Just a little break for a bit

lifter noise,,,

Seriously, I have had some misgivings about buying Bloo the last week or so. Not that I think the choice was bad: I knew what I was buying into. Doesn’t mean I don’t have ‘second thoughts’. Part of me (My dad immulations) is saying, ‘Shoulda just put that money into a new engine for Buffalo’.

The shitty part, BOTH sides of my psyche are correct. BLoo is my ticket into a better future where I have more control. Buffalo is a damned fine truck that just needs some TLC to be better. (she still spins wheels, just tired worn engine.)

And I am refusing to let one go over the other since I DO need the option of a backup vehicle in my future. (Caveat to that: if a cheap Honda Civic fell my way, I might let Buff go,, MIGHT,,, Buff has functions beyond ‘back up’, like Kayak hauler,,, A honda would have a harder time with that role, especially as I prefer long boats.

Other than the lifter noise (thank you Brudda B for the use of your ears,,, I can’t hear it in the cab at all.) Bloo did that little trip to Brudda B’s flawlessly. yes, she burned some oil (not seeing blue smoke, but it may be so thin, it would show in profile, but not in the mirrors.) She used roughly 1/2 quart there and back. Was silent before trip (I had the hood up and was checking things before leaving. Not 1000% confident in her yet.) but ticktickticktickticktick on arrival there. Came home last night and popped the hood when I parked (engine running) and its still there (we tossed in some trans fluid at Bs place, hoping the drive home would wash out any gunk gumming up the lifter, if that was the case.)

Yes, I can ‘alleviate’ that issue by running THICK oil for a time. but the Engine was designed to use 5 and 10 weights, not 20+ (EPA restrictions on the manufactureres) Heavy oil really only masks the problem.

OR,

I can do the other ‘solution’ of “let her sit” until such time as I can do a top end refresh and new lifters/cam (tune of about $500 in parts) If a lifter is really bad, it will eat a cam. Is this one such? Dunno,,, better to guess to the extreme.

I don’t like either case. Sitting she is eating copious amounts of cash (that I could shut the flow off to, by dropping her insurance for the time being: not optimal.) Sitting, she has no chance of helping me turn a dime, Running with thick oil is just delaying the inevitable and making it potentially worse.

and Buffalo is TIRED dammit!!! Runs like a scalded cat, but idles like an old man on a walker. Handles in wet weather badly, thanks to that worn out front steering geometry and is wearing tires out for same reason.

‘TIcket to the future‘,,,, I keep saying that as I listen to the noises,,, Can’t buy similar for what I have put in her so far: still ‘cheaper to keep her’,,,,

But I’d like a break for a moment,,,

Gotta ‘grin and bear it’ right? keep pushing and eventually, it will all be right. Because there won’t be a thing untouched on that old truck LOL,,, yeah,,,

I knew what I was buying into: just feeling a little remorse, mostly because I am at wits end in the financial department, and not seeing a solution to that, that isn’t centered around the problem child being operational.

And dammit!!!! she ran SO DAMNED GOOD there,,, Hit 80W at 65-70, she just PURRRRRREEEEDDDDDDD!!!!! Didn’t need to shift gears until I got stuck behind a slow mover in the interchange. up/down hills, just change throttle position and she went up and down those hills with the same SBC rumbling purr of a big cat being content. Highway speed on 75? same!!! No slow creep up, just roar to speed and purred right along

No weird tire noises, or shimmies,,, Like a new truck with an exhaust leak (she is a bit on the loud side under load.)

Even on the way home,,, I didn’t shift gears at all until I was getting off 75S at my exit. Over 40 miles in 5th gear, even when shifting from 80E to 75S was in 5th. Engine rpms were the only change and she transitioned speeds with no lugging or chugging.

more parts to buy, more time under grease and oil, more ‘insurance’ for the future, right?

