Hard Drivin'
A few weeks ago I had a ST L6278 replaced on the controller board of an old 40 Gig hard drive. The chip smoked when I turned the computer on the day I returned from a vacation in Pigeon Forge last spring.

I was hoping that the smoked chip was the problem and no merely a symptom. After locating another hard drive controller with the same chip I had a friend of a friend move the chip from one board to the other. While the controllers used the same chip, the design was different so I couldn't simply use the other controller board.

Unfortunately it did not work. When I powered it up, the motor did not engage. At one point I did try a few different controllers but they were all from new drives. At least with them the motor came on, but it still didn't work. I will be having the chip moved back to it's original control board. And yes, I did back up the other drive before I salvaged a part from it.

I have finally come to terms with the fact that I lost the data on the drive. In the grand scheme of things I guess it wasn't really that important. At least it wasn't worth $800-$3000 dollars which was the estimate I got on recovering the data.

Hard Drivin' II

This is a story about my 1998 Dodge Ram Quad Cab. People often ask me if it is a '92. I wonder what makes them think that.

Oh, how can you say this without feeling stupid? About two weeks ago, the Check Engine light came on in my truck. At that point the oil pressure gauge was a zero. A few seconds later the light went out and the oil pressure returned to normal. This has happened a few other times, usually about the time the oil needed to be changed. The first time it happened I was actually on my way to Express Oil. I asked the guy to check the level before he changed it and he said it looked fine.

This last time when the light came on, I checked the dip stick myself. Hmmm. The dip stick shows no oil at all. That can't be good. So I took a trip to the auto parts store to get some oil. (While I was there I looked for the F1 Hot Wheels also.) I purchased 3 quarts. Upon returning home, I poured one in. Next I checked the dip stick. Still nothing. I poured another in. I checked the dip stick again. Still nothing. At this point I was feeling like a dip stick as well. I poured another half quart in. Still nothing.

I was afraid to put any more in because I thought the dip stick might for some strange reason not be taking an accurate reading. I didn't really believe that but I didn't want to take a chance on messing anything up either. This was Sunday Afternoon.

The truck didn't get much driving while I attempted to figure out what to do next. On Woodworking night, I invited a friend, DM, to play the dip stick game with me. The game goes as follows: I hand him a paper towel and ask him to point at the dip stick. Obviously he points at me. Next I ask him to check the oil. He does and proclaims I am at least two quarts low. For fun we invite a few neighbors to come play the dip stick game also. Everybody is a comedian because without fail, all the fingers point at me.

Each person in turn proclaims I am at least two quarts low. No one can believe I put in 2.5 quarts just days earlier and couldn't get a reading. Did I mention these guys aren't getting a reading. Everyone without fail looked in the radiator and a few even check the tranny fluid looking for oil. It is not on the concrete. It does not appear to be coming out the tail pipe in either smoke or liquid form. Every one is puzzled.

I make another trip to the store to get another 3 quarts. After pouring in one more, the stick finally shows the truck being low 1 quart. In goes another. So at this point I have poured 4.5 quarts of oil into a truck that holds 5 quarts of oil.

I was not feeling much peace about this. My neighbor speculates that on the last oil change, that didn't put enough in. That doesn't make me feel good.

Anyway, it is full now. I decide I will bird dog it for a while. The following weekend I put about 250 miles on the truck. I check the oil. Down 0.5 quarts. Later in the week I make another trip and get another 240 miles on the truck. At this point it is down between 1 and 1.5 quarts. I fill it back up.

Ok, it is going some where but I don't know where. I suspect it is burning it, but if it is, it sure is burning clean. I will be talking to my mechanic soon. Anyone have any ideas or suggestions?

I could probably live with adding a quart every 1000 miles, but having to add a half a quart every fill-up seems a little excessive. After all, the truck is 7 years old and it only has about 60k miles on it.

Do you think the title was too cute?

I did spell check today. It recommened 'dam' when it saw 'DM'. That is usually my response too.

[/VERBOSE Rick]