4WD dash indicator on 2008 F-250 SUPER DUTY

[CJDave]

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat, the Hydramatics were probably the longest-lived in terms of actual production and use in many, many different GM products. The Hydramatics were used in quite a few other makes of vehicles, including army tanks in WWII. The M-3 Stuart had twin flathead Caddies with Hydros behind them. 1957 was the last year for Oldsmobile and Pontiac Hydramatics and alas, they came out in '58 with a box known as a Jet-a-way. It was their first whack at an aluminum case transmission and the first try at several other things as well. The Jet-a-ways were absolutly no good, gave lots of trouble and defied solutions. The only good part was that it finally led GM to the Turbo-Hydramatic, which, after a few years and a few changes was an OK box. BY FAR the Chrysler stuff was the best, most trouble-free of all. The two-sp Power-Flite and the 3-sp Torque-Flite were unstoppable. [img]/forums/images/icons/cool.gif[/img] More than any other mfg., GM kept the automatic transmission shops in business. [img]/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img] The Turbo 400 as used in the Caddy, the Olds, the Shiv-Lay, and the Ponchos was their best effort of all. It was as good as the Hydramatic and a lot less weight. Also, when you pulled one, you didn't have THIRTY-TWO bolts to take out of the torque converter with fluid running down your sleeves [img]/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img] like you did when you jerked a Hydramatic out. [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] GM quit putting the TH400 in the Caddy ONLY because there was no way to keep it from jerking Mrs. Van Snoot when she put the car in gear. A Jeep buddy has long since figured out how to keep them from doing that, but for some reason GM never did. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Pat]

Guilty as charged. Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa!!!

There!

I was not in a position to access the manual (at the time it was a burning question in my mind) but had access to a computer. I could have waited until I was where the truck was again and could access the manual and not have gotten the enjoyment received in reading most of the posts in this thread.

If all it takes to strike up an interesting conversation/thread is to point out that I'm not a paragon of virtue or the epitome of self reliance then that's fine, I don't have a problem with that.

A while back my wife bought a Casio watch and lost the instruction book. I went humbly begging for help on wrist watch related sites and got a link to a Casio site I had missed. Now I can calibrate her compass, barometer, thermometer, alarms, and time zone and savings time and a bunch of other stuff (but it isn't trivial for me.)

If anyone is interested, Casio "Atomic Clock" wrist watches that are solar powered, set themselves by radio time signals, and have an electronic compass, thermometer, barometer, altimeter, and a bunch of other functions they are available for a lot less now (if you search the internet) than they were a while back.

Pat

[jml755]

Pat,
And I thought you were ignoring my post (LOL). Your comment on the Casio made me chuckle. I am hard on watches. I like digitals which are harder to find for some odd reason. Some years ago, I got a Casio for $25 at Penneys. After several years, it was scratched, gummed up, darn near destroyed. I went looking for a replacement (same model) and finally found it at Sears for $29. I bought 2 and pitched the first one a few months ago and now am on the 2nd one. Your post reminded me that I've got to head to the mall to stock up (if they still make them). I've used the stop watch once or twice, the alarm feature a couple of times but mainly I use it to keep track of time, which it does paassably. It loses a second every day or so, but I try and keep on top of it. (CBS Radio News ping at the top of the hour is pretty accurate). Pretty darn good watch for a cheap price. And... if you asked me where the manual was,..... I couldn't tell you. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Manuals are funny things. It's common today to buy a piece of equipment and by looking at the manual size, you think you've got a treasure trove of information. Then you find out that it's really only 2 pages in English with the rest repeated in up to a dozen foreign languages. (maybe they want the manuals to be the Rosetta stone of the future). Schematics? Disassembly & repair instructions? Pictures? Forget it.

When I bought my first IBM PC/AT, I got complete DOS documentation, including the Source Code for the OS! Same went for most computer mfrs of yesteryear. Shelves of documentation. Of course, online access to information has made paper largely unnecessary as you have pointed out. I spend a good part of my day online, searching for information on various things related to computers at work. People laugh when I then print some of the stuff out and put it in a binder.

[Pat]

JML, I like my wife's Casio except when I wore it I couldn't keep the buckling strap thingy in place and it bothered me a lot.

She'd paid a bundle for it several months ago saying I was too busy to help her. The one I ordered came in yesterday, just a few days after ordering. I got one with adjustable all metal band with double locking clasp. Everything is stainless except for resin buttons with guards around them. I paid at least a hundred less by using an internet shopping engine and got a fancier band.

It does compass, barometer, thermometer, altimeter, atomic clock auto setting, is solar powered, illuminated, day date with year auto DST (switchable) redundant digital sweep second. It is programed farther out in the future than I am for day/date stuff. Of course it has lap timers, count down, and alarms but not an excessive number. I don't use lap timers but count down is good and alarms can be handy.

The last time I paid this much for a watch (Tad over $200) it was a Bulova Accutron back in the late 60's or early 70's which was nothing but a maintenance nightmare, spending almost as much time in the shop as on my wrist. It was a diver's model and it filled with condensation while I was walking around in Hawaii and not even getting it in the water. Of course when I dove with it on it flooded three out of three times. The warranty station knew me by name and were not pleased to see me when I dropped by again and again and again.

After that I reverted to cheap digitals for long time but finally bought a Timex for about $50 that downloaded your telephone database and such by letting the watch look at the computer screen while a program that came with the watch flashed bar code like lines on the screen. It really worked well but I eventually mechanically just wore it out. Meanwhile they quit selling that model and the replacement comes with a cable to plug into USB port. It died during Thanksgiving holiday.

This brings me back to why I borrowed my wife's watch which lured me into buying one like it (only better) for me. A small oops is that I need to take a couple links out of the band as it is, miracle of miracles, way too big for me. My wrist measures just a tad under 8 inches in circumference (not small) and I brought this up with the guy I talked to to be sure the band could be custom sized to fit. I gave him the measurement as requested and it came way bigger. Oh well, way better than too small. I just need to shorten it about two links which is about 2/3 of an inch.

They don't waste a lot of $ on building a super accurate quartz crystal oscillator circuit as without radio updates the watch is only guaranteed for +/- 15 seconds a month. Typically it is set to the precise time from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) which used to be National Bureau off Standards between midnight and 5 AM local time every day so it should never be off as much as a second, most probably a half second or less. Certainly better than I actually need.

If anyone is interested it is a Casio Pathfinder with module #3070 (the guts less the fancy band.) If you prefer a buckling rubber/plastic strap they are available for less.

At first I tried to buy a $2.00 digital from the insider's club on Harbor Freight's web site but they were out of stock so I borrowed my wife's and the rest is history.

Pat

[CJDave]

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat, it's very true that you COULD have found the answer in the Owner's Manual, but when you compare a brain-frying
half hour of leafing through the pages of some lawyer-driven, consumer-level, DO NOT DO THIS story to reading the posts that you have here, well, it's just no contest. Everything from Automotive Valhalla to military history has been presented, and all in a student-friendly format. It's like cracking open a five-foot shelf of Great Books. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Pat]

Dave, We are certainly on the same page of music at this choir practice.

It is my surmise that a simple Google on a topic will often turn up most of the beneficial info you get on either TBN of CBN but it sure isn't nearly as much enjoyment as a little e-chat with whoever chimes in. When it comes to recent owners manuals for cars and trucks, they keep getting bigger and saying less that you want to know.

I hate it when they don't put the tire pressure on the door jam and not in the owners section on tires and you have to look in 3 places to find it but first have to wade through a hoard of warnings.

Pat