Yesterday we needed to be in Santa Cruz,Ca. at 8:30 in the morning. It`s a 250 mile drive. Iam in Nevada, so have to
leave extra because of Calif. traffic. 10 yrs ago we could make the drive in 5 hrs. then it took 7hrs the longest.

Because of the high Diesel prices in Cali. I brought an extra 21 gallons in 2 and 2 1/2 oil containers. Fuel here runs
$2;69 out in Dayton, $2.74 in Carson City and $2.83 in Gardnerville. with the special card, at Smiths they knock off
3cents..
Calif, saw prices $3.65 - $3.99

Stopped at the Caltrans yard in Woodsford to see the road condition on HWY 88, Supv. said open and good. It is closed
at times because of snow. But a weather front is coming in so becareful and have Chains.
88 gets up to 8K ft. Snow was 15ft high on ea side of the road up on top. Two areas with avalanche warnings.

We leave here at 11:45 pm and get to SC in 5.5 hrs. Traffic was light. Kicked back in the truck with heater on and slept
for a while.
Get our business done and beat feet out of SC about 10:30, need to get over the hill and through San Jose before commute
traffic gets going. As long as we are north of SJ by 1:30 you are golden, or it is more stop than go.
We get up to Scotts valley and take the Santas Village off ramp thinking there was a dirt area where I could dump in the fuel we
brought along. All paved so hooked a youee and came down the On Ramp and pulled into a dirt pull out. Turn off the engine, and
see steam rising up from the hood.
The lower Radiator hose popped off. . It came off as I took the youee, and puked coolant down the ramp and up the
shoulder. Iam greatful if it had to come off, glad it did it there and not when I was climbing up Hwy 17, that could have been a bad
deal.

If any of you remember my Oil Cooler thread, I replaced all the rubber hoses, as well as several soap water flushes to clean out
the oil. I tightened all the clamps, and remember double checking them. Iam thinking maybe they seat in and the clamps don`t fit
as tight? IDK.
Good thing I brought along my tools, got the hose back on, called AAA. 45 min later the guy shows up. He remembered me when I
worked next door to the Body Shop and AAA contract station. Didn`t you use to own a Datsun Diesel PU? Been retired almost 13
years and some one remembered me....cool.
Takes me over to an Auto Supply pick up the Precharge coolant. They wanted $4 for distilled water so over t the Super Mkt and get it
for 0.94 cents. a gallon. Get back to the truck, dump in the coolant and we are good to go.
So was an Unexpected Coolant Flush.

Gave the Driver $20 tip, even if it is a AAA call.

Made it back over the hill (Hwy 88) and sure enough up around 5K ft the white stuff was coming down. The big lighted sign did say
chains required. get past 6K ft and finally had to cry uncle and put on the Cables. The road was icy, packed snow etc... finally get over
the top, and the damed wind was blowing at times total white out. Further down Caltrans had the plows, Loader and Snow Blower out.
Drove most of the way in 3rd gear. Got home at 9:30. What a day. and to boot I picked up some damed viral thing, and got worse as the
day wore on.

Today I feel like Iam going to die, but the truck held together.


Charlie

 

Glad it all worked out for you, I'm sure the extra coolant change couldn't have hurt. Oil is a bear to get out even after soap/simple green flushes. Carrying tools is always a great idea, I've got two boxes full and they pay for themselves all the time.

There's a bug going on over here in Texas too, luckily from what I've heard its pretty short lived. Fingers crossed I don't get it..

 

Charlie, that's good that the radiator hose didn't let loose on the way up Hwy 88. Hope you feel better soon. It's never fun being sick.

 

I usually buy my fuel in Sonol,Ca. because they had the best prices on the way. I was going to take the off ramp and dump in the fuel
but it was dark and I went on. That was a blessing in disguise that I did it later. And I almost didn`t throw in the tool bags.

Going up 88 once you are past Jackson, Ca. not much up there and traffic is about nill. With the temps as low as they are, we would
have froze to death. Jackson is in the Gold Rush area of 1849. Those Pioneers back then were some tough people. I wimp out going
to my shop walking through 5" of snow. Yesterday morning it was 19deg. at 8:30.

Yeah another coolant change didn`t hurt, but man it`s a bit pricy dumping fresh stuff on the ground. I wasn`t sure what I needed, so bought
6 gallons, and 6 gallons of water. $110 for the coolant. Now I`ll have it on the shelf in the shop for the next event. I need to go through the 85
6.9 I bought. Been sitting out there where we dropped it off when we got home.
Has 165K on it and a 4-spd. Might as well do the oil Cooler on it before I have a surprise down the road. Do a flush etc.... Nice truck but has
those bucket seats, sit in the drivers side and feel like a Low Rider, maybe it needs those Donk Wheels....Just Kidding, JK< JK.......

The seat on the 86 is a bench seat, was redone some years back, but when we picked it up, has Duct tape on the drivers side. Have an old
blanket on the seat to keep the sticky off my rear end. Seat back is cupped in. Found a nice seat out of a 88 F-150. Seat bottom on ea side
is contured as is the back and has a wide arm rest. Have it in a Hot Rod shop getting reupholstered. A bit pricy, $800 but this guy as been
doing seats interiors in hot rods since he was 16, looks like he is in his 70`s...young guy like me...LOL The seat will be worth more than the
truck.

This viral thing is sort of like what we got back in January. Then my Bro in Law got some crud and effected his eyes. Dr. said he has allergies.
Took him for ever to get rid of it. Now I have something in my right eye, waters real bad, blood red etc... so I need to head back to emergency
care for some instant fix.
Once in a while we get some codeine caught syrup. I savior the stuff. Found one in the cupboard dated 2012. Hey it works. and still have 2 full
one`s. I always ask for the gallon size, can`t hurt to try.

There are lots of bugs floating around. Don`t grab door handles, shopping carts and escalator rubber things. In the rest room when you wash your
hands, use the paper towel to open the door handle. So many people never wash once they did their business.
In Calif. paper towels do not exist. So we always carry paper towels in a roll and rip off a few. Cannot be too careful.
Some Rest Rooms things live in there, a regular Petri Dish. Enter at your own risk. OK iam done.

Charlie

 

Here in post #2 is the exact seats I found in PNP.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...eat-swaps.html

Charlie

 

Those seats will be MINT when you install them. Make sure you post a pic.

 

I'd be a little concerned about why that lower rad hose popped off. Is your radiator cap getting old? Are your rad hoses under a lot of undue pressure? Something seems off.

 

It was on the truck when we bought it July 2014, and we just rolled over to 90K miles since then.
You might be onto something. I have no Idea when it was installed. Up to 282K now.

Next time Iam in Carson City, I`ll stop at the Ford dealer for a new one and see how it goes.
I haven`t noticed the upper hose being rock hard or more than normal..

I bought an 82 Datsun Diesel KC PU back in late 81. Some where around 400K miles it was leaking coolant from along the top tank.
(Brass Radiator) Whadaya know? No new one`s available. Gas is different. Located a guy on the Nissan Forum in Medford, Or. with one.
Was in Portland to see our daughter and picked it up on the way back.
Well it wasn`t the tank, it was the Radiator cap, had never changed it in all those years. Rubber was deteriorated/cracked etc...
Never had any problems with it till it started blowing coolant.
Also all those years always used Distilled water, so no build up of calcium or other crap.

Charlie

 

I would think maybe that hose absorbed some of the oil and is a little slippery on the inside.

Definitely odd it was the lower as that's the suction side

 

Will do. Now have to figure out how to post one. Photo Bucket or those type sites are good till the OP deletes the account.
Too many threads where it was closed and all the critical pictures are gone, this Forum and many others.
The fabric we picked out is NLA, so his supplier is sending him a new sample binder with all the new fabrics.


Charlie

 

Well they are new hoses. Before I put them on I ran soap and hot water through the Radiator several times before putting on the Hoses.
While I was doing the Oil Cooler, I was flushing the Radiator. I even ran Soap through the Heater Core. Cut the Heater Hoses about 14" long, held them up and filled the core and let it sit for a while. Then blow through one of the hoses to clean it out. Did that several times.
So a lot of the oil was eliminated before doing the engine flushes.
Any oil is bad on the hoses, and think I lessened it a good deal.

I used this stuff from the Dollar store, it is a great cleaner. Used it in the Heater Core and Radiator, a bunch of crap came out.
I see it`s back ordered, I haven`t see the 32oz for a while. The smaller one with the sprayer is on the shelves, never seen the
Gallon jugs.