I’ll shush now. I know what to do, just wanted to vent a bit (and believe me, there is MUCH more to vent about than a tick-tick-ticky Twuck: I don’t unload ‘everything’ on y’all.)

L,L,L,L,L!

(, ‘)

((note: I also know that there are little issues in this truck that are NOT going to rear their heads ‘sitting’. Like that lifter suddenly starting to tick. Might have been gummed up with goop acting normal, then getting washed cleaned and collapsing. Sitting, would never have shown its true colors. That leads to other problems. Yes, I realize, I should have pulled the motor and done a full refresh on things, but the plan didn’t account for that. Now I Pay.))

The Bandaid is holding. a couple small dribbles through the RTV, but not that copious hemorage that I was seeing.

But somewhere, i’m using oil. Even though she wasn’t puking oil all over the highway, when I returned from my banking run at the town up the road, I was down 1/4 quart again. Granted, I also did 60 miles round trip, which is 4 times what I did yesterday when she puked out 1/4 quart,,, (very likely rings gummed up. I will run a quart of trans fluid through her the last day before I do the oil change. Not a complete cure, but it does help remove the ICK of nasty oil residues.)

And I noted ‘low oil pressure’ at idles after she warms up. Not ZERO, but damned low, and low enough to trip the ‘check gauges’ light. A small blip of the throttle and it goes up and the light goes out. That could be due to the fact that I am running 5w30,,, whereas, with the age and milage of this engine, 10w30 might be more appropo.

She does get another oil change soon, and I will try the 10w30 then. (and the way she is drinking the stuff, I won’t have any 5w left by then,,,)

It could also be the fact that I did not replace the oil pump guts, after they had been exposed to all those particles. They are just pressed powdered metal from my research: they wear fast when abused. I could spend a premium and get milled units to replace them,,,, Still in “observation mode” and the oil pressure doesn’t drop so low that I worry to much. SO far,,, (Note: I won’t have the pan gasket in hand until tuesday or so. If need be, I can order new pump guts and have them here about the same time it will be for the first oil change, then do all of it at the same time. (gotta drop the oilpan to change the pan gasket,,, gotta drop the pan to change the pump guts, Do it all at once, and be done, right?)

It could be that the oil bypass is partially plugged open from that same gunk. I am sure that old filter was plugged solid and kicked in the bypass.

Fact is, It could be several things, a combination of all of them, or some variation of combinations,,,

It could also be that new sending unit is out of calibration, as I do recall the old unit was reading MUCH higher. AND, I never hear the lifters tapping for lack of pressure.

Without putting a gauge on it, (one of those shop tools I do not have as yet) I can only go by what the gauge in the dash reads. Not ideal, but better than pure guess work.

gonna leave out early tomorrow,,,wants to spend some time with my bruddabyanuddermudda before the party mode really kicks in. (sometimes, we beat the rest of the krew to that goal,,, ) so, post or no post, don’t worry too much about the ol Dio on this end. Lots of stuff on me mind that needs vented loose, and may require a liberal dose of Liquid filter cleaning (getting pie-eyed) to let me let it all out. My filters have been running full strength of late to keep the peace in certain situations,,, They need loosened up a bit, I’m sure.

But, Wanna take Bloo with me, and see what sort of ‘oil usage’ she is pulling in normal operation. And I loaded up on stuff to renew the bandaid if needed: Just in case,,, Fingers crossed I just spent money for no reason.

L,L,L,L,L!

(, ‘)

IE-LEAKS,,,

Heres what I’ve done: went ahead and replaced that seal today,,, Didn’t see anything wrong with the one I pulled (other than the fact that I warped it when pulling): no tears or flat spots on the lips.

Ominous feelings creep on me at this stage.

Go ahead and put it all back together, even RTV’d the seal ‘seat’, for good measure, (not the seal itself, just where it sits.) Let it all cure for a couple of hours (till I could touch the rtv and not wear it.) and finished re-assembly.

