sooxies

@Doug Dear I have a 98.5. I did the mod as instructed and left factory B+ unhooked and secured out of the way for the time being. New charge wire to passenger battery. AC noise is within spec for me. Look directly underneath your thermostat housing and you'll see where that ground terminates (the second wire in question). Again, one goes to the PDC (factory charge wire) and the second (factory ground) terminates right underneath the thermostat housing.

June 1, 2021 ship date! This is subject to change as my recruiter gave me a window of March/April/May. They need to make mission so they will shuffle people around to keep their quotas looking good for each month. Given this, I may end up selling my 1998. I have multiple safe and secure places to store it rent free. But, I really hate to insure something that's going to basically sit for four years. Haven't made up my mind yet. Truck has a 53 block so I'm not even sure who would buy the thing. It is a California truck. Never been in snow/salt and is completely free of rust.

@015point9 Hey thanks for reaching out! Sorry for the late response. I'm expecting nothing less than good and bad times. Whatever challenges I may face... I'll never regret taking that oath. 28 is the current limit for the Corps. As long as you begin recruit training before your 29th birthday then you're all good. To my surprise, of course a recruiter would never say this, you aren't legally bound to do anything until you step on the yellow footprints at one of the recruiting depots. I know it's what I want to do by all means but you don't have to ship if you don't want to. I've been reading a lot of kids' stories online on how they second guess themselves or plans change etc. once they're in the DEP. Nowadays you sign a "contract" into the DEP (delayed entry program/I'm sure you've heard of it) and patiently wait to ship out. Recruiters have you pick three fields and they will "do their best" to get you the specific job that you really want. My three were: CC (Supply, Accounting, and Legal) 3043 Supply Administration and Operations Specialist CB (Administrative and Data Specialists) 0111 Administrative Specialist 7041 Aviation Operations Specialist CH (Combat Imagery and Social Media Operations) 4541 Combat Photographer Combat photographer I threw in as a filler. To be honest, I've never worked a desk job and I kind of want to now. I scored a 70 on my ASVAB and I'm not colorblind so I qualify for any job the Marines offer. I unfortunately did not pass the hearing test at MEPS so I have to go back down for a retest and then I can officially swear in/enlist (it's just a ceremony and doesn't bind you to a ship date). You're simply just joining the DEP. If one thing is for sure, I am saying far far away from the Infantry. I'll happily be a desk jockey. You can always change your contract if you want to try something else but that can obviously change your ship date.

Long story short, I am on track for going active duty in May (or earlier) in the Marine Corps. If anyone could give some advice or short stories about choosing an MOS or what MOS you had and why, etc. I have lots of hobbies that the Marines offer in regards to jobs but I do want to use as much free time as possible during my service to accumulate college credits. I'm going in older...add ten years to eighteen. Very mature. I know this probably isn't the best place to ask this question due to likelihood of limited former military but I trust everyone on here. I've heard people say that pick something that would be fun...it's four years of your life go do something people rarely get a chance to do (let's use artillery as an example). Others that say they picked something specific and landed a great job when they got out or when they got their college degree, etc (I read a story about a gentleman who was a combat engineer). I know deep down the final say is up to me but I would love to hear stories!

Thank you all for the suggestions. I ended up trying Pro Seal 61067 and it seems to be holding so far!

Got around to the 30k mile interval so it was time to flush the brake fluid. Followed the procedure as per the FSM. I use an air powered tool that pulls the fluid through back from the master cylinder to flush. I couldn't help but notice that both rear brakes were producing air bubbles no matter how long I was running new fluid through them (rear passenger was more noticeable than rear driver). Both front brakes had zero air bubbles which is I why I'm a little confused! I did not get around to pulling the drums off to inspect for leaks, but is it safe to condemn the wheels cylinders being bad? I'm going to double check with tracing the brakes lines for the rear end but I haven't had any loss of fluid in the master cylinder or on the ground. I think the brake pedal feels normal (quite firm/resistance is present) but I honestly don't know what a "spongy" pedal is like. I know there's an upgrade that can be done with the wheel cylinders as I searched on a couple other threads. Although it's early on a diagnosis, but could someone post a part number just in case? I understand they are relatively inexpensive.

Here is @dripley thread on his replacement and @Mopar1973Man

Does anyone have any recommendations for reattactching the rear view mirror mount to the windshield? I just tried Permatex 84101 which is a 5 minute general epoxy and it did not work. Naturally, I made sure both surfaces were extremely clean and grease/oil free. Perhaps someone has had luck with another method/product. Thank You!

