1957 Chevy 3100, meet 1994 Dodge Ram 1500

[Wyo George]

I had no idea that you’ve been posting over here too! Now I can follow Ethyl in stereo between two forums.

[Purcell69]

Originally Posted by Wyo George

I had no idea that you’ve been posting over here too! Now I can follow Ethyl in stereo between two forums.

Yessir, Ethyl gets around George. LOL!

How goes your Task Force project? I know you've been busy, but any progress is good progress.

-Joe

[Wyo George]

It's still a bare frame sitting beside my shop waiting for me to get around to blasting it. This time of year is busy as I have the fleet of 62 motorcycles to service and get out on location for training then teaching every weekend plus I've been running the wheels off the new Ram going around picking up new motorcycles and delivering them to training ranges. I'm leaving out tomorrow morning at 0500 to deliver my last trailer full of 14 bikes to a location 180 miles away. I'm not complaining though, at $2/mile transport fee plus my hourly rate on location and return trip it'll be a profitable morning. Then I'll get home, hop on the Harley and head 180 miles the other direction to teach a class this weekend. With any luck the 55 frame will get blasted in two weeks, I'm taking a few days off to get caught up in the shop and as soon as I get it blasted I can get it inside and painted so that I can start building it.

[Purcell69]

Originally Posted by Wyo George

It's still a bare frame sitting beside my shop waiting for me to get around to blasting it. This time of year is busy as I have the fleet of 62 motorcycles to service and get out on location for training then teaching every weekend plus I've been running the wheels off the new Ram going around picking up new motorcycles and delivering them to training ranges. I'm leaving out tomorrow morning at 0500 to deliver my last trailer full of 14 bikes to a location 180 miles away. I'm not complaining though, at $2/mile transport fee plus my hourly rate on location and return trip it'll be a profitable morning. Then I'll get home, hop on the Harley and head 180 miles the other direction to teach a class this weekend. With any luck the 55 frame will get blasted in two weeks, I'm taking a few days off to get caught up in the shop and as soon as I get it blasted I can get it inside and painted so that I can start building it.

And you say that I am busy! Holy cow brother, YOU have a full plate!

Right now, aside from the primary and secondary jobs, things are pretty slack. We are done with breeding season for the year and almost all of the horses have been sent home. Now its a matter of keeping the ones remaining fed and healthy and keeping the place mowed. Michael's Jeep project is on hold while he works on funds for the new engine/transmission and his other part-out truck has yet to be delivered. About the only other project I can foresee is building a front porch for Kim's mom with the steel pipe I was given.

And of course, the home repairs in our place.

Be careful on your travels this weekend.

-Joe

[Wyo George]

I can’t be all THAT busy. There’s 168 hours in a week and I only average 74 hours of work.

[Purcell69]

Originally Posted by Wyo George

I can’t be all THAT busy. There’s 168 hours in a week and I only average 74 hours of work.

I know that feeling brother. I never bother to keep track of the hours that don't fall under an actual paycheck, but goodness knows there's plenty. The breeding season is over, so Kim's "minions" have gone on to do other things, which demotes me back to "barn boy", stacking feed, watering horses, etc.

-Joe

[Wyo George]

Originally Posted by Purcell69

I know that feeling brother. I never bother to keep track of the hours that don't fall under an actual paycheck, but goodness knows there's plenty. The breeding season is over, so Kim's "minions" have gone on to do other things, which demotes me back to "barn boy", stacking feed, watering horses, etc.

-Joe

Sadly, the 74 hours are just the stuff that I bill out or get paid on my paycheck. Working four jobs can be quite hectic at times, especially when two of them require me to keep track of hours and miles and submit invoices to get paid. It's all part of my master plan though, I figure at this rate I'll be retired in only 60-70 more years.

