Projects for this weekend, but I need a little help...

[Mungoon]

Hi everybody, you've all been very kind to recommend a few inexpensive projects for me to complete and hopefully get my cruiser back up and running. I'd like to get started on some of them this weekend, but I need a little bit of help in terms of what to look for first.

1. It has been said several times that I should ground/reground the fuel cut off solenoid. Can you please post up a picture of what I am looking for?

2. I also need to replace my fusible link off the battery and for the time being need to go with aftermarket parts since I'm broke, so can you tell me what gauge of wire/quality of fuse to use?

3. Everybody swears by seafoam, so what exactly do I do with it? Just drown the carb?

4. I still have an energy leak that is draining my battery. Both the Batt and the Alt have been tested and are ok, what else should I check? Could this be related to the fuel cutoff solenoid and/or fusible link situation?

5. I can't remember which screw is which as far as idle adjustments go, could you please tell me (again? sorry.)?

6. (This one's real specific... in an alternate universe!) There is something that changes the way the engine runs at higher altitudes and I think it's one of many things that has gone screwy. How do I adjust it?

Thank you once again for your help. Without the help of the people on this forum, my 60 would never even have a chance of running again.

-Ian

 

[philos1]

i'll answer as i know them

1.
2. get the OEM fusible links $40 well spent (IMO)
3.there are some threads on this- through the carb, through the brake booster vac line, through various other vac lines. makes a LOT of smoke from what i hear- never done it myself...
4.sounds like it's the fusible links to me.
5.search function, lots of threads (have to be in front of it to remember)
6. AFAIK, it's not adjustable- either works or not (not working seems pretty rare), could be some other issue with vac lines, etc.

i had lots of funky issues when my fusible links went bad (plugs actually melted/fused together instead of links blowing) all better now.
my .02

 

[Mungoon]

Well $0.02 seems to be worth a lot more coming from members of this site...

 

[philos1]

my .02 isn't worth nearly as much as some here- meant as a compliment to everyone here.

 

[sl33py]

mungoon - i'd try and keep the fusible link stock unless you know exactly what to replace and with what amp wire...

I think you might fix several of your issues just with the fusible link.

seafoam - i never figured out which hose to suck it in so just poured it down carb while revving to keep it from dying. about 1/3 can that way then go ahead and drown it till it bogs and dies. let it sit 10-15min so it can soak into all the deposits and loosen them up. start 'er up again and enjoy the smoke show. Some say it can foul plugs - so change those after to see. Let us know if they look any more fouled than before i guess...

good luck!

rob

did you call or email Cdan to check cost on fusible?

 

[Mungoon]

I haven't talked to CDan yet, I'm waiting to see if a couple of people on the board who are parting out 60s have one acceptable enough to replace mine with on the cheap. I went to the auto parts store near my office about half an hour ago and they didn't have (on know what it was) seafoam, so I'll have to check the one by the house. If they don't have it, maybe I'll save that part of the project for next weekend.

-Ian

 

[Mungoon]

Holy crap guys! When you said the Seafoam would make a white cloud, I thought it would be something small... You could see a 200 foot wide opaque white stream for about a quarter of a mile from the house for 20+ minutes. I was sure the fire department was going to show up at the door, but thankfully they didn't. Still haven't gotten to any of the other projects, but I'll keep you posted.

Ian

 

[geoffk]

Mungoon,
keep up on the updates, I'm curious to see how this works out for you. I'm new to this as well. I've started taking pictures of the fixes as I'm making them for reference. That way if someone has a similar problem, I have a pic to show.

 

[Mungoon]

That's great thinking... There really need to be lists of instructions for certain things using photos for mechanical dopes like myself. Since we're talking about photos, can someone please post up a pic of the fusible link? I think I might have it mixed up with something else. Sunday afternoon I will try to post a pic of the wiring mess I discovered with a request for suggestions. There are several wires that have been cut and I'm not sure why.

On a separate note, I finally found the fuel cut off solenoid (it didn't look what I thought it would) but how exactly do I go about grounding it?

 

[Mungoon]

Well, thanks to the 10,000 other things I'm always having to deal with, I was only able to do the seafoam treatment and a couple of little fixit things with the interior. The rest of the things will have to wait for next weekend and I definately want to tackle the fuel cutoff solenoid and fusible link problems first. Anybody have pics of the fusible link? I think I got it mixed up with something else. My wife couldn't find the camera, so no pic of my wiring mess, but the gist of it is that I have a couple of fairly large connectors (for lack of a better word) coming off of the positive battery terminal that have at least one wire that has been cut on each. Is this stupid PO syndrome or something necessary to cancel out a short or what? I know a picture is worth a thousand words, so I'll try to find the camera and snap off a few pics, but does anything come to mind from the description?

