Today I fired up the hyster forklift to set up my bucket for some big torch and hammer partying. As I spotted it on top of the other bucket, I noticed that it really sounded like ass warmed over. Lots of bad rattling sounds coming from under my seat as it were. The parts guy concurred that it was a bad sound. I grabbed a piece of pipe for a stethoscope but it was hardly needed. The bearings were out on the alternator. Once I took the belt off it was all rattly and bad. It is a 4 banger chev like a Cavalier engine. It started coming out OK then the stud spun and the wire was way too tight to fight. I lopped it off and went to a real parts house, a auto parts with a machine shop and guys who know what they are doing. The young guy looked up 1989 Cavalier at my suggestion but the picture was not quite right. The older fella holds it up and says "1991 pickup truck". Bingo! I got some #8 wire and connectors to extend it to a sane place to bolt on the wire, as it is tucked under the intake when installed. That took all the fight out of it. I got it back together and tested good to go.
I hate working on regular fork trucks just slightly less then the devil spawn telehandlers Hyster still has a thing for the chevys too.
yeah, you didn't really think anyone else was going to tackle that did you?
After the day I had dealing with parts guys, this cracked me up! LOL
I don't think they have had a fixer of things for years. The old office toilet was buggered up. You know, one of the toilets the service plumbers use? I finally took the lid off the tank as a hint.
Plumbers would **** down an open floor flange then fix a toilet they didn't absolutely have too
It's more than being a fixer, it's kind a of a life philosophy. I was thinking about this a minute ago when I reached for the Cherry Bomb shop soap and found it had been empty for a while. I replaced it with a full one, And thought about how long it had been empty, and the idea that every other mech had been given a chance to replace the soap and they chose against it. Being the guy who does the thing means two things. 1, you're a schmuck for being that guy and 2, the world won't function without you
I very purposefully do not return my shopping carts. I shop at Publix here in FL. They are more expensive than Walmart or Winn Dixie. I knowingly pay more money for the friendly faces and clean store. I leave my cart in the parking lot because it creates work for low paying positions that young people (high school kids) and old folks (should be retired but need income) can fill.
I leave mine in the nearest cart corral. I don't appreciate random carts that may roll into the side of my vehicle during a breeze and cause damage. I expect others to voluntarily do the same. Its never their vehicle that gets damaged
In the UK we no longer get the choice, each cart is chained to the next, the only way to get a cart is to place a £1 coin in the release mechanism, therefor if you want your £1 back you have to return it to where you got it to lock it to the next cart and release your £1.
Aldi, here also has the coin carts. When I go there, if I see an abandoned cart, I see a quarter, a piece, in my pocket. So I grab as many as convenient, and pocket the quarters, as soon as I return them. I think it is the best system, be a slob, lose your quarter!
Ya we have the chained carts here too but there is still the odd store that doesn't have them. Some panhandlers prowl the parking lot and offer to return your cart for you and then they pocket the quarter
I hook my cart over a nearby curb to keep it from rolling. I know when I was a kid working in a grocery store I appreciated the occasional stroll around the parking lot to round up carts, over staying in the store with demanding customers and managers.
I also grab a cart from the lot when entering the store. That’s one less cart that a poor employee has to corral during his day.
my 2006 Duramax 1 ton work truck has been weak cranking the last week or so. I split the batteries today; one was 12.68 and the other was 10.8 Off to Costco tomorrow for a new pair.
Check the date/lot code on the batteries. You want a close as possible matched pair in a parallel configuration.
They will come right off that rack at Costco and into my cart with nary a consideration as to date/lot. They need to last 23 months
Getting a new pumpkin * in two years ? or pro rating kicks in then ?? *Cinderella coach reference ...
hanging up the equipment keys
Hopefully congratulations are in order. Been retired myself for 13 years. It's a great feeling to wake in the morning and have nothing to do. Even better at lunch time when I'm half done. Then a nap.
I almost always have to fix shop tooling/equipment first before using it. Empty gas bottles, missing parts, stripped threads on pullers/puller rods, etc. I always tell the new guys yeah we have some shop tooling but it’s always going to be broken or unusable. most egregious in my book was the jackwagon that somehow popped and opened up a link on a lifting chain sling and put it back on the chain rack instead of tagging it out and turning it in to the supervisor. I was so mad because they obviously knew what they had done
Your not fully retired unless you can stay off HEF.
But ... what else could we do with our extra time now that we are retired?
Besides what is better than giving advice to help people spend their money while not getting our hands dirty?
That would be like a financial advisor at an investment firm except we don't make any money doing it
Advice is worth what you paid for it.
that's really not true I've seen you guys help out a lot of people in the very short time I've been here and I am thankful.
Some of us guys fix stuff here.......some, like myself, are just wisecrackers and smart elecks
Strictly a #3 grease monkey I am napping on a creeper most of the time dreaming about the dumb **** things I did years ago with a grin and eyes closed.
I was in the truck hauling pea gravel to abandon a big grease interceptor when I got a call and a text ( which I ignored till I was done driving ). One of the jobs was a recycle and dump station down by Montesano @Hallback The general had taken apart a couple of hydraulic crushers for paint cans and hazmat, then wanted to remote mount the motors and pumps in the new facility. Nobody took notes or labeled anything Off I go on a 3 hour round to do 5 minutes of explaining about high pressure hydraulics and what goes where. we had a "good talk" They wanted to run it in black iron and I cautioned that those pumps could be set for 2000 PSI. The tags and all the info are long gone on these machines and I wanted them to err on the side of caution. One had a case drain, the other did not. One was relieved at the pump as well as the fixture, the other not so much. You'd have full pressure on the whole line.
Seems like every DIY industrial hydraulic job we clean up is either all orange box black iron 150# stuff or all hose. Like no one ever saw stainless or steel tubing before lol.
I had 1 1/2 inch sch 80 black pipe with socket welded fittings in several hydraulic systems. The large diameters drove the choice cost wise.. Never liked them as I always wondered about contamination inside the pipe. Never had any trouble though, only ran big cylinders. I figure the inlet filter protected the pump.
We've done some heavy carbon steel pipe like xh, 160 and xxh and socket weld hydro jobs before, typically we'll air clean each piece with a trailer compressor before install.
The other day I limped the office trailer home from a job. The tires were horrible; The brakes non-existent. At first they let up my controller like they were working but then not so much. I parked it and vowed never to move it until I had gone through everything. it was here 18 years ago when I first started with this outfit and I know no one has touched it. it has the dreaded California style mobile home axles on it. last night I jacked it up and took two tires off to take in, and spun one of the bearings and it sounded like it was pea gravel in there. I knew I would be in for a fight today and I was not wrong. The outer bearing came off fine The inner was rusted on tight. I had a big piece of half-inch chain with no hooks on it so I bolted it on two of the bolts and used it as a slide hammer. That ripped the seal off just fine but the bearing was rusted on. I grabbed the hot wrench and scarfed in two places. Didn't even burn the brake wiring. The pivot point was frozen up but PB blaster took care of that. I'll get this side done, bolt on the tires and jack up the other.