[Purcell69]

For giggles and grins, and a well-deserved day off from work, I took Ethyl to the Stratford Peach Festival last weekend. Turn out was very good and spectators really seemed to like her, but show-wise, she really didn't fit in. There was no class for 4wd of any kind. The "winners" in the classes all seemed to have just written some really big checks to buy their rides. Meh, the crowd and the kids really liked her and it was a fun way to not be at work. That was what really counted.

In the meanwhile, I have started in to the paint and bodywork side of things. She runs and drives, and while there are still mechanical things to do, I need to address the body before small rust issues start becoming big rust issues.'

I've started sanding off the six or so layers of paint that she currently has, and while I'm not fully focused on stripping everything to bare metal, I'd like to get back down to the original paint work before I start throwing primer.

https://youtu.be/hYWzMDvfUmc

I am going to take her back to the original turquoise green with a white roof.

https://tcpglobal.com/products/rsp-a...SABEgJsJ_D_BwE

This color really suits her.

-Joe

[americanmusc1e]

Originally Posted by Purcell69

For giggles and grins, and a well-deserved day off from work, I took Ethyl to the Stratford Peach Festival last weekend. Turn out was very good and spectators really seemed to like her, but show-wise, she really didn't fit in. There was no class for 4wd of any kind. The "winners" in the classes all seemed to have just written some really big checks to buy their rides. Meh, the crowd and the kids really liked her and it was a fun way to not be at work. That was what really counted.

In the meanwhile, I have started in to the paint and bodywork side of things. She runs and drives, and while there are still mechanical things to do, I need to address the body before small rust issues start becoming big rust issues.'

I've started sanding off the six or so layers of paint that she currently has, and while I'm not fully focused on stripping everything to bare metal, I'd like to get back down to the original paint work before I start throwing primer.

https://youtu.be/hYWzMDvfUmc

I am going to take her back to the original turquoise green with a white roof.

https://tcpglobal.com/products/rsp-a...SABEgJsJ_D_BwE

This color really suits her.

-Joe

Looking good! Turquoise green and white is going to be sweet! At least 40x better of a color combination than the factory medium bronze and white on my 70.

[Purcell69]

Originally Posted by americanmusc1e

Looking good! Turquoise green and white is going to be sweet! At least 40x better of a color combination than the factory medium bronze and white on my 70.

I don't know, that bronze and white combo doesn't look horrible. A garage owner in town has a copper & white 72 C-10 that looks pretty sharp, though the copper wasn't a factory color to start with.

There was quite a few "plans" for the paint on Ethyl over the past 25 years; things I had pictured in my head, but in the end, the factory color just seems the right choice. The white roof wasn't factory, but with the white wheels, it helps break up the green.

-Joe

[Purcell69]

Well, I don't know what went south, but I have some work to do in the fuel system. The other day, I had pulled her around back to move some hay, only to have the engine shut down behind the barn. I had filled her up before the car show and only drove a short distance round trip; less than 100 miles.

The fuel gauge isn't working yet, but to date, she routinely sees 13.7ish MPG. Given a 26 gallon tank, she shouldn't have been out of fuel. If she was, that would have been a bit over 2 MPG and there was no way she was running anywhere near that rich. Still, I put two gallons in her and she fired right up like nothing was wrong.

Last night, I poked around on the bottom of the gas tank and was satisfied there was much more than two gallons in the tank, so I drove her to the local store to top up the tank. When I got to the store, (closed on Sundays but pumps are 24 hrs), I put 0.013 gallons in her before the gas station ran out. I thought this was no big deal, since there was another convenience store a mile down the road.

As I started to pull onto the highway, she cut out again. Just like she was out of gas again. Kim brought a 5 gallon can from the house, and a recovery strap, just in case. Four gallons filled her to the top, so six gallons in, divided by driven miles equals 13 MPG and change.

It seems I have an intermittent fail in the fuel pump, or the electronics that go to it. I'll have to probe it with my test light and see if it is something with the wiring or the fuel pump went south.

