Wrenchin... Adventures under the hood... Put em here.

[Touring_Sedan]

Attachment 250723

What's the RPM at idle of that big bitch? I looooove me some Pontiacs.

[Touring_Sedan]

Finally finished up some deferred maintenence on Gramp's old 1997 short cab - long bed F-150.





21 Years and 40K... It was probably about time.



As much as I miss 18436572, there's something to be said about this little Windsor V6.



I looooooove me some paper manuals.





The plug wires might have been a little overdue.



If buying dielectric grease in quantity is wrong, I don't want to be right.



It's not wrenching if your're not bleeding.




For now, I've replaced a power steering hose, exhaust manifold, plugs, wires, tires, rotors, calipers, pads, battery, wheel bearings, multifunciton switch (twice,) and a few other consumables. Hopefully it'll keep her tied over for a couple thousand miles.

[Djongo Unchained]

FKNA - 40k on a 97!
-x2 on dielectric.
-x3 on manuals.
-wrenching is a bloodsport.
It prolly idles at 37 rpm.
If the towed tonnage had the weight centered mid to rear, it might just level that big dog out. Can you imagine? 2 Gal. Per Mile?

[gravitylover]

All Alaska gas stations are ethanol free. By Alaska law, gas containing ethanol must be labeled.

I don't even know where to get gas with ethanol. 100ll avgas is, like, $6 @ PAWD tho. Spendy as fuck when your 180 burns 13+gph...

I wish I could get non-e gas easily, it's over 50 miles to the nearest station that sells it. My car runs so much better on that stuff...

Kudos on the drum brake job. I don't know if I have that kind of patience.

[basinbeater]

I'm annoyed as hell. BMW e34 seats are twisting, (I knew this when I bought it) and it is a relatively easy fix, but... Not if somebody has already been in there and hacked it up. Fuck.
So I tried to replicate the previous owners repair, but improve on it with glue and zip ties.
Hassle factor elevated.


sent from some fucking device using some fucking program.

[highangle]

I wish I could get non-e gas easily, it's over 50 miles to the nearest station that sells it. My car runs so much better on that stuff...

Kudos on the drum brake job. I don't know if I have that kind of patience.

B5 biodiesel is the titz for 7.3 Powerstrokes (and bulletproofed 6.0s too). Lubricity a little better than 90s diesel, back before ULSD. The only place in SC Ak I can get it is south side Anchorage, 110 miles from the house.
I suppose I could make B100 myself, and add it to ulsd if I really want (a country boy can survive)...but it's easier to buy fuel additives.

Gotta drive through Anchorage to get to most of Alaska anyway. And I think I need to drop my rear tank to replace the fuel line pickup foot anyway, so next spring I'm going to lose the spare tire and put a 40-gal Bronco tank in to replace the 18-gal rear factory tank. That plus the 19-gal front tank ought to give me 55-gal+ usable, and give the range to run B5 all the time, yet still make it convenient.

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YMJC - Bitchin oil change! Sweet scar. You might consider sum pussy gloves sometime down the road. And some extended reach 45d needlenose pliers to grab old plug boots like a dentist...
I suspect after 41k not much of that factory oil came out. And that old filter probably been bypassing along the dirty side for the last 10-15k miles, unless cold cranks with thick morning oil have cleaned the filter media and restarted the cycle... J/K...that oil's prob been changed, right?

I did a big ol as-built and a bunch of design work when Ergon bought a Quaker State base oil refinery in Congo Run, West Virginia, right across the river from Steubenville, Ohio, except that you have to cross a tip of Pennsylvania to drive 6 miles from town to the refinery...
Ergon added some new capabilities and capacity and now that refinery produces more GII & III base oils from napthenic Venezuelan crude for a lot more clients (as well as QState) and is iso9001 certified.
Ergon took a likin' to me and ended up sending me all over the place - Bahrain, South Africa, Belgium, Korea, Paraguay, Mississippi...They've treated me well.

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Norseman, MTM, and other chickenhawks who have never done manly 1-ton drum brakes - I smell your envy and wish you could have seen a skilled man work.

When I was doing the passenger side, a neighbor's 7-year old came sliding up on his sweet banana seat singly with extended forks and coaster brakes, wearing his spiked helmet, and hung out for 15 minutes before he flipped his bike over and started fiddling with something near the rear axle. We talked about it. He eventually borrowed a wrench, and got me to tension the chain while he snugged down the axle bolts and learned about the lock washers like Jr Alaskan.
The next Tuesday, his dad won the primary for Borough Assembly.

