Cascade Crew

[chevymad]

Always figures when you want to go somewhere the car falls completely apart. I was having trouble with incredibly bad mileage.. 14.5 vs the 18 I was getting. No matter what I did seemed to help. So I figured there must be something wrong with the Edel qjet I was running, and since I'm planning on a 700r4 swap and need a good tcc controller, I decided to put my CCC ecm controlled qjet system back on. Got it on just in time before the canada trip. The water pump was also making noise, so thursday night I replace it with a reman unit. I also put on a fuel pressure regulator, I was thinking with my high volume pump pressure could be an issue. Well, friday morning, I'm taking the car to work because it's throwing an SES light. I open the hood to disconnect the battery and clear codes.. Puddle of fuel under the new regulator. Seems the brand new transdapt regulator was leaking. So I hurriedly remove it, clear codes and head for work. Only to find my Eclipse stereo won't spit out the cd, so I can't put in the "key" cd. Now I have no working radio.

So at lunch I hook up the scan tool and discover the coolant temp sensor crapped out and is reading -40*. So I replace it and get something to eat. Now the ses light only comes on during decel... but no time to mess with that.

After work while waiting for Paul and Mike to show up so we can leave for canada, I find the master reset on the stereo. Now its working anyway. Off to canada we go...

Seems to run ok on the way north except on decel the light comes on and there's alot of cracklin noise in the exhaust. Mileage is decent though considering i have no OD.. 18mpg. I finally tire of listening to my mp3 player and turn on the satellite radio... crap.. hte antennae busted!

So we do the cruise through canada. On the way back the car runs worse and worse.

Sunday we're on our way back to the states. I've been getting a whiff of coolant a few times over the trip, so I look things over before leaving. Everything looks ok.. Here I am sitting in line at the border crossing.. temp hits 225.. then wham 260 and its puking coolant all over. Dang.. I shut her off.. and keep starting/stopping until i'm across the border.

I pull into Blain no sign of any damaged hoses or anything. Fan works.. I buy a couple buckets to haul water and refill. The engine heats up right away. So after filling up with fuel I pull the thermostat out, and we head south. Car at this point is running extremely crappy. Exhaust is popping and engine is missing/surging. I've been throwing codes 32 & 34 all weekend. I think its because I don't have an EGR valve installed. Car is running between 200 and 225 depending on traffic. We have yet to go through everett and seattle.. I don't think i'm going to make it. I leave the AC cranked on so that the fan runs full time.. seems to run a bit cooler.

I pull off in Kelso, thankin Mike and Paul for sticking with me that far. Car runs the same, but a bit cooler down near the river. I then spend most of Monday/tuesday researching and working on the car..

First thing I did was remove my mallory hyfire box. Car seems to run smoother but still not right. Then I pressurize all the cylinders checking for a head gasket leak.. no leaks whew.. Check new water pump.. bearings loose allready, and i hear a knocking noise. So off to longview and I get a brand new pump instead of reman. I put hte thermostat back in. I also discover that my fan switch has gotten weak, it won't quite pull hte fan on itself. Car is still not running right. I check timing with and without the EST connected. Doesnt change??? First clue.

I can't find anything that makes any sense on TGO. Since I dont want to go back to work on my vacation(they just might make me stay) I pay for mitchell diy online. Nice service.. Full manuals for my car all web based. I print out the code flow charts and go to work.

Seems on this system code 32 can be either barometer sensor, OR egr. I also find that the "differential vacuum pressure sensor"(a backwards working MAP) isn't working correctly.. The barometer and the vacuum sensor look exactly alike. The barometer is about 1ft away from the carb and the vacuum line from the carb aims right at it.. guess what I did.. I had vacuum going to it!! doh. So I disconnect that. That gets rid of code 32, but I still have code 34 and I can't adjust hte carb or timing properly.

So I hook a dvom to the vacuum sensor and find out it only works half way, then goes back to idle mode in its upper ranges. I call all over the place looking for one. Looks like they're nearly obsolete, but hte dealer has one. Back to longview. I come home and a guy flags me down, seems he was at my place picking up a tire and backed into the tailgate of my stepside project.. bending the hell out of it.. my luck continues...

The vacuum line going to this sensor is tiny, very very tiny.. looks like a wire. In fact it runs through the wiring harness. Over the years it filled with oil/fuel, so I clean that out and connect hte new sensor. Yippee everything works, I can adjust the timing and it works like its supposed to and the mixture control soleniod and idle air bleed can be adjusted into range. I go for a test drive and its smooth and has power again!!! Now I just need to hook my mallory unit back up and see if it actually has a problem or not.


End Rant.


PS the bearing knocking noise I heard wasnt just the water pump either. Seems the alternator bearings were also going. Since by this time I'm short on funds, and every time I get a reman alternator it takes about 4 before I get a good one, I decided to replace the bearings. While in longview for the vacuum sensor, I stop at and electrical rebuilder and get bearings. Of course when I get home, I find they're wrong.. after taking apart my alternator. So I find one I think came off of slinky. It looks to be new but its a v/6 one and won't bolt on. So I steal the internals and put the mess together. Seems to be working, and its currently quiet.

Forgot more damage. Those canadian roads suck bad. I was bottoming out on the bump stops so hard that my washer fluid bottle broke. Also my hyfire box was down to one screw and it was half backed out. Even the barometer sensor bracket was coming loose.

[rjmcgee]

DAMN!!

how is the step side?


If it makes you feel better you gave me some of that luck. I took the car for a test ride tonight and the posi is marginal at best. Just like you said it was.

[Schultzy89GTA]

WOW!

[chevymad]

I'm spreading it around. The father in law took the holley off his boat. He's been fighting it having no secondaries.. Well someone stole the carb! The tailgate is a total loss.. It's bent in about a 30* angle. Even ripped one side off of it. Luckily hte bed doesnt look messed up.

[Xophertony]

wow brandon! glad to hear you got it all working again. i am impressed you took apart an alternator... it never would have occured to me to try and repare somthing like that. i'll have to do that the next time i have one go out.

[chevymad]

You can change bearings fairly easily in these Tony. But if you need new brushes/diodes it looks like you have to do some soldering to get it that far apart.

[Xophertony]

soldering i am good at.

are you going to be able to get another tailgate for the stepside? are those hard to find?

[chevymad]

The guy who backed into it is supposed to be finding me one. It should be pretty common. Get this.. its supposed to be the same from 1954-1987. I don't think there's another part chevy used for so many years.

[Al Hasse]

Glad to hear you got it all figured out. Now I have a leak and a few rattles to track down. I have a small leak on the overflow reservoir where the line from the radiator attaches to it and a couple of rattles now in the dash area.

[Xophertony]

my rear shock mounts are making more noise... gotta pull them out and add some grease. i guess we all got a little shook up by the Canadian road ways.

[Twilightoptics]