The RedBurb

[AugustDiesel]

Took the truck for a 3 hour road trip last week and I’d say the louvers are functioning as desired. Running about 78mph and the AC compressor on, temps outside about 81*, truck never got above 205* - and that was 5% of the time. The other 95% of the time it stayed between 195-200* where it’s supposed to be.

Pre-louvers, it would gotten closer to somewhere between 215-220*.


View attachment IMG_1927.MOV


Then I took a 2-day vacation in a 5-star resort aka hospital.



Turns out I have a heart. Had no idea.


Atrial fibrillation is a sneaky enemy.


But I’m back to normal and have a few more updates coming y’all’s way.



Andy

 

[stan1688]

Glad you're okay.

 

[ZooMad75]

Well there's an update. Sucks you had to spend some time in the covid motel, but at least they got it sorted out. Glad you are on the mend.


Louvers are cool... Literally.

 

[ktmoutfront]

I had A-fib when I was finishing the Jimmy. 2 day stay also.

Get better.

 

[AgDieseler]

Your heart beats wildly knowing the truck is ready to back out west. Glad you're out of the resort and healing. That's some scary stuff.

David

 

[AugustDiesel]

Glad you're okay.

Glad to be okay

Well there's an update. Sucks you had to spend some time in the covid motel, but at least they got it sorted out. Glad you are on the mend.


Louvers are cool... Literally.

A few lifestyle changes in my future but other than that pretty much back to normal. The louvers certainly seem to be doing their job.

I had A-fib when I was finishing the Jimmy. 2 day stay also.

Get better.

This was my second go around with it. First time was back in 2018.

Your heart beats wildly knowing the truck is ready to back out west. Glad you're out of the resort and healing. That's some scary stuff.

David

Yeah while my heart was stuck in the Jacksonville hospital, my soul was in Moab.

Agreed, not the best thing to wake up to at 5am on a Wednesday morning.


Andy

 

[mrk5]

Glad to hear your doing okay. Hospital stays suck.

 

[AugustDiesel]

Glad to hear your doing okay. Hospital stays suck.

That they do. Thank you sir!

 

[AugustDiesel]

After a year of sitting in my garage, I’ve finally installed my smittybilt 12K winch. It was so easy, my wife asked me why I waited so long to do it.

Who knows these things.

Rotated the gearbox and motor 90* so that I could mount it to the forward-mount of Shane’s @stan1688 front winch bumper.

Instructions indicated to ensure 1,000 lbs of resistance when spooling the cables for the first time. The wifey’s burb was up to the task.


View attachment IMG_2028.MOV

 

[ktmoutfront]

Now you are ready to get stuck. Looks good.

 

[AugustDiesel]

Now you are ready to get stuck. Looks good.

Or I’ll use it to pull other stuck people out.

 

[Mrpandazz]

Or I’ll use it to pull other stuck people out.

I volunteer as a test subject for the new winch, looking great btw

 

[AugustDiesel]

Well I unfortunately have bad news to deliver.

It’s time to call it - we won’t be making it to BlazerBash this year.

Behind the scenes, I’ve had a ton of medical stuff going on this year that has burned up a lot of my time off. I am fine now and am in good health - so nothing to worry about - but it has been a heck of a year and it’s only the end of May. Combine that with a few mandatory vacations with extended family, and there simply isn’t enough time off left in the year to make it to Moab.

To add to it, we’re not homeschooling our boys anymore and they’ll be in private school - AND - my wife has accepted a position as a third grade teacher AT the school they’ll be attending. So not only will I not be able to take time off, they won’t either.

The cards are just completely stacked against us in regards to BB21.

Not to worry - I have my eyes set like flint on 2022.

And we will be living vicariously through you all this September.



Gear down and throttle up.

Andy

 

[AugustDiesel]

Have knocked out a few small projects this week.

I suspected my cobbled together upper radiator hose was leaking pressure and also perhaps the in-line filter was restricting flow. So the in-line filter was deleted and the once 4 piece hose has been reduced to a 2-piece. I have some ideas in mind for a one piece in the future, but this is certainly an improvement.




