A Diesel has to Blow as much as it Sucks.

GM 6.5L Detroit Diesel (L65)
credit: http://www.gearheadengines.com

There's a lot of Voodoo on the internet regarding how to make your Diesel have more torque, more horsepower, more black smoke, more everything... but I take it all with a grain of salt, because it's just internet chatter, right?

Well, one of the things I'd heard was Diesel engines need big exhaust, straight pipes are best, but at least something with low restrictions, the less back-pressure the better.  Diesel engines also need to suck in a lot of air.  Until today, I hadn't been able to really see how that applied to my 6.5L Detroit Diesel "L65" and the Turbo in my Suburban... so today I had a little epiphany.

Taking you back in time; my Suburban's exhaust system (when I bought it) was patched, and barely keeping together.  In the first few thousand kilometres the gasket between the downpipe (after the Turbo) and soot-trap/exhaust pipe/muffler was totally blown away - literally.  Also, there was a major exhaust leak through a hole in the exhaust manifold.  Well, my mechanic found the blown gasket and repaired it, allowing the exhaust to go all the way through the soot trap and muffler and go out the tail pipe as it was meant to.  I patched the exhaust manifold afterword, since a hole in the manifold would sap the turbo of any pressure, and rob the engine of any boost.  After both of these repairs, I didn't hear the turbo spin up or down anymore... I hadn't heard the turbo whine since before the downpipe gasket was replaced, actually.  But why?  Back to the internets.  Up popped the same complaint from several other people running stock exhaust.  I have an aftermarket K&N filter installed, and I even tested without any air intake filter installed - so I'm very sure the engine was getting enough air IN - but with the stock exhaust, and the exhaust "leak" (the gasket) fixed, I was no longer running the equivalent of straight pipes - I was choking and restricting the exhaust on the way out.  I'm told (from the internets) that changing the exhaust to something high-flow, or straight pipes, will bring back the turbo whine.

The saying that a Diesel engine needs to be able to blow out as much as it sucks in doesn't just make sense, it's true, and I think I've proved it.

Something you may not know; the 1999 L65 Suburban didn't have a catalytic converter, it only came with a soot trap.  My Suburban doesn't have any vacuum operated EGR valves either, which means one less vacuum operated system to go wrong.

I think a Diamond Eye exhaust system is going to be on next year's Christmas list...

L65 6.5L Detroit Diesel Maintenance Schedule (Suburban)

My new-to-me Suburban has had a rough previous life, clearly.  Over fourteen years of use, I'm now noticing signs of previous repairs that weren't done right and botched maintenance.  Well, I haven't found anything yet that isn't repairable, but the other issue is, I simply don't know the vehicle's maintenance history.  What has, or hasn't been done?  When was the transmission fluid last changed?  I know the coolant has been changed (since I bought it with only water in the system) and I know the transfer case fluid has been changed (since there was no fluid in it when I bought it).  It seems Diesel maintenance information, especially for an older Diesel engine is scarce online, so I had to resort to paper research to find the GM Diesel Supplement defined scheduled maintenance listing for "Long Trip" use on a Suburban.  These should be considered *maximum* values, not when you start thinking about doing them.

Every 8000 km

• Engine Oil and Filter Change (or every 12 months, whichever occurs first).
• Chassis Lubrication (or every 12 months, whichever occurs first).  
• Drive Axle service.

Every 16000 km

• Tire rotation
• Shields and Underhood Insulation Inspection.  
• Air Intake System Inspection.  
• Thermostatically Controlled Engine Cooling Fan Check (or every 12 months, whichever occurs first).

Every 48000 km

• Fuel Filter Replacement

Every 80000 km

• Automatic Transmission Service

Every 96000 km

• Crankcase Depression Regulator Valve (CDRV) System Inspection
• Engine Accessory Drive Belt Inspection.
• Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) System Inspection (if equipped)

Every 240000 km

• Cooling System Service (or every 60 months, whichever occurs first).

