Builds BUILD THREAD FOR THE "German Shepherd" (1 Viewer)

[White Stripe]

I wonder if your fuel pump or pump relay is starting to die. Bummer about the fan.

 

[LC4LIFE]

Makes me want to take a goo hard look at my fan.

 

[Technician1985]

Might check your water pump. On some BMWs the bearings on the pump develop play and let the fan move enough to contact things. Also possible the blades were just old and failing. Might be worth looking at just replacing the fan with an electric one at this point but for whatever reason people on this forum don't seem to like doing that. Other car crews that have cars that had clutch fans like to replace theirs with electric fans especially because it takes load off the water pump.

Anyway good luck figuring out the fuel issue.

 

[SUMMIT CRUISERS Jr]

Might check your water pump. On some BMWs the bearings on the pump develop play and let the fan move enough to contact things. Also possible the blades were just old and failing. Might be worth looking at just replacing the fan with an electric one at this point but for whatever reason people on this forum don't seem to like doing that. Other car crews that have cars that had clutch fans like to replace theirs with electric fans especially because it takes load off the water pump.

Anyway good luck figuring out the fuel issue.

Yeah I checked it this morning and it’s rock solid. It’s about 2 years old now and I had been hoping it hadn’t failed. The fan just gave up and separated.

Thankfully, the guys at High Country Cruisers in Pagosa Springs hooked me up with a fan/fan clutch and fan shroud. I’ve got a radiator coming in tomorrow along with a fuel pump strainer and new fan clutch nuts. Planning to have it back up and running tomorrow afternoon/evening.

 

[interactivebagel]

I saw you in Pagosa! I was in the black 80 on Hwy 160.

 

[SUMMIT CRUISERS Jr]

I saw you in Pagosa! I was in the black 80 on Hwy 160.

I saw you! I was wondering who that was.


Truck is back together. We left Pagosa at 5am for Ouray. Then took Imogene into Telluride. Between the new fan and fuel filter, pump strainer, and charcoal canister, the truck ran great.

 

[SUMMIT CRUISERS Jr]

Made it home yesterday evening. This random shut off issue Ihave been having is absolutely frustrating.

To document what has been happening:

CEL light remains on when trying to restart.

Seems to happen at less than ~3000 rpms.

It has happened on both 100% gas and E10 gas.

Doesn’t seem to be induced by bumps or vibrations in the road since it has happened at idle, on smooth roads, and not yet on gravel roads.

Outside air temp has been as low as 40s and high as upper 90s from low humidity to extremely high humidity.

It has happened with as much as 3/4s full of gas all the way down to where it has a 1/4 tank or so. It seems to be most prevalent below half a tank.

It has happened while under load or while coasting and even at idle. When it starts to shut down it does it in stages like I am up shifting several gears over 5 to 10 seconds. Flooring the throttle does nothing but ihave found that pumping the throttle pedal rapidly helps delay the shut down but does practically nothing.

Has happened within a 90 mile drive but sometimes it’s fine for a 400 mile drive...more on that later.

At the start of my trip, along with making repairs, I replaced the fuel filter, fuel pump strainer, and charcoal canister. None of these have solved the issue.

—————————————————————

Which leads me to several days ago. We left our campsite outside of Crested Butte around 8 am and drove over and down the Paradise Divide and into town. We had breakfast and filled up the cruiser with e10 87 with Lucas fuel injection cleaner. I always add this in with ethanol gas as it seems to help.

We set out for Pearl Pass. We drove for several hours and by maybe 11 we had reached a decently fresh rock slide. I put the cruiser in park to scope out the slide and that’s when it shut down. I popped the gas cap and there was a little bit of pressure. Probably about normal considering the drastic change in elevation.

After letting it vent and cool for 20 or so minutes, we hopped back in and I was able to get it to fire up albeit with rapid pumping of the accelerator pedal. Without pumping rapidly, it would want to just die. Once it seems ok, I’d get the RPMs up to 3000 and hold them there for maybe 10 seconds. Then I would be able to let off the accelerator and it idles smooth and without hint of issue.

