dorkweed

That^^^^^^is funny!!!!

I think Michael is being kind here. It's not a chip on the shoulder; it's a small........................

Those don't qualify as REAL pants!!

All things being equal; the only thing you've done it to remove the substrate that the creosote is collecting on. If you've had goopy, wet creosote running down your chimney; IMHO, you need to re-evaluate your burning practices!!! Just saying...............

-1*F at my place this morning. The wind is howling though and the temp is 12*F right now.

Yup.................butt wipes!! Probably the oldest filter media out there for automobiles......................goes back to at least the '50's...........................when ordering a vehicle from a dealer and an oil filter was an "option"!!!

For the newer EPA stoves; they recommend <20% moisture in your CSS'ed firewood. If'n you're buying firewood that was split only a month or two or less than from the date it was delivered.....................it's not ready to burn...........aka, "seasoned"!!!!!

On my '04.5..................this is what I do now............ I do yearly change outs of oil and OEM filter and 1 roll of TP. At or around 6 months of the prior change, I change out the TP and add 1qt of "make up" oil. I still get essentially "stellar" reports from Blackstone. I put on about 20,000 miles/year.

If that's near Idaho Falls, I know there's a group of farriers/blacksmiths that get together and "blow up anvils" near there!!! It'll be better if you google "blow up anvils" than for me to try to explain!!

Last year, I couldn't sweep my chimney until the burning season was over. That wound up being almost 6 months last year. When I did sweep, I only got about 5 cups of flaky, brown/black, coffee grounds looking soot/creosote. I just swept my chimney after 2 months burning this burning season..................got just over 2 cups of the same looking stuff. Would've been less I think; but with the mild December, I was letting the stove go cold and doing a lot of cold starts. Last year and this year I'm burning wood that was CSS (cut, split, stacked) for AT LEAST 1 YEAR though. If y'all aren't doing that................try it, you'll be amazed at the difference.

With this damp, windy, cold; my Grandpa used to say, "The wind has razor blades in it."

When I "ordered" my '04.5, I could choose manual or automatic 4x4. I chose manual.

Hope you have your stove pipe sections screwed together!!! Been stories of back puffing that blow the stove pipe sections apart!! Try putting the sections back together while they're hot and the stove is pouring smoke into the room!!!

The stove "back puffed" or "woofed" on him. The sudden influx of air to wood that is "off-gassing" but damped down too low to maintain a flame to burn the gas equals.............................mini explosion.

At my place this morning..............

If you added a bypass filter (your choice of brand), you could go to yearly oil changes (maybe longer with OA) IMHO even with dino oil. With the $$$ you're wasting changing out synthetic oil that frequently, a bypass would pay for itself in no time.

Your wood is still too "wet" Mike!!! The wood I burn is CSS (cut, split, stacked) for at least 1 full year before burning. Some species like oak, walnut, mulberry, and osage may take 2-3 years to season. That's mainly why I've been scrounging box elder, ash, silver maple et. al. All these species will season in a year. And when I talk "SEASONED", I mean wood that is under 20% moisture when tested on a fresh split face with a moisture meter. You're a "gadget" guy.....................buy a cheap moisture meter and test the wood you're burning on a fresh split face..............which means, take your split, split it again, and then test the moisture on the freshly opened face. You may be surprised!!

Twas almost 50*F this morning here, so I swept my chimney. I figured, "What the hey.........I may not be able to do it again this winter." Took an hour start to finish, most of which was getting the ladder, brush, rods etc. out and put back up. Here's what I found........................ That's just over 2 cups of brown/black, fluffy, soot. It's been so mild here recently; I've been doing a lot of "cold starts", as I let the stove go cold because the house is plenty warm..............so I think it would've been less had I kept the stove going more 24/7ish like last year. Last year I swept after the burning season (over 5 months) and only got just over 5 cups of the same type of stuff out of my chimney. I'm more than pleased with what I didn't find!! Started with pallet wood early on................then got into the silver maple, ash and box elder. Still haven't burned 1 full cord yet.

John, I believe the bearing in the thing is going out and that's what causing the noise. As I typed prior; if I look down at the fan clutch between the shroud and upper hose, then grab the fan at 3 and 9 o'clock then rock the fan back and forth toward the engine and radiator...................I see the fan clutch unit move in relation to the mounting nut where it screws onto the fan pulley. Does that make sense??? No codes............yet. This just started around the time I started this thread.

OEM or aftermarket fan clutch??? Prices range from $126.00-388.00. Doesn't seem to be any reliable info on the various forums about what to get.

Just go to the local WallyWorld and buy 3 gallons of SuperTech 15W40 dino.

ANOTHER UPDATE!! Checked the truck several times today. The fan now will start out somewhat stiff (normal); but if I keep trying to "spin" it, it will loosen up and freewheel with that slight grinding/squealing noise I mentioned prior. In hindsight, I do believe that this fan clutch hasn't been working for quite sometime now. I've not heard the "roar" of the fan with the AC on for a long while, and the AC doesn't blow cool sitting in traffic. AC does work fine going down the road though. Thought I was just low on refrigerant.

Got her all buttoned back up before I got back here............sorry. Well guess what now.........................had to clear codes with the Smarty because of running her without the belt................................did that, started her up, and the noise is back...............................shut her down....................................checked to see if that deflection is there; and it was................................ but now the fan spins freely when I give a spin......................at least 3-4 revolutions now, whereas before it would only go 1/2 a revolution. I would surmise that my rocking the fan clutch back and forth around under there did something, hey??? It also makes a slight grinding/squeaky noise while I do this.....................speeded up would sound very similar to the noise I've been hearing.

UPDATE!! Finally warm enough today to spend time and pull the serpentine belt and run the truck minus the belt. Well, the noise is totally gone. Inspected all the pulleys again; and all seemed fine except for the fan clutch. All spun free and easy (alternator, water pump, tensioner, idler, balancer, AC and PS) even the viscous fan clutch; but if I grabbed the fan itself at 3 and 9 o'clock, it would rock back and forth about 1/4-5/16" at the clutch itself and the mounting nut. That would make it seem to me that the bearing is going out, correct??? This is movement I can see looking down while rocking the fan. It's not the fan blades deflecting. I'm going to give it a shot of some white lithium grease and get it back together for now. What say y'all??