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Jeeping

9/28/2003

Read the Keystone Dam Trail Report for 9/26/03.

I removed the oil filter and I kid you not, mixed in with dirty oil were small clumps of sludge!  Frightening yet some how cool at the same time.  I removed the elbow that feeds the oil pressure gauge and found that it was sludge packed which kept the oil from squirting out the night before when I was checking for oil pressure at QuickTrip.  I cleaned the elbow with gas and replaced the plastic tube with a copper line and new fittings since the old tube was possibly sludge packed to.

With the filer still off I removed the distributor shaft so I could spin the oil pump with a drill and long bladed bit.  I just wanted to confirm that the pump would still move oil,  It quickly gushed oil just like it should.  The oil we put in at the dam was definitely milky so water was still in it but it was no where near dirty like the previous batch.

This morning, Sunday, I mixed up a witches brew.   Four quarts of cheap Wal-Mart oil and one quart of diesel.  I drained the dam oil and poured in the witches brew.  The intent is for the diesel to thin the oil enough to flush out some of the dirt and sludge that is certainly still in the block.   What's the worse that can happen?  I have to rebuild the engine and replace a bunch of bearings?  Not something I was wanting to again so soon but it's not a big deal if it comes to that.  If I had all the parts lined up I could remove, rebuild and reinstall that engine in one weekend, maybe in just one long day.  Of course if I needed parts machined it would automatically take two weekends.

With the witches brew I turned the engine over with the coil wire off and fuel line blocked.  I wanted to work the new oil in at very low RPM.  After some of this I hooked the fuel line back up and re-timed the engine.   Hmmm.  It was not wanting to start so I removed all the ignition wires, reset the times and reconnected everything to make sure it was right.  I checked for spark on #1 and it is good.  Still not wanting to start but it is back firing!  I think one or more of the hydraulic lifters has sludge in it and may be causing some valves to stick open.  Maybe the diesel will break that loose or maybe I'll have to remove the intake and valve covers and clean the lifters. 

I compression tested each cylinder to look for evidence supporting the stuck lifter hypothesis.

I did not do a compression test after the second rebuild.  Had I done that, and I had thought about, I would have a good baseline to compare my current numbers to.  I did a compression test after the first rebuild when I was trying to troubleshoot the knocking and it semed like the compression was around 140 on average.  I estimate yhe engine has between 750 and 1000 miles on it since the second rebuild so that might have some impact on the compression characteristics.

The big news in the compression test is the dirt observed on the #7 spark plug.   It seemed to have some grit in it and was wet.  It might of had some oil in it but I could not tell for sure.  The compression was as good as the others so I can not explain why it would be dirty and the rest not.

Later this day...

Sometimes it is the simple things that make big problems.  I had the timing 180 degrees off.  I don't know how I managed that but it happened.  I set the timing the correct way and it started right up!  I let the engine idle for 10-15 minutes then drained the oil/diesel mix.  The oil came out black with a barely detectable hint of brown.  The engine ran smooth.  No clanks, rattles or other alarming sounds.  I refilled the engine with five quarts of fresh oil and ran it a few minutes more and drove it around the yard a bit.

The engine ran smooth and sounded good.  It has always smoked a little out of the left tail pipe.  White smoke.  It is now smoking more than it use to and out of both pipes.  I leaned the fuel mixture a bit and it made a little difference, maybe, but not a lot.

When loading the Jeep on the Trailer on Saturday I heard grinding and dragging sounds.   I think dried mud is in the hubs and making some of the sounds.  The brakes seem to work just as well as before.  It is reasonable to assume that mud or at least water made its way into the axels and differentials so I should clean them out and regrease the axels and change the fluid.

10/11/2003

Took the Jeep to my sisters place and went Jeeping around the ponds.  See the Marci's Bonfire Trail Report.