I figured out one shop tool that is gonna be a “must have”: Leak dyes and a Blacklight detector. (also on that list is a block leak detector,,, the funny pump bulb thingy with detector fluid. they are inexpensive and readily purchased.)

Here’s why. I took Bloo to the store after things were settled down and back in place. Pulled into the lot and parked and took a look-a-see,,,

Same damned washed out drippy mess that I had spent this morning cleaning up.

My problem is NOT the seal. Best I can figure is the oil pan gasket at this stage, cuz everything else is DRY,,, that seal I put in, I reached up there with a cotton swab and it came back dry. It looks like its dripping from near there, but that could be blown up there with road turbulance.

Well, I have no desire to pay $65 bucks for a gasket local, when I can get it shipped to me for half that amount with included shipping. Same damned thing: a Blue Felpro one peice that the locals want my left testicle for (and would have to wait till monday to get,,,). BUT, what to do about that leak in the meantime. I cleaned the whole area up again, and rednecked the hell out of it. Washed it with solvent, dried it as good as I could get, washed it again, then ran a HEAVY bead of Grey RTV over that area, working into the gasket seam as best I could, and the whole she-bang has been sitting since. Gonna let it cure overnight ‘to be sure’.

Yes, its a Frellin’ bandaid,,, its likely to NOT HOLD, but right now, short of spending my nutz on a part,,, Should get me by till I have the part in hand. IF NOT, I park her ass, reload Buffalo, and bite the bullet till proper repair can be made.

I’ll be getting dye and light this weekend. I dislike chasing ghosties,,,

Rilly dislike chasing ghosts,,,

LEARN

Live

Love

Laugh

LOAD!

Dropped the ball early last night, didn’t see much point as I was alone and not out partying with friends. Thats this weekend with the KayakyKampinKrew. Don’t take that name the wrong way, we are mixed lot, but a happygoluckygoing type lot.

New Years are times of reflection for a lot of people; me being no exception (like I EVER stop self-reflection LOL) There are reasons we have traditions of New years resolutions and the like.

Well, My reflections of late are the “CHaO$” sort. Lots going on behind the scenes here at the Shop. things I haven’t even mentioned in passing to y’all, and are giving me fits and starts and huge reason why I haven’t mentioned any of the fun and games in ‘The Real World’ the last couple of months. Honestly, couldn’t care less about that shit since my little world is sitting on edge, ready to roll over one way or the other, and not at all sure which direction its gonna take.

Yes, BlooTwuck has some to do with that, but only along the fringes of it. Some of the choices I have to make will effect that aspect, and part of why I have been holding back some in pushing certain moves.(establishing that LLC thing for one.)

Hard Choices, easy life. Easy Choices, hard life.

Ok, nuff beating around the dead horse here. This is whats goin’ on. Most of y’all know that I do not like my area of operations. I am here because of Da, as this is where he chose to ‘retire’ to. Age is getting the better of both of us though. Him more than me. His house is on a hillside and that hillside is getting to be far too much for him. (personally, I thought it was way too much 10 years ago, but he’s a stubborn cuss.) He’s putting his home up for sale. Now, details of that, and what his plans are, I’m not gonna post. Lets just say us Kids are not ‘In league’ with his thoughts, but I am the one that holds the ground of “If thats what he wants” : THOUGH, I am trying to sway him towards better planning,,, I don’t think his current thoughts are fully thought through, if you know what I mean.

But what does that have to do with me? Well, as said, I don’t like my current AO,, I would like to move my arse somewhere a little more ‘up to date’, less Scarcity mentality, and one where there is less of a drug culture, though I know thats likely wishful thinking these days.

Downsides: I will never get out of my house what I need to start over. Not at the current level of inflation. I don’t even know if I could get anything out of it being where it is. To whit, The cost of living is much higher everywhere else and my current status is borderline HERE: that means I would be in deficit on day one, elsewhere.