-Joe

[gigamanx]

Originally Posted by Purcell69

Well, I don't know what went south, but I have some work to do in the fuel system. The other day, I had pulled her around back to move some hay, only to have the engine shut down behind the barn. I had filled her up before the car show and only drove a short distance round trip; less than 100 miles.

The fuel gauge isn't working yet, but to date, she routinely sees 13.7ish MPG. Given a 26 gallon tank, she shouldn't have been out of fuel. If she was, that would have been a bit over 2 MPG and there was no way she was running anywhere near that rich. Still, I put two gallons in her and she fired right up like nothing was wrong.

Last night, I poked around on the bottom of the gas tank and was satisfied there was much more than two gallons in the tank, so I drove her to the local store to top up the tank. When I got to the store, (closed on Sundays but pumps are 24 hrs), I put 0.013 gallons in her before the gas station ran out. I thought this was no big deal, since there was another convenience store a mile down the road.

As I started to pull onto the highway, she cut out again. Just like she was out of gas again. Kim brought a 5 gallon can from the house, and a recovery strap, just in case. Four gallons filled her to the top, so six gallons in, divided by driven miles equals 13 MPG and change.

It seems I have an intermittent fail in the fuel pump, or the electronics that go to it. I'll have to probe it with my test light and see if it is something with the wiring or the fuel pump went south.

-Joe

Sounds a lot like vapor lock. Is the fuel tank vent clogged? Does it start once the truck has cooled down?

[Purcell69]

Originally Posted by gigamanx

Sounds a lot like vapor lock. Is the fuel tank vent clogged? Does it start once the truck has cooled down?

I'll double check the tank vent, but I would expect that vapor lock wouldn't be an issue within 2-5 minutes after cold starting. Also, the vent in the filler cap seems to be working, no sucking sound or rapid expansion of the tank upon opening.

This could be something as simple as a loose wire under the dashboard, as I had ziptied the rat's nest of wire that I haven't thinned down yet up and out of the way before the car show back on the 18th.

When I bought the fuel pump module for this one, I didn't cheap out and just get one that would fit. As I recall, it is either Airtex or Carter guts, but I could be wrong. I know it wasn't a "budget priced" part. It could also be something tripping the ASD (Auto Shut-Down) mode. As I recall on Chrysler, if the ASD trips, it kills the fuel pump, not ignition.

Right now, I don't have the Check Engine Light wired up because I don't have the computer controlled transmission installed yet. Scanning for codes is possible, but it would be a matter of sorting through the systems that have been deleted vs. the systems present and then figuring out which of them would affect the fuel system.

What I will likely do, at least for now, is check for power to the pump module. If there is power to the pump module, run it again until it stops. Then, check for power again. If it still has power, the pump module is bad, which is an easy-ish fix involving removing the bed for access.

If there is no power, either the ASD is active or my under dash wiring has become problematic. Either way, I need to clean up the under dash mess. While I am working on that, I can run an on/off switch for the pump module and a dedicated circuit that will bypass the PCM (which could also be the problem). The on/off could also serve as anti-theft, so I may just go that route anyway.

At this point, my money is on the wiring, since it's the Dodge wire harness, not something that was purpose built for this truck.

-Joe

[gigamanx]

Originally Posted by Purcell69

I'll double check the tank vent, but I would expect that vapor lock wouldn't be an issue within 2-5 minutes after cold starting. Also, the vent in the filler cap seems to be working, no sucking sound or rapid expansion of the tank upon opening.

This could be something as simple as a loose wire under the dashboard, as I had ziptied the rat's nest of wire that I haven't thinned down yet up and out of the way before the car show back on the 18th.

When I bought the fuel pump module for this one, I didn't cheap out and just get one that would fit. As I recall, it is either Airtex or Carter guts, but I could be wrong. I know it wasn't a "budget priced" part. It could also be something tripping the ASD (Auto Shut-Down) mode. As I recall on Chrysler, if the ASD trips, it kills the fuel pump, not ignition.