Had the same issue on my truck. Dorman makes it. I ordered this one a couple years ago and it worked perfectly! https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CO93JI/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

@Tractorman I am so sorry. I think when I was typing that last message I was too excited as everything seemed normal. The gauge DID NOT go down when the system was pressurized, to spec, in test number one. Held pressure just fine with no loss. Needle held right at 16 PSI and didn't move at all. I will continue to monitor engine coolant to be 100% certain that it is not using any during operation. Thank You all for your help!

Ok all. I did all the tests that are show in the video (they are the same as in the users manual for the tool). Test 1: System held 16 PSI just fine (cold engine and not running) Stopped test just under five minutes. Needle did go down. Test 2: Needle did not immediately rise upon startup (cold engine) Stopped test around 90 seconds. Seemed normal. Test 3: Needle was not vibrating with system pressurized to 16 PSI but was very slowly starting to rise (engine running/cold motor) Ran this test for about 90 seconds. No needle vibrations but the gauge was slowly starting to rise while the engine was running. I shut down the engine. It reached around 17 PSI. Now, the test adapters have a spring in them like a normal radiator cap does but I cannot find out what they are rated for. Shall I do a retest? How high would be too high if I am seeing the gauge rise with the system pressurized to 16 PSI engine running? I did hear a very faint bubbling/gurgling sound when I started test number 1. Sounded like it was near the thermostat housing. No leaks are seen. Could there be air trapped in there?

@Tractorman Thank You very much sir. I ordered a pressure test kit from Mityvac and it will arrive on Sunday. Slowly building up a tool collection so I figured it's worthwhile to have around even if it will not get used very often. I know they're self explanatory but I have never used one before. I'm assuming if there was an external leak one would see bubbles and/or hear air hissing. What about if there's an internal leak? Will I be able to hear anything? I think what I'm trying to say is: What is the process to rule in or out a bad head gasket using this tool. Thank You!

What you stated above seems to be an issue for me. Whenever I pull over to take a look under the hood (truck idling/at operating temp.) the hose is still firm. Not a good sign I take it.

@dripley Oil looks great! Nice and golden. The level on the dipstick has not risen at all. @wil440 Yes...running a 190 thermostat. I will pressure test to be certain. @Tractorman @Haggar Thank you for the explanation! I originally was running the 19 PSI cap that came with the Mishimito radiator but have now switched back to a 16 PSI to see if that had any effect. I let the truck idle for about a minute in the driveway (before going on my test drive) and the upper hose didn't dramatically become firm. Again, I don't know how firm is too firm at operating temperature. It's a pressurized system yes, but how much is normal? It's starting to rub ever so slightly on the black cover that surrounds the APPS sensor. Is it just an old hose? This morning I checked the overflow tank and it went down about a quarter of an inch or so. Upper hose was pliable and "limp" I'd guess you say. I'll do another drive later today. Thank You all!

Well onto the next item to fix...what appears to be a head gasket problem . I'm extremely certain that my issue is in fact a bad H.G. but I took a short video so you all can see what I see. The video was taken right after shutdown on a hot engine. What caught my attention, initially, was the upper radiator hose becoming quite firm upon squeezing it at operating temperature. For what it's worth, I had gotten some air into the system (changed the thermostat and radiator cap/went on a short drive up to operating temperature). I cant imagine these bubbles have anything to do with air being bled out on its' own? I did park the truck nose up and burped the system the best I could prior to my short trip. I pulled over when I saw the dash reading 190 and looked into the overflow tank and didn't see any bubbles? Maybe I didn't look long enough? I've had coolant loss during my ownership of this vehicle (onto year 5 now). I flushed the system back in 2015 and my overflow tank went from the full mark to the add mark in these five years. I don't have any details other than that because that's all I can remember. For example, I cannot pin point a certain date when I noticed a significant loss of coolant. I discovered, in 2020, I had a leaking heater core which I replaced earlier this year (not sure how long that was leaking). Perhaps that had something to do with it as well. At the current moment: Truck does not overheat Thermostat is opening and closing Oil level is normal on the dipstick Radiator and oil caps showed no signs of contamination when changing coolant (Spring 2020) No visible antifreeze leaks Can't see any white smoke out of the tailpipe I have not been driving the truck very much because I don't want to make the problem much worse or get stranded. With that, I can't say unequivocally if the truck has been (lately) using coolant or not. My biggest concerns now are the upper radiator hose being very firm and these bubbles which I now discovered. I can't tell if the lower hose is firm as well because of the spring inside of it. I'm at 156.5K miles on the vehicle. Thanks All!