So what did you do with your truck today?

[DrCharles]

My truck also has developed a loud metallic chirp when first fired up, coming from the left front. I took the belt off, spun the vac pump, PS pump and A/C pulleys by hand. No noise, smooth bearings.
Idler pulley quiet (but not perfect). The tensioner pulley was a cheap plastic one and it had a rough bearing that would "catch" sometimes when spinning it, and some wobble too. So I drove into town and got a new metal one (Made in Canada) for $27.99 at O'Reilly. Popped it on and everything's quiet again.

 

[DrCharles]

Drove to town to get the hail damage estimate from a local body shop. Hood and cab roof - about as much as the truck is worth! We'll see what USAA has to say.

Meanwhile that damn chirp is still there, although not as loud. It's a high-pitched intermittent "clinking" that sounds like a baby rattle full of BB's, whenever the engine speed is passing through 1500-1700 rpm in either direction. Definitely not torque- or pedal-position related.

I guess I'll change the idler pulley too since it's of unknown age. This noise sounds like one I've heard before, which was the a/c clutch plates just barely contacting and ringing... couldn't turn on the a/c (which would clamp them together and stop the noise) because there's not enough refrigerant. I may just jumper the clutch temporarily to the battery and listen.

Edit: Tried jumpering the clutch. Didn't change the noise. Discovered that the low-pressure switch on the receiver-dryer has failed. That needs replacing before charging up the system.

Then I noticed there's about 1/4" play at the fan tips when pulled back and forth, and a corresponding amount at the pulley so I know it's not in the viscous fan clutch. Fortunately I already have a new water pump standing by...

And the valve cover is still leaking from the lower right front!!
Despite following everything by the book including a new Felpro rubber gasket. ****! Guess I'll pull all the bolts again, lift it an inch, wipe the area with brake cleaner and get out the Hylomar.

 

[chillman88]

Well the plan today was to pull the drum off, grind down the lip, adjust the brakes and call it a day. I ended up not adjusting them after all...

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That mess will have to wait a little bit unfortunately. I cleaned it up best I could for whatever it's worth.

I remember reading there's two types of seals. Is the scotseal really necessary? I think they were about $40/side online. Can I just use the old style seals on my 91?

 

[laserjock]

Well the plan today was to pull the drum off, grind down the lip, adjust the brakes and call it a day. I ended up not adjusting them after all...

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That mess will have to wait a little bit unfortunately. I cleaned it up best I could for whatever it's worth.

I remember reading there's two types of seals. Is the scotseal really necessary? I think they were about $40/side online. Can I just use the old style seals on my 91?

It depends on the condition of the spindle. The Scotseal deals with that problem.

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[chillman88]

It depends on the condition of the spindle. The Scotseal deals with that problem.

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Thanks. Yeah I was looking at it last night after I posted. The scotseals are only $10 more than the other ones so I guess it wouldn't save a whole lot anyway.

Do you by chance know the difference between the "scotseal" and the "scotseal xl"? Is it a size thing?

 

[79jasper]

I can't remember the price difference, but autozone carries the exact same seal, in a timken package, iirc.

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[DrCharles]

Today I changed the water pump. Well, I got the old one off, transferred the pulley, the bolt it captures, and the heater hose nipple to the new one, cleaned all the bolts, chased the bolt holes in the front cover... and then discovered that my new Gates pump (from Rock Auto) comes with a new gasket - and it's torn before I even opened the sealed bag!


Can't get another gasket until tomorrow afternoon by 4 PM from O'Reilly. I considered using RTV or Hylomar and no gasket at all, but I'm not in that big a hurry. So that's it for today!
I just don't feel up to messing with that #$%& leaking valve cover again yet.

The good news is that the a/c low pressure cycling switch has a Schrader valve behind it, so it can be changed in seconds without losing refrigerant. Finally a design feature that makes sense... probably because they regularly fail from use.

 

[DrCharles]

This afternoon I went to town, got the gasket, a can of Permatex high-tack sealer and a couple of 5/16 x 4" bolts (with heads removed they make great locating pins so the gasket doesn't get damaged during installation, as I learned from a thread here). The Felpro w.p. gasket has a red bead of some kind of sealer but it's super-thin. I think I'll put a film of high-tack on the pump side of the gasket, and Hylomar on the cover plate so I can get it off again some day.

