Rickey, I think it was Billy J. because the cougar travels from our property onto his, through his woodland that separates us, and then gets his cats. The other Billy lives a half-mile north of me and his house is set back about 1/2 mile from the road---he is fairly new here and you likely wouldn't notice his place unless you noticed the green mailbox by the gate. He lives between the big new house west of J. road and the houses that face Old Burkhart. He stopped by the garden a few weeks ago and told me something was killing some of his chickens, and he'd seen a pit bull around and wanted me to watch out for the pit. I told him to watch out for the cougars, as I'd recently had the June cougar encounter. By the way, it is his property that they were seen crossing the other day, and that surprises me because he has several dogs. Unfortunately, none of his dogs are very large. I hope they're all OK. Keep an eye on your chihuahuas! The cougar I ran into along my garden fence the other day was walking along very slowly and stealthily, looking from side to side, and clearly hunting. It blended in really well with the dry grass so your little dogs might not notice it....and it absolutely did not make a sound walking through the tall grass. (We've since cut the grass back to stubble. I mean absolute stubble so a cougar cannot sneak up on us. First we mowed the grass as short as we could, and then I cut what was left with the weedeater.) I am about to go out to the garden to pick some more peppers to add to what I harvested this morning so I can finish the jalapeno bread and butter pickles. When I was out at this time yesterday, the rooster in the trap was having a crowing contest with my roosters. Of course, I didn't know it was a rooster in a trap, and was wondering why they suddenly had a rooster when they've never had chickens at all since we moved here. : ) So, if all is quiet when I go out in a few minutes, then maybe that is a good sign for us and a bad sign for the cougar. You probably did see a cougar's tail crossing into Fred's pasture. His neighbor that lives on the property kind of behind him has lost 12 or 13 chickens this year, and all but one disappeared without a trace. Fred has seen cougars in the past, although usually when he told me about them, he'd seen them at the old home place on the river west of Allen Rd. Back later after I finish all the pepper processing. Dawn

Hi Jerry. Looks like the hook is set.. :) Trying to understand exactly why certain things happen is what keeps me studying and reading everything I can. It also keeps me asking questions when a further solution isn't really necessary at times as well. Thats why I'm an automotive tech, there is so much to feed the curiosity beast. Alternators in general use a delta or(triangle) or "Y" shaped stator. The stator is the wires that are visible just inside of the case of the alternator. The ends of the wires that make up the stator are connected to the diode bridge. The bridge typically consists of six diodes which allow the current to flow to the alternator output, and of course from the alternator case. If someone does not really understand how diodes work, they can do some web searching on the subject, or just accept the fact that they act like a one way valve. The diodes are connected to allow electrons to be pulled from the + (positive) side of the circuit, and then pushed onto the - (ground) side. Inside the alternator there is a component called the rotor. Basically it's a coil of wire that has a current flowing through it to create a magnetic field. The rotors ends are designed to pull the magnetic field around the sides of the coil, and into a series of + and - magnets as viewed from the side. The rotor is connected to the pulley and is turned by the belt. This "series of magnets" rotate inside the stator, and the result is electrons are pushed and pulled in the stator creating an AC voltage. This AC voltage is rectified by the diode bridge, and we see it as DC on a volt meter. But looking closer with an ocilliscope we can actually see something else. The DC voltage isn't steady. On a normally operating vehicle with little electrical load (low current flow) there will be small humps as each diode begins and stops conducting. Charging systems also have a capacitor across the output of the alternator. The capacitors job is to slightly charge up higher than the present system voltage, and then discharge when the voltage it stored is higher than the system voltage. This effect is used to smooth out the humps from the alternator. There are two things that happen when a stator or diode fail. The diode failing can either short, or open circuit. If it shorts, generally the result is an alternator that drains the battery and is pretty easy to diagnose. (I'm not going to be real specific here, there isn't enough time but there are other possibilities as well) When a diode fails open though what you get is a space where instead of overlapping diodes conducting, there is a conductive hump, a period where the capacitor has to discharge longer, and then another conducting hump. I have seen situations under load where the AC voltage on top of the DC output gets up between 2 and 3 volts. (A shorted diode could have an even more dramatic voltage change) Now take a sensor where the output is an analog signal, and allow the system voltage to vary like this and you can get a computer reacting to inputs that are not really occuring. One such example would be false cylinder ID pulses, or incorrect crankshaft speed calculations by the computer. To an inexperienced tech, they pull the car in, it's running erratic, missfiring, maybe an incorrect idle speed. The use a volt meter and see the system voltage around 14v where they expect it to be and they end up running around and testing, and maybe even replacing all kinds of parts trying to fix the problem. It's added a whole dimension to testing when it comes to todays cars. Things like diode suppression when solenoids are operated can be really important to prevent voltage spikes on the system voltage. Getting used to looking closely at voltage waveforms has been really important when it comes to sensors like a wheel speed sensor. Litterally the difference between a sensor that is working, and one that the computer thinks is not can be 1/100th of a volt. With an AC voltmeter, it's impossible to interpret this change in the signal, heck it's hard with a scope by eye. I end up relying on trapping the waveform and using cursers to provide the voltage measurement. (Ahh the luxury of a digital storage ocilliscope) With an alternator I do exactly the same thing. I trigger my scope off of an injector current, or secondary lead if available, and then set the scope to 100mv/div and position the voltage line on the display and look at it between 2ms and 5ms/div. (Sometimes faster, sometimes slower depending on the needs) Here is a link that might be useful: A tutorial on alternator ripple, not just my rough interpretation

I just travelled from London Ontario via Port Huron, then Flint, through MI via I-75 to their UP, WI, MN, and ND to Saskatchewan and later to Edmonton in Alberta in Canada, source of much of the oil and natural gas that the U.S. gets from Canada ... and was surprised at the low volume of traffic on that route - in tourist season. I used the method described above along much of that course, especially at night, when traffic was lighter. I have no idea how many miles I travelled with the engine not running, but it was substantial. And hardly ever did I interfere with the travel of anyone else using the road. Same strategy on the return trip. Last evening I started from near London Ontario and came down through Detroit, then down I-75 to Knoxville TN, then across on I-40 to Lake Junaluska, near Asheville, NC to a reunion of over 200 former missionaries and development workers to Korea, arriving just before the dinner hour. Though traffic was somewhat heavier, especially at rush hour, than on the northern route, I was able to coast dozens of times, without interfering with the rate of travel of people following me. Sometimes on a long downhill slope with rather light gradient, I'd re-start for a short speed-up of travel, part way down the hill, then coast again. I really appreciate the great effort that was expended to build that highway through the rocky hills/mountains of Kentucky, Tenessee and North Carolina: through the Great Smokies. More than I did earlier ... and I think that's an added benefit to my increased awareness of the importance of conservation of our resources, especially petroleum, plus reducing global warming and pollution. This profligate lifestyle that we've self-centredly carried out for three generations or less can't continue. And now, we have the gall to tell the rapidly industrializing countries, especially China, India, Brazil, etc. that tey've got to take an important role in decreasing pollution ... when we have three cars in every driveway, and they have about 1 car in 200 driveways (or is that 100)? Where do we get such gall? Many of us in the U.S. and Canada claim to be Christian. I wonder what God has to say about such heedless, greedy selfishness? ole joyful

I think your vehicle is done. The engine overheated. Rodents lived in it. In CA, your vehicle would have a salvage title, making it difficult to sell. I do not see any demand for your vehicle for parts. You could have had a remanufactured motor installed for $2,500. I think if you drive the car, you will “hurt” it. But, the car isn’t worth anything.