When I first got the truck, I figured it was just an old truck, and I could do anything to it while ignoring symptoms. One such misconception was to remove the check-engine light, because it kept coming on...more of an annoyance than anything.

I learned this is not "just an old truck", but a very special friend, and I need to listen to 'him'...that includes the check-engine light, and all it is trying to say.

So I replaced (re-installed) the CEL recently, and found that it comes on with specific coordinations. In short, it's telling me the throttle positioning sensor needs to be adjusted. What little misfiring/non-firing I experience is exactly times when the throttle is adjusting back to idle and at cruise. The service manual gives instructions on how to adjust that, and it requires an OHM meter. (My thanks to Redneckmoparman for suggesting the DVOM: I got one yesterday). (Further thanks to noahwins for the information about the "service req'd" light in another thread: I put together that this light is essentially to remind us to replace the timing belt).

My thanks to the whole forum for the pool of knowledge here.

Though I've complained about the Haynes book, having experienced seeing those without a book at all makes me appreciate having the specs and steps on hand in printed form. I need not rely on the internet for basics while hoping for no power outages when I'm working on the vehicle.

The first "official" meeting of the mid-Atlantic MR50.net group happened yesterday when I went to RamBam's town. Taking route 11 was a pleasant drive that also helped me get 30 MPG. As my oil consumption is still higher than I'd like it to be, I avoid the high speeds and stress of the interstate, and tooling along at 45-55 sort of is a return to sanity. Those speeds are optimum for any engine, and at least with the Virginia chapter of the mid-Atlantic meets, these two-lane back roads might be a trademark we can live with. Until that distant future when my engine is rebuilt, sure-footed motoring is preserving the longjevity of my little truck. Even then, the interstate has gotten old, for me: I have no need to let life pass me by, or pass life by. "Getting there quick" to hurry up and do things so that we can hurry up and speed some more so we can hurry home makes no sense to me.

When life is over, and we're asked what we did with it, how sad it would be to have to report "I went fast, I saw little, and oddly, there was no time to appreciate much." Gandhi said it best decades ago:

"There is more to life than increasing its speed."

Photo from yesterday
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