Tacoma Spare Tire Lock

This post is for those that have encountered the spare tire locking mechanism on the first generation (1995-2004) Toyota Tacoma pickup truck. The lock resembles a wheel or lug nut lock that requires an adapter with a special pattern that engages the lock.

Here's what the lock looks like from the back of  my 2001 2.7L extended cab model showing how the spare tire is lowered by a cable:

and here's a closeup of the lock:

Here's the attachment that should be in the bag with your rods used to crank the jack. Mine was buried at the bottom ... I didn't even realize it was in the bag.

The jack crank end hooks through the attachment and snaps into place. Here's a closeup of the end.

Finally I should mention that if your truck has a modified rear-mounted tree detector (a.k.a. bumper) that's jacked up thereby closing the gap where you would normally insert the full crank rod, you can still lower the spare. Just use the last section of the crank rod (the jack end) with an 11mm square female pipe socket and a ratchet, a wrench, or even pliers. I used a "Sunex 214fp 1/2-Inch Drive 7/16-Inch Female Pipe Plug Socket" available from a certain on-line store.

Note: Wonky formatting courtesy of Blogger upgrades.

Harbor Freight Lynxx 40V Pole Saw Gear Grinding Repair

My Harbor Freight 40V Lynxx pole saw started grinding and vibrating badly, making it unusable. I checked the chain drive tension and sprocket which seemed okay, I opted not to go further until I did some research.

I found Slowpoke Slim's "Had to fix my Harbor Freight pole saw today" post on TractorByNet.com which laid out the problem - the two Philips head screws (Owners' Manual parts diagram #24) that hold the support plate (#22) to the motor had backed out. Several other people had the same problem.

Disassembly: Remove the drive cover (#54) by removing the two hex bolts (using provided Allen wrench or T30 bit). Remove the e-washer, "Pressing Plate" (washer), and sprocket (#56 &57). Remove all the T20 torx bolts on both side to separate the clam shell. Leave the Phillips head screw that secures the chain tensioner in place. Make note of the orientation of the support plate, motor, and motor terminals. Remove the two torx bolts that hold the pressing plate (#8) that secures the cable. Lift the motor out while separating the pinion gear from the ring gear.

Repair: I removed the two screws that secure the support plate to motor.  I cleaned them then added two dabs of Loctite, then reinstalled them.

Assembly: Reinsert the pinion gear, and set the support plate into the slots in the clam-shell. Reinstall the cable lock, align the ring gear and bushing and hopefully the clam shell halves will realign and close. Reinstall all of the bolts, sprocket, washer, and e-ring. Reinstall the drive cover. Test, saw, ...

A Peek Inside a Keurig K80

 Here's a quick look at the control board of a Keurig K-Select K80 single cup coffee maker.

This unit has been problematic over the last year or two. It occasionally turns off during the heating cycle, sometimes as many as three times in a single cycle. Fortunately it only turned off once or twice during the brewing cycle - otherwise it would have been gone a lot sooner. We paid about $119 or $129 for it (US$). I replaced it with a Cuisinart SS-10 for $149 - more on that later.

Anyway, here's the K80 control board.

K80 Control Board

It's way better than I expected. Decent layout though with no routed line voltage gap. The quality of the components, most notably the electrolytic caps, is good except for perhaps the relays. There's a flat flex cable connection from the top left to the button & LED interface, and JST connections to the water and temperature sensors, pumps, etc. There's a connection point for serial debugging and a few dedicated test points. Everything was clean, including the tubing (whew!).

As for some of the ICs, there's a Microchip PIC32MX130F064D-I/ML microcontroller, a Fujikura FPN-07PB pressure sensor, a Lite-On MOC3063 opto-isolator triac, and a WeEn BTA316B-600B0 triac. Relays look like Hongfa HF3FD 012-H3F(245)(247).

I didn't find any connection faults to repair so I probably won't delve into this any more.

As for the Cuisinart unit, it heats the water in-line rather than use a tank so it starts brewing almost immediately. We're very happy with the new coffee maker. My past experience with Cuisinart has been exceptional. On the rare occasion when something broke on one of our Cuisinart appliances, their customer service reps have been very accommodating, e.g., "We'll get that out to you right away ... no charge". Can't beat that.