What did you do with your GMT400 today...or yesterday....

[MrMarty51]

Made the trip beyond the 20 miles where the code P0251 popped on the SES lamp. A total of over 80 miles.
Another 10 miles farther on I-94 to Rosebud, pulled into that town and cruised the abandoned main street, turned around on the west end and headed back home. Stopped at the rest area for a peeee break and hit the road again.
There was road construction down to 35 MPH and beyond that varied speeds from 55 and busted it up to 85 once. I seldom take it to that speed.
No codes, no SES lamp and that little bit of hesitation it had at 2200 RPMs is not there.
Feels real nice to have My truck back.
Thank You every one for listening and reading about My grief, spells of disappointment and anger. Its just what I do best.

 

[Paveltolz]

Or my ABS which works infrequently (less than 10% of the time), or my transfer case which now has 3 of 4 settings working, only missing 4 Low, or my formerly variable speed wipers which now only has two speeds and decides to shut off only when it feels like it, not when I shut it off.

I've learned that thing about Karma being unkind lesson plus, when you point a finger at someone or something, there's three fingers pointing back....

 

[dbrannon79]

Started working on the 95 today. I've been wanting to get the AC working for a while now, the black truck is getting really tired. ventured out to the pick a part yard to gather some interior parts for the wife's trailblazer and look for a decent compressor for my truck. found a compressor that looked really good, though looks can be deceiving!!

started tearing into the 95 pulling the old compressor off, discovered the lines had this black coating on the inside like the compressor had the bed! the system had been working just fine but would leak out within a month. pulled the orifice tube and WOW what a mess! completely plugged up with muck... needless to say I ended up flushing the entire system, cleaned up the old orifice tube and didn't touch the accumulator or evaporator because I'm too cheap and lazy LOL.

Got the new used compressor installed and the rest of the system buttoned up. pulled a vacuum and got ready to charge it. said a prayer and started opening valves letting oil and freon into the system. I had an old 8-1/2 oz can of 134a oil charge left over from one of those retro-fit kits I used to fill the system with oil. then opted to charge with R152a instead of using 134a. I had charged the black truck with these cans of duster and it will freeze you out of the cab, so I said why not, its cheaper than 134a and seems to work very similar to the old r12.

got the one can of oil in and three 10 oz cans of duster into the system, checked the cabin vent temp and my jaw dropped when I saw it was blowing 45 degree air from the vents! of course it was getting late in the evening and the outdoor temp had dropped to close to 80. pressures on my gauges are a bit low, 30 / 190 psi but it's cooling it arse off!!

I shut it down for the night and will re-check pressures and cooling tomorrow as it gets hot outside. I suspect it need a little more added but I can't recall how much I charged the black truck with when I did the R152a. I do know you use 10% less than you would 134a and I also had to adjust the cycle switch so it would cycle at 15 psi instead if the factory 22 psi. The lower pressure cycling is meant for when converting to envirosafe refrigerants (propane - butane mix). that was my plan for the black truck but the cans of duster cooled so well I left it alone.

 

[dbrannon79]

Just for info, I did find out that other countries like Europe are moving to using R152A phasing out 134a. there is a decent amount of info on it online and here in the US you find it in cans of office keyboard duster. Harbor Freight sells them at $6 a can (10oz) and wally world sells 134a at $12 a can! I have now converted three vehicles to the stuff and it works great. you have to get you a side can piercing tap to use it though.

it runs at lower high side pressures than 134a which can help extend the life of a compressor and also help with fuel mileage with less load on the engine. ummv though.

The first vehicle I use this stuff in was an older full size ford econoline van, the compressor was on it's last leg and wasn't pumping like it should. it worked great that is until we hit a deer and destroyed the front end! That was years ago.

R152a is slightly flammable but so it 134a under the right conditions... nothing like the other alternatives like envirosafe (propane / butane)

 

[MrMarty51]

I cant seem to get my truck running long enough to get to adjust the volume of refrigerant in the AC system.
What a phocking nightmare.
The truck went 380 miles, got home and laid cardboard under the engine portion, not a drip or drop one.
Other day thought I could smell fuel.
Drove to the grocery store this morning, come out and drips under the truck.
Got home, looking around between turbo and head and could not see under the heat shield.
Pull them two screws and start the engine, fuel pouring onto the CB leak detectors.
Appears the No.6 return hose may have broke or come unplugged.
Too many of Vickis relatives in town this weekend so aint got time to pull the inner fender and turbo, again, to get to them damn return hoses. They have not been on this engine for very long so they should have been good to go.
I do have some proper size VW hose in bulk thats left over from my BILs Audi adventure. It is diesel fuel rated.
I’m just tired of this cloth braid return hose and would like to find some just plain old rubber compound hose to replace all of those returd hoses with.

