New Owner - 1st Question

[Fastback67]

Well, I installed a headlight relay system in the truck the other day... that made a big difference there. The lights were plenty bright before, but now there brighter still.

This morning I laid out some timing marks on the damper, in preparation for my next job... I'm replacing the original valve springs with slightly stronger ones, and replacing the stem seals while I'm there of course. Once that's done I'll do the valve lash adjustments.
I made (1) Bright Orange dot for TDC on cylinders 1 & 6, and (2) Bright Yellow dots spaced 120 degrees apart for the remaining cylinders.

I also noted that the wire for the KSB valve was just dangling there. It was on the post, but it was literally just sitting on there doing nothing... The terminal was corroded and gone, just an empty plastic housing with a wire stuck in it. I cut it off, put a new end on it, and attached it proper... now I know it has power.

 

[Grey Wolf]

Mike just thinking after looking at your photo's. One thing the old OEM exhaust manifolds do is shrink. Keep an eye on the alignment of the manifold bolt location on the number 1 cylinder. The manifolds had been known to shrink enough to break that ear off the cylinder head, obviously not a good thing!. Maybe you are already aware of this but I thought I would throw it out there anyway. After many years and miles mine had shrunk pretty bad so I replaced it with a three piece one. Looks like your moving right along keep it up! GW

 

[Fastback67]

Thank You GW... No, I wasn't aware of that... Oddly enough however, I was looking at a set of Manifolds on clearance just this morning, and one of them was a 3 piece. So there I was thinking to myself, "what would you need that for?"... Well, now I know!!!

Thanks Again
Mike

 

[treyblum]

Okay 1st Q from the Las Vegas, Marine. Bought my 1st Dodge truck last month [92 D250] WOW what a super truck and fast. Sure is LONG !!! Getting accustomed to the length. Had 260k miles indicated on the clock. Now about 261k. Treated it to it's 1st oil change, using AMS Synthetic oil. Hope that's the best I can do for a choice. Ready for the next step which will be a Trans Service. The AMS ATF seem awful expensive. Would the Mopar brand be as good?
My old 83 240D Merc. had a drain plug on the torque converter. Is there a drain on the Torque Converter in my truck. If not is it okay to mix the existing ATF with new Synthetic oil?
any response would be appreciated here. Thank you
Trey

 

[Fastback67]

I added a set of side steps to the truck this morning. Wife has trouble getting in on the passenger side so... happy wife, happy life... At least that's what they keep telling you.

 

[ofelas]

treyblum - the Mopar ATF+4 is a good semi synthetic, miscible with ATF+3, and will serve you well. All ATF+4 whether Wally World, CarQuest, Valvoline, Castrol etc are made to the same spec as long as they carry the ATF+4 moniker.

I get Mopar branded ATF+4 from the local Dodge dealer, as I get it at the same or slightly lower price as other parts store ATF+4

Frankly, the non lockup non electronic A518 doesn't care what fluid is in it; it was originally marked "use Dex etc" on the dipstick but you can't do much better than ATF+4 though, it excels in extreme temperatures and is a long lasting fluid.

Mike - good to see you here; how's the old girl running?

 

[Fastback67]

Hey Chip,

Montana is running good, and getting better all the time. I had to put a new alternator on it the other day, the old one was fading and finally gave up the ghost. The new one is pumping put the juice, so all is right with the world again. I changed out the old VR while I was there too, just for good measure.
I picked up the HVLP pump kit from Mark, so that will be going on there soon as well. I also picked a digital tach for it, so I would have a reference for performance, tune ups and other adjustments. Nothing fancy, just a functional reference... That's all ready to drop in, I just have to find a little time. I'll most likely pick a day to get all of the gages knocked out at once.

Mike

 

[Fastback67]

I installed a Tach in the dash yesterday.
I removed the Cargo Light Switch from it's location on the right hand side of the steering column, and put the Tach there in it's place. Then I relocated the Cargo Light Switch over to the left hand side of the steering column next to the Headlight Switch.
The Tach is a very useful addition. It's already telling me that it's time to tune up the transmission.

 

[Fastback67]

I picked up a basic 727 replacement pan from Mancini Racing the other day. I wanted something with a drain plug, but I didn't need anything to fancy. I added a Temp Sensor to the pan this morning, so thats ready to go now. I'm hitting the transmission pretty soon, so it should be installed shortly... I hope.

 

[Fastback67]

Painted the pan this morning... just because.

 

[Fastback67]

The tires that were on the truck still had some miles left on them, but one of tires had a defective sidewall. Needless to say, it wasn't a great deal of fun on the highway, so this morning I had a set of 4 new tires mounted and balanced. Glides down the highway on owls wings now.

Falken Wildpeak A/T 3W

 

[cojhl2]

Fast, did yoou ever fix your slopeoff at max power/speed?

If not look at the fuel hose coming out of the top of the tank. Mine collapsed when fuel flow requirement was heavy and therefore restricted flow.

 

[Fastback67]

(1) My first Max Speed issue (55 MPH) turned out to be a dirty fuel filter. The previous owner hadn't changed it out in ages apparently.

