Unpleasant "surprise" when I opened the garage today..

[diesel4me]

I swear if it were not for bad luck,I'd have none at all...

I hadn't been out in my garage a couple of days lately...today I walked by it to go out back to put some stale bread out for the critters---and I caught a strong odor of diesel fuel as I walked by the overhead door...then I noticed a wet stain coming out from under it...

..oh-oh....

When I opened the door,the floor was covered with diesel,the fuel tank was dripping about a drop every ten seconds or so...the 5 gallons I put in it monday afternoon is mostly gone,according to the gauge too...20 bucks wasted--not to mention the friggin mess and odor that'll take years to dissapate.....

I hate diesel fuel,one drop gets on you or your clothes and you and your house,washing machine,and everything you touch stinks for months..at least gasoline evaporates quickly and the smell goes away fast..

I have dual tanks and was running on only the right side tank,the drivers side was rotted and leaking when I bought the truck a decade ago--since then I got a "good used tank" from a member here and installed it last summer,on the drivers side,but never got around to finishing the job--now I'll have to swap all the hoses and try to get the gas gauge wired to the drivers side..(I had even painted the tank with brush on Rustoleum,and to my dismay,the salt spray from the front tire has already took a lot of it off and its rusting already..hasn't even been ONE year yet!..)

Someone butchered the original tank switch,selector valve and the wiring,so I may just extend the wires from the right hand tanks sending unit rather than have to spend hours diddling around finding the original wires..

I'm looking forward to this job about as much as being shot at sunrise...I can rest assured I'll be throwing all the clothes away I wear after doing this job,and my back was so sore today I didn't even want to lie under the truck long enough to try putting a sheet metal screw with a rubber washer under its head in the tank,I didn't feel like having it leak worse,it looked like a crack,not a pinhole..and didn't want diesel pouring down my arm either and ruining the "decent" clothes I had on..

I just put a tub under it to catch the fuel instead,and I put a few dozen newspapers over the spillage to soak it up..I'll have to burn them tomorrow...

Guess its a good thing I chickened out as far as taking the truck 90 miles each way saturday to go to a concert....and the real reason the tank leaks now,is because the inspection sticker expires at the end of May...the truck KNOWS this,and everything on it thats about to fail will,most likely,before the month ends...

 

[kennyw]

This may have also been the source of the extra air in your fuel lines lately. Glad it failed at home though so you didn't have to tow it back.

 

[y5mgisi]

Sucky!

 

[campfire]

Sympathy... I remember what it was like sorting out the wiring/tubing bypass mess on my truck. It wouldn't be so difficult if it weren't clinging to various sections of the undercarriage.

Definitely glad it happened at home.
If you weren't so far away I'd come help out. I remember the yuckiness.

 

[diesel4me]

This is just my punishment for putting off hooking the tank I put in up right away last summer..I had stuck a magnet to the leaky spot on the old tank long ago,and till this week it worked to keep it sealed up pretty well--an old clever mechanic I know told me that trick,said it attracts all the rusty silt in the tank and it clots up the leak...(till it spreads beyond the magnets "range" I guess anyway)..It saved me from having to fix it almost another year..

With my mom dying in a nursing home at the time last summer,then having been sidetracked for months dealing with all the legalities after she passed ,etc,I just procrastinated and put off working on it..now my back is much worse off than it was a year ago,and I am debating if the truck is even worth keeping registered ,or keeping at all,the laundry list of things it needs is getting too long....

Its getting to the point it should almost be a "yard truck" ,not trusted on the road,unless I can fix all the sins on it--worst part is if I fix all the mechanical woes,the frame and body are already close to reaching their life expectancy..anyone else but me would have parted it out or scrapped it a long time ago probably..

What sucks more is my other 2 vehicles ,my Suburban and Van,are in about the same shape,and will need extensive repairs,so its not like I can just swap plates and hop in one of them and go either...both of them sat a long time and will need brake lines,probably calipers and wheel cylinders,and the master cylinders..and whatever else fails after I start driving them,you guys know that scenario...the Burb has a 700r4 thats on its way out too...

 

[myhichevy4x4]

I have a good selector valve laying on my workbench that came out of my 86 6.2 (I put a fuel cell in). If you need it it is yours.

 

[diesel4me]

Thanks for the offer,but I am not going to keep dual tanks,I have owned the truck almost 12 years and never had the cash to fill ONE tank!..I do not go far from home,and the few places I might I can make it there and back on one tank easily..

I'd better get out to the garage and start swapping the fuel lines to the other tank,after I mop up the mess--we're in for rain soon and overnight..

My back was killing me all night too,I took three 800mg ibuprofins and its still aching,I know this job will put me in traction most likely--never mind all the other stuff it needs done like the oil pan swap,exhaust manifolds,etc..might just end up fiberglassing the oil pan and have to take it to my friends shop and pay him to do those 2 things..

 

[blazer74]

Ibuprofen's ain't going to cut it, they don't touch me

 

[diesel4me]

Ditto for me too--I was taking 3 of the 800 mg ones daily for years,with little releif,then I developed stomach ulcers and acid reflux eroded my esophogus..I think I'm immune to them now.I've been taking Meloxicam but its no better,just a lot easier to swallow than those horse pills were..

Today despite a wiped out spine,and being up most of the night after taking 3 of the 800 mg Ibuprofins in hopes of numbing the ache, I decided I'd better get the garage mopped up,if nothing else...the news papers I laid in the puddle of diesel soaked most of it up,and I had put wood stove ash on the oil that oozed out of the engine and saturated a large cardboard box I'd cut open and laid under the truck to absorb as much as possible...shoveled the whole mucky mess up and burned it in my fire pit out in the backyard,right as a rain shower was starting..