Skyking1 ... can't tell the front of the trailer, but aren't the magnets supposed to down on the operating lever ? And the adjuster on the bottom where one can access it? Seems to me, you've got mis-applied backing plates installed by a previous someone... I found buying whole backing plates with shoes, magnets, and hardware extremely more cost effective than replacing parts. Easier too, bolt on and splice brake wire.
Looks like your typical POS trailer home axles with weld on backing plates.
Yeah ... I don't see any bolts on the backing... Good catch. Guess the brakes are there just to say trailer has brakes... Not meant to be used as brakes.
Pretty much, I'm sure they're fine for getting a house from plant to park but I've seen similar and worse on site offices too that got moved a lot, just not the durability of usual trailer axles it seems, probably a lot cheaper for the manufacturer though lol.
They are functional, and have really odd hoops that connect the magnet to the rest of the works. they are multi position and don't have those arms that you typically see. I can repair what I have there for this go-around.
Yeah they're just odd lol. I've taken roll scotchbrite and a flat file to a few and put bearings and seals from the local bearing house in em before with a good ol manual grease packing and off they went.
this trailer is getting the same treatment that both of my equipment trailers got. new skins repair the brakes a new pigtail seven wire a new breakaway switch. everything put in a junction box and tested for functionality.
one side done, tested and down on the new rubber. Just for kicks I tested the other side. One worked! The other I fear the magnet is toast. I dropped off the tires for pickup Monday.
The alternator started singing on the Ford, No More Juice For You! I had changed it out a year ago. Hmm. I get in there and find the Rube Goldberg adjuster had dis-assembled itself. It has a rod coupler in it, I don't know if it is standard that way but the jam nuts had worked loose. I re-cobbled it till I get better parts.
I remembered a thing from years ago. I was accompanying wife to a quilt show, and these guys were jump starting a '64 Ford with a Cherokee, unsuccessfully. I told her I would be right in, and she just nodded. She knew who she was married to by now. I walked over and they said we are charging the Ford battery back up for another go. I nodded, and offered to look at it. I had a rubber handled Kershaw pocket knife in my pocket. I pulled a plug wire, stuck the knife blade in it and held it near a good ground. "crank it over" I said. No spark. It was a 352 with the convenient front distributor. I used the Kershaw in my hand to flip the clips off the cap, pulled the cap. " crank it over" Rotor spun, so that helps. I pulled the rotor and looked down in there, and lo and behold, somebody had dropped a screw when changing out a condenser. It had grounded the plate. Using the same kershaw knife, I fiddled the screw out of there up the inside of the distributor, over the edge and into the palm of my hand. I put the rotor back, the cap back, and said "start it". It roared to life. I said "stick out your hand" dropped the screw in it, and just walked away. Elapsed time maybe 2 minutes.
This was so much fun I got to do it again The guys said it was making a horrible racket, and one of the guys was checking the pulley with a finger and ended up with the thread pattern burned on his fingertip for his troubles. I took a look and no nut. The pulley was freewheeling on the alternator shaft and got really hot and all hogged out. The parts store said no problem, don't worry about the receipt and handed me another.
Yeah........I'm not buying that one. You're rationalizing.
:shrug: It is the reason I do what I do. One may or may not agree with my motive.
I don't fix shopping carts, I just steal another when a wheel seizes up. /s
Nobody can do a decent alternator anymore, I put 3 on a yard forklift for one of our readymix places before we got a runner lol.
If a cart is having a issue-when I get to the checkout stand I mention to the cashier that it's pulling hard to the right, they need to push it across the street to Les Schwab for a 4 wheel alignment.
A Dodge 360 that didn't run smooth and low on power that had just had a tune-up and back to same shop three times, belonged to neighbor. I threw a timing light on it {my that's interesting}. The locking tang inside rotor was off by roughly 20 degrees. Napa Echlin.
I still have my snap on timing light from the 70's in a toolbox drawer, but the dwell meter went missing a few decades ago and was not replaced nor missed.
remember that fargin hyster forklift I just put an alternator in? oh yeah I should have looked around in there a little more closely. the bastige tossed all the fan bolts, sent the fan into the radiator and caused me a bunch more work. there's a radiator shop down the road that'll fix it, a new one's like 700 bones.
I got the radiator to the shop and he was skeptical, but willing to try. It tore out the first row of tubes about 5 tubes wide and made quite the mess, and is otherwise kinda falling apart as well. The fan was bent and the aluminum extension was scrapped too. I have a parts guy on the hunt for those. Yesterday I got more pal nuts and lock washers, and also a pair of new belts for the Ford/Cat 3406. It is re-Goldberged for now. I started it up to look at how the belfts were running, and spotted the filter and hand pump assembly on the left front was barely on there. I tightened that back up, and realized why it was probably shaken loose. Confession time. I took the truck and excavator up hills in town, and got into a nasty wheel hop and shook the crap out of the old girl. Mea Culpa, and never again! Usually I have a bed full of buckets and the hoe pack plus the tongue weight, but I was completely empty and it was not enough. I learned my lesson and if that loose adapter is all that is wrong I got lucky.
When the truck shop did the DOT inspection, they wrote up some things for me to fix. I think they have been under water on the schedule for months. I got to one Friday, leaking front axle oil bath cover. I pulled both and re-sealed with ultra black, and installed the new plugs. The old ones were rock hard and I doubt it has been serviced in years. I refilled and parked it and went away, and today I see no signs of wheel seal leak on the inside. That is bonus!! I figured full of new grease might show a seal leak if it had one. I think I will write the date on the side of the housing with a fine paint pen for the next guy.
I had noticed some lackadaisical performance from the trailer brakes so I ran them up on a block and did an inspection. I had two broken wires on opposite corners. The connection were OK but the wire is embrittled, and my guess is I snagged it on some brush or whatnot wheeling it around on a rough jobsite. I had my wife do the function checks for me and I put the spoon to the adjusters and gave everything a lookover.
That's why I park on the high side of the lot and far away from others.
“I was thinking about this a minute ago when I reached for the Cherry Bomb shop soap and found it had been empty for a while.” Love that stuff! Sure doesn’t taste like Cherries, though.
I've never been able to taste the walnuts in there either.
Those fargin hyster forklifts have a habit of tossing the fans into the radiator. I seent it myself a few times.
