In gear, moving slightly, no problem. In gear, stop, bad idle. On the way back to work after lunch, while coasting at about 30 MPH, I popped her in neutral, and the engine just DIED--so it's not anything like a stuck torque convertor lockup solenoid. Idles that way in park or neutral.
Just like Tuesday.
So, figuring that the next step was to clean out the Idle Air Control valve, I hit Menards on my way home, for a light bulb for the stove and some intake cleaner that's safe for the various fuel injection sensors. Also got myself a non-ratcheting handle for 1/4" hex bits. I had to buy a $15 set of screwdrivers to get it, but I figured it's worth it.
Got home, started to take the Idle Air Control solenoid off, then realized This will probably be a lot easier if I just take the throttle body off. I looked it over to see if there was anything that would complicate matters, and found that no, there are three electrical connectors, three throttle control cables (gas pedal, cruise control, and transmission valve), and four bolts holding the thing on.
I had it off in under five minutes. And yes, there was a crapton of carbon everywhere. When I got the IAC valve out it dredged out a wad of carbon. I took everything off of it and went to work with an old toothbrush and the cleaner, and after a few minutes' work had it about as clean as I could get it without a parts washer. Put eveything back together and put it on the truck, made sure it was all connected and correctly assembled, then started her up...and she idled exactly the same crappy way.
*sigh*
I tried letting it idle and tapping the IAC, but that didn't do anything. Then I shut her off and unplugged the computer, figuring that maybe the connectors needed reseating after twenty frigging years. (And no, it did not occur to me that doing this would reset the computer and clear its memory.)
Started her up and she idled just fine. I let her idle while I policed the area and put away my tools; after that I shut her off and went inside. Forgot the mileage for the service log, so I went out and started her up again, and she ran just fine. It wasn't until I was chatting with Og that I realized that unplugging the computer had forced a reset of its stored parameters, and so the truck had to re-learn its idle. That's probably why it's idling fine now.
Anyway I probably should have done that on Tuesday, but I figured it was working fine, so why invite trouble?
It'd be nice if this didn't happen again. I'm going to be nervous about it for the next couple of weeks at least.
* * *
MSNBC newsreader says that the most frightening thing about the pandemic is how it's not destroying Trump. That's right. People are dying all over the place but that's not scary because they're just little people--proles--and we already have too many of those. No, the scary thing is that President Donald Trump is handling it so well that his approval numbers are up, even after weeks of scathing, scurrilous fake news about him.
The media has got a lot more negative polling than anyone else does. How about a 44% approval rating, versus 55% disapproval? Compare that to Trump's numbers: 60% approve, 38% disapprove. That's got to hurt, and in the most shadenfreudelicious way possible.
They were desperately hoping this would be "Trump's Katrina" but the problem is, Trump sure as HELL isn't George W. Bush. And thank God for that!
Bush was weak. Trump is not. That makes all the difference.
And by the way, I can't stress this enough, ALL THE NUMBERS WE ARE HEARING ARE SHIT NUMBERS. We're not going to know how many people were actually infected with this thing for a long time, and we sure as shit aren't going to have any good feel for how bad this thing is until some statisticians take long, hard, emotionless looks at the actual data. It's for damn sure that the numbers the press are reporting are meant to make this thing look as bad as possible.
There's evidence which suggests this thing already spread through most of the world's population. That the reason that 81% of people who are exposed to it don't ever show any symptoms is because they already had it. I'd bet money that generalized testing is going to bear that out; that the asymptomatic people who test positive for the thing are doing so because they had it already.
The test looks for antibodies for the virus. That's what they all do.
Karl Denninger touches on that point here. (If I find the story again, I'll link it in a later post.)
Illnois' governor said we could go outside but Chicago's mayor says NO. Oh well.
* * *
I love the about-face they're pulling here.
Old Political Meme: Trump Is an AuthoritarianThe fricking left is so full of shit! What a bunch of dickheads.
New and Improved Politico Meme: Trump Is Not Authoritarian Enough! He's a Weakman, Not a Strongman!
* * *
Fast charging stations damage Tesla batteries which is really f-ing great news, isn't it? You spend $60,000 on an electric car and using a fast-charging station wrecks the damned battery, which is the single most expensive part of the freaking car.
* * *
I'm cranky because I left work and spent time fixing my truck (I hope) and didn't have any dinner yet, and now it's almost 8 freaking PM already.
Plus side: I did get a couple more pages added to AV today. It's great to be doing so!