Truck continues to start great.
I did however develop a leak in one of the NPT fittings in the fuel tank. I must have stretched the threads with all my R & R's... because I could not get it to stop leaking. Got a new fitting in Lethbridge and dropped the fuel tank again. Starting to get pretty good at dropping the tank!!! New fitting so far seems to be fine.
I was not prepared to work on anything else until fuel leak was fixed!
Anyway the truck not only starts but it drives down the highway as I also got it registered. No need for any kind of inspection as it was still active in the Alberta provincial registry.
New A-arms are on and my brake even seem to work. The mechanic simply checked my work took it our for a test drive and we have come to the conclusion that it is a low vacuum issue. Brakes work and feel great when up to highway speed and you step on them. Lots of vacuum then!
However driving around town at slower speeds it still seems a little hard to press. I am looking into a vacuum booster/pump/reservoir to get the vacuum up. I think it is about 11 instead of at least 18 where it should be. Still looking into this stuff.
Finally, the pain does still continue...
Driving it out on the highway in front of may place in overdrive - when I back off the gas pedal at 3000rpm or more it is like it kicks into neutral. If I stay on the pedal too much it will hit back in pretty hard. As suggested I did try to tighten up the TV cable a bit but it made no difference. It was driving fine for the one test run I made with the mechanic and on the 2 or 3 times he had it out. He actually re-adjusted the TV cable saying I had it too tight.
It does not do it in 3rd gear. By the way this is a rebuilt 700r4 transmission.
As I understand an easy tranny to burn up if not set up correctly. Some have told me they have seen them burn up in 2 blocks!
I may have toasted it.
I am going to arrange to take it into the new shop ASAP and we are going to put a pressure gauge on it and see where it is at.
I smelled the fluid and it almost smell burnt! Someone else needs to smell it.
So not bad news but it could be better I guess. I think I am down to only one issue now - the tranny - most everything else seems to be working great. Oh except for a leak in my A/C system that I have not had time yet to look at. If its only one leak I am glad as I built the A/C system myself. I was expecting a leak or two.
I have talked to several people in the industry and think I have found the right guys/gals to rebuild it again. This time I am going to bring the truck and try them and have them do the removal and installation that way if there are any more issues it will come out on their dime.
Of course no warranty after it sat for several years.
On a final note - well not really final I guess but - this one really had me going for a while. Before the tranny thing started to happen I was experiencing some very strange noise that were hard to pinpoint there origin.
First the floor seemed to have a weird vibration/drone so my first thought was the exhaust was maybe not isolated entirely from the frame or body or both. Or may a loose body mount or something in the front end.
The noise(s) seems to happen when I was speeding up or slowing down or turning! Almost all of the time...
I jacked up the truck and pulled on everything I could - body panels, body mounts, the wheels, the tie rod ends and rest of the suspension. Nothing seemed to be loose!
I got to thinking that maybe the seat was loose as I seemed to remember not tightening it and actually leaving some of the bolts out.
So sure as shooting I checked the seat and it was loose. I also noticed that I had not put sound deadener on the metal floor under the seat.
But this is the where its get real interesting or funny or whatever you want to call it!
While looking under the seat I found an approximately 2 foot pice of schedule 80 hard plastic pipe that I was using to hold down my throttle pedal while doing adjustments and to top it off I also found a wrench under there.
Well both of them rolling around on the metal floor with the loose seat made a hell of a racket. I had a really good laugh at myself. Truck seems to have quietened right down now.
Who would have though a piece of plastic pipe and wrench could make such a noise and keep me buffaloed for an eternity - it seemed.
So all in all I am very happy even though it looks like another tranny build may be in my future. Cant stop now!!!!
I have been researching the 700r4 and the available upgrades and think we can make a good tranny.
Any and all thought from any of you would be appreciated.
I did however develop a leak in one of the NPT fittings in the fuel tank. I must have stretched the threads with all my R & R's... because I could not get it to stop leaking. Got a new fitting in Lethbridge and dropped the fuel tank again. Starting to get pretty good at dropping the tank!!! New fitting so far seems to be fine.
I was not prepared to work on anything else until fuel leak was fixed!
Anyway the truck not only starts but it drives down the highway as I also got it registered. No need for any kind of inspection as it was still active in the Alberta provincial registry.
New A-arms are on and my brake even seem to work. The mechanic simply checked my work took it our for a test drive and we have come to the conclusion that it is a low vacuum issue. Brakes work and feel great when up to highway speed and you step on them. Lots of vacuum then!
However driving around town at slower speeds it still seems a little hard to press. I am looking into a vacuum booster/pump/reservoir to get the vacuum up. I think it is about 11 instead of at least 18 where it should be. Still looking into this stuff.
Finally, the pain does still continue...
Driving it out on the highway in front of may place in overdrive - when I back off the gas pedal at 3000rpm or more it is like it kicks into neutral. If I stay on the pedal too much it will hit back in pretty hard. As suggested I did try to tighten up the TV cable a bit but it made no difference. It was driving fine for the one test run I made with the mechanic and on the 2 or 3 times he had it out. He actually re-adjusted the TV cable saying I had it too tight.
It does not do it in 3rd gear. By the way this is a rebuilt 700r4 transmission.
As I understand an easy tranny to burn up if not set up correctly. Some have told me they have seen them burn up in 2 blocks!
I may have toasted it.
I am going to arrange to take it into the new shop ASAP and we are going to put a pressure gauge on it and see where it is at.
I smelled the fluid and it almost smell burnt! Someone else needs to smell it.
So not bad news but it could be better I guess. I think I am down to only one issue now - the tranny - most everything else seems to be working great. Oh except for a leak in my A/C system that I have not had time yet to look at. If its only one leak I am glad as I built the A/C system myself. I was expecting a leak or two.
I have talked to several people in the industry and think I have found the right guys/gals to rebuild it again. This time I am going to bring the truck and try them and have them do the removal and installation that way if there are any more issues it will come out on their dime.
Of course no warranty after it sat for several years.
On a final note - well not really final I guess but - this one really had me going for a while. Before the tranny thing started to happen I was experiencing some very strange noise that were hard to pinpoint there origin.
First the floor seemed to have a weird vibration/drone so my first thought was the exhaust was maybe not isolated entirely from the frame or body or both. Or may a loose body mount or something in the front end.
The noise(s) seems to happen when I was speeding up or slowing down or turning! Almost all of the time...
I jacked up the truck and pulled on everything I could - body panels, body mounts, the wheels, the tie rod ends and rest of the suspension. Nothing seemed to be loose!
I got to thinking that maybe the seat was loose as I seemed to remember not tightening it and actually leaving some of the bolts out.
So sure as shooting I checked the seat and it was loose. I also noticed that I had not put sound deadener on the metal floor under the seat.
But this is the where its get real interesting or funny or whatever you want to call it!
While looking under the seat I found an approximately 2 foot pice of schedule 80 hard plastic pipe that I was using to hold down my throttle pedal while doing adjustments and to top it off I also found a wrench under there.
Well both of them rolling around on the metal floor with the loose seat made a hell of a racket. I had a really good laugh at myself. Truck seems to have quietened right down now.
Who would have though a piece of plastic pipe and wrench could make such a noise and keep me buffaloed for an eternity - it seemed.
So all in all I am very happy even though it looks like another tranny build may be in my future. Cant stop now!!!!
I have been researching the 700r4 and the available upgrades and think we can make a good tranny.
Any and all thought from any of you would be appreciated.
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