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BB - Honest Q: If the seat is "twisting", why are you fucking around with some kind of air line patch or electrical connection? Wouldn't a problem like that be associated with the seat frame or springs?
They make spring and padding kits for my Ford driver's seat. The ass breaks down and the lumbar bags leak. The aftermarket seat springs are thiccerer.

[Obstruction]

.... Gotta drive through Anchorage to get to most of Alaska anyway. And I think I need to drop my rear tank to replace the fuel line pickup foot anyway, so next spring I'm going to lose the spare tire and put a 40-gal Bronco tank in to replace the 18-gal rear factory tank. That plus the 19-gal front tank ought to give me 55-gal+.

No spare tire? Ima thinking that a spare would be pretty handy in the AK wilderness. Especially whe you are holding enough fuel to get to the North Pole & back.

[basinbeater]

BB - Honest Q: If the seat is "twisting", why are you fucking around with some kind of air line patch or electrical connection? Wouldn't a problem like that be associated with the seat frame or springs?
They make spring and padding kits for my Ford driver's seat. The ass breaks down and the lumbar bags leak. The aftermarket seat springs are thiccerer.

When the seat back twists, or the seat lifting only works on one side, or seat twists when sliding forward or back, it is usually due to worn cable housings. Each function is driven by a single motor, with a cable coming out of either side and routed to the actuator. What happens is the cable guides get worn internally and the cable slowly backs out of either the actuator or the motor. Once it loses engagement you get twisted up seats.
Once you figure which cable needs to be fixed, you can pull the housing out of the end of the motor, trim it down by 5mm or so, effectively lengthening the cable, heat it up to make it soft, and put it back in. Usually a 10 minute procedure per. Someone already tried to fix these ones, and rather than pulling the ends, he was lazy and just cut the housing and shortened it that way, and to join it back together used a little fuel line. Well they we're all loose and greasy. Every function on this seat that was non-functional was repaired in this half assed man er before. I have them all fixed on this particular seat, but can't the cable for the seat back back into the actuator. Grrr.
Driver's side seat will be next now that I think I know how to fix this hack job. And yes the work is being done on the bottom and back of the seat and it is on a bench with a test battery hooked up.

sent from some fucking device using some fucking program.

[highangle]

OK, I have no doubt you have the situation well under control (you are, after all, still BasinBeater..). Just plumbing my assumptions here... So the problem is a failure of the multidimensional seat control system, specifically the actuator cables, rather than of the structural frame of the seat (or are those two systems integrated?)? How does making those cables slightly longer cure a problem that comes from wear? Cables stretch under tension, no?

[highangle]

No spare tire? Ima thinking that a spare would be pretty handy in the AK wilderness. Especially whe you are holding enough fuel to get to the North Pole & back.

The truck's on oversized 10-ply tires, which won't fit in the under-bed spare tire carrier. There's a factory-sized spare in there, which is prob 22 years old. Seems like it still has air in it though...

A roof basket probably wouldn't be a bad idea on this truck, except a big mounted spare prob weighs 140 lbs and would be a backbreaker to remove from up there. I'll just carry the big spare in the bed, or get a receiver mount for the front of the truck, 'Laska-style moose bouncer.

[MakersTeleMark]

Norseman, MTM, and other chickenhawks who have never done manly 1-ton drum brakes - I smell your envy and wish you could have seen a skilled man work.

I have no issues doing the drum brakes on my corporate 14 bolt.

[highangle]

You don't do brakes on the company truck, brah. Ask the comptroller why.

That's how I know you're speaking in the hypothetical, the abstract, like a man for who oil changes and wiper blade replacements are desperate and breathless acts, who has never had to hold a 9" brake shoe firmly in position by the bottom and top while he sets a 60lb mousetrap spring with his other two hands...That kind of man. An abstract man with no brands of experience on his calloused hands.

[MakersTeleMark]

You don't do brakes on the company truck, brah. Ask the comptroller why.

That's how I know you're speaking in the hypothetical, the abstract, like a man for who oil changes and wiper blade replacements are desperate and breathless acts, who has never had to hold a 9" brake shoe firmly in position by the bottom and top while he sets a 60lb mousetrap spring with his other two hands...That kind of man. An abstract man with no brands of experience on his calloused hands.

I only hope to one day be such an abstract gentleman. And such a man should be able to recognize that a corporate 14 bolt is a type of axle, not related to its use and ownership.

[El Chupacabra]

I only hope to one day be such an abstract gentleman. And such a man should be able to recognize that a corporate 14 bolt is a type of axle, not related to its use and ownership.

