drew-wf7vw Well to be fair, a lot of modern made vehicles are much more resilient at rusting than even things made 20 years ago... Manufactures are putting a lot more thought behind treating surfaces to prevent rust.
While attending a coworkers funeral, I said my condolences to his son. He said so you’re the guy, my dad stole all those tools with your name on. I asked if he was going to give them back. He said, NO. They’re still good. The apple didn’t fall far from the tree.
What a couple of lowlifes. That is just rude. My condolences for *your* loss/theft. Do you have any friendly cop acquaintances that would visit the son so you could identify and recover your stolen tools?
I have a friend whose father had a contracting business. The son saw an add for a garage sale that included some very specific tools of his trade. Turns out the widow had a garage full of tools with the contractor's name on them He took the stuff back to his shop. Hard to tell a widow "your husband was a thief"
What a POS father and son.
Then you called the police right?
Always love your videos, Ray. There must be a special kind of joy listening to your offspring playing in the background while you toil to provide for them. It should remind you of the “why” when answering why do I get up every morning, take risks, bang myself up leaving my blood and skin on other people’s possessions, and put up with whatever it is that annoys me. Family is everything.
I can really see that he loves what he does for a living and he loves his kids, so in my opinion, that makes all of that the best part of life.
I bet they sneaked a taste of coffee when dad wasn't looking. ;)
I love your kiddo's "what you doin?" in the shop. My 2yo does the same thing with similar inflection. Love it. Keep bringing the kiddos to work, Ray. Whether you know it or not, you're building life-long memories for them.
Mythbusters did an episode on the airplane conveyor belt debate so there is video proof that land speed has no effect on whether or not planes fly. It's all about the air speed over the wings to generate lift. That's also why smaller aircraft need to be tethered to the ground when they're parked outside to prevent wind gusts from throwing them into the air.
Of course, for flying, the wheels on airplanes are like lipstick on a pig, they are just there, and actually they are on the way; they are not connected to anything except the struts, brakes and tilting hydraulics.
I can only imagine the world-shattering scoff Eric O. uttered forth after watching you just unbolt catalytic converters on an old exhaust system.
My mom’s car car came back from the shop with a terrible rattle. She took it back and they said it was just a heat shield. I took a look and found a lovely 1/2” drive Snap-on ratchet in the engine bay. It’s mine now 😂😂
Datsun originated in Japan as DAT-GO (the DAT-car) almost a century ago in 1914. The word DAT means 'lightning-fast' in Japanese but is also a reference to the first letters of family names of the three financiers who supported the business at the time: Den, Aoyama and Takeuchi.
That is entirely too much information...
Now that was interesting. I just learned something new. 🙃
AWESOMENESS!
kkash, So would that mean DAT car, can go DAT fast? LMAO Damn DAT Datsun is fast. :)
Then there is the OLD ADDAGE about Datsun.
Q: When can this vehicle be ready?
A: 7 days!
Reply: DAT SOON?
Ray, we had static Temps here in Montana of -25 and wind chill of -50. Of course we always have customers that want or need a battery replaced out in the parking lot. Not a big deal as its too cold to be stranded with a dead vehicle. Most people up here are very appreciative that we will help them
My father in law has one of those for a work truck. 497000 miles and my brother in law finally blew it up. Getting another motor now.
I'd offer the tools to the customer. This does a few things. First, it makes the customer feel like you're honest, especially if they are the ones that left them there. Second, it gives them the chance to decide if they want to return it to the previous mechanic, as they know where/who worked on it. Third, it shows a level of competence that you found that and that the previous guy was a bit careless.
You would be amazed how honesty goes further than most anything else. Doing the right thing is often more rewarding long term.
@@therealnynetynyne360 Also trophy hunting makes one into a hoarder.
If you let your rechargeable lithium based batteries get too low, gotta dig out a cheap adjustable power supply, give em a little bit of power until their voltages start to rise up a volt or couple, then stuff it in the charger. Typically a pack that doesn't want to charge is either too cold or discharged too low and the internal BMS has attempted to disable rapid charging function but will allow a little trickle action (do not leave unattended while attempting this!)
You could set the charger and battery on bare concrete. Just in case. I suspect this would work. They failed to test the battery management system properly for edge cases.
And turn down the current limit.
I love the wind up the O2 sensor wiring trick! I too have been using that one since I was 12 or so. My grandfather taught me that!