I am finally messing around with the bumper steel on the dump truck. I stuck it up there on a bucket and a work deck and some shims and beat it around with a BFH till it was even. At first it was a little tight when I opened the hood. I worked it down until I had a little breathing room. Now it is up on the welding table in the carport, and I will wrestle the drill press out there to work it. Sure wish I had a mag drill!! I can either cut a toe hole or two in the bumper and clean it up with a grinder (lots of work), OR cut 3 pieces of box tube and hang a little step under the center for stepping up to grab and tilt the hood. The original toe holes are up at the top of the bumper and wrong, IMO. I would move the plate up and cut holes down lower, or put on that little chin step with the wirefeed. In either case it is better than those high holes.
That’s going to be a mighty fine bumper.
I got it bolted on and remembered I better put @Truck Shop (s) favorite trucker accessories on it. Here I am modeling the 'ol sticks in wood, getting the right eyeball height. At first I thought a white flag, like surrender your mancard would be the thing. Then I realized my wife was working on some table runners for the folks that we get farm eggs from. BINGO! Just for you Mike. I hope you get better soon.
I had another love session with the old hyster forklift. They gave in to a local church who asked to "borrow" the forklift on a weekly basis. Don't ask, I have no idea for what purpose. The agreement was for them to load it on a trailer. They failed in that, and decided to road it down there the half mile or so, down a busy 40 MPH street past the regional State Patrol office. I can't make this stuff up. They got it there and used it, and roaded it back. Our guys tried using it the next day and the throttle was stuck wide open. Hmmm. I start diagnosing it and figure out that the cable is seized. More investigation and I deduced the why, it is always fun to figure out the why It is a little uphill and the borrowers mashed the pedal to the metal, and rolled in HOT and then turned off the key. The cable was not that close to the manifold, but it was close enough. When I tried pulling the cable it had to spin as it went through, it had molded the liner around it like a threaded bore 2 days and 58$ later I had it fixed. Little trick I thought of to deal with the multiple throttle springs: Get them lined up and thread a wire through, then pull them up into place and slip the clevis through.
I have roaded our fork lift a few times, and each time it seems to uncover some problem that it would never have in years of yard use. If I have to road it now, I keep it real slow and easy.
hopefully they re-think the idea of loaning it to anyone. It will serve them fine if they treat it right.
Only load stuff you hate, and want to get rid of...It'll come back broken if at all...
No good deed goes unpunished...
None of these backhoes, loaders and for SURE no forklifts were ever designed to be roaded farther than across the yard. Still does not stop folks from driving them across town. It hurts my mind to consider the notion....
I roaded a deere mini the other day. Have rubber tracks, will drive on pavement lol
My Case 580 Super N has ride control. It'll do about 19 MPH. I can be at "The Land" in 10 minutes. I can't hitch up the trailer in 10 minutes. Then, the truck towing the trailer will spin out on the steep hill. Dozer gets a ride on the truck by virtue of a loading dock at each place.
And ride control works great. I have a Super M in my fleet that was the first backhoe I was ever around with it. Makes the machine far more comfortable and productive in any jobsite. Does not help that pinion gear, or the planetary gears.
Loaders and skid steers get all kinds of miles roading doing snow removal. All night, just about every night, all winter. Up here its just what loaders do; work in the pit all summer, buzz around all over town all winter pushing snow.
I demo-ed a 250 gallon heating oil tank today. I started with mjolnir and the hatchet. Once I had the end out I cleaned out all the oil that I could, then fired it off and let it burn out. Then diced it up. All the fight is gone out of it, but I needed a shower.
You did it good. That ol’e tank won’t give you anymore trouble. Laying on its back with legs sticking up in the air.
Its-up man.
If the hammer is Mjolnir, then the hatchet has to be Stormbreaker?
you know those cute stories where the kids are playing and lose their ball over into the construction site, and the excavator operator deftly passes it back? Or that one where the operator put a tiny bit of dirt in a child's tonka truck? Yeah this is not one of those. The barrel chlidren were taunting excavator boy, like mean little kids do to dogs. They thought the fence would protect them. It did not. The end.
You taught those barrel kids a lesson not soon to be forgotten! However, I see a bath tub saying you smell worse than the yard dog. Are you going to stand for that that from an old yard tub?! Oh dang, it also said your excavator was ugly! Man, that yard is out of control!
Soon, soon. All the cast iron will feel the wrath of the mini, it all must go! The building will go next. Even that 100' radio tower is a goner.
I took the truck by the shop to get the yoke and U-joint ordered. I have been running with a spinning cap for far too long now. Time's up! They crawled in there and measured and took notes, and hopefully get it coming. I have never messed with large u-joints or that big arsed nut that holds the yoke to the transmission. I am not going to start now. I will get it back to them as soon as I can shift again.
Man, I could have used a couple burn barrels . . .
are you nearby? I will save you one if I get it.
No, just my attempt at humor, Wisconsin is a long ride from Washington . . .
yes sir it is. You do know how to cut a barrel end out?
Yes, with a torch. Taking care to avoid blowing one's self up . . .
I suppose in the interest of the safety of the rest of the internet, I know that flammables in confined spaces is potentially very dangerous. I am not sure of all the proper protocols, besides being sure to remove the bungs first. I have generally picked barrels that held antifreeze or detergents to cut open, rather than oils.
I worked building above ground skid tanks for onsite fuel storage or aircraft deicing fluid. Up to 12,000 gallon, used buried fuel tanks. Went through allot of steps to purge and test before I torched a 24" dia hole for a entrance to clean and inspect inside. Then welded a 24" explosion proof/type manhole in place. Just stay away from ends of tank while being cut.
Hatchet and sledge. No sparks no blowing up. That is a much thicker fuel oil tank, but I cut it out with the same method. 55 gallon ends are much easier.
Redneck can opener.
Steel hammer striking steel tool can cause sparks. That is why there are non-sparking bronze tools such as Berylco and Ampco.
It has not happened in my 50 years of doing this method. If you let a wedge mushroom enough it can toss off a hot curl. We dress them on the grinder to prevent that.
I called the truck shop to ask about yoke and U-joint, and found out that the service writer guy did not know what he was looking at when I brought the truck by a couple of weeks ago. He had nothing. I brought it by again and the mechanic guru looked at it, and figures new U-joint plus new straps and bolts will fix it up, no need to change the yoke. Today I left it with them to get done at their leisure. It's that kind of truck, I don't run it 8/5 let alone 24/7. Better to have them deal with it properly. I was happy to drop it off intact and mobile
I've cut dozens of 275 oil tanks with acetylene torch. Liquid doesn't burn. fuel oil isn't very volatile. Sparks get quenched by the liquid. One night I was cutting one laid flat on forks. My son & his buddy asked me to move they wanted to get to that bay of the garage, I was blocking the door. In moving, I sloshed a bit of fuel oil on the gravel driveway. When I resumed cutting, the ground immediately burst into hot flame. On another occasion I was removing a 20,000 gallon tank a friend in a bit of insanity had had hauled in. I'll guess it contained 25 gallons of oil & water in a mix. I didn't know what to do with the filthy mess. I decided to try to burn it off down to water. I sloshed some up on the wall of the tank, ignited it with an acetylene cutting torch. It took off in a roar! Horizontal flame shot from the end of the tank, before turning vertical! It sounded like a jet. People came to watch! I was sure I'd end up arrested for this, but police never came.
