Project Family Chummins

[jbclassix]

Sweet man!
Posted via Mobile Device

[Ackattack]

First some pictures:







As you can tell it fits in the garage! I'm really glad about that.

Now a little more detail about how it drives.

there are 2 "major" issues that I need to resolve. The first one is with the hydroboost. This morning I added a bit more fluid, but driving around you basically loose power steering when you hit the brakes, and at times when just turning you loose power. So I'm hoping its just air in the system that will work itself out. The other posibility is the power steering pump isn't up to the task to cover both brakes and steering. I know on the later 12 valve trucks, they switch to a hydroboost setup, so I might have to get that pump instead of the one I have. I'll have to do more research on that, or maybe dieselwrencher will chime in and let me know.

The next issue is a clunking noise when accelerating. Especially from a stop. It sounds like its coming from the rear and it might be the rear u-joint binding. I'm not real sure at this point. I'll need to do some more investigating, but if so I'm thinking I can drop the carrier bearing down to reduce the angle at the rear axle. Right now the front drive shaft actually angles up from the transfer case output shaft to the carrier bearing (just slightly) and then angles back down to the rear axle. Additionally I think I need to turn the crossmember that the carrier bearing mount to around. I believe its angled, so right now the carrier bearing and driveshaft are not perpendecular to each other. I don't think that is the source of the noise, but I'm still going to look at fixing it.

Other than those things the truck drove fine. The tranny is noisy in 4th and 5th gear, but it was noisy when it was in the dodge truck too. Its just louder now since I just have a hole poked in the floor for the shifter to fit through. I'm hoping if I put a boot on it and do a little more work, I can isolate and minimize the noise transfered up into the cab.

My boost guage isn't reading any boost. I don't know if the boost guage itself isn't working, or maybe I'm not actually getting any boost to the engine. If one of the boots isn't sealed this might be able to cause it, but I was thinking boost would be lower, not 0.

With the lights on, the instrument panel lights pulse a little, I'm sure this is do to the small variation in voltage as the alternator is charging...but it might get annoying.

The heater works for sure! I don't think the air mixer door on the heater is working, cause even on cold it was still blowing hot air out (it was 30 degrees out).

I'm not sure if the electic fan is working, since it hasn't came on yet, I assume that it works, just hasn't hit high enough temps to activate the switch. Driving around today I might have gotten the temp up to 175. I think the fan comes on at 200-205 IIRC.

Other things I need to finish:
Front sway bar
Steering stabilizer
tach and speedo wiring
reverse lights wiring
clutch engagement swith wiring so you can't start the truck without the clutch being engaged
parking brake
remove the automatic column shifter (it looks kind of silly with the 5 speed floor shifter and the column shifter.....would confuse some people)
install the alarm/remote keyless entry system
exhaust hangers (I have the back portion tied up with wire right now)

Then I have other stuff to do to:
helper air bags with air tank
trailer brake wiring
performance mods
fender flares (to cover the tires)
running boards of some sort

I'm sure I'm missing a few more things I still need to do. So yeah, I still have quite a bit to do, but one of the major hurdles has been passed, if I can get a few of the important things taken care of then I can start driving it all the time and fix the minor things as I get to them.

[ryanroo]

hope this helps for your steering. i had the same issue when i added hydro assist and hydroboost to my Jeep.

if you take the HP fitting you can drill out the orifice. this is a picture of the fitting and the orifice



after you pull the HP fitting to do that you will find the pressure/bypass valve behind it. you remove the end cap and adjust the bypass shim to alter the bypass pressure. usually there a couple under there, best to start slow and keep adjusting till you get it.

the part is the bypass/pressure valve and the pointer is where the shims are



i also found that it is good to polish the valve lightly with scotchbrite. the tolerance is very tight in the bore, but if the edges are sharp the valve likes to stick in bore and that will cause you to loose all pressure when it sticks.

the fitting is the hex with the plug in it.