Those missing rear gaskets may have been found between the cardboard that says "Contains parts, don't throw away". Don't know bus sometimes they do that so shim gaskets wont get bent or damaged.
Thought the same thing! Rays getting shoddy lately. ...and kids in a service department is a big no!
I agree
The good thing about your videos is you can show your customers what you have done, and what you find 😄👍
Yeah and now they can order them cheaply and replace themselves
You do not need to be crazy to be a mechanic but it sure does help.
An aircraft's propulsion is provided by the thrust created by the propeller or the jet turbine, not the wheels, the wheels freewheel. As long as the wheels do not come off it does not matter how fast the conveyor belt moves, a jet with the engines running can take off anyway.
Well said.
They tested this on Myth Busters. An aircrafts ability to takeoff is not dependent on it's wheels but on the thrust of it's engines and the lift generated by it's wings. Interesting episode though just like all of Rainman Ray videos.
I remember that episode. The prop provided enough airflow past the wings to provide lift. That would not be the case with a commercial jet though, as the engines draw air from the front of the wings and discharge it behind the wings.
@@GrayRaceCat regardless of the speed of the conveyor belt the aircraft will move forward. Unless the conveyor belt has infinite speed it will top out and the plane will then move forward and create its own airspeed. This will then allow it to lift. This will be true whether the propulsion is propeller (as tested) or turbofan (such as a 747 has).
Ridgid is made by the same company that makes Milwaukee, (TTI) they just market them to consumers, but in many cases, Ridgid has actually beaten their competition. The Ridgid high torque Octane impact wrenches actually beat all competition in its class for a short time and then they discontinued that line because their big brother, Milwaukee probably got jealous. BTW, if you have the correct power source, a buck/boost converter or a bench power supply, you can bring those batteries back to life, but you have to know how to do it so bad things don't happen. I've brought back many batteries from the dead. If they are defective, it obviously won't work though. Anyway, anyone who says Ridgid is crap is full of it! *Edit:* Ridgid power tools have a lifetime warranty if you register them correctly.
Ryobi is also manufactured by TTI
@@iandrewc Which is very home consumer driven.
@@jamienoel Indeed, but the point is that they make a full price range of products
Hi Dady!!
Nice wonderful young gril's voice!!
Enjoy them, time runs fast and soon they wil be grown up!!
The ground wire to the exhaust reduces exhaust corrosion and gives a better ground for the O2 sensors.
I'm wondering why you didn't apply antiseize to the O2 threads? It makes life much easier for the next guy.
He is the next guy.
Just don't use aluminum antiseize. It can practically weld the sensor in.
Love the way you snuck in "end of datsun" just before you left us, very sneaky Ray!!!!! LOL. I'm guessing the younger guys won't know what you are talking about!!!
You need to jump the under charge batteries with a charged one. Transfer some charge to them.. enough for the charger to detect a charge. You can find TH-cam vids on this.
Don't hold me to this, but I think if you unplug the charger and put the battery in and plug and unplug the charger quickly a few times, it might work.
Yup. as the "Smart" Batty Chargers are ,, "Not" smart !
@@grassroot011 smart enough to make us go out a get new ones..
This also helps with electric wheelchair chargers.
Dude, some of my best memories are of my Dad's electronics repair shop in the eighties. I learned all kinds of cool stuff and got my hands dirty. Something I passed on to my kids.
Your battery charger: You need to bang some electrons in it, to get it to a realistic voltage for the proper one to 'see' it. Anything will do, say 0.5A-1.0A at a bit higher than the max of the pack ) if 18V, then just over 20V would be fine. Take the pack off that booster, measure the voltage. If over the minimum for the pack, you should be good to go. It's all down to the BMS in the pack. It'll cut the pack out if over or under voltage.
A bit more if you want... each cell (if LiPo) can go below 2.5V ish & the BMS will probably call it dead. If you can get each cell around 3V, it'll kick in. An 18V pack has a nominal voltage of around 18.5V, but if it drops below 12.5V, it'll probably be called dead by the BMS.
I frequently use a 12V lead acid setting if my pack is less than 12v... it does lose a bit of capacity if left below minimum, but hey. It's an older pack.
All lithium batteries should be left around their nominal voltage, which is around 50% ish. They'll last for a long time if stored like that. Plenty of videos here on Y/T covering the subject.
