Builds The "Red Rocket" Troopy

[Felde]

2x
You are doing such a great job with your people hauler. Just great.
Concerning the issue of air in fuel line:
I'd rather suspect a gasket to be the culprit (e.g. fuel filter), rather than an actual pinhole in the line. Other than the rubber pieces in your fuel lines are really porous.
This issue might even be caused by the cold as it makes object shrink and rubbergasjets be less flexible.
To find the leak, you may spray suspect areas with starter fluid or brake cleaner: If it revs up, you found it. (Make sure the material sprayed at resists the solvent!)
However, with really tiny holes, this doesn't work either.
Good Luck Ralf

 

[FJBen]

I had to laugh at myself today, and decided to note here as well to show that I "practice what I preach" so to speak - I recently acquired a mkV Jetta TDI for cheap that I am getting in good running order. I went to run out yesterday in it and no starter. Not even a click.

Battery tested good.

So today I had time to take things apart and all I did was clean the grounds, and the one power connection to the solenoid with electrical cleaner spray, brush, wipe and dielectric grease.

Glad I did not remove the starter! Always back to basics when a gremlin rears its ugly head.

PS - Jetta diesel is starting like a champ in the cold weather now.

My cheap commuter is my 1988 jetta mkIII TDI and that thing started after sitting for 6 days outside at the airport with 3 of those days almost -20F. My daughter got in at 10pm, glowed twice and she fired right up.

The major issue I have to fix with it is when it gets near 0F, the front door latches work once. Once. So if you are in it and it doesn’t warm up you are climbing out the back doors or put a window dukes of hazard style. Which is quite comical for a 6’5” guy. Known issue, just need to tear the doors apart.

 

[FJBen]

Well it went from 5 to 50f degrees all the snow is starting a mass melt. Can't believe just how many people I yanked out of the snow.

View attachment 3540791View attachment 3540792View attachment 3540790View attachment 3540793

Also on Friday and Saturday night the troopy was the only thing keeping the party/bar scene alive in Boone, seriously I was the only vehicle on the road. That means my usual charge of $4 per person went to $8, money money moneyyyyyy. Drove kids around until about 3am, wish I had one of those interior dashcams cause it would be hilarious to see everyone's reactions being packed 12 deep into a troopy snow wheeling up driveways. Have pretty much no documentation of that night other than 1 photo of me fixing the troopy on the side of the road.
View attachment 3540795
This, along with the grounding issue has become quite an annoying issue. Air in the fuel lines... at first I thought it was my fuel freezing but I got so pissed with it that I just dumped a whole anti-gel bottle into my tank and the issue persisted. Upon startup it will idle fine and rev up fine but under any load it runs horribly and will sometimes just shut off. So now I pop the bleeder screw open on my fuel filter upon start up get all the air out from it sitting and then I'm good to drive it but if it let it sit for more than 4 hours I have to do it again or else air will get back in the fuel system. Obviously some sort of tiny pinhole leak or something in one of the lines, pretty annoying and really hope I don't have to drop the tank to fix it.

To end on a good note here's a video of the red rocket plowing through some snow


And an extremely unhappy cold start at 2f degrees, my extension cord plug froze with ice in the connectors so I couldn't plug it in overnight. Now to give the Isuzu some defense, I don't have a pull cord hooked up to the "cold start enrichment lever" on the IP so that definitely doesn't help. However I do really miss the Toyota "Super Glow" system or whatever it was called. That stuff worked great.

Replace all rubber fuel line. It’s cheap enough and you can check all connections.

Last time the fuel filter was changed? Could have some water in there and maybe freezing caused an issue with the seal, you know shrinkage…

Also possibly the fuel primer could be bad and sucking air as well like they do on the Toyota.

Do you have a pre filter anywhere or just lines straight to IP?

Didn’t you just change your fuel level sensor? It looked pretty crispy, did you replace the pre filter on the pickup tube as well? Possible contamination, there should be a screen right at the IP bolt that can get clogged however I’m leaning more towards a line crack.


