Broken valves and broken dreams

[George Witt]

Hey, Juergen,
Nice to hear from you.
The way I approach short grades is to get the engine up to 2600
going into it, to carry as much momentum as I can, then wing it from
there. ;o)
On a long, steep grade, I'll just keep downshifting until I find
a gear that I can pull with 1/2 to 3/4 throttle pressure. Going
through Laughlin, Nevada to cross the Colorado River on the way to Las
Vegas, I used 2nd gear and it worked well with half throttle most of
the time. I can remember in some other places having to go to first
in my travels.
I've never seen the sense in thrashing an engine to the max for a
long length of time. They're designed to take it for short periods,
but I don't want to push it. It's better to get the gearing in a
position where the engine can just cruise with the load. As long as
the engine is in cruise mode or just a hair stronger, it's gonna have
a long life.
I use the same gear going down the other side that I used to get
up. I'll apply the brakes firmly to sharply cut 5 or 10 mph speed and
then get off them so they can cool. Staying lightly on the brakes all
the way down will overheat them and cause a fire or blow a tire, so
brake in cycles.

George Witt
81 FC 35
Lincoln, Nebraska



--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, john duke
wrote:
>
> Hi George
> Just read your rpm/oil/etc. I like your observstions and agree
with all your ways. I forgot whether it was you that mentioned going
up hillin a bird. So...what do you do when you reach a sign that says
6-7% next 8 miles? (I know that these signs usually indicate
downhill, but you want to go the opposite way, in this case uphill) ,
how would you tackle this grade?
> my Bird is a 36 SP 300 cat 5 speed ZF tranny, turbo -aftercooled
(6.9mpg avg, 8.4mpg with tailwind of 20kts)
> Juergen in PA
> 1991 WLSP36
>
>
>
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