I managed to swap the fuel lines to the "good" tank ,took about a half an hour--then the showers came and went and got heavier at times..I wanted to get smelly and greasy ONCE,so I decided to go on,despite the rain...

I decided to take the leaky tank right off the truck...unfortunately when my air impact couldn't break some of the bolts free,I ended up using a cheater pipe on a 1/2" ratchet,it slipped,and I took the back of the right hand thumb off at the knuckle...bled like a stuck pig,had to wrap it with electrical tape so I could keep going..hurts like mother now..I put super glue on it after I showered to keep the wound sealed up....

I managed to get the tank off,after battling with stripped heads on the bolts..new 6 point sockets are life savers in new england...cant use a torch next to a dripping fuel tank,and a sawsall was no help either..

The worst part is I'm not "finished" yet..the steel fuel return line was so punky along the frame rail,that it decided to start dripping after I disturbed it....so now I have to go buy some 1/4" steel line,or I may just use rubber hose--GM put rubber hose on the return line 1" away from the exhaust manifold ,yet they put steel along the frame rail a good 6" away....since rubber outlasts steel around here 10 to 1,I may cheat and go with rubber fuel hose,and just zip tie it away from any potential harmful areas..

The grand finale was the gas gauge--first I tried re-connecting the wires according to my Haynes wiring diagram...turned on the key,it shot way over the full mark...strike one...

I put the wires back the way they were,cut the sending unit plug off the right side tank that was leaking and the gauge worked fine on ,and I extended the wires so they reached the drivers side--plugged it all together,and there is no change...still goes past full..

The ground is good,etc...if I drive forward and slam on the brakes,the gauge goes down towards empty some,then goes back over full again...almost like its reading backwards..empty is full,full = empty...

I tried looking for a wiring diagram on google--and in doing so ,I came across a CK5 thread that had some good info--that I actually posted in,from 2005,and I said "the sending unit in the drivers side tank is junk".....wish I had remembered that NOW!....10 years of lost brain cells has taken a toll...

I have the sending unit off the right side tank,its useable and works,but the tubes are getting kind of rusted on the tank side...diesel one is "special" due to the water in fuel sensor..otherwise the gas version ones would work I suppose..

I also have several used good ones and one new one off 70's gas powered trucks,I am going to try plugging one of them in and see if the gauge responds correctly when I move the float up and down...

If it does,I guess I am going to have to drop the "good" tank again and put a sending unit in it--or just say the two magic words (f-it),and pray I never run out of fuel..I hate having no gas gauge..

I'm in no condition to be doing that job now,it sucks bad enough having to get more diesel fuel on me and my clothes AGAIN having to replace the return line still...then I still have to deal with the garage..pressure wash the floor after using some absorbant and pray the stink eventually goes away..

Sucks busting your rump all day and going backwards,instead of making "progress"....oh well..at least it runs now again...

 

[blazer74]

My backs been hurting for about a month, longest I've ever had. Usually about a week and I'm good, my big problem is the headaches. keep plugging away at. Perspective is a lot of it, half full or half empty, no in pun intended

 

[tRustyK5]

A buddy of mine has a bad back...has major issues every 4-6 months it seems. He hates pills of any sort and is often down for a week or more when his back goes out. He finally (reluctantly) went to a doctor and was prescribed muscle relaxers, and an anti-inflammatory. 24 hours later he is walking, and a day later normal but a touch sore. Now, when his back has an issue, he heads straight to the doc.

Getting old ain't for sissies...but sometimes modern chemistry is a Godsend.

 

[blazer74]

I try to stay away from anything that is not over the counter unless absolutely ness asset due to my work. Subject to drug screening and they don't want you at work even with a prescription if it affects your thought process, but only give you 40 hours sick time year. Asshats.

 

[diesel4me]

My doctor wont prescribe any narcotics like Percocets,Vicoden,Oxycontin,etc,due to him feeling I'd be addicted to them in no time,and he's probably right...(also prescription pill abuse is rampant here along with heroin,and they are really cracking down on the doctors who prescribe them )..

I have been on multiple pills over the years--back in the 80's I was taking prescription Tylenol/Codine pills,and went from #1 to #3 ,till they affected my judgement and ability to think at work so much ,and did next to nothing for the pain after awhile,so I had to try other things..I had a bad time adjusting to stopping them cold ,I had to be weaned off them...I can only imagine what you go thru once your hooked on Percs or Oxycontins..

I also tried drinking my pain away,that worked for a while,but then I got stomach issues and alcohol addiction is hard to kick too...smoking weed seems to help more than pills did--but that was illegal,could get you fired from work and its tough enough finding a job,never mind not being able to pass a piss test..


I have had steriod injections of Kellerog and other pain shots,muscle relaxants like Flexeril,Robaxin,and all they do is make me groggy and dopey..tried chiropractors,massage,and physical thereapy,all those did was make me feel better for a day or two,then the pain returns with a vigilance even worse..I've been told surgery doesn't usually have favorable results with curvature of the spine,and once your over 20 or so,your healing is usually not as good as it would be in your youth...I'm not willing to have my back operated on either...I know many guys who ended up worse,not better..

The fact I've been idle most of the winter other than having to remove some snow and I'm out of shape and gained some weight isn't helping either--muscles are so out of tone they will ache with even minor chores now..

I'm not going to be able to fix my trucks like I used too--without a lift ,once your over 45 or so it just becomes too physically demanding,especially if your not in decent health,working on the ground sucks royally.....

I may be forced to just get rid of all my "projects" sooner than later,if I dont improve any...but if I want to stay here I cant be without a plow truck either..it gets really discouraging when I see similar trucks to mine in better condition selling for 1200-1800 bucks on Craigslist,that already have new gas tanks,less rot,a better plow,etc...all the things mine needs are already "done"...