Woohooo
A birthday party for the little guys to remember. Very cool!!

I love before and after shots. Any plans on painting the wheel rims silver as in the before pics? it kind of sets things off a bit.

Bobby

 

Looks Great Keith. You should be very proud.

 

Thanks Guys!!

Bobby, The museum guys painted the rims ... they weren't painted that way originally. I am going to put some chrome lug nut covers to dress up the wheels a bit.

 

Keith,
Ok, cool. I agree with you then, keep it original to the Fire Patrol.

Man, it REALLY looks great!
Bobby

 

Let's hope all of those kids end up with Ford truck projects in their garages one of these days!

 

Not a good day yesterday!!

My morning started waiting for a washing machine repairman who didn't show up on time. My 2 year old Whirlpool Cabrio was throwing a F51 code. On the internet I found hundreds of blogs about this wonderful machine and the many problem it had. Its out of warranty so I called Whirlpool to ask if there is a recall on it. They said they would fix it with no charge to me for parts and labor. The repairman finally shows up and checks out the machine and says the basket is trashed and the bearing for it are gone that why its throwing a F51 code($782 repair bill). I called Whirlpool back and of course they won't cover that. I told them I was a loyal consumer with over $6K worth of their products in my kitchen alone and that I would NEVER buy another Whirlpool product again. "Oh, Mr Seafield we are sorry you feel that way" was their response. Sorry for the rant but it really pisses me off when a company sells a crappy product that doesn't last. I just want to get the word out about the lousy washing machine. Just google the machine and you will see for your self!!

Next problem!!

I was going to surprise the boys and pick them up at school in the truck. On the way out to the truck I stopped at a gas and picked up 5 gallons of gas. On the way to the school while downshifting the motor suddenly died like she was out of fuel. I pulled over and she started right back up. At that point since this had never happened before, I should of went right back to the barn but I really wanted to get the boys so I continued on. It died again while stopped just short of the school. If I wait a few minutes and crank the starter a lot she starts back up and idles good. I made it to an area where the buses park and when I started to drive it again it died. I then decided to try and get it back to the barn the save an expensive tow bill. It must of died 10 times the 5 mike trip to the barn. My wife caught up to me and was behind me with her blinkers on. I did make it back but talk about being stressed out!!

It was working perfectly last weekend. It may be the fuel, carburetor has become clogged or the fuel pump is bad. We are going to try and find the cause on Tuesday. Does anyone have any ideas as to what the problem is? By the way I don't have a fuel filter on but will be adding one. I am going to drain the gas tank, put a fuel filter in, take apart the top of the carb and pull and clean the jets, pull the fuel line from the fuel pump and crank the motor to check to see if it is pumping.

Also, I smelled brakes when I made it back to the barn. I jumped on my creeper and noticed the RR drum were twice as hot as the LR drum so my brakes are hanging up on that side. We will have to pull the big wheels and see whats going on. I hope its not the brake shoe return spring. They are tough to find. One broke at the truck repair shop when I first got the truck. A FTE member was nice enough to send me a replacement.

And to top it off. When I got home and shut my *** truck off. The blower motor continued to run with the ignition off!! I had to pull the fuse to stop it. I searched Google and found out that there is a recall for that problem so I took it to the dealership at 5 last night. I should get it back today.

 

Murphy is alive and well. I can relate, having had similar days. Rest assured it will get better.

Good luck.

 

Keith,
Wow, bad day is an understatement.

I know its frustrating but its all part of the process of working the little bugs out. This poor old truck has gotten used to just sitting around. You've got to convince it that it really is back up and running. Have patience, you'll get there.

Bobby

 

things i think about when my truck is road worthy. Its only been around the block twice since I got it. I'm sure I'll have similar bugs when its all back together.

 

Sounds like the fuel lines have some crud. Similar thing has happened tome a few times. It's important to put at least two fuel filters in the line. One should be right after the tank to the pump line and the other from the pump to the carb line. Cleaning and sealing the tank, as well as cleaning the carb and lines would be a good idea as well.

 

It seems like the gasoline is dirtier all the time. I have had dirty gas problems in my Dakota, and a buddy of mine just had the same in his Ford F150. I have heard that Premium is much cleaner and that they don't keep regular nearly as clean as they used to. I also heard just yesterday that the amount of Alcohol in regular is often much higher than it is supposed to be which can cause problems too as it burns hotter. I guess the oil companies just aren't making enough money...

 

Thanks for your input guys. We'll get it figured out. Its just strange that all this happened right after I put in some new fuel from off brand gas station. The first thing to do is check the fuel pump by pulling the fuel line and cranking the motor over. Then I will drain the tank and add the filters and try to run her again with some clean fresh fuel. If that doesn't work, we'll pull the top of the carb and clean the jets again.

I will keep everyone informed. We should be out at the truck on Monday.

 

Damn the bad luck Keith. But it's just a couple little bugs. Once ya work them out she will feel like working again and not just sitting and shining. Ya got to convince her again that she is still a work truck and she will snap out of all this and preform as she was built to do.

Drag that Whirlpool Cabrio out in front of her and beat and smash it with a fire ax. Take all yer frustrations out on it. Just flat kill it right in front of her for letting you down.

I know it works. I did it to our dish washer after coming in from work to a kitchen full of dirty dishes. I figured it must be broke down. Turns out it was fine. Never did get another one. But never have had any dirty dishes after that.

 

Not only does the alcohol cause problems with water absorption in the gas, but it also breaks down a lot of the rubber components in the fuel systems used in older vehicles: rubber fuel lines, fuel pump diaphrams, carb accellerator pumps, etc. Chrysler has started denying warantee claims if fuel with > 10% Alc is used.

 

Changing out the rubber fuel hoses to new ones is also a good idea.