flagmanruss

I don't tow in the off season. I'll run the winter fronts until May. I've been running them 3 years anyway, store flat under the back seat. It still takes a while to warm up & my temp guages stays right at half scale like always. I think the warmer intake air makes the grids run less & gets the truck into lean burn warmed up mode (more economical). Since I'm stock, the overhead is very accurate & immediately shows the differance in mpgs. Before this, I was in the stupid "throw a cardboard in front of the radiator" mindset... but when I realized that it was blocking much more than just the radiator (think trans cooler, intercooler). Last year, I replaced the SS hardware with hex head so I could use a socket on my screw gun & fender washers & nynuts.

Do you have a cap / radiator tester? It's a pressure guage/pump combo. Goes on in place of the radiator cap... if you have a headgasket leak the guage will spike. There's an adaptor to check caps also. Mine is a "Stant".

I have not looked at the top radiator hose on my CTD lately but my old Chevy, I used to prime the tube with a stone cold engine but using the top radiator hose as a squeeze ball & expelling the air. When I let go, if the cap was seated just right, it would draw back PAF. Yes, I had to play with that cap a bunch. I've had caps leaking through the center rivet, new caps which would not seal, old caps with with cracked gaskets, ears not engaging right, distorted radiator fill neck. Remember, these overflow/return systems were an after thought not many years ago.

I'm confused. You write "draws in air"... Do you not have a working cap & return bottle? It should draw in PAF (Permanant Anti Freeze). Let's say you have a return type cap & overflow bottle. Where is the air? The radiator tank? Is the overflow hose clamped? Is there wear or damage to the cap or filler neck? Is the tank end of the overflow in the PAF? Have you marked the oveflow tank to see if it's increasing (PAF being pushed out & not withdrawn?) (I checked my STANT radiator test kit instructions... which giives a long general list.) I've had a lot of trouble with caps / filler necks. I've mickey-moused extra rubber gaskets into caps on occasion. Sometimes playing with the cap position will inexplicably change the result.

Frame 3 shows it best... to the left of the blower motor in the passenger's foot well. All you can see is the connector plug since the resistor sticks up into the duct to be cooled by airflow. I found these listed at $50.99 AutoZone # CR153 to $66 This is similar to the set up in my Cirrus... I just had to replace when mouse debris blocked the airflow. I suggest dropping the blower & checking to be sure it's clear. I haven't been able to screen the Cirrus but my 01 Dodge, but I have successfully used SS pot scrubber (just SS steel wool) stuffed behind the hood hinge to keep the mice out of the cowel where the air inlet is. Water still drains fine...Russ

The 47RE isn't "broke"... truck only has 50K miles... but the stock 47RE just doesn't have the track record for durability under HD use... I'm guessing either trailer is over 7000 minimum... could be way over. I'm thinking to prevent destroying it... out on the road somewhere... so I'd be looking to beef it up... TC + VB, what ever else it needs.

My old & long gone Chevy C30 / 454 had 3.73s 16.5" smaller rubber than what I have now... it was a towing fool, even before I built the engine. I had an underpowered 1/2 ton (1987) GMC with a rediculious 3.07 ration (must have looked good on the EPA smog dyno). A former friend put a ring & pinion in it... went as far as we could in that housing... maybe a 3.55 & the truck was much more driveable. Interestingly the MPGs were about the same, maybe a touch better as the transmission shifted up much sooner. My ex got it & wrecked it soon after while I kept the C30. I'd have been much better off with the 3.73 or 3.55 ratios but I didn't know squat about diesels when I bought the truck. Apparently neither did the truck salesman. I don't have the cash flow to do the tranny this year... If I get the other things done, go easy on the go pedal... get the tranny done next year.Russ

Old school ATF had whale oil in it... At the time they said it was the best lubricant... then they banned whaling. (My age is showing.) Modern ATF is supposed NOT to burn! I would not add it to my fuel. I used to winterize inboard (boat) gas engines by fogging with M Mystery oil. Knowing what I do now, I'd use TCW3 2 cycle oil. I've begun adding TCW3 to diesel fuel in my old John Deere tractor. It might be my imagination but I think the extra cylinder lube can be useful in an engine that is only used occasionally. Russ

Thanks for the update. Good to know it ended well.Russ

Sure sounds like a bad switch.

While you are under the dash... check the E-brake.

