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Home » Public Forums » GMCnet » [GMCnet] The don’t-drive-it-enough blues.
[GMCnet] The don’t-drive-it-enough blues. [message #348810] Wed, 02 October 2019 00:02 Go to next message
Richard Denney is currently offline  Richard Denney   United States
Messages: 920
Registered: April 2010
Karma: 9
Senior Member
So, after all my extended project replacing the rear...everything, I took
it for a spin today before driving to Mansfield tomorrow. Everything worked
fine. It stops pretty darn well, though I still can’t lock the brakes.

I installed a vacuum pump similar to the one JimK sells to replace my leaky
JC4 and as long as it has power, I can’t run out of boost. It sucks from a
one-gallon vacuum reserve tank. But it ran and ran on Saturday when I
installed it, until I found that check valve in that tank not fully seated
and leaking. Maybe that JC4 pump wasn’t so leaky after all.

But here’s what happened today:

Macerator wouldn’t run. Turned the shaft with a screwdriver—that didn’t
help at first. Fried the fuse in the attempt. Finally got it to run, but it
does not start on every throw of the switch. I can live with that, or deal
with it in Mansfield.

Fantastic Fan would open but the fan wouldn’t blow. After much fiddling,
figured out it was the remote out of synch with the fan, and it was
thinking I had set the fan to a higher temperature than we had, and would
spin up the motor. Got that working.

Water tank wouldn’t drain. Bugs had built a mud nest in the drain pipe. Got
that fixed.

One of my two propane tanks has a leaky attachment. I used two 20-pound
portable tanks, so I switched to the other one. Fine for now.

Power Level air pump would turn on. Huh? That’s been working hard for the
last few weeks. Checked the fuse, which is an inline fuse to the main power
feed to a load-reduction relay. The fuse was actively burning up. Turned my
main kill switch off to stop the current. Cut that melted and fried fuse
holder out and replace it. Works fine now.

But the goofiest one came at the end of my test drive. About a mile from
home, on my bumpy dirt road, I suddenly heard a metallic dragging sound.
Stopped and circled the coach looking for some rear-suspension reaction rod
or brake part I had installed dragging on the ground. Nope. Then I saw
it—my lovely stainless steel air tank was dragging and held only by the two
air lines. The bracket was bolted to the bottom of the battery tray, and
the bolts had come loose and fallen out. I had to cut off the threaded rod
used on the bottom of the clamp because of rust, and then reassemble and
re-attach the bracket. That took an hour to fix.

Just a normal prep day for a trip. Sheesh.

Good news, though. No evidence of mice since I bought all the stainless
steel scrubbies in a five-state area and stuffed them into every possible
entrance point. We vacuumed up a thousand or two stink-bug carcasses, but
that’s normal.

Rick “hoping it makes KenB feel a little better” Denney
--
'73 X-Glacier 230 "Jaws"
Northern Virginia
Offlist email: rick at rickdenney dot com
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Re: [GMCnet] The don’t-drive-it-enough blues. [message #348821 is a reply to message #348810] Wed, 02 October 2019 14:03 Go to previous messageGo to next message
GMCWiperMan is currently offline  GMCWiperMan   United States
Messages: 1248
Registered: December 2007
Karma: 1
Senior Member
Hurry & get here before you break something else!

Ken H


On Wed, Oct 2, 2019, 7:52 AM Richard Denney via Gmclist <
gmclist@list.gmcnet.org> wrote:

> So, after all my extended project replacing the rear...everything, I took
> it for a spin today before driving to Mansfield tomorrow. Everything worked
> fine. It stops pretty darn well, though I still can’t lock the brakes.
>
> I installed a vacuum pump similar to the one JimK sells to replace my leaky
> JC4 and as long as it has power, I can’t run out of boost. It sucks from a
> one-gallon vacuum reserve tank. But it ran and ran on Saturday when I
> installed it, until I found that check valve in that tank not fully seated
> and leaking. Maybe that JC4 pump wasn’t so leaky after all.
>
> But here’s what happened today:
>
> Macerator wouldn’t run. Turned the shaft with a screwdriver—that didn’t
> help at first. Fried the fuse in the attempt. Finally got it to run, but it
> does not start on every throw of the switch. I can live with that, or deal
> with it in Mansfield.
>
> Fantastic Fan would open but the fan wouldn’t blow. After much fiddling,
> figured out it was the remote out of synch with the fan, and it was
> thinking I had set the fan to a higher temperature than we had, and would
> spin up the motor. Got that working.
>
> Water tank wouldn’t drain. Bugs had built a mud nest in the drain pipe. Got
> that fixed.
>
> One of my two propane tanks has a leaky attachment. I used two 20-pound
> portable tanks, so I switched to the other one. Fine for now.
>
> Power Level air pump would turn on. Huh? That’s been working hard for the
> last few weeks. Checked the fuse, which is an inline fuse to the main power
> feed to a load-reduction relay. The fuse was actively burning up. Turned my
> main kill switch off to stop the current. Cut that melted and fried fuse
> holder out and replace it. Works fine now.
>
> But the goofiest one came at the end of my test drive. About a mile from
> home, on my bumpy dirt road, I suddenly heard a metallic dragging sound.
> Stopped and circled the coach looking for some rear-suspension reaction rod
> or brake part I had installed dragging on the ground. Nope. Then I saw
> it—my lovely stainless steel air tank was dragging and held only by the two
> air lines. The bracket was bolted to the bottom of the battery tray, and
> the bolts had come loose and fallen out. I had to cut off the threaded rod
> used on the bottom of the clamp because of rust, and then reassemble and
> re-attach the bracket. That took an hour to fix.
>
> Just a normal prep day for a trip. Sheesh.
>
> Good news, though. No evidence of mice since I bought all the stainless
> steel scrubbies in a five-state area and stuffed them into every possible
> entrance point. We vacuumed up a thousand or two stink-bug carcasses, but
> that’s normal.
>
> Rick “hoping it makes KenB feel a little better” Denney
> --
> '73 X-Glacier 230 "Jaws"
> Northern Virginia
> Offlist email: rick at rickdenney dot com
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org
>
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Re: [GMCnet] The don't-drive-it-enough blues. [message #348831 is a reply to message #348810] Wed, 02 October 2019 16:30 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Larry is currently offline  Larry   United States
Messages: 2875
Registered: January 2004
Location: Menomonie, WI
Karma: 10
Senior Member
Richard Denney wrote on Wed, 02 October 2019 00:02

But here's what happened today:

Macerator wouldn't run. Turned the shaft with a screwdriver--that didn't
help at first. Fried the fuse in the attempt. Finally got it to run, but it
does not start on every throw of the switch. I can live with that, or deal
with it in Mansfield.

Rick "hoping it makes KenB feel a little better" Denney
--
'73 X-Glacier 230 "Jaws"
Northern Virginia
Offlist email: rick at rickdenney dot com
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Same thing happened to me. Turned out to be a bad ground where the ground wire goes to the frame. took it apart, cleaned it up, re-installed it. Works fine! JWID



Larry Smile
78 Royale w/500 Caddy
Menomonie, WI.
Re: [GMCnet] The don’t-drive-it-enough blues. [message #348837 is a reply to message #348821] Wed, 02 October 2019 18:41 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Richard Denney is currently offline  Richard Denney   United States
Messages: 920
Registered: April 2010
Karma: 9
Senior Member
Too late. I think my fan clutch is dying. :) It was HOT today.

(We are two hours out as of a quarter to 8—just stopped for a quick bite
after turning onto 77 from 70.)

Rick “sorta like a slipping belt sound, but only when the clutch is trying
to engage” Denney

On Wed, Oct 2, 2019 at 3:04 PM Ken Henderson via Gmclist <
gmclist@list.gmcnet.org> wrote:

> Hurry & get here before you break something else!
>
> Ken H
>
>
> On Wed, Oct 2, 2019, 7:52 AM Richard Denney via Gmclist gmclist@list.gmcnet.org> wrote:
>
>> So, after all my extended project replacing the rear...everything, I took
>> it for a spin today before driving to Mansfield tomorrow. Everything
> worked
>> fine. It stops pretty darn well, though I still can’t lock the brakes.
>>
>> I installed a vacuum pump similar to the one JimK sells to replace my
> leaky
>> JC4 and as long as it has power, I can’t run out of boost. It sucks from
> a
>> one-gallon vacuum reserve tank. But it ran and ran on Saturday when I
>> installed it, until I found that check valve in that tank not fully
> seated
>> and leaking. Maybe that JC4 pump wasn’t so leaky after all.
>>
>> But here’s what happened today:
>>
>> Macerator wouldn’t run. Turned the shaft with a screwdriver—that didn’t
>> help at first. Fried the fuse in the attempt. Finally got it to run, but
> it
>> does not start on every throw of the switch. I can live with that, or
> deal
>> with it in Mansfield.
>>
>> Fantastic Fan would open but the fan wouldn’t blow. After much fiddling,
>> figured out it was the remote out of synch with the fan, and it was
>> thinking I had set the fan to a higher temperature than we had, and would
>> spin up the motor. Got that working.
>>
>> Water tank wouldn’t drain. Bugs had built a mud nest in the drain pipe.
> Got
>> that fixed.
>>
>> One of my two propane tanks has a leaky attachment. I used two 20-pound
>> portable tanks, so I switched to the other one. Fine for now.
>>
>> Power Level air pump would turn on. Huh? That’s been working hard for the
>> last few weeks. Checked the fuse, which is an inline fuse to the main
> power
>> feed to a load-reduction relay. The fuse was actively burning up. Turned
> my
>> main kill switch off to stop the current. Cut that melted and fried fuse
>> holder out and replace it. Works fine now.
>>
>> But the goofiest one came at the end of my test drive. About a mile from
>> home, on my bumpy dirt road, I suddenly heard a metallic dragging sound.
>> Stopped and circled the coach looking for some rear-suspension reaction
> rod
>> or brake part I had installed dragging on the ground. Nope. Then I saw
>> it—my lovely stainless steel air tank was dragging and held only by the
> two
>> air lines. The bracket was bolted to the bottom of the battery tray, and
>> the bolts had come loose and fallen out. I had to cut off the threaded
> rod
>> used on the bottom of the clamp because of rust, and then reassemble and
>> re-attach the bracket. That took an hour to fix.
>>
>> Just a normal prep day for a trip. Sheesh.
>>
>> Good news, though. No evidence of mice since I bought all the stainless
>> steel scrubbies in a five-state area and stuffed them into every possible
>> entrance point. We vacuumed up a thousand or two stink-bug carcasses, but
>> that’s normal.
>>
>> Rick “hoping it makes KenB feel a little better” Denney
>> --
>> '73 X-Glacier 230 "Jaws"
>> Northern Virginia
>> Offlist email: rick at rickdenney dot com
>> _______________________________________________
>> GMCnet mailing list
>> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
>> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org
>>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org
>
--
'73 X-Glacier 230 "Jaws"
Northern Virginia
Offlist email: rick at rickdenney dot com
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Re: [GMCnet] The don't-drive-it-enough blues. [message #348847 is a reply to message #348831] Wed, 02 October 2019 20:17 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Ken Burton is currently offline  Ken Burton   United States
Messages: 10030
Registered: January 2004
Location: Hebron, Indiana
Karma: 10
Senior Member
Mine was the water pump. 3rd Napa pump failure in about 10 years. I put in a Cardone Select one this time. Not quite finished. Found two other things wrong, but I have not left home yet so there may be more.

Ken Burton - N9KB
76 Palm Beach
Hebron, Indiana
Re: [GMCnet] The don't-drive-it-enough blues. [message #348857 is a reply to message #348821] Thu, 03 October 2019 09:17 Go to previous message
rjw   United States
Messages: 697
Registered: September 2005
Karma: 4
Senior Member
GMCWiperMan wrote on Wed, 02 October 2019 15:03
Hurry & get here before you break something else!

Ken H

Ken and Richard are not the only ones to have pre-convention issues.

I tried to leave Wednesday for Mansfield, but ~15 miles out on the expressway the Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) alarm went off! Indication was over temperature on the passenger side rear wheel. Thought is that I have a dragging brake shoe because after pulling off I could feel the brake drum being very hot. Let it cool off and went back home.

It could also be wheel bearings. So the plan is to take it apart in a little bit today (Thursday) and hope to leave again in the morning (Friday).

So happy I now have a garage in which to work because it is raining now and I hate to do GMC mechanical work in the rain.

Also, I went to Uhaul to fill up with LP and after that, my LP Gas regulator started to hiss! I checked for overfill but that doesn't seem to be the case, so now I need a new regulator to be sent to me in Mansfield for a field install.

Rats!!! I wanted to visit the prison today (Thursday) in Mansfield.

I am very happy that I have TPMS!


Richard
76 Palm Beach
SE Michigan
www.PalmBeachGMC.com

Roller Cam 455, TBI+EBL, 3.42 FD, 4 Bag, Macerator, Lenzi (brakes, vacuum system, front end stuff), Manny Tranny, vacuum step, Tankless + OEM water heaters.
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