10/13/2033

Last Friday I bought a front bumper from Jimmy.  He has recently purchased a wrecked Wrangler for parts and sold me the bumper from it.  Today I went to dad's place to scrounge for scrap steel and make use of his welding equipment.  Jimmy and I worked out a plan for mounting the bumper and building up a mounting plate for a receiving hitch to hook the wench in.  The Wrangler has a slightly wider frame so I have to drill new bolt holes.  I cut out a suitable gap in the lower side of the bumper so the front shackles will clear.  I welded in a 34" x 7" plate of 1/4" steel under the top side of the bumper to fill in the vertical gap, strengthen the bumper and provide amount point for the hitch.  I went to O'Reilly's and bought two tow hooks.  I want to drill the holes suitable to run the tow hooks thru.  If it doesn't work out right for bolting I will just weld the hooks on.

I took the back seat out so I could make use of the rear area for hulling stuff around.  I paid $50 for the bumper and a bikini top from Jimmy and he threw in his old Wrangler back seat.  I was surprised that it fits but it does.  What I like about it is that it has side hanging brackets for mounting the seat on top of the fender wells.  This will make it easier than my old seat to take out. 

Following the Keystone ride I have sometimes heard a clank when turning the vehicle at slow speeds or sometimes changing direction.  It doesn't happen often, yet.  I suspect a U-joint is going bad or something in the front suspension is wearing.  No surprise really. 

Yesterday something seems to have broken in the steering column as the steering wheel won't lock and the key will not come out.  Bummer.

10/14/2003

I bought a 1/2" drill bit and bored two holes thru the bumper plate and the frame.  The second hole took about three times longer to drill so the bit must be severely dull already.  That was a quick ten bucks.  I drilled one hole in each frame and have the tow hooks bolted in place and the bumper on.  I'll drill the second set of holes in the top next. 

10/15/2003

I bought another drill bit and bored out two more holes.  The first bit was a Cobalt bit and the second a zinc coated bit.  It got dull too but may have done a little better.  I couldn't find a titanium bit.  The bumper and hooks are mounted with four bolts to the top of the frame.   I still need to construct mounts for the lower side so it doesn't twist. 

10/20/2003

Front hitch mounted.  See the write up Front Bumper & Hitch.

12/26/2003

Since the last entry I have removed the front hitch and replaced it with a bolt on winch mount plate.  

Last week I decided to address my leaking radiator problem.  I knew that welding a radiator would be extremely difficult because of the thin metal involved but I wanted to try it any way.  I'm pretty sure that I fixed the original leak but I created several new ones.  After the joy making matters worse wore off I took the radiator to a professional (Bixby Radiator) and they had it fixed up by the next morning for $40.  Good deal. 

Today I cleaned up the garage and sorted thru my remaining Jeep box-o-stuff.  To my delight I found the missing canopy brackets and other stuff needed to put the top up.  Actually these parts were never missing, I just didn't know what I was looking for.  I did not start this Jeep project with a Jeep box-o-stuff.  I started with several boxes, bags and piles of mystery parts.  Having never done this before and it having been 13 years since I last had a Jeep that most of what I had known about Jeep parts had been forgotten.  Slowly the mystery parts became known parts and installed.  Now only three mystery parts remain which are two round plastic things and a plastic strap thing.

5/7/2004

What I didn't mention in my last entry is that the ignition switch mechanism broke.  The gear that drives the switch push rod stripped.  I've been able to use the key to start the engine but not to kill it.  To stop the engine I've had to let it run out of gas.  Gas prices have gotten pretty high lately so I decided to fix it.  I tried to replace the gear thru the key cylinder but the old gear got jammed so I had to pull the steering column.  While I was at it I replaced the old switch with a new one.  My theory was that the old switch might have been worn and that caused the gear to strip.  The new switch had just as much resistance as the old one so maybe those gears just wear out no matter what.  OReilly's had the new gear and switch for about $15 so it's no big deal either way.  

(I was just kidding about stopping the engine by waiting for it to run out of gas.  I would actually put a pillow over the air intake until it suffocated.)

I a whole weeks worth of evening, scratches and scraps trying to put the new switch in.  I even removed the front seat to I could have better access to under the dash.  I just couldn't get the push rod and the switch to mate.  I gave up and started researching in the manuals what I would have to do to install a on/off switch and a push button starter.  In that research I happened across a rather good diagram of the steering column which indicated that I had spent a week trying to install the switch upside down and backwards!  The next day I had it working in 15 minutes...

