Buying 85 IDI ATS turbo motorhome!

Cubey

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Glad you were able to get things situated. That’s definitely one of those jobs that sucks way worse on a van than a truck.
It really wasn't that bad. I did have to use a sledgehammer to carefully tap the rag joint end into the new gearbox due to lack of room to push it on. It took a couple dozen taps to get it on. I know it was lined up with the flat spot since it would drop into place by hand when being twisted back and forth (steering wheel unlocked) but the clamp was a bit too tight to allow me to just push it on the splines. The rest was easy. But I do have a rigged return line with a swivel angle connector that goes from the inverted flare on the gearbox to a 3/8" hose barb which makes that super easy.
 

Cubey

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Agree that is tricky to figure out on the side of the road. I hope you did not think I was faulting you. I only mentioned it for your future and to help others who read this thread so they understand these are not coming off with a standard 6 point socket or box wrench.

I do use brake cleaner for bolts that look like that, let's you see what you up against, also gets off the oil and grease so its harder to strip the head. I have wondered why they even use that star bolt there, likely the PS box manufacture decided on that style. My son's 67' Ford Gallaxie has the same one. He got confused on how to get it off when he saw it.

FYI I keep one of these in each of my vehicles and a couple in each tool box for things like this. Has a magnet on the end to hold the flashlight for you when working on vehicles. Two levels of brightness, also flashes red for help or to save your bacon at night on the side of the road. I highly recommend these, I give them as gifts to friends and family. Later I always get a "thank you I use it all the time!".

https://www.nebotools.com/p/FRANKLIN-DUAL/809

Harbor Freight has a cheaper version for about $8 but does not have the flashing red or the second light on the top. They are basically the same thing and work really well too.


Glad to hear you are back on the road! What is the next stop?

I did try brake cleaner but again it was impossible for me to see, even with a work light. My vision isn't the best I have to admit but it was really dark.

I'm over west of Grand Teton in Idaho. I was here exactly 4 years ago with the F250 but it's camper is just a shell so it lacks a bathroom, shower, etc. I stayed about 3 days, left to go somewhere close, then came back for a few more days. I'm gonna stay the full 10 days this time since my RV setup allows it, plus I carry an extra 23 gallons of water in jugs on top of the RV fresh tank. It gets crazy busy here on weekdays but it's not too noisy since people are out boating and fishing on the river. The water is very low this time though.
 

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Cubey

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As long as you keep it in mind that it will have to replaced sooner or later you won't get any nasty surprises.

I looked up the tie rods on Rockauto and they seem abnormally cheap. I guess they don't sell many so there is a ton of stock?
 

Cubey

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Ugh. I guess I have bad air intrusion again. It started out doing hard start randomly one every couple months. Then every 2-4 weeks, then deteriorated fast to once every days .... and now every morning.

It's not a good time to have to mess with return lines. I hope I can put it off until October.

Unless it's a fuel drain back problem but I would think the electric fuel pump would correct that while the glow plugs are fired up.

Speaking of glow plugs, I suppose that could be the issue but they stay on the typical time for a cold engine, unlike they would for several burned out plugs. Seems less likely since the engine starts to catch or does but then stalls, like it's not getting fuel. Then takes several rounds of long cranking to get it going and it's a little rough like it's still purging air.

And my rear brakes (that I just redid in October) are very squeaky when they are "cold" after sitting overnight or several hours during the day.

And a guest moved in last week started mooching food.
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Cubey

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Well I looked at the caps and they are all bone dry. I can tell because of how dusty they are. Unless it's a bottom o ring leaking that is keeping it from showing up wet. Hm I guess I should have looked closer to see if it was wet below the caps.

I also looked under at the fuel supply lines for leaks. Saw none.

Edit: had a second look at the caps, definitely dry below all of them. The only leak I have is oil, probably from the turbo oil return/drain (where the CDR is on NA) since it's coming from there.

I'm at a loss, unless it's o-rings with no fuel leaking out.