Another test to try is pressurizing your fuel lines with air. Not a ton but that pressure should show any pinholes or leaks that are hard to spot.

 

[Rigster]

My cheap commuter is my 1988 jetta mkIII TDI and that thing started after sitting for 6 days outside at the airport with 3 of those days almost -20F. My daughter got in at 10pm, glowed twice and she fired right up.

The major issue I have to fix with it is when it gets near 0F, the front door latches work once. Once. So if you are in it and it doesn’t warm up you are climbing out the back doors or put a window dukes of hazard style. Which is quite comical for a 6’5” guy. Known issue, just need to tear the doors apart.

I am loving this Jetta... full load including leather and sunroof. A steal at $1500. But agreed, all of the VW's I have owned always seem to have door lock issues... but all cars have their quirks. So far, as a fairly handy person, I love the diesel Land Cruiser/VW TDI combo.

I laughed as I pictured the in and out the window of a Jetta... I am 6'3" and wondering how you managed to pull that off in under 15 minutes...

Neither of these vehicles would be viable for affordable ownership if I had to rely on the dealers for maintenance and repair. Unless of course I was dentist/surgeon or lawyer or something along those lines of additional income. Especially with raising 4 kids. We currently have a fleet of 3 TDI's and my middle son's recent acquirement of his mkIV GTI. The funny thing is they are all silver. Wasn't planned, just the deals came up that way over time. We were joking last night that in 2 years my youngest son will want to get a car, so we should start looking now for another TDI... in silver... then put racing numbers on them and hit the track. lol... I can think of worse family activities.

 

[bj70bc]

your hard starts are the air in the fuel lines,
fuel filter, primer pump and the connections from new to old engine lines will be high probability leak points

 

[robmobile73]

There is nothing wrong with your cold start. It started right?. If you can get just one cylinder to fire and start banging the others over that's awesome! It's character. Sort of like seeing a big radial engine on an old plane belching catching and firing over...(not saying you don't have some small problem, just saying you should be really glad it is starting in that weather).

Extreme cold causing your rubber fuel lines to get hard and not be flexible can cause leaks at hose clamps(especially if they are old rubber lines and you have taken them on and off numerous times at the same spot). The "spring clamp" style hose clamps are in some ways superior because they can hold pressure on the rubber at all times due to spring effect as compared to the normal screw type hose clamp provided your hose is size properly. If you have any obstruction in your fuel flow it is going to exacerbate your air leak problem. If your pump is sucking too hard it can easily suck air instead of fuel. Is your fuel filter clogged, or not screwed in tight or O ring not seated proper. After highway driving for some time at speed is there a vacum on your fuel tank cap/air rushes in when you pull off the cap? Your tank vent hose filter is clogged. I have this problem, but have not fixed it yet. Supposedly your tank vent hose has a small air filter up under the wheel well. This can get clogged with dirt and theoretically frozen clogged by snow and ice. If you still have your fuel return line going back to the tank then this means that you have warmed up fuel flowing back into the tank while you drive warming the tank. If your tank vent is frozen clogged when you shut down that fuel will cool overnight and your tank will have some suction(physics). Perhaps alot of suction. Try unscrewing your fuel cap in the morning before you start to see if you have suction/vacum on the tank. If yes it will be a little hard to get off and air will rush in................Fuel problems like this can often be remedied quickly by the addition of a less than $20 universal inline electric fuel pump to overcome your hard to find/diagnose extremely annoying small fuel starvation problem that is costing you hours of searching and trouble shooting........Perhaps not the "right way" but often quick and cheap is the right way at the time. later on you can use the pump as a fuel transfer pump or fuel polishing setup for your future boat or some other project. Most modern vehicles overcome finicky fuel line problems by having a in tank electric pump pushing fuel to the engine. Old landcruisers had gravity flow. Your and my vehicle are in the "in between time" where no pump in the tank and relying on the pumps on the engine to suck the fuel up from the tank.