 

[dbrannon79]

@MrMarty51 if you can get the heat shield removed, you should be able to get at the return lines without pulling the turbo. I managed to get at them with a pair of bent needle nose pliers from the top. pull the CDR and anything else in the way to gain access from the top side.

it might even be a injector line not seated just right. I had that issue where the taper wasn't sitting right. had to loosen the nut and finesse the line a bit and re-tighten the nut to fix a leak once.

 

[snarl95]

Replaced pitman arm shaft seals on steering gearbox.

 

[MrMarty51]

@MrMarty51 if you can get the heat shield removed, you should be able to get at the return lines without pulling the turbo. I managed to get at them with a pair of bent needle nose pliers from the top. pull the CDR and anything else in the way to gain access from the top side.

it might even be a injector line not seated just right. I had that issue where the taper wasn't sitting right. had to loosen the nut and finesse the line a bit and re-tighten the nut to fix a leak once.

Yup, too leight. Already pulled the turbo. Couldnt seem to get that heat shield to give up its position.
It was an easy hose to get too too. Towards the rearward side of the No.6 injector return hose, to the No.8 injector. The end of the hose had split.
I just could not tell where the fuel was pouring out from.

Now I have some Gates 30R7 that I’ll be trying but have not yet heard if 7 is suitable enough.
From what I’m reading it seems that it would be.

 

[dbrannon79]

the heat shield on mine is east to remove! it's an old 24oz tall boy can folded in half long ways and curved to fit LOL I only used one screw to affix it on the top of that bracket. ended up cutting off the lower section of that bracket off and left the upper part that has the screw holes.

 

[dbrannon79]

Took the 95 out for a drive today. AC did as expected. blows around 60 from the vents sitting at idle but as soon as you start moving it drops down to around 48 degrees. not too shabby for a junkyard compressor and a quick n dirty flush.

Oh yeah I almost forgot.. I was talking to my neighbor who is from Mexico. He told me He knows people down there who could fix the motor in my black truck for around a grand! he said labor and parts are cheap down there. I asked him about how hard is it to find a decent used engine out there. he said you can find just about anything over there and cheap. He's gonna talk to customs about what it would take and cost to bring an engine across the border, then put the search out for one with low mileage. He travels there about once every couple months, he said when he finds one, we can go get it. it'll be about a 12 hour round trip to Eagle Pass into Laredo and back.

 

[dbrannon79]

Been driving the 95 for the last couple of days, noticed that the AC is working but not getting as cold as I would like nor is it cooling down as fast as my 93 even though it's running the same freon (R152a) and same orifice tube. I am leaning towards needing to replace the condenser since it was modified by the PO where the fitting that holds the orifice was cut or broken off and they installed one of those compression repair kits.

I have a replacement condenser but need to replace the liquid line from it to the firewall into the evap. the fitting on the end at the condenser was welded with a different size to fit the repair kit that was installed.

the vent temps will only get down to 60 degrees in the heat of the day and takes longer to get there. when you first turn the system on the high side pressure always spikes up near 275-300 and would slowly come down and begin cooling. it's always done this, so that's why I'm leaning towards the condenser replacement.

what sucks is 95 came with bastardized fittings and other years won't fit without modifications. Plus it's a PIA to remove the front brush guard to get the front grille off. didn't feel like doing all that work when I replaced the compressor!! Guess I am gonna have to since I want this truck to work tip top since it's purpose is to drive on trips with the fam.

 

[Big T]

Replaced the clip that holds the lock actuator rod to the latch assembly. Also drilled the rivets holding the lock actuator to the inner door panel and replaced with bolts, lock washers and nylock nuts. It was flopping around quite a bit on just the rivets. Got it back together and the lock actuator works great, while 90% of the rattles in the door are gone.

 

[MrMarty51]

Been driving the 95 for the last couple of days, noticed that the AC is working but not getting as cold as I would like nor is it cooling down as fast as my 93 even though it's running the same freon (R152a) and same orifice tube. I am leaning towards needing to replace the condenser since it was modified by the PO where the fitting that holds the orifice was cut or broken off and they installed one of those compression repair kits.