That oil tank in the picture was the same. I had drained all of it out and used my siphon can, but the sludge and rust held a lot of fuel. I started cutting the other end out, and up she went! It took about 10 minutes to burn out clean and I resumed slicing and dicing. The scrapyard got some cleaned steel.
I knocked together a landing for an office trailer at the job sites. It had a metal staircase but it was awkward to negotiate the door at the top and the guys complained about the hazard. I put it together using my forklift Tuesday night and put it on the truck, and took it down there and unloaded it with the job site forklift. Then I attached those heavy metal steps to it and finished out the handrail. I used old lumber from around the yard for the deck and a lot of the lower stuff and picked up a few new 2x6s for the structural. It was nice to recycle materials. The founder of this company passed away on mother's Day and he was of that era where everything was saved and reused.
The parts guy said the forklift was leaking and had a bad hose. He got it half right, the hose was bad but that was not the leak. One of the main lift cylinders was all wet, so I took it out today. Tomorrow we will see if we can repair it ourselves.
I got the cap off with hammer and brass drift. At first it did not look too bad, then I got a Milwaukee camera and took a look in there. Not so sweet. I have the seal kit coming tomorrow. Does this look like a lost cause for DIY? The parts person emailed me the breakdown. I have removed the snap ring and washer, but no luck on getting the check valve #5 out of the bottom of the piston.
The cylinder is back in and awaiting my snap ring pliers, and a hydraulic oil change. It does not have a drain so I will extract the oil.
It's that time of year. Work is slow and the temperature is right for out door painting. We got the work truck door painted. I pulled off the channel bumper and shot a conversion coated it, and then put 3 batches of bondo on it. I had no idea how deformed big channel is from the forming process. did a heavy coat of primer and some glazing in the pinholes, and then fogged on some black. I'll keep poking along with finish jobs.
I need to hang mudflaps behind off the edge of the hood/fender, but I think I will dangle one down to keep the mud off that bumper too. I have to router out the headlight trim to fit and then the hood job will finally be complete.
the last couple of days I used bondo on the bed frame and pipe rack on the 1 ton. It was heavily rusted and pitted in places and I cleaned it up and painted it in 2020, but it was starting to look shabby and I was not busy so I decided to fix it up a bit. This is what I had in 2020 After cleaup and POR15 and painting It looked OK but the pitting and dimples, and the rough spots where the powder coating had failed were hard to keep clean and the rust was coming back. I cut down the back 3 pipe rack uprights tonight so I can get it under my carport. That will be huge for keeping it nice after this touch-up. The tools and boxes will stay dry now, I can open things up after a really wet day and blow a fan at the open tool boxes.
I started the 250 hour service on the 120 yesterday, and realized I had the wrong oil filter. I got the right one today and then I remembered how bad the filter change is on the 120. I spent hours in the rain failing to get it started. Whoever signed off on that installation should get flogged! I got it done and have a few inspections to do on it, and a full greasing. Some of the old rollers are leaking and I'll give them a spin and see if they need replaced ASAP.
Now about those shopping carts people don't return.
Vetech!
All the rollers are free moving, so I will not just toss parts at it. All this talk of tank sumping and man was I behind on that task. I had a little chainsaw file that I stabbed in there to break up the plug of gunk, and I got clean fuel out of it after a while. I'll change out the primary filter in between deluges next week.
The 50 year old shop building at work is on a short timeline. It is coming down in March. That said, they still use it and the flat roof is leaking all over on the West end. That's over the breaker panels so the boss was a bit concerned about that. There is no easy fix, so I made an internal roof and gutter system with a ripped piece of 2" pipe, strips of plywood, and 6 mil plastic. I had to do this over two door mechanisms so clearance was a premium. I catch the rain and put it right back out through the wall. That one was pretty easy it is over a mezzanine and an easy reach. This latest one was over the shop bay and 16' up so I used the scissor lift. I finished it up and caught about 10 different rain buckets worth of leaks. I put some 1/2" PVC pipe in the bellies to guide the water down. I cross drilled them at the upstream end, and then I lanced all the boils in the old insulation and released the water. That was gratifying.
Duct tape!!! The answer to every problem!!
Parts are a guessing game at best. My Mitsushitty f/l has an engine that mostly crosses to some 70s Dodge Colt. The rest... good luck. I guess it's time to scrap then.
People that don't or just huck the cart on the curb or ditch are usually lazy POSes. I figure they are so lazy they chew with their mouth hanging open and don't wipe after pooping too.
it does the trick there. What I do is hold the plastic taut to the bottom of the pipe and trim it with a razor knife, using the pipe as a cutting board. Then I tuck the plastic into the pipe channel and adjust the plastic tension with the duct tape to create gutter lines. The tape never sees water if it is done right. The trick is reaching around the whole works and backing up the plastic so you get a good bond to it with the tape. Other places I use it to make some pleats in the plastic to shape the flow lines. The 1/2 PVC is the ticket though for that. The black plastic has been up for months and just needed a little tweaking and extending to pick up the ever-increasing leakages.
The day after Christmas DW came home with a warning light and low right rear tire. It had a piece of really small cappilary tubing, like a large gauge hypodermic needle through it. That provided a handy channel to let the air out My tire shop guy fixed it for free. Yesterday we are driving past les Schwab and Firestone, and DW feels something. Shortly after the light comes on, same tire. We stop and I check it, and decide to run for home. This was probably an error. It is flat when she parks it. I throw some air in it and find this big jagged leak with removed rubber. Then I look at the sidewall, Yikes!! What the heck is this? I grab some cutters and try to drag it though, but now I know, this is a newfangled steel wheel weight, and the clip is stopping me. I don't think this is a coincidence. Apparently they toss off rather easily and those tire shops are seeding the highway there. I think we will avoid that route! The front tire stood it up for the back tire to stab itself, much like pokey gravel on @Spud_Monkey long gravel road. It may have bounced off the bottom of the car too. The tire shop has a used 235/50R19 which is a wonder. I will check that out this AM and if it is OK that will get me another season. The tread is like that all around and good for one more.
That tire was a $50 bill out the door mt and balanced. Can't beat that with a stick. Today's problem: Leaky 3406 I thought it was the drain valve, then my brain engaged and I am pretty sure the rear main is leaking. I poked around in there and it seems to be the case. I hosed down the area with cleaner and tomorrow I will take it to the truck shop. @Truck Shop , is the rear main job about 10 hours?
If it's a rear main--pto, gear box, clutch, flywheel. It could be done in 10. But need to check where rear structure mates to engine block for seepage. There is a steel shim gasket that seals that area. Original had no steel shim gasket material only. But both types will leak. If it is, figure 18 plus with rear motor mounts and oil pan removal along with intermediate stress plate and oil pump. I never try to do it without replacing pan gaskets, have tendency to leak. Starter has to be removed also.
