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Shoutout to the old timers who taught me to set injection timing with a drip tube | Diesel Mechanics - Librear

Shoutout to the old timers who taught me to set injection timing with a drip tube

When I started out at a shop off Highway 6 in Alvin, my lead guy Ray made me set pump timing on a 12 valve with a drip tube and a piece of clear hose, and I hated every second of it. You bumped the pump, watched for the fuel to quit dripping, checked it three times because you were always second guessing yourself, then snugged it down. Took me close to an hour the first time. Now I just plug in a laptop and the timing number pops up on the screen in about 30 seconds, which is nice when you're flat rate and the boss is watching the clock. But here's the thing, I learned more about how these engines actually work from that dumb hose than I ever did from the software. I can hear a pump that's off a couple degrees and know which way to turn it, and the young guys who only ever used the laptop look at me like I'm doing magic. Ray retired down to Rockport years ago and I still call him when something weird comes in. Anybody else here still keep a drip tube in the bottom of the toolbox even though you never pull it out anymore?

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1 Comment

sage_rodriguez19d ago

Did you ever read that thread on the diesel forums about the old Cat techs who could time a 3406 by ear before the laptop tools came out? I ran across it a while back and it was the same story over and over, guys saying the slow way is what made them actually understand what the pump was doing instead of just trusting a number. That matches what you said about hearing when a pump is off a couple degrees. The software tells you what, but the drip tube taught you why. I still have my old clear hose rolled up in the bottom drawer, and I bet half the guys my age do too, even if it has been years since it saw daylight. Ray sounds like the kind of lead every shop needs and fewer and fewer have.

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