[Dieselwrencher]

Becareful to not over adjust it as the saginaw steering boxes don't hold seals well when you start turning up the pressure. In the part store descriptions, the dodge PS pump its self is the same, just the reservoir housing is different. They have 2 return ports instead of one. I've T'd into the single return with no issues. On my Corvette, I have a first gen non hydra-boost pump and reservoir, a chevy truck hydra boost unit,the return is T'd into one, and it has been on there for 3 years and works great.

On your lights getting brighter and dimmer, yep, that's from that external regulater. The only way I've seen to fix it is switch to a ford type external regulater. I haven't done that on any yet, just learned to ignore it. On the 92-97 fords it is more noticeable IMO. The ideal set up would be to have your alt rebuilt by a shop that can make it a higher AMP single wire set up.

[ryanroo]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Becareful to not over adjust it as the saginaw steering boxes don't hold seals well when you start turning up the pressure. In the part store descriptions, the dodge PS pump its self is the same, just the reservoir housing is different. They have 2 return ports instead of one. I've T'd into the single return with no issues. On my Corvette, I have a first gen non hydra-boost pump and reservoir, a chevy truck hydra boost unit,the return is T'd into one, and it has been on there for 3 years and works great.

havent been able to blow mine out

[Dieselwrencher]

Sitting in the drive way, prolly not.

[ryanroo]

Hey, that one sits next to the house....

[Ackattack]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Becareful to not over adjust it as the saginaw steering boxes don't hold seals well when you start turning up the pressure. In the part store descriptions, the dodge PS pump its self is the same, just the reservoir housing is different. They have 2 return ports instead of one. I've T'd into the single return with no issues. On my Corvette, I have a first gen non hydra-boost pump and reservoir, a chevy truck hydra boost unit,the return is T'd into one, and it has been on there for 3 years and works great.
.

Well that makes me feel a little better, like the pump should be able to keep up. I'm pretty sure its just air in the system that will work itself out. I'm wondering if I disconnected my drag link and work the steering from internal stop to stop that would help out a little rather than the "stops" on the axle (aka the tie rod hitting the diff )

I got the carrier bearing turned around and then added a spacer to drop it down a little. I actually ended up using the 2 pieces of frame rail that I cut of the rear of the frame and welded them together to make them long enough. The space between the "top" and "bottom" of the frame rails fit perfectly over the crossmember. The nuts are up inside of it, so I welded them in place and then put a few good heavy tacks to hold it all together. Only problem is the 1/2" bolts that attach the carrier bearing are too long now and hit the original crossmember, so I need to get some shorter bolts then I can see if the popping sound is gone. The carrier bearing is now pretty much perpendicular to the driveshaft. Forgot to mention this earlier, but there was evidence of the driveshaft rubbing on the original crossmember, so this spacer also should fix that. Guess we'll see in a few days when I get a chance to do a test drive again.

[jbclassix]

Originally Posted by ryanroo

havent been able to blow mine out

Sorry to hijack, but is that box for a jeep or 88+ chevy truck? It mounts to the inside of the frame.

[Dieselwrencher]

Originally Posted by Ackattack

Well that makes me feel a little better, like the pump should be able to keep up. I'm pretty sure its just air in the system that will work itself out. I'm wondering if I disconnected my drag link and work the steering from internal stop to stop that would help out a little rather than the "stops" on the axle (aka the tie rod hitting the diff )

I've had a few dodges that didn't want to bleed the air out. I've found that if you jack the front ends up and cycle the steering wheel back and fourth a couple times, then re check the fluid, then fire it up, it helps. But some it still doesn't work. Then I take them off the jack, put it in neutral, rev it up and crank the wheels side to side until the air gets out. Dang dodges.

[Ackattack]

I removed the tierod and cycled the steering and then re-installed. It puked a little fluid and you could tell it still had air in it.

Got the shorter bolts and the driveshaft in place. Took it for another test drive. The steering may be a little better, but not working as it should. There isn't the loud banging noise, though there is still another noise upon accelerating. I'm thinking it might be the exhaust hitting something under load. I currently have the rear portion of the exhaust wire tied up and its hanging a little low. I need some 4" clamps to install the hangers.

I also got the license plate lights working.