We continued on and this issue never presented itself again on Pearl Pass; However, it did show up again later that day. Probably 6 or so hours later, we were descending Independence Pass and it shut off again as I let off the gas pedal for a tight corner.

I pulled into a large pull out and opened the gas cap. We waited for 15 minutes or so and I was able to get it to start up and did the usual rev to 3k and hold for 10 or so seconds and then drop to idle where it seems fine. Within 100 yards of driving, it shut down again. I pulled over again and repeated the wait time and procedure. From there we drove all the way to a friend’s place south of Denver without issue.

Yesterday morning, we left my friend’s place around 6:30 am and the cruiser performed flawlessly for 400 miles.
Somewhere outside of Ellsworth, Kansas, in a one lane construction zone, the cruiser randomly lost power and began to shut down. Luckily I was able to get off the road. I repeated the procedure and it started up only to die maybe a half mile away. Repeated the procedure and once again made it another half mile or so before it shut off. On the third try and after roughly 35 minutes, the cruiser had a hard start where pumping the accelerator didn’t really help. The next turn of the ignition and the cruiser started up like it does normally without even needing the accelerator pressed. We drove 20-30 miles and I filled it with 91 octane 100% gas thinking maybe this thing does have a mind of its own and it will appreciate this gas.

I guess it did because we drove the remaining 270 miles or so without issue. We had stopped for gas several times in that drive and I also bought a spark plug tester in Salina but obviously didn’t get a chance to use it.

Side note, this is the inside of my gas tank. I am amazed at how new it still looks so it’s not related to debris in the tank. I’ve seen a lot worse...

Various pictures of it shut down.

 

[White Stripe]

When it does it check to see if you have lost fuel pressure or if you have lost spark, then go from their.

 

[jdayment]

Made it home yesterday evening. This random shut off issue Ihave been having is absolutely frustrating.

To document what has been happening:

CEL light remains on when trying to restart.

Seems to happen at less than ~3000 rpms.

It has happened on both 100% gas and E10 gas.

Outside air temp has been as low as 40s and high as upper 90s from low humidity to extremely high humidity.

It has happened with as much as 3/4s full of gas all the way down to where it has a 1/4 tank or so. It seems to be most prevalent below half a tank.

It has happened while under load or while coasting and even at idle. When it starts to shut down it does it in stages like I am up shifting several gears over 5 to 10 seconds. Flooring the throttle does nothing but ihave found that pumping the throttle pedal rapidly helps delay the shut down but does practically nothing.

Has happened within a 90 mile drive but sometimes it’s fine for a 400 mile drive...more on that later.

At the start of my trip, along with making repairs, I replaced the fuel filter, fuel pump strainer, and charcoal canister. None of these have solved the issue.

—————————————————————

Which leads me to several days ago. We left our campsite outside of Crested Butte around 8 am and drove over and down the Paradise Divide and into town. We had breakfast and filled up the cruiser with e10 87 with Lucas fuel injection cleaner. I always add this in with ethanol gas as it seems to help.

We set out for Pearl Pass. We drove for several hours and by maybe 11 we had reached a decently fresh rock slide. I put the cruiser in park to scope out the slide and that’s when it shut down. I popped the gas cap and there was a little bit of pressure. Probably about normal considering the drastic change in elevation.

After letting it vent and cool for 20 or so minutes, we hopped back in and I was able to get it to fire up albeit with rapid pumping of the accelerator pedal. Without pumping rapidly, it would want to just die. Once it seems ok, I’d get the RPMs up to 3000 and hold them there for maybe 10 seconds. Then I would be able to let off the accelerator and it idles smooth and without hint of issue.

We continued on and this issue never presented itself again on Pearl Pass; However, it did show up again later that day. Probably 6 or so hours later, we were descending Independence Pass and it shut off again as I let off the gas pedal for a tight corner.

I pulled into a large pull out and opened the gas cap. We waited for 15 minutes or so and I was able to get it to start up and did the usual rev to 3k and hold for 10 or so seconds and then drop to idle where it seems fine. Within 100 yards of driving, it shut down again. I pulled over again and repeated the wait time and procedure. From there we drove all the way to a friend’s place south of Denver without issue.

