flagmanruss

Thanks guys, I'll go check the glove box area. The blower is right above the passenger's kick space, so seems logical it would be near there. Maybe I could even follow the wire backward! Now there's a thought! I probably should pull the blower & clean the mouse nest out too. A nephew is in the home HVAC business... He's willing to recharge the truck... suggested getting a "recharge kit with hose & extra bottle". What do I ask for at the autoparts so I don't appear too stupid?Russ

Yes, the CTD... the first time the dye showed up in the drain tube from the heater box. I'm told they are often plugged.Yes, the Cirus has high fan but nothing else. I smelled a hot smell just as I was pulling into the WM parling lot. Guages ok, puzzled but too vague to be certain. Bought my TCW3 oil, got in the car... fan didn't start up. It was a while before I found the high speed fan would run.Just for laughs, where's the resistor located? Anybody know?Russ

I've found someone to charge the system... see how long it takes to leak down. The speed control on the fan in the Cirus bit the dust yesterday.

I had the condenser replaced a couple of years ago. It's been stuck on defrost for a while... but that's a separate problem. I can't afford to pay someone to do the work... over & over. What a piece of Cr*p! Temps in high 80s today... I got a little cool when it wasn't working hard, dies out when I need it. (Same as before).

What about finding a circle... a piece of plumbing pipe, a piece of plastic cup, a piece of sheet metal & fitting it to the inside.

I seriously think it is IAT. I'm just back from a weekend jaunt. I had a 300 mile run out the Mass Pike & NY Thruway. The overhead is dead on with my stock 01 CTD... 4.10 ratio. Eventually it got it up to 18.9 I naturally enjoy working the motor to keep ideal speed with just enough throttle to do so. With a cold start & a couple of short local trips dropped the mileage average by 1 mpg to 17.8-9.The return trip again had the average back at 18.9. I'm thinking of blocking off the stock fender air intake for faster warm up. It's really rare to ever get 100 here, even more rare to get a few degrees hotter. More common to get highs of 80's. I think faster warm up will get better mpg in my environment.Russ

I can't help but think of closing the side of the cup holder as suggested... maybe a piece of thin plastic or metal. glued? screwed? with care to the side of the cupholder. Is there clearance for it to still close? Russ

There must be some way for me to do it... I just have to do it without Sheila catching me on the stepladder. It's really un-nerving to have the disploay lit & water dripping from it. Not much, just a half dozen drops. It looks like some of the lights are up slightly in the back... maybe 1/2 turn of the screw would snug it.If not, they yeah, the silicone sealer. When I worked on boats, we bought it by the case!Russ

Says it all. It did it once a couple of years ago... then nothing. The only possible leak source is the clearance lights on the cab roof. I know NOT to climb on the cab roof, it'll oil can for sure. I could not reach standing on the door sill. I'm thinking of maybe a padded stepladder against the cab.???Russ