One thing I noted is it definitely has a little bump steer. When you hit the brakes, it wants to veer left a little. I know this is because my tie rod and panhard bar aren't parallel. I will try fixing that on down the road.

I did get the truck up to 60mph, and used a little more throttle. I did notice that the boost guage is working and according to the dodge guys, seems to be in the proper range. So it looks like I don't have a boost leak like I thought I might. As I get things ironed out, I'll be upping the boost too

[Ackattack]

When I bought the GMC, the gas guage wasn't working. When I pulled the sending unit out of the tank, the float arm was disconnected. I put it back into the assembly and thought I'd be good. Well the fuel guage isn't working again. So I'm assuming when I put some diesel in the tank the arm came off again. So I went ahead and ordered a new diesel sending unit from rock auto.

Today I got it in the mail and upon opening it, I took a look at it, and its used! There is a greasy dirt layer on the top, the fittings are crusty, and smell of fuel. So I called them and they're shipping me a new one. Kind of funny. Luckily I'm not in a huge hurry as it will be a couple of days (or weeks) until I actually get this installed.

The one that is installed is a modified gas sending unit with a piece of tubing in place of the fuel pump. The new one is for a diesel, so will work out of the box. I might have to modify the connector though.

Thought it was kinda funny I got a used crusty part.

[jbclassix]

Originally Posted by Ackattack

...

Thought it was kinda funny I got a used crusty part.

There seems to be a trend of complaints about rockauto. That is odd that they would send you a used part. I hope you don't have to drop the tank again more than once!

[Ackattack]

Originally Posted by jbclassix

There seems to be a trend of complaints about rockauto. That is odd that they would send you a used part. I hope you don't have to drop the tank again more than once!

Going to pull the bed off

[Dieselwrencher]

That's crazy you got a used part. Today I got 2 damaged parts in for a project. I feel your pain when you have to call and jump through the hoops.

[Ackattack]

Well I sat in the garage and stared at the front steering/axle for a half hour last night trying to figure out a way to make the GM swaybar work. My conclusion: it won't work

And apparently I gave away the dodge swaybar when I "sold" the steering box brace (in quotes cause the guy bought a bunch of parts and didn't have enough for the brace so he was going to send it to me....never did...big suprise)

Anyways, it looks like the only way I'm going to get a swaybar on this thing is a custom splined bar.

[Ackattack]

I drove around in the truck a little and it seems to be running fine. I did run into a little bit of a problem. At the gas station, I needed to get some fuel. Well the pump nozzle for diesel is bigger than for gas, and wouldn't fit into the fill neck....so what to do? Luckily I had my diesel can in the bed, filled it up, and then poured some into the tank. I guess this is what I'll have to do until I get a diesel filler neck.

The other problem I ran into was difficult hot starting. Not sure why. It starts fine cold, but when it was hot I had to turn it over for about 30 seconds total and pump the throttle a little. I'll have to do some checking into this. This morning, I drove it around and didn't have this hot start issue. Maybe with the low fuel level was allowing it to suck air in.

This morning I took it to the metal recycler to clean out the bed full of crap from the project (I got a lot more, but wanted the bed cleaned). Got $63 and got the truck weighed. Its right about 6650 without me in it. A little lighter than I was guessing. I thought it was going to be closer to 7500 lbs. On the way back I took it out on the highway and got it up to 70. It drives fine, though a steering stabilizer and swaybar would be nice. One thing I noted is at that speed the engine is fairly quiet. However there is A LOT of noise coming from the shifter/tranny. I'm going to get some foam and rubber boot to help quiet that down.

Still having issues with the steering and hydroboost. I'm still hoping it will work itself out, but I'm starting to loose hope.

[Ackattack]

Forgot to mention, everywhere I've drivin, people have asked me about it and generally like it. I think the old man parked next to me wasn't too impressed

[ryanroo]

You could just pop the filler out of the bedside and peel the hole back with a air hacksaw and a hammer/punch. ive seen that done a few times to accommodate the diesel nozzle on original gas trucks.

[Ackattack]

Tonight I pulled off the bed and swapped out sending units, so now my fuel guage works.

