Thank you all for your input. I asked for it because I like to sound as if I know a LITTLE bit when I talk to mechanics... Keith spurred me to immediately call a mechanic (actually two, well respected in san Diego). On jobs, get back to me in a couple of days. Jim slowed my heartbeat a bit with a "don' worryaboudit" post, which echoed the yard boss when I hauled last month. I gave a visual and hammer inspection to the manifolds and exhaust elbows, and found nothing untoward. Got calls from the mechanics this morning, and they agreed: this is a Perkins phenomenon, and if no cracks or seeps are visible, and the engine is not overheating, "don' worryaboudit". I'll sleep better tonight, after I get advice on replacing the 3 3/4 (?) Motorola tachs with something that costs less than $250 per. Thanks, people John

John Akins <john.akins@ymail.com> writes: >I'll sleep better >tonight, after I get advice on replacing the 3 3/4 (?) Motorola tachs with >something that costs less than $250 per. I installed a VDO programable tach (model 333-152) on Island Eagle, driven off the tach send on my alternator. You do need a known good tach to do the programming, but I picked up a cheap digital handheld tach on eBay. I bought all of my VDO gauges from eGauges, here's a link. Cost is $77.50 plus shipping. http://www.egauges.com/vdo_mult.asp?Type=Tachometer&Series=Vision No connection except as a satisfied customer. Scott Welch Product Manager, Open Text Collaboration Solutions Group www.opentext.com 905 762 6101 "Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out." - John Wooden