We made it back to Raleigh at 12:30 AM today. 2274 total miles.
Before we left AZ:
. C6 tranny pulled, resealed, and reinstalled. It worked GREAT.
. Pinion seal replaced. There was NO crush cylinder on the pinion shaft!! One was installed along with the new seal. No noise and no leaks when Willy was done.
. Front fenders, radiator support, stone guard, bumper, inner fenders, and hood transferred from the donor. Seams are far from perfect so, if I do this truck (more later), the front end will all come off again and get re-fitted.
. Aircraft throttle cable installed as a shifter. Not the best, but it did the job.
. Five good-
looking old tires and wheels put together for the trip. One wasn't so good. It blew out at 70 MPH at night on Interstate 40 East of Memphis.
We couldn't get the truck very far off the road and in the dark it was too dangerous to change the left side wheel without a vehicle between me and oncoming traffic. Called AAA but learned they are useless in the country. They didn't show. Called 911 without knowing exactly where we were. A car was dispatched from Memphis but their range ends at Mile Marker 60. Since we were a couple of miles further East, they turned back and notified the Jackson THP. About an hour later, a friendly trooper showed up, parked his car, with lights flashing, behind the truck and I felt safe enough to change the tire. I had oiled up the original F150 jack and installed it in its place under the hood but also intended to throw a better one in the bed of the truck. Didn't get that done so I pulled out the original. The trooper looked at it and offered me a better scissor jack, which I accepted. (More on the jack later.)
With the trooper's car for protection, and his jack, the spare was on the truck in a few minutes and we were on the way.
We didn't want to go far on the spare (and with no other) so we pulled into Jackson, TN and spent the night. Next morning we went to Sam's Club and bought two new tires to replace the shredded one and the leaky spare. After about 50 miles, the left front new tire was rumbling so we pulled of at an exit in the middle of nowhere and parked the truck in the only flat, fairly level place we could find -- halfway blocking the entrance to a dirt road/driveway. ONE OF THE NEW TIRES WAS FLAT!!! George just finished his pee when the apparent owner of the dirt road showed up in his truck, pulled around us and disappeared down his dirt road. So, out came the original F150 jack and I attempted to raise the left front wheel. The jack wouldn't do it -- the gears stripped. Our luck wasn't ALL bad though, we had stopped across the road from an isolated, old country tow operation. A guy in biker leather pants, no shirt and no shoes loaned me a floor jack and we got the flat off and the spare on.
But, the drum brake wheel scraped on the front disk calipers.
So, we pulled the truck over, scraping, to his parking lot, borrowed the floor jack and a jack stand, and swapped the left front and rear wheels to eliminate the rub. The biker dude put on his shirt and boots and hopped on his bike for a trip to Nashville. No more tire issues.
George called a nearby Walmart and asked if they would replace the ruined tire from Sam's Club. Said they would and we were on our way there. We checked into a motel and, in the morning, with a lot of difficulty, we got a replacement tire and were, according to Willy Nelson, "On the Road Again".
. Blower motor bypass. The blower motor wouldn't run. It, and the multi-speed resistors, are under the hood and easy to pull. I pulled them and found plant debris all over the heater core and RESISTOR SPIRALS. That was a fire waiting to happen. Cleaned out the debris and found that the problem was lack of power to the switch and resistors. Not sure what the problem was there -- all the fuses were good and none missing. As a quick fix, we ran a wire from the battery thru a self-resetting circuit breaker, and a switch on the cab floor, to the wire on the heater motor that made everything work. With that jumper attached, the 3-speed fan control switch functioned. Should have been more careful about the routing of the wire -- it got up against the exhaust tube for the air pump, burned the insulation off and shorted out. While we were doing something under the hood, George noticed a clicking noise and the jumper wire jumping.
A quick splice and a reroute and the blower was functioning again. Good thing 'cause we needed it to clear the windshield smears (see below).
Repairs on the road:
. Tires, as above.
. Fuel pumpSSSS. When climbing a hill, with throttle above half, the engine would starve for fuel. We're not going to make it thru the Smokey's like that. We pulled off in a little Texas town with a cluster of auto parts stores. (George's I-phone was REALLY handy for locating things we needed and navigating to the stores.) First, an AutoZone fuel pump. It wouldn't prime, even with starting fluid to run the engine. Then and O'Reilly pump. Lasted 10 minutes. OK, reinstall the old pump and ease across the street to a Ford dealer to get a FOMOCO pump. Of course, none in stock. But Bryan's Auto Supply, "just down the road a piece", had an AirTech pump which was supposed to be a very reliable brand.
You gotta know who you're talking to when a Texan tells you about a short distance. I hoofed it there and arrived at 2 minutes to closing. Installed the AirTech and it seemed OK. Then, after replacing fuel pumps more times than I can count, it came to me that the fuel problem was occurring when the tank was lower than it had been before, about 1/4. Maybe the problem is with the pickup tube???? Maybe it won't pick up the last 5-6 gallons for some reason? We kept the tank at least 1/2 full and had no more fuel problems after that.
. Windshield smears. When driving in the rain, the windshield would fog up BAD. Try to wipe the fog off, and it would SMEAR like crazy. We cleaned the windshield, inside and out, several times with a variety of cleaners and it was still BAD. We made it home by running the heater on full (no control of where the air comes out but MOST was coming out the defrosters.) Today I parked the truck in the garage and when my wife came home this evening she said, "something is leaking under the truck.") Its the heater core.
Apparently the heater core was leaking coolant which was condensing onto the windshield causing the fog and smears. Another breakdown was not too far away since the coolant was down 10-12" in the radiator. Glad we made it home. Not sure we could have handled another breakdown.
In spite of all the issues, this has been a fun trip for George and me. The truck isn't all I hoped for -- it needs almost everything. Financially, I'd be better off with a better truck. But, the trip wasn't primarily about the truck. I wanted to spend some time working on a project with my brother who's health is failing. When George offered to join me for the trip that was a big bonus. I'm not sure what I'll do with the truck in the long run but, in the short run, I'll be keeping it.
Took COSTCO 4 hours to diagnose and repair a nail hole in the right rear. Hope he NEVER has another flat.