Yesterday morning, we left my friend’s place around 6:30 am and the cruiser performed flawlessly for 400 miles.
Somewhere outside of Ellsworth, Kansas, in a one lane construction zone, the cruiser randomly lost power and began to shut down. Luckily I was able to get off the road. I repeated the procedure and it started up only to die maybe a half mile away. Repeated the procedure and once again made it another half mile or so before it shut off. On the third try and after roughly 35 minutes, the cruiser had a hard start where pumping the accelerator didn’t really help. The next turn of the ignition and the cruiser started up like it does normally without even needing the accelerator pressed. We drove 20-30 miles and I filled it with 91 octane 100% gas thinking maybe this thing does have a mind of its own and it will appreciate this gas.

I guess it did because we drove the remaining 270 miles or so without issue. We had stopped for gas several times in that drive and I also bought a spark plug tester in Salina but obviously didn’t get a chance to use it.

Side note, this is the inside of my gas tank. I am amazed at how new it still looks so it’s not related to debris in the tank. I’ve seen a lot worse...



Various pictures of it shut down.

I experienced something similar and the root cause ended up being several breaks in the wiring harness coming from the underhood fusebox. The truck has spent the majority of its life in 3rd world countries so a lot of wear and tear replaced it with new box and harness from a junk yard and have not experienced anything since.

 

[SUMMIT CRUISERS Jr]

When it does it check to see if you have lost fuel pressure or if you have lost spark, then go from their.

Yeah that’s my plan and why I bought a spark plug tester but haven’t really been in a good enough place to try either and since it isn’t reproduceable I have no idea when it will possibly happen next. I used to think it was related to my fuel tank pressurizing, but after replacing the CC, it seems to have no trouble filling up whereas it used to shut off every 30 to 40 cents. I’m starting to think it’s some electrical gremlin...

 

[Technician1985]

I'd look into the VAF. Perhaps the pumping of the throttle is causing a connection to become stronger, and a steady state is causing a weak electrical connection over time, like in a potentiometer. I wonder if any other period Toyota ones work on a 3F-E? Oddly I have an RX-7 one here that looks almost exactly the same and possibly has the same plug.

EDIT: This weekend I might try to start and run it with the RX-7 B-code VAF because it looks exactly the same, made by denso, and I'm curious...lol...

 

[SUMMIT CRUISERS Jr]

Hasn’t even had any shut off issues since getting home so I haven’t been able to check for spark issues...

Recent trip summary:

2100 miles
8.87mpg

OKC -> Red River, NM -> Pagosa Springs, CO -> Ouray -> Telluride -> Crested Butte -> Aspen -> Denver -> I70 east to Salina and then I35 south to OKC.


Unfortunately, we ended up having to cut time out of certain parts of the trip due to being pressed for time after the breakdown, but all around good times were still had.

Outside of Red River at my go to campsite

Gold King Basin. We went up higher than where I camped last year and in the process had to traverse a sketch, extremely loose, off camber rock slide section late at night to get to this spot. The next morning we were packing up when a Jeep rubicon and 3rd gen Tacoma attempted getting to where we were camped at. The rubicon was sliding down and nearly rolled down from there. It was balanced precariously on a small shelf of loose rocks, and if a door had been slammed on it, they would have given away. The guy’s wife was absolutely freaking out and he was trying to throttle his way out when I got over to him and told him to stop and winch out.

Running up some random road after crossing the Slate River near Crested Butte. This led to probably the best campsite I’ve ever camped at. Or at least one of the best...

Definitely a top 3 campsite. We tried to go up to the top of the road the following morning but an uncleared rockslide prevented that as the road became extremely narrow and off camber. I’m not even too sure a dirt bike would have made it.

When we were leaving Crested Butte and trying to get to Idaho Springs for Beau Jo’s, we faced two options. Pearl Pass, a short 30 mile drive, or a long nearly 200 mile drive on pavement. The choice was easy and we even thought we could save some time by taking Pearl Pass. Pearl Pass started out looking like a used mine field. Giant holes everywhere and it was of course very dusty. I had totally different expectations of what the pass would be like going into it, but it ended up being probably the best pass I’ve ever been on. It was extremely rocky and had quite a few technical spots where I was glad I had the Harrop. Near the top at somewhere around 12,000 feet we were in a rock garden that I tried to just crawl with the rear locker on. In Low and Low, the cruiser wasn’t having it. Luckily, with the rear locker and three bumps later, we were through.