Also If you took my advice and made a T in your supply line looping your return line (for convenience /ease in doing the swap) back to the supply instead of back to the tank this could be causing an air buildup problem. Some diesel fuel return systems use slip on rubber lines at points without any clamps as there is never any significant pressure or suction on the fuel return system. If you T ed into th esupply with your return this could be the source of your air leaks if combined with suction from clogged vent hose or other obstructed flow. Never had a problem when I did this on my old diesel conversion, but I had that cheap inline pump pushing fuel from the tank. It could cause a problem as sometimes the return fuel is "bubbly".

 

[theglobb]

Haven't been driving the troopy much cause I got the $600 trooper road legal. Put about 250 miles on it so far, no issues other than it clogs the fuel filter every 50 miles or so cause the tank is rusty. Bought a cheap 20-pack off of Amazon and just keep replacing them when it dies on me. Gets interesting when it shuts off uphill or in traffic haha! It's a shame that I bought it with the goal to sell it, I really like it and the drivetrain is really healthy. At 260,000 miles this engine has no blowby, its kinda absurd. Starts up amazingly, the transmission feels smooth as butter and every single electronic works on it. I'm a fan. I have a bit more rust on the body to fix before I sell it but mechanically its amazing, especially for sitting in a field for the past 20 years.

This issue might even be caused by the cold as it makes object shrink and rubbergasjets be less flexible.

This!!! As multiple people have mentioned. The temps have warmed up this week and the troopy has no issue in the slightest, don't really know what to do or how to track it down... I probably won't and will just deal with having to bleed it upon startup every time the temps drop below 10f.

There is nothing wrong with your cold start. It started right?. If you can get just one cylinder to fire and start banging the others over that's awesome! It's character. Sort of like seeing a big radial engine on an old plane belching catching and firing over...(not saying you don't have some small problem, just saying you should be really glad it is starting in that weather).

Extreme cold causing your rubber fuel lines to get hard and not be flexible can cause leaks at hose clamps(especially if they are old rubber lines and you have taken them on and off numerous times at the same spot). The "spring clamp" style hose clamps are in some ways superior because they can hold pressure on the rubber at all times due to spring effect as compared to the normal screw type hose clamp provided your hose is size properly. If you have any obstruction in your fuel flow it is going to exacerbate your air leak problem. If your pump is sucking too hard it can easily suck air instead of fuel. Is your fuel filter clogged, or not screwed in tight or O ring not seated proper. After highway driving for some time at speed is there a vacum on your fuel tank cap/air rushes in when you pull off the cap? Your tank vent hose filter is clogged. I have this problem, but have not fixed it yet. Supposedly your tank vent hose has a small air filter up under the wheel well. This can get clogged with dirt and theoretically frozen clogged by snow and ice. If you still have your fuel return line going back to the tank then this means that you have warmed up fuel flowing back into the tank while you drive warming the tank. If your tank vent is frozen clogged when you shut down that fuel will cool overnight and your tank will have some suction(physics). Perhaps alot of suction. Try unscrewing your fuel cap in the morning before you start to see if you have suction/vacum on the tank. If yes it will be a little hard to get off and air will rush in................Fuel problems like this can often be remedied quickly by the addition of a less than $20 universal inline electric fuel pump to overcome your hard to find/diagnose extremely annoying small fuel starvation problem that is costing you hours of searching and trouble shooting........Perhaps not the "right way" but often quick and cheap is the right way at the time. later on you can use the pump as a fuel transfer pump or fuel polishing setup for your future boat or some other project. Most modern vehicles overcome finicky fuel line problems by having a in tank electric pump pushing fuel to the engine. Old landcruisers had gravity flow. Your and my vehicle are in the "in between time" where no pump in the tank and relying on the pumps on the engine to suck the fuel up from the tank.


