Justwondering
Well-Known Member
Well well well....
Yes this past 3 months has been tough.. but not nearly as bad as last year.
So just exactly what have I been doing... because , well, it is just about me right? (and the cars ... bwa ha hahaha)
Wind that clock (calendar? can you wind a calendar?) back in time to October before I started that dang end of year spiral.
I, using what little brain I had at the time, decided to empty out all the (3) gas tanks and run the fuel through the Chevy Truck. Then I could chose to reuse the old containers, or get rid of them. They are the old plastic red ones that eventually just have the come-aparts.
Did I try and smell the gas in the tanks (no -- lost most of my sense of smell when I was 42).
Did I try putting in only one partial tank (no -- cause in for a penny, in for a pound).
Did I compare the color of the contents of the tanks with known, good gas (no -- cause, why would I do something like that. It was good when I bought it, right?)
And of course, after pouring about 10 gallons in total of 3 different 5 gallon tanks into my truck, it ran, then it sputtered, then it died, and would not start again.
I slowly banged my head on the steering wheel.
I knew I shouldn't have done it.
But I did it.
Now only I was going to be here to fix it.
What the heck was I thinking.
I wasn't. Went in and cried some and beat myself up for being stupid and making a very, very poor decision.. not once but 3 times (3 tanks of whatever I put in the truck).
What did I try?
Well heck fuzzy, lets just add something else in. Poured in a bottle of 90 % alcohol.
Stood on the running rails and bounced up and down to slosh it around.
Still wouldn't start.
Double down!
Go buy the official 'fuel treatment' bottle from O'Reilly's and lets pour that in.
Stood on the running rails and bounced up and down to slosh it around.
Still wouldn't start.
Sigh.
Go inside and thaw out a steak so I can have something decent to eat. Fell asleep while it was cooking and now its dang tough when I wake up to the smell of over-cooked steak.
Dog was happy that night.
Then I began the hellish search through videos on YouTube for the best way to clean out the fuel tank.
I really, really don't like the YouTube model for searching or wading through the nim-nuts that spend more time talking about everything but the topic usually over really awful background music.
So the end result was either 1. drop the tank or 2. lift the bed.
Since the truck is sitting in the field next to the house, dropping the tank didn't seem prudent as anything I put under the truck would sink in the dirt/mud depending on the rain.
Which by the way, we are in a drought and it hasn't rained much to speak of in 6 months.
But we all know that the minute I put a transmission jack under my truck out in the field it would have been a monsoon for weeks.
Before you lift the truck, lets try to get the old fuel out of the tank.
What a cosmic joke! My brother's hand pump was rusted so bad it couldn't move.
My pump worked - 4 ounces at a time. Bless me, that truck tank was over 3/4 full... a 22 gallon tank with over 15 gallons of fuel that I would be hand pumping 4 ounces at a time.
Sweet baby Jane....
Took a few days cause, yes, it turns out if I get enough fuel on me or inhaled it does turn my stomach even if I'm nose blind to it.
And where do you put that much stale gas?
Why in one, two, or three of the empty syrup tubs we use to feed cattle supplements in the winter!
Lift the truck! Ding Ding Ding!
I have a tractor. But where are the forks for the tractor.
Oh Right --- down at the trust. Will they fit in my Ford Explorer? Only one way to find out. 34 miles later I'm back here with the forks... Yes they fit!
Forks on the tractor.
Now, eight bolts and I can lift this bed off!
WRONG.
I own a unicorn. While every YouTube video says their are 8 bolts.. my truck has 10.
No worries, only took me a week to figure that out. Partly because all the bolts were lock-tite in place.
Can my socket wrench loosen them ... Well of course not.
I know, I'll use the makita impact tool my husband bought. BUT OF COURSE NOT.
Its way too large and won't fit in the space I need above the leaf springs.
I know, I'll use the impact tool from down at the trust. BUT OF COURSE NOT.
No battery for one, other is also too large.
It's close to Christmas. I should just suck it up and buy a new impact tool, cause if my husband were alive he would do it for me. Yea!