Thanks Mike. The only alternative I can see is to put a basket in there and put oil control mats in there and change them. You can see where I go in rainy weather, you can follow the drips and sheen. One day somebody is going pitch a fit on a jobsite and I don't really blame them.
I bought a Clark forklift once, and it had so many oil leaks, that someone had bolted a permanently fixed catch pan with a 1/2" lip, to the whole underside of the forklift, between the wheels! This catch pan even had a drain plug welded to it, so you could drain the catch pan when it looked like it was going to overflow! I only paid $300 for it, so that gives you some idea of its overall condition! Oh, did I mention that they'd wrecked the steering box, too? That came with the forklift! - in a cardboard box, in about 20 pieces!! LOL
The reason I say check the rear structure/engine bell is the age of yours and probably original. Rear main seals don't normally leak real bad just create a constant mess. When the structure starts leaking normally is on the right side 2/3's the way up from oil pan rail/bottom of block. There is a wide spot there/surface area between mounting bolts is a little wide so that's where the leaks usually start. Very common to see on B series where some one has wiped/smeared silicon sealer along bell and block trying to slow the leak. * Look at it this way if it does have a leak there----just be glad it doesn't have a retarder. $$$$$.
the engine is canted right, and the right corner of the back of that structure is wet and not crusty. The seal can drip there I suppose it is well below the crank line, but does this point at that rear structure/engine block gasket?
Okay on further review, The back of the engine is not damp. I don't see anything coming out of that area. It just happened to be clean. However, the middle of the oil pan is really wet. It's running down the high spot of the pan down the front of the deep part and across and dripping off at the drain plug boss. Either the pan gasket or something else up there in the middle of the engine. It may be as simple as the oil filter adapter?
When they look at it-it will be obvious if it is leaking between rear structure and block. It normally is higher on the block.
Yes I washed that whole thing down with brake clean yesterday and it is still popcorn fart dry back there. I was simply mistaken and hadn't crawled in there far enough to see but that middle of the pan is really soaking wet with oil. I can wipe off the edge of the pan where it's running down and that area fills right back in and heading for the drain plug boss. It is definitely an engine running leak. It was all dry this morning after my cleanup last night, until I got it warmed up and running.
That's normal.
Lower engine leaks are a PIA to trace. I thought I had a rear main oil leak in SWMBO's Camry, it was dripping right off the rear of the oil pan. Cleaned it up, then I thought it was the oil pan leaking. Cleaned it again over the whole lower part of the engine - then found it was the oil pump seals leaking (oil pump is mounted on the front of the block). The leak was from coming from the pump, running down the front of the block, running across the front, then along the oil pan to the rear, then dripping off. An hours wrenching, two o-rings and a lip type seal, and she was dry as the proverbial!
Oil leaks are always higher up than they seem.
O ring for lube oil between injection pump and block is possibility. At rear of injection pump.
Now it gets stupid-- it could be leaking anywhere it's of the age.
It is on the right side as far as I can tell. Like right there at the dirty spot on this picture, only wetter!
Ok--the area your saying is wet is oil filter manifold to oil cooler housing area, front bottom Blue. The area the rear structures normally leak at is in blue also. *
that back area stayed dry. My truck shop has some dead ones inside they are trying to clear out, and have not started. hopefully they get after it tomorrow.
I got a look at the repair bill for the dump truck for the last service. They charged us 2500 bucks and they replaced all the slack adjusters and fix some other things along with a service. Now I know! 150 was for the inspection.
I got word back that it has lots of leaks. Score one for truck shop! They said front cover, oil pan, injector pump, behind the injector pump, and the main seal. I told them to get me a price estimate on everything but the main seal. We'll see what they come back with.
40 hours at $120 $5,000 labor not including rear main, that old and all the bolts that don't want to let loose plus other incidentals eating time. Allot of time cleaning surfaces/ parts. WAG.
He ballparked 30 hours to get the front cover off and back on. His rate is 150. I knew that I was going to be a big deal. I would take it on but I just don't know, I don't have any big tools or experience at that size. I would really rather not open up the can of worms and not be able to close it.
I'm not far off on cost just flipped on hours verse rate. Realistically to do a reseal on a 3406, if quoted 30 hours on front cover is he including the structure plate to block or just the cover? Other wise if front structure plate too that is a bunch more in time. But while there may as well check the gear train bushings.
that was pulling the gears, if we are talking apples to apples I don't know.
I love it when the { } wow guy is used--People are so out of touch working old engines.
It takes specialty tools to do some of that work?
The same-but I think he's a little close on his hours, because if he's removing gears he should be resealing front plate to block also which is injection pump off {needs resealed} air compressor, water pump, oil cooler {needs resealed} and pan off, which may as well be left off to reseal the rear structure. IMO.
Not really-standard issue shop stuff--a few pins for IP timing, and Cat front/rear crank seal remover/and installer tools, shop press for bushings.
I have no shop to put the truck in. I can get it on pavement and build a tarp roof over it, but the West side in January through March, that pavement is going to be a stream bed. The first time I experienced it was 43 years ago. My 66 mustang clutch gave up on the wrong side of the Kirkland-Redmond hill and she was all done, parked at Safeway. I did not realize I was in a valley channel when I took it apart, and when I was humping that transmission up off my chest, a river ran through it. I have no desire to tear that engine apart under a tarp in February.
Moss Back.
I got the other side of my carport mucked out, and backed the 1 ton truck in there. It got me thinking, I have 9' to the entry beam. I could pull the hood and nose it in under there till the windshield about touched. That would get the whole engine over the concrete or close to it. One sheet of plywood butted up to the concrete fixes that. I could tarp over the rest to keep the rain and runoff away. I will see what the boss says about the 6K estimate, and then explore the possibility of taking on everything but the rear main seal. In for a penny.........
I got some brake clean and started investigating. I think the truck shop was letting perfect be the enemy of good. There is one major new leak and they never pinpointed it. They never cleaned anything, they just looked and basically said it needed all the inframe gaskets. I think I have it cornered now, another few cans of brake clean and then a test run will show it. The rear main leak is easily diapered by some wire and an absorbent mat. I'll set that up before the run to see how much accumulates. When i get that test run I will take some pictures.
What I always say the enemy of good is "better".
I also hear that the engine is about due for main bearings at 250~300K.
Yeah the B models come in around 300 for main and rod bearings. When synthetics came on the market the bearing life extended to 400 plus.
With the current usage, it will only take another 17 years to get to 300,000. The clutch is good, if I patch up these leaks OK it will stay together. ( knocks on the side table).
It will be fine.
Clock is kinda ticking on you worrying about it? I catch myself occasionally looking at something and thinking "so I'm 52, if it lasts 15-20 years, then maybe I don't care..."
