Wednesday, June 13, 2018

Unincorporated

It is unclear to me to this day what makes in the US living in a city or county optional. I met with this situation when i tried to figure the county of residence when i was living in Lake Oswego. Though the address was in Lake Oswego and most of Lake Oswego was in Clackamas county my address was showing Multomah county (old Native American names). Apparently one small northern area of Lake Oswego is part of a Multnomah county. But the situation is so confusing even authorities have trouble figuring it out (had trouble explaining to the Police what county i was living in when making a complaint, BTW, there are no forms on which one can make a written complaint to a local Police or FBI) also i once saw a car from Clackamas county sanitation inspection or something inspecting the area. It is also confusing regarding jurisdiction of local polices and courts.
But there are situations when an address is not within neither a city or a county. Apparently freedom or tradition in the US can go to such an extreme where people may choose to be or not to be part of any city or county.

https://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0082/twps0082.html

That's why sometimes is difficult to asses the limits of a city or county. This morning i left Tualatin, went through Tigard (pronounced like the word tiger) and ended in Sherwood after a 5.3 miles trip for a... walk in the park. All three cities are part of Washington County, OR but who can really know...

BTW. Talking about city limits and counties, Tualatin, Tigard (pronounced like tiger) and Lake Oswego (which name which doesn't have to do with local anything reminds of... Lee Oswald) and the whole Portland area are built on a lava field called Boring Lava Field with many extinct volcanoes among which most interesting is Mount Sylvania, on which Mountain Park community where i lived 5 years was built in the 70s.

What a feat for the Church of Scientology who have volcanoes at the center of their belief system.

Portland is also built at the merging point of two great rivers so it fits somehow the biblical definition of "city of many waters" though it competes with many other cities in the world for it.

But was my attempt successful? After all the trouble i went through to get there which included passing through the cloud of wood alcohol emanated at the composting factory near 99, near the huge school buses depot, i had to turn around and get quickly into my car because of... smoke.

But not before i took several pictures, in an attempt to figure where the smoke was coming for. Then i drove in the direction of one of the plumes and got lucky and took some video and pictures together with the address.

On my way there i was thinking that last summer about 90% of the time there was smoke during my trips and most of the times it started way after i got there or at the end of it. Mainly, if the wind was blowing from west, then i was done. At time i had surgical masks in my pocket which diminishes aerosols (of which most of the smoke is made of).

Also. Last trick. (i'm editing this post now, i just figured what happened right when finishing it). Before i left the first time i tried again to suck more oil from the intake with the vacuum. Very little came this time. Then i saw a an Asian guy in a on older Kia van idling in the spot next to my car. He turned his big fat head around so i couldn't see his face. His van's exhaust was stinking really bad for 5 to ten minutes (they knew how long was going to last from previous attempts last few days) his exhaust was so strong i actually had to give up. Then at the intersection of 124 and 99 where i was waiting at the stop light there was this huge engine not so big truck that actually went right that was vibrating my car. Right behind me there was a woman in a white older car with out of state LPT. I assume now the vibration of that truck shook the exhaust that probably filled my car (especially the trunk since i left windows open for a while). (suddenly now blogger severely cuts resolution for pictures linked here from drive which became very slow, got to download them and upload them again to be seen at full resolution).

Chapman Rd, Shwerwood?
There is a similar smoke inside the apartment most likely coming from burning asphalt dust on the fridge's coils. (Got to mop the floor every day because i go at the car all the time, still got some oil left in the intake). A couple of hours later went back to the Refuge. On my way there i took some pictures of the compost facility next withing a couple of hundred ft from 99. Interestingly how the big piles of compost are being covered from view by some mounds of gravel and other materials. There is a new Subaru dealership next to it i didn't see before. At the time i took the picture the hole place was smelling nicely like freshly milled pine.
Here's a story from media about it too. Apparently they're too blonde to figure out it's wood alcohol from fermenting wood chips (aka methanol, very toxic BTW).
There in the parking lot i almost didn't see this Verizon or whatever truck parked in the middle of it (if it came there for wi-fi or something should had parked near the main building). (i figure know why that Jap was staring at me while i passed him, the ninja was probably waiting for me to take that shot).

This time i went inside and talked to a beautiful senior citizen of another country judging by the accent. Feels good when you see foreigners helping this country. I saw a couple of scopes next to a big clear observation window at the end of the lobby. She let me point the scope next to the large window to better view one of the three remaining fires. She also said "if it's an agricultural fire they probably have a permit and their permits are going to end soon" (like they never did last year) "if it was that bad the neighbors would complain" bla bla. I think that's a good point, how come the citizens of Sherwood never complain of those (and i have a theory for it, the city is actually deserted and there are only mimes living there that show on streets when someone passes by). I asked  her repeatedly if she knows the approximate address of the fires, all she could say was the're above the city of Sherwood. I told her how the birds are going to come this year if there's smoke etc..

I had the inspiration to put my phone next to the scope and took a picture. But as soon as i got outside that fire was out like it's never been there. Two more to go. Then i realized i should have asked the password for the wi-fi there so i can upload the picture. First she said it wasn't working (i had the prompt screen for the password for a wi-fi called FOR, i assumed it was Friends of the Refuge) then she said she doesn't know the password.
I only took one pictures from outside with the DSLR unfortunately it's blurred (moved), But one can still see the high voltage pillar right in the middle where the fire was behind. However there's a whole city between the pillar and where i saw the fire but most likely the fire is on the Refuge side or near side of the city. I think that pillar is right a the transformer station near Walmart, Target and the other stores.

Most likely the main fire was somewhere on this line.
On my way back home this white cube popped in front of me for some reason. That is the approximate millage of the Hyundai when i got it. Don't know if this is voodoo or something similar.
In the last three days (i actually done the first time Sunday) every day i pulled some oil from the intake. Every day less. Oil got in there through the PCV valve when engine started to wear out (go 40 k miles now), due to blow by pressure increase and overfills. Today i didn't pull much but still some. I figured car sits in the parking spot at a slight angle to the left (much bigger to the rear) and more oil gathers through gravity from the walls of the intake on the side with cylinder nr.1. When i start the engine, the flow of air (1500 rpm during warm up it then drops to half) raises the oil from the puddle in the nr.1 pipe all the way to the valves and makes the valve stick). Now i stopped the flow from the PCV by leveling the oil to normal at Jiffy Lube, installing a filter on the PCV line but i also had to either take the intake apart and clean it or do some successive... suctions out of it. It is visible on the transparent vacuum pipe. I used the vacuum with an attachment made of transparent vynil tubing. No oil got so far as the bag inside. It is remarkable how the famous Hyundai ticking sound stops when i pull oil from the intake.

But it's not only a simple tick. It comes with a partial misfire due to sticking valve ignored by the computer because it has purely mechanical causes. That leads to engine imbalance and small exhaust leaks. That together with the aerodynamic shape of the vehicle that builds negative pressure on the surface, thus also at the seal between hood and body, where cabin fan pulls the air, finally may lead to exhaust in the cabin.

And it can be done selectively, by overfilling at the dealership.
If you own a Hyundai (to my best knowledge newer that 2010 that ticks) this is what you should do.

Find an loose the screw on the clamp on the hose on throttle body and expose throttle (about 1 minute job with a longer Philips screwdriver). Gently push throttle at the bottom end with one finger.


Inspect the intake on the inside with a flashlight. If you see oil on the surface, you can do one of the following:

If still under warranty go to a dealer and asked them to clean the intake from oil and stop the leak.

If not.

While keeping the throttle open with your finger insert in the first intake pipe from the throttle (nr.4 cylinder) (or second or third depending of how much you can see and feel) a piece of tubing from a transfer pump bought at O'Reillys, NAPA, etc.. (around 10 dollars). Have someone pump oil from the intake while fiddling with the tubing inside the intake trying to reach bottom).

Or use a device like the one on top (vacuum cleaner hose will get dirty with oil but it can be cleaned).

Or go to a shop and have the intake taken out and cleaned - at least 300 dollars.

Etc..

Also check oil level and replace PCV valve. If oil level on the gauge is above High sign go to Jiffy Lube and have them level the oil (it needs a crush washer and an experienced mechanic that can replace it fast enough). Some may find it difficult to figure oil level on a Hyundai gauge because of the color and shape of the gauge.

Clean and check the PCV line. If you can see oil after replacing PCV valve and leveling oil and then driving you should install a small compressor filter (7 bucks at Lowes) on the PCV line.

If you can still see oil getting in the intake you can do one of the following.

Get rid of the car.

Sue Hyundai in small claims court.

***Next day***

I think i got the ideal tool for the job. It's got enough flow and vacuum to suck a bit of oil from the bottom of the intake. I will try it later when the oil will settle at the bottom more. And it was all ten bucks and 30 miles drive to two Walmorts. I can now take it in the car and do it every time i want (hopefully one day i will suck all oil from the intake, what happens the thing is very complicated and has numerous places where oil hides and when you drive it some will reach at the bottom where i can pick it from). However it makes alomost as much noise as the vacuum i used until now. It's going to probably spit oil at the output port but who cares since i can remove it from where it shouldn't be (I can maybe use a rag or even a vacuum bag). https://www.walmart.com/ip/Intex-12-Volt-Quick-Fill-Electric-Pump/23894708
It worked as expected. I went in the parking lot at Fry's (too much noise here) but ran into more trouble. Stuck in traffic on I5 (one lane closed due to work), people seem to be curious about what i was doing, i went in one corner of that huge almost empty parking lot to be alone, the started to pop near me. Exactly like it happened with the vacuum, i could only pull a small amount of oil, about 2 spoons or maybe an ounce. Traffic on I5 nearby almost stop and some very bad oil burning smoking vehicle(s) filled the place with so much smoke i had to leave not before getting a headache. In the video i only caught the last few seconds of the flowing before oil finished.

Also got a new theory about the noise. In early google searches about the intake of this car i saw some butterfly like or throttle like valves inside each runners on some diagrams. Can't see them anymore on any type of search i try. Today i found out the're called swirl flaps. Today it felt like i reached some moving parts with the tube (this time guided with a piece of coat hanger wire all wrapped in gorilla tape). Decided to research about those. They are like i said throttle or butterfly like valves on newer engines' manifolds that create turbulence inside the runners in order to improve fuel efficiency and are actuated either by vacuum or by electric actuator. I think somehow oil inside manifold interferes with functioning of those, most likely by unwanted lubrication and/or corroding of plastic parts. The only video i could find about those (very little info as very few know about those) is about a Ford, though it makes a similar noise with my car. Note how the guy seem to completely ignore the fact that his manifold and parts are also soaked with oil which may be the cause of all troubles for the swirls flaps, apparently yet another German invention.

"Early Duratec HE motors had problematic tumble flaps which tended to fail and dump pieces of their metal rod into the engine's intake ports, leading to disaster." (first comment on the video).
After doing all this i felt like going for a walk. When i got at the refuge, surprise. No smoke coming from the hills. Just some... progressive housekeeping going on. A guy first on foot then with some sort of vehicle with a mask and/or helmet was spraying something near the trail near the entrance exactly where the wind was blowing for towards my car. So i just went to the other entrance. There came a woman with small children about the same age or close that didn't seem to be her etc..

Tuesday, June 5, 2018

Oregon's Mary Hill


Only had ten minutes before closing time to take the pictures inside the Mary Hill Museum. (And no flash, luckily i already took the next picture when i got the warning). I apologize for the quality and scarcity of the pictures. It's "only" 100 some miles from Portland so i will maybe go again sometime. It is a very interesting place going back to a very interesting time and i am really intrigued by the paintings done in French Art Nouveau style.
http://georgesblogforfriends.blogspot.com/2016/10/a-drive-on-historic-highway.html