Out in the barn, it only took a few minutes to cut the heads off the bolts and make slots in the ends for a screwdriver... I put them into the engine and promptly decided I'm too old to work at 37F, no sun and a very brisk wind. Allegedly will be 57F and sunny tomorrow. We shall see, but I'm not holding my breath...

 

[Tristan]

Well today I finished installing the water temperature and oil pressure gauges up on the window column. I might need to re-locate the oil pressure sender. It is tied in with the oil feed to the turbo. After warm it drops to zero at idle.

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I also pulled out my rusty old parking brake assembly. After some PB Blaster and working it a bit it loosened up and the ratcheting mechanism started working again. Good deal! I reinstalled it adjusted it and it seems to hold the truck good now. Do these always get this rusty or does it just mean my truck has always been leaky?

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[DrCharles]

Water pump back on. Easy with the homemade locating pins. Torqued all bolts to 14 ft-lb. Fan clutch is held on with red loctite and as tight as I could get it with a big pry bar and a 2 foot long 1-7/8" wrench. Will check to make sure it doesn't loosen. No obvious leaks, run until fully warm.

Also, I discovered that the leaky valve cover was caused by the right front bolt bottoming out in the hole before ever clamping down on the cover! Combination of crud from the rebuilder and overtorquing by the monkey trying to get it to stop leaking, which also burred up the bolt. I ran a thread-chaser down the hole and also used a slightly shorter bolt. No oil is coming out there now

I think I'm going to pull the other bolts one at a time and make sure THEY aren't bottoming either...

 

[DrCharles]

Today I learned: some moron put a R-134a Death Kit in my truck's a/c (originally R-12)... Compressor no worky no more. I took apart the whole system and the orifice tube is plugged solid with Black Death. So are the adapter fittings, which explains the very slow gauge readings.


Some of the o-rings are black, not the green ones that were supposed to be replaced too.
I'm going to be spending a lot of time flushing the condenser (old tube & fin so it can be flushed) and the evaporator. New Four Seasons compressor, receiver/dryer and orifice tube on the way from Rock Auto ($162 shipped, not bad).

I am getting so sick of cleaning up other idiots' messes!!!

 

[Sidewinded_idi]

Well today I finished installing the water temperature and oil pressure gauges up on the window column. I might need to re-locate the oil pressure sender. It is tied in with the oil feed to the turbo. After warm it drops to zero at idle.

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I also pulled out my rusty old parking brake assembly. After some PB Blaster and working it a bit it loosened up and the ratcheting mechanism started working again. Good deal! I reinstalled it adjusted it and it seems to hold the truck good now. Do these always get this rusty or does it just mean my truck has always been leaky?

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I would pull your oil cooler and check your relief valve. My trucks oil pressure gauge was in the turbo feed line and I had good pressure. It would be about 7 at hot idle. When the oil cooler was changed it was back up to 10+ at idle but all from the turbo feed. That was even with the same feed supplying the bypass filter

 

[Tristan]

I would pull your oil cooler and check your relief valve. My trucks oil pressure gauge was in the turbo feed line and I had good pressure. It would be about 7 at hot idle. When the oil cooler was changed it was back up to 10+ at idle but all from the turbo feed. That was even with the same feed supplying the bypass filter

Does the relief valve just pull out of the port where the line goes in?


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[laserjock]

Today I learned: some moron put a R-134a Death Kit in my truck's a/c (originally R-12)... Compressor no worky no more. I took apart the whole system and the orifice tube is plugged solid with Black Death. So are the adapter fittings, which explains the very slow gauge readings.


Some of the o-rings are black, not the green ones that were supposed to be replaced too.
I'm going to be spending a lot of time flushing the condenser (old tube & fin so it can be flushed) and the evaporator. New Four Seasons compressor, receiver/dryer and orifice tube on the way from Rock Auto ($162 shipped, not bad).

I am getting so sick of cleaning up other idiots' messes!!!

Can I make a suggestion? For less than $250, I put all new hoses condenser, evaporator, dryer and compressor on mine. Installed the 134 orifice tube and never looked back. You will never get the thing clean enough to not plug the orifice again over time. People complain about 134 cooling but mine does just fine.

 

[Tristan]

I would pull your oil cooler and check your relief valve. My trucks oil pressure gauge was in the turbo feed line and I had good pressure. It would be about 7 at hot idle. When the oil cooler was changed it was back up to 10+ at idle but all from the turbo feed. That was even with the same feed supplying the bypass filter

Would you explain how to get to and check the relief valve?


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