Where do you draw a line on forum member responcibility?

I'm not a professional HE mech. but, I've some professional experience with machinery. My first post on this forum was about a Deere 310C that wouldn't stay running. That first post had a list of things, I've checked and a request for other avenues to explore. Thanks to HEF, I narrowed the problem to the IP.
When a new poster says "my xx won't start" with no information that's an indication of lazy or ignorance. Pass them by. Or at most tell them to look at the manual. Even tell them what manual to look at. Then they have a common basis to discuss the issue with you... And the manual has safety cautions. (at least Deere's do)

The most aggravating are those that don't know yet persist in ignoring instructions. I enjoy particularly enjoy watching thepumpguysc beating the bush about the Roosamaster check valve with some people.

hosspuller said:

I'm not a professional HE mech. but, I've some professional experience with machinery. My first post on this forum was about a Deere 310C that wouldn't stay running. That first post had a list of things, I've checked and a request for other avenues to explore. Thanks to HEF, I narrowed the problem to the IP.
When a new poster says "my xx won't start" with no information that's an indication of lazy or ignorance. Pass them by. Or at most tell them to look at the manual. Even tell them what manual to look at. Then they have a common basis to discuss the issue with you... And the manual has safety cautions. (at least Deere's do)

The most aggravating are those that don't know yet persist in ignoring instructions. I enjoy particularly enjoy watching thepumpguysc beating the bush about the Roosamaster check valve with some people.

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Ain't that the truth.

There are certain people on here that when they talk, I tend to sit up and listen.
Guys like thepumpguysc. I was in the trade for 40 plus years and am still learning from him.

I’m a complete newb....

Interesting question that I was just thinking about as I was reading the thread on JD310C weak hydros that resulted in an oil bath.

I’m a former acft electronics maintainer, but now working support logistics. Believe it or not, there used to be hydraulically tuned transmitters on B-52s. Anyhow, the machines are not exactly mysterious to me, but I’m decidedly ignorant of the finer points. So what’s my point? Please continue to share judiciously. The questions I have asked here have been helpfully answered, and I’m grateful for that.

I got called out on a Detroit 3-53 today that someone had been screwing with for 2 weeks and couldn’t get to run. It was terribly misrepresented to me and when I got there it was a huge mess. After 30+ years of experience and several runaways over that time span, I broke some of my own precautions with these type engines and it almost cost me BIG. I will start a thread with pics in the morning......

I worry, a little, bein started on the farm, we always had a lot more mechanical experience, than others, all have seen unexpected accidents happen, and have seen ingenius ways of preventing them, too. Take the stump or stuck vehicle pullin scenario, for instance. If you thread the chain through an old tire, the chain drops, if it snaps. A coat, hung over the chain, will serve the same purpose. Its stuff, that we know, almost innately. When I take a wrench to a part, the first thing I'm lookin fer, is what can hurt me! most injuries, I have caused myself, is when I'm in a hurry, on a friday, in the worst weather, etc!. I always try to tell myself to slow down...

Another thing from bein farm raised, is we didn't have no OSHA man lookin over our shoulders, so if I recommend hot wirin a safety switch, fer instance, to see if you can diagnose if the switch is bad, remember, to lock out the machine if others walk in, unknowing whats goin on... Proper shop procedure, for me, myself and I is to try to remember what I just did, bein a 1 man show...

heymccall said:

Somebody (not sure if on a forum or not) said to flush his engine with water.

https://mustangforums.com/forum/5-0l-general-discussion/368307-i-m-done-with-this-car.html

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Nothing wrong with flushing your engine with water when needed. Starting it up with water, that's your call.

The funny part is thinking changing the oil will make it idle better, or the light came on so it's time to add oil, or my favorite, the engine is locked up because it's out of oil, so add some and try it again.

Delmer said:

Nothing wrong with flushing your engine with water when needed. Starting it up with water, that's your call.

The funny part is thinking changing the oil will make it idle better, or the light came on so it's time to add oil, or my favorite, the engine is locked up because it's out of oil, so add some and try it again.

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Ever read the one about the two guys trying to extrusion hone the intake and exhaust manifolds on a running car with a bag of blast media?

Tim Burke said:

Ever read the one about the two guys trying to extrusion hone the intake and exhaust manifolds on a running car with a bag of blast media?

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Cool!!!


I'll bet you could lap the valves too

heymccall said:

Somebody (not sure if on a forum or not) said to flush his engine with water.

https://mustangforums.com/forum/5-0l-general-discussion/368307-i-m-done-with-this-car.html

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Words fail me. Just. Wow.

Not water but...

I was just starting my apprenticeship, all young and full of **** and vinegar, greener then green. But still had a bit of a brain.