Great content, mate, glad you're punching forward. 👍
Hey Ray you are doing whatever a good mechanic would do looking over and seeing if there any other problems just in case the customer don't know about it
Yeah but most of the time its a waste of effort. Unfortunately, cant tell you the number of times I've found something really wrong and been yelled at for trying to upsell the owner.
@@jimbell3242 Not true at all. But ok. Then you should tell the service write up front. Cuz management makes us do those things.
Nope I’m talking about safety checks, those multipoint inspections are bs and waste everyone’s time. Stealerships are a joke. I’m talking about broken ball joints and wheel bearings and I’ve even found a few cracked brake calipers and tons of metal to metal breaks which were not upsells. Could care less about belts and air filters. You would be surprised what people call up sells.
Like the misfire because of the coil boots...
Tony hear from Bud's Mufflers in Los Angeles California sometimes the honeycomb-shaped inverter element gets stuck in the exhaust didn't see if you vacuum that out sometimes it'll get stuck in hinder the exhaust flow in the muffler and sometimes it crumbles and just comes out the exhaust if you're lucky
this is one of those videos that remind me why i get a proper technician to do such work. i miss doing stuff myself BUT ....
I was not a technician but I've worked on vehicles all my life and I'm 69 now and it's hard for me to not do stuff have a great day
@@michaelpressman7203 I'm in the same boat born in 54 and still have a 1998 Dodge grand caravan with the OE exhaust and cats.
@@billburkart9087 But you're on your third transmission. LOL
@@markanderson2904 actually I'm on my 3rd set of head gaskets. My transmission is OE.
Sometimes with tool batteries, if you put them in the charger and flick the charger on and off a couple times it will trick the battery into charging again.
Some batteries need a minimal charge to operate the control circuitry, without it they cutout, however for a small time before it cuts out they apply voltage to the cell or cells. Multiple attempts can get that battery back above minimum. If it’s not charging this is worth trying.
I've started keeping all my power tool batteries and chargers in the house instead of my unheated workroom. Them batterias don't like the chilly. It's routinely below freezing where I live.
Ray, another great video as always. While you were experiencing a balmy 37°, up here in central Ohio we had a high of -4.
Also up here those O2 sensors would not have come off without an abundance of violence.
yup lots of violence, colorful 4 letter 🤬 words and thrown tools!
I Feel for Any Mechanic that has to Work on Rust Belt Vehicles as a Torch becomes your Best Friend...
god i remember changing the downstream o2 sensor on my honda. damn thing was in there good. literally broke the darn thing up in there. had to take it to a shop and they used a torch and still fought with it.
It was 2° here Missouri last Thursday and I drove around in the snow and ice and had a ball and I actually made it home have a great day
West Michigan, 5° with a -17° wind chill, over a foot of snow in a blizzard, some places had 10-12' drifts.
You're a lot luckier than I am on bolts breaking loose, I've never took an exhaust apart that easy and simple, never in my life, and yeap I used lube too !
Think it has been apart before
@@garyalford9394 For sure when they installed that replacement engine.
Hi Ray
You noted that the rechargeable batteries sometimes don't work after being discharged too low, then over the weekend they might be recovering enough voltage to kickstart the onboard circuitry. It's been noted that the circuit board of "some brands" of batteries disconnect the charge/discharge terminal if the cells go below a certain voltage. Somewhere on the web I have seen people open them and give the cells a bootstrap to kickstart the circuit to reconnect the terminal, so maybe don't throw out any failed batteries. Hope this helps if not noted by anyone already.
The shop next door does primarily body work and older car restoration projects and has a ready stream of work for Ray. It looks like they are going through this truck part by part. Someone deleted all 4 cats and now the new owner replaced them. The engine had already been replaced. It will be good for the relationship between the shops to diagnose the misfire and give them the option of DIY. I suspect that the business next door owns the building as well. Leaving out those details is good business for the film producer (Ray) as it creates a level of uncertainty without cluttering the dialog.
They seem more like auction cars destined for the used car lot if I had to guess but work is work. And Ray is not taking regular requests from individuals for service at this time for some reason. A few local maintenance jobs that I have referred to Ray (via his email address) have gone unanswered. Not sure he ever plans on working on locals' individual vehicles. (I don't blame him) Unless or until he hires some help and that's a whole different game with workers comp insurance and all the bull that accompanies finding reliable employees in the area his shop is located.
