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Trucks hate to sit unused...

tRustyK5

tRustyK5

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Well, I've been busy with the current build on my truck and am almost done. The Jimmy has been sitting since mid July and i'm trying to get it to fire up right now. Last weekend I tried and found I went from 6 or 7 working GP's down to 5 only...with three dead on the same side of the motor. I just picked up three autolite 1110's to get me through until the Kennedy Quick Heats show up.

So, I get in the truck, turn the key to on, push the button and get no 'glow' light. I can hear the relay click but it's not sending power to the GP's. :doah:

So, off to pick up another relay at the parts store...:rolleyes:

Funny how I went through this exact same scenario shortly after I swapped the 6.2 into my truck. First GP's, then a day later the relay packed it in.

I think when they're not getting used regularly electrical stuff seems to hate the weather here.

Rene
 
yeah i think that is why most good 6.2 sit behind some barn, because it "wont run"

some farmer well i put a new glow plug or two in there befor i stored it for a year and Now it wont start.
 
not my perkins.
It can sit for 2 years and all I have to do is make sure it has a good battery (notice I said one battery) and one revolution and it comes to life.
No glow plugs no controler no electric, in fact you don't need a battery if you live up a hill you just roll start it.
:D And it will start after sitting burried in the snow for 24 hours.
:bow:
 
I hear ya..

Weather here destroys vehicles at an alarming rate,especially if they sit for any length of time unused...how well I know!..

I parked my van in december '03,and now it has large rotted areas that were not rusty before,the brakes still work,but feel like the calipers are seizing,and they were replaced not too long before it was parked..tires go flat on a regular basis, thanks to rim leaks from rust..even the A frames and underneath are rusting bad,and I parked it on the asphalt driveway ,thinking it would be better than on grass or leaves..it did help some..but still,I'm very discouraged by the amount of damage the weather has done already to it..might end up pulling the motor and tranny and scrapping it..had it since 1990,and have many good memories of trips I took in that van--hate to junk it..:doah:

I have the flatbed I made in 1996 from my 74 K20 out in the yard,sitting on a '62 GMC 2wd chassis, that was made into a trailer..it was brand new steel when I built it,4" channel iron--was painted with grey enamel,has a plywood deck on it..it was still in great condition when I scrapped the truck it was on--now,2 years later,I can find little or no paint anywhere on it--if I hit it with a hammer,large sheets of metal flake off,leaving the once 1/4" thick steel as thin as 1/8" or less in spots!:doah: ..

The plywood is all punky,and mushrooms are now sprouting in one corner of the bed where leaves piled up on it..used to be in perfect shape due to constant oil spillage from junk I'd haul to the boneyard with it..I found it hard to believe how badly the thing rotted ,after being drenched with oil for years..the weird part is the chassis of the old truck it was made from is only surface rusted,and still in useable shape!..(must be because it was "old" steel,not the recycled crap we now get)..

My truck has suffered a lot since sitting most of this past year,and I'm getting discouraged --it sucks fixing rust constantly,and the truck will NEVER be the same,no matter how anal you are about patching it up..:(
I need to move to Arizona...:crazy:
 
I was absolutely in shock the first time I went to a junkyard in Phoenix. The cars there.... it looks like a parking lot at the mall. Most everything looks fine, they just don't run. Its so different than yards back home (north east). Lucky if you could undo the wheel lugs on the cars there, melting into the ground, but there were solid drivetrains everywhere.
 
Welp, GP relay was not the problem and I now have an extra relay for my trailbox. :rolleyes:

Turns out when I re-routed some wiring after installing the new clutch master I had some strain on some of the wiring. This caused a poor connection in the glow plug circuit. :doah: I found it while trying to find a short somewhere. Had something rigged to keep the push button pushed and when I wiggled that plug I saw the GP light come on. Routed the wiring a bit different and it works fine now.

Sure does ride smoooooth with my new Alcan springs too. :bow: :bow:

Rene
 
yeah thats the time you want to kick your own ass, for not seeing what you did.

cool you got it going, and hey its always good to have a spare or 3 right?
 
Spares are always good...and I don't feel too dumb as it 'looked' like it should have been just fine routed the way it was. :crazy:

Rene
 
just think you know right were to start next time, i like that sometimes, looks like i know what i am doing when my truck crap out on me
 
More "sitting" problems!..rants on rust!

I drove my truck to a friends shop the other day--after dark when I went to leave,my headlights refused to come on!--not just the factory ones,but the plow lights were "dead" too!..tried pulling the switch(s) in and out several times,nothing!--then I rolled the rug back,and tried wiggling the wires on the dimmer switch,and stomped on it a dozen times!--NOTHING!..I had to get a ride home in my friends car!..:doah: :blush: pretty embarrassing!..

Next day I drive there in my car--and the lights work instantly when I turned then on!..had my friend follow me home so I could get both vehicles home!..after I got home,the lights refused to work again..I cleaned the connections at the dimmer switch,and now they work again,but come on "slowly" sometimes..there must still be a corroded curcuit somewhere..

I think I'll be having more trouble with the lights again!:mad: --the damm weather here corrodes everything overnight!..I have endless electrical gremlins as far as lights and other things go,wiring gets gangrene in about 5 years around here..

I also noticed my "new" AC G60 glow plugs I put in less than 3 years ago when I got the truck are SO rusted,you'd think they were origininals from 1982!--I hope they can still be removed,it looks like the hex portion will crumble when I go to put a wrench on them and torque on em!..:doah: :( :mad: --

And my once like new exhaust system appears to be lucky to make it till spring, its so rusted already--oh well,I always wanted stacks on my diesel,and now that the stepside steps are rotting right where I'd run the stacks,I guess thats just what I'll do when the present system rots off entirely!...:crazy:
 
mini hijack but its appropriate...

I went and drove the '82 blazer matt is selling and I'm going to go buy it from him when he is back in Cali the 21st or so but when we went up to where it was at (his parent's house) I didn't do anything but turn the key and get in the throttle a bit and it fired right up...idled weird for about 3 seconds but once it cleared out it was fine...it has been sitting for months too.

So whats w/ turning the key...heating the plugs...then starting?
Is that an option that this one may not have or did I do it wrong?

-Avery
 
What was the temperature? I'm guessing it was reasonably warm out. Secondly he probably doesn't have his glow plugs on a manual switch, so as soon as the key was turned to 'on' the glow plugs were cycling...you should have seen an amber "wait to start" light come on.

That's good it fired up so easily after sitting all that time though. The problem with mine turned out to be a loose lug at the power distribution block on the firewall. It didn't really have much to do with sitting after all. :crazy:

Rene
 
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