Finally some good progress on a few projects...for those that remember, I had a rough time at Relic with a stumbling random misfire, which was come and go until it came time for the 400 mile ride home...ran generally like crap off and on, and had a misfire the entire last 60 miles or so. It took me a couple of weeks to diagnose, and in my testing, plugs out and a full compression check were in order. I was saddened to find number 6 was pushing about 125 and the others closer to 185+, so I figured that some near future major work would be needed (I tested 3 separate times, removing the tool each time to be sure). That said, I fixed the stumble as it was a bad "trick" resistor for the EGR, yanked that back out to OEM specs and all fine since. I was a bit hesitant to run it up to Coal Miner, but decided that it has been running well since the repair and no issues with overheating (ever), oil/water contamination, or fluid levels. I upped my AAA to cover 200 miles of towing, so I decided to make a go of it! For the trip, the truck ran fine and as well as any other 80 on the ride, both highway and trails, so I was happy to keep up as expected. Long story short, I went ahead and did a fresh compression check today, and beyond thrilled to find all at 185-200 (#6 was actually the highest at 200!). I don't know if the EGR issue caused a sticky valve or something when I checked last time, but I could definitely hear instantly when I cranked each of the 3 test times that it didn't sound strong, and the numbers backed it up with the previous testing. I was almost giddy when I cranked it with the tester in #6 and could hear that it sounded like it should, and happy to back it up with a proper reading!
Since that worked out well, I decided to move on to my M101A2 trailer project....I was finally able to find hand brake units (one was frozen), and new cables. I was hoping that the cables would work as they weren't the right part number, but looked as correct as possible by pics and measurements. Popped off my freshly turned drums, popped the back shoe off, and installed the cable on each side...all fit perfectly as I had hoped! Now I have freshly turned drums, new shoes, new wheel bearings, new wheel cylinders, all new soft and hard lines, new handbrake cables and handles, and a new master & shock (last part of the project still to do) and it should be ready to inspect. I already did a new lighting harness (lights were already upgraded to LED), new shocks, new reflectors, new safety chains (back to OEM), and a nice fatty front wheel setup for moving it around easily.
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