Boom.

[highangle]

Must be some Chevy thing... Chupie - shut the fuck up cheerleading and plot your revenge schadenfreude in another thread, k?

My sister had a Duramax that Allison replaced 1 tranny, and the local dealer another. She has a 6.7 Ford now. Says it tows the 6-horse pretty good.

[basinbeater]

OK, I have no doubt you have the situation well under control (you are, after all, still BasinBeater..). Just plumbing my assumptions here... So the problem is a failure of the multidimensional seat control system, specifically the actuator cables, rather than of the structural frame of the seat (or are those two systems integrated?)? How does making those cables slightly longer cure a problem that comes from wear? Cables stretch under tension, no?

The cables rotate, like a flexible ratchet extension. The housing wears on the inside, and effectively become longer over time allowing the cable end (which is square) to back out of either the motor or the actuator. Right, the frame and motors are still good, as are the drives that move the frames around, but the cables that tie the motor to the drive fail. So, the simple repair, is trim down housing length. And that does work. Just don't do it the way this guy did it or you will do it again.
See if the internet has a good pic...

sent from some fucking device using some fucking program.

[ill-advised strategy]

Were I you, I'd prob look at dino Rotella T4 10w30 or 15w40

Yes. I run this in my 79 Ford.

[basinbeater]

And yeah, I was going to point out, corporate 14 bolt is a GM axle...

[basinbeater]

And one more thing... on my device, we are at 100 pages. That's 100 pages of getting shit fixed and helping each other out!


sent from some fucking device using some fucking program.

[MakersTeleMark]

Thumbs up!

[highangle]

And one more thing... on my device, we are at 100 pages. That's 100 pages of getting shit fixed and helping each other out!


sent from some fucking device using some fucking program.

Tire Plugs

+

Bike Pump

+

About 9.5 minutes...

[basinbeater]

Finally went back in the garage to finish up the passenger seat on the bimmer. Fully functional and clean, ready to go back in the car tomorrow.


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[basinbeater]

The stereo in the cruiser sucked, and I'm a cheapskate, so I bought a used kicker 4 channel amp for $30 and installed it. Also put a Sony double din head unit in with Bluetooth etc... Also a used ksl find for $60. I need to take pics of that. Install was tedious if fairly straightforward, and looks super clean. Even with stock crap speakers it sounds a million times better.




sent from some fucking device using some fucking program.

[warthog]

Have an odd one here. Hoping for an easy fix... Unlikely.

So my 1979 Jeep ran out of gas, luckily still in the driveway. I put about 2 gallons in it and drove it to the station. Filled it up. I stalled about a mile down the road, and about 1/2 mile from my house. Killed the battery trying to get it to start again. I walked home, got my other car, and attempted to jump it. Nada.
I used starting fluid, which usually works right away. Still nada.

Left the Jeep on the side of the road and came home to research. Some said just let it sit and try later. Something to do with the charcoal filter flooding the engine. Others said to loosen the gas cap to reduce potential vacuum.
The next morning, I loosened the gas cap, jumped it to full battery, dumped some gas in the carb, and it started after a couple tries. Ran like a champ, and is fine now.

Any thoughts on what happened? Easy answer is not to run out of gas, but with my wonky gas gauge, it is likely to happen again. I am thinking there is a possibility of a vacuum effect from filling it right after it being empty, but that seems really odd.

Has this happened to anyone else? Maybe next time I will not fill it all the way, and see what happens. I also probably could use a new battery, so maybe that is part of the issue?

[warthog]

Were I you, I'd prob look at dino Rotella T4 10w30 or 15w40 (esp if those old tolerances prefer thicker or a lot of fuel ends up in your oil). Rotella T4 has high Z and P (anti-wear), high TBN (detergency), high SAPS (bearing lube) - a stout additive package that can take care of flat tappets, and it's cheap.
Diesel oils and racing oils and classic engine oils are often very similar, aside from viscosity. The right modern oil in that car will easily take it past its 80-100k design life. Goes for transmission fluid and rear end oil too, and maybe even antifreeze SCAs. Check out bobistheoilguy.com, if you don't already go there.

I swear by Rotella T Heavy Duty Deisel 15W-40 in my old Jeep. Tends to leak a lot less, and cleans the hell out of the engine. Most old CJ guys are using it, as the diesel oil tends to catch all the shit. Many stories on the Jeep forums about guys doing some sort of piston work after running this oil for years. They all say their pistons look brand new on inspection.