That car has already had more repairs than it is worth. Time to get a different car!
Ray, just a footnote to your comment about better quality fuel to improve emissions. My wife's 2010 Camry failed emissions test on yearly safety inspection (car does not burn oil), so I came back a week later for retest, after filling it up with high test gasoline and it passed with flying colors. Fill up your tank with high test gasoline before inspection folks.
PS: Back in the day when they let you in auto junk yards to find your own parts, I always left with more tools than I came with....LOL
They STILL let you into auto junkyards aka Pick a part. And what are these inspection you speak of? We have no such thing down South here (must be a Yankee). And I prefer used cooking oil to run my big wheels.
@@mod_incllc3235 Florida does have on the books safety rules that require repairs be made if defects are discovered at a traffic stop. You are right no state inspections, but if your vehicle is determined to be unsafe they can make you fix it by issuing a citation on the defects
Ray about your batteries not wanting to charge when they are low…. If you take a 9v battery and jump some wires ( or use a 9v battery wire clip ) and briefly touch the terminals on your ailing battery pack … it will charge it up enough to accept a normal charge from your charger. This is a TH-cam trick I have seen and used… it does work.
The best part of this video is the diagnostic effort at the end. I like the way you verified the bad boot, and carbon on the boot showed it wasn't just artefact from pulling the coil out to make a huge gap. Is it possible to just replace the boot and a plug, rather than the whole coil? Or are boots by themselves nearly impossible to come by?
All one unit..
I looked into this earlier. It looks like you can get the boots separately.
Nissan part number 22465-8J115, WVE 4C2015 on the rockauto.
Dis-similar metals in the cat converter so the ground wire is there to prevent galvanic corrosion and to provide a good ground for the 02 sensor.
Wouldn't want the anti corrosion material to corrode...
Man between you and Scotty y'all are all I watch on TH-cam. Honestly, I've learned so much from you. I even work on my own cars now because of y'all. When they say TH-cam university they mean you guys. Thank you for doing what you're doing. Love you man!!!
Ray and Eric O at south main auto actually show doing the work instead of wave the magic wand for the wrenching.
I agree with you on that 100% but Scotty has a lot of knowledge to offer. That's why I appreciate him as well
we have the same scanner in our shop (UK) there's a 'userdata' folder that I clean up every couple of months as it seems to affect the speed of the tool sometimes, you need to be careful of which files to move out of the folder since they are system files
So it "like" a Defrag or System Clean for a Laptop/Computer? The more "Junk in the Trunk.....the Slower" you go!
Great Tip!!
Can it be reset back to factory settings?
@@Delekham no, more like deleting the stuff you dont need. which is like throwing bricks out of your trunk. full storage slows computers down way more than you think, and id bet that didnt come with much.
defrag is more of a reorganization, it's purpose isnt to delete it just shuffles the files around so they're in physically different places on the drive. solid state drives cant be defragged because they have that built into their firmware
@@bradhaines3142 Yes! That I understand! I was using it a "layman's" way to understand it!
Too bad you never picked up on that :(
Most people DON'T understand what a "Defrag" is! Most people just hit "Clean it"!
As the OP said..."you need to be careful of which files to move out of the folder since they are system files."
So you are right and wrong at the same time!.
That tool is a Computer? YES? NO?
If it is, then a "Defrag" would be helpful, since it is NOT searching the HDD as much...hence SLOWING IT DOOOOWWWWNNN! YES, NO, MAYBE SO?
I do know that SSD's can not be "Defragged" I Will bet Dollars to Donuts that in the Future it will happen! :)
The "Cleaning UP" of said Computer is needed though!
Two or Three years of "cookies/vehicles" will slow down ANY computer!
@@Delekham yes, it is a computer. I'd very surprised if it had a spinning disk ... that would make it not very rugged. It probably has some eMMC for storage and operating system.
That battery issue used to happen with my old Ryobi 12V system. I'd have to connect a newer battery to the old batteries with a couple of jumper wires. I'd hold them on there for about 5 seconds and it would give the old batteries enough life to take a charge.
