In an accompanying aritcle to the PM's list of 25 skills every man
should know!
a discussion of whether Americans are losing their DIY skills.

Are they or are the skills needed just changing?

Your thoughts?

I suspect it is a bit of both.

TMT

http://www.popularmechanics.com/home...o/4221637.html

By Glenn Harlan Reynolds
Illustration by Paul Blow
Photograph by Burcu Avsar
Published in the October 2007 issue.


Science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein once wrote: "A human being
should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog,
conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts,
build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders,
cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch
manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die
gallantly. Specialization is for insects."

That's a tall order. Although I can only do some of those things, I
approve of the principle. Now*adays, though, we're specializing more.
A popular Internet essay is titled: "I Can't Do One-Quarter of the
Things My Father Can." Are hands-on skills-building things, fixing
things, operating machines and so on-really in decline?

I think so. SAT scores provide a record of academic performance, but
there's no equivalent archive for tracking handiness. There is,
however, a lot of anecdotal evidence that what used to be taken for
granted as ordinary mechanical skills now amounts to something
unusual. When I recently wrote on my Web site about the importance of
giving kids hands-on toys, a reader e-mailed: "Boy, can I second [your
point about] the lack of basic skills in adults. I volunteer with
Habitat for Humanity here in Los Angeles. The volunteers who come out
frequently can't do something as basic as using a tape measure. ...
Many of my Saturdays are effectively clinics on how to pound a nail."

Even the simplest of automotive tasks, changing a tire, seems to be
beyond the ken of many people. According to AAA, nearly 4 million
motorists requested roadside assistance last year-for flat tires.

And just look at the Popular Mechanics Boy Mechanic books to see the
kinds of skills that boys and teenagers were once routinely expected
to possess. These books (which PM published in the early 20th century
and recently reissued) assumed that young readers would be prepared to
construct a fully rigged ice boat, a toy steam engine, or-I'm not
kidding-a homebuilt "Bearcat" roadster powered by a motorcycle
engine.

It's hard to imagine too many teenagers tackling projects of that
magnitude these days. To be fair, young people today are likely to
have skills that earlier generations never dreamed of-building Web
sites, say, or editing digital movies. But manipulating pixels and
working with physical materials aren't quite the same thing.

Does this matter? And if people are becoming less mechanically handy,
is that so bad? I think so-and not just because specialization is for
insects.


We don't all have to be MacGyver, but from time to time all of us will
face problems that can't be addressed with a laptop and a cellphone.
In a genuine emergency, having some basic manual skills could be the
difference between surviving comfortably and being totally helpless.

I think that a modicum of ability in dealing with the physical world
is good even for those of us whose jobs are mostly cerebral. Engineer
Vannevar Bush, one of the great minds of the 20th century, made his
mark on everything from the Manhattan Project to the development of
computers. But when he wasn't commanding vast enterprises, Bush spent
a lot of time in his basement workshop building things. He said that
trying to make a finished project match his blueprints taught him
humility and problem solving.

Shop classes and the Boy Scouts used to teach a lot of real-world
skills, but both have faded under the onslaught of budget cuts and
shifting political winds. (Shop isn't just for boys: My wife took shop
in high school, and is glad she did.) The traditional father-son route
for teaching these skills has also weakened, as many fathers lack the
requisite skills themselves, and others, because of divorce, don't
have as much opportunity.

I don't think the decline in hands-on skills is irreversible. In fact,
it might be starting to turn around. The boom in home reno*vation has
led many people to brush up their DIY chops. Home Depot and other
retailers are finding success offering workshops in basic techniques.

We're also seeing changes in our popular culture. One example is the
best-selling status of The Dangerous Book for Boys, by the brothers
Conn and Hal Iggulden. It hearkens back to the Boy Scout manuals and *
other boys' books of the early 20th century, with instructions on how
to build go-karts, bows and arrows, rafts and more. The book's success
tells me people are interested in regaining lost ground. (It works,
too: I gave my 8-year-old nephew a copy, and it got him away from the
Xbox and into the outdoors.)

Conn Iggulden tells me he hopes the book inspires fathers to get out
in the yard with their sons to build catapults and the like. "Most
boys will value something they do with their dad, and they'll have an
experience they'll value for the rest of their lives," he says. "If
you show them how to beat the next level on the Xbox, it won't last
the rest of their lives."

We can start with our own families, but there's no reason to stop
there. Most people can do more than they think they can, and it's
often fear of failure as much as lack of skill that keeps people from
tackling hands-on tasks. So the next time you see somebody by the side
of the road, waiting for AAA, pull over and show them how to use a
tire iron. Who knows? It just might catch on.

How many of your family memeber under the age of 60 know how to change a
tire? If you call AAA here in ski season you might wait 5 hours.
Mechanical skills are usually inherited from someone who teaches, not
self-taught. We are the ones who can do that. I have left a long chain of
people in my trade with more than they came in with, as it is my turn.