And the reason I hold off on filing the LLC paperwork,,,, IF I up’n sell/move, I would have to refile ALL of that paperwork with new information, and refiles cost the same as the first,,, So far this thing is already so far in the hole, I can barely reach the lip of said hole, and I am resisting digging that hole any deeper until I start seeing SOMETHING in return. (you know the saying, “if you find yourself in a hole, STOP DIGGING” Ya,,, that.)

Break it down for the simple minded Dio.

In as simple of terms as I can say: I am not standing on solid ground right now. More like shifting sands that could easily turn into quicksand traps, or just as readily go full solid with no give at all, pinning my feet in place.

New Years are times of Change, right? Well, this New Years is holding ALL the cards of change, and I feel like I am working a puzzle but can’t see all the peices. Or one is flipped over and doesn’t look like it will fit,,, That one peice I NEED to complete the puzzle.

Then toss in the lowered income status of seasonal work,,, Not helping at all, let me tell ya.(an NO, that is NOT a bleg,,, just a statement of fact.)

The good? BLoo. She opens doorways, even if I never file the paperwork of an LLC. I can still do things ‘under the table’ on my terms, and those can be done anywhere: she’s on wheels for cripes sake. She is helping keep things fluid enough for now, lubricating my transistion into this crazy future I call ‘my life’.

My current dilemma: do I further my efforts here at the Stead and make things permanent or sell out on the cheap (cuz it really ain’t worth much) and move. If it weren’t for Bad Cuz, next door, I would ‘Settle’ and turn this around for certain. He is some grit in my gears of thinking. (and if I could find some way of getting his ass gone,,,,)(Leave that thought right there: no need to elaborate on nefarious thinks.)

Lots of gears in motion, not all are meshed correctly, just like in a gearbox where the gears are all moving, even if not engaged. At least things aren’t trying to engage 1st and 5th at the same time;

Yet!

Knowing my ‘life’, I’ll make some plans, start engaging those gears, and find that ‘road speed’ doesn’t relate and have to shift up again. I don’t like freewheeling my way through life, but that is how things feel right now,,, just letting things spin while momentum carries me forward. Or in nautical terms: The currents are pulling me, and the rudder is fouled.

No, not asking for advice, help or financial support here. Just venting in general, and maybe someone will flip over that puzzle peice for me, with a word or two. Ain’t none of us self-supported islands, much as I strive for that point.

Any-howitzers,,, Just wanted to fill y’all in that things are not all as they seem on the face of the shop, and there is more than one life in the mix here that keeps this shop ‘interestin’.

L,L,L,L,L!

(, ‘)

That was in an email to me this past week, and today, it really REALLY hit home.
See, I did all that work on BlooTwuck and have been documenting my ‘booboos’ so to speak, even into yesterday where I replaced the Harmonic Balancer to correct a leak.

Only I didn’t,,,

Where the missive of the title comes in,,,

I had a loose crankshaft sensor where I hadn’t tightened down the retaining bolt,,, and THAT (hopefully fingers crossed) was where all the drippies were coming from,,, As the reluctor wheel under the cover was spinning, it was flinging droplets with PRESSURE at a breech in the walls of the cover, IE, that simple o-ring around the sensor that wasn’t seated in the hole. And how I missed that bolt being loose (It was finger tightened into a plastic cover, but not seated down.)SEVERAL TIMES, even having wiped the areas down with a rag and solvents,,, Dunno, but today, coming back from the store after the J.O.B. and smelling burned oil,, first thing I did when I stopped at Da’s, was climb under Twuck and LOOK, REALLY! FRELLIN’! LOOK! Took the cover off one of the cooler lines since it looked like that leak might be from that location,,, (scrubbed with solvent for future observation) Wiped everything down again, double checked my oil level (down a 1/4 quart) and actually tightened that bolt this time around since now is when I found it.

