Tractorman

I am ignorant here - why can't you use Oxy / Acetylene? You have such an amazing amount of history in your neighborhood! - John

I am not sure of what you are describing. Most circuit breakers use a conductor with terminals at both ends. The conductor and the terminals will be surrounded by a non-conductive material (plastic, composite, etc). Is this what you are describing? If so, there is nothing wrong here. Post a photo of the circuit breaker. - John

It seems that when you reset the APPS, the symptoms go away for awhile. That is indicative of an electrical problem. If strays signals interfere with APPS output, the ECM will ignore the stray signals for awhile, but if they don't go away, the ECM will eventually treat the stray signals as valid. I would recheck your work that you did when you performed the W-T wiring modification - especially the ground circuits for the ECM and PCM. Is there any accessory that has been added to your truck that could give off strong electrical fields? - John

Try locking out Overdrive (4th) and see how it behaves. The torque converter may locking and unlocking in 3rd gear. Tthat combination, plus the shift into overdrive, may be masking the symptom. - John

There are two types of grinding that can occur. * when starter gear teeth and flywheel teeth don't mesh - a full inspection of the flywheel ring gear must be done to eliminate the possibility of any damaged teeth. This means barring the engine over for 360°. * when the starter drive gear clutch slips - usually first occurs in cold weather. The starter must be replaced with a quality starter. The OEM Denso starter is a quality component (along with the Denso and Bosch alternators). On my personal truck I have installed two starter contact kits. About 65,000 miles ago, I took the starter to Lazer Auto Electric (near Salem, OR) and had them turn the commutator, replace two bearings, and solder in new brushes - all for $50. So, 370,000 miles later, I am still using the OEM starter. All of my starter repairs were done from a preventative maintenance point of view - there was never a starter failure. What were the symptoms with the starter that you replaced? - John

I, too, purchased a radiator from Napa - $220.00 at the time. Almost four years and over 60,000 miles and still serving me well. Original radiator lasted for 308,000 miles. One of the side tank seals started a slow leak. - John

Yup, fasteners are a "fastenating" subject. - John

Not trying to second guess you here as I don't know what size they are, but there is a Torx 27 tool size as well. It would be easy to think a Torx 25 would be the correct tool. It might be worth double checking. - John

Did you perform all of this work in one time frame? In other words, did you pull the engine, do all of the work, and never run the engine until the work was completed? If so, that leaves a lot of possibilities as where the problem lies. If you performed the work differently, break it down into events and let us know how you proceeded. Is this symptom still present? If you purchased Bosch RV275 injectors (ending in part number 635, not knock-offs), I really doubt the injectors are the problem. By the way, I installed RV275 injectors in my engine over 65,000 miles ago. They idle very smooth. @hdpwipmonkey and @weissguy01, when your crank position sensor failed (no tach signal), did it affect the engine idle? If it did, were the symptoms the same as @Reaper22's? - John

@W-T, what a great troubleshooting technique! Such a simple and reliable method to test a DC motor! I do have one thing to add. I looked up the word "wench" . So, for those of you who have a wench on your front bumper AND have a significant other, the two may not mix. Be careful - especially if you hook up electricity to her. You can disregard if you have a winch on your front bumper. - John

Yup, you've been busted. Shame on you! Uh....? I guess I should install mine, too. - John

It is quite possible that what you are saying is true. You just won't know until you have a voltmeter attached to one of the batteries when the situation occurs. If the PCM does turn off the alternator under those conditions, it could be normal - the PCM could be protecting the alternator by stopping unusual current flow under an abnormally low voltage condition. Only a guess. - John

I don't know. The only way to really know is by having a multi-meter connected to one of the batteries to measure voltage while the winch is under a load as you described earlier. This is one thing that I don't really care for regarding computers - they can be programmed in many ways to perform certain tasks under varying conditions. If you aren't privy to the program's instructions, you are not going to know what will happen under certain conditions. It could be that the alternator is still charging, but the voltmeter in the dash has been instructed to turn off when battery voltage drops to a certain threshold. Just don't know. Reading battery voltage at either battery with a multi-meter won't lie, it will tell you if the alternator is charging immediately when you stop the winch operation. - John

The dash voltage gauge is fine to use for general reference, but it is not a reliable diagnostic tool. A voltage reading at each battery will tell the story. When winching current well exceeds charging current for 30 seconds at a time doesn't mean the alternator has quit charging (indicated by dash voltmeter). A voltmeter at the batteries will immediately show rising voltage when the winch is turned off if the alternator is charging. The dash voltmeter may / will not. - John