I also pulled the neck out and used a hole saw to enlarge the opening. Its a good thing diesel isn't flamable like gasoline is, otherwise I would have had issues. I got some sparky action, but no "fire". After I cut the hole I cleaned it with some carb cleaner and let it dry. Should be good to go now.

[jbclassix]

Looking forward to more pictures and reports!

[Ackattack]

I did some reading about dodge's hydroboost puking out fluid and bleeding the system, and I was thinking I had pretty much covered all of those bases. And got me to thinking.....my power steering cooler is about 12" long, and mounted vertically. Well when I'd turn the engine off is when it would puke out a bunch of power steering fluid. So it dawned on me that maybe all of this extra fluid was the cooler draining back into the reservoir (after I wasted a half a quart of fluid). So I rearranged the cooler, had my lovely assistant help me bleed it by steering back and forth and applying the brakes and it all looked good. Took it out for a spin and it all works great! Its SOOOO much nicer driving it with power steering that consistantly works...not to mention safer.

On my drive I drove over to the gas station. I was thinking I had 5-7 gallons of fuel in the tank, but it was on the guage was on E. Well I filled up with about 21 gallons and now the guage reads full, so I think the guage is a little conservative near E.

I started working on hooking up the parking brake. I'm going to use the dodge setup (since I lost the stuff for the GMC). Its kind of a goofy setup, but I guess it should work. I need a little piece from the hardware store to get it to work.

[Ackattack]

After doing some reading about my starting issue, it sounds like to me the lift pump is starting to go bad. I guess there is a ball check valve internally, that is most likely the culprit, so I ordered one of those. At the very least, the rubber boot on the primer is torn already, so it won't hurt to replace it.

Also did some reading about rebuilding the transmission. This thing is noisy, so I'm thinking it may be needed. Not sure how soon. I think I'll keep an eye out for a tranny, rebuild that one, and then swap it in to minimize down time. It will be a little while down the road though.

[cAlvis165]

Originally Posted by Ackattack

I did some reading about dodge's hydroboost puking out fluid and bleeding the system, and I was thinking I had pretty much covered all of those bases. And got me to thinking.....my power steering cooler is about 12" long, and mounted vertically. Well when I'd turn the engine off is when it would puke out a bunch of power steering fluid. So it dawned on me that maybe all of this extra fluid was the cooler draining back into the reservoir (after I wasted a half a quart of fluid). So I rearranged the cooler, had my lovely assistant help me bleed it by steering back and forth and applying the brakes and it all looked good. Took it out for a spin and it all works great! Its SOOOO much nicer driving it with power steering that consistantly works...not to mention safer.

On my drive I drove over to the gas station. I was thinking I had 5-7 gallons of fuel in the tank, but it was on the guage was on E. Well I filled up with about 21 gallons and now the guage reads full, so I think the guage is a little conservative near E.

I started working on hooking up the parking brake. I'm going to use the dodge setup (since I lost the stuff for the GMC). Its kind of a goofy setup, but I guess it should work. I need a little piece from the hardware store to get it to work.

Glad you got the power steering figured out.

[Ackattack]

Got a few more things done. No pictures...nothing exciting.

Parking brake is connected. Didn't take the truck out and park on a hill to see how effective it is, but in the garage I could push on the truck and tell it was engaging.

Wired in a clutch engagement switch so you can't start it without the clutch pedal pushed in. A good safety feature I suppose

Re-soldered the wiper circuit board. Hopefully that will make the wipers work all the time.

Then I busted out the alarm system and started reading over the installation instructions. What a piece of poop set of instructions. The wiring diagrams are pretty vague, and then the part where it tells you where to tap into the locking circuits for the keyless entry refers you to an authorized installer only document. Seriously? I'll figure it out with a little testing and reading the factory wiring diagram, but come on. I really hate not having keyless entry, especially when I have to get little kids out of the back, and then have to open the front door back up to lock the thing. With the instructions I'm not really looking forward to wiring this stupid thing up, but I think I do need an alarm on this truck based on the attention I've already received and keyless entry will be nice.