Right now, I don't have the Check Engine Light wired up because I don't have the computer controlled transmission installed yet. Scanning for codes is possible, but it would be a matter of sorting through the systems that have been deleted vs. the systems present and then figuring out which of them would affect the fuel system.

What I will likely do, at least for now, is check for power to the pump module. If there is power to the pump module, run it again until it stops. Then, check for power again. If it still has power, the pump module is bad, which is an easy-ish fix involving removing the bed for access.

If there is no power, either the ASD is active or my under dash wiring has become problematic. Either way, I need to clean up the under dash mess. While I am working on that, I can run an on/off switch for the pump module and a dedicated circuit that will bypass the PCM (which could also be the problem). The on/off could also serve as anti-theft, so I may just go that route anyway.

At this point, my money is on the wiring, since it's the Dodge wire harness, not something that was purpose built for this truck.

-Joe

Sounds familiar...the part where not everything is done properly because driving the truck is way more fun than staring at it in the garage

[Purcell69]

Originally Posted by gigamanx

Sounds familiar...the part where not everything is done properly because driving the truck is way more fun than staring at it in the garage

Oh, completely guilty as charged.

I was hoping to start making progress on the paint and bodywork, but when it doesn't move under its own power, those issues take priority.

In a perfect world, I'd have a dedicated aftermarket harness for this, but since the Magnum drivetrain is the forgotten stepchild, I'm pretty much on my own to make things fit and work.

This is part of why I have been driving her though, to find out what's working right and what needs to be fixed, because I don't want to be stuck on the side of the road.

-Joe

[Purcell69]

I'm having second thoughts about condemning my fuel system. I went out this evening and the truck started right up. It idled flawlessly for a solid minute+ and then stumbled and died with no attempt to fire off afterword.

I let the truck sit for an hour or so and went back out to restart it. Again, she fired right off and settled in to idle. After 20 seconds of idling, the engine died again without any sign of restart. This time, I caught a whiff of raw fuel.

I'm starting to lean toward an ignition coil that is failing.

-Joe

[Purcell69]

After chasing my tail for a bit, I finally figured it out.

https://youtu.be/Ts2AbmOWTks

-Joe

[joedoh]

wwowwoowooooop! congrats!

[Purcell69]

Originally Posted by joedoh

wwowwoowooooop! congrats!

Thanks Joe. I sure am glad it was something simple. There was so much potential for drama and hours of troubleshooting.

Now I can go back to focusing on the bodywork.

-Joe

[Purcell69]

Another update...As you know, and have heard if you've watched any of the videos of Ethyl running, she has an annoying belt chirp that has been an issue since I got her engine running. Last week, i set about to correct this and after some tail chasing and snake oil remedies, it's finally fixed. I put together a few videos going through the process of getting it resolved.

The internet, as always, can be a helpful tool if you can read between the lines. Sometimes it is easy to forget, however, that source and context have a big impact on the end result.

When I first looked at this issue a few years back, folks experiencing a similar problem suggested different brands of serpentine belt, as chirping or squeaking tends to be a common complaint with the Dodge Magnum V6 and V8 engines. Continental and Goodyear brands were supposed to fix this issue. Others had suggested belt dressing or tire shine as a means of resolution, though I am reluctant to use anything to lubricate a serpentine belt, as by design, no additional product should be needed.

My local shop, that works on the city equipment and occasionally my personal stuff, when I don't have the time or special tools, suggested Comet Cleanser. I have to admit, I did give that one a whirl. It was cheap and effective for a short term, but in all, it was no better than the baby powder I tried two years ago.

Then a fellow interwebber pointed me in the right direction on another forum. The clue had been obvious all the way back to the summer of 2018, but I had forgotten. There has to be a physical cause for the belt to chirp on a serpentine system. One that is correct, won't, period.

