Monday, August 7, 2017

Solving the Dreaded P071 Code on a VW Jetta






P0171

P071 is the generic OBDII code for Bank 1 Lean. This means that the cars computer is adjusting for a lean condition in the car's combustion. The adjustments has gone out of range for what is considered normal by for proper emissions and fuel economy, and an OBDII fault code has been registered with the cars computer. The root cause is usually a few things:

  1. A leak in the car's intake system or breather systems usually caused by a broken hose or poor connection and this results in too much air and the ECU (computer) is making adjustments to maintain stoichiometric mixture of air and gas ( 14.7:1).
  2.  Not enough fuel being delivered resulting in too much air to gas mixture. This could be caused by a clog fuel filter, malfunction fuel pump or failing fuel injectors.
  3. Leak in the exhaust system allows extra air into the exhaust causing the post catalytic oxygen sensor to think the engine's combustion is lean (i.e. has too much air).
  4. A bad Mass Air Flow sensor is not providing the correct inputs for the ECU to set the air/fuel mix.


Disclaimer: I am not a professional mechanic. This above material is provided for educational purposes for myself and others. Your comments and feedback are welcome.
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Friday, July 24, 2015

Getting Stock Price Data with Python

There many ways to fetch stock prices with python, but easiest way I've found so far is to use the ystockquote module by Corey Goldberg. It works with python 2 and 3.

If you have pip installed:

pip install ystockquote

To use:









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Thursday, July 23, 2015

Building a Compost Bin

Building a compost bin is very easy to do and  is a great way to get started in woodworking. The meassurements and cuts do not have to be overly precise, and it's very easy to hide a few blemishes.Most compost bin sold at home improvement stores are made out of plastic. While relatively inexpensive, I don't really care for the look.

When building a your own wooden compost bin, be sure to use a rot resistant material like cedar. It's expensive but it will look great and last for many years. To save money, avoid higher priced 'clear' cedar. The boards with few knots.

Find a design that fits your needs and size. I made this one with 2 sides. One for material that is ready or just about ready for the garden, and the other with new yard and food leftovers. I also put doors on the front for easy access and mixing.

Steps:

1. Make a drawing of what you want to build. Estimate how much wood you'll need. I used cedar 2x4's for the frame and 1x4's for the siding. You'll want to use either galvanized nails or suitable outdoor grade decking screws.
 
2. Assemble the frame.



3. Make doors. I glued them up, and then added strips of wood to the underside for extra strength.



4. Attach siding and doors. For the back side, I used chicken wire to reduce the cost, and to allow for extra ventilation.  If desired, apply a finish to the exterior.


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Thursday, November 20, 2014

Hot Keys for Geomagic Design ( Formerly Alibre Design )

Note to self:

Geomagic Design Hotkeys:

Shortcut Keys

Workspace – General (Part, Assembly and Drawing Modes)
CopyCTRL+C
CutCTRL+X
DeleteDEL
HelpF1
New WorkspaceCTRL+N
OpenCTRL+O
PasteCTRL+V
RedoCTRL+Y
SaveCTRL+S
Save AsCTRL+SHIFT+S
Select AllCTRL+A
Toggle Talk in CollaborationF12
UndoCTRL+Z
 
Workspace - Part Mode
Design PropertiesALT+RETURN
Equation Editor DialogCTRL+E
Hide SelectionCTRL+H
Join SessionF9
LayersCTRL+L
Lead SessionF10
Measurement Tool DialogCTRL+M
Next ViewF4
OptionsCTRL+SHIFT+O
Orientation DialogCTRL+U
Previous ViewF3
RegenerateF5
Rotation Points DialogCTRL+R
Sketch ModeCTRL+K
Toggle PlanesCTRL+SHIFT+P
Toggle SketchesCTRL+SHIFT+K
Toggle Wireframe/ShadedCTRL+SHIFT+W
Toggle WorkspaceCTRL+TAB
Zoom to FitHOME
 
Workspace - Assembly Mode
Assembly PropertiesALT+RETURN
Equation Editor DialogCTRL+E
Hide SelectionCTRL+H
Insert New PartCTRL+SHIFT+N
Insert Part/SubassemblyCTRL+SHIFT+I
Join SessionF9
LayersCTRL+L
Lead SessionF10
Measurement Tool DialogCTRL+M
Next ViewF4
OptionsCTRL+SHIFT+O
Orientation DialogCTRL+U
Previous ViewF3
Rotation Points DialogCTRL+R
Toggle PlanesCTRL+SHIFT+P
Toggle SketchesCTRL+SHIFT+K
Toggle Wireframe/ShadedCTRL+SHIFT+W
Toggle WorkspaceCTRL+TAB
Zoom To FitHOME
 
