Disco down

[me.guevara]

Just thought I’d share with you…

The Beast is in the shop, again.

As you may recall, I'm battling a few gremlins on my rig. In addition to a bad stepper motor (on its way), a shorted out instrument panel, and a heavily modified alternator (will replace it soon), there's what I surmise to be an intermittent fuel issue.

About a month ago, during a loss of the instrument panel, the Beast felt like it just ran out of fuel - we went back after a few hours with a jerry can, started it up no problems and went to the gas station - it hadn't been empty (got only 65L instead of the 83L that should have been required).

One of the previous owners had a fuel pump switch installed as an anti-theft device. The second time this happened, my father-in-law, who is not mechanically inclined, had the idea to fiddle with the switch as the engine starved to death - it worked! The engine picked back up again and off we went.

Today it happened again, this time messing with the switch did nothing. But once we retuned to the vehicle 3 hours later, it started back up, as if nothing had ever been wrong.

Then, on the way to the new mechanic (the previous one is on the SL), the engine started knocking (at least it sounded like detonation). Turns out that the engine coolant system had bled out through a small hose coming off the top of the engine. Tried adding new coolant (water) but it wouldn't take; it would immediately boil out through the reservoir. Had to have it towed to destination. The mechanic suspects it may have blown a gasket.

Where’s my medicine? There it is! T-E-Q-U-I-L-A...

[roverX]

Crap. My sympathies are with you bro.

[DallasRover]

Let us know what you find out..........

I believe Rover said he was a "Doctor" in another thread, I am sure he will authorize you to double the dosage of your medication.

2 Shots, q 15 min as needed for pain sounds good..............

[me.guevara]

Went from Tequila to beer to John Daniels - feeling "comfortably numb" right now...

Thanks for the extra dosage Doc (and helper).

Now, where's my bed? Nevermind...

[Badger1]

Yeah feel your pain!
Just let the mechanic deal with it. Sometimes it just doesn't pay to pull your hair out thinking about problems like that. I had an 89RRC that I loved and sometimes loved to hate, thinking about the "is it the head gasket or not" question. I just hope your mechanic is better than the one I had here in Louisville. It is like he didn't even want to bother with my old truck.

[me.guevara]

It wasn't a blown gasket after all!

Turns out that the radiator was clogged. So they flushed it and checked all the hoses and should be working again. I know from several threads on LROF that this "fix" is somewhat tricky given the characteristics of our radiators, so I'm on the watch.

The mechanic also found that the viscous coupling on the fan had failed. Given the expense and complexity of fixing or replacing this stock setup, he made a solid conection - now the Beast sounds like a Cessna on take off when the RPMs are anywhere above 1,700. It's tough to get used to, and I may try some of the other solutions that have been posted.

The wire harness going into the VSS on the transfer case had been, in fact, the short that caused my instrument panel to freeze - that's fixed now (important if I want to monitor the radiator's performance). I still haven't checked the performance of my backing up light sensor.

The grease packings on both the propellor shafts and U-joints are in fact jammed and will require disassembly and cleaning. They checked the levels/condition on all the fluids, adding some to the transfer case (pretend that you're surprised: it leaks!). I'm pretty upset at my previous mech for not catching something so basic. But then, that's why he doesn't have my business anymore...

I have a note on my service order that the power steering pump is leaking, the fuel pump is on the fritz, and the "ralenti actuator" needs replacing (that's what they call the idle air bypass valve that is being shipped as I type).

Total damage, parts and labor: USD 156.40

Lime/tequila smoothies again tonight! (It would have been much sooner if I didn't have this mega report to turn in tomorrow)

Funny, sad, mad, or happy, those tequila smoothies always work!

[roverX]

I say you got off cheap. Congrats! Glad you are back on the road.

[FlyWheel]

Originally Posted by me.guevara

It wasn't a blown gasket after all!

Turns out that the radiator was clogged.

The grease packings on both the propellor shafts and U-joints are in fact jammed and will require disassembly and cleaning.

As soon as I saw you were losing water at the engine topside I thought "clogged radiator"....just a lucky guess I suppose. I felt relieved for you that it was not the feared HG.
As you have now brought it our attention: I now have to see if I can do any preventative maintenance on my U-Joints and Prop Shaft...maybe apply some fresh Amsoil grease.

[pavel]

me.guevara you did get off easy this time - money must go farther where you live! Since you have removed the fan viscous coupling, consider replacing the actual fan blades with a flexible blade unit, they are cheap ($25 in many autoparts outlets?) and might downgrade the noise from Cessna level to something quieter. We went electric 5 years ago - got a Flex-a-lite replacement (FLX 210 plus switch for about $400 US) which fits beautifully and works really well. The twin electric fans are superior to, and cheaper than, the OEM viscous route in my opinion but you have to check the fused line regularly. Make sure the control module is rated at 30 amps or more - we melted the input terminal on the first module 3 months ago because it was rated at only 20 amps. The new control module FLX 31165 ($95US) has improved features and seems to be more heavily built.
Cheers.

[me.guevara]

That's exactly the setup I'm contemplating - thank's for the tip on the amperage rating of the control terminal.

In fact, money goes a very long way here, especially when it comes to labor (minimum wage is just over US$55 per month!). What hurts me is the high cost of importing goods (especially those LR parts!). Thus, I've taken to importing my own parts directly and having the mech do all the work. The best of both worlds...