First, I commend you on having a proper setup for winching, and for you giving a great description of your symptoms! When batteries and a charging system are tested to the limit (winching will do that), then the smallest inefficiencies of the electrical system can come into play. To help with figuring this out, more information is needed - mainly two factors. Was the engine at idle? Do you know the maximum current rating of the winch? Other things that could cause the symptoms: * The batteries (even though they are new) need to be at a fully charged capacity just prior to winching. * The alternator could be at fault (charging at reduced capacity) Alternator output can easily be checked at a good auto / electric shop * The heavy cable and cable connections (even though they are new and routed properly) could have one poor connection. Think of it this way - every battery cable has four connections. Example (using the battery crossover cable): passenger side battery to clamp, clamp to passenger side cable wire, cable wire to driver side clamp, and finally clamp to driver side battery. So, one wire - four connections. Multiply that by number of cables used means a heck of a lot of connections. Something that I always remind myself - an electrical system can only perform at the level of its worst connection. It only takes one poor connection to dramatically reduce performance - especially under heavy electrical load. I recommend hooking up your winch to a heavy continuous load. With a helper operating the winch, use your voltmeter to check voltage at each battery and relevant connection points while under load. - John

It is not full My Inbox shows, "Used 0% messenger storage" and "storing 5 messages (max 1000)." So, I am not sure exactly what is going on. - John

Thanks @Mopar1973Man. I contacted Dynamic Transmission via email a couple of hours ago. They seem to be the unanimous "go to" transmission place. - John

Thank you @IBMobile, we may be moving forward with this re-builder. I just talked to my brother-in-law about the Stage II transmission from Dynamic Transmission. He has determined that he will likely be keeping the truck, so this transmission would be a good match for his needs. - John

Thank you. I will check with them. - John

My brother-in-law in Crescent City, CA has a 2002 4wd Cummins 2500 truck that has logged 175,000 miles. The stock automatic transmission has failed l- no second gear. I don't have any real details of the exact failure. The truck is still stock - no tuner and original injectors. The truck occasionally tows a very heavy 5th wheel (around 14,000 lbs), usually less than 200 miles round trip two or three times a year. He has no near future plans of doing anything different. Sometime down the road he may become a full-time RV-er and he will purchase a truck to match whatever he tows. I was thinking of a quality rebuild with a lower stall speed converter that would work for his current situation. Any vendor recommendations would be appreciated along with any helpful suggestions. Thank you, - John

I never lean on a dipstick. You're not supposed to. However, once in awhile my wife leans on a dipstick. - John

The lines you are referring to are vacuum lines for the operation of HVAC system ventilation doors, 4WD selection, and in your case cruise control (automatic transmission). The large 90° fitting in the middle close-up photo is the connection to the source of vacuum - the vacuum pump. You probably have many deteriorated lines / fittings that will need to be addressed due to the age of your truck. - John

I've got five daughters. Not a single one of them sent me any gauges for my truck! What the heck?! - John

Can you imagine an upside down picture of @wil440with pins in his eyes!? Here is something that will help build trust in the government. Not. In the mid '90's, my wife and I moved from Colorado to about 20 miles east of Redding, California. We built a house there on a 3.5 acre lot. At the time we had a 1985 Subaru (49 states emissions - so not California) and my 1991 Ford F150 4x4 powered by a Cummins 4BTA 4 cyl diesel engine. I was proactive in finding out what it would take to pass emissions on my truck even though the Cummins engine was emissioned for 50 states, so that includes California. Because I knew the test station would be stumped when they opened the hood on the truck, I made an appointment with the California Air Resource Board (CARB) and brought my truck to their testing station. The fellow looks under the hood for a long time. Finally, I asked if I could help with any questions he may have. He said, "No questions, I was just looking at your installation of the Cummins. We don't test diesel engines in California, but, there is a Smog Impact Fee." I said ok, how much. He said, "$400." What!!?? So, when it came time to Smog test the Subaru, the fee was around $350 - yup, Smog Impact Fee because it was only a 49 state emission engine. A few years go by. We have moved to Oregon in 1999. A few months later I get a phone call from the real estate guy that sold us our property in California - he says California is refunding millions of dollars collected for Smog Impact Fees. He told us how to file. It turns out that the money collected by CARB was deposited into the General Fund for years and used for many things that were not air quality related. We were refunded about $750. By the way, the real estate guy bought my truck with the Cummins. - John

Not really. Part of the "Bendix" incorporates a one-way clutch right next the to the drive gear teeth. It is likely the teeth of the starter drive gear engage the flywheel, but due to the extreme cold, the clutch slips resulting in no movement of the flywheel and lots of movement of the starter motor. The resulting friction quickly warms the slipping clutch, which then allows it to work properly the next time you engage the starter switch. You can rebuild some parts of the starter or have a shop rebuild the starter. Just don't replace the starter with another brand if it is still the OEM starter (a Denso). They are quality starters. - John