Ready, Set,,,,Here I go.....

Been a backyard/redneck mechanic my whole life, thanks to my Dad and Uncle for teaching me the little they did. Self taught for the most part and wouldn't have it any other way. My logic is simple, if any one man can do it, than so can I....HOOAH!!!

 

Well Well Well,,,, worked till dark'30 last night getting truck ready to roll. All parts came in and are on the truck. Attempted to start but batteries were too dead, so I put the charger on it over night. Called company this AM and was told my lane was covered today and tomorrow but asked if I can work Saturday..lol Yeah, I can work Saturday. I hate that my truck has broke down twice now, and I have only been pulling their loads for 3 weeks. This doesn't just effect me but them as well, and I understand this. I don't know how many times this can happen before they pull my contract. All I know is, I have to do something because I have not received any income in 4 weeks, and now this week I will only have 1 load! My truck needs a lot of parts replaced due to age and wear so I think I am going to have to rethink this whole thing, and make some call's.

 

I'm maxed out now brother.... Don't get me wrong, my credit is good, number is great but, I am maxed out. I don't know what is going to happen right now but I know for sure that I will be ok. I have paid my bill's on time for years and have been close in the past to making late payments but, it has always worked out. I just need to keep the faith and make a plan. This much I know for sure, I have a paid for truck with title in my name and no leans. Surely I can do something with that.....

 

Update! I ran 5 loads last week, M-F, which makes a full week with no break downs. Well, I would be a liar if I didn't tell you about running out of fuel, really need to get that fuel sending unit replaced. Anyway, still my fault for running out of fuel but no worries. Ran out near a friends house and he came and got me, and we got it back on the road pretty quick.

Got my starter pretty warm while attempting to re-prime the fuel. After that is when I noticed my Batt Gauge was reading low. After talking to my mechanic friend, we both figured I needed to check wiring, as I just replaced Alternator and Batteries. I checked everything and all looked fine. Let's re-cap, shall we.... On 10/10/17 I replaced the Alternator due to low BATT Gauge reading and that did nothing but, I felt the Alt was working so, on 10/14/17 when I could no longer get my truck to start, I went and got 4 new batteries. So on 10/16/17 I started off with a new Alt and new fresh batteries, Batt gauge was reading 14v during the day with no lights and 13v with lights on. After running out of fuel on the 17th is when I noticed my batt gauge getting lower, on its reading. My truck only uses battery voltage while lights are on and I only turn them on when sun goes down. It took until the 20th for me to not be able to start my truck without a jump. I found out that when I hooked up the jumper cables, my batt gauge read 14v. So that told me every connection from batteries to starter and to gauge was good. I did not charge my batteries, I just started it and took off. The night of the 20th my battery gauge, after turning lights on, went down to below 10v and the lights all started pulsating. That told me that my Alt was working, just barely and that all that wiring was good too so, the answer was I had a faulty Alt from the beginning!

On the 19th I picked up my load of parts and headed south. Once I leave the shipper, go 5 miles to US-131 and head south, ,it isn't long and I hit a big hill which normally causes me to slow down and down shift. But this day, I felt like I was pulling twice as much weight. I also noticed a strong head wind so, I wrote it off some. Over the next couple of days, the loss of power just felt stronger and I was blowing smoke more. I stated Friday that it was almost as if my air filter was getting clogged but, I checked it through the inlet and it looked fine. Going to have to replace Alt on Saturday and check out loss of power issue. Saturday comes and low & behold, the air filter is black again, just not as bad as before. Seems even though I replaced the turbo exhaust pipe, I am still getting exhaust from somewhere into the air filter. Well, now it is time to re-route the air inlet, so it gets cold air and from a different location than the engine bay.

As of this writing, I have not completed the Alt install yet, need new belts, and I have not completed the air inlet relocation, using HVAC parts. Will update asap.

 

I finished installing new Alternator, and HVAC parts the 22nd and drove the truck for the next 5 days. Power is good to go now, electrically I mean. My fuel pump is leaking pretty much full time now, and I am not convinced that it stops when I am going down the road 60+ mph. I can get mine, the one on my truck, rebuilt for $600 and 5 days time. I ordered a used fuel pump off ebay for $100 + $30s&h and received it on the 26th. Figured I would get this one rebuilt and keep driving, than replace when rebuilt. I told my wife that since I ordered the fuel pump, the pump that is on my truck will start leaking full time, it has. So, now I am rolling down the road with leaking fuel, heavy smoke out the exhaust, cracks in two cross-members and a rust hole's in the passenger side front cab mount. Each one of these problems is a OOS event, I believe anyway. I am just pushing my luck if I drive that truck any longer. I get pulled over and put out of service, that means a tow bill, and some right up's.... Not worth it anymore so, going to park the old iron and get him fixed up 100% before I put em back on the road. Get my own authority as well and just do it right. I preach this ####, might as well do it right.. Will be 50 in 5 mo's and don't need this right now but, we don't always get what we want now do we.