(2) After I installed the Tach, I noted an abnormal loss of efficiency behind the engine. Something was sloppy or slipping, the 727 or the Torque Convertor, or both. The faster you went, the greater the loss. By the time you hit 60 MPH, there was a 50% loss. I took it over to a friends transmission shop and ran a quick diagnostic, just for a heads up on where to look. Now don't ask me how or why, but after the diagnostic (which revealed nothing), the transmission was operating normally? Only the minimal amount of loss that you would normally expect to see with 727 and a Non-Lockup Convertor. Knock on wood...

(3) I installed new tires the other day because the old tires were not fit for highway speeds. I took the truck out on the highway with the new rubber and ran it up to 80 MPH with no issues, smooth as silk, so we're good to go there. At least now I feel confident and comfortable driving the truck at highway speeds. I really wanted to put it to the floor and see just how fast it would go with it's factory stock VE, but we have way to many predators hiding along side the roads here, just waiting for an excuse to pounce.... LOL!... I'll never drive the truck at steady speeds greater than 72 MPH anyway... I was just curious.
Bottom line... Montana is now fit and ready for the highways.

Next issue to hit... The ever annoying, intermittent battery charging system. It likes working when it feels like it. I have a bad connection somewhere, probably at the VR, but I haven't checked anything out yet. Easy fix, I just have to track it down.

 

[Fastback67]

Fixed the intermittent battery charging system issue today.
The old alternator on the truck took a dump a while back, so I replaced with a new one and a new VR as well. The system worked fine for a couple of days then it started acting up, charging intermittently, but never long enough to really get a good solid charge on the battery. I wiggled the old connector on the new VR and the system would go on & off, so logically it had to be the old connector causing the issue. I've got a million spares, so I swapped it out with a new one... NO change, still not charging, so I pulled the brand shiny new VR off the wall and replaced it with a new spare... BINGO!

Thats another item off the list now... One step closer to the finish line.

 

[Fastback67]

A little over a week ago, I noticed some moisture coming from underneath the rubber floor mat on the drivers side of the truck. I popped the 4 screws for the sill plate, and lifted the mat. Sure enough, the Jute Padding under the mat was soaking wet, and beneath that was a good deal of rust. I still have to locate the source of the leak, but I'm assuming its somewhere at the cowling, since it's only on the drivers side.
Either way... I pulled the bench seat, and all of the matting out this morning, so I could get to the flooring underneath. The passenger side looks like it just rolled off the assembly line, but the drivers side was pretty rough. I knocked off all the loose stuff with a coarse wire wheel on a 4.5" angle grinder. After that I cleaned it up and hit it with a good heavy coat of Rust Bullet. Tomorrow I'll add a couple of more coats of Rust Bullet just to lock it in good and strong. I'll never have to worry about it again after that... but I do still have to locate and repair the source of the leak however, before putting it all back together. Maybe I'll add some sound deadening while I have it open.

 

[Fastback67]

I added two more coats this morning. It's all set now!
Rust Bullet is more than 70% Aluminum, so it's probably stronger now than it was to begin with... LOL

 

[Fastback67]

OK... I did the flood test this morning, and the only sign of leakage was the vent opening behind the Kick Panel... it poured right in..., so that's that!
No time to do anything about it today though, I'm heading north for the weekend to visit with my 2 year old granddaughter... well, her mom & dad too I suppose. LOL!

 

[Fastback67]

So lets see... First off... I put a temp fix on that kick panel vent leak. I cut a piece of thin plexiglass that I had laying around and stuck it over the hole. I mounted it there with 100% Silicone RTV, so it's good to go until such time, if any, that I decide to go back in and reengineer the vent so I can use it again. It would be an easy fix, I just don't have time at the moment. Since I could do that anytime in the future without having to dismantle the entire truck, I decided to just cover like so for now. I have A/C in the truck anywho...

 

[Fastback67]

I also did a little sound dampening while I had everything in the cab out and the floor exposed. I picked up a cheap kit of 80 Mil pads that said it was large enough to cover the floor of the truck, and they were right. I still had half a box of material left over when I got done with the floor... so I did the back wall too. I still have enough material to do the roof, so maybe I'll tackle that and the doors at a later date.... but right now it's time to just put everything back together again so I can drive it again.
Big difference though, I can tell ya that! The floor pan and the back wall no longer sound like big kettle drums when you hit them. It more of a thud now, which is a good thing.

 

[Fastback67]

So now the 2nd new VR that I just installed is starting to crap out on me now as well. I noticed it last evening when driving home with the lights on... all of the lights in the vehicle were pulsing... AGAIN... until finally the alternator just stopped charging altogether, and I drove home on 11 volts.... AGAIN.
Started it up this morning and it started charging a little bit, but not full output, same as last time. It will crap out all together very shortly.
I've done several searches here and on other forums, truck, jeep etc, only to discover that this is apparently a very common issue with diesels, but no one seems to have an answer or a cure? One more thing to troubleshoot I guess.

Sound dampening worked out very nicely by the way. Quite a noticeable difference, even with the windows rolled down. Oddly enough, the first thing I noticed was how much quitter the back wall was. Never really gave it much thought until now, but there were a lot of annoying sounds reverberating off that wall behind the seat. I always assumed it was the bed of the truck causing all the racket.