Bought a really compact, short body Old Milwaukee with friction fit. GREAT!
It fits above the leaf spring.
BUT
I don't have the finger strength to get the sockets on and off. Well crap. Glad I own a flat blade screwdriver. Yes, it did get easier as time went by.
We are cooking with gas now!
Got all 8 bolts off. Using a lever (long solid rod) and a short 2x4 on top of the rear tire, I try lifting the bed slightly. Doesn't move. What?
So begins the struggle until I go get a new piece of cardboard to lay on the ground and spend quality time staring at the underside of the truck.
What do I spy? Two more freaking bolts!
Once I get those off... hot dang the lever works and the bed obviously moves.
Now, put the forks on the tractor and practice a bit running the joy stick. My mister always did that part, so it looks like a grade school kid is running the tractor with me at the controls.
I put in one strap across the front and lift slowly, start to see it raising up, back the tractor so it doesn't hit the back window, raise, back, raise , back.
Dang it -- run out of daylight.
Did I pay attention to the coming weather?
NO
Did a cold front move in?
YES
Did the wind pick up?
YES
Did this delay me?
Well YES.
My quick fix eventully ran into 6, yes six, weeks.
Weather delays. Sadness delays. New tool purchase delays. How do you do this youtube delays.
Thank goodness DarthCar was there to answer my questions and remind me of what he told me the day before-- like 7 times. He is a very good friend to put up with all this.
Once I get the bed up a little, I, of course, go to OReilleys to get a new fuel pump.
Does it have the old connector or the new one?
Does it have two lines or three?
Do you want a new fuel filter as well?
Can we just skip all this and get to the fun part? well apparently not.
So I have to wait until the weather clears, and its not stupid humid, or overly windy. Finally get the bed completely lifted up and swung away from the truck (remember there are those
pesky electrical connections.. One stubborn connector took an entire day to get it worried off without breaking the connector body.
Remember this was my dad's old truck that he bashed in the bumper on one of his over indulgent vodka days, and so I took quite a bit to lever the bumper enough so it wouldn't trap the bed to the frame. And remember that the spare tire is full size and was blocking my ability to get to see the whole picture underneath.
So yes, I had to drive back down to the trust and ravage my brother's truck for a change the spare kit just so I could get that dang spare off my truck.
(I still have it by the way -- spare kit that is).
But eventually I got the spare off and it still has the nibs on it like its a new tire although it also has 4 really raw rub spots on it since I don't think its ever been used as anything other than a spare.
I did watch a decent YouTube video of how to get the fuel filter out.
Takes one with a new connector. With 3 fuel lines.
I'd already changed the fuel filter twice so I didn't get a new fuel filter.
I did manage to use a towel and long tongs to clean out the majority of the tank of the stale gas and some weird orange goo.
Installed the new pump.
A 50 mile round trip to town to buy 3 tanks of non-ethanol gas.
My thought being, don't put in ethanol where it might precipitate out the water again.
Put in 4 gallons of the good gas.
Tried starting it ... no bueno.
Tried priming the rail lines and evacuating the rail line of fuel in case it is vapor locked.
Tried starting it ... no bueno.
Backed up to the fuel regulator.
Pulled the clip, and the fuel regulator and there was plenty of fuel.
Put the clip and fuel regulator back on.
Tried start it ... no bueno.
Getting dark, went inside and went to bed. Tried again the next day.
Finally got my brother to come watch the engine while I tried starting it.
Apparently, I didn't install the fuel regulator correctly.
Another day, and finally at the end of the day my brother got the clip back on properly.
(I really need to do finger exercises)
Put more gas in it cause most of it was now saturating the cardboard from the day before.
She tried starting.
Eventually.. after recharging the battery for a few hours, I got the engine to run
Rough. but it ran.
Drove to town in the Ford Explorer (50 mile round trip) for chevron techron and put in half a bottle Since I only had enough gas to fill half the tank.
WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER
Another couple of days to put it back together.
I've run it without a spare twice now. Next week, I'll have a trained professional check the tire and decide if I need a new one.
Life
Is
Good
And
Getting
Better!
