On some days operating Toolmonger feels like a job. A long, weary job. But sometimes we see a comment like this one, and it reminds us why we keep plugging away day after day. From reader Toolaremia on my Don’t Freeze Your *ss Off post.

Chuck, your friend could have saved himself a lot of work if he’d just put a water separator and proper fuel filter on that Olds. Never would have had to fix it again. There was nothing wrong with the engine itself.

The problem was by then the beancounters were running (ruining) GM and they skimped on proper fuel handling and other things. Diesel fuel back then was horrible, and you really *had* to have a separator and hardy filter. So water got into the engine, lifted the heads, and the uninitiated blamed the engine instead of the fuel and the beancounters.

See “Diesel problems” here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldsmobile_V8_engine#LF9_Diesel

In the original post I’d mentioned that I learned about insulated coveralls from a friend who worked incessantly on his 350 diesel-powered Delta 88. And I’m willing to bet Toolaremia is totally right. Most of the work he did was head related, so it matches up perfectly with the comment.

This, friends, is why it pays to read not just the posts on Toolmonger, but the comments, too. If you’re reading via feed, you’re getting only half the story. Another great example: On that same post a number of Toolmongers (Will Atwood, Toolhearty, Gough, David Bryan, and jeff as of this moment) recommend insulated bibs plus a coat as a much better solution than coveralls. Being a bit, um, pear-shaped myself, I think they’re on to something. I’ll probably go that way myself the next time I buy.

Anyway, thanks to all who read — and comment — regularly. It keeps us motivated to deliver posts every day, and it makes Toolmonger a much more valuable resource to all who read and participate.

(Thanks, Jess Driscoll, for the great CC-licensed photo.)