Now that I can use the key to both start and stop the engine I will turn my attention to the significant power steering fluid  leak.  

(I was just kidding about stopping the engine by suffocating it with a pillow.  I would actually pull the coil wire and negative battery cable.)

5/12/2004

This week I have done a number of small jobs on the Jeep.  I replaced the oil pressure gauge because it had mud inside of it (see Keystone Dam, Sand Springs, OK).  I cleaned out the mud from the passenger seat belt clasp so it would work (see Marci's Bonfire, Liberty-Mounds, OK).  I painted the winch mounting plate.  I also went to dad's and picked up the bumper jack he gave me and then lubricated it. Jimmy and I are planning to go back to Keystone Dam this Friday because I have an old grudge with that mud...

5/13/2004

Installed new Rancho 5000 shocks all the way around.  Also installed new windshield wiper arms and blades as well as a new voltage regulator.

5/14/2004

Jimmy, Andrew and I went to Keystone Dam to play in the mud.  Jeeps got stuck.  Jeeps were broken.  Jimmy busted a shackle and my starter broke.

5/15/2004

Took the starter to O'reillys to have it tested.  It was completely bad.  I probably just packed some mud in there but a new one was only $40 so I got it.  Changed the oil.  Went to my cousin Phil's house and he had some old CB radios and gave me a base unit and a mobile along with a nice Tuffy tool box that is just the right size to fit in the back of the jeep (I've taken out the back seat). 

5/16/2004

I'm concerned about my oil pressure.  

It seemed to work ok until I got water and dirt in the oil the first time I went to Keystone Dam last September.  I changed the oil immediately after getting the water and dirt in it.  I drove it a few miles and noticed the oil gauge was not reading any pressure so I brought the jeep home the rest of the way on a trailer.  I found and removed dirt sludge in the sending unit and replaced the oil tube to the gauge.  I verified that the oil pump is working by removing the distributor shaft and oil filter then spinning the pump with a drill and long shank.  Oil pumped out of the oil filter port very well.  At that point I just figured the gauge was gummed up internally and the oil circulation and pressure was probably ok.  I've driven it maybe a hundred miles since then and it ran ok.  The oil pressure gauge would read 20psi with the engine off and usually 20psi with the engine running regardless of RPM.  On the gauge 20psi is in the 6 O'clock position so I figure it is broken and needle is just being guided by gravity. 

A few days ago I installed a different oil pressure gauge.  It was used but looked like it was in good shape.  When the engine first starts the oil pressure is around 45psi.  As the engine warms past 160 the pressure drops to 10psi and sometimes zero, so the gauge says.   I've driven it about a hundred miles like this and it seems to run ok but I am concerned about damaging the engine.

I was thinking that I might check the pressure relief valve in the oil pump.  While I'm there I might just pull the whole oil pump and rebuild it.  I read a message on a newsgroup that made me think that checking my oil pickup to make sure the screen isn't clogged.

This morning I installed the CB but I need to a new antennae cable and antennae.

Later that day...

I am now very concerned about my drive train as well.  I was before but I decided by default (lack of decision + action) to perform reactive maintenance on the drive train (wait for something to break then fix what broke).  Last Friday on the way to Keystone I started hearing and feeling things that weren't right.  Today while driving around I was feeling rubbing as the wheels turned.  I didn't really feel vibrations. I've never lubricated the drive train with anything but mud and water so I should expect to have problems :)  I went to O'Reillys and picked up some grease and brake cleaner then went home and removed the back left wheel and differential cover to take a look around.  See the Drive Train.

5/23/2004

The back left wheel bearing has been re-lubricated.  The bearings on the back right are trashed.  Can't get the hub off.  Will probably have to replace everything on the right.  See Drive Train update.

Perhaps good news on the oil pressure.  Yesterday I made baseline recordings of oil pressure readings.  Today I installed a new gauge and made new recordings.   It appears the new gauge is indicating about 10psi more than the previous.  I guess you should just keep changing gauges until you find one that shows you what you want to see.

"Engine idle reached" means the engine was able to keep running without me working the gas peddle.  I have recently read that some mechanics like 10psi for 1000 RPM.