Great video. BTW, regarding the battery issues. When batteries like those start wearing (shorting cells) the can start to overheat internally which increases resistance and can trigger a "bad battery" behavior / indicator. It's not uncommon to cool them down and have then accept a charge. Whenever you charge any battery, best to let them cool down first and then charge them. Remember those Batt cells heat up when being used and heat up again when working to accept a charge. Best to have a few extra batteries and let them sit (especially as they get older) maybe 15 - 30 min and then charge. Also, you can revive some old batteries by placing them in the freezer for several hours (sometimes over night) and then try to charge them. Some Batts will work better than others with this method.
I have a feeling the customer is not going to be happy about spending that much on Cat's to find out they still have the same problem they were trying to resolve. I wonder if the other shop even took a look at the coils....Another Great Video Ray!
He checked there was a code for it, and the check engine light. It had to be done. It was in the video.
Actually it’s been proven and explained in a an episode of myth busters.
@@bjkjoseph I didn't say the cats didn't need to be replaced, I'm talking about the customer that thinks this is why it was misfiring or the other shop that thinks this was causing the misfiring....." it was in the comment"
I don't think so but I wasn't there
@@PatricksDIY you’re probably right he probably will be pissed off, even if things are explained, and he is showing proof that it needs to be repaired, you’re right though there’s a lot of people like that
"Lube on your pants in the winter", for me, that's what makes Ray soooo loveable and of course RAY!🤣🤣🤣 These are just the kinda quips that makes your channel so easy to watch, especially when you're not the mechanic type, like me! Ya drop things, grunt, and get frustrated, which gives me pause when I'm about to SCREAM at my quad ( the pros work on my real vehicles 😁). Thanks Ray, owning a newer Frontier, I found the latter part of the video most educational. 👍👍 Bob from Nevada (where 41 was the high today😲).
Hey Ray, Congrats again!!! You made the best move, being your own boss and doing things right and honest is harder work, but definitely more gratifying. On this video, the only thing, being you were replacing “All the Cats” they should of used your time wisely and replaced the O2 sensors while you had easy access. It was probably due to $$ because I always recommend OEM O2’s, but it would of eliminated future issues in the exhaust portion (at least) than having to do them in the future.
May you continue with your good fortune and you give honest mechanics a good name, and show people the crap we have to go through a lot of the times due to these car designers/engineers when the shove 2lbs of bologna in a 1 lb bag…….
Take care.
A secret we keep close to the vest; Cross thread, the original thread locker!
Due to living in the rust belt I couldn't believe how easy it was to "unclick" the fasteners! Rust literally destroys the vehicles in my neck of the woods
Exhaust work = sawzall in Maine.
Same for PA….
@@Boxpok YES SIR.
As a Nissan Technician in the rust belt (Canada) I enjoyed watching this lol .. The "That better not be factory" cracked me up - but yes, that's factory - for whatever reason most Nissans have one or two studs that don't face the same way as all the other fasteners. It's a good time! Also this truck wouldn't even register as rusted here.. pretty typical after the first winter! I was very jealous watching you break the 02 sensors free with an open end wrench and your foot - the vehicle would have to be pretty new here to even consider not chucking the cat in the vice and pulling out the bigger tools
Hey Ray, i was amazed at how easily those bolts came off. Cheers!
Penetrating oil can make a huge difference! I use it a lot. For best results, spray, leave a bit, tap it gently with a hammer, spray it again, wait a bit longer, tap again and then remove. In extreme circumstances you will need to leave it overnight and possibly use heat.
Merry xmas. And the plane would just sit there with the wheels spinning going nowhere.
Wrong. The conveyor belt makes no difference. Mythbusters proved it with both a small RC plane and a real plane. Planes do not drive themselves forward with their wheels.
The mythbuster proved the plane would take by doing the experiment it works cause the wheels are not powered
@@jeremygarwood Yep, I've been trying to tell people this for years. Plane wheels just spin freely, the plane really does not care. You'll notice in the video that not only does the plane take off, the pilot said he couldn't feel any difference.
Yeah i am wrong i thought he said with the engine off at the begining. The thrust would take the plane forward regardless .
Your videos really are therapy. I usually watch them to wind down from a day of dealing with people. I am amazed that you work on cars without full use of the 4 letter word dictionary. It is very rare to get through fixing vehicles in the rusty midwest without dropping some f-bombs at the very least.
The jet on the treadmill would be irrelevant as it is jet engine powered which pushes the air, not ground. The air is not moved by the conveyor belt so the engines would produce just as much thrust and actually overpower the conveyor belt. The jet would take off. The wheels may or may not hold up to the increased speed they would be spinning due to the conveyor.
