flagmanruss

I was invited to spend Flagday weekend at Erie Canal Village, Rome, NY... visitor's inspecting the exhibit. The 20 flags in the exhibit exhibit took up 2 sides of the village green. My place of honor on the porch of the "tavern" to answer questions. That high-backed rocker was a life saver after I fell the first night (a risk with MS) & screwed up my back... Real horse power... the team coming over the low bridge from the village to the tow path. Canal boat underway... the objective is to not let the canal boat follow the tow line into the bank! My good wife, Sheila, playing / singing canal songs on the canal. The ECV musicians were most welcoming. My Bro's "toy trains"... he restored this steam locomotive & built the replica cars. Makin smoke has a different meaning to him.

I'm gonna demand a rematch on 4 July... 1 grand daughter, 2 great grand (son & daughter) all about 1 year... I ought ask for a head start.Russ

Mold... it has to be wet from somewhere. Check roof, vents, stacks, seal everything. Check siding, windows. Bathroom vents. Condensation. If it's into the walls, they may have to be opened to get access. Moisture can come up from the ground. Our soil is very wet... why my truck is rusting from underneath. If I was to built my long planned shop in the barn, I'f have to divert rainwater, put in drains & still lay a plastic vapor barrior on top of soil. You're supposed to be able to ventilate away excess moisture but I gave up... in this humid New England climate, I run a dehumifier in the half burried basement 3 seasons or everything there would mold. There has got to be a leak somewhere. First you must fix that.

Years ago, one of my boat customers had a 32' Chris Craft... twin 283"s flywheel forward (lowest profile). One day, out off Block Island (16 miles off shore) he threw a rod through the oil heavy cast aluminum oil pan. He claimed he was just trolling on that one engine at dead idle. We all thought the heavy oil pan saved him from sinking the boat! When he got in, the pan had a huge hole in it & he had a hardware store in the bilge!Russ

Put the pictures up!Russ

I can't tie the truck up until after this weekend... then I need to get all the wheels off & inspect the discs & pads. Clearly something has been missed, since it keeps recurring as fast as it is put back in service. If all four corners check out, then I'll get back to you guys & we can go from there. Sincerely, Thankyou all for the ideas.Russ

keydl & all,Thanks for the rely but I'm confused. The brakes already have a serious thunk - thunk - thunk almong with greatly reduced stopping power. Are you saying I should cook the brakes now that they already have the problem? Can it be seen when they are dissassembled? What would I look for? I was thinking that if a disc was warped, the marks in the rust should show when disassembled. I was never told to "set" the brakes in any of the previous repairs. If I knew what to buy, I'd rather have my buddy fix it than trust a shop again.Russ

I blew the tranny out on a Fird Ranger with a 2.2 Diesel (natural dog). (Only built 2 years back during the first oil embargo) The shop who'd repaired the tranny didn't bolt it up right... when it came loose & ate itself, they didn't want to hear it.

It PO'd me when the mice chewed through the windshield washer hose on my Cirus. I've trashed all the hood insulation to remove the attractive habitat. I know, this does not help your problem at all. A lot of stuff is vacume activated... dunno where the pick off point is.'Russ

Mice chewed off yer vacume lines?

Yes, double speak is being polite. 400 Jeeps in this econimy is not "underperforming". My guess is the dealer franchaise fees are going to skyrocket, so they can get big bucks for them when they increase them again. My late father was an engineer & exec in electronics... fought against higher ups not to export TV technology to Japan. See what that bought us.

I dunno where we'll go to buy an American truck... How about a Cummins in a Fiat? I feel bad for the dealers being arbitrarily forced to close. The local Jeep dealer... the same dealer also has a Chrysler Dodge franchise some distance away... sold 400 Jeeps last year. Some dealers responded to Chrysler's call to buy up added inventory and now have their franchises pulled. WTF?A parrallel... wife drives a Subaru bought locally. Five Star dealer lost franchise arbitrarily a couple of years ago. This year, a new dealer opens up a couple of towns away. Why? There was nothing wrong with the local one. We keep getting solicitations from out of town Subaru dealers.IMHO, closing these dealers... guarentees that people will not buy their vehicles. I will NOT drive an hour just to window shop for a maybe? a new vehicle. Just my thoughts... Russ

OK, I'm going to take a wild shot in the dark... The fam is running but you're running the A/C. After a certain amount of time, the cold stops but you can hear the fan running. There's nothing wrong with the fan.The A/C fluid has almost all leaked out. There's enough for an initial blast of cold but not enough to keep the system running.There's a crack in the cooling unit behind the friggin dash. Dodge is known for this. The whole dash has to come out in order to replace (according to the guy that fixed mine). Most of the charges were labor. A tech will refill & add a an ultraviolet dye. There's an overflow hose in the engine room, the dye will show & prove the leak. You might get a year on the refill if, like mine, it's slow. I'm sorry to be the one to tell you...RussPS. I have MS & like most with it, I don't do well in the heat. Several years ago, we were packing up from our Rendezvous camp... The first days of June... The tempature soared to 95 (according to the Dodge temp guage once we got moving). I was really suffering, helping load... I had to use a mist spray every 5 minutes just to keep going. I looking forward to cooling off & the friggin A/C gave me one blast & then just warm air. I was not a happy camper.