It's been a couple of crazy weeks... My step-son got married... Yeah, the wanted me to be presentable so I need to shop for hard to find in my size clothes that I'll likely never wear (or fit in), again... It went smoothly. They say the band was very good. I could not talk to my sister sitting beside me so they must have been very good indeed! We set up a small base of operations for our annual Rendezvous trip... just a single supply tent & minimal gear... My Step-daughter's Masters graduation... (maybe I can wear those clothes again before they're outgrown!) Back to Rendezvous... My MS was not happy so I did not attempt to overnight but day tripped since by luck this years camp was under an hour from our house. I managed all this plus Drs appts, lab tests... The forecast was for "chance of thundershowers" this morning. Apparently there was a line of thunder showers, lightening, down pours during the night. I was told it was around 4AM. That's not really a big deal unless one is trapped in the outhouse during such an occurance! The forecast for the afternoon was INCREASED likelyhood of thundershowers. I was just hanging with friends when we heard the first spatters of rain on the canvas. The sky to the West... was dark & foreboding. The stong gusts of winds brought the squall to us in about 5 minutes. We had worked quickly to secure the tent doors & loose equipemt we did not want soaked. (My job was to stay out of the way, so those light of foot could do so quickly!) The rain picked up driving it horrozontally under the tents. There were a few cracks of lightning followed by a rolling thunder. My friends got me to leave my rollator under their dining fly & retire to their tent. Their adult son was out in the rain for some task that now seems totally unimportant. His sister went out of the tent to urge him to come in. FLASH, CRACK, BOOM landed simultaneously. Virtually everyone in the whole camp of 500 was shocked in their feet, legs, lower extremities. The aforementioned young man was among those "knocked on his *ss". The young lady had an instant headache & saw sparks coming from her metal necklace. One gentleman could not move one arm for some time & had hearing issues. Everyone in camp checked on their neighbors & our medical group went camp to camp. Thankfully there were no injuries requiring medical treatment. The gentleman got the use of his arm back after a few minutes. No one is quite sure where the lightning strike landed, though some reported the flash seemed to come from the "Water Buffalo"... a Stainless Trailer parked feet from where we'd been sitting. In the light of day... the exact points of the lightning strike was found. There are 3 trees on the edge of a small pond that drains into the larger lake... Three trees on the edge of that pond were struck, the bark peeled from them... the roots had all the dirt blown off of the leaving trenches 12-18" wide & as deep in the earth. The fact is 3 years ago, I was camped in that very spot with Sheila & my beloved horse Nick. There were guys setting up a tent... very close one of those trees. Both guys were flung violently backwards. The one who was driving a tent stake with a hammer had the hammer fly up & strike him in the head. We can not figure how they are alive... both seem to be fine, though bruised & a very shy of loud noises. All this took place 200 feet from where I was sitting. Sheila reported after I left for the night it did indeed pour again, putting out the fire in our friends camp... she had been invited to dinner. Sheila pitched in to keep the fire going & eventually Spaghetti & meatballs were produced & welcomed by the wet & weary campers. For future referance, it is very difficult to keep a fire going in a fire pit when it is filling with water. In closing, let me say how very happy I am to be in a possition to write this to you... & that everyone else is too. I don't think this was a "Close Call". I think this was a Fringe Hit. We are very lucky indeed that no one was killed or seriously injured. I hope Sheila & company got a fire started and their dinner cooked before the rain resumed. A steady rain is falling now. Russ PS The lady in the camp where I was sheltered during the storm... placed first in the Women's Primitive archery & my Sheila placed second! (Flat wood bow & non-commercial arrows required) ---------- Post added at 04:07 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:04 PM ---------- In the light of day... the exact points of the lightning strike was found. There are 3 trees on the edge of a small pond that drains into the larger lake... Three trees on the edge of that pond were struck, the bark peeled from them... the roots had all the dirt blown off of the leaving trenches 12-18" wide & as deep in the earth. The fact is 3 years ago, I was camped very near that spot with Sheila & my beloved horse Nick. He would have been toast if lightning had struck his "high line" rope. There were guys setting up a tent... very close one of those trees. Both guys were flung violently backwards. The one who was driving a tent stake with a hammer had the hammer fly up & strike him in the head. We can not figure how they are alive... both seem to be fine, though bruised & a very shy of loud noises. All this took place 200 feet from where I was sitting. Sheila reported after I left for the night it did indeed pour again, putting out the fire in our friends camp... she had been invited to dinner. Sheila pitched in to keep the fire going & eventually Spaghetti & meatballs were produced & welcomed by the wet & weary campers. For future referance, it is very difficult to keep a fire going in a fire pit when it is filling with water. In closing, let me say how very happy I am to be in a possition to write this to you... & that everyone else is too. Russ

Picts a couple of years old...

I am confused. I think you are saying the FP is 1-1.5 PSI below the previous reading. That's not the way I first read your post.Russ

I have no experience with those after market in the OP. Mike, My 01.5 with Towing package came with those flip out mirrors. If mine turn up missing, I'm coming looking for you! I wish they figured out how to make them power adjust... when flipped in/out they must be totally re-aimed. Recently I've been able to tow my horse trailer or landscapers trailer with them in but when I had a 5th wheel camper, they had to go out!

I relate everything to chow... www.middleofnowherediner.com

I bought a SS full turbo back system off e-bay. The "muffler" is straight through with a few tiny louvers. It's not real loud but then I've not had occasion to tow a real trailer with it yet. The kit did indeed have everything needed. There are two grades of stainless... not a show truck, I chose the less expensive. I was determined to not have THIS system rot off the truck.

From what I am painfully learning... the Blend Door, controled by the BDAM above the passenger's footwell controls the inside air recirt / outside air. This is the one which must be indexed.There is another door... vacume controlled... that directs the air output as you choose. I've not seen it yet on my truck... but If it goes to defrost, then that is this second vacume controlled door. I've been searching internet about this issue but not found anything definative yet. IMHO, This is not an index issue. Defrost is the default setting. A loss or reduced vacume or maybe something disrupting the vent airflow... since it seems to react to blower speed... Let us know what you find.Russ

If you screw up & put that little motor into the case reversed... the truck will blow hot air, no matter what you do. Take that little sucker out (you should be getting good at it by now). Say a few choice words !#$%^&*()+*&^%$@! reverse the motor & put it back in. Reinstall. Better to have heat or A/C on the windshield than full heat you can not shut off!Been there, done that, got the T shirt!Russ

