Let me tell you, yesterday was a beautiful day to work on the old RV. I had purchased a fuel line the night before at my favorite auto parts store. ( They let me in the stock area now so I can pick what I need. )
Armed with the stuff I need I had two goals, fix the damn leak and figure out why my left front directional isn't working.
I started by roughly shaping the 5/16" steel line to the shape that the old line is in. Next I removed the old line. Then I tried a dry fit of the new line. It was about two feet too long so I trimmed it down. I didn't like where the old line was run mainly because there is another path that is WAY easier.
A couple of bends here and there along with some choice words and I secured the fitting to the pump.
Ok, bottom is done. On the top I bent the line in a more pleasing shape that would not be in the way of any future work and attached the fuel filter.
I gave the throttle a pump and turned the key, hmm, it sounds a little slow. It fired right up and after inspection I found no leaks. I fooled with the timing a little to see if I could get it any better so I needed to shut the engine down to hook up the timing light.
I could not locate the timing indicator on the engine. There was too much in the way so I could not get a direct line of sight. I crawled under and looked around then I tried to feel for it. No luck.
I will have to get a mirror up there and do some creative tinkering to get the timing right.
All is not lost, I can still see how steady the engine it. What I mean by that is when you hold a timing light on the crank pulley it will freeze it so you can see the timing mark. If there is a vacuum leak the mark will jump around and not hold steady. There are a few other things that will cause it to jump around as well but those things would be bad.
So I turned the key and this is what I heard, ruh. . . . ruh . . . click click click. Damn battery is dead.
I jumped the engine from my escort and proceeded with my task putting aside the charging problem for later.
It was steady as a rock. Good.
Now what the heck is wrong with my alternator?
I found my voltmeter and hooked it up to the battery while the engine purred away.
11.8 volts, 11.75, 11.7. Damn.
I was taught a valuable lesson when I was younger about the charging system in a Chrysler product. When the external regulator fails it cooks the alternator and when the alternator fails it cooks the regulator. Lesson was, change them in pairs. I have found this to be true in the other two Chrysler vehicles I have owned. One other lesson I was taught was always carry a spare ballast resister. So I keep a ballast resistor in my glove box next to a pair of clean underwear.
So I ordered a new rebuilt alternator and regulator and I will put them in this weekend.
While I was under the van I also noticed that I may want to change the transmission lines, they are a little sketchy. The trick is to keep the fluid inside.
My directional light was a bit easier to figure out. After removing the light assembly from the grill I pulled the bulb out and cleaned the corrosion off of it and the socket. A replace the lamp with a new one and tried it out. Nothing.
I traced the wires back and found the problem. It was unplugged. It works now although I have to figure out why it's not flashing with the headlights on. Oh, well. It was getting late so I packed up for the night.
No comments:
Post a Comment