Aerial Imagery of all Canadian Cold War Gap Filler Annexes

In the 1960s the Canadian government undertook a project to erect small remotely operated radar sites, then cancelled it when the project became too expensive and the government was undergoing budgetary cutbacks (more here from my previous post about Gap Filler Annexes)

Lac St. Marie GFA
Summer 2012

Some of the sites never left the drawing board, but some were 95% complete by the time the project was cancelled.  Most were somewhere in the middle.  Some of the sites, the most remote ones, are likely still as they were around 1964 when the project was dropped, and I hope to get to all of them and see what's left (if anything).  Below are the coordinates, and embedded Google Map and Bing Maps imagery that is currently available.  Since they are embedded and dynamic, as Microsoft or Google update their imagery these images can only get better!  (This also makes a very interesting study comparing the quality of Google vs. Microsoft satellite imagery for rural Canada...)

The sites all had access roads built, most had foundations, and from there on it's anyone's guess.  To complete the site they would have had to clear the land, spray herbicide, erect a fence, build two Steel pre-fab buildings, erect a tower, install a diesel storage tank, generators, heaters, antenna equipment, etc..  At the very least I expect to find a concrete slab at the end of a dirt access road at each of these sites.  If you cannot see the site where the arrow is, the site is a "best guess" and the GFA was in the "neighbourhood".  I have found many of the GFAs East of Ontario and Quebec very hard to locate.  I suspect the land was re-purposed or otherwise re-used quicker than the remote sites in Quebec and Ontario.

(CG17 / C-16B) Atikokan GFA
50% Complete (48.79596, -91.61151)
1963 Status: Buildings, Tower Erected


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(CG16 / P-69E) Nipigon GFA
10% Complete (49.022387, -88.440138)
1963 Status: No Buildings, No Tower, No Fencing


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(CG20 / C-14B) Marathon GFA
10% Complete (48.75309, -86.58150)
1963 Status: No Buildings, No Tower, No Fencing


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(CG44 / C-14C) Manitouwadge GFA
10% Complete (49.157538, -85.839583)
1963 Status: No Buildings, No Tower, No Fencing



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(CG11 / M-119B) Chapleau GFA
50% Complete ~(47.87550, -83.44022) incorrect location (updated 2013.07)

1963 Status: Buildings, Tower Erected




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(CG27 / P-66C) Batchewana GFA
10% Complete (47.07520, -84.38212)
1963 Status: No Buildings, No Tower, No Fencing


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(CG10 / M-119D) Oba GFA
50% Complete (48.980541,-83.945099)
1963 Status: Buildings Erected


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(CG9 / P-66E) Elliot Lake GFA
90% Complete (46.38732, -82.6201)
1963 Status: Fencing, Buildings Erected (No Tower)


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(CG19 / M-119C) Biscotasing GFA
50% COmplete (47.25855, -82.1225)
1963 Status: Buildings Erected


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(CG3 / C-9B) Tobermory GFA
90% Complete (45.22439, -81.63837)
1963 Status: Buildings, Tower, Fencing Erected


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(CG26 / C-4F) Lucknow GFA
10% Complete (43.961111, -81.547500) aprox
1963 Status: Tower Erected (No Fencing, No Buildings)


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(CG14 / C-10D) Timmins GFA
90% Complete (48.53673, -81.54171)
1963 Status: Fencing, Buildings Erected (No Tower)


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(CG25 / P-20E) Sparta GFA
10% Complete (42.725000, -81.103333)
1963 Status: Tower Erected (No Fencing, No Buildings)


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(CG5 / C-4D) Formosa GFA
90% Complete (43.930556, -81.006667)
1963 Status: Buildings, Tower Erected


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(CG15 / C-10B) Belleterre GFA
90% Complete (47.35685, -78.68173)
1963 Status: Fencing, Buildings Erected (No Tower)


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(CG8 / C-3C) Algonquin Park GFA
90% complete (45.564167, -78.561111)
1963 Status: Buildings, Tower, Fencing Erected


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(CG18 / C-3A) Westport GFA
50% Complete (44.73373, -76.42168)
1963 Status: Buildings, Tower Erected


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(CG7 / C-2D) Lac St. Marie GFA
90% Complete (45.93706, -75.85090)
1963 Status: Buildings, Tower, Fencing Erected


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(CG12 / C-1D) La Tuque GFA
50% Complete (47.20664, -73.20682)
1963 Status: Buildings Erected


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(CG2 / C-2E) Nicolet GFA
90% Complete (46.136944, -72.658333)
1963 Status: Buildings, Tower, Fencing Erected


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(CG13 / C-5B) Todd Mountain GFA
50% Complete (46.54185, -66.70140)
1963 Status: Fencing, Buildings Erected (No Tower)


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(CG4 / M-102B) St. Joseph GFA
95% Complete (44.263611, -66.115556)
1963 Status: Buildings, Tower, Fencing Erected


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(CG6 / C-5A) Scotch Settlement GFA
95% Complete (45.72682, -65.77479)
1963 Status: Buildings, Tower, Fencing Erected


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(CG22 / C-11F) Bridgetown GFA
10% Complete (44.861111, -65.348611)
1963 Status: Tower Erected (No Fencing, No Buildings)


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(CG30 / C-11D) Summerville Centre GFA
10% Complete (45.978333, -64.841667)
1963 Status: Fencing Erected, (No Buildings, No Tower)


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Air strips and bases of the Pinetree Line

I found a few documents which I'd previously overlooked and made some interesting discoveries, including one regarding Casey, QC.

Around 1953 while the Pinetree Line stations were being built, "Air Strips and Bases" were also being built or upgraded to support them. I found a list of those air strips and bases and here's what I now know.

From the footer of the page

"All of the above except Puntzi and Saglek are Department of Transport (Canada) projects and a standard design is being used at all sites. Air strip runways are 6,000x200ft plus overshoot. Lighting installation must.. completion of the strip."

Using Google Maps I measured what I believe the length of the original landstrip was, and they don't quite fit the hard rule of 6000ft, but they're close. Below I have listed the strip or base, and the associated Pinetree Line station it was related to.

Some of these air strips and bases have gone on to new lives as commercial airports, while some have been abandoned.   I've added the sites to my bucket list, though I don't think I'll ever get a chance to see Saglek myself... but if I do I'm quite sure I'll blog about it :)

Ancienne Lorette (6000ft) - Ste. Marie

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Casey, P.Q. (8000ft) - Parent, Lac St. Senis ADCC
NB: This was a NEW construction, not an extension or upgrade to an existing strip.

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Earlton, Ont. (6000ft) - Falconbridge

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Gore Bay, Ont. (6000ft) - Falconbridge

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Killaloe, Ont. (6500ft) - Foymount
NB: This was a NEW construction, not an extension or upgrade to an existing strip.

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Lac des Loups, P.Q. (5400ft) - Foymount
NB: This was a NEW construction, not an extension or upgrade to an existing strip.

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La Tuque, P.Q. (5000ft) - Mont Apica


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Mont Joli, P.Q. (6000ft) - Mont Apica, Chatham

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Sudbury, Ont (5000ft) - Falconbridge
NB: This was a NEW construction, not an extension or upgrade to an existing strip.

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Val D'Or, P.Q. (10000ft) - Senneterre, Edgar

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Wiarton, Ont. (6000ft) - Edgar

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Muskoka, Ont. (6000ft) - Edgar

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La Macaza, P.Q. (6000ft, formerly called "L'Annonciation") - Lac St. Denis
NB: This was a NEW construction, not an extension or upgrade to an existing strip.

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Puntzi Mtn, B.C. (6000ft) -  Puntzi Mtn.

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Saglek Bay, Labrador (4800ft) - Saglek, Labrador

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Mid Canada Line DDS Site 409

MCL DDS Site 403 - March 1957
Courtesy of Larry Wilson & John Rowe - http://www.lswilson.ca/

A little bird put a bug in my ear this afternoon...  He suggested a trip to James Bay, to the end of the road; the end of the James Bay Road (around 53.9736, -79.0698) and now I'm wondering if I could get to a nearby Mid Canada Line station during the same trip... After all, when are you going to get that close to the 55th parallel?
  

"The Mid-Canada Line refers to a Doppler radar detection system for aircraft (Early Warning System), nicknamed the McGill fence, stretching across Canada from Labrador to British Columbia, along the 55th parallel. The Mid-Canada Line was built by the federal government between 1954 and 1957. The 42 stations located in Québec (35 sites north and seven sites south of the 55th parallel) were operated by the Department of National Defense (DND) from 1958 to 1965. The sites were abandoned in 1965. At that time, all equipment, buildings, fuel tanks, barrels, pipelines, pumping stations, machinery, as well as hydrocarbons and contaminated soil were left behind. The detection antennas, some of which were longer than 100 m, were lowered to the ground to eliminate aviation hazards. After the federal government abandoned the Mid-Canada Line, the 42 sites in Québec were ceded to the Government of Quebec in 1966. In Québec, there are 22 Doppler radar detection sites located approximately 40 km apart and 20 supply sites, each generally located less than 2 km from a detection site." -Kativik Environmental Advisory Committee, Work Necessary To Complete The Mid-Canada Line Clean-Up Project (May 2012)

 
From the map below, you can see the Mid Canada Line stretched across Canada, in some very remote areas of Labrador, Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba.  While it stretched across Saskatchewan,  Alberta and British Columbia as well, they were arguably less remote.  The locations in Labrador, Quebec and Ontario were built in the middle of "nowhere", using only helicopters to bring supplies in.  You'll notice that some of the buildings and antennas used look remarkably like Gap Filler Annexes or Pinetree Line equipment.  After all, they were all built at about the same time, by the same countries, with roughly the same government contracts for supplies.
The Fort Albany, Relay and Kempis Mountain sites, where Troposcatter repeaters were placed to feed the aggregated Mid Canada Line (MCL) feed South to North Bay, have already been rehabilitated; spilled diesel, lead acid batteries, and other nasty environmental containments have been dug up, and shipped to safe storage or incineration sites.  Unfortunately (environmentally speaking) with limited money to undertake these clean-up projects, the Government of Canada has prioritized the clean up operations.  Each of the cleanups will cost many millions of dollars, so the clean-up of all Mid Canada Line stations will take many years.  In the meantime, PCBs and other containments are still leaking into lakes, rivers, and the soil surrounding these bases, many of which are on aboriginally controlled land.  As it turns out, MCL site 409 and 410 haven't been cleaned up yet, and the local Cree aren't pleased with the priority they have been given.  A barge laden with fuel drums sank in James Bay and to this day leaks causing oil sheens that wash up on the local shore.  There are still hundreds of (mostly) empty 55 Gallon drums of fuel sitting at site 409 and 410, as well as other gear.

MCL DDS Site 410 - Winter 1964 / 1965
Courtesy of Larry Wilson & John Heselton - http://www.lswilson.ca/

Since the latest report (below) is from 2012, at least I know the sites are still there, and I could get pictures of them, if only I could get to them.
One problem... I don't know where Mid Canada Line Site 409 is... I have a good idea where 410 is, and it's farther north... but 409 I can't find any info on.  Suggestions?

I expect that site 409 looks much like 403, which is why I posted the picture of 403...
The Google Maps view and Bing Maps view is pretty poor or the area I'm interested in, so they're not a lot of help... If I understand correctly, Mid Canada Line DDS 409 and 410 were right beside each other; one was the airstrip and pump station, and the other a couple of kilometers away was the tropo repeater shown in the picture.  I suspect another trip to the Air Photo Library will be required to get some better imagry.

Location of Mid Canada Line Sites in QuebecCourtesy of DND

Location of Mid Canada Line Sites
Courtesy of Larry Wilson - http://www.lswilson.ca/

 Site of "Cape Jones" MCL DDS Site 409 and 410

Reference:
Ms. Elaine Feldman - Federal Administrator, JBNQA - Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency
Brief Regarding the Complete Restoration of Mid-Canada Line sites in Nunavik
http://www.keac-ccek.ca/documents/memoires-avis/Mid-Canada%20Letter%20to%20MDDEP%20eng.pdf