ISX,I think you're right... if the fan runs (& I reread your original post where you said it continued to run)... then there has to be something else blocking the air flow...Are you missing any papers off the dash... fallen down in the vent?

Let some guy with a FORD, be the tornado chaser! LOLGood photos, glad yer safe.Russ

Sometime prior to parking my old 79 C30 tow vehicle in the barn... fogging the 454 for storage... I was getting ready for our annual Rendezvous camp. I drove the Chevy all week, ran like a bear... hooked up the trailer, loaded & pulled out of the house. We live on a steep hill... to get out you drive down the hill across 2 brooks & pull the 45 degree angle hill on the other side. Half way up, the truck was not pulling right. I stopped & lifted the hood... truck sat there purring. I tried again, blowing a cloud of black smoke from the gasser! I checked the choke to see if it was stuck... it was not, it was wide open. The third try, same result, I saw specs of paper in the filter. I pulled the factory cold air hose & it had about a whole roll of paper towel in there shredded into a mouse nest. I was pretty hot under the collar by this point, & I scoopped the nest (it turns out mama mouse & all) & flung it discustedly into the street. I'm not one to litter but this was aboout the last straw. At this point the person in front of whose house I'd stopped came out to see if he could help... just in time to see the litter hit the ground! I assured him I'd found the problem. I finished the clean out & scooped the litter into the horse trailer. The truck pulled the 45 degree hill from a standing start, gaining speed the whole way. (Gotta love a 454 except at the pumps.) For the record it got 11 loaded or empty. When we got home from 'vous, I put a wrap of... gutter guard inside the inlet & ran a screw through the plastic to anchor it. Mizz mouse had to find a new home. I figure that running empty, it just didn't need that much air... once I put a load on it did & could not get it... I sold the 79 to a guy last year. WE fired it up in the barn A cloud of blue smoke as the MMO (I used to use for fogging) burned off. He drove it off with a delightful rumble that echo's through my mind... it almost broke my heart... Russ 79 Chevy C30 454, Comp Cam towing cam, Edelbroc timing chain, Edelbrock intake, Carter AFB carb, headers through oversized pipes & big mufflers mufflers, automatic/3.73 rear axle 16.5" rims.

Is there a thermal protect on the fan motor? Is there an intermittant connection or wire that opens when the motor gets hot? Set it on the floor, jumper the ground connection... let it run for a half hour. While thats whirring away, check all inlets, outlets with a flahlight, wire & shop vac. I've not had luck screening my Cirus heater so must be due for another mouse eviction. (I like 1/4" sguare hardware clocth or better yet aluminum expanded gutter guard {maleable} for screening engine & cabin air intakes.)Russ PS What are your heater controls set at? Some run to achieve a set temp... if achieved the fan can change speed. Not sure if Dodge is one such... Too d*mn fancy for me! (Or an I threatened by a vehicle with a higher IQ than me?)

Thank you. The answer was staring me right in the face... if it looks too good to be true, it probably is. Yes comparing apples & oranges. The $99 was just the tips, not complete injectors & would have to be assembled & tested. No Bargain.Russ

How hard is it to change out injectors? I did a search on RV275s & came up with some "no name listed" from an injector house... about a hundred bucks for the set! http://injectorparts.com/catalog/ This just seems to good to be true. Anyone out there? Russ

I wonder about a mouse nest? I had mice in the cab... trashing tissues... I solved that by stuffing stainless pot scrbbers (SS Steel wool) into the cowel drains behind the hood hinges. The rain water still seeps through but no mice since. I live in the woods & trying to keep mice, etc out is a sport! Try vacuming everything you can reach... either way you'll learn. Air restriction might not respond to blower speed. If the flapper valves don't move... if could be a vacume problem... as in engine vacume/contols.Russ

I know I'm heading for another brake overhaul... the emergency brake cables anchor point is AWOL... rusted away! I'm reading everything I can find on disc brakes. One source, insists that the brake hub & discs must be cleaned so the discs will seat correctly against the hub. They state rust & dirt as being able to make the disc... even a perfect disc... off-true as mounted. Maybe you are thinking no way... but my truck has rust problem underneath. I wonder if this detail was missed by my former mechanics... I'm willing to be open minded... it will take fairly little to check this once it's appart.Thanks for letting me ramble.Russ

NOTICE to da cops: all racing was done on a closed course, not on a public highway. LOL! No animals were injured in filming this event... but a few burgers were consumed! Russ

Most boats don't have brakes! I was a marine mechanic for 17 years.

I don't get it. I thought the VP44 controlled the fuel. How does a bigger injector increase mpg? Wait, a bit for the brain to catch up... VP44 assumes a given orafice (injector) so a bigger injector "fools" the VP44. More fuel, less throttle... does that equate to better mpg?Why don't stock truck come with RV275 injectors? Will stock auto tranny hold up to this? I know this is basic stuff... please be tollerant.Russ

I don't usually allow pictures of me... Me & Great Grand Daughter lining up... What-cha-gotts-under-the-hood? Dusts me off the line! I barely got time to react! Shut 'er down, she's outta here! (Look at the determination on that face!)