--
Stupendous Man,
Defender of Freedom, Advocate of Liberty

"Too_Many_Tools" wrote in message
oups.com...
In an accompanying aritcle to the PM's list of 25 skills every man
should know!
a discussion of whether Americans are losing their DIY skills.

Are they or are the skills needed just changing?

Your thoughts?

I suspect it is a bit of both.

TMT

http://www.popularmechanics.com/home...o/4221637.html

By Glenn Harlan Reynolds
Illustration by Paul Blow
Photograph by Burcu Avsar
Published in the October 2007 issue.


snip


We're also seeing changes in our popular culture. One example is the
best-selling status of The Dangerous Book for Boys, by the brothers
Conn and Hal Iggulden. It hearkens back to the Boy Scout manuals and *
other boys' books of the early 20th century, with instructions on how
to build go-karts, bows and arrows, rafts and more. The book's success
tells me people are interested in regaining lost ground. (It works,
too: I gave my 8-year-old nephew a copy, and it got him away from the
Xbox and into the outdoors.)

======================================

I'll believe it when I see something like the article I clipped from _Boy's
Life_, around 1958 or so, about how to make a 'coon-skin cap. It even
contained patterns for cutting up the 'coon.

Those were the days...

--
Ed Huntress

"Stupendous Man" wrote in message
...
How many of your family memeber under the age of 60 know how to change a
tire? If you call AAA here in ski season you might wait 5 hours.
Mechanical skills are usually inherited from someone who teaches, not
self-taught. We are the ones who can do that. I have left a long chain of
people in my trade with more than they came in with, as it is my turn.

Cell phones help in that regard. I got a call from my son's girlfriend two
weeks ago (her dad, a retired state police officer, wasn't reachable). She
was in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia with a flat tire and two
passengers, God knows how far from the nearest garage. I told them how to
set up the jack, how to loosen the lug nuts and the whole works over the
phone.

Amazingly, it worked. And now three more people know how to change a tire.
d8-)

--
Ed Huntress

On Sep 14, 1:24 pm, "Ed Huntress" wrote:
"Too_Many_Tools" wrote in message

oups.com...
In an accompanying aritcle to the PM's list of 25 skills every man
should know!
a discussion of whether Americans are losing their DIY skills.

Are they or are the skills needed just changing?

Your thoughts?

I suspect it is a bit of both.

TMT

http://www.popularmechanics.com/home...o/4221637.html

By Glenn Harlan Reynolds
Illustration by Paul Blow
Photograph by Burcu Avsar
Published in the October 2007 issue.

snip

We're also seeing changes in our popular culture. One example is the
best-selling status of The Dangerous Book for Boys, by the brothers
Conn and Hal Iggulden. It hearkens back to the Boy Scout manuals and *
other boys' books of the early 20th century, with instructions on how
to build go-karts, bows and arrows, rafts and more. The book's success
tells me people are interested in regaining lost ground. (It works,
too: I gave my 8-year-old nephew a copy, and it got him away from the
Xbox and into the outdoors.)

======================================

I'll believe it when I see something like the article I clipped from _Boy's
Life_, around 1958 or so, about how to make a 'coon-skin cap. It even
contained patterns for cutting up the 'coon.

Those were the days...

--
Ed Huntress

Sorry to say but...
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl...IRLS03/TPStory

T

"surftom" wrote in message
ups.com...
On Sep 14, 1:24 pm, "Ed Huntress" wrote:
"Too_Many_Tools" wrote in message

oups.com...
In an accompanying aritcle to the PM's list of 25 skills every man
should know!
a discussion of whether Americans are losing their DIY skills.

Are they or are the skills needed just changing?

Your thoughts?

I suspect it is a bit of both.

TMT

http://www.popularmechanics.com/home...o/4221637.html

By Glenn Harlan Reynolds
Illustration by Paul Blow
Photograph by Burcu Avsar
Published in the October 2007 issue.

snip

We're also seeing changes in our popular culture. One example is the
best-selling status of The Dangerous Book for Boys, by the brothers
Conn and Hal Iggulden. It hearkens back to the Boy Scout manuals and *
other boys' books of the early 20th century, with instructions on how
to build go-karts, bows and arrows, rafts and more. The book's success
tells me people are interested in regaining lost ground. (It works,
too: I gave my 8-year-old nephew a copy, and it got him away from the
Xbox and into the outdoors.)

======================================

I'll believe it when I see something like the article I clipped from
_Boy's
Life_, around 1958 or so, about how to make a 'coon-skin cap. It even
contained patterns for cutting up the 'coon.

Those were the days...

--
Ed Huntress

Sorry to say but...
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl...IRLS03/TPStory

Haha! Oh, that's a good one.

--
Ed Huntress

Too_Many_Tools wrote:
In an accompanying aritcle to the PM's list of 25 skills every man
should know!
a discussion of whether Americans are losing their DIY skills.

Are they or are the skills needed just changing?

Your thoughts?

Which generation are you talking about?

I have far more equipment and skills than
my dad did, and he was no slouch at DIY.