Never change! Your mental Ness is what make's you your happy self. This is why people watch you. Stay mental your great. 😁🤟
You’re 100% right about the fuel. What you get at the pumps now is trash compared to race fuel or pump fuel from many years ago. In the northern “ cold “ states from November to April it gets even worse with oxygen infused gas. Causes about a 10% reduction in power and MPG.
Ethanol in gas also reduces the relative btu per gallon, thus there rhetorically reducing power/mileage.
@@davidturk6170 --Supposedly 20% less effficiency with ethanol as gas additive plus it sometimes will gum up on Injectors...
I have had those kind of issues as well with batteries. And what it is is the batteries get too low and the charger just doesn't like to do it. If you have a battery that's doing that look up how to jump them. You basically take a known battery that's good and has a full charge and you jump it like a car positive positive negative to negative for a couple minutes and it gives juice to that bad battery and then when you throw it on the charger it will more than likely take the charge. I have hart tools because I'm a truck driver and I don't want expensive as power tools that could end up getting broken just rattling around in my truck. I bought a bunch of "dead" 2 amp hour and 4 amp hour batteries of theirs and out of the 10 batteries only one kept failing. The rest after they failed the initial time once I jump them they charged right the hell up. Saves you buttload of money. And the worst that can happen is you try it the battery doesn't work and it's dead dead.
Nice video - don't think I have seen a cat replacement one before. Seems simple - when you know what you are doing :) Hopefully the coil pack replacement work gets the go ahead... I know everyone is stretched financially these days, but I can't help but feel letting that situation get worse will cost more in the long term.
Yes leaving the misfire to continue will eventually destroy the new cats and O2 sensors
The hard part is the rusted bolts
they do sell replacement boots for those coils
The hard part is the rusted bolts and getting to the rusted bolts
As a pilot, i can answer that airplane on a treadmill question... the wheel speed has nothing to do with air speed, the airplane will still be able to take off since its Not the wheels that propell the craft, its the jet engines/propellers, those two use the air as "traction" to accelerate to lift off speed, so it doesn't matter at which speed the wheels are going.
What? Lift doesn't come from the engines. The wings have to be moving thru the air. Air moving thru the engines still doesn't cause lift. ( I think ).
Great answer....You would know
The wheels are there to help the plane move on the ground, for the plane to lift off it needs forward momentum from the engines and lift from the the wings, if the aircrafts engines are on i.e idle rather than thrust. The plane would take off from the treadmill as it would have speed and lift but only for a second or two, without forward thrust from the engines to propell it forward.
Nice job and good of you to give the owner an honest heads-up re misfire. Your diagnostic skills are very impressive.
Ray, that happens when a converter is at operating temperature and then the vehicle is driven into water rocker panel deep. The thermal shock causes the honeycomb inside to fracture. The exhaust flow will then blow it out of the tailpipe
And the converter is cheap crap, normaly they are isolated against that even on normal cars as long as there is no water entering internaly.
Wouldn't the material leaving the converter be found in the muffler possibly blocking the muffler or rattling in the muffler?
Watching this having seen South Main, doing an exhaust, the difference is amazing. Ray didn't have any stuck hardware, Mr O favourite tool is a gas axe! I can't be rusted on if it's molten!!!
Hi Ray! As a non USian not living in the US I can tell you that ramblings about the quality of US fuel are for the most part people who don't realize that the octane number stated in the pumps in the US is measured differently from Europe and most of the rest of the world. Europe/most of the rest of the world measures using RON (the older standard, using a completely unloaded reference engine), US averages the RON and MON numbers (MON is the newer standard which uses a slightly more realistic reference engine with some accessories like a 'nator), with minimum admissible RON and MON for each grade. US Regular/87 octane is somewhere between 91 and 93 RON, US 91 is ~95 RON, US 93/Premium is >=~97 RON (equivalent to Premium in Europe). The standard ethanol content in the US (~15% typical as of the war in Ukraine) does mean each gallon of fuel has less energy than a gallon of fuel with no alcohol, but the difference is not that big.
The one thing I personally find appalling about US fuel (besides Mountain Fuel, although I can't comment too much as there are very few pumps above ~3500 meters a.s.l. in my country) is that Regular fuel isn't required by law to have an additive/cleaning pack (it won't save you from all the emissions equipment in cars, but it should make it last longer).