Oh, I got plenty of power... with the 4:10s it's just screaming at 65... with OD off. So I kick the OD on on level or downhill (still need power on towing this flat front obstruction). I'm lugging right around 2000... +/-. With OD on, it's nice & quiet but does not have the balls on a moderate grade. I often can't hold speed or RPMs. If I get dragged down to 60 or below, I'll kick the OD off, drop to 55 & climb the hill. I know this is not recommended... but it's the reality of this combination. Yeah, another reason I'm not happy with the salesman who sold it to me (NEW). I really could not afford to buy this truck... a "do over" is out of the question. I really don't want to blow the tranny out on the interstate... I'm going to have to save up for each phase of the project... Towing was much less complicated with a gas 454, though I wonder how it would have handled this load.

I'm stock except for the exhaust. I don't tow very much... but when I do, we put 600 miles on in a day. I don't know how heavy the 28' Tahoe TranSport is but I found one year listed as 7000 dry weight / GVW of near 10,000 (a second listed GVW of 12,000). Truck (see signature) has Tow Package which includes a transmission cooler. I haven't been able to add guages yet. Note: I've discovered 4.10 is the wrong gear ratio with stock tire sizes but I own the truck now. As I posted previously, I pretty much have to use OD on flat & downhill, kick the OD out & drop speed if the truck is unhappy on a grade (no issues except loss of cruising speed). I'd like to bump the power just a bit to improve the ability to hold speed on the hills. I'm assuming it is better to plan a transmission upgrade BEFORE the transmission goes South!Russ

Adding antigel might be a good idea if you were going to be out in extreme conditions or using hold over summer blend in winter. I buy my fuel from an active station (local FDs & businesses do to) and have the right season blend. I don't believe any fuel dealer could/would sell fuel without a additive package. It's normally added at the fuel depot. I continue to run TCW3 rated 2 stroke year round 1oz per gallon of fill up. 3 years doing do. I had bought other additives on the advice of the Dodge dealer (poor mpg complaint) but the additives did not fix it... you'd a thunk, they'd have found the serious brake drag... but you'd a been wrong!! The additives are just gathering dust in my shop. I've begun running TCW3 added to fuel in my old JD diesel tractor. It only gets run intermittantly & the extra lubrication to the cylinders seems to quiet it down.

http://www.4wheelparts.com/downloads/guides/guide_bolt_pattern.pdf

I didn't realize that a needle valve was necessary for an electronic guage as well as straight mechanical guage.

ISX,Now that you've had it a while, how do you like the digital? I'm hoping for one under the tree!Russ

Does air come out of the correct vents? If air comes out of the defrost, regardless of the control position, it's the vacume powered control. Could be a bad vacume pump, vacume leak, disconnected line or bad control drivers side of heater box. If you've been working under the hood, check vacume lines first... easy to distrurb or sometimes break. If air does not come out warm but comes out in correct place, likely electric blend door over passengers foot well. Hard to get to but can be done. See http://www.heatertreater.net/ Hope this helps. Russ

I stupidly believed the salesman that the truck had everything I'd speced... after all Dodge had had to settle with owners on rusted out doors & fenders. I poured catalized rustproofing into the doors on the Chevy when I did a cab off... installed new doors. THEY didn't rust out! I got such badly rusted hardware underneath... frankly, I think the hardware was inferior. Anything to save a buck.

Bottom edges on all doors are now one big drain... yikes!!

Amazing amount of mud in there! Did he pour it in with a funnel? I've never seen anything like it. I did find a Ford based V8 I/O marine engine that got towed in dead. Sea water cooled. I couldn't get / did not understand the dipstick... got coffee colored stuff on the stick. After I pulled the engine, I dropped the pan... just to see whatsup. It was full of coffee colored cottage cheese! Engine had started running crappy so the guy turned it up a little in a vain attempt to make it home. It did not make sense until I found a threaded plug in the head under the valve cover with a square driver indent... that had rusted through. The raw water pump kept the cooling pressurized spitting salt water into the oil. Engine kept running until it filled up completely turning the oil into cream of crap... until it got to the breather & swallowed it. Cost the guy a new motor.Never thought to take pictures of it. Glad we opened it over a plastic tarp as the oil catch tray didn't hold all the glog.

They ought to make dually fenders out of rubber!! If we don't screw up someone else does.That's looking good!! I need to get my doors fixed. Russ

Can you find out the brand? It might help more people. Thanks for sharing.Russ

Anybody know where they are made? I have a box of Rockwell saber saw blades... a customer of mine worked at a factory in Ct that made them for Rockwell. They turned down a RAISE... which was conditional on the workers reducing the amount of "scrap" they made in the shop. (Increase productivity) The "defective" saw blades cut just fine... guys were taking them home by the lunch box full. When my saber saw died, I made sure my new one accepted the blades.

I got my Road Runner in deep water many years ago... water was up to the seat inside but not up to the carberator. There was water in the engine, transmission rear end, gas tank... carpets & trunk. At least it was FRESH water when rain flooded an underpass on I95.