Perpetual Ruminations

Sunday

Kind of late getting in here again tonight, I need to get back to the early entries, they go much better. I worked again today, but didn't have to stick around all afternoon. It was pretty quiet and slow, which was good considering it was non stop yesterday. Also, it was cold, wet, and windy out today. I mean windy as in almost blow a person over, windy. They came out of the east at about thirty five miles per hour, with gusts averaging in the fifties, and occasionally in the sixties.

This made it feel even colder than it was. I think we hit fifty degrees today, but the winds made it feel like about twenty or so. I seen in the forecast more rain and wind for tomorrow, but not as severe as it was today. Of course that can change a lot by tomorrow. For example, yesterday I looked at the weather at about four in the morning before leaving for work. It was suppose to be a pretty nice day, with winds in the teens to around twenty. By the time I got to work, the wind was in the twenties and by six it was blowing at thirty miles per hour, with gusts into the forties. But, at least the sun came out for a while, and the temperature hit about sixty.

From the forecast this afternoon, we may see snow by Tuesday if things stay as they are now. It's the same weather pattern we have had all winter, we get one or two nice days, but they are very windy, then the snow or rain hits and the temperatures plummet. Then, after about a week we get another day or two of nice weather, but the wind comes with it, then another round of cold and wet.

The only difference now, is the sun has climbed farther into our hemisphere and is warming things up some, so even when the cold weather hits, we don't drop much below freezing anymore. Also, as soon as the clouds break up and the sun gets to shine, it's warm enough to melt off the snow quickly, and warm the air back up until the next round of arctic air moves into the area.

Other than the weather, it was a nice enough day, slow at work, but that's a good thing when it's miserably outside like it was today. Then, on the way home I called my brother and had a nice chat with him. He had some car problems and had to switch out the gas cap again. It was running all right, but the engine light came on. Seems the cap leaks after a while and it messes up the emissions system.

When he told me this, I thought of the problems we have with our van. We had the EGR replaced and it got better, but still gives us problems that get worse as the vehicle is driven. After Rhonda has her days off, the van runs great. Why? Well it sits for the two or three days since it isn't running good. If we need to go anyplace, we take my Jimmy and let the van sit. So, after her days off, it runs fine the first day she returns to work. The second day it gives just a little trouble, the third, it acts up a few times, and by the forth, it's a lot of problems. This has been the the only consistent thing we can find, it gets worse each day until it sits for a few days.

So, today my brother mentions the gas cap causing his engine light to come on, and this gets me thinking, did our problems get worse after I changed over to a locking gas cap? They did. And, I recently learned that our vans fuel system is kind of odd, it has no regulator to control fuel pressure, and there is no return line to the gas tank. The vehicle computer tells a module in the back of the van how much fuel is required, and that module controls the fuel pump speed. As the vehicle needs more fuel, the pump runs faster, as it needs less, the pump slows down. There is a little bit more to it than just this, but it's the general idea.

So, our system needs to vent as the pump pulls the fuel out of the tank and pushes it to the engine. Most other fuel systems have a return line and a regulator. The regulator holds the fuel at a constant pressure, and any extra fuel pumped is returned. These type systems need a sealed tank to work correctly, and if the fuel cap leaks or is loose, it will trigger the emissions light. But, our system is just the opposite, the system needs to vent or a vacuum will build in the tank and restrict fuel flow. That means the fuel cap must be vented to allow air into the tank.

We had replaced the fuel filler cap with a locking cap, and that's when the problem started getting worse. So, tonight I looked at the old cap, and seen it is indeed vented, but it was gummed up and sticking. I got it to pop loose and then sprayed some lubricant into the venting system valve. It should work great now, and if that was the problem with the engine, it should run better tomorrow. I have my hopes up, but then again, it seems too easy and simple.  But, just maybe, this will fix the problem. At least, I sure hope it does.