Morning Cup Of Coffee And Weather

[dustinp]

Did it get that high!? When I checked my watch (apple) the highest I ever saw was 86. Which is certainly warmer, but for us southern flatlanders isn't too out of the question -- though maybe ocbober it is a little uncommon. There's been a couple times this year that we've had to run the furnace and the AC on the same day....

@Ken & Peggy, thanks for the contact.

BTW --- my house is in the middle of the eclipse path --- I don't think I have to go anywhere to see it. Lake Monroe State Park is probably your best bet unless you get on the RV pads near the entrance at brown. It looks like MAYBE summit lake may be a good spot too, its over near New Castle. Not a bad park, but in the 'tree lined' part of the campground it tends to be moist....

Do you know where there is a better map that may be interactive or where you plot a lat/long to see the percentage and duration?

Do you know if the Apple watch gets its temp from measuring it directly, or if it gets it from a nearby recognized weather reporting station? The reason I ask, is that I've seen significant changes in small distances on my cars outside temp display, like when driving home on the township road seeing 90 degrees on the display, but after turning down our 1/4 mile heavily wooded driveway, I will often see a 4-6 degree drop by the time I reach the house.

 

[dougbee]

Apple Watch gets weather info over the network, no weather sensors on board.

 

[Sweeney]

Do you know if the Apple watch gets its temp from measuring it directly, or if it gets it from a nearby recognized weather reporting station? The reason I ask, is that I've seen significant changes in small distances on my cars outside temp display, like when driving home on the township road seeing 90 degrees on the display, but after turning down our 1/4 mile heavily wooded driveway, I will often see a 4-6 degree drop by the time I reach the house.

As was stated, its from weather stations. I'm not sure where they are located....this is one of the problems with reporting of temperatures...in general, the sensors TEND to be at airports because temperature greatly impacts air density....as you know. THose sensors are often surrounded by tarmacadam, asphalt, and concrete...

I don't know what temperature it really was, but once I slipped on shorts and some rather stylish black shoes and socks....it was reasonably comfortable.

Sunday night was comfortable, by daybreak it was even just on the cusp of being chilly...

I'll welcome some cool nights --- by this time next week, here, it will be in the 60's. Much more comfortable.

 

[Tour 931]

I’m heartbroken. The Brewers lost two games to the Diamondback’s and are out of the playoffs. Sob sob

 

[dustinp]

I’m heartbroken. The Brewers lost two games to the Diamondback’s and are out of the playoffs. Sob sob

Hey neighbor, your not too far way to jump on the Twins bandwagon...we'll make room for ya!

 

[Sweeney]

Well, what a week. I got my Jeep back (I genuinely do enjoy driving it more than I do my 'new' cars)

No camping --- but more travel this weekend.

The mechanic I use is an entirely independant shop, working on all car makes. He was unable to recreate the "sound" mine makes for me intermittently, which is why I didn't bring it to CICO.

Good news there is no glitter in the oil. Using a stethoscope, he could hear no specific areas of a problem, which is maddening. He said if he were forced to guess...it would be a stuck lifter. Since this seems to be one of the 3 common points, (oil pump drive unit, loose flywheel bolts, and lifters) its a good bet. But not good enough to load the parts cannon. Especially since you have to pull the head on the 4.0 to replace a lifter. Probably the only BAD design decision in that motor.

After hearing a newer Jeep at CICO (post 4.0 era) making the same noise, I'm a little less disturbed to drive it. It drives me a little crazy, but it doesn't my mechanic or this other Jeep owner I encountered. So...WTH!

My mechanic and I agreed that putting a quart of Marvel's Mystery Oil in it, and driving a few hundred miles was the smart move. If that works -- great. If not, then maybe try thicker oil (10w30 is in it now, 10w40 I believe is what was in it. Then there's the big dog -- Castrol Classic 20W50, which already has the zinc additives this engine needs. The 20-winter weight won't matter, it's not a winter driver. I'll change the oil and pull the battery when we get back from Florida.

I'm supposed to be going to Florida in a few weeks, and I want to take it since its my designated tow vehicle _and_ the car I feel most comfortable towing that far with. I need to put some miles on.

Campsites are full this weekend, where I need to be, despite 30-50% rain chances and a degrading weather trend. So it looks like a day trip and 300 miles, which will work that marvels magic. I hope. I don't want to think about pulling the head to replace a lifter....the one bad design of the infamous 4.0

 

[Tour 931]

Sunrise this morning over Timms Hill. Picture was taken from my front door.

85D6DBC7-4D8F-4E01-B1B2-480116D32305

• Tour 931
• Oct 7, 2023

 

[GlampingOn]

Looks fun;


https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1YqxoDNrdYZKv

 

[Sweeney]

Looks fun;


https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1YqxoDNrdYZKv

"Off road" or "rugged road" of any sorts is fun.

My first 'off road' adventure was in a Toyota Camry -- we went down into a holler where there was a property. A gravel road that was county-maintained. I barely made it out -- my wheels were starting to slip on the gravel, but I was nearing a 'full stop' near the top --- I had to get a running start at it to get that far.

Knowing the limits of a passenger vehicle is shockingling low, even taking that same road in a 4x4 or good AWD just ticks that checkbox of "dangerous" enough.

 

[Sweeney]

The curse continues. We're supposed to be going to Brown County, for what will likely be our last or maybe second to last trip this year in the state. We have a trip to Floriday buried in there, but the local travel opens start to close on us.

What do you call a beautiful day after 2 days of rain? Monday.

