My 80 went swimming help... (1 Viewer)

[djzimms]

Afternoon D, We met on sunday. I was in the white cruiser.

bad luck with the drain plug. drill as a last resort, but before it comes to that, I would try hitting it with penetrating oil overnight, and then attack it with a hammer, then a torch. (the magic is in the marinade)

The sluge-oil is a bad sign, does it look like its oil mixed with water? If it's coming out the fill (upper) hole then you probably got some water into the axle via the breather. The other possibility is that water in the knuckle went through the knuckle-axle seal, in that case you probably need to rebuild your knuckle.

I second @ccslider in that you should pulloff your dust caps and check for sand/water. Another check you could do is to check out the grease inside your birf. Just undo the square fill plug on the knuckle and stick your pinky inside (or qtip, i have fat fingers) the grease should be very thick.

In case you do end up going the knuckle rebuild route, I can give some in-person guidance for the install. I even have some race installers if you choose to change out your wheel bearings.

In terms of cleaning out your 'dirty' axles, whether or not you replace your knuckles, I would just fill up the axle with cheap gear oil, and flush it after a few (10ish) miles.


Good luck.

Funny, thanks P!

 

[morganism]

Some of us use drip irrigation tubing to raise the breather port up into the engine compartment, and i just used a dripper as the breather also...

 

[ppc]

Drip irrigation tubing is not a wise choice as it is not an oil resistant product and will eventually fail.

 

[ALX4X4]

I also ground my 6 point socket down to get rid of the tapered lead in = more contact patch on the drain plug. I used a Kincchrome LokOn socket and that grabbed where normal sockets would slip, good luck !

 

[djzimms]

I also ground my 6 point socket down to get rid of the tapered lead in = more contact patch on the drain plug. I used a Kincchrome LokOn socket and that grabbed where normal sockets would slip, good luck !

Such a great idea on grinding down the socket, that worked beautifully! Got it off today. Seriously makes me want to grind down all of my sockets!

 

[sea bass]

Good idea on changing the plugs out. If it's stripped you have to get creative. I would drill as a last resort.

Maybe vise grips or ideally get the socket that grips rounded bolts.

The oil sounds contaminated. Check your breather too, make sure it's not clogged.

I've been working on cars for 45 years I never knew you could tell Oil was contaminated by listening to it from a video

 

[djzimms]

I've been working on cars for 45 years I never knew you could tell Oil was contaminated by listening to it from a video

Tis true, but I'm happy to do the efforts needed based on assumptions to clean everything up to get my 80 flying again. The oil, was a dark gray and pretty gnarly sludge coming out.

 

[ccslider]

I've been working on cars for 45 years I never knew you could tell Oil was contaminated by listening to it from a video

Surprising I know.. kinda like claiming to work on cars when you're 8 years old

 

[djzimms]

Surprising I know.. kinda like claiming to work on cars when you're 8 years old

Well, considering the first time I changed oil on a car was just a few months ago, I appreciate everyone's help, and feel like I'm learning quite a bit of things to know for the future on my 80. I'd love to have 600K+ on my engine before I have to replace it, but...I plan to replace it when that time comes.

 

[Munks]

If your steering feels 'strange' one day, replace the electronic sensor on the steering box before going into full rebuild mode on the power steering pump and steering box. Another thing that failed after my 80 went swimming and cost me a small fortune.

 

[pedwards]

Congrats on getting your drain plug out.
how did the diff oil look?

 

[djzimms]

Congrats on getting your drain plug out.
how did the diff oil look?

Dark gray. I'll try to take a photo and post in a while. Looks like dark gray paint.

 

[djzimms]

Alright!!! Just wanted to give a shout out to you all for your guidance and help, as well as others on Mud. I've now cleaned all electrical connectors, replaced all u joints and cleaned/greased the splines (shortly after that, I developed a bad grind when slowing down...). The culprit...the front left knuckle. Now, both knuckles are rebuild according to spec. I also replaced the alternator (was going to rebuild, but the connection inside for the brushes was broken off, so I just bought a used one that I had to rebuild anyways. I also installed a new starter...probably not necessary, but went ahead and did it. Oh, and a new battery helped as well.

Only question I have is on the brakes following the knuckle rebuild. I drained out all brake lines essentially by opening all 4 zircs on the calipers along with the LSPV. I then followed the process of BP, BD, LSPV, FP, FD. I feel like what I did was appropriate in bleeding the brake lines until there was a steady flow with no bubbles in the tubing. To be honest, the brakes could be working just fine, but I'm a little paranoid being my first time. They do seem a bit squishy, but that could be from also driving a small Subaru which stops on a dime, but also, if I pump the breaks while driving, they seem to get stiffer with each pump to the point where essentially I lose braking to an extent for a brief moment. That doesn't seem normal, so just wanted to see if there's any advice, or if I should take it to a shop to have them make sure I bled the brakes appropriately. It's stopping, and quite possibly the same as before, but I'm just not 100% sure, especially with losing some braking ability when I pumped the brakes. Also, I did install new (refurb) calipers in the front from Napa. They came with no brake fluid in them, and I only filled them with the bleeding. Should I have tried to fill them as best as I could prior to putting them on?

Thanks!!!

 

[shocktower]

I could hear your talons clicking when walking on the gravel wear some dam shoes when working on your cruiser

Ok drain the front diff, and see if there is some latte drink in there, grease all the greaseable parts, and maybe pull the felt and rubber parts for your knuckles to see if you got mud/sand in there

 

[djzimms]

I could hear your talons clicking when walking on the gravel wear some dam shoes when working on your cruiser

Ok drain the front diff, and see if there is some latte drink in there, grease all the greaseable parts, and maybe pull the felt and rubber parts for your knuckles to see if you got mud/sand in there

Long past that now... =)

 

[pedwards]

Only question I have is on the brakes following the knuckle rebuild. I drained out all brake lines essentially by opening all 4 zircs on the calipers along with the LSPV. I then followed the process of BP, BD, LSPV, FP, FD. I feel like what I did was appropriate in bleeding the brake lines until there was a steady flow with no bubbles in the tubing. To be honest, the brakes could be working just fine, but I'm a little paranoid being my first time. They do seem a bit squishy, but that could be from also driving a small Subaru which stops on a dime, but also, if I pump the breaks while driving, they seem to get stiffer with each pump to the point where essentially I lose braking to an extent for a brief moment. That doesn't seem normal, so just wanted to see if there's any advice, or if I should take it to a shop to have them make sure I bled the brakes appropriately. It's stopping, and quite possibly the same as before, but I'm just not 100% sure, especially with losing some braking ability when I pumped the brakes. Also, I did install new (refurb) calipers in the front from Napa. They came with no brake fluid in them, and I only filled them with the bleeding. Should I have tried to fill them as best as I could prior to putting them on?

Thanks!!!

Hey D, when i drove your truck a few weeks ago, your brakes seemed on point. That should be your baseline.

Since you have new calipers, there might be some air bubbles still inside. You should probably bleed your brakes again. Having a shop do it would be fine, but it's not hard to do yourself.

One additional thing, when you totally drained your lines, did you let all the fluid out of the master cylinder? If so, you will have to bleed the cylinder as well.

Good luck,
if you want to test drive my truck's brakes for a comparison, you're welcome to.

-P