Also If you took my advice and made a T in your supply line looping your return line (for convenience /ease in doing the swap) back to the supply instead of back to the tank this could be causing an air buildup problem. Some diesel fuel return systems use slip on rubber lines at points without any clamps as there is never any significant pressure or suction on the fuel return system. If you T ed into th esupply with your return this could be the source of your air leaks if combined with suction from clogged vent hose or other obstructed flow. Never had a problem when I did this on my old diesel conversion, but I had that cheap inline pump pushing fuel from the tank. It could cause a problem as sometimes the return fuel is "bubbly".

thanks for the encyclopedia of advice here, gonna bookmark this aswell for the future when issues arise. I did just T in the fuel return line like you had mentioned, been working fine (as far as I know)

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Mandatory troopy photo to close off this post.

 

[theglobb]

Careful now, you are going to elevate the "Red Rocket" into legend status and then people will begin to expect the same every year, then you will have the added stress to keep it running in good order to maintain super-hero status, AND worry about good grades. Good grief!

Seriously though, loving it. Enjoy it... make memories and then regale your grandchildren with all the stories for years to come, then take them for a spin in the legendary "Red Rocket" and you will create some more 70 series lifers.

No SERIOUSLY - DO IT! It happens way faster than you think. Just ask your Dad.

Don't want to sound full of myself but I'm afraid the Red Rocket is already at legend status in Boone. The day it rolled back into town I was driving down our main street downtown and had 2 people in the span of a minute yell about "how the Red Rocket was back!!!" at me. While ubering I often pick up girls who remember me from freshman year as once again the only person who could drive them around during that massive snowstorm we had 2 years ago, they still remember!

Not nearly as many people know who I am, but nearly everyone knows the "big red party bus" and when they find out I'm the guy who drives it they freak. it's funny every time. The police officers up here often times see me parked waiting for my next call to pick up people and will stop and chat with me about how the night is going, cause they also know me as the big red party bus. Most importantly they know I'm not doing any harm.

 

[Felde]

So, the Trooper becomes kind of your camouflage vehicle when you want to hide from public attention ?
Cheers Ralf

 

[OGBeno]

Cops making sure it doesn’t turn into the BangBus.

 

[Pura Vida]

So uh…saw your Instagram this morning….you good?

 

[Shyrock]

So uh…saw your Instagram this morning….you good?

He’s ok. Burn on calf, forehead and neck. I’m sure he’ll post photos at some point.

 

[theglobb]

So uh…saw your Instagram this morning….you good?

Hey yea thanks for checking in, along with all the other people on here who have my personal number, really appreciate it. Like my dad said I'm miraculously ok. Have some pretty severe 2nd degree burns on my left leg, my scalp is burned, some skin missing from my forehead, neck is burnt a little bit and my hands are all blistering and popping it's nasty. Honestly tho for what happened it's a miracle.

Soooooooo... what did actually happen? everyone must be thinking who doesn't follow my Instagram. This did lol

To put it simply, the trooper's gas tank exploded while I was under it. The fuel tank was rusty as I had mentioned before, so I was in the garage changing the fuel filter out, had a puddle of gas come out of the line when I pulled it off, about 3x3 inches big. Thought nothing of it. 5-10 seconds later I felt a massive whoosh and then everything around me was in flames. The gas tank had exploded, it was under so much pressure it blew the fuel sending unit's bolts out (mounted on the side of the tank) and spewed flaming gas all over my legs. In a panic I crawled out from underneath the trooper, and tried to roll around on the ground (stop dropping and rolling was not doing anything since there was gas on me). Got up and started running around trying to find the fire extinguisher. My roommates had just organized the basement, of course I knew exactly where it was when it was in a mess and now with it all clean I couldn't find it. Ran into the other room, pulled the pin and shot myself with it all over. Then ran back into the main room with the trooper and could see the ceiling and rafters were already covered in flames. Went to open the garage door and it would only open up halfway, ran over to it and tried pushing it up just for it to come slamming back down. I knew I had gas still in the bowl of the carb so I got in the trooper started it and rammed through the garage door. Couldn't see anything since it was pitch black outside and the back of the trooper was engulfed in flames so I ended up crashing it into the side wall of my driveway, was trying to get it out farther away from the house but oh well. Had to jump out the passenger door since the driver door was slammed closed.