I’m not claiming ‘Fixed’ as yet. I did drive her home and nothing changed under hood, but I found that HIGHWAY is when she leaks, because the RPM’s are higher and steadier. That also spurred me to double check my PCV and make sure its not all plugged up. (rattles, not plugged) (the PCV allows atmo to flow through the crankcase and clear out vapors that can cause problems, it sucks that atmo into the intake to be burned. Plugged PCV’s can cause seal failures as pressure builds in the crankcase. Usually the rearmain as its the larger of them.) I still need to go out at some point, and I will be double checking myself yet again.

I’m rusty as F! on all this stuff, but bouncin’ back quick.

---

And its New Years Eve!!! I was the only Emp at the J.O.B. today: had a custom Kennel needed welded up. Other Emp was supposed to come in, but no showed,,, His loss. Talkin’ to Son of Bossman on the way out, he wants us in tomorrow,,, I made mention that he’ll be lucky if three show up, as the rest are all party freaks and tonight is the perfect excuse for party,,,, Not that I mind, that just means those that do show can stretch the day out and make up the difference and have a better paycheck for it.

Scrap that,,, I just got the text, I guess he figured it out,,,, ROFLMAO,,,

laughing and sighing all at the same time. Gonna be yet another lean ass week (weak week as I often put it.)

Is what it is. Will get through it, same as always. (but drives further home, the purpose behind getting BLoo! Gotsta has options other than J.O.B.!)

AnywuzajoolieOhz,,,, I need to take Bloo for a spin up the highway, and see if I was finally correct in my assessments,,,, Won’t lie, feel the rank amatuer at this stage with all the little failures I have been wrackin’ up. Doesn’t help that I am ‘perfection drivin’ even knowing I ain’t perfect,,, just try like hell to get close, and give mysefl personal hell whne I fall short. I know, I know,,, T’ain’t None of us capable of walkin’ on water,,,, (update: blown seal and shoulda known it and corrected it when in yesterday. My frugalness is biting my ass. the leak is better as its not washing out, but there is definitely a drip that wasn’t there after I wiped stuff down. Time to do it right. I rcvd extra seals and gaskets with the kit despite the fact that all were IN the timing cover. Ok, replace the one, be done. Hope,,, Thats how this year is going to start,,,)

Live

Learn

Laugh

LOVE

LOAD!

(, ‘)

(futher note,,, Filled up today, and while not a definitive answer, the calculation showed around 12mpg. There have been idle times where I was diagnosing or just getting her runnin’, but I went ahead and ordered those O2 (upstream) sensors for replacement. Doubt they are ‘poisoned’, just age, sitting,,, but will know more when I pull the currents out.)

Guess ya know how I spent my day. Wasn’t a total waste of Oxybreathin’ genetic material today,,,

Did some ‘house keeping’ around Buffalo’s stall too. Took off all those old parts, destroyed diffs, spare burned out axles, wheelbearings,

all the detritus of maintaining a 20+yearold ‘hicle that accumulates in on the side. Not worth much as a whole, but it adds up over time. About 300lbs worth, and I got a whole $27 out of it. and I got a free scale ride to know how much Bloo weighs. 5800 with current loadout. Lots better than I was expecting. (and that included my 180#self)

But yuppers, I decided (as discussed in comments earlier) it was better to be cold and get the things done, than continue pouring oil over the highways and risk damaging my fresh crankshaft work.

Not much to say on it. was just a worn Harmonic balancer shaft, and the one I had ordered wasn’t as bad as I had thought. Went over it and the one I had pulled with a fine tooth comb, found that the problem with a busted Crank sensor wasn’t because the HB had impacted it ; it HAD impacted the bracket that was BENT on the old one. And I used the borescope to watch as I was pressing the new on, to make sure things stayed out of each others way.

I also degreased the hell out of the underside as that drip had started to wash (saw smoke rolling off Bloo when I was coming home from the scrap yard. Oil all over the exhaust!) I’ll know for certain if I actually fixed the leak or not sooner than later. I did let her run for 20 minutes in the drive, occasional revs to simulate drives, and so far, Dry as a bone. Not just idle observation, but crawling under and looking close with a highpowered flashlight in hand.

