Dave Barbieri
Full Access Member
Road Trip! (sort of....)
OK, so the past two weeks have been just chock full of ‘learning opportunities’ (read crappy scut-work). Pulled the radiator and both hoses. (BTW: I found that if I jacked up the front of the truck and put jack stands under the frame, there was enuff room to reach in over the front tire and get to the lower hose and the return hose to the surge tank.) The radiator was actually very clean – inside and out. Went ahead and did the ‘foamy bubbles’ cleaning thing and hit it with the pressure washer. While it dried in the sun, I installed a new 190 degree t-stat and gasket, and then put the radiator back in place. New upper and lower hoses, purge line and clamps finished up the job. Refilled the radiator with a 50/50 mix of Peak antifreeze and distilled water, fired it up and bled the air out of the system.
OK, it’s running and leak free, so I figured it was time for a test drive. Now, I’ve been driving a 1985 F250 with a 6.9L NA diesel and a 4 spd. The Chevy is longer, heavier, has a turbo and an automatic tranny. Man, can you say ‘learning curve’?? I pulled out of the yard and headed down the country road that leads into town. The first thing I noticed is the BIG difference in acceleration. YOWZA!!
I mean, I’m trying to be kinda gentle and let this thing get used to working again after a four-year nap, but DANG(!) this sucker will set you back in the seat!! I have a VDO boost gauge installed (0 – 15 psi), and even under moderate acceleration, I can see the needle swing past 8psi. However, after the tranny shifts into 2nd, the boost drops to around 2psi, and the acceleration rate slows down. Shifting is smooth and firm, and there’s no flare during the gear change. Man, I’m liking this auto stuff – I could really get used to driving one of these! The engine rumble never gets really loud, just a pleasant reminder that there’s a healthy engine under the hood.
OK, so Day 1 was several trips up and down the road to see how things worked. I figured I stay close to home; that way if anything crapped out, I could walk back home before dark. Day 2, I drove it to work (70 mile round trip). Notice that on the open road, the throttle is pretty sensitive. Kinda hard to hold a steady speed above 45mph. It seems to either want to accelerate or idle. Engaging cruise control makes the problem worse – very bad surging. Ok, so I drive to work feathering the throttle. Yeah, it’s kind of a pain, but the acceleration part is REALLY KEWL! Back home that night, I do some reading up on the surging thing. The folks at Heath have a ‘quick and dirty’ test procedure: Try holding the throttle at 2,000rpm. If the engine overshoots and won’t hold steady, suspect a bad fuel solenoid. Well, when I start to push down on the accelerator, my rpms go to redline!
Looks like this IP is shaky, too. Not really a surprise. All three IP’s were used and had ‘issues’. Time to bite the bullet and get a new one. I’ll talk to Mark the Pump Guy and ProMax this week and see what he can do.
OK, so the past two weeks have been just chock full of ‘learning opportunities’ (read crappy scut-work). Pulled the radiator and both hoses. (BTW: I found that if I jacked up the front of the truck and put jack stands under the frame, there was enuff room to reach in over the front tire and get to the lower hose and the return hose to the surge tank.) The radiator was actually very clean – inside and out. Went ahead and did the ‘foamy bubbles’ cleaning thing and hit it with the pressure washer. While it dried in the sun, I installed a new 190 degree t-stat and gasket, and then put the radiator back in place. New upper and lower hoses, purge line and clamps finished up the job. Refilled the radiator with a 50/50 mix of Peak antifreeze and distilled water, fired it up and bled the air out of the system.
OK, it’s running and leak free, so I figured it was time for a test drive. Now, I’ve been driving a 1985 F250 with a 6.9L NA diesel and a 4 spd. The Chevy is longer, heavier, has a turbo and an automatic tranny. Man, can you say ‘learning curve’?? I pulled out of the yard and headed down the country road that leads into town. The first thing I noticed is the BIG difference in acceleration. YOWZA!!
I mean, I’m trying to be kinda gentle and let this thing get used to working again after a four-year nap, but DANG(!) this sucker will set you back in the seat!! I have a VDO boost gauge installed (0 – 15 psi), and even under moderate acceleration, I can see the needle swing past 8psi. However, after the tranny shifts into 2nd, the boost drops to around 2psi, and the acceleration rate slows down. Shifting is smooth and firm, and there’s no flare during the gear change. Man, I’m liking this auto stuff – I could really get used to driving one of these! The engine rumble never gets really loud, just a pleasant reminder that there’s a healthy engine under the hood.OK, so Day 1 was several trips up and down the road to see how things worked. I figured I stay close to home; that way if anything crapped out, I could walk back home before dark. Day 2, I drove it to work (70 mile round trip). Notice that on the open road, the throttle is pretty sensitive. Kinda hard to hold a steady speed above 45mph. It seems to either want to accelerate or idle. Engaging cruise control makes the problem worse – very bad surging. Ok, so I drive to work feathering the throttle. Yeah, it’s kind of a pain, but the acceleration part is REALLY KEWL! Back home that night, I do some reading up on the surging thing. The folks at Heath have a ‘quick and dirty’ test procedure: Try holding the throttle at 2,000rpm. If the engine overshoots and won’t hold steady, suspect a bad fuel solenoid. Well, when I start to push down on the accelerator, my rpms go to redline!
Looks like this IP is shaky, too. Not really a surprise. All three IP’s were used and had ‘issues’. Time to bite the bullet and get a new one. I’ll talk to Mark the Pump Guy and ProMax this week and see what he can do.
