So what did you do with your truck today?

IDIBRONCO

IDIBRONCO
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Yeah, but Witchita Mountains sounds so much more cool than Witchita Bumps. :rotflmao
True. I think that they may be the west end of the Arbuckle mountains which aren't really mountains either. Those rimind me of the Flint Hills in Kansas. The Arbuckles are taller than the Flint Hills, but ceratinly not enough to be mountains.
 

IDIBRONCO

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I forgot to add the only truck issue that I had. as I was heading south in Kansas, I noticed that the engine temperature was pretty low while going through a town, but would warm up again as I started driving back down the highway. I figured that it was most likely that the thermostat had stuck open at least part way. I drove along farther and got to wondering if, for some reason, it was low on coolant. I didn't want to stop for long enough that it would cool off enough for me to open the radiator cap to look so I kept a close eye on the temp gauge and kept driving. I finally had to pull over at about midnight to sleep for a while. After I woke up, I drove over to a gas pump to fill the tank. That's where I took thee nighttime picture. After I filled the tank, I took the cap off of the radiator and it was still full so that was one worry off of my mind. Before I hit the fog in north Texas, I noticed that it was feeling a little bit cool inside the truck so I looked down at the mechanical temp gauge and the needle was sitting at the bottom on 130* :)eek:!). This was driving at highway speed so I knew that something had to be done. I know that the outside temperature was down into the 20's. This was also early Saturday morning and I had 4 hours of sleep since I woke up at 6:00 AM Thursday morning so I had forgotten to keep an eye on the temp gauge. I pulled over to the side of the road and looked around in the truck for something to put in front of the radiator. All I had was a box that I had some smaller stuff stored inside, but it had to be sacrificed. I cut it up and shoved it down in front of the radiator, covering about 2/3 of the front. I started driving again and the temperature slowly climbed back up the where the needle usually rides, right on the 190* mark. It was SO nice to have plenty of heat again plus it helped when I hit the freezing fog. The best part was that I got a HUGE jump in MPGs since the engine was working more efficiently again. I haven't attempted to figure it out, but it wouldn't surprise me if I got at least 4 MPG better mileage after that. I filled the tank in the first town north of the Oklahoma state line. I made it until the first town into Kansas before I had to fill up again. From there, made it until I was about 40 miles from home to fill up again. I could have made it home, but then I would have had to leave town to fuel up again so I figured why bother. I won't fuel up in town for two reasons. The pumps used to not want to take my card so I got into the habit of not using these pumps. The other reason is that a couple of years ago, another company bought out the company that owned the pumps and a friend of mine got a bad tank of fuel in his truck. He was going through at least one fuel filter per week while whatever it was lasted in his tank. Naturally he couldn't get any help from the new company that now owns the gas pumps so I still refuse to use those pumps. I'm not worried that there's still something in the tanks, but I don't like the fact that something was there and they didn't care enough to even want to listen to my friend.
 

Dane Rickford

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I installed my intercooler today. It was easier than I thought it would be, yet it also took longer than I thought it would LOL I’m really excited to see how it does!
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mexicanjoe

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IDIBRONCO my '89 has problems with excessive cooling even in summer. So I take cardboard campaign signs and cut off the air to the radiator... I can usually get 160* on a cold day, but during the brutal West Texas summer I remove the cardboard, crank up the a/c and the truck still doesnt get 180*.... Ive found out that my thermostat is 190* , and that my fan clutch will not disengage ; causing a roar under the hood....
 

ISPKI

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Taped, sanded, cleaned, and got 3 layers of self etching primer on my new super duty. Also replaced the E4OD shift tube as it had broken in half. Who knew the shift tube from a 2001 mercury mountaineer fits these old dogs?!

Bondo and filler primer are going on today and tomorrow. Then final color.
 

Laine D

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Had a great weekend. Went up into the mountains a little. I wanted to go try and visit @Dane Rickford but the family wanted to try a new spot we’ve never been so we did that. Truck decided to start pressurizing the cooling system. Kinda a bummer, I’m not really mad as I saw it coming once I found a little drip from the head gasket. Weird thing is that it is only sometimes. It’s not overheating or loosing any coolant tho, and I don’t have another vehicle right now, so it’s just going to have to last for a little while. I don’t want to run it if it starts to do any damage because I’d like to sell this engine.
So if anybody in California is interested in a low miles 6.9 it is basically for sale. You can come drive the truck and see how it runs. I have receipts for everything.

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Dane Rickford

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I ran some grades with my new intercooler today, and I absolutely love it! It’s almost impossible to get over 900* on the egts now. Hottest I was able to get was 1050, and that was blasting up a winding 6% grade at 75 mph floored in fifth( yes, I was speeding :eek: But it was for research purposes onlyLOL) I can’t wait till I get another heavy load too see how much of a difference it made. For me heavy means an excess of 10,000 lbsLOL
Intercoolers are absolutely worth it
 

Golden Helmet

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Put new batteries in it today, and fighting the stealership over the warranty on the last 2. Wouldn't you know it, she fired right up like a new truck. The 1 year old batteries were toast, but i half expect them to be just fine tomorrow when I go back to the dealer tomorrow for my refund.

In the mean time, I disconnected the cables so it won't drain overnight. Took it for a test drive, at WOT the thick black smoke is now an ugly gray-white, I know the fuel screw is too high but this pump only has maybe 30K on it, it shouldn't be due for timing yet, but apparently it disagrees.

Driving it to work tomorrow for the first time since early October, gonna be nice to be out of the Passat for a few days. Love the 40MPG, but after a year and 20K miles it still feels like a soulless rental car.
 

1mouse3

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Have not done too much to the truck and wating on fittings to fix some leaks. So in the mean time decided to feed her something that might help her with a addiction to oil.



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IDIoit

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finally got my valve covers that i ordered last year.
also picked up brass return caps.
only problem is...
i cant get the engine in the MANchero to grenade :(

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