And Cosmos,,, the repair dawg,,, Slept in the cab the entire time. Me bangin’ around on Twuck and that boy slept like the dead. Content n happy in HIS safe spot ‘hanging out with his daddy’…

Hopin’ like hell tomorrow brings on some FRN generation,,, This seasonal crap BLOWS green’n’greasies,,, Not whining, but won’t lie, feelin’ a pinch here, and most of which is self inflicted by the very thing I have been monkeyin’ with the last MONTH,,,(plus, actually,) And kickin’ the Mobile repair thing into gear isn’t going to happen overnight, Not delusional here, nor am I getting disillusioned by current state of things,, Just gotta struggle through and things will pickup.

One thing I must do here soonest: get some business cards made up. My current ‘introduction’ card ain’t gonna cut it long term as there is nothing on it about car-stuff.

Alright, gonna call the day on this note, grab that flashlight and go has another look-a-see under Bloo, and rebuild the fire in the stove. It made it to a whopping 37 degrees today (at least the wind wasn’t blowin’ like mad) and not looking to improve for another week

y’all take care, more laters

Live

Learn

Laugh

LOVE

LOAD!

I picked THIS up while doing all the purchasing of things for Twuck. AND, it has been as handy as I had hoped. It’s done its thing at least three times now and made my life SO much easier. One time was during the CNS of Bloo after the rebuild. Used this to double check my TDC on #1,, Looked right in at the cylinder (kinda carboned up but not bad considering the 195k original miles.)

Second time was looking at Block/Bell connection. Was able to get a good look around and not have to take everything apart to do so.

And yesterday. trying to get the Right Manifold back on,,, I was able to look right into the holes and see how much misalignment and which direction there was between manifold and head bolt hole.

NOW, all that exposed and said, I sorta wish I had bought the one with 360 articulating head, but at double or more the price,,, Na,,, this works enough for me and does far better than expected. I recall one guy in the shops way back when, had one. He was the gear nut (and ended up becoming a tool dealer instead of wrenching.) and he paid over a grand for his THEN,,, the price on all of this techy stuff has fallen into reach of the little guy. It may not be a daily use tool, but none of them really are: as needed is more what tools are, and if ya ain’t got ’em, ya wish ya did. Kinda like that transmission jack I picked up. Saved me a ton-o-time, made it safer and I didn’t have to dead lift a gearbox while on my back. WORTH EVERY PENNY.

Da’s stopped giving me shit about buying tools. LOL He sees them getting used and sees how much effort they save me. He also sees how anal retentive I am about getting them back in proper storage and organized and wiped down.(something he taught me but I ran with and surpassed him: I can’t find a single tool of his in order,,,) RESPECT THE TOOLS; they’ll pay dividends back.

Apologies,,, Mama and Elbee are having a tiff and my train of thought got derailed,,,

Tools, kinda like prepping, Rather have it and not need it then need it and be looking for it. And that sums up BLoo in one sentence. When we were out in the windtunnel yesterday, I wished I had Bloo on site with us. I had all those tools we needed (broom etc) IN HER BOXES, yet , no, not allowed,,, Its gonna be a thing between self and Bossman for a bit. Son of Bossman totally gets it, but, ‘lets not piss off the old man’.

I’m the McGuyver, I get shit done, and tools help me do so. I have worked “miracles” with little more than a SAK/multi-tool and wire, but its usually temporary; shouldn’t be a permanent fix. (can be, but,,,)

It’s getting light out, the nest is rockin’ from bored teenager kitteh and curmudgeonly ol’ Mama-kat, Gonna be an interestin’ day,,,,

More laters

L,L,L,L,L!

(, ‘)

(Its 9am, outside its 24°F. Brrr! Gonna take all day to see 40 at this rate; and that might only be peak, not steady )