I put together a little toolkit for my
daughter to take with her to college. I
asked her if she ever used it last time
she was home. She said "all the time".

Her current boyfriend is very good as well.
I handed him a new throttle position
sensor for her car and watched him install
it like a pro. Not a big job unless you
do something silly like drop the screws,
which he didn't.

On Sep 14, 1:24 pm, "Ed Huntress" wrote:
....
I'll believe it when I see something like the article I clipped from _Boy's
Life_, around 1958 or so, about how to make a 'coon-skin cap. It even
contained patterns for cutting up the 'coon.
Ed Huntress

Couldn't find a racoon so I skinned a porcupine, then a skunk. Neither
one worked out very well...

jw

I have a dozen or so copys of PM's "shop notes" ranging from 1937 to 1952.
Lots of good stuff there!


--
Stupendous Man,
Defender of Freedom, Advocate of Liberty

On Fri, 14 Sep 2007 10:02:47 -0700, "Stupendous Man"
wrote:

How many of your family memeber under the age of 60 know how to change a
tire? If you call AAA here in ski season you might wait 5 hours.
Mechanical skills are usually inherited from someone who teaches, not
self-taught. We are the ones who can do that. I have left a long chain of
people in my trade with more than they came in with, as it is my turn.

My 24 year old daughter can change her own tires, drives a standard,
checks her own oil (and HAS changed it). My 25 year old daughter, on
the other hand, HAS driven a standard, but much prefers the automatic.
She doesn't own a car, and would likelyu manage to change a tire if
she had to, but is a whiz in the kitchen.

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

Jim Stewart wrote:
I have far more equipment and skills than
my dad did, and he was no slouch at DIY.

I think I do also and he was also. :-)

I put together a little toolkit for my
daughter to take with her to college. I
asked her if she ever used it last time
she was home. She said "all the time".

I did that for our daughter when she moved
away to another state and with good results.

Her current boyfriend is very good as well.
I handed him a new throttle position
sensor for her car and watched him install
it like a pro. Not a big job unless you
do something silly like drop the screws,
which he didn't.

OK. What is a throttle position sensor and
what is it needed/used for?. I know what
the throttle in a carburator is and how
it works but the position sensor is a new
one on me.
...lew...

"Jim Wilkins" wrote in message
ups.com...
On Sep 14, 1:24 pm, "Ed Huntress" wrote:
...
I'll believe it when I see something like the article I clipped from
_Boy's
Life_, around 1958 or so, about how to make a 'coon-skin cap. It even
contained patterns for cutting up the 'coon.
Ed Huntress

Couldn't find a racoon so I skinned a porcupine, then a skunk. Neither
one worked out very well...

Ouch! I'll bet the porky made a very uncomfortable hat.

But here's something that surprised me -- and I'm completely serious about
this -- that _BL_ article mentioned that skunks make very nice caps. I don't
recall what they said about the smell, but, IIRC, a good shot with a .22 to
the head was supposed to kill them before they spray. Getting the gland out
of them is another matter.

Did I ever tell the story here about the skunk that walked under the
picnic-table chair I was sitting in and decided to lay down there for a nap?
If not, remind me some time and I'll tell it.

--
Ed Huntress

On Fri, 14 Sep 2007 13:24:39 -0400, with neither quill nor qualm, "Ed
Huntress" quickly quoth:

snip

We're also seeing changes in our popular culture. One example is the
best-selling status of The Dangerous Book for Boys, by the brothers
Conn and Hal Iggulden. It hearkens back to the Boy Scout manuals and *
other boys' books of the early 20th century, with instructions on how
to build go-karts, bows and arrows, rafts and more. The book's success
tells me people are interested in regaining lost ground. (It works,
too: I gave my 8-year-old nephew a copy, and it got him away from the
Xbox and into the outdoors.)

======================================

I'll believe it when I see something like the article I clipped from _Boy's
Life_, around 1958 or so, about how to make a 'coon-skin cap. It even
contained patterns for cutting up the 'coon.

Those were the days...

I've found Eliot Wigginton's Appalachian adventures with his students
(the Foxfire book series) great, too. http://tinyurl.com/3cbs8w

--
If you turn the United States on its side,
everything loose will fall to California.
--Frank Lloyd Wright

lew hartswick wrote in article
...
Jim Stewart wrote:
I have far more equipment and skills than
my dad did, and he was no slouch at DIY.

I think I do also and he was also. :-)

I put together a little toolkit for my
daughter to take with her to college. I
asked her if she ever used it last time
she was home. She said "all the time".

I did that for our daughter when she moved
away to another state and with good results.

Her current boyfriend is very good as well.
I handed him a new throttle position
sensor for her car and watched him install
it like a pro. Not a big job unless you
do something silly like drop the screws,
which he didn't.

OK. What is a throttle position sensor and
what is it needed/used for?. I know what
the throttle in a carburator is and how
it works but the position sensor is a new
one on me.
...lew...



One thing a TPS will do is tell the computer how hard the engine is
working......