I don't mind leaving things in a good state here. I might work some of 2025, but that's about it. DOT physicals are not cheap. My next one is in May and that will probably be the last. I'm good for cranes too but I doubt I'll ever operate one again.
My last one was $60 or so. Are they that much more out there? I foot the bill for my employees physicals, and their NCCCO renewal's. The crane card is the one that has really gone up, Get the core and then a few specialties and your looking at $400+
I paid at least $150 and I have always paid my own. The Union pays me back on the crane cert tests. There is a $0.30 per hour deduction paid out of my check for training, mostly for the apprentices but anything I do I get reimbursed.
I was getting them from whoever was my doctor at the time, but then they stopped doing them because their requirements were to onerous. Now I go to the one chiro who still does them for everybody and it's cheaper and easier. Less than 100 dollars and out quickly.
Gave up my Class 1 driver & pilot license medical’s in 2020 , it was my decision. I started flying in 1970, just got 2 expensive. Class 1 drivers in 1980, 2 many idiots out there. But I can still ride Motorcycles with air brakes lol, not happening!. Had a few bad scares with all of them, it was time to fold
When I got my CDL I was informed I would need a medical card only if I drove out of state. I arrived for my CDL test same man asked for my medical card. I said you told me I don't need one. He responded: "We're changing the requirements in six months, we're enforcing it now." Pi$sed off, I contacted my doctor's office, made an appointment. When I arrived for my appointment, my doctor was angry! I asked what I had done wrong? He said I had no way of knowing. Doctor said: "I'm qualified to teach others to administer the physical, but for me to be qualified to give the physical, I need to go for a week long course in another state. My certificate expires very soon & I'm not going to take the course." At the time, only doctor giving CDL physicals within 25 miles of me was a walk in clinic, a one doctor operation. He has since closed down, & the building torn down. There is a new clinic & I plan on half a day or more waiting room to get a CDL physical.
I go to Nurse Diesel, she smokes cigars-short not too big around. Operates out of the back of a U-Haul van, $35 bucks to get your nards pinched checking for hernias.
Oh no Nurse Diesel doesn't look that good, more like a WWF wrestler with cauliflower ears.
I guess you'll just have to close your eyes and pretend.
I found the leak! It was right there in front of me the whole time. I just needed to clean the engine off. I'm a little ticked at my truck shop for not looking at all. Oh well. I'm not going to blow him up about it because I need their help and I'm not going to be that guy. I have no idea if I can fix this one without their help. I'm hoping the pros with these engines will come along and tell me what I can and can't do.
Well from what I understand she left town looking for better weather, headed to Missouri area I was told.
Bonnets leaking--may as well do them all.
I'm completely without a clue there. What does the job take in terms of tools? Is it something I should do or or should I take it down to my truck shop and let them handle it?
Attachment to hold bonnet, timing pins, probably ought to ask JC. Will need to remove air compressor.
I don't know man. He said something about timing with a drill bit I asked, we'll see what he says. EDIT: Just for grins I called my truck shop. He insists that there is no oil there. It's only fuel and he has no idea why there's oil up there and he thinks something's pretty messed up. He said about 5 hours to change that one seal.
John's all backed up so I'm on my own here. I have a call into another truck shop that might know what to do.
Yeah I didn't know what I was looking at. It's just a fuel leak and it isn't number four. It's running back from number three. I don't know why it was hanging on the engine oil pan and looking like oil. Apparently it picked up enough crap along the way.
That's fairly common, just age and one of the service items about a cat injection pump.
5 hours should do all 6 and remove install air compressor along with that time. You do need some special tools along with someone who knows their way around a fuel pump. Cleanliness is extremely important.
I bet the 3406 in my old Ford leaks worse than yours does . . .
no, you'd lose that bet. This made a drip drip drip everywhere I went. In the parking lot the sheen circles are 6' apart at the most. On the jobsites with standing water, it was all rainbow all the time.
I was told that these bonnets can be changed without the powerful spring compressor. Each unit powers the fuel up to the injector at the top of the fuel pump cam lobe. If you remove them when they are on the respective cylinders when on the top of overlap of engine valves on that cylinder, there isn't the spring force to overcome. You have to turn each cylinder to top of exhaust stroke on valve overlap to do the corresponding injection pump plunger. You are therfore doing the job on the base circle of the cam and not on the top. 1 Guy told me that was how he did it, I did not see it but seen the pump repaired. What are your thoughts Truck Shop . Simon C
I got the truck back today, the bonnets all sealed up. I took some time to clean up the engine again and ran it for 20 minutes. No oil made it to the bottom of the pan. It is not pristine but it is not dripping anywhere. I am confident I can give it a quick wipe and take it into a sensitive jobsite, once I deal with the dump cylinder leak. I will make a drip tray for that. There is no fixing that leak without major bucks.
next job, air leak at the fan clutch. When I shut down you can hear that leak above any other. I don't know if the problem is with that clutch or with the valve on the engine that controls it. The control is below/behind the alternator on the right side of the engine.
I have had consistent problems with the thermostatic fan control valve on the engine leaking air on my truck. My truck is a '92 L9000 with the 3406b. The valve is in the same location you describe. I have replaced it but it still leaks intermittently when I shut the truck off as you describe. I replaced the air dryer last winter and it seemed like the intermittent leaking was somewhat improved last summer, but it's still an issue.
What about putting a solenoid valve out in front of that whole setup, so when I key off it shuts off that leak?
I got to the job and took off the old wipers while I waited for an inspection for backfill. Turns out that nobody has the wide refills anymore. I called all over, took it into the parts desk at Freightliner, and struck out. To remedy that I'd have to go all the way back to the shaft and get a new arm. I got home and found a place in NJ that has a very few of the 14" refills and got some coming. if they fit I will order a spare set for the next guy too.
Trico 71-280 refils and cut them to length. That’s what I did last time.
This outfit has them at the right length and cheap, but for the shipping. https://acetrucksales.com/?syclid=a9c2e5a4-87ce-4cce-99fe-9af5ddbf2007
The TDI beetle went metal on metal up front. It has 181K on original parts and has been weaving and bobbing for a while now, so I ordered up front end parts too. These MKIV are super easy on the wallet when buying parts. New strut assemblies with springs, rear shocks, A-arms loaded with bushings and new ball joints, new pads and rotors. $305 plus tax and shipping from RockAuto. AutoZone wanted 80 and 50 for the rotors alone!
Watch rock auto brake parts. I bought a higher grade was supposed to be OEM . Rotors were coated. I think the rotors were made from scrap cars. All discolored and wearing weird.
