Sometimes Little Things Mean Big Problems.
A recent personal experience with my truck has reminded me that sometimes little things can create big problems.
Periodically, the engine idle would be erratic while at normal idle or while driving. Often the engine seemed to be working harder than normal, and sometimes there was hesitation during acceleration. Initially my thoughts were that the could be some major problem with the engine or emission control, or the clutch. The only other issue was with a periodic squealing noise from engine compartment, when the engine was turned over on cold mornings. Typically, it go away when the engine reached normal operating temperature.
On taking it into the shop, diagnostics repetitively turned up no issues with the vehicle emission system or electronics.
After a prolonged issue with erratic idle, I took it into the shop, and the tech’s still couldn’t find the issue. However, this time round I had the tech’s doing a Timing Belt replacement, and it’s standard to replace all of the drive belts when this is done. While the tech’s were doing the work, they found that the idler pulley bearings were shot and the Idler pulley tensioner was worn out . This was causing the drive belts to bind, requiring the engine to work harder, and when the bearings would catch, it would cause the engine to bog down. Ultimately, if unchecked, this situation would have eventually caused the drive belts to snap.
Likewise… When it comes to computers and software, I’ve seen seemingly small issues over the years that have caused big problems.
As an example:
One of our customers, MIS person installed a new Anti-Virus software program, leaving the install configurations at the default settings, which included "Scan all files on open". After the installation, their accounting software and other application were running dramatically slower and applications would crash for no apparent reason, and the files were being corrupted.
The major issue with this was that the accounting software was a client-server application that was constantly opening and closing multiple files. When reports were run or posting operations were done the software created temporary work files. In this case the anti-virus software was trying to scan files that require exclusive file locking be present, and this was causing the accounting software to abort improperly, corrupting the files.
If you are having any kind of nagging issues with your system, it could be an indication of something bigger coming your way. Please call CCS Retail Systems Support Department to resolve this.
– John