For example......If you are at quarter throttle, moving down the highway at
2500 RPM the computer needs to set a different fueling scheme from having
the throttle wide-open with the engine turning 1000 RPM pulling a 35 foot,
loaded tag-a-long trailer up a hill.

That's a bit of an exxageration, but you get the idea.......

Throttle position is simply another measurement that is fed into the
computer to help it decide fuel and timing parameters.

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 14 Sep 2007 13:24:39 -0400, with neither quill nor qualm, "Ed
Huntress" quickly quoth:

snip

We're also seeing changes in our popular culture. One example is the
best-selling status of The Dangerous Book for Boys, by the brothers
Conn and Hal Iggulden. It hearkens back to the Boy Scout manuals and *
other boys' books of the early 20th century, with instructions on how
to build go-karts, bows and arrows, rafts and more. The book's success
tells me people are interested in regaining lost ground. (It works,
too: I gave my 8-year-old nephew a copy, and it got him away from the
Xbox and into the outdoors.)

======================================

I'll believe it when I see something like the article I clipped from
_Boy's
Life_, around 1958 or so, about how to make a 'coon-skin cap. It even
contained patterns for cutting up the 'coon.

Those were the days...

I've found Eliot Wigginton's Appalachian adventures with his students
(the Foxfire book series) great, too. http://tinyurl.com/3cbs8w

Ah, yeah, the Foxfire books are good. I've always enjoyed reading them.

If you have a library nearby that keeps old books, look for _Two Little
Savages_ by Ernest Thompson Seton (1911). It was my dad's favorite when he
was a boy and it may have been the most popular book for boys before 1925 or
so. I loved it when I was a boy, too. It contains a wealth of old woodlore,
including making "Indian style" leather by tanning with mashed, cooked
brains and liver...oh, well, you'd have to read it for yourself.

--
Ed Huntress

in my case we all can. if you refer to my web page, www.wbnoble.com, you
will find (under hobbies/cars) a photo of a green dodge - this is what both
daughters drove to HS (they are in their 20s) - the older one painted it
(fenders off, lots of sanding, etc), the younger one did timing chain, fuel
pump (by herself 100 miles from home, in the dark), brakes, etc. Both drive
manual trans, both do their own basic service though the older one really
doesn't like to. Both teach their friends (of both sexes) which way to hold
a screwdriver - I think a lot of the problem is parents who cannot be
bothered to spend time with their kids - after a couple of generations, the
skills are really lost. And for them, if we ever really enforce or
immigration laws, they will find it hard to cope.

there are several morals he
1. "I'm a girl" is not an excuse for lack of knowlege - "I'm not strong
enough" is a fair response when true - but show how to use leverage
2. that which isnt' taught isn't learned.
3. if you have no clue how it's done, you won't know when you are being
taken to the cleaners
4. if you know how, and dont' want to (for any reason), then that's OK

clare at snyder.on.ca wrote in message
...
On Fri, 14 Sep 2007 10:02:47 -0700, "Stupendous Man"
wrote:

How many of your family memeber under the age of 60 know how to change a
tire? If you call AAA here in ski season you might wait 5 hours.
Mechanical skills are usually inherited from someone who teaches, not
self-taught. We are the ones who can do that. I have left a long chain of
people in my trade with more than they came in with, as it is my turn.

My 24 year old daughter can change her own tires, drives a standard,
checks her own oil (and HAS changed it). My 25 year old daughter, on
the other hand, HAS driven a standard, but much prefers the automatic.
She doesn't own a car, and would likelyu manage to change a tire if
she had to, but is a whiz in the kitchen.

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com




--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

On Fri, 14 Sep 2007 13:58:28 -0600, with neither quill nor qualm, lew
hartswick quickly quoth:

Jim Stewart wrote:
I have far more equipment and skills than
my dad did, and he was no slouch at DIY.

I think I do also and he was also. :-)

I'll ditto this. My talents exceeded Dad's, but he got me started.


OK. What is a throttle position sensor and
what is it needed/used for?. I know what
the throttle in a carburator is and how
it works but the position sensor is a new
one on me.

The throttle position sensor on an EFI (that's Electronic Fuel
Injection for those of you in Rio Linda) works like an electronic
version of the venturi in the carb. It tells the EFI to put so much
gasoline out the injectors depending upon the position of the valve.

--
If you turn the United States on its side,
everything loose will fall to California.
--Frank Lloyd Wright

On Sep 14, 1:28 pm, Jim Wilkins wrote:
On Sep 14, 1:24 pm, "Ed Huntress" wrote:
...

I'll believe it when I see something like the article I clipped from _Boy's
Life_, around 1958 or so, about how to make a 'coon-skin cap. It even
contained patterns for cutting up the 'coon.
Ed Huntress

Couldn't find a racoon so I skinned a porcupine, then a skunk. Neither
one worked out very well...

jw

That is expected.

