Re: [ihc] Pri-G: the debate begins

["Ryan Moore" <baradium@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Allan Ericson" <lowvolt@domain.elided>
To: "Mac McMuffin" <mac@domain.elided>; <ihc-digest@domain.elided>
Sent: Saturday, October 02, 2004 15:24
Subject: Re: [ihc] Pri-G: the debate begins



>
> Mac-
>
> Sounds like carb problems may be part of the equation. Gotta troubleshoot
> with good gas, maybe by strapping a gas can to the back of the truck and
> running a temporary fuel line. Might not be a big deal, but you have to
make
> the truck RUN on fresh gas to make sure the gas is not affecting it.
Idling
> and puttering is not good enough.
>

I had it going on fresh gas for a time... after I accidently switched to the
aux (formerly the main) tank... the one without  gas cap... and promptly
completely clogged up the fuel filter in the fuel bowl of the fuel pump.
Before then I actually had it started on the old gas, but since then I
haven't been able to do it.   When I started it on the old gas, I switch to
the wrong tank around that time becuase I didn't know that it was a 3 tank
switch, so I thought it was on the other main tank  segment.   So it only
ran long enough to suck the nasty stuff into the lines.


When I had it running on fresh gas, I was troubleshooting (trying to figure
out why it wouldn't run on the old fuel anymore), so I just poked a hole in
the bottom of a cup and used that to run it pretty much around idle (while
stationary!).  It worked great until the truck died and backfired at the
same time... which knocked over the cup... which wasn't such a big deal
except it dumped most of the fuel out of it, which wasn't such a big deal
except the fuel that was still dripping out of the cup while the backfire
happened caught fire too, which caught the cup on fire, which caught all the
fuel that had spilled out of the cup on fire.   Which made a pretty little
fire on the top of Mac's engine.  Fortunately my dad was there with his
pretty little fire extinguisher before I really had done anything and the
fire went away.   I stopped trying to troubleshoot with the dribbling gas at
that point.



> Step 1, truck has to run under load. The travelall I picked up a year ago
> idled fine and revved fine in the driveway, but it kept dying on the
highway
> because the carb internals were disintegrating. Swapped carbs after about
75
> miles and it ran really well the rest of the way. Changed plugs at the
same
> time and found that the crappy carb had helped foul the the plugs
horribly.
> No doubt that will also help.
>

This is a governed carb, so I don't know how to find one to swap.

> Step 2. If the running truck will run after you SWITCH to the old gas, you
> really only have to start it with a can of gas, then switch the lines as
> it's running. I've done that a bunch of times for various reasons. Also,

I can switch tanks while it's running, as long as I don't try to switch to
the bum tank... Which reminds me that I also don't have anywhere to put up
to 23 gallons of water/mud/rusty gas that is probobly in that tank since
there is no fuel cap on it.

> that's when you find out about the gas stabilizer. For less than 20 bucks,
> it's silly not to try it, half a bottle in each tank. It's more likely
that
> you will get a clogged fuel pickup or selector switch than any other
problem
> at that point. You MUST have a see thru filter before the fuel pump to
allow
> you to dump any crud in the lines that shows up and protect the pump,

This is a fuel filter built into the pump, so the pumps hould be protected.

>and
> you must have one after the fuel pump , too, so that you can troubleshoot
> more quickly. This will save you HOURS of uncertainty and mess on the way
> home.
>

That is something that probobly should need to be done, but I'm not exactly
down there that much.  And if I get the 1310 down there, Mac might find
availible 182 tinkering time to be even harder to come by.


> Once you drive a while, you'll probably be able to mix fresh gas with the
> old gas, if necessary.
>
>
> > that's a good suggestion, unfortunately i don't know who to give this
old
> > gas to if it doesn't work.  is there a way to go about finding people
who
> > can use it and who might be willing to come get it?
>
> Worry about that when you get there. If you have to, you can get a gas can
> and find an auto parts store or gas station or mechanic's shop in every
> town. I missed how old the gas was, but if it's less than 2 years, you
will
> probably be able to save it and use it.
>

Multiply by 5 and that's around how old I'm guessing the fuel might be.  It
smells *nasty* too.  I'm impressed that it still burns.  Smells more like
paint thinner than gas.

> I wouldn't worry about it. Try to use all the old gas you can on the way
> home. You may find that you have to bypass the selector valve every time
you
> switch tanks. Does the gas gauge work on all the tanks?  If you lose a
> gallon or two each time as the tank becomes almost empty, oh, well. It's
> unlikely you will be able to drive the truck a LOT, but you will want to
> plan to have about 5-10 gallons of fresh gas in each tank.
>
> -Allan
>

There are no senders on the saddle tanks.  The guage reads near or below
empty, so hopefully that means that the cap hasn't been off the aux tank for
all that long and there isn't a whole lot of water in it... otherwise it
means the float died.   Unfortunately, I can't test this because if it *is*
full of junk, I don't have a 25 gallon bucket or a way to set a 55 gallon
drum under that tank at the moment.  If I *do* get it on the road, I do have
access to a "big truck" lift, it's just 10 miles away and the truck has to
be able to run on it's own (preferably without smoking more than my diesel
scout is when cold).  So if the old fuel can be saved and we can get it
running good, some other issues can be resolved easier.

Did I mention that my diesel smokes less when cold than this thing does when
warmed up?   I think it's all due to the paint thinner gasoline that it's
trying to run off of.

I still believe that the biggest problem with the truck's running is the
current state of the gasoline, I hope the treatment stuff works, otherwise
Mac has got his work cut out for him, because while I might be able to
figure out something for the aux tank, I can't do anything with 150 gallons
of paint thinner.

Before any more experiments, the oil should probobly be changed too.  Mac
seems to think it's a "reusable" filter element, does anyone have a part
number for an element for the canister style SV oil filters?

Thanks,
Ryan


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