JW
Happy New Year from Texas!
Yes this past 3 months has been tough.. but not nearly as bad as last year.
So just exactly what have I been doing... because , well, it is just about me right? (and the cars ... bwa ha hahaha)
Wind that clock (calendar? can you wind a calendar?) back in time to October before I started that dang end of year spiral.
I, using what little brain I had at the time, decided to empty out all the (3) gas tanks and run the fuel through the Chevy Truck. Then I could chose to reuse the old containers, or get rid of them. They are the old plastic red ones that eventually just have the come-aparts.
Did I try and smell the gas in the tanks (no -- lost most of my sense of smell when I was 42).
Did I try putting in only one partial tank (no -- cause in for a penny, in for a pound).
Did I compare the color of the contents of the tanks with known, good gas (no -- cause, why would I do something like that. It was good when I bought it, right?)
And of course, after pouring about 10 gallons in total of 3 different 5 gallon tanks into my truck, it ran, then it sputtered, then it died, and would not start again.
I slowly banged my head on the steering wheel.
I knew I shouldn't have done it.
But I did it.
Now only I was going to be here to fix it.
What the heck was I thinking.
I wasn't. Went in and cried some and beat myself up for being stupid and making a very, very poor decision.. not once but 3 times (3 tanks of whatever I put in the truck).
What did I try?
Well heck fuzzy, lets just add something else in. Poured in a bottle of 90 % alcohol.
Stood on the running rails and bounced up and down to slosh it around.
Still wouldn't start.
Double down!
Go buy the official 'fuel treatment' bottle from O'Reilly's and lets pour that in.
Stood on the running rails and bounced up and down to slosh it around.
Still wouldn't start.
Sigh.
Go inside and thaw out a steak so I can have something decent to eat. Fell asleep while it was cooking and now its dang tough when I wake up to the smell of over-cooked steak.
Dog was happy that night.
Then I began the hellish search through videos on YouTube for the best way to clean out the fuel tank.
I really, really don't like the YouTube model for searching or wading through the nim-nuts that spend more time talking about everything but the topic usually over really awful background music.
So the end result was either 1. drop the tank or 2. lift the bed.
Since the truck is sitting in the field next to the house, dropping the tank didn't seem prudent as anything I put under the truck would sink in the dirt/mud depending on the rain.
Which by the way, we are in a drought and it hasn't rained much to speak of in 6 months.
But we all know that the minute I put a transmission jack under my truck out in the field it would have been a monsoon for weeks.
Before you lift the truck, lets try to get the old fuel out of the tank.
What a cosmic joke! My brother's hand pump was rusted so bad it couldn't move.
My pump worked - 4 ounces at a time. Bless me, that truck tank was over 3/4 full... a 22 gallon tank with over 15 gallons of fuel that I would be hand pumping 4 ounces at a time.
Sweet baby Jane....
Took a few days cause, yes, it turns out if I get enough fuel on me or inhaled it does turn my stomach even if I'm nose blind to it.
And where do you put that much stale gas?
Why in one, two, or three of the empty syrup tubs we use to feed cattle supplements in the winter!
Lift the truck! Ding Ding Ding!
I have a tractor. But where are the forks for the tractor.
Oh Right --- down at the trust. Will they fit in my Ford Explorer? Only one way to find out. 34 miles later I'm back here with the forks... Yes they fit!
Forks on the tractor.
Now, eight bolts and I can lift this bed off!
WRONG.
I own a unicorn. While every YouTube video says their are 8 bolts.. my truck has 10.
No worries, only took me a week to figure that out. Partly because all the bolts were lock-tite in place.
Can my socket wrench loosen them ... Well of course not.
I know, I'll use the makita impact tool my husband bought. BUT OF COURSE NOT.
Its way too large and won't fit in the space I need above the leaf springs.
I know, I'll use the impact tool from down at the trust. BUT OF COURSE NOT.
No battery for one, other is also too large.
It's close to Christmas. I should just suck it up and buy a new impact tool, cause if my husband were alive he would do it for me. Yea!
Bought a really compact, short body Old Milwaukee with friction fit. GREAT!