From there I was screaming at my roommates to get more fire extinguishers. She ran and got one for me so I ran back into the garage and started spraying the ceiling. Once the extinguisher was out, I grabbed the garden hose and started spraying the roof more since it was still on fire along with the walls of the garage. Saw the fire spreading up through the HVAC system of the house and continued to spray it until EMS forced me off the scene. Broke away and got in the zupup started it and drove it out past the trooper, wish someone had a video of that cause it blew up again as I was driving past it haha. Then got in the troopy and drove it away from the fire aswell. That's when they got me and rushed me off to the ambulance.

They said I stenched up the whole ER waiting room for an hour with gasoline lol

And the day after, very very glad I didn't have to get intubated, they said my throat was black and airway was closing up. I hate the idea of intubation so much. Got released from the hospital and went straight to the house, I have some absolutely amazing neighbors and a great friend group. Helped my roommates and I clean up all the insulation/walls that the firefighters ripped out. Then helped us board up the garage door I plowed through and the hole in the side of the house, cause it was gonna snow that night and to keep thieves out. Sadly, despite my efforts. The fire made it's way into the HVAC system and vents of the house, spreading through it and up into my bathroom and my roommates bathroom toasting them up decently. House wont be livable for 6 months or so... don't really know what happens next

My really nice camera is gone, that honestly hurts the most. Along with 3/4 of all my tools, all twisted and melted together. Gonna be rocking the harbor freight special whenever I get a bunch of new tools, goodbye gearwrench. Although this sucks so much and I lost a potential $3-4k just from not selling the trooper, it's absolutely insane I'm not more burnt all over. Was on fire for a solid 20-30 seconds. Would like to thank my custom made PNW boots, double-insulated pants, tractor supply welding shirt, and my levi jacket for protecting me pretty amazingly.

 

[onemanarmy]

yea...saw on Insta. That sucks so bad (and losing a cool Trooper)

but you're Ok! The pics are crazy!

you've obviosuly got built in survival skills

 

[Felde]

I'm speechless. You had a guardian angel.
Good to know you are OK (kind of).
All the best for you Ralf

 

[iliketrucks]

Someone just became even more of a diesel fan

I'm glad you're okay. Thats terrible but could have easily been much worse.

 

[Guyute]

Holy sh1t! Glad you were not hurt worse! That could have been real bad.

Scary story but thanks for sharing it. Good reminder to check our shop/garage fire extinguisher game.

 

[Rigster]

Hey yea thanks for checking in, along with all the other people on here who have my personal number, really appreciate it. Like my dad said I'm miraculously ok. Have some pretty severe 2nd degree burns on my left leg, my scalp is burned, some skin missing from my forehead, neck is burnt a little bit and my hands are all blistering and popping it's nasty. Honestly tho for what happened it's a miracle.

Soooooooo... what did actually happen? everyone must be thinking who doesn't follow my Instagram. This did lol
View attachment 3546928