I have a replacement condenser but need to replace the liquid line from it to the firewall into the evap. the fitting on the end at the condenser was welded with a different size to fit the repair kit that was installed.

the vent temps will only get down to 60 degrees in the heat of the day and takes longer to get there. when you first turn the system on the high side pressure always spikes up near 275-300 and would slowly come down and begin cooling. it's always done this, so that's why I'm leaning towards the condenser replacement.

what sucks is 95 came with bastardized fittings and other years won't fit without modifications. Plus it's a PIA to remove the front brush guard to get the front grille off. didn't feel like doing all that work when I replaced the compressor!! Guess I am gonna have to since I want this truck to work tip top since it's purpose is to drive on trips with the fam.

I need to get the hose/gauge kit hooked to the AC system on my truck and maybe have You on at the same time and tell You whats going on with that AC system.
Compressor clutch cycles on and off very frequently.
Probably needs more 134A.
Maybe get You on a face time call then You can watch the pressures on the gauges, clutch cycle on and offt and what ever else is going on.
Might try to get this done tomorrow after work, thinking a venture to the lake and cabin would be nice, on Friday after working but with the upcoming temps AC would make it nicer.

 

[dbrannon79]

I need to get the hose/gauge kit hooked to the AC system on my truck and maybe have You on at the same time and tell You whats going on with that AC system.
Compressor clutch cycles on and off very frequently.
Probably needs more 134A.
Maybe get You on a face time call then You can watch the pressures on the gauges, clutch cycle on and offt and what ever else is going on.
Might try to get this done tomorrow after work, thinking a venture to the lake and cabin would be nice, on Friday after working but with the upcoming temps AC would make it nicer.

do you recall how many cans you used to charge it with? I normally end up with about 40 oz, almost 4 cans for 134a on my 95.

One thing I do when thinking it's low is connect the gauges and look at the pressures before starting the truck. take note of what the pressure is and the outdoor temp. then look up the static pressure / temp chart and see where you line up with it. the only issue with that method is if the truck has been running or if it's been sitting out in the sun and the cab has heated up past 120 degrees it throws off that reading. but it will give you an idea where your at, low or high.

 

[dbrannon79]

I had a brain fart for my truck! Not wanting to go through pulling the front brush guard to get the grille off, I thought about what if I can just unbolt it from the bumper and leave the bolts on the frame so it might "hinge"forward just enough to pull the grille. That brush guard has been tweaked so if I completely remove it. Pry bars, grunts, and some fine words are needed to get it back into place LOL

 

[Big T]

Replaced the clip that holds the lock actuator rod to the latch assembly. Also drilled the rivets holding the lock actuator to the inner door panel and replaced with bolts, lock washers and nylock nuts. It was flopping around quite a bit on just the rivets. Got it back together and the lock actuator works great, while 90% of the rattles in the door are gone.

The 10% remaining rattles is from the door on the latch pin. After redoing the hinge pins and bushings a couple years back, the door rattle is much improved, but there is still slight play. I might have to go the route of overzsized pins and bushings from Cunningham Machine.

 

[dbrannon79]

The 10% remaining rattles is from the door on the latch pin. After redoing the hinge pins and bushings a couple years back, the door rattle is much improved, but there is still slight play. I might have to go the route of overzsized pins and bushings from Cunningham Machine.

I had found on both of my trucks the majority of the rattle comes from the striker and latch. the latch from factory had some plastic around the latching parts creating a "bumper" against the striker bolt but has worn off causing metal to metal contact. on fords they put that plastic on the striker pins. a simple fix is to use some black tape on the striker bolt but it wears off quickly. I have considered trying to use my 3D printer to make some bushings to go around the shank on the striker and see if that helps any or would last longer than tape. replacing the gasket around the door also helped my 95 on the front doors. on my 93 while driving over a rough road it sounds like my door is ajar sometimes because of this.

 

[Big T]

I had found on both of my trucks the majority of the rattle comes from the striker and latch. the latch from factory had some plastic around the latching parts creating a "bumper" against the striker bolt but has worn off causing metal to metal contact. on fords they put that plastic on the striker pins. a simple fix is to use some black tape on the striker bolt but it wears off quickly. I have considered trying to use my 3D printer to make some bushings to go around the shank on the striker and see if that helps any or would last longer than tape. replacing the gasket around the door also helped my 95 on the front doors. on my 93 while driving over a rough road it sounds like my door is ajar sometimes because of this.

Both the striker and latch are recently new.

 

[dbrannon79]

Just thinking about it, maybe taking the striker bolt and dipping it into some plasti-dip for a rubberized coating might work too!

 

[dbrannon79]

Both the striker and latch are recently new.

take a kook at the latch "fingers" and see if the black rubber / plastic is still intact or if there are wear marks where the head of the striker is wearing into the slide on the latch. the hinge pin bushing won't help much due to the slight cab tweaking. They help some when not worn but will never remove all of the travel at the latch points.