howard

Vehicle is a 1983 Dodge Rampage (like the Omni and Charger but with a truck bed). Power brakes, 2.2L HO engine, 5 speed manual tranny, about 189,000 miles on it. I replaced the front pads with high quality Monroe pads after noticing very poor braking performance (not my vehicle, belongs to my daughter). After replacing the pads we noticed a significant improvement but also noticed smoke coming out of both sides of the truck at the wheel wells and confirmed the rotors were hot enough to boil water after just a ten minute drive. Removed the calipers and checked piston and bore as well as sliders. Decided to replace both calipers and both rotors. No improvement noted, still ran extremely hot. Confirmed grease on sliders and easy movement of brake pads and pistons. Replaced flex hose to see if this was the problem, no change. Checked pressure of the hydraulic system and confirmed that when the brake pedal was released the system pressure went to zero as expected. We have good pedal, no leak down but brakes will not lock up under emergency stop conditions - probably due to the overheated pads and resultant brake fade. This problem affects both front brakes equally, does not seem to affect rear brakes - at least they do not heat up like the front do.

So what am I missing here? I have been working on vehicles for 35 years and have never seen a problem like this that wasn't caused by either flex hoses or bad caliper. I even took one of the rebuilt calipers apart to check the bore and piston condition - nothing. No air in the system observed during bleeding procedure.

To reiterate -

New calipers

New pads properly greased and installed

New Rotors

1 new flex hose

Confirmed that pressure is fully released when brake pedal is at rest (double confirmed this by simply opening the bleed valve - confirmed the caliper did not relax and no squirt of fluid.)

Overheating front brakes after just ten minutes on the road.

Suggestions or ideas welcome, kinda at a loss as to what to do next. Wondering if the master cylinder could be at fault but don't see how.

Vehicle is a 1983 Dodge Rampage (like the Omni and Charger but with a truck bed). Power brakes, 2.2L HO engine, 5 speed manual tranny, about 189,000 miles on it. I replaced the front pads with high quality Monroe pads after noticing very poor braking performance (not my vehicle, belongs to my daughter). After replacing the pads we noticed a significant improvement but also noticed smoke coming out of both sides of the truck at the wheel wells and confirmed the rotors were hot enough to boil water after just a ten minute drive. Removed the calipers and checked piston and bore as well as sliders. Decided to replace both calipers and both rotors. No improvement noted, still ran extremely hot. Confirmed grease on sliders and easy movement of brake pads and pistons. Replaced flex hose to see if this was the problem, no change. Checked pressure of the hydraulic system and confirmed that when the brake pedal was released the system pressure went to zero as expected. We have good pedal, no leak down but brakes will not lock up under emergency stop conditions - probably due to the overheated pads and resultant brake fade. This problem affects both front brakes equally, does not seem to affect rear brakes - at least they do not heat up like the front do.

So what am I missing here? I have been working on vehicles for 35 years and have never seen a problem like this that wasn't caused by either flex hoses or bad caliper. I even took one of the rebuilt calipers apart to check the bore and piston condition - nothing. No air in the system observed during bleeding procedure.

To reiterate -

New calipers

New pads properly greased and installed

New Rotors

1 new flex hose

Confirmed that pressure is fully released when brake pedal is at rest (double confirmed this by simply opening the bleed valve - confirmed the caliper did not relax and no squirt of fluid.)

Overheating front brakes after just ten minutes on the road.

Suggestions or ideas welcome, kinda at a loss as to what to do next. Wondering if the master cylinder could be at fault but don't see how.

Hi,

1983 Dodge Rampage with power brakes is not stopping very well. I have recently installed new calipers, new rubber brake hoses to front calipers, high end Monroe brake pads, rotors turned. Takes twice as long to stop as my 1984 Rampage and will NOT lock the front brakes no matter what. Good pedal, no leakdown, no air showing during bleed. Rear brakes are adjusted properly.

Any suggestions? Seen this before? This was an ongoing condition that I have tried to resolve with all above work over a period of several weeks. I think the condition developed over time, it was not a "suddenly no braking power" deal.

I don't want to keep throwing money at it, want to do a proper diagnosis so will check vacuum to the booster tonight. Other things to check?

Mallory asked why I thought the noise her car was making was the rear brake shoe. I would like to explain to her that her dad's theory it is the rear bearing is wrong because the noise she describes is not of a bearing failure (and bearings don't make noise only going in one direction). I added her name to my contacts list thinking I could email her an answer but there is no email address. So what do I do to answer her follow on question?

I have a Dell with Pentium 4 purchased in 2003. It is a 1.4Ghz machine and currently has a 512 and 256 RAM expansion cards installed. I want to replace the existing 256 with another 512. I think I need SDRAM PCC133 type. Is there someway of actually finding out from the computer itself other than physically checking the installed memory.

I understand their concern that R 2 W folks may benefit from union negotiated wages, but is the protester's response justified in your opinion?

I currently am using a Shure M75 but an considering an upgrade to M95. Turntable is an SL1900 Technics, speakers are large Advents. Looking for better top end response. Any opinions?

“Do not blame Caesar, blame the people of Rome who have so enthusiastically acclaimed and adored him and rejoiced in their loss of freedom and danced in his path and gave him triumphal processions. … Blame the people who hail him when he speaks in the Forum of the ‘new, wonderful good society’ which shall now be Rome’s, interpreted to mean ‘more money, more ease, more security, more living fatly at the expense of the industrious.’” –Roman statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 B.C.)