I was heading out of the shop to go get a truck out of the line up to bring in. The Tire guy had his 70 something ford van with a 300 six on the pad doing an oil change.

He had the oil drained out and had refilled it with, are you ready for it, varsol.

Flashed it up and let it run for a min or two.

My eyeballs just about popped out of my head.

Oh no problem he says, do it all the time, cleans all of the junk out.
You just have to be ready to shut it off if it starts to knock or make any noise.

Wonder what those bearings looked like.

Okay, says I.
Walked away, shaking my head, thinking that he has been sniffing tire glue again.

wornout wrench said:

Wonder what those bearings looked like.

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Well at least they were nice and clean, and not all oily like a normal engine.

I have also thought about this many times and often do not comment on some posts. I do feel bad though because I often feel like I'm asking more questions/advise than I am help others with.

excavator said:

I have also thought about this many times and often do not comment on some posts. I do feel bad though because I often feel like I'm asking more questions/advise than I am help others with.

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Don't stop asking questions.

That's not what we are getting at here.

My take on the subject is if you do ask a question, and you get some decent answers from qualified people, don't ignore it. If your unsure, ask for clarification. If you don't know where the check valve is, or for that matter what a check valve is, ask.

And don't try to brush the experts off. I don't mean the self proclaimed experts, I mean the real guys.

We have lost so many good guys because of that one reason right there.
tctractors, scrubpuller just off the top of my head. Lots more. I still remember the thread that got Tony. Such a train wreck.

This is an online forum.
As with all online forums, I take everything with a grain of salt until I figure out who is who.

wornout wrench said:

tctractors, scrubpuller just off the top of my head. Lots more. I still remember the thread that got Tony. Such a train wreck.

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I remember that one too. The OP was getting good advice from so many people who were all pretty much singing from the same hymn sheet - then he went completely the opposite way to all the advice and kept coming back and asking "why is this not working?". With hindsight it might have been better if the first time he refused to take advice he'd been told to rotate, then we'd have a couple (if not more) of our more experienced members still with us and posting on a regular basis.

I don't quite understand why they left over that sort of thing though. If somebody won't listen then just stop posting in that thread. Like in local customer relations if they don't like my way of doing things then we just agree to disagree. Seems like they usually call back in a month or so anyway.

If you go back and read through the famous D6C thread it got kinda personal between two members from different sides of the Pond and was nothing to do with the OP other than he was the one who wouldn't take advice from Tony and others who were all saying the same thing. One member then called out TCT because of perceived safety concerns over the way he works (guess what, things are often done differently in other countries) and it all got pretty heated.

Birken Vogt said:

I don't quite understand why they left over that sort of thing though. If somebody won't listen then just stop posting in that thread. Like in local customer relations if they don't like my way of doing things then we just agree to disagree. Seems like they usually call back in a month or so anyway.

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I can understand why they left.

I have left 6 other forums and have 2 more in the gun sights.

Reasons for leaving.

3 were RV forums where much like HEF I was offering up advice. Suffered personal attacks due to my "Lack of knowledge". True, I don't own brand X but I do know a bit about heavy trucks. So took my "lack of knowledge" and left.

2 bicycle forums were left due to the HATE because I ride an ebike. And I do mean hate, you could almost taste it.

1 automotive forum due to politics. I'm not political, my view is they are all lying bastards so elect 1 and put up with them for the 4 years. Politicians, bah! But when the simplest of posts got corrupted because the one of the posters had different views from the rest, well I don't need it.

The two that are in the gun sights right now

1 is another bicycle forum. Waiting to see how they are with ebikes. The hate started to raise its ugly head the other day. I put post up and basically said that if they thought that I was an Ahole for riding an ebike, they should just tell me now so I quit wasting my time with them. Got a bit of a back paddle there. Will see how it works out.

The last one is yet another automotive forum. Have been with them for years so really don't want to pull the pin, but the politics are crazy and with the US election coming up, it is getting very polarized again. If they even think that you are leaning one way or the other they will be all over you, and any past political views, no matter how old, will suddenly be brought up. So like I said, in my sights for divorce. The gun is loaded, the safety is off the cross hairs are on the target, I just need to take a breath and slowly release until the the bulls eye is centered.

So yeah, when you freely offer up advice and get criticized, ignored or ridiculed, why bother offering it up anymore.

I left a sailing forum. These folks made AOC seem centrist.

Here's my thing. If I see pictures I check out the thread. To many word gets me confused. I'm simple like that. :beerchug:

I am staff on two forums, one is a Jeep forum and one is a very large RV forum. We do not tolerate any kind attitude from member to member, criticize ideas and not people. Once it gets to flaming we lock the thread, this is the difference between a well moderated forum and one with little oversight.