200K truck leaving on big trip in June

[MarkEkberg]

Bought it a year ago. Has 200K on it. I just added a smarty.

Leaving to drive from NH to MT in June.

Had new WP and fan clutch when I bought it. I have done wheel bearings and front ujoints (joints were wrecked).

Planning on doing the #4 injector line in the next couple weeks.


Anything else I should do?

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

Loosen the serpentine belt, inspect it, check all the sealed bearings for free, smooth rotation--AC clutch, tensioner pulley, idler pulley, fan hub, PS pump.

 

[jgillott]

How old are your batteries?

 

[NIsaacs]

Are you towing anything or just running empty? Have the gear boxes been serviced in the last 36k or so? If you keep your rig well maintained thats about all you can do. It's hard to predict most break downs so if it ain't broke don't fix it. Most large ticket items will give you advanced notice of needing a closer look.

Nick

 

[S.Morris]

+ 1 on all the rotating assembly bearings of serpentine system. You cannot hear a bad one like on a gasser, and it is good practise to replace the tensioner pulley and idler at every belt change.

 

[MarkEkberg]

Did not think of all the pulleys, will do that this weekend. I will be running empty out, but hauling a trailer with a bunch of hand me down furniture back. No real weight.

I will have rear diff and trans fluids changed in the next couple days.

 

[FJfonda]

If your truck came for the northeast do a fluid line corrosion check. My brake lines were OK except for the 2 lines that go between the master cylinder and the ABS unit .. they were severely corroded. All of my injection lines are loaded with severe corrosion .. you may want to change them all, not just #4. My oil pressure sending unit, under the fuel filter, rotted to the point where it came apart and spewed engine oil... may want to peek through the wheel well at that one. I see you have a six speed so no worries about the trans cooler lines.... worth 20 minutes under the truck with a flashlight to inspect things.

 

[MarkEkberg]

It did come from the rust belt up here, but it only saw two winters and they were limited at that. I think that is why the WB and Ujoint lasted till 200K. The truck has been under oiled once or twice, but it has been many years since it was done. I will be doing it again in the fall.

I am ordering the #4 line today so when I remove I will have a look for corrosion and then decide what to replace.

Not sure on how old the Batteries are, but that is a easy fix no matter where I am.

 

[Wayne M.]

I have a road box with a good assortment of tools including the test caps to isolate a fuel injector- Just in case. I would pull the calipers and lube the slides, check the pistons. I just had one lock up on me.

 

[MarkEkberg]

I went through the brake slides when I did the wb and joints. All belt bearings feel good, but I am fairly certain this is the original belt and none of them have been replaced.......... Might see if I can find replacement bearings like I did on my stroke. They knock out and back in easily when things are not destroyed.

 

[JR]

I went through the brake slides when I did the wb and joints. All belt bearings feel good, but I am fairly certain this is the original belt and none of them have been replaced.......... Might see if I can find replacement bearings like I did on my stroke. They knock out and back in easily when things are not destroyed.

I did the same on the tensioner on my 98. I don't have the part number but it was a Timken bearing sourced through NAPA.
Another little trick I will do on my vehicles if I ever have the belt removed for any reason is remove the tensioner pulley and remove the dust seal on the bearing with a pick and pack a small amount of bearing grease into the bearing. Most of the time the reason those little bearings fail is simply because they dry up.

 

[MarkEkberg]

Top idler pulley has a wee bit of play in it, everything else has none. Does anyone know if all the pulleys take the same bearing?

 

[S.Morris]

One pulley you can change bearing in and one you can't. Don't remember which now. Thinking its the idler?...or I may be out to lunch.