onetrack

Geez, what a nightmare of a job, trying to machine those cam lobes! They must have used an eccentric rotating jig?

Here's the Electric Viking (Sam Evans), ruthlessly pounding Toyota for their transmission design failures. It's not only the U760E, six-speed model that is faulty (from 2012 onwards), it's also the UA80 and UB80, eight speed tranmissions as well, that have serious shortcomings in design and lifespan. The eight speed transmission is the later, so-called "improved transmission" as compared to the six speed. One bloke in the U.S. got refused a warranty claim for his faulty eight speed transmission, and was quoted $75,000 (!) to replace the knackered transmission in his Toyota Highlander! Little wonder he's on the lawsuit warpath!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpKYot7rL00

Willie - Here's a Steam Punk Goldwing for sale locally, that might give you some ideas! I like the jerry can panniers and the fake exhaust pipes. https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/4553036374957016 Of course, if you feel like going the Full Mad Max, you could always build a Steam Punk Chariot! https://www.webbikeworld.com/steampunk-goldwing-goes-auction/

Who knows what went on behind the scenes for Scomo to pull this job? Mates amongst mates, or string-pulling?

You get a packet of 2 Mentos with most Supercheap automotive parts or consumable purchases. But I hate Mentos, so they get binned. The Camry transmission story is ongoing. The Toyota dealer gave us the Camry back on Friday evening - after having held it for 3 days, and having never even laid a spanner on it. The "Service Advisor" (you don't get to speak to the Service Manager any more), says they hope to get a reply back from Toyota Head Office by this Friday, as to whether they will replace anything under warranty. That will be 10 days they've had to consider their position. I reckon I'm right, they are running it through their legal dept to see which loophole they can use to squeeze out of paying out anything. In America, there's apparently more than one class action lawsuit being initiated against Toyota for the faulty transmission problem. This looks like a costly headache for them.

You're pretty close, Marty! It's actually for UTI's! https://www.chemistwarehouse.com.au/buy/8190/ural-effervescent-powder-lemon-28-sachets

There is also scientific proof that the Earth suffers from mega-droughts about every 1000 years. These mega-droughts have been blamed for civilisation collapse in some regions, where entire civilisations just disappeared. If there are mega-droughts on a regular basis, this indicates long-term cyclical events in the climate, such as extreme heat periods, extreme rainfall periods, and extreme storms. Yet, the climate scientists tell us all these previously-mentioned events are simply the result of GW. I think the whole story is a lot more complex. We certainly have pumped a lot of pollutants into our atmosphere since the start of the Industrial Revolution, and anything we can do to moderate that, must be advantageous.

I'm a little puzzled as to how scientists get really precise CO2 measurements from 5000 and 6000 years ago, when they didn't have their current instruments there.

Right there is the problem. As soon as you start measuring temperatures in Reaumurs, the climate goes to hell in a handbasket.