Still desiring coolant filtration, a Baldwin filter and mount was installed in the circuit from the crossover pipe to the heater core. Then a fresh coolant flush and a few gallons of Prestone unmixed coolant and distilled water. I think I landed somewhere at a 60/40 mix. I also added a factory NOS coolant overflow tank, which doubles the capacity of the universal bottle I have on the core support. That small universal tank will get repurposed to replace the Gatorade bottle that currently serves as an overflow tank for the Magnum.



Continuing my campaign to get parts installed that’ve been on the shelf for a year - I was also able to get my CB radio installed, as well as my FM radio antenna.



We got to put all this to use this weekend as we traveled to Tallahassee to visit my parents for the first time since Christmas 2019.

View attachment IMG_2083.MP4


3 hours on the road, loaded with the whole family, roughly 75mph, AC full blast, temps never crested 195*. It’s a little cooler outside than it has been the last few days, but there’s no doubt that the hood louvers, improved upper radiator hose flow, and fresh coolant are having a significant impact on operating temps at highway speeds. Even got to test David’s air intake box and it’s protection of the air filter when we drove through a bit of rain.

All is well. Nothing is quite like a diesel square and the open road.

Andy

 

[campfire]

All is well. Nothing is quite like a diesel square and the open road.

It is a unique feeling, eh?

 

[AugustDiesel]

Happy Memorial Day to y’all.


We’re back in Jacksonville- but not without a bit of excitement.

Yesterday while driving around town with my wife, kids, and parents all loaded up into the burb, the IP decided to kick into advanced timing and wouldn’t come out. Instead, black smoke kept dumping out the tailpipes and the truck ran hot consistently. Checked several things per @KirsL and @AgDieseler ’s advice, to no avail.

Spent a few hours discussing with my wife and parents how we were going to get our family home from 200 miles away. We finally decided to just chance it and just drive the truck home. Fortunately, about 40 miles down the road, the timing advance finally gave loose as we ascended a long grade and the truck went back to normal. Black smoke stopped, operating temps dropped about 20 degrees, and the truck cruised at optimal performances the remaining 160 miles home.

Not really sure what happened. I reckon a piece of debris somehow got lodged in the pump then came loose.

 

[AgDieseler]

Such a strange thing to crop up. Truly an oddity.

Glad you’re all back home.

David

 

[AugustDiesel]

Such a strange thing to crop up. Truly an oddity.

Glad you’re all back home.

David

Same. My brother-in-law and I were going to go get some 4x4 action in at the local national forest this morning, but those plans quickly had to be canceled in favor of getting home. Maybe next time.

 

[campfire]

the IP decided to kick into advanced timing and wouldn’t come out

So was the external linkage mechanically jammed? Or do you think the problem was completely internal?

Also (dumb question David probably already asked), are you sure the IP didn't come loose on its mount and shift the timing a bit? I'd want to double-check that is tight. Just in case.


If I were concerned about timing enough to cancel a wheeling trip, I think I would rotate the IP until the timing was correct again. Which may have created a second problem 40 miles later, but it's easy enough to adjust it back at that point. 15MM wrench for the win!

 

[AugustDiesel]

So was the external linkage mechanically jammed? Or do you think the problem was completely internal?

Also (dumb question David probably already asked), are you sure the IP didn't come loose on its mount and shift the timing a bit? I'd want to double-check that is tight. Just in case.


If I were concerned about timing enough to cancel a wheeling trip, I think I would rotate the IP until the timing was correct again. Which may have created a second problem 40 miles later, but it's easy enough to adjust it back at that point. 15MM wrench for the win!

That indeed was David’s idea, but I compared the timing marks to what they were when I did the serpentine swap a year ago, and they were unchanged. Now that I’m home, I’ll double check tightness just as a precaution.

The external linkage still moved freely as it should, so I suspect it’s internal somewhere.

There’s no such thing as dumb questions.