It fits above the leaf spring.
BUT
I don't have the finger strength to get the sockets on and off. Well crap. Glad I own a flat blade screwdriver. Yes, it did get easier as time went by.
We are cooking with gas now!
Got all 8 bolts off. Using a lever (long solid rod) and a short 2x4 on top of the rear tire, I try lifting the bed slightly. Doesn't move. What?
So begins the struggle until I go get a new piece of cardboard to lay on the ground and spend quality time staring at the underside of the truck.
What do I spy? Two more freaking bolts!
Once I get those off... hot dang the lever works and the bed obviously moves.
Now, put the forks on the tractor and practice a bit running the joy stick. My mister always did that part, so it looks like a grade school kid is running the tractor with me at the controls.
I put in one strap across the front and lift slowly, start to see it raising up, back the tractor so it doesn't hit the back window, raise, back, raise , back.
Dang it -- run out of daylight.
Did I pay attention to the coming weather?
NO
Did a cold front move in?
YES
Did the wind pick up?
YES
Did this delay me?
Well YES.
My quick fix eventully ran into 6, yes six, weeks.
Weather delays. Sadness delays. New tool purchase delays. How do you do this youtube delays.
Thank goodness DarthCar was there to answer my questions and remind me of what he told me the day before-- like 7 times. He is a very good friend to put up with all this.
Once I get the bed up a little, I, of course, go to OReilleys to get a new fuel pump.
Does it have the old connector or the new one?
Does it have two lines or three?
Do you want a new fuel filter as well?
Can we just skip all this and get to the fun part? well apparently not.
So I have to wait until the weather clears, and its not stupid humid, or overly windy. Finally get the bed completely lifted up and swung away from the truck (remember there are those
pesky electrical connections.. One stubborn connector took an entire day to get it worried off without breaking the connector body.
Remember this was my dad's old truck that he bashed in the bumper on one of his over indulgent vodka days, and so I took quite a bit to lever the bumper enough so it wouldn't trap the bed to the frame. And remember that the spare tire is full size and was blocking my ability to get to see the whole picture underneath.
So yes, I had to drive back down to the trust and ravage my brother's truck for a change the spare kit just so I could get that dang spare off my truck.
(I still have it by the way -- spare kit that is).
But eventually I got the spare off and it still has the nibs on it like its a new tire although it also has 4 really raw rub spots on it since I don't think its ever been used as anything other than a spare.
I did watch a decent YouTube video of how to get the fuel filter out.
Takes one with a new connector. With 3 fuel lines.
I'd already changed the fuel filter twice so I didn't get a new fuel filter.
I did manage to use a towel and long tongs to clean out the majority of the tank of the stale gas and some weird orange goo.
Installed the new pump.
A 50 mile round trip to town to buy 3 tanks of non-ethanol gas.
My thought being, don't put in ethanol where it might precipitate out the water again.
Put in 4 gallons of the good gas.
Tried starting it ... no bueno.
Tried priming the rail lines and evacuating the rail line of fuel in case it is vapor locked.
Tried starting it ... no bueno.
Backed up to the fuel regulator.
Pulled the clip, and the fuel regulator and there was plenty of fuel.
Put the clip and fuel regulator back on.
Tried start it ... no bueno.
Getting dark, went inside and went to bed. Tried again the next day.
Finally got my brother to come watch the engine while I tried starting it.
Apparently, I didn't install the fuel regulator correctly.
Another day, and finally at the end of the day my brother got the clip back on properly.
(I really need to do finger exercises)
Put more gas in it cause most of it was now saturating the cardboard from the day before.
She tried starting.
Eventually.. after recharging the battery for a few hours, I got the engine to run
Rough. but it ran.
Drove to town in the Ford Explorer (50 mile round trip) for chevron techron and put in half a bottle Since I only had enough gas to fill half the tank.
WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER
Another couple of days to put it back together.
I've run it without a spare twice now. Next week, I'll have a trained professional check the tire and decide if I need a new one.
Life
Is
Good
And
Getting
Better!
JW
Happy New Year from Texas!
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