Jerry, you mean there's still hope for MAGA diehards?? 😄

I have a gripe - and it's nothing to do with language - although my language may coarsen shortly if I don't get some satisfaction. SWMBO's 2012 Camry has crapped itself. Well, not completely DOA - but it recently developed a lag in upshift and a nasty associated shudder and vibration in the drivetrain that became very concerning. Some internet-thingy AI-assisted research tells me that Toyota had/has some huge problems with the Aisin U760E transmission as fitted to 2012-2014 Camrys and RAV4's. It appears the PCM (Powertrain Control Module - we no longer have simple ECU's, they are integrated PCM's now) was badly programmed originally, to allow the torque converter lock-up clutch to lock up at relatively low speed - say around 30-35kmh. This was done to assist in improved fuel economy and to allow Toyota to brag about that improved fuel economy. I must comment that the Camry IS very economical on fuel. However, the problem is that allowing the lock-up clutch in the TC to engage at such low speed (it used to be around 60kmh before they TC locked up), it overloads the lock-up clutch. This results in lock-up clutch burnout, shudder and a severe lag in upshifting. Eventually, the transmission can be destroyed if it gets bad enough. The cure is a reprogramming of the TCM and a complete TC replacement. Now, here's where it gets interesting. Toyota recognised they had a problem with this transmission, way back about 2014. So they agreed to come good with free repairs and replacements, under an "Extended Warranty" that was to run for 8 years or 150,000 miles (this was primarily an American problem - strangely enough, I can find no mention of the problem in Australia). Toyota produced over 940,000 vehicles with this transmission. They replaced around 100,000 TC's for free, it appears. So we dropped the Camry off at the local Toyota dealer Wednesday morning, and they examined it and immediately identified the problem as the faulty TC/programming problem. The TC is shot, and in need of total replacement. That's major surgery, of course - either the engine comes out, or the transmission is dropped out. The cost is going to be substantial. The Camry is 14 yrs old and has done just 120,000kms. On the first day, things went very quiet. I got a call from the dealer at 4:20PM, telling me what the problem was, and they had sent in a claim to Toyota head office for the repair to be a warranty claim, whereby Toyota will cover the TC replacement cost. I might add, a new TC has to be flown in from Japan. Today is Friday and still dead silence. I rang the dealer and asked where we were at. He says they're still waiting on a response from Toyota as to whether they will cover the repair. I guess they're consulting with their lawyers to see how vindictive we could be. We've been loyal Toyota owners for nearly 40 years, and we buy them for their reliability and resale. But right now, my loyalty is wavering. This is not a good look, Mr Toyota. I know the car is well out of warranty, but I never expected to be doing a transmission overhaul at 120,000kms, either. What is worse, the dealer hasn't laid a spanner on it in 3 days. He's waiting, and I'm waiting. I don't know why it should take so long to consider a warranty claim, Toyota must have developed into a huge paper and responsibility-shuffling bureaucracy. At least, the dealer has offered us a loan car.

Just a heads up, advising that the Govt's 32c per litre reduction in fuel excise ends on June 30th. However, the Govt has decided, in a "balanced" move, that come 1st July, only half the excise reduction on fuel will apply. This means that on the 1st July, fuel prices will rise 16c per litre. The 16c per litre excise reduction will remain in place until August 2nd, when the Govt will again review the fuel situation. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-21/why-fuel-excise-cut-will-continue-to-lesser-extent-until-august/106824392

The bulk of the place names in W.A. are Anglicised from the local Aboriginal dialects, and often are quite inaccurate in the translation - to the extent, that a pronunciation of the proper Aboriginal name of those places would be nearly impossible for most people. The bottom line is, the Aboriginal languages have died out because they have no way of keeping up with technological advances. This is the reason the English language is the language of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, Construction and Aviation. The Aboriginal languages are primarily concerned with place names and land forms, and waterways and waterholes - all that was needed to sustain the nomadic, hunter-gatherer lifestyle, which involved just the immediate everyday needs.

GON, the U.S. Military forces leave Australia after a 6 month deployment. There are approximately 2000 Marines based in the Territory from March to October, then they go home. There are no U.S. Military force bases in Australia with permanently-based personnel, unlike Japan, Sth Korea, Germany, Italy, etc. The Australian military facilities used by the Americans are used on a Joint Rotational basis, or are Joint Defence Facilities with some American personnel based here permanently. Marine Rotational Force: - Darwin: Approximately 2,000 U.S. Marines and sailors deploy to northern Australia every year. They arrive in March to conduct several joint drills, such as Exercise Pitch Black and Southern Jackaroo, before returning to the U.S. in October. Aircraft and Bomber Rotations: The U.S. routinely sends aircraft (like B-52 bombers stationed temporarily at RAAF Base Tindal) for operations, and stores aerial troop carriers in the country, but the personnel are continually cycled in and out. Joint Defence Facilities: Bases like the Joint Defence Facility Pine Gap operate as cooperatively managed Australian and U.S. intelligence sites with permanently stationed administrative and intelligence personnel. A number of the overseas American military bases are treated as "Sovereign territory" by the Americans. I cannot see that being allowed here. In the U.K., the bases are leased to the Americans, the British Govt retains sovereignty over the land. In Spain, the U.S. bases are jointly owned by the Spanish and the Americans.

Those Huaneng Ruichi 90 tonne all-electric dump trucks use battery swap technology - something I have been saying for some time, is necessary for speed of operation. The battery swapping is automated and carried out in minutes. Then they can get on with charging the flat batteries at their leisure, when excess or cheap power is available.