Workspace - Drawing Mode
Bill of MaterialsCTRL+B
Drawing PropertiesALT+RETURN
Insert Custom SymbolCTRL+I
Join SessionF9
Lead SessionF10
OptionsCTRL+SHIFT+O
PrintCTRL+P
Sketch ModeCTRL+K
Toggle WorkspaceCTRL+TAB
Zoom to FitHOME
 
Workspace - Navigation Acceleration
Zoom inPgUpPart/Assembly/Drawing
Zoom outPgDnPart/Assembly/Drawing
Pan leftLeftArrowPart/Assembly/Drawing
Pan rightRightArrowPart/Assembly/Drawing
Pan upUpArrowPart/Assembly/Drawing
Pan downDownArrowPart/Assembly/Drawing
Rotate leftShift-LeftArrowPart/Assembly Only
Rotate rightShift-RightArrowPart/Assembly Only
Rotate upShift-UpArrowPart/Assembly Only
Rotate downShift-DownArrowPart/Assembly Only
Move arrow leftCtrl-LeftArrowPart/Assembly/Drawing
Move arrow rightCtrl-RightArrowPart/Assembly/Drawing
Move arrow upCtrl-UpArrowPart/Assembly/Drawing
Move arrow downCtrl-DownArrowPart/Assembly/Drawing
 
Repository
Check InCtrl+U
Check OutCtrl+K
Create New FolderREMOVE FROM MENU
DepositCTRL+D
Join SessionF9
NewCTRL+N
OpenCTRL+O
Open Read OnlyCTRL+SHIFT+O
PropertiesF7
RedoCTRL+Y
RefreshF5
UndoCTRL+Z
Undo Check OutCtrl+Shift+K
Version HistoryF6
WithdrawCTRL+W
 
Team Manager
NewCTRL+N
Join SessionF9
 
Message Center
DeleteDEL
Join SessionF9
NewCTRL+N
ReplyCTRL+R
Reply AllCTRL+SHIFT+R
Select AllCTRL+A
 
Unassigned Function Keys
F2
F5 - Unassigned in Drawing Mode only
F6
F7
F8
F11

Link:
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Tuesday, June 24, 2014

VW Jetta 2.0 Mark IV Engine Noise on Start Up

Having some issues with engine noise on my 2.0 Jetta. Seems like it's an exhaust valve or vacuum issue (secondary air pump), but not sure how to diagnose.

Vortex Engine Noise Thread:

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?2866451-Engine-Loud-on-Morning-Start-High-Idle-and-Noise

Secondary Air Pump:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l269Fj12qy4
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Tuesday, April 1, 2014

GnuCash, Small Business and Depreciation

Keeping track of depreciation for a small business is a hassle but once you get it setup it doesn't look to hard to maintain and track.

Nice explanation of tracking depreciation using Gnucash here:

http://stuff.mit.edu/afs/sipb/project/gnucash/1.6.4/arch/sun4x_58/share/gnome/help/gnucash/de_DE/xacc-depreciation.html

and here:

http://gnucash.org/docs/v2.4/C/gnucash-guide/dep_accounts1.html

Probably easiest to use a tax program like TurboTax to compute your annual deprecation on your assets and then update Gnucash. That way you can generate accurate financial statements and it's all tracked in one program.


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Thursday, January 10, 2013

Manitowoc Ice Machine Repair - The Ice hits the Fan



I'm in the restaurant business and the other day my Manitowoc ( model #QY0214A ) was making a horrible screeching sound. In fact, it was so loud in the dining room that we had to shut it off and start rationing our ice supply.

Now the ice machine is only about 5-6 years old and I've taken very good care of this one. These things are not cheap. It's a simple hermetically sealed AC unit with very few moving parts. It had to be the evaporator fan that was making all that noise.

Sure enough, after removing the back panels, it was obvious where all that noise was coming from. This is an easy repair and anyone out there with a similar problem can save themselves about $250 by going DIY on this one. Here's what I did.

1. Go to partstown.com order a new fan. Here's the link: http://www.partstown.com/manitowoc_ice/man2413089

2. Remove the back panels, then loosen the bracket that holds the water connection  ( as shown ) so you can get the fan out .



3. Remove the fan. There are 3 small screws holding the fan motor to its mounting bracket. It's pretty hard to get those out without using a flexible screw driver.



4. After getting the fan loose open the front panel and find the two connectors for the fan power. Make a note of the color coding, so you remember to correctly hook the wires back up.

5. Install the new fan and tighten everything back up.





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