To put it simply, the trooper's gas tank exploded while I was under it. The fuel tank was rusty as I had mentioned before, so I was in the garage changing the fuel filter out, had a puddle of gas come out of the line when I pulled it off, about 3x3 inches big. Thought nothing of it. 5-10 seconds later I felt a massive whoosh and then everything around me was in flames. The gas tank had exploded, it was under so much pressure it blew the fuel sending unit's bolts out (mounted on the side of the tank) and spewed flaming gas all over my legs. In a panic I crawled out from underneath the trooper, and tried to roll around on the ground (stop dropping and rolling was not doing anything since there was gas on me). Got up and started running around trying to find the fire extinguisher. My roommates had just organized the basement, of course I knew exactly where it was when it was in a mess and now with it all clean I couldn't find it. Ran into the other room, pulled the pin and shot myself with it all over. Then ran back into the main room with the trooper and could see the ceiling and rafters were already covered in flames. Went to open the garage door and it would only open up halfway, ran over to it and tried pushing it up just for it to come slamming back down. I knew I had gas still in the bowl of the carb so I got in the trooper started it and rammed through the garage door. Couldn't see anything since it was pitch black outside and the back of the trooper was engulfed in flames so I ended up crashing it into the side wall of my driveway, was trying to get it out farther away from the house but oh well. Had to jump out the passenger door since the driver door was slammed closed.



View attachment 3546910

From there I was screaming at my roommates to get more fire extinguishers. She ran and got one for me so I ran back into the garage and started spraying the ceiling. Once the extinguisher was out, I grabbed the garden hose and started spraying the roof more since it was still on fire along with the walls of the garage. Saw the fire spreading up through the HVAC system of the house and continued to spray it until EMS forced me off the scene. Broke away and got in the zupup started it and drove it out past the trooper, wish someone had a video of that cause it blew up again as I was driving past it haha. Then got in the troopy and drove it away from the fire aswell. That's when they got me and rushed me off to the ambulance.

They said I stenched up the whole ER waiting room for an hour with gasoline lol
View attachment 3546911
View attachment 3546912

And the day after, very very glad I didn't have to get intubated, they said my throat was black and airway was closing up. I hate the idea of intubation so much. Got released from the hospital and went straight to the house, I have some absolutely amazing neighbors and a great friend group. Helped my roommates and I clean up all the insulation/walls that the firefighters ripped out. Then helped us board up the garage door I plowed through and the hole in the side of the house, cause it was gonna snow that night and to keep thieves out. Sadly, despite my efforts. The fire made it's way into the HVAC system and vents of the house, spreading through it and up into my bathroom and my roommates bathroom toasting them up decently. House wont be livable for 6 months or so... don't really know what happens next

View attachment 3546908



My really nice camera is gone, that honestly hurts the most. Along with 3/4 of all my tools, all twisted and melted together. Gonna be rocking the harbor freight special whenever I get a bunch of new tools, goodbye gearwrench. Although this sucks so much and I lost a potential $3-4k just from not selling the trooper, it's absolutely insane I'm not more burnt all over. Was on fire for a solid 20-30 seconds. Would like to thank my custom made PNW boots, double-insulated pants, tractor supply welding shirt, and my levi jacket for protecting me pretty amazingly.

Gosh. So glad you are ok bud. Good reminder. About the loss of stuff - yeah that sucks, but the truth is, it can be replaced, albeit over time - YOU, on the other hand, cannot be. You are very fortunate!

Go buy a lottery ticket, NOW! Just in case you did not use up ALL your luck with this one!

Sorry, not making fun, just trying to lighten it up a bit. I am still looking at the pictures and thinking about how much worse this could have been. Good for you for keeping your head during an emergency like this.

 

[FJBen]

@theglobb So glad you are safe man, seriously that could have been so much worse.

I’ve been thinking about it and your descriptions of the event make me think of the reasons why. Not that it matters now unfortunately.

You mentioned high pressure on the tank. Im
Thinking all the venting equipment was rusted up and not working correctly. A bad filter Probabaly made the problem worse by creating a large suction it couldn’t bleed off. Maybe the gas cap wasn’t venting either. Did the rig suck air when you filled it up?

I think as soon as you pulled that filter, residual gas drained out and the intense pressure sucked up the fuel line til it hit the tank and you had instant vaporization and boom. It’s called BLEVE or boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion. That’s one of those things you would never think about honestly. You are always worried about flames.

Scary stuff and glad you are OK!

 

[onemanarmy]

would that still not need an ignition source? or pretty high elevated temp of the fuel?