You likely put the pointy side of the porcupine down and the skunk's
tail was supposed to be on the back of the hat, not the front. ;)

TMT

On Fri, 14 Sep 2007 16:46:16 -0400, with neither quill nor qualm, "Ed
Huntress" quickly quoth:


"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
.. .
On Fri, 14 Sep 2007 13:24:39 -0400, with neither quill nor qualm, "Ed
Huntress" quickly quoth:

snip

We're also seeing changes in our popular culture. One example is the
best-selling status of The Dangerous Book for Boys, by the brothers
Conn and Hal Iggulden. It hearkens back to the Boy Scout manuals and *
other boys' books of the early 20th century, with instructions on how
to build go-karts, bows and arrows, rafts and more. The book's success
tells me people are interested in regaining lost ground. (It works,
too: I gave my 8-year-old nephew a copy, and it got him away from the
Xbox and into the outdoors.)

======================================

I'll believe it when I see something like the article I clipped from
_Boy's
Life_, around 1958 or so, about how to make a 'coon-skin cap. It even
contained patterns for cutting up the 'coon.

Those were the days...

I've found Eliot Wigginton's Appalachian adventures with his students
(the Foxfire book series) great, too. http://tinyurl.com/3cbs8w

Ah, yeah, the Foxfire books are good. I've always enjoyed reading them.

If you have a library nearby that keeps old books, look for _Two Little
Savages_ by Ernest Thompson Seton (1911). It was my dad's favorite when he

Will do, if it ever reopens. We lost 'em last May.


was a boy and it may have been the most popular book for boys before 1925 or
so. I loved it when I was a boy, too. It contains a wealth of old woodlore,
including making "Indian style" leather by tanning with mashed, cooked
brains and liver...oh, well, you'd have to read it for yourself.

Gee, I'm gettin hungry just thinking about it, Ed. bseg

_The American Boy's Handy Book_ looks like another good 'un, decanted
back in 1882.

P.S: I prefer my leather store-boughten, TYVM.

--
If you turn the United States on its side,
everything loose will fall to California.
--Frank Lloyd Wright

On Sep 14, 12:56 pm, Jim Stewart wrote:
Too_Many_Tools wrote:
In an accompanying aritcle to the PM's list of 25 skills every man
should know!
a discussion of whether Americans are losing their DIY skills.

Are they or are the skills needed just changing?

Your thoughts?

Which generation are you talking about?

I have far more equipment and skills than
my dad did, and he was no slouch at DIY.

I put together a little toolkit for my
daughter to take with her to college. I
asked her if she ever used it last time
she was home. She said "all the time".

Her current boyfriend is very good as well.
I handed him a new throttle position
sensor for her car and watched him install
it like a pro. Not a big job unless you
do something silly like drop the screws,
which he didn't.

How did you know that the TPS was the problem?

TMT

On Fri, 14 Sep 2007 12:36:54 -0700, "Stupendous Man"
wrote:

I have a dozen or so copys of PM's "shop notes" ranging from 1937 to 1952.
Lots of good stuff there!

Ditto. Also 3 sets of the Pop Mech encyclopedia frpom 1949 to 1973.

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

Too_Many_Tools wrote:
On Sep 14, 12:56 pm, Jim Stewart wrote:
Too_Many_Tools wrote:
In an accompanying aritcle to the PM's list of 25 skills every man
should know!
a discussion of whether Americans are losing their DIY skills.
Are they or are the skills needed just changing?
Your thoughts?
Which generation are you talking about?

I have far more equipment and skills than
my dad did, and he was no slouch at DIY.

I put together a little toolkit for my
daughter to take with her to college. I
asked her if she ever used it last time
she was home. She said "all the time".

Her current boyfriend is very good as well.
I handed him a new throttle position
sensor for her car and watched him install
it like a pro. Not a big job unless you
do something silly like drop the screws,
which he didn't.

How did you know that the TPS was the problem?

In order..

1. Not shifting at the right time.
2. Check Engine light
3. Scan code of TPS failure.

This is the fourth TSP I've changed
in the last 15 years so it's not a big
surprise. Two on my Tauri and 2 on
the Subarus.

On Fri, 14 Sep 2007 16:17:49 -0700, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Fri, 14 Sep 2007 13:58:28 -0600, with neither quill nor qualm, lew
hartswick quickly quoth:

Jim Stewart wrote:
I have far more equipment and skills than
my dad did, and he was no slouch at DIY.

I think I do also and he was also. :-)

I'll ditto this. My talents exceeded Dad's, but he got me started.


OK. What is a throttle position sensor and
what is it needed/used for?. I know what
the throttle in a carburator is and how
it works but the position sensor is a new
one on me.

The throttle position sensor on an EFI (that's Electronic Fuel
Injection for those of you in Rio Linda) works like an electronic
version of the venturi in the carb. It tells the EFI to put so much
gasoline out the injectors depending upon the position of the valve.