 

[sl33py]

Mungoon - How did the seafoam go? help?

wiring - yikes - sorry to hear it's a mess. Get pics so someone can help out. I don't have my truck here to get a pic of my fusible link. It's right off the positive battery terminal - 3 wires (diff colors iirc) w/ little sleeves on each, between one white connector and one green connector. O rings on the connectors so nice and sealed... hth

rob

 

[Mungoon]

That sounds like my problem area. I'll call my wife to see if she can find the camera and email me a pic.

 

[Mungoon]

Ok, here's a pic...

Here is a pic of my fusible link. Notice that one of the wires was cut by the PO. I drove the truck for a year without any difficulties but now I have the major electrical problems I've described above. Does this have anything to do with them? So the battery was tested and I thought the guy was full of crap when he came back and said the batt was fine. He tested it a second time with me watching to prove his point. The battery is fine apparently, but it will not hold a charge even for 30 secs. I jump the truck and it will run fine for a while off the jumps (though a bit low on the amps, between 8 and 11), but the second I turn it off, it is unable to even muster a click from the starter when I try to start it again. Is it possible that I have a short somewhere on top of the (real/not) grounding problem?

I have removed the picture since I replaced the link and sold my my truck.

I really hope you can figure this out, because it's beyond me. If I can just get this problem solved then I can at least get it to a mechanic to get advice on the rest of the problems. Thanks again for the help, I really appreciate the help you guys have been willing to give to this automotively challenged 60 lover.

By the way... Through all of this testing I've noticed that my carb fan doesn't come on anymore. Do you think it's related?

 

[sl33py]

Hey Ian - your fusible link is shot.

Spend the 40$ and eliminate it as a possible issue. It is definately not supposed to have that one wire clipped/missing! Do that first and see if it will charge the batt properly.

If you were in town, i'd let you borrow my spare one (in glove box) to test...but obviously you aren't.

good luck!

rob

 

[Mungoon]

Yeah, I've already left a message for Cruiser Dan. The really weird thing is that I drove for over a year with that cut and never had a problem. The PO did some bizarre things with the truck and I'm still discovering new ones every time I look at it. I'm sure the link will help, so that's a must but I don't think it's the only thing causing my headaches.

What do you think about the carb fan though?

-I

[edit] Ok, the part has been ordered from the always helpful Cruiser Dan, so I'll have it installed next weekend and I'll report back. I still don't know if that's the only problem though.

 

[sl33py]

did you search for carb cooling fan? There is a sensor that is supposed to let it know when it's warm enough to turn on after shutting engine off. If it's not connected, broken, loose etc... that might be it. They also have some other ideas to fix it.

hth

rob

 

[Mungoon]

I've searched on the carb fan issue and I've come up with a few things that I want to try out, so hopefully the problem will be solved by one of those. It just seems like everything is going haywire with this truck and I have a feeling that they're all connected. I think replacing that fusible link will make a world of difference even if it doesn't solve the problem, but combined with the fan and the solenoid maybe it actually will.

I have a question about grounding the fuel cutoff solenoid for you, since you've done it (I think)... Do I splice the black and white striped wire and run it to the negative terminal on the battery or would I be adding a 3rd wire somewhere?

-I

 

[sl33py]

no clue on the grounding...

any update? did you get the fusible link yet?

 

[Mungoon]

The fusible link is arriving later this afternoon by UPS, so it will go on Saturday afternoon. I also got a new Positive lead for the battery and will be switching that out as well. My negative lead was replaced relatively recently, so it should be fine. I've heard a lot of people saying that their negative lead connects to their engine block, but mine is connected to the passenger side wall immediately next to the battery. Is this a problem or just an alternative way of doing it?

On a side note, just for giggles I replaced the "engine" fuse even though it was not visibly damaged and I was actually able to restart the truck after having run it, so maybe that was part of my problem. It was a very hard start, but it did eventually kick over. This may be related to my carb fan problem, so I'm going to inspect the wires when I do the other work. The battery did later go dead again, so I pulled it and am going to have it slow charged and tested again before this weekend. I will post up the results when I do that stuff this weekend. If all goes well, then I can move on to replacing my vacuum lines and cleaning the EGR valve in the next couple of weeks.

-Ian

 

[sl33py]

Ian - let us know if you got it done yet.

if you got it the 29th it should take you <5 min to swap!

rob