Today I did some focusing on the Explorer, partly so I can move it to another spot where I would prefer to work on it plus so I can just get the damned thing straightened out. As usual the thing took a little persuading to get started but once started the thing leveled off and ran smoothly. One thing I did keep noticing was how manipulating the accelerator seemed to make the thing respond better to starting up. Once the thing was running I did a little examination to see if there might've been anything I could do to maybe adjust the throttle so maybe the thing will be in a different position where the ECU will respond better, who knows. Normally you don't adjust the throttle since all of that shit is fixed from the factory but when it comes to super old shit like this, all bets are off.
Anyway, upon looking at the throttle cable I did notice that the mounting lug that holds the cable to the bracket was partially pulled from its slotted bracket. I had to disconnect the cable mounting lug and reseat the thing in the bracket so I can at least rule out that as a problem. Of course there wasn't really any noticeable difference since the idle screw keeps the throttle plate at a fixed position. I ended up turning the screw a little bit until the idle went up slightly then backed off a slight bit. At this point I went ahead to move the truck around to the spot in front of the storage trailer. After moving the Tracker out of the way, I went ahead and backed out and pulled the Explorer around and into the spot. When I put the thing in park and the RPM's changed, the thing started acting stupid again and stalled. I had to fight the thing to get started again as usual until it finally came back to life with constant cranking and manipulating the accelerator. One thing I did notice was when the thing was barely running and acting like it wanted to stall despite me pumping on the pedal, when the tach should've been moving up a little bit with the initial shot of fuel that the ECU tried to inject, the tach kept acting like it wanted to drop down instead. I had to theorize if either the crank or cam sensor were to start failing and either one controls the tach, it would respond in kind by not reading while also killing the engine since that critical signal is sporadic and the ECU no longer has any real clue as to the conditions of the engine in order to operate it. After a search online, it turns out the crank sensor controls the tach and a search on auto zone's website shows they have them for a reasonable price so I might just go ahead and take a shot and get the part to put it in. Worst case I'll be out of a couple bucks but best case is I fix this gremlin and put this truck back into a state where it'll be perfectly operable and most importantly salable. After playing around with the Explorer, I started wandering around looking for more shit to do. I did go ahead and decide on walking up to the garage to grab a few larger auto parts from the garage to bring down. Just before that though I did pile up some more trash into the burn can and fire that to get it going. While that was going I went up and grabbed two oil pans, both of which had old oil and sludge in them. I came down and dumped that into the burning garbage can then arranged the pans on the auto parts rack, then went back up to the garage to retrieve a fender and headlight assembly and set them on the rack as well. Still plenty more shit in the garage to figure out what to do with though. I walked around and picked up a few more little odds and ends that were burnable and tossed them in the can then looked at the drum I had by the trailer's door and decided to go ahead and cut that out. Using a step bit I drilled a 1" hole in the bottom of the drum to serve as a starting point for the reciprocating saw to start its cut around the rim of the can. The other end with its open ports will serve as drain holes for any water that enters the can. I went ahead and cut along the rim of the bottom and took the resulting disc out and dumped it over on the scrap pile for future use/disposal. I took the can and staged it with the other scrap can next to the deck but out of the way and out of sight so we can easily dump scrap into either/or but not have it be visible and otherwise be unsightly. I took the small bucket of scrap I already started yesterday and dumped that into one drum and fished out some partially buried scrap from around the burn can site and dumped that into the drum as well. With that it was pretty much time to come in, but not before doing a visual assessment to determine what I might wanna do the next day. I decided on doing some grass cutting to knock down some high points of grass in the central driveway going between the house and garden. These areas were covered by the F250 and the 88 mustang wreck while I was awaiting the chance to haul it to the scrap yard, so now that it's gone I can knock that high grass down and get that central area looking better. I will probably start working on the garden area as well. I'll probably start trimming some of the fruit trees and pulling up any large weed trees or other shit that I feel doesn't belong and start clearing some areas for development later. I have plans to make a bunch of hydroponic garden setups as well as lay down some new raised beds in place of the decaying beds I have now. I also have a dog kennel I still have to set up in a back corner of the garden that I will develop into a greenhouse in the future as well. I might as well get started on this stuff as well so maybe by next spring I will actually be able to get a decent garden going that I can have a good production from throughout next summer.
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