More correctly it tells the EFI computer not only the position of the
throttle but how fast it is moving in which direction. The amount of
fuel is tetermmined by the mass airflow sensor (MAF) and/or the
manifold absolute pressure sensor (MAP). Both of theses sense engine
load. The throttle position sensor (TPS) tells the engine if the
throttle is closed (either at idle or on over-run - shut off injection
if on over-run) in the cruise area(run closed loop) or wide open (go
to open loop for max power). On some vehicles it also calls for
accelleration enrichment depending on how fast it is opening.

These sensors also control engne timing - and on some cars
transmission shifting and a host of other details.

Complex systems, the modern electronic engine control.

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

Too_Many_Tools wrote in
ups.com:


How did you know that the TPS was the problem?

TMT



My bet is a code scanner.


--
Anthony

You can't 'idiot proof' anything....every time you try, they just make
better idiots.

Remove sp to reply via email

Too_Many_Tools wrote in
oups.com:


Are they or are the skills needed just changing?

Your thoughts?

I suspect it is a bit of both.


Both. Skill sets are changing, but the demise of the summer help for mom
& pop farms, mowing yards, etc is another reason.

--
Anthony

You can't 'idiot proof' anything....every time you try, they just make
better idiots.

Remove sp to reply via email

Too_Many_Tools wrote in
oups.com:

In an accompanying aritcle to the PM's list of 25 skills every
man should know!
a discussion of whether Americans are losing their DIY skills.

Are they or are the skills needed just changing?

Your thoughts?

I suspect it is a bit of both.

TMT

http://www.popularmechanics.com/home...o/4221637.html

SNIP

I have a much more subversive opinion.

There are now 150 million more people in the US than in 1950. This
is double.

"Social" competition has become intense.

Everyone is trying to steal from someone else. You may call it taxes
or fees or dues or premiums or whatever but it's still trying to get
someone elses money for something they can't decline.

The mental and physical effort to navigate the new society does not
leave people with as much energy to develop skills that are not
directly relevant to their primary vocation.

"Too_Many_Tools" wrote in message
oups.com...
In an accompanying aritcle to the PM's list of 25 skills every man
should know!
a discussion of whether Americans are losing their DIY skills.

snip

"And just look at the Popular Mechanics Boy Mechanic books to see the
kinds of skills that boys and teenagers were once routinely expected
to possess. These books (which PM published in the early 20th century
and recently reissued) assumed that young readers would be prepared to
construct a fully rigged ice boat, a toy steam engine, or-I'm not
kidding-a homebuilt "Bearcat" roadster powered by a motorcycle
engine.

It's hard to imagine too many teenagers tackling projects of that
magnitude these days."

It's also hard to imagine 99% of the population actually carrying out the
majority of projects in PM at any time in contemporary history, so I would
take those books with a grain of salt. I still remember the 1960's PM
project to make a flying car out of a Corvair in your backyard.

On Fri, 14 Sep 2007 21:02:44 -0400, "ATP*"
wrote:


It's also hard to imagine 99% of the population actually carrying out the
majority of projects in PM at any time in contemporary history, so I would
take those books with a grain of salt. I still remember the 1960's PM
project to make a flying car out of a Corvair in your backyard.


My favorite was the article on how to build your own airliner, legal
for passenger service in a few South American countries, using
discarded Electroluxes as turbine engines. On second thought, maybe
that was in Mad Magazine's "Popular Scientific Mechanics" parody...

On a more serious note, I think in many cases the obstacle to doing
things is not a lack of skills, but ignorance of the fact that a given
task is possible with relatively modest and easy to acquire skills.

--
Ned Simmons

On Sep 14, 9:05 pm, Ned Simmons wrote:
On Fri, 14 Sep 2007 21:02:44 -0400, "ATP*"

On a more serious note, I think in many cases the obstacle to doing
things is not a lack of skills, but ignorance of the fact that a given
task is possible with relatively modest and easy to acquire skills.

That right there is what amazes me. I had a co-worker over at my
house and he was amazed at a simple shelf I built to put the microwave
on to free up counter space.

Need to see what he thinks when I cast concrete counter tops.

Ed Huntress wrote:

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 14 Sep 2007 13:24:39 -0400, with neither quill nor qualm, "Ed
Huntress" quickly quoth:

snip

We're also seeing changes in our popular culture. One example is the
best-selling status of The Dangerous Book for Boys, by the brothers
Conn and Hal Iggulden. It hearkens back to the Boy Scout manuals and *
other boys' books of the early 20th century, with instructions on how
to build go-karts, bows and arrows, rafts and more. The book's success
tells me people are interested in regaining lost ground. (It works,
too: I gave my 8-year-old nephew a copy, and it got him away from the
Xbox and into the outdoors.)

======================================

I'll believe it when I see something like the article I clipped from
_Boy's
Life_, around 1958 or so, about how to make a 'coon-skin cap. It even
contained patterns for cutting up the 'coon.

Those were the days...

I've found Eliot Wigginton's Appalachian adventures with his students
(the Foxfire book series) great, too. http://tinyurl.com/3cbs8w

Ah, yeah, the Foxfire books are good. I've always enjoyed reading them.