Credit: http://www.reuters.com/article/comments/idUSBRE8AT...

The tank has two 4500 watt elements and runs on 220VAC. I am pretty sure that both elements can come on in parallel. I am guessing I need a 30Amp dual and will also need to run 10Ga copper wire from the panel to the tank??

This article claims that when British government (Labour party) increased tax rate to 50% for top wage earners, actual tax revenue declined by 60% the following year. The Labour party is equivalent to the Liberal Democratic party in the US today.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9707029/T...

I am in overall of charge of my town's recreation department. I hired two directors to work in the summer camp program we run, both have children who are allowed to attend camp free while their parents are working at the camp. The directors are co equals and manage the camp and other workers in the program. My problem is that one of the children that comes with their parent, an older boy, is causing issues which are impacting programming and other staff members are complaining to the other director. I got an email from that director today asking for resolution. The director with the poor behaving son refuses to address the issue and actually steps in to take her son's side in some instances which other staffers feel is not justified. I need both directors to run the summer camp, so can't just fire the one. If I tell her the boy can't come to camp she may quit as she cannot afford child care for this boy. On the other hand I will not allow his behavior to further disrupt camp and continue to bully other children, be disrespectful to staffers, etc. The child does have some learning disability, but that is not an excuse to allow this behavior to continue. We have clear policy indicating that behavior like this will not be tolerated, a 3 strikes and you are out mandate which we have already used once this summer for another equally disruptive child. I also don't want to create issues between the two directors and one staff member (the personal friends of the director with the child in question). This staff member is our program Director and is tired of this boy causing problems for the staff as well. Turns out this was a problem last year that no one reported. So, how to deal with this issue fairly and avoid hard feelings???

I have purchased a 1978 Johnson 70 HP Triple engine without a propeller. I want to buy one but there are many choices and I don't know what originally came with it as the OEM propeller. Does anyone know for sure what it is supposed to be. I have tried the Johnson forum and antique outboards forum. No answers yet.

The fuse goes in a fuse holder back near the starter solenoid. It is a glass fuse (I think) of AGX body size, but not sure what amperage as mine is missing. Also not sure if it is AGX quick blow, or something else.

I am purchasing a mobile home with a shingled roof. The shingles need to be replaced (>15yrs old) and with the cost of heating going up each day I thought I would added some of that 2" thick rigid insulation. I would place this right on top of the existing roof and then place the firring strips for the metal roof right on top of the rigid insulation panels (which are 4x8'). By using 3" galvanized sheet rock screws I will get a good solid attachment. Then I will put the metal roofing on to the firring strips as normal. Does anyone see any downside to doing this? Has anyone tried this before?

Looking for a three hole faucet with single control lever, high loop faucet, and separate sprayer. Must have a deck plate. Most of the faucets I have seen advertised as "stainless steel" refer to the finish, not the actual material. Problem for us is brass faucets corrode after about 5 years, so we are looking for something that won't. Stainless steel is the answer for us but can't find solid stainless steel.

I just purchased this motor and the OMC mechanic I bought it from said that I should probably change the head gasket as they are supposed to be changed every two years of operation. Does anyone have a manual who would be willing to check this statement out and confirm if that is truly an OMC recommended maintenance item? Seems kinda overboard, especially on a motor that only gets 10-20 hours a year operation.

Just purchased a 40HP Johnson 1972 outboard motor and checked the compression when I got it home. Both cylinders checked out identically at 145PSI. I have never checked an outboard before, but this seem ridiculously high, I was expecting 125-130PSI. Can anyone tell me for sure where to find out what it should be?

I have a 1975 McCulloch ProMac10 which is not providing oil to the chain. I pulled the oil pump to inspect and clean it and found nothing wrong with it. I can manually push the plunger(Piston) up and down and a small trickle of oil comes out of the pump. I have tried adjusting the stroke of the plunger but it doesn't help. I srayed carb cleaner into the orifices leading to the chain and I removed the bar and chain to make sure everything was clean there. Still not getting any oil, even with the manual pump. Any suggestions welcome. I know it is an old saw, but it runs great and I just invested in a new cutter bar and chain. This problem was occurring prior to the new bar and chain BTW.

I saw this in a recent email list for Jeep Cherokee owners (one of top 5 "clunker" trade in vehicles).

A vehicle at 15 mpg and 12,000 miles per year uses 800 gallons a year of gasoline. A vehicle at 25 mpg and 12,000 miles per year uses 480 gallons a year.

So, the average clunker transaction will reduce US gasoline consumption by 320 gallons per year.

The government claims 700,000 vehicles so that is 224 million gallons/year. That equates to a bit over 5 million barrels of oil.

5 million barrels of oil is about 1/4 of one day's US consumption.

And, 5 million barrels of oil costs about $350 million dollars at $75/bbl.

So, tax payers contributed $3 billion to save $350 million and 80% of the auto profits went to foreign countries.

Does anyone in leadership do the math before they make decisions?

I am wondering if insulating the chimney in the unheated attic space will reduce the cold that is conducted down into the house when the oil furnace is not running? Also wondering if insulating the chimney will improve the draft for my woodstove and the oil furnace?