Real time help: stranded in grand junction, CO

[gonzopancho]

Uphill

 

[TheHardWay]

Hell bent for Moab - - YEE HAW !!!

 

[timmyisinthewell]

40 to save the day, jump start worked.



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Thanks all for help, we hope there’s no more issues on the way to moab.

Much respect to the brotherhood

 

[gonzopancho]

Had to change the fuel filter again. Got a visit from the Utah Highway Patrol when we stopped.

Made it to Moab

 

[gonzopancho]

A pair of mega cruisers

 

[70 FJ40]

Glad you made it. Looks like a ton of fun. Kinda jealous.
This is completely off topic, but is that a 3rd brake light I see? Kinda like that idea for safety reasons. When you have time, can you share more about that?

 

[FJBen]

Glad you made it. Looks like a ton of fun. Kinda jealous.
This is completely off topic, but is that a 3rd brake light I see? Kinda like that idea for safety reasons. When you have time, can you share more about that?

He’s posted about it in his thread:

Builds - Rub A Dub Dub, Pablo's Got A New Tub!!! - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/rub-a-dub-dub-pablos-got-a-new-tub.80054/page-15#post-13052283

Short story, from a 70 series.

 

[PabloCruise]

He’s posted about it in his thread:

Builds - Rub A Dub Dub, Pablo's Got A New Tub!!! - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/rub-a-dub-dub-pablos-got-a-new-tub.80054/page-15#post-13052283

Short story, from a 70 series.

Thanks for finding that @FJBen !!!

 

[PabloCruise]

I drained mine recently due to water. Siphoned most out then drained the rest. Under seat fuel tank, at least my 73 has a low point drain plug accessible under the truck, drain into a 5 gallon bucket.

We did ultimately drop the fuel from the tank and start over.

 

[PabloCruise]

Water stops up the fuel filter. I was running the ethanol free high octane but I think the station tank was contaminated. That tank is slow to turn over compared to regular.

That would make sense - fewer people buying the ethanol free fuel...

 

[PabloCruise]

Try Mike G at MetricOffroad….970 270 3332

Keiths Garage… 970 462 2686

Thank you! I will add Wesco Offroad to the list, he was nice enough to stop and pull me into Parachute.

 

[PabloCruise]

I once ran my 72 on a 1 liter IV bottle of gas taped to the antenna because the fuel pump went out. I run an electric fuel pump now and have a spare. That doesn't look like enough rust crap to plug a filter. However the paper element will not pas gas if wet with water. Couple of bottles of yellow gas dryer in the tank. Have several filters to swap in until the water is gone. The filters will dry out and be good for next time you get bad gas.

I purchased just about all the 5/16 fuel filters that the local O'Reilly's had.
I like the clear Wix filters. I never did see more debris, but it is hard to see if there was water in the fuel after going down the road.

 

[PabloCruise]

Make sure the distributor hasn't slipped timing? That 10mm holding screw *can* loosen and cause similar symptoms when timing gets way off.

The dizzy was firmly in place. My guy had set the timing for max vacuum after the header install. IIRC, we should be at 12 degrees.

 

[PabloCruise]

Pull the drain plugs on the bowl and flush with carb cleaner. May help some until the issue is fully resolved.

Thanks @Godwin , we did this Thursday morning after an unplanned stay in Grand Junction. This seemed to do us some good, until it didn't.

 

[PabloCruise]

I'm assuming OEM carb. The pair of drain plugs are below the sight window and are 14 mm heads. Access is easy. There is a copper washer with each one. Don't lose those. You shouldn't have leakage after pulling these out and reinstalling, there's no substantial fluid pressure in the carb. Pull the drain plugs, use a can of carb cleaner with a straw and flush out the fuel bowl.

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TIL - good stuff, thanks!

 

[PabloCruise]

give it the ol rev and choke by hand rebuild.
take the air cleaner off, rev it by hand, block off the venturi with the other hand, open throttle fully while choking it out.

I did do a few "let off the throttle while going down the road", not vaccuum in the same places, but...

 

[PabloCruise]

If this is a points distributor, have they been checked? Lots of times points issues can seem like fuel delivery issues.

Thanks! Mine is a early '78, so I have small-cap, electronic distributor.

 

[PabloCruise]

And the coil going out can seem like fuel starvation too.

Can you say more words about this @Engineer8000 ?

I am beginning to suspect this may be my problem, or one factor of all my troubles.

After we drained the tanks and started with a fresh tank, I felt like there was a spot in the RPM range where I wasn't under full power. If I shoveled on a little more coal, she would run fine. My problem was I couldn't always be running down the road at what was probably about 75 MPH. Don't ask me what RPM, b/c the tach was dead. First world problems...

One my home stretch last night it was running worse and worse, so I pulled over and thought I would change fuel filters. I tried my used, OEM Toyota one. That didn't help. I could hardly get it moving before she would stumble, so I went with a new, universal Wix. She still wasn't right, and then all of the sudden she was! This reminded me of Thursday night - before we drained the tank. Thursday night she ran like complete poo, and then all of the sudden she was at full strength!.

Well last night after she felt good I decided to make a run for it. I had her all unwound, probably about 70 MPH, doing great, and then the power just fell off instantly. It was not a gradual failure like other times - the power was gone. It was still running, but she would just stumble when I stepped on it. I tried to get out of traffic. I was able to get moving again after a few re-starts, but there was one car in the right lane that kept me from putting my foot in it. I didn't want to risk the left lane in case the power went away again.

So I have been thinking about your post. I don't really know how coils fail. I will read up on things, but if you have a favorite diagnostic - I am all ears.

Also wondering where to source a replacement coil.

I will pull the plugs and see how they look.

 

[PabloCruise]

Uphill

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There were definitely times she ran well.

 

[PabloCruise]

Hell bent for Moab - - YEE HAW !!!

But there were plenty of times she didn't.

We got there (and home), the hard way...

(See what I did there???)