If you have a library nearby that keeps old books, look for _Two Little
Savages_ by Ernest Thompson Seton (1911).


http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/13499 ?


It was my dad's favorite when he
was a boy and it may have been the most popular book for boys before 1925 or
so. I loved it when I was a boy, too. It contains a wealth of old woodlore,
including making "Indian style" leather by tanning with mashed, cooked
brains and liver...oh, well, you'd have to read it for yourself.

--
Ed Huntress


--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

On Fri, 14 Sep 2007 13:28:32 -0400, "Ed Huntress"
wrote:


"Stupendous Man" wrote in message
...
How many of your family memeber under the age of 60 know how to change a
tire? If you call AAA here in ski season you might wait 5 hours.
Mechanical skills are usually inherited from someone who teaches, not
self-taught. We are the ones who can do that. I have left a long chain of
people in my trade with more than they came in with, as it is my turn.

Cell phones help in that regard. I got a call from my son's girlfriend two
weeks ago (her dad, a retired state police officer, wasn't reachable). She
was in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia with a flat tire and two
passengers, God knows how far from the nearest garage. I told them how to
set up the jack, how to loosen the lug nuts and the whole works over the
phone.

Amazingly, it worked. And now three more people know how to change a tire.
d8-)
I find that my cell phone is very helpfull - I get 5 service calls per
year for any car near my phone. First year I had two tows, second year
a lockout, this year two tows so far, and none of these for my
personal vehicle as it is covered under extended warranty. The cost of
this comes out of the surplus on our pay and talk 10.00/month plan for
an emergency phone we rarely use (we currently have over 16 hours
local call time available).
As to DiY repairs, SWMBO is the only one that might have problems as
she is a city girl who's father passed away when she was a year old
and her mother was too busy raising nine kids to think about looking
for another man. I grew up in the country and was ten years old before
we got electric lights.
Gerry :-)}
London, Canada

On Fri, 14 Sep 2007 16:46:16 -0400, "Ed Huntress"
wrote:



Ah, yeah, the Foxfire books are good. I've always enjoyed reading them.

If you have a library nearby that keeps old books, look for _Two Little
Savages_ by Ernest Thompson Seton (1911). It was my dad's favorite when he
was a boy and it may have been the most popular book for boys before 1925 or
so. I loved it when I was a boy, too. It contains a wealth of old woodlore,
including making "Indian style" leather by tanning with mashed, cooked
brains and liver...oh, well, you'd have to read it for yourself.
That is available from Project Gutenberg -

http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

along with many other authors and titles.
Gerry :-)}
London, Canada

"Michael A. Terrell" wrote in message
...
Ed Huntress wrote:

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 14 Sep 2007 13:24:39 -0400, with neither quill nor qualm, "Ed
Huntress" quickly quoth:

snip

We're also seeing changes in our popular culture. One example is the
best-selling status of The Dangerous Book for Boys, by the brothers
Conn and Hal Iggulden. It hearkens back to the Boy Scout manuals and *
other boys' books of the early 20th century, with instructions on how
to build go-karts, bows and arrows, rafts and more. The book's success
tells me people are interested in regaining lost ground. (It works,
too: I gave my 8-year-old nephew a copy, and it got him away from the
Xbox and into the outdoors.)

======================================

I'll believe it when I see something like the article I clipped from
_Boy's
Life_, around 1958 or so, about how to make a 'coon-skin cap. It even
contained patterns for cutting up the 'coon.

Those were the days...

I've found Eliot Wigginton's Appalachian adventures with his students
(the Foxfire book series) great, too. http://tinyurl.com/3cbs8w

Ah, yeah, the Foxfire books are good. I've always enjoyed reading them.

If you have a library nearby that keeps old books, look for _Two Little
Savages_ by Ernest Thompson Seton (1911).


http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/13499 ?

Son of a gun! Thanks, Michael. I wouldn't have thought to look for it there.

I was wrong on the copyright date, BTW. I was looking at the printing date.
The copyright was 1903.

--
Ed Huntress

Gerald Miller wrote:

That is available from Project Gutenberg -

http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

along with many other authors and titles.
Gerry :-)}
London, Canada

That was a relly nice link offering!

Thanks.

wrote in message
oups.com...
On Sep 14, 9:05 pm, Ned Simmons wrote:
On Fri, 14 Sep 2007 21:02:44 -0400, "ATP*"

On a more serious note, I think in many cases the obstacle to doing
things is not a lack of skills, but ignorance of the fact that a given
task is possible with relatively modest and easy to acquire skills.

That right there is what amazes me. I had a co-worker over at my
house and he was amazed at a simple shelf I built to put the microwave
on to free up counter space.

Need to see what he thinks when I cast concrete counter tops.

What does the surface look like when you're done? Do you put colored stones
in them, like terrazzo?

--
Ed Huntress

"Gerald Miller" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 14 Sep 2007 16:46:16 -0400, "Ed Huntress"
wrote:



Ah, yeah, the Foxfire books are good. I've always enjoyed reading them.