(Yes, more minimum octanes allows more compression which is more efficient, but no country can throw the first stone in this regard)
Don't you love when a plan comes together ? 😁
Hey Ray!
What you are experiencing with your Duramax is normal for cold weather starts. I live in Michigan and my Duramax does this too. The alternator is controlled by the ecu and will not trigger after a high draw event. On cold days, turn the key to the "on" position and wait about 10 seconds. This let's the glow plugs warm, then staring z engine. After the two batteries equalize, usually a couple of minutes, the alternator will turn on.
Fun Fact: The eye is the fastest healing part of our bodies. Did someone take out the cores before installation just to get more cash? What should those converters look like on the inside? I'm good with the lost and found unless the customer owns it.
Permatex Copper works pretty well with old exhaust gaskets.(normularly)
Happy New year to you and your family, I hope that 2023 will bring joy and happiness. Don't work so hard that you wife forgets who you are !! Most of all hug your wife and kids every day. Good luck with the business I'm sure you will go from strength to strength.
I clicked on this not noticing it was 6 months old and wondering why Ray was talking about cold! Boy oh boy, with 95 degree temps I will gladly take that cold again!
I know you just getting your buisness up and running, but I hope you have a second person such as a apprentice just to be around you for safety issues just in case any accidents could happen or a mechanical fail happens and possibly injury to you might occur.... mind you we all love and care for you and wish you much success!! local high schools have techinical classes that could assists yiour needs.
I think his wife unit fills that purpose...lol. But that said tech schools would love to provide students I think, but in my day we brought our own vehicles to work on at the schools to get hands on experience and even got donated cars that we repaired and sold to needy families at a very good price. Often cars were provided by the salvation army & thrift shops that they got as a donation. Sometimes they got a vehicle that was undergoing a complete restoration those were a lot of fun, often they had to work with a tech school machine shop to make parts for those when none were available or adapt others to fit
Most likely, the converters weren't emptied out by anyone. The internals have a habit of disintegrating and blowing out the tail pipe. It's not that uncommon.
It’s a Nissan, I’ve heard they like to suck up the ceramic bits and destroy the engine somehow. Ive heard.
Had to pass through the muffler to get out though!
For those "failing" batteries, it's because the lithium pack in them has dropped below the threshold to be charged. Doesn't mean the batteries are dead, but as a precaution the MFG has to make sure a bad battery won't explode on the charger. Take your bench power supply and set the voltage to the pack voltage and limit the current to half an amp and just let it charge for 10-20 minutes. This will put enough juice in them for the charger to see a voltage higher than the lower threshold and all your packs are good to go.
That BG lubricant is is great. I've used it for years. I like the way it foams up, therefore, giving it more time to penetrate
If you look at the stud after the nut is removed the threads are dry. "Penetrants" don't.
Is this supposed to be a kind of innuendo?
It takes hours or overnight for Penetrating oil to soak Threads, many tests on YT showing this--it is a Mind Thing...
@randy beard Eric O always simply states the "panther pee doesn't do anything". As you note, if it does anything at all, it takes much too long to be useful in a profitable shop.
Looks a bit like seafoam deepcreep... Project Farm did a good comparison on those...
The plane on the conveyor belt thingy is very interesting from the human behaviour point of view: the description describes something physically impossible (the conveyor mechanism has a feedback loop that makes the description non-sensical), and people "patch" its behaviour in their brain by ignoring the words and using their imagination instead - in two different ways.
In my humble opinion, there's no point talking about planes at all if that conveyor action does not add up - and that should be the answer.
[edit] everyone who talks about planes and lift missed the point I am trying to make.
It's not intresting. Mythbusters did it. The plane takes off.
The airflow from the engine pushes the plane forward just like if you where pushing it from behind, what happens with the wheels doesn't really matter. The conveyor belt cannot prevent the plane from going forward.
@@MeepChangeling mythbusters allowed the plane to move, which violates the description of the conveyor behaviour: the conveyor belt is supposed to match the speed of wheels. Since speed of wheels is speed of conveyor plus speed of plane, if plane moves the description is violated. The rule is "A is governed by equation A = A+B for any B".
At the other hand, nothing prevents the plane from moving (B > 0), so of course it will take off. The conveyor cannot stop this.