Have used probably 30 sets of coated rotor/pad sets from RockAuto, both PowerStop and Raybestos. All have performed great. Only twice have I encountered bad wear/discoloration from calipers hanging ang getting hot. First time '11 GMC p/u for customer 2nd time my '14 Chevy p/u both times front brake hoses deteriorated wouldn't allow calipers to retract right. Back to RockAuto for oem front brake hoses for about $30 a set delivered. Autozones price for duralast junk $30 apiece. Auto zone in town is emergency only, parts rats don't know ***** and have actually argued with me about wrong parts. I don't deal with stupid too well so avoid that joint.
The car is coming apart easily for 21 years on the road.
I just checked. I used dynamic friction. I don't think I could get Raybestos at the time.
Best part about Raybestos, well at least for you and me is they ship from Syracuse 2 days most times. Just ordered an oem Ford ABS sensor on friday, delivered from Syr. saturday USPS, holy crap. Sometimes when doing a 4 wheel brake swap the 4 wheel kit isn't available but you can order rotors and pads separately and they're available ??? Little tip for next time, trial and error.
Lucky if we can get 21 yrs. out of a vehicle around these parts unless it's stored for the winter. DOT's dump enough salt and other crap on the roads to melt fenders and frames.
I threw some PB blaster on everything and retreated. No hurry I have all weekend. I ordered the 1000 series airlift bags for the rear coils. This car gets used as a truck. I thought it was worth it to do the air bag mod. Unfortunately I went with the cheapest price and they have not shipped yet Example: G56 transmission out of my 3500 Ram. Fish on, baby! I cut some custom OSB to protect the spare tire cover. It has a full size spare under there to take the weight. Right now this one has the back seat in it, but when I get serious I pull all that. The seat anchors serve as tie downs for things like the transmission. I have a class 1 hitch rated at 200 pounds tongue and 2000 trailer weight and a 4 wire kit. I won't mess with trailer brakes, and only tow trailers around 1000 pounds or about a third of the car's weight. I suppose I could build a little surge brake trailer for it, but I can haul a lot of kit @1000 pounds.
Is it all stock under the hood yet? I worked with a Driller up in NorDak that had a TDI Beetle with some upgrades under the hood. That car would flat fly, and if he kept out of the throttle, still get crazy good fuel mileage. One of the diesel performance centers in Indiana or Illinois pushed one years ago to see how far they could push the stock internals. At 550hp, they bent the rods. No crank damage, no head related failures.
Yeah I call bull on 550 HP. Hang out on the TDI forums to see the real deals. The black had stage 4 tune, 17/22 VNT and all the parts and pieces. It is gone now due to a wreck. stock they are 90/152 HP/TQ It was 180/355, and was a blast to drive. Before I changed to the southbend endurance clutch, you could feel out the peak torque band. Wood it, and it held till 2200, then slipped up to 2800 in one smooth moment. Then the car caught up and it held that to redline. There was your peak torque demonstrated. This one is stock as far as I can tell. I have no plans to tune it.
Too much power Cap'n.
my 180 HP car could not sustain the power very long. I never hitched it to a trailer but my experience watching gauges is, the cooling would run out on a long hill if you stayed in the boost. As a bare car it would get you into serious trouble with that much sustained power, so it was self-limiting. That's the thing about turning up diesels. Everything down the line has to be up to it if you really use the power. Acting like an idiot light-to-light is not what I am talking about. I can lean on my ram/Cummins until the EGT gets too much and never run out of cooling. It is a happy place.
https://www.motortrend.com/reviews/0801dp-2002-vw-jetta/ I know this isn't the article I had read way back, but it might be the same car. He mentions at the end of the article that they bent the rods with a high boost, propane assist tune. I'll keep digging for the article I remember reading. I can certainly be off on whatever the peak number was as I was into VWs back in late 2000's/early 2010's. I never had the coin to play with them much though. I always wanted to keep up with my buddies tuned 1.8T Jetta. That was a peppy car for its day.
318 HP is the top of reliability. Nice car! here is a derail, 16 valve 2.0 Golf 1 with 4 motion and a dog box. 1000 HP Here is the street version with a 5 speed.
the seat has been funky on the dump truck and I see it has unraveled on the top shaft and was about to dump me over on the stick and dump control pedestal. We pulled the seat and saw some really crappy material choices. The tubing that the shaft goes through was selected to fit the cheapest bushings. I did not mic the wall but it was miserably thin. Some 3/16" stamped arms were welded to this thin tubing, and it literally unraveled and tore patches out of the tubing. We cut some pieces to slip over it and patch it all up. Saved the boss about $700 for a new seat. While we were at it, we patched a hole I have been chewing in the bed for several years, dipping pea gravel out of it. Then I pulled the leaky heater core and pressure tested it. I think it may be OK, and it leaked where the hose slips over it. That was right up against the firewall and would leak inside. Perhaps I just shut it off hot and the pressure sent it that way. Time to test the cap.
depending on the situation the boss is buying a new seat. if it was his pickup seat he would buy a new pickup. How old is that National seat?
old as the truck. I did swap cushions with the buckboard on the other side so it is not broke down that way. I'm happy with how it sits now. I realize now it was on the way to broke when I came back to work 4 years ago.
We had some REAL SKETCHY service truck at the place I worked.. 1 guy yelled at the boss, “You wouldn’t let your daughter drive it across the street.”..
Last week i switched out a broken seat base for a good used one. If the cushion would have been in bad shape i would have got a whole new seat . Its not my money but i fill good about saving some anyway.
The radiator shop is re-coring the heater core. The shutoff valves are holding fine so I am good to add some coolant and run without for a while. The truck had the 7 pin trailer harness remoted to the seat pedestal? I have no clue why and I have not bolted it back on there yet.
interesting.
It was an ex-county or city truck and has some plow remnants, switches inside. I wonder if it was just for easy diagnostics? plug a power pack thingamabob that you use to test and wire trailers?
Maybe for a control box for an attachment (plow, sander, de-icer distributor, etc) that can be removed when the attachment is not on the truck?
Check it for light power or just key.
I pulled the electrical cover behind the right seat, and it is everything of the 7 pin that goes to the back. I could just unbolt each post and yank it out of there. I wonder if this 'Ol Ford was getting a little trailer on the side?
The truck wouldn't start this morning so I went to Costco and got three Group 31's. Near as I can remember they are more than 10 years old. It sure started after that, and then the starter stuck and ran away and cooked. It is the original 5 pound 42MT, and after I unbolted it the dang thing could not come out from between the frame and engine. I was contemplating pulling throttle and possibly the clutch linkage, and I went the other direction. I took out all those little bolts and beat on it until I could get a prybar in there and chop through the field wires. I kept beating on it until it fell out of there LOL. I got the replacement tonight and will put it in tomorrow before shift. It is quite a bit smaller and lighter.
Nothing quite like having the chance to destroy some electrical. That starter, oil cooler, water pump are the fun aspects of Ford ology.
I wonder if you will get your core charge back on that since you went ahead and disassembled it for them. lol
no core on new starter plus the fact he installed a mt39.