If you have a library nearby that keeps old books, look for _Two Little
Savages_ by Ernest Thompson Seton (1911). It was my dad's favorite when he
was a boy and it may have been the most popular book for boys before 1925
or
so. I loved it when I was a boy, too. It contains a wealth of old
woodlore,
including making "Indian style" leather by tanning with mashed, cooked
brains and liver...oh, well, you'd have to read it for yourself.
That is available from Project Gutenberg -

http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

Thanks, Gerry. I wouldn't have thought to look there.

--
Ed Huntress

On Fri, 14 Sep 2007 09:50:47 -0700, Too_Many_Tools
wrote:

Are they or are the skills needed just changing?

Your thoughts?

I suspect it is a bit of both.

TMT

I certainly wonder about little kids now. I think they are fat because
they don't ride bikes anymore. Soccer Mom drives them.

When I was a kid, if I wanted to go somewhere I got on my bicycle and
pedaled it to the destination. And ten to twenty mile trips and longer
occured often.

I rode my bike EVRYWHERE......and you know what? I loved it. I still
look back on some of those rides as total life joys.

In fact, getting someplace hardly even mattered. It was the fun of
riding there that was so great.

Had a Schwinn 5 speed Collegent. Built like a tank. I could ride it
down flights of concrete stairs with nary a ding in the rims. Dirt
trails through the woods? No problem. Jumps? Cat walking it all the
way around my elementary school? Up curbs? Down curbs? No problems.

I only hurt myself once on it when I crashed, fell face first into the
concrete, and ended up busting off one of my front teeth. No
problem......got back on and kept going.
Dave

On Fri, 14 Sep 2007 13:28:32 -0400, "Ed Huntress"
wrote:


"Stupendous Man" wrote in message
...
How many of your family memeber under the age of 60 know how to change a
tire? If you call AAA here in ski season you might wait 5 hours.
Mechanical skills are usually inherited from someone who teaches, not
self-taught. We are the ones who can do that. I have left a long chain of
people in my trade with more than they came in with, as it is my turn.

Cell phones help in that regard. I got a call from my son's girlfriend two
weeks ago (her dad, a retired state police officer, wasn't reachable). She
was in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia with a flat tire and two
passengers, God knows how far from the nearest garage. I told them how to
set up the jack, how to loosen the lug nuts and the whole works over the
phone.

Amazingly, it worked. And now three more people know how to change a tire.
d8-)


Every woman in my family, and every woman Ive ever dated, was taught
how to change a tire.
(and shoot a handgun)

Gunner

On Fri, 14 Sep 2007 22:05:54 -0400, Ned Simmons
wrote:

On a more serious note, I think in many cases the obstacle to doing
things is not a lack of skills, but ignorance of the fact that a given
task is possible with relatively modest and easy to acquire skills.

--
Ned Simmons


That is absolutely true. I see folks throwing stuff away, because
they screwed up the power cord by sucking it up in the vacuum cleaner,
as a single example.

Im flabergasted by folks who go all adither when they find out you
dont have go buy something new if it quites working.

I know a guy who bought a new TV set, because his 3 yr old big screen
quit working.

The new one didnt work either. The outlet was dead.. which was
connected to a switch on the wall he always knew was there..but
because it didnt turn on a light...didnt pay any attention to in the 9
yrs he lived in the house.

Gunner

It's online for free. Just found it.
http://www.authorama.com/two-little-savages-1.html

Karl

On Sep 14, 10:46 am, "Ed Huntress" wrote:
"Larry Jaques" wrote in message

...





On Fri, 14 Sep 2007 13:24:39 -0400, with neither quill nor qualm, "Ed
Huntress" quickly quoth:

snip

We're also seeing changes in our popular culture. One example is the
best-selling status of The Dangerous Book for Boys, by the brothers
Conn and Hal Iggulden. It hearkens back to the Boy Scout manuals and *
other boys' books of the early 20th century, with instructions on how
to build go-karts, bows and arrows, rafts and more. The book's success
tells me people are interested in regaining lost ground. (It works,
too: I gave my 8-year-old nephew a copy, and it got him away from the
Xbox and into the outdoors.)

======================================

I'll believe it when I see something like the article I clipped from
_Boy's
Life_, around 1958 or so, about how to make a 'coon-skin cap. It even
contained patterns for cutting up the 'coon.

Those were the days...

I've found Eliot Wigginton's Appalachian adventures with his students
(the Foxfire book series) great, too. http://tinyurl.com/3cbs8w

Ah, yeah, the Foxfire books are good. I've always enjoyed reading them.

If you have a library nearby that keeps old books, look for _Two Little
Savages_ by Ernest Thompson Seton (1911). It was my dad's favorite when he
was a boy and it may have been the most popular book for boys before 1925 or
so. I loved it when I was a boy, too. It contains a wealth of old woodlore,
including making "Indian style" leather by tanning with mashed, cooked
brains and liver...oh, well, you'd have to read it for yourself.

--
Ed Huntress- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -