It'll be 84 today in Dallas; one of the last chances to fix it.
David
David
CK5
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One Piece at a Time: My 1985 Diesel Suburban
- Thread starter AgDieseler
- Start date
I think I'd just leave it until next year. Seems like a waste to recharge your A/C just in time for Halloween.
My reasoning is as follows. If it manages to leak again, you won't have opportunity to test it until spring. That would drive me bonkers, having a half-way-maybe-potentially-broken system. Big deal? Of course not. But it still seems like signing up for extra headache.
That's just something that would bother me. YMMV.
That's just something that would bother me. YMMV.
This violates my OCD tendencies. Also, it can be in the 80s off and on through to Christmas, so I find a good bit of utility in fixing it.
The VA instructions say it's a 1.8lb fill, but hose lengths vary and I have their oversized condenser. The tech added another 0.35lb (total of 2.15lb) so the compressor cycled more consistently across the RPM range and the temps were more uniform at varying speeds. It's all back to blowing 46-50.
Lux.
David
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That's not bad, I'd consider that decent.
Hey David. I am rereading this thread and came across the part about the radiator dying. I wonder if the new fangled orange coolant would work better with all the dissimilar metals you have going on.
Or was it you that went with the waterless coolant? I don't recall and I haven't got that far yet....
I'm loving your truck all over again....
Or was it you that went with the waterless coolant? I don't recall and I haven't got that far yet....
I'm loving your truck all over again....
Actually fixing the a/c even with it getting cooler is always a good idea. When you use the defrost setting the a/c is used. Plus it's good to fix things when they fail right away.
Thanks, Ray. It's been great driving the truck (nearly) daily. It seems like she spends a lot of time at the airport, but there are few things more gratifying than cranking the 6.2 after a trip away and enjoying the drive home.
As for coolant selection, I was thinking exactly the same thing. I spent 30 minutes on the phone with the tech folks at Prestone and they made the same recommendation. Just did a thorough flush of the block to get rid of all traces of green stuff before filling with 50/50 premixed orange stuff. Also, trimming the extra long anti collapse spring in the Banks lower hose eliminated the offending ground path. It was fun running the engine with the return hose hanging over the fender, and I was surprised by the amount of crud that came out of the block.
Since then, I've checked for a current between the coolant and the negative post under the hood. Everything was 0.07VDC or under.
David
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I understand why you are doing this, but I can't personally think of anyone else that has performed any electrical analysis of his engine's coolant. That is far outside the realm of normal shade-tree-mechanic diagnostics.
Good points, good points. My comment is based on the temperatures we have in my region. It's going to be below 40* pretty much from now until May. Most of that time it will be far colder than that. At 20*F or 0*F or -20*F I can't pleasantly tell whether the A/C is functioning or not. When it's 80*F out, it's really obvious. So I'd rather troubleshoot the A/C at that point. This is moot for 2 reasons. First, you guys are still seeing warm weather, so my reasoning doesn't apply down there. Second, my rigs don't even have A/C, so fixing A/C isn't even on my radar screen at this point. And the one car that I've owned with A/C has rarely seen the compressor engaged (it happens to be one that doesn't run the A/C while defrosting unless specifically engaged). It's just not hugely useful when the summertime temps peak out around 85*. So why bother?
Your situation is completely different than mine, YMWV.
That's good news! I got a guy who does GM diesels specifically. I want to take my old 286k mile 1990 6.2 to him to check for cracks and do a rebuild if it's all good. I have a used Banks Sidewinder kit I picked up cheap, so maybe next Spring I can start getting jiggy with it all. If it winds up being cracked, well, I hate to do it but I'll sell Dads Taco and get an Optimizer for it. I've been talking with Peninsular, they want $6600 for one....
That'll last the rest of my days and leave me something to leave my Grandson. Unless he turns out to be a complete d-bag. Which will be hard with me keeping him straight..... He learned early on PawPaw and Nanna don't play.....
My running to-do list was getting a bit long, so today was all about crossing this off.
I've had a persistent and distinct driveline vibration from 65-75ish. I don't typically drive faster than 65, but I don't like leaving things undone. Checking my angles, the pinion was at 13ish and the shaft at 12, but any compression (loaded or with a trailer) and the angle would quickly go out of tolerance. As a test, I've installed 2* shims in the rear - ORD has them in single degree increments for tuning just these problems.
The vibration still exists, but it is significantly decreased and is now over a broader speed range - from 60 to 75. I have some highway driving to do this week, and will give it a thorough test.
Also, thanks for the part number, @muddysub, glad to get this repaired:
Yep. 32 years, and the bearing is going to wear, and the retainer will crack. 4wheelparts and NAPA both had the kit.
A good day on the shop. More stuff still to do.
David
I've had a persistent and distinct driveline vibration from 65-75ish. I don't typically drive faster than 65, but I don't like leaving things undone. Checking my angles, the pinion was at 13ish and the shaft at 12, but any compression (loaded or with a trailer) and the angle would quickly go out of tolerance. As a test, I've installed 2* shims in the rear - ORD has them in single degree increments for tuning just these problems.
The vibration still exists, but it is significantly decreased and is now over a broader speed range - from 60 to 75. I have some highway driving to do this week, and will give it a thorough test.
Also, thanks for the part number, @muddysub, glad to get this repaired:
Yep. 32 years, and the bearing is going to wear, and the retainer will crack. 4wheelparts and NAPA both had the kit.
A good day on the shop. More stuff still to do.
David
Hm. I've needed to to that for a while. what's the part number for that bearing?
Crown Automotive:
CRO4487696K
David
CRO4487696K
David
I hate I'm waiting until page 30 to subscribe to this build thread, but better late than never! I love this suburban! I really like the fact that its a driver and you always have something new to do to it. And Its awesome that your planing on making Blazer Bash this year. If nothing changes with my work schedule, ill be making my second trip out to Moab to Blazer Bash in 2017. And I again plan to drive it there and back. I recently moved from Shreveport, La to Longview, Tx. So im about 60 miles closer to Moab than i was. LOL!!! Still looking at 1,170 miles away. Maybe we can catch up sometime between now and then and do some East Texas wheelin'? And I'm always looking for local spots the wheel.
This could happen.Caravan, caravan!
Yeah, then swing by Kansas and pick Me and @wheels87k5 up for the journey.
Appreciate the comments, and I'm glad to now have your input on this thread.
I'm looking forward to wheeling Moab with those who have done it before. I'm down for a convoy, though my work schedule might have me in Denver the week before. Lots of time still to plan.
In the meantime, we should wheel Gilmer. It's not far from you, and regular testing of one's rig is always a good thing.
In the spirit of BB17 prep, I'm tackling the high speed vibration first. I just recently completed a 500 mile round trip drive, and 63 is as high as she'll go without the driveline shaking itself like a pneumatic compactor. Getting to Moab in 2017 will require higher speeds.
I had Tom Woods' rep on the line and did a few experiments as I drove, which led to me pulling the shaft and sending it to Ogden. It should get there today. Could be a worm CV ball, or simply out of balance. My angles are all within 2*.
I have a crazy couple weeks of work through to the Christmas holiday, and new client projects in the shop, so I'm taking every spare moment to work on the Suburban. The Charger continues to wait.
David
Tom Wood's called last week, and confirmed the shaft was out of balance. Strangely, the newly applied weights were a very similar size and in a similar location to the original ones, but it certainly was a balance problem. They could not even spin up their machine to 1000 RPM. After the correction, they said it's spun smoothly up to 3000 RPM. 65mph is 2804 RPM shaft speed, 75 is 3236, and critical speed for the shaft is 4000+.
It should be waiting for me when I get back to town, and I'm eager to install and test.
David
It should be waiting for me when I get back to town, and I'm eager to install and test.
David
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