OK, having bought the Heater Treater kit... Finally getting the blend door actuator motor out... the BDAM is fine & the connector is fine. HOWEVER, you will need to open the gear case on the BDAM to reindex the gears. I STONGLY suggest that you do so with the protruding drive down so that the motor not drop out of the case. The motor can go in either way but one drives the doors the opposite direction making it impossible to stop the heat even with the control set to "off". While the case is open, I marked the top side of that little motor with magic marker.Having now corrected the orientation of that pesky motor, I have the BDAM back into the truck in record time. I do not want to be expert at this ever again. I did replace the mounting screws with hex/phillps combo but still had to use the phillips to do the back one. I had a lot of trouble getting the back screw started again until I used a spot of dumdum to hold it in there. However interesting this project has been, I have concluded it was a blind! NOT the problem with my truck. I've got the heat/air stuck on defrost. This control seems to be VACUME CONTROLLED as was originally suggested. Since diesels don't make "vacume" there is a vacume pump on the side of the motor. Since the vacume actuated front axle disconnect functions, I believe the vacume pump is working. I have been tracing all visible lines under the hood as far as I can... not going to be that easy! There is a line that goes through the lifting eye & disappears down the back of the engine which I've not been able to fully examine. There's a line that goes under the driver's side battery that I haven't been able to inspect. I've not tried the cruise control lately but think the latter line is to the cruise... according to reports battery fumes can cause problems with this. I'll have to pull this battery to be sure.

Mike,I could sure use info & pictures of the heat / AC direct door & controls. The one that controls floor / dash / defrost direction. Mine is still stuck on defrost. I think the other has turned out to be a blind.Russ

Sorry Mike... I paid to have mine done a few years ago. I'm not thrilled with the way some of the plastics were refitted afterwards. Considering what it cost, I was disappointed. I think there is some info worth reading on the heater treater site. The guy seems to specialize in these repairs.I don't believe you'll need to remove the actuator motor to do your repair but it would be a mistake to not replace those phillips heads with hex or torex while you have the access. In my truck the issue was the proximity to the floor / transmission hump. IMHO, these suffer from "built to last the warentee" syndrome. Good Luck,Russ

Hi,I bought the Craftsman tool but still had trouble until I used a pair of surgical sissors to cut the stiff rubber under-rug piece some more. Then I got the screw out. I found my OEM plastic link was NOT broken but the door was definately stuck. I worked the OEM connector back & forth & freed the door up. I found the door to drag the bottom of the duct except when I applied gentle pressure up on the shaft. The blend door motor appears fine. I'm going to reuse the OEM plastic connector because it's easier... I'm keeping the repair parts just in case & with the mat cut (won't show with the rug down) I can quickly replace it now. I've added an O ring as a spacer to lift the shaft slightly, hopefully cutting the drag. The kit includes a pcture of the index mark... have to open the motor gear case to see it... center the door. center the motor. reassemble. I'm replacing both those nasty phillips screws with hex so the next mechanic can see the exposed one to get the right socket. Chris at Heater Treater has helpfully answered my e-mails providing guidance beyond everything on his web site & instructions.

Rendezvous cooking. The fire pit, the sod is cut with a spade on 3 sides & folded back on the hinge leaving only brown dirt showing... brown dirt does not burn. Use smaller pieces of sod & dirt to close any gaps. 4 legs are put in the ground with a horrizontal piece (2 required) running the length of the pit. The flat pieces are threaded on on the back support, resting on the front forming the "grate". They are easily flipped over to tend the fire. Another view of the grate & key-hole... sod was not turned back so well in this one. Notice some of the grate flipped out of the way to get more coals for the top of the Dutch oven. The camp style dutch oven has legs & is placed on coals in a "key-hole" some coals under but most heat needs to be on top for baking. We use a trivet & pie plate inside. Nothing like pie in camp! When the fire is done, the sod can be hinged back into place & the site quickly restored. Most sites require & always a good idea to keep a couple of filled fire buckets at each fire pit.

That's a pretty neat machine. Too bad we can not use such things at Rendezvous. (Not period correct.) I'd not mind having one for home. We have to actually dig a fire pit. A flip-over rack holds the pots up. There are period correct charcoal burning brassiers... I figure it's worth the cost of charcoal to not have to bend down.

Yes, I concluded this was the type of tool I need... any tool I don't have is one I need! LOL! I can't get a picture in place... If I could see it, I could get it out. I'll be tool shopping today! Russ

Hi All,I have the "Heater Treater" kit. It's a simple enough coupling in Stainless Steel instead of (reportedly plastic) OEM that can fail. The Heater Treater is marked to fit Dodge Ram 95-02 & Jeep Grand Cherokee (93-98). The instruction also mention Explorer so there is likely a kit for Ford too. I located the unit over the passenger's foot well. I freed up the carpet & folded it back. Removal of the "Blend Door actuator motor" requires removal of just 2 phillips mounting screws. I have the front screw out fine but the rear screw is just not accessible. I have not removed or cut the thick rubber rug cushion. There's some give to it... Any ideas, guys? I'll post re-indexing & reassembly when I get to it.Russ