Wow... It has been a while since I've done any updates!
Partially it's the fact that I had a lot going on, the other is that after I did my trip back to PA I was rather worn out.
First thing's first, the vacuum leak had to be attacked. Turned out that the float / butterfly gasket got damaged and had a 1/16 x 1/4" hole in the side. I got a new gasket set, however I noticed that it was still a loose fit... Out with the RTV!
Took some high-temp RTV and rubber gasket material to thicken it up, so that I can remove material from it.
Threw the jack on the top of it, just so that it got some extra pancaking action. Worked well too...
It did slip a bit though. Oh well, out with the razor and drill!
In about 10 minutes or so I cleaned her up, and shaved off around the bolt holes.
Install and presto! Tight enough that a razor can't fit through it now! :D
Since that operation has taken place, I have noticed a few things...
* The engine has smoothed out at idle. It can be the fact that it is "properly" tuned now, however I have a feeling that the brand new torque converter was to blame. It was very rough not too long ago, however with about 1000 miles under it's belt now, I have a feeling that it's wearing in. Transmission pan and fluid inspection with a filter change are slated for next week.
* After a trip to the Oregon coast, I was shocked that I only got
14MPG!
AAAAA!!!! I should be getting better mileage than the Powerslide I had! Here's the numbers;
4650lb's (Measured on a truck scale)
Tires at 34 / 45 PSI front / rear
200R4 with a 3.08 rear end, converter lock-up was
not hooked up
Didn't lead foot it
Idle AFR per LM1 was 14.1
Since then I have thinned it out to 14.7 at idle, so it richens it up for load conditions plenty. I'll have to play with AFR under load, as I didn't get a chance to do that.
* Returning from the same trip, the front left sagged pretty heavily, even more so than usual. So, I called around and I can get new springs for $200 a corner, or do a slight rearch and helper spring for $100 a corner... I'll just pull the ones of the white van and call it a day.
* At around AFR 14.7, so stoich, the carb gives off this slight whistling sound. I have figure out that the idle-mixture adjust is what causes this, and if it's full rich or full lean the whistling goes away completely. I didn't have at the last van.
Is this OK, or is something a bit off with the carb?
* On the same trip to the beach, I had something really odd happening. Rolling down the hill, engine idling, there was this
shaking around 50-53mph. Like, the whole chassis was shaking a good 1/4 - 1/2"! Only when I was going down-hill with foot off the gas.
Gas it down hill? No more vibration. Uphill? Like a boss. Idle? Sounds wonderful.
A fellow said that the bearing on the pinion gear on my rear end is out.
Is that it, or is it something else?
* Also, the engine diesels, and even turns backwards if it gets a bit too warm. I have a feeling that this has to do with the heat riser valve spring simply missing... So, I'll throw that on probably today, see what it does.
If that doesn't work,
what could it be?
That's all I got for now! :D
And also, It's chopping time... Time to get parts off of the white rig.