Big Shout Out To Mr. Mike "Mopar Man"!

[First Diesel Middleton]

K- short as i can be.  acquired gen 2 5.9 24 to pull my rig to Intel Az. Keep in mind I know nothing about diesels, haven't driven a manual in years let alone pull a 28' cross country.  Work offer of a life time, short notice, freaking out.  I call him he picked up, no virtual hold press every button for the next 1/2 hour BS.  Mike hears my panic mode, "give me a few days to plan and ill drive down" aaaahh what, can u please repeat that,, ditto! WTF came to mind!  Rearranges his could be busy for a life time schedule, then keeps me updated of his location for eta (fin thought he was in a crop duster).  Shows up cracks the whip, parts flying of my front end and drive train.  I'm trying to take notes, part lists, catch parts bring tools and of course the torch thing, hellooo!  I never forget this experience, especially this one moment.  He casually turns around,,, "ok i think were done"  He turns the key, varoom, all the scaring the **** out of me issues, well, just magically disappeared, gone!  Another WTF moment.  Good man amazing brain and skill sets.  Guys/Gals I'm a high purity IC engineer.  Eternally grateful, no fear of dyeing on the desert drive.. 

 

Michael "Mr Mopar Man"  I wish you and your tribe all the best..

 

Michael Boise

[Mopar1973Man]

Thank you sir it was a pleasure to do the job for you. 

[hdpwipmonkey]

Fellow Intel worker here... although I am in the PNW, I would probably dry up like a raisin in AZ. 

 

I havent had the pleasure of meeting Mike in person yet but I see all that he does here on the forum to help folks and that speaks volumes to the kind of person he is.  

 

Welcome to the world of Diesel ownership and safe travels on your drive south.

[Mopar1973Man]

As for @First Diesel Middleton he's a heck of a guy. Had me drive his truck around doing a few things personal for him. Then he takes me out for stellar lunch. Ok after filling my gut and heading back to his place. Started with the drive line and pulled the driveshaft out and started pressing u-joints out. Ran out with @First Diesel Middleton to get a fan belt and u-joints. Came back and tore apart the cooling system nearly all the face of radiator was plugged with oil blowby. Washed the radiator all up. Change the thermostat and water pump since the radiator was out. Then new hoses and band clamps (yup he wanted bulletproof). End up getting back to the driveshaft got 2 of the u-joints out fairly easy with my press but the last one was a Spicer U-joint. Man I hate them. I tried pressing one cup out but the trunion too fat to push the cup out. I fired up the hot wrench cut trunion out and smacked the cups out with 1/2 extension and my 6 pound hammer. Cleaned up the holes put it together. About that time wind picked up. We packed up and went to dinner awesome Irish pub. Good eats. Them headed back to his place died on his couch.

 

New day. Went out and got breakfast and quickly grab 3 gallons of coolant. Went back to his place and then finished up the cooling system and filled with coolant go to start it... Nope no dice. No Bus on the cluster and no lift pump. Test fuses and had +12V power at both ECM and PCM. Now when I was testing grounds the ECM ground failed. Got it fixed up and repaired and started it up. Ran great once again. 

Edited April 10, 2022 by Mopar1973Man

[Doubletrouble]

 Sounds like a whirl wind kinda trip. Glad ya got him going mike. That's a kind of service you just don't get very often. 

[Mopar1973Man]

28 minutes ago, Doubletrouble said:

 Sounds like a whirl wind kinda trip. Glad ya got him going mike. That's a kind of service you just don't get very often. 

This is the way I roll. I jump in with both feet and get after it. Time is limited, weather is another limit so focus and knuckle down and get after it.

[JAG1]

Mopar Man has been a major boon to me in my life. Helped save me so much money after a lifelong experience with not so good car and truck dealerships. He's sure helped me and my wife a ton. Thank you Mopar Man

[Mopar1973Man]

@JAG1 drove all the way from Oregon for me to do his injection pump. All I can say is don't let him near the bolt pile. He'll make sure to hide bolts in the intercooler.