I definitely want to run this pass again sometime but with a lighter load and no bikes. That really slowed progress as we took them off several times for the clearance we needed to make it through sections.

Oh and it also ended up taking significantly more time than the estimated 3 hour drive on black top, but the summit was unlike any other summit I have seen. It was pretty wild.

 

[OrtSA]

Great job on your build! Thanks for the detailed write up on each project.

 

[SUMMIT CRUISERS Jr]

Been awhile since an update.

Had an epic spring break trip out to Utah and Colorado with 3 friends along for the ride. Gas and groceries split between us evenly meant I was only out $170 for my portion!

The cruiser ran great the entire time. Never had a single random shut off. I thinking cleaning some ground wire connection on the front passenger side of the block may have fixed that.

2300 miles all said and done at 9.91 mpg.

We left late in the evening on a Friday and drove out to the Palo Duro Canyon. We ended up sleeping at a road that dead ended since we arrived around midnight.

The next day we got up, headed into the canyon, and bikes for a couple hours. From there we drove to ABQ and rode an amazing trail called Bob Sled in Bernalillo. The weather was perfect and riding down the mountain as the sun set in t shirts may have been one of the most unexpected parts of our trip. We hadn’t even planned to ride that evening, but winged it.
We followed that up with some green and red Chile New Mexican cuisine. After dinner, we drove out into the national forest near Cuba, NM. A lot of the roads were closed and snow covered but we found one that had an open gate and ventured into it. After a little while of romping through the snow, we came to an impassable steep switchback and decided to make camp.

I think it got close to single digits that night, but overall wasn’t too bad until it came time to pack up. That was a rough morning.

From there we drove out to Cortez, CO to ride Phil’s World. Turns out that the whole area was still snow covered/muddy to ride which was a huge bummer. We called it a day and left for Moab.

We got into Moab fairly early and spent some time at the bike park and eating in town. We followed that up with a little bit of wheeling to freak a couple friends out and then made camp somewhere in the desert.

The next day, we grabbed breakfast in town and then rode the slickrock trail. After that, we met up with another friend who drove out from his place in Crested Butte to camp and wheel with us.

Cooking up an amazing dinner. Bacon wrapped and cheese filled jalapeños followed up by steak fajitas. Turns out another friend was simultaneously in Moab and he was ripping around on some trails late at night when he stumbled upon us camping.

 

[SUMMIT CRUISERS Jr]

The next day, we ended up passing David Frieburger on a trail which was unexpected. It was so unexpected, I didn’t even believe that it was him. We were on a narrow road and he pulled over to allow us to pass so the whole interaction wasn’t that long, but as we drove down we realized who it reminded us of. Low and behold, we saw him post on Instagram that he was out in Moab. We then biked that afternoon and drove out to Green River. We ended up bailing on the Green River portion of our trip as weather was blowing in and we all really wanted to be able to ride Fruita and Grand Junction. After a brief grocery grab, we jumped back onto I70 and headed for Fruita.

Fruita camping wasn’t that great. The first night we paid for a campsite so we could be close to the trails. We rode Lunch Loops in Grand Junction the next day and it was amazing. Everything from the atmosphere to quality trails and nearby Handlebar Tap House, it was probably the best riding and eating of our trip. After eating and getting a friend bandages up after his big wreck on the trails, we drove back out to Fruita and camped on the BLM land.

The next day we woke up bright and early in order for a long day of driving to Salina, KS where we planned to ride the switchgrass IMBA epic trail. Upon arrival, we set up camp in a spot, and hit the hay. The next morning, we learned that the trails were too muddy to ride so we left and arrived back home after a week on the road. I never once had to work on the cruiser and it did better on fuel mileage than the previous summer trip so I was happy.