It is the description (A=A+B) which is is nonsense.
Kinda like the glass 1/2 empty 1/2 full theory.
From a pilot of Rc planes. Air has to pass under the wing to produce lift simple.
Hey Ray, mythbusters actually did the airplane on a convyerbelt myth years ago. thats where I'd first heard of it. they took a super long tarp and pulled it with a truck as a small plane on it tried to take off in the other direction. it took off in the exact same distance as it normally did (it could take off at like 60mph so thats what the truck was pulling the tarp at) its a cool watch since they started small with an RC plane on a treadmill, then went to full sized planes!
I was just thinking about this, the plane doesn't care about the treadmill/tarp because it doesn't have any power to the wheels so they can spin as fast as they want
well Ray good day to you im quite amazed all the studs came out great fix Ray your the best but most important to have yourself a great day
Your videos are therapy from a world gone mad😁 I think that ground cable is to prevent bolt gravity 😜
Yes standard part number BGPP-1011 Bolt gravity moderator
Happy new year Ray, weird to see you in a long sleeve sweat shirt and long pants, probably a once a decade event for you guys! On the tools in the wild, I worked for a tow truck company in Lake Tahoe in the early 1970s that also had a vehicle junkyard. I still today use some of the tools that I found in the junk cars that we scrapped back then.
I am nut when I lose tolls I will take a magnet and a flashlight and search for an hour till I find my tools have a great day
Always great content and I like that you were listening to Upchurch (hollerboys) 👍
Good video Ray! 😁Love to watch the whole repair process. I learn more each time! BTW, no therapy needed. Thanks again for the videos! 😁
Being honest with oneself is the best therapy you can have before you look at the world around you take a good look inside have a great day
Ray excellent video I really do appreciate it but I have an announcement for you Ray and all the people that view this channel my wife and my kids got me a gift on Christmas and it’s nothing I ever expected in my life . I’ve personally have never ever ever owned one but I have now in my hands a ( D 8 X TOOL ) car diagnostic computer I am so excited I’m thrilled you have no idea, according to some of the techs here on TH-cam they have used it and compared it and a lot of technicians here on TH-cam are saying it’s a whole lot better than the snap on diagnostic equipment they have ever work with and simple to use and the fastest in react time. I just wanted to say that now that I’m a lot older I finally got a toy that I’ve always wanted. God bless you my brothers and sisters please take care of yourself your family and friends and a happy new year I hope everyone had a beautiful Christmas and I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s video thank you so very much everyone. ✝️✝️✝️🇺🇸
Sorry to hear about your 34' , to me here in Montana that's nice, we just had -31', not counting the wind chill. Now that's frigid cold. Have a great day ray.
The last time I visited Miami in the winter the temperature was 50 degrees. Our native friends were wearing coats and my buddy and I were in the pool!!! We had come from 20 degrees in NYC.
ooo... Mike and the Mechanics... Silent running on the radio...noiceeeee.... good video and good music
Well done! I have to say that the more I hear the word ‘flung’ the more I doubt it’s authenticity.
Ray, Watching you work IS my therapy.
Thanks!
At 21:32, when you're trying to get that nut to turn, if you push on the wrench counterclockwise until it is firmly tense by, let's say, 15/25 pounds, hold that with one hand while taking a medium hammer with the other and firmly tapping several times on the wrench three or four inches away from the nut, it significantly mimics an impact wrench and will break past the rust/torque bind. It also helps prevent the bolt (which may be heat/rust compromised) from breaking because of the extreme torque that may otherwise be applied while simply torquing it with muscle.
Do you mash a lot of wrenches?
👏👏👏👏. Ray what you’re doing is your Therapy. Don’t change a thing. Ray you were talking about quality of gasoline, if they made good quality of gasoline, then there wouldn’t be anyone making a fortune on the anti-pollution devices. I believe that politicians / EPA are the number one cause of our pollution problems. I glad that we live in a area where we don’t have sniffers sniffing our vehicle exhaust. Ray I bet that your viewers up North are saying that you don’t know what Cold is🙂. Keep’m coming, God Bless
I built a seawall for the vice president of rigid about 15 years ago really nice guy gave myself and co-worker each $500 rigid tool expense cards I still have all of my rigid tools and they still work 4 of the 8 batteries are original as well Rigid gets an A+ from me