'78 FJ40 Project - In the Blue Grass

[Bluegrass40]

I was out with the kids in the 40 over the weekend, and after driving to a few different stores (a few miles from home), I found myself dead on the side of the road. Maybe not dead, but the truck would not move more than 50 feet before dying.

Here are the details.
I tuned the carb apx a week ago. The truck was running fine and we took it out for the night w/o issue. Probably put 20 miles on it. Then the following days, I noticed that the idle had dropped significantly to the point that I had to keep my foot on the gas to keep it running at a stop. I thought that the throttle linkage may have been gummed up and not in the 'home' position when I tuned it. I should have known better and addressed the issue at that point, but didn't (I was convinced otherwise by the beautiful weather).
So this past Saturday the truck died on the side of the street. It cut out like it was out of gas. I put a few gallons of fuel in it and it fired back up and I drove off about 100 feet and it died again. I tried starting and going several times thinking that it just needed to get a good supply of fuel (possibly air in the line or something). I had a friend pull me home and then commenced to see if the carb settings had changed (weber 38 dgas). Nothing had changed (when I tuned it I had the mixture screws set at 1.5 turns out which is right in the ok zone). I stared adjusting the carb and found that I had to have it out over 2.5 turns to get it to run consistently. I sprayed it with carb cleaner and tried to adjust again, with the same result.

Any thoughts?
I'm thinking about pulling the fuel line off of the carb and making sure that I have a decent flow. After that, I'm thinking about pulling the carb off and giving it a once over.

Suggestions are appreciated!

 

[Bluegrass40]

Pulled the warm hubs today to clean them up and re-grease. Here is what they looked like

Is it normal to have so much grease behind the hub?

 

[78fj40mg]

Too much grease never hurts, you're OK.

 

[Weber Sarge]

Almost looks to be mixed with a bit of gear oil , what does the other side of the knuckle look like at the ball ? May be time to do a rebuild/reseal project .
Sarge

 

[Pete]

Just saw your thread and see you're from Kaintucky. There's some great 4-wheelin' a couple of hundred miles west of you at Land Between the Lakes. Ever been there? I'm attaching a pic of Butt Pucker Hill.

Pete

 

[Bluegrass40]

@Pete. I've never been there. My 40 is no where near reliable enough (or at least I'm not comfortable enough with it yet) for an excursion like that. One day!!! And man, do I look forward to that day! My adventures now consist of going out for a drive and then figuring out how to get a dead 40 back home w/o paying for the trip! Friends with v8's and a tow strap, and that free tow that I get each year from now on insurance have come in handy!

 

[Bluegrass40]

@Weber Sarge
I was wondering the same. Have a look at these pics. It's pretty "gooey" back there....

Need to prioritize my projects. If I don't get to it right away, I'm guessing that at a minimum, I need to check on the level of grease in the knuckles and the oil in the diff. Anything else?

 

[Diesel Cruiserman]

Looks like it is time for a knuckle rebuild.....make sure not to pack grease in the warn hub.

Guy in Germany did this and sent me pics of his sheared hub, to much grease kept the hub from fully engaging..

I generally spray some lithium or like product on the hub internals..

George @ valley hybrids is selling these knuckle kits, very good quality..

Rob

 

[Weber Sarge]

Don't sweat the knuckle grease for now , just the diff oil as the knuckle is quite well lubed . I wouldn't suggest using the front axle until you get a rebuild kit and overhaul those knuckles , not a bad job - just really messy . Lots of writeups on this forum on how-to ...
Sarge

 

[Bluegrass40]

Thx for the suggestions guys...

I've watched some YouTube videos and read some right ups on the job. Does look like a mess.

Anything else to be looking out for or adding to the list of things to do while I have it opened up? I'll be doing some more research! (Feel like I do more research than wrenching sometimes!!!).

 

[Weber Sarge]

Get with Kurt at Cruiser Outfitters - he'll set you up with all the needed parts . I prefer the Marlin inner shaft seals , but that's my opinion . Might want to pull it apart before ordering parts - I had one spindle that was junk along with the bronze inner bushing and had to wait a solid week for those parts .
Sarge

 

[Bluegrass40]

Thoughts on replacing the bearings while I'm in there? I'm assuming that it is a wise thing to do.....

I'm leaning towards this kit directly from marlin for $189
https://www.marlincrawler.com/axle/...ts/service-front-hilux/front-axle-service-kit

 

[Bluegrass40]

I just pulled the inner axle seal from both ends of the axle. There is quite a bit of knuckle grease all the way Dow the walls of each axle housing tube. Any suggestions on how to clean that out? Is it necessary? I'm assuming yes.

hard to get a decent pic...

 

[78fj40mg]

Dig in with your hands and lots of rags. Maybe wear some gloves too.

 

[Bluegrass40]

There was probably 1-2 cups of knuckle grease (per side) that was past the shaft seal! I bent the end of a straightened coat hanger like this....

And used it to drag the grease out to the end. (I mad the loop small enough so that I could get it in without shoving all of the grease back toward the diff.

When I had 90% of it out, I put part of and hold t-shirt on the hanger and used it to clean the rest of it out.

 

[alabamatacomaguy]

Like cleaning an old rifle I guess. Cool deal. I've been trying to get a weekend and some space to rebuild my front axle for almost a year now. Looks like your making good headway

 

[78fj40mg]

Steering knuckles are evil and must be punished!!

 

[snaggletto]

Hello,
I'm just west of Indianapolis, IN and have a sky blue '76. I'm in a similar position just keeping mine up and running and fixing what needs fixing as I can. Keep up the good work.

 

[Bluegrass40]

Steering knuckles are evil and must be punished!!

I felt like I was giving a prostate exam! Luckily everything checked out ok!!

 

[Bluegrass40]

Hello,
I'm just west of Indianapolis, IN and have a sky blue '76. I'm in a similar position just keeping mine up and running and fixing what needs fixing as I can. Keep up the good work.

Thanks for saying hello. Reach out if you are ever in the area! I come up through Indy every now and then.