After unloading and going our separate ways, I drove 100 miles round trip to my house to grab my number plate and get my bike ready for racing. I then drove 130 miles to Claremore to camp and race the next day.

When I fired it up to leave, I heard a horrible sound. I visibly saw the front crank pulley moving forward and back. I thought the big female threaded bolt might have come loose, but It didn’t feel loose. I then drove it 14 miles out of the woods to a large highway where my parents happened to be passing through later that afternoon on their way home from Arkansas. My dad and I attempted to tighten the crank bolt/nut but it wouldn’t budge.

We decided to tow it home to be safe. Simultaneously, I was coming to terms with the fact that the main bearings might have failed and the 3FE may have met its demise. I was just glad that it had happened 100 miles from home and not 1000 miles away.

 

[Technician1985]

Dude that sucks. On the other hand it seems like you’ve gotten your money’s worth out of that motor at this point wouldn’t you say?

 

[SUMMIT CRUISERS Jr]

The only issue the cruiser had during the spring break trip was non working AC. We had charged it up the day before we left, but it didn’t hold. We knew there was a leak so we weren’t really expecting it to hold.

Upon returning home with 419k miles on the 3FE, my dad JB welded the pulley to itself and that solidified the whole pulley. This proved that there wasn’t an issue with the main bearings/crank. Then I set to work ordering a new crank pulley, timing gears, timing gear gasket, and some other parts. A couple weekends ago, I finally had time to tear it down and get a better look.

I also got a new intake tube as mine was starting to fail on the bottom hose connection.

Luckily no crank damage.

After tearing it all down, I had to devote some time to working on the 4runner as I have been dailying it since this issue developed.

The next weekend, we tightened the crank bolt. Then I buttoned it up after my dad had bolted back on the cover etc.

I then changed the oil and began burping the coolant. I then stopped doing that and took the 4runner on a 200 mile round trip to preride a course that I was racing that Sunday morning. Thankfully I didn’t finish burping the cruiser because later that evening, as I was about it back it out, it sprung a huge oil leak.

 

[SUMMIT CRUISERS Jr]

Dude that sucks. On the other hand it seems like you’ve gotten your money’s worth out of that motor at this point wouldn’t you say?

I suppose so, but I always figured it’s demise would be more damaging and epic. I don’t know really, but it is back up and running now so I’m glad to continue onward with it. When we initially thought it was done for, I was kind of glad in a depressed way. It meant that I could finally start embarking on a 2UZ swap, but meant that I would be without the cruiser for at least a year. I don’t have any time to dive into that for at least the next 9 months and then there’s the time it would take to figure out a swap and perform it in addition to painting the engine bay etc.

Anyways, I started looking into this oil leak coming from behind the plate on the front of the block behind the cam gear/timing gear. . I was ecstatic the cruiser was back up and running, but then after reading that the cam has to come out to reseal that plate, I was gutted once again by the thought of having to pull the motor to fix this issue.

Then I had the thought of the cruiser being down for the foreseeable future once again as I’m not going to pull the 3FE and put it back in. It makes no sense to put in a motor that has 420k+ miles on it without rebuilding it, but I’m not going to rebuild it because I don’t want to be stuck with it until 800k miles haha. I tore everything back down again, and after reading through the fsm, loctite 242/243 had not been used on a couple bolts. There was also a couple of different length screws (marginally smaller than the other) but we made sure it was as perfect as it could be and that the loctite has cured before firing it up again.

As of now, I’ve driven it on increasingly longer drives with one of 45 miles last night and everything is holding, so I’m thankful and happy to be able to continue the 3FE’s journey.

I also landed an internship this summer in Kansas City. That’s partly why I have been doing a lot of PM on the 4runner. I didn’t think I’d be able to take the cruiser, but now that it runs, I set to work fixing the AC leak. We soaped all the fittings in the engine bay and nothing was leaking. This meant that it had to be around the expansion valve under the dash in the evaporator box.

New denso expansion valve, a flushed system with new oil, and new o rings on the firewall connections and expansion valve connections and my AC is holding a vacuum!

Before I move to Kansas City, I’ve got a couple smaller projects I’d like to do, but other than that, the cruiser is back up and nearly perfect once again.