After Halloween in Indiana it's an elevator right straight down. By Mid-November the overnights will be well into freezing, which the CI is more than capable of. The trouble I have is that due to my wife's commitments, it is much more difficult to actually go (kittenscicles aren't much fun)

 

[Tour 931]

The curse continues. We're supposed to be going to Brown County, for what will likely be our last or maybe second to last trip this year in the state. We have a trip to Floriday buried in there, but the local travel opens start to close on us.

What do you call a beautiful day after 2 days of rain? Monday.

After Halloween in Indiana it's an elevator right straight down. By Mid-November the overnights will be well into freezing, which the CI is more than capable of. The trouble I have is that due to my wife's commitments, it is much more difficult to actually go (kittenscicles aren't much fun)

“Monday” was funny.

 

[Tour 931]

It frosted hard last night and my car had a quarter inch of ice on it this morning. It took me 15 minutes of scraping before I could drive it.

 

[Tour 931]

I climbed Timms Tower today.

CEC7F5F9-0B82-48AD-A64B-7DF59E5E2461

• Tour 931
• Oct 9, 2023

Since I can see the tower from my house that means you can see my house from the tower. My land stretches from the hill left of the house to the lighter green field on the right. The 27 acres is as deep as it is wide.

F014AE7B-2884-494F-B197-FF45C5FB9931

• Tour 931
• Oct 9, 2023

Yours truly,

899ACC10-E4A6-4D1C-B54E-6EDE5B75B328

• Tour 931
• Oct 9, 2023

 

[Sweeney]

Haha! Great minds!

"Great mind think alike, and morons seldom differ"

“Monday” was funny.

It is sad that, at least this summer, it has been true. However, the pattern does seem to be improving. Rain seems to be gone now, but the of 65 will be Saturday morning at 00:01. How many people think 12:00pm is the next day? 00:01:00 -> 24:00:59 -- I digress.

None of this is specific camping stuff, except its a camping vehicle and this is a "campfire" thread.

I may 'stay home' in favor of pulling the valve cover on the jeep. The 'tapping' noise is more than I can tolerate. Especially in a vehicle, I hope to take longer trips with. If it were a grocery getter, it might be different.

I want to get to the bottom of it.

1. Startup is OK, usual stuff.
2. Warm-up is OK, but intermittently once hot (20 minute+ drive), the serenade begins.
3. I don't think it is piston slap - it usually happens cold then improves as a vehicle warms up.
4. There is no metal in the oil after 2 inspections
5. The noise is intermittent --- it may be quiet one drive, then noisy the next. But the baseline engine noise seems to be worsening. That could be me being hypersensitive though.

I don't have the full history of the vehicle, but it looked well cared for when I bought it --- was zinc-based oil used? I don't know. But lifters should last longer than 158000 miles, and you must pull the head to change them. One bad design decision here I sincerely hope its just rocker arms but I suspect this is wishful thinking.

The cost to diagnose this though is removal of a valve cover - which is a couple hours work, since I have a rubber gasket I wouldn't even need to replace it, its only 6 months old. Which further makes me worry its lifters...I would hope a resto-mod shop would have checked rocker arms, a common failure point.

 

[Sweeney]

I climbed Timms Tower today.

CEC7F5F9-0B82-48AD-A64B-7DF59E5E2461

• Tour 931
• Oct 9, 2023

Since I can see the tower from my house that means you can see my house from the tower. My land stretches from the hill left of the house to the lighter green field on the right. The 27 acres is as deep as it is wide.

F014AE7B-2884-494F-B197-FF45C5FB9931

• Tour 931
• Oct 9, 2023

Yours truly,

899ACC10-E4A6-4D1C-B54E-6EDE5B75B328

• Tour 931
• Oct 9, 2023

I love tower climbs. I've climbed about a half dozen or so near me....every one brings a new perspective and surprise.

A place to get a good bit of exercise, as well as facing fear. This tower looks a little shakey...is it better than it looks?

 

[Tour 931]

I love tower climbs. I've climbed about a half dozen or so near me....every one brings a new perspective and surprise.

A place to get a good bit of exercise, as well as facing fear. This tower looks a little shakey...is it better than it looks?

That is the metal tower which you can’t climb. I climbed the shorter wood tower which is a spiral staircase.

 

[Sweeney]

That is the metal tower which you can’t climb. I climbed the shorter wood tower which is a spiral staircase.

Gotcha...Many of ours are still open...which frankly surprises me, in the day of helicopter parents and lawyers.

 

[Tour 931]

Gotcha...Many of ours are still open...which frankly surprises me, in the day of helicopter parents and lawyers.

With the metal tower you need a 20 foot ladder just to get to the gaged ladder. It also has a cable that runs from the top down so you can clip into it

 

[Sweeney]

With the metal tower you need a 20 foot ladder just to get to the gaged ladder. It also has a cable that runs from the top down so you can clip into it

ours are shocking free of all that --- some have fences around the bases which are locked at night, but there are several you can just drive up too and climb --- they're open, not doing anything shady.

Brown County State park has one, there are a couple in the hoosier national forest, and Ouabache (wabash) State park does as well. I'm forgetting a bunch, these are just the ones that come to the top of mind.

If you get a chance, its worth the trip....

 

[Tour 931]

ours are shocking free of all that --- some have fences around the bases which are locked at night, but there are several you can just drive up too and climb --- they're open, not doing anything shady.

Brown County State park has one, there are a couple in the hoosier national forest, and Ouabache (wabash) State park does as well. I'm forgetting a bunch, these are just the ones that come to the top of mind.

If you get a chance, its worth the trip....

You can actually climb the metal tower here too. Just bring a 20 foot ladder to get you started. I’ll check the others out someday.