[First Diesel Middleton]

Miguel thought we talked about my failed splice, gents is was December flipping cold im on gravel, ill think of another excuse come tomorrow, lol  Truth be told Mike pops back the loom unravels my over shrink and tape wrap, there its was, head turned left thought i was gona get a beating he knew i knew better..  All in all hella fun quantum leaps in education for me.  Hes certainly amazing at this profession, don't get it twisted this is the tip of the berg. 

 

@hdpwipmonkey I remember the Hillsboro facility 40 yrs ago best friends dad work there back when we had Rural Rout addresses, pops owned Banks and Hillsboro part stores.  Small world, great minds, great minds.  But don't tell Intel ;)  Army of seasoned Avionics Boeing, Lockheed, Liquide engineers awaiting. We should chat.

 

@doubletrouble - Sir you know the drill i was dumbfounded. 

 

Don't want to bug mike but kinda need tires, NW is ripe with Diesels.  seeing guy buying new rigs, then new rims and tires within in 50 miles then selling on CL for a bit over my tire cost and well,,,  im 20yr stock.  Any Ideas, got 10 days till launch?

 

Michael

** 

[JAG1]

10 hours ago, Mopar1973Man said:

@JAG1 drove all the way from Oregon for me to do his injection pump. All I can say is don't let him near the bolt pile. He'll make sure to hide bolts in the intercooler.

Only after an hour of looking everywhere did we think to look down the intercooler.... naw, it can't be.... get a flashlite yep, sure enough there it is. ''Stay away from the work'', he says.        

[Mopar1973Man]

That was still a very fun day even with the bolt dropped. 

 

I've been trying to promote people start getting together and sharing there knowledge here on the website but we also need to do it in real life with the people that live near us. This why when @First Diesel Middletoncalled me of course I'm going to do what I can to help out. This why members around the world come here for information and support for their Dodge Ram Cummins trucks. This why the member map was added so members can see who is around then and make connections with other members. Even like I told Michael about the 911 section and the map at least people can see where your at and then come to assist you. The phone number during registration is so I can help you out directly over the phone. Some time I know its going to be much faster giving a call to the member in need than posting 40 replies trying to get the info, and come up with the solution. Then like @Doubletrouble started a club of motorcycles. You can have a club of any topic you wish. Hence you might want to make a wrench party club for the state of Kanas, who knows but this why I built all this so you guys and gals can get help from other members in real life, over the phone or on the internet.

[Threadzy]

I definitely appreciate this site and everything @Mopar1973Man has done to make it user friendly. The tech articles alone have saved me lots of $  not having to take it to a diesel mechanic. Heck even my brother in law trusts me enough to work on his ‘02. Definitely the best Cummins site out there! 

[Doubletrouble]

 I agree with @Threadzy, I to have saved a ton of money wrenching on my own cummins. Also did a few mods to promote reliability. 

 I stated the motorcycle forum (for all cycles and atv's) because I know many of us have them. I wrench on my own bike also, along with my 2 sons bikes and my brothers. I figured us motorcycle enthusiasts could benefit from others experience same way as with our trucks.

 So if you haven't checked it out yet please do! 

 I also started a thread about possibly some of us meeting up while camping. I'm in N.W. Ohio and camp somewhat locally at this point but would travel if some members would coordinate and commit to a meet and greet.

 I may start a thread to let anyone know what events I may be attending just to meet some of our membership. 

 May have to get a Mopar1973Man hat made or something so I can be recognized among a crowd. Hint hint @Mopar1973Man

[jlwelding]

Yep, he helped me with my slight miss from hell 6 years ago or maybe longer. Replaced everything twice, probably had 8k in parts, nothing left but cracked block or piston. 

[Mopar1973Man]

@First Diesel Middleton shout back to see if you made it to your destination?