Truck is now running
Finally got the feed truck running this afternoon. Took off the fuel line and fuel filter and blew air through it. Then, I blew air into the fuel tank (with the cap off) and heard a KA-THUNK. I think a chunk of ice may have formed around the siphon tube and was restricting the flow. I put the hose back on and put the filter back in, and viola, the truck started running fine.
I put the tank heater directly on the bottom of the tank right below where the siphon would be to keep ice from forming again. We'll see how it runs tomorrow morning as I deliver feed.
I put the tank heater directly on the bottom of the tank right below where the siphon would be to keep ice from forming again. We'll see how it runs tomorrow morning as I deliver feed.
posted by bgunzy at 2/04/2007 05:50:00 PM
7 Comments:
Had to make an emergency repair this morning on the axle of a trailer I have. Nothing like trying to work with sub zero metal and a can of sub zero can of axle grease in a stiff northwest wind. Sweet Maria. Oh the fact it was sitting on a sheet of ice with chunks of gravel sticking up through it didn't help either. Slip,slide,gouge,freeze,slip,slide,gouge,freeze. Repeat.
Oh man, I feel your pain. To replace the fuel filters on the feed truck one must get underneath it behind the left front wheel. I figured out a piece of cardboard would be a good thing, as I was also dealing with an ice/rock ground.
In my pickup I have a couple of closed cell foam sleeping pads for just this type of emergency. I got them army surplus years ago for a few bucks a piece. Unfortunately I was on the ATV at the time towing the trailer. Figures.
Oh you have to love engineers that put that stuff where you have to stand on your head to get at it. Another I love is the self destructing plastic hardware. I have a bracket that holds my fuel filter on my truck which has been broken I don't know how many times. It is made of plastic and after being “flexed” once or twice during filter changes it breaks. Not to mention the fact that as all these plastic parts age the plastic gets more and more brittle. I've noticed this lately as I was doing some engine work and every plastic bracket or wire separator and the like which was made of plastic simple broke or shattered with the slightest pressure. Not to mention the now self destructing plastic interior pieces inside the cab.
An engineer needs a beating.
The big question is....do you listen to Rage Against the Machine while delivering feed? ;)
Knowing that sort of truck, you're probably lucky to have a working AM radio, though.
There is an AM/FM tape deck in the truck, but I haven't checked it out to see if it actually works...if it did, I probably couldn't hear it very well anyway - the muffler is starting to go.
Wa-la! She runs! ...congratulations.
I'll file that story under "Why I don't live in Iowa any longer."
Not to rub it in, but the same afternoon you were under the truck I was laying in the sand on the beach with my shoes and socks off. Others were soaking up the sun without any clothes at all. Dogs frolicked in the surf, but no one swims in it because the Humboldt current that comes down from Alaska is in the frigid mid-50s. Brrrr.
Oww, Mango, the salt you're rubbing in my wounds is starting to chafe! :)
If Iowa could stay the way it is in October year-around, I think we'd have many more residents than we have now. Then we'd be like California...no thanks.
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