I just reduced it's affectiveness as a boat anchor. New one still had to drop in from above. Thanks Ford.
58 pound 42MT, that was a typo. The new starter is 32 pounds.
I had made arrangements to take the 2006 GMC 3500 in for much needed service and a eunuch bearing on the right side. It was really bad and growly and grinding and clunking. I had parked it, and then last night I took it home so I could drop it off. About halfway to the repair place I get a loud clunk and it stops moving. No kidding. Near as I can tell the transfer case broke. I put it in 4wd and continued on the front ( crap) axle. By the time I got there the eunuch bearing was so far gone it was steering funny. Next stop was wheel departure. Fun times! EDIT: I figure "eunuch" is a good term, cuz this thing has definitely lost it's ballz.
lol "eunuch" cuz this thing has definitely lost it's ballz. I’m totally stealing that. It will be my job to apply that in conversation tomorrow.
OK I screwed up. It was a broken axle and maybe if I just stopped and got a tow truck, the spindle might not be trashed. Dang it! Now he is searching for a whole Rear end for it.
1997 my son was driving the mighty Power Wagon through a brook. The channel was deep & it was intimidating how steep it was coming up out. Four tire chains were cast off from Town Of Danby, they deemed them too agressive. Each chain was most of 100 LBS when sized for 9:00-16 tires. He got most of the way out with 5000 LBS of green oak firewood in the truck. He panicked, pushed the clutch when he felt the front wheels lift off the ground. After rolling backward 15' he let the clutch out again. The drivetrain kept pushing under extreme gear reduction, chained up rear wheels held traction. Something snapped! Two miles of forest road left, deep snow, front axle wasn't weighted very heavy. Much of the trip was with the aid of the front winch. One rear axle shaft had snapped. The distribution of shattered axle shaft was absolute! The cleaning process was huge! New axle shaft was 10 minutes work. Cleaning all the shiny debris was several hours, gallons of diesel, gallons of gasoline, several cans of brake clean. New seals throughout, it became a big job!
I am having mechanical issues. On the way home from Sequim, I hear a clunk clank and see the serpentine belt in the rear view mirror. I was about 80 miles from home, luckily the TDI beetle is a mechanical engine and I was able to carry on home with limited accessory usage. The steering was not good, power rack and pinion does not Armstrong well. Those things typically come out for a reason other than the belt itself, and this was no exception. I got it on the lift next door and found the sprag pulley on the alternator had gone missing. It is a huge job to get the alternator out. I found the pulley and a tool on Amazon for $42 and I will replace it in situ.
You got home without a hook, AND you can fix it. A fun day, methinks.
Thief took the delivery package from behind the fence that had the pulley in it. The end of an era. They must have been following the Amazon driver.
CORRECTION Roommate picked up package and took with him and did not want to bother us with a text. Much happier circumstance and I got the replacement bearing cancelled OK.
I got the beetle off the neighbor's lift and put my wife's Tiguan up there and did the rear brakes at only 44K miles. Not too impressed with the miles on that. Monday I picked up the dump truck and today I took the trailer down for inspection and got the stickers on. Best kind of wrenching, somebody else's They rebuilt the fan clutch swivel and got rid of that air leak, fixed the wonky heater control and switch so the defroster works again, replaced the right moto-mirror, and relined a brake that had disbonded. I had forgotten how nice a working moto-mirror is with the trailer.
Update on the fan clutch: They did such a nice job repacking it, it no longer works. I have never seen the red overheat light or alarm on this truck, until today that is. I was pulling Eli hill out of the Puyallup valley and It got hot by the top. I got out of it and limped up over the little rise, and it cooled down on the short downhill. Next climb no good. I got where I was going and the fan was not working so I had to shut it down hot and unload the excavator, then make a run for the downhill. I called them and made a date for Tuesday. It would be fine for hauling a box O' Rocks back up there, but eventually I would have the whole enchilada loaded again and heat it up. I pulled South Hill with the empty trailer in 9th and it had enough flow that I could wood it and the needle barely moved.
That sucks. You probably already know that you can lock a Horton with a couple 5/16” cap screws to get home. Not sure about the other brands.
I'll see if I can find out what went wrong there.
No clue about that. Good to know, thank you.
This is what I did today. Somebody has to do it,……. Why did nobody else notice this cargo tank void dripping? Apparently, someone noticed it and installed a ball valve. lol. It’s just extra storage space. Can probably squeeze in an extra 100 gallons. Some tanks have voids between compartments. Some don’t. Can’t haul different products in the same tank if there are no voids between compartments. I filled the adjacent compartment with air and covered the void vent with a nitrile glove and the glove blew up. So, time to crawl inside and find the crack.
What qualifies as a different product?
Different CAS numbers on the BOL. The spirit of the regulation is to prevent the chocolate from getting mixed with the peanut butter. But truthfully, most fleets don’t haul mixed loads to reduce the chance of error. Along with that, many have transload policies to reduce contamination. It’s rare to find a DOT 406 voidless CT. When you do, it’s probably a truck mounted, two-compartment 2,800 gallon home heat delivery unit.
I didn't know that. Assumed it was just walls between the sections. I've only ever hauled water and deicer so full 4000-5000 gallon tank of 1 product. Our fuels side may as well be a separate company, we don't share a whole lot of info between us and them. Heck, I didn't even know we sold fuel all over till I saw a fuel truck near home one day, probably a year after I started working in Lubes.
I had one that was at 3 shops that could not find the problem. Bucket would not go up and they tried hoses which did not fix it. I took one of the hoses off of each ram cylinder finding dirt in the cylinders. I figured out they were removed at one time dropped in the dirt. I ended up taking them apart cleaning the dirt out including cleaning every part good doing a rebuild of them. I ended up replacing the hoses too due to dirt in them as well. I got a new customer for life from that and he still sees me
Company before last I worked was Ag, had their own fuel trans ports. Had 5 compartment 45', an old Clough. It had to be put out of it's misery, all four compartment bulks leaked. The cost to repair exceeded the value. I bought three Fruehauf smooth bores that were bare backs and had been lined for chemical for $18,000 each, in real nice condition in 2002, couldn't even begin to buy one for that price now. Those were used for fertilizer transport.
fan control switch apparently failed. will be in tomorrow. I will get two bolts at the hardware store just in case.
Common, coincidence.
I am sitting at Les Schwab getting some tie rod ends replaced. Death wobble is scary stuff on these Dodges. That set of parts has 70K on them and the truck crossed 310K the other day.
It’s certainly spooky first time a person experiences it. The Superduty is bad for it, too.
Any smaller vehicle with mono-beam.
Looking forward to the day I can park this and drive something with independent front suspension. that has it's own set of foibles but handles less like poop.
My IFS GMC and Ford all had front ends that lasted nearly twice as long the front end in my solid axle Dodge did.