I replaced a few "questionable" parts that would soon need to be replaced, if not were already in need, but there was no change. Back to 2018.

In 2018, I had an issue with the serpentine belt climbing out of the pulleys toward the radiator and found that the Power Steering pulley was not fully seated on the pump shaft. I compared the assembly on my motor with one i had as a spare on the shelf and found there was a huge difference. The one on the engine had a 3/8" gap between the rear of the pulley and the bracket, where the one on my shelf had a 0.787 mm gap between the back of the pulley and the bracket. I rented an install tool and moved the pulley further onto the shaft by about half, leaving a 3/16" gap.

After my friend reminded me that the only adjustment in the Dodge serpentine system was the P/S pulley, I looked up the spec and found the face of the pulley hub is supposed to be FLUSH with the end of the pump shaft. Paraphrased from the book, "if chirping is present, move the pulley out 0.5 mm on the pump shaft. If the chirping worsens, push the pulley back onto the pump shaft 1.0 mm". So the tolerance is 0.5 mm+/- from the end of the shaft. The pump on my engine had the end of the shaft recessed 1/8" and would not budge. In the end, I swapped over to my spare assembly and fixed the problem for good.

https://youtu.be/xUzEsHshDJo

https://youtu.be/rvNDHTFuYbA

https://youtu.be/7-5EYChHkEw

https://youtu.be/T0oophUPHC8

Enjoy the videos. I apologize for the wobble. I was working with my phone, but I'm plotting on a GoPro or similar for future videos.

-Joe

[gigamanx]

What a pain that looks like. Glad you found your problem. Reminds me of when I spent two weeks chasing every wire of my truck only to find out the brand new turn signal housing I bought had a short in it. Ugh, makes me wish I checked that first

[Purcell69]

Originally Posted by gigamanx

What a pain that looks like. Glad you found your problem. Reminds me of when I spent two weeks chasing every wire of my truck only to find out the brand new turn signal housing I bought had a short in it. Ugh, makes me wish I checked that first

It really wasn't as bad as it seemed. If I had realized from the beginning that my issue was the depth of the pulley on the P/S pump shaft, the problem would have been resolved in under a day.

Truthfully, I didn't expect the Comet cleanser to be a lasting fix, since baby powder was a temporary fix previously. Clearly, I was not anything on the belt or pulleys that was causing the chirp, and looking back, I should have realized it was something mechanical.

The tensioner was a used part that came with the $400 complete engine that is in Ethyl. It was frozen in place and probably hadn't moved in years. I had hoped by feeding ATF into the housing and working the spring back and forth, it would free up and become serviceable again. It did to some extent, but tension wasn't the best and at full travel, it would lock in place, so it was due to be replaced, even if it wasn't the cause of the chirp.

Likewise, the idler pulley was serviceable, but it too came with the 90k mile $400 complete engine that replaced the corroded block that came in the donor truck. The sealed bearing still had lube and for the most part, it turned smoothly, but there were occasional spots that were inconsistent, not really rough, but not smooth and uniform. The bearing would fail sooner rather than later, so replacing it was inevitable even if it wasn't the cause of the chirp, too.

I took Ethyl out for a drive yesterday and can say with 100% confidence that the problem is resolved with the spare pump assembly. The pump and the A/C compressor both came with the junk motor that was in the donor Dodge, so neither of those parts cost me anything, other than time for the swap.

It's a little win, but it's also one less thing to check off.

-Joe

[G&R's57GMC]

I think your coil would benefit if it had a heat shield between it and the exhaust manifold and maybe one between the radiator hose also.

[Purcell69]

Originally Posted by G&R's57GMC

I think your coil would benefit if it had a heat shield between it and the exhaust manifold and maybe one between the radiator hose also.

I agree. Chrysler never used one, but it definitely couldn't hurt. I'll see what I can concoct.

-Joe

[joedoh]

great news joe, nice to fix all the little things!