Edit 2: come to think of it, could be injection pump supply line olive. My F250 was leaky from there and was causing hard starting. I'd just snug it up once a year to "fix" it. That's bloody hard to reach on this thing.

Edit 3: ugh yeah, it's probably the olive. It's a bit damp and cruddy back there. That's about impossible to reach without taking out the turbo, I suspect. I can barely even reach my hand in due to the air filter box. Maybe the box could be unbolted and moved a few inches out of the way? I might be able to get a wrench in there if I remove the alternator for a clear path to reach in from the side.
 
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Big Bart

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Well now you can say "WE" are going to fix it. When they ask WE? What do you have a mouse in your pocket, you can say no he is in the motorhome sleeping!
 
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Cubey

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Well now you can say "WE are going to fix it. When they ask WE? What do you have a mouse in your pocket, you can no he is in the motorhome sleeping!

Don't forget that Lucy is here too.
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It looks like the air filter housing would have to come off on a truck too. It seems to partly block the hard fuel lines. Not sure if a wrench can reach that supply line or not. It would definitely be easier to remove the air filter housing on a truck.

Pic from the web:
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Cubey

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Ah, I finally dug up this pic from 2019. Looks like there is room but you have to do it blindly. This was from sticking my phone in the narrow space between the engine and roof of the engine tunnel.


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Cubey

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Hm, I wonder if it is a drainback problem. The last few times I parked, the nose was always uphill when it had trouble starting. Last night, I purposely parked so that the nose was facing downhill. It started fine the first try this morning without stuttering or anything. Maybe it is the IP inlet line olive and having it uphill makes it drain out easier, as compared to when it's downhill?

The humane mouse trap I bought yesterday caught TWO mice last night. (I bought 2 traps but only set out 1) Stupid me, I tried moving them to a coffee can (i put holes in the lid, of course) and one got back loose. It taunted me too, repeatedly stopping to look right at me, before it went on it's way. No way I could catch it suddenly like that. I did try sticking the trap there but of course it wasn't gonna go in with me shoving it in it's face. The other one got released along a river trail with big rocks, tall grass, etc where it's not near any buildings. It was shy about getting out of the can, but maybe it was blinded by the sun after being in a dark coffee can. It took it's sweet time, sniffing around before it went back between the big rocks. Wish me luck that the other one will willingly go back in the trap. I left all the poop (OMG they poop so much!) and put a new piece of tortilla chip in the trap, so maybe it's own scent combined with the chip will lure it in a second time. They seem nocturnal, so it probably won't be active again until tonight.
 
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The_Josh_Bear

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FWIW, air intrusion *IS* a fuel drainback problem. Anywhere air gets in, it's displacing fuel and the only two places it can go are:
1. Back to the tank
2. External leak
So the problems are one in the same.

And unfortunately you can't always find it with a wet spot since air can enter places diesel cannot. But that said I'd start at any wet spot you do have!
 

Cubey

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FWIW, air intrusion *IS* a fuel drainback problem. Anywhere air gets in, it's displacing fuel and the only two places it can go are:
1. Back to the tank
2. External leak
So the problems are one in the same.

And unfortunately you can't always find it with a wet spot since air can enter places diesel cannot. But that said I'd start at any wet spot you do have!

Yeah, I just didn't say it right. I suspect it's the IP supply olive, since my F250 has that problem off and on. Something wet is coming from around the top of valley pan. It appears like oil underneath (solid black) but maybe it's both oil and diesel. Last 2 days, it started fine in the mornings when the nose wasn't uphill. Very strange indeed.

Oh and the mouse got re-trapped last night and was released in the same spot as the first.

EDIT: There was a third mouse. Got it and released it too.

Edit 2: 5 mice were the end count!
 
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Cubey

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Holy moly. This axle u-bolt I put on the driver side leaf spring (front side of axle) snapped. Dunno when, I was filling the tires and spotted it. I went to remove it but it's still pretty clamped on so I guess I'll leave it. A small sledge hammer couldn't knock it loose. For some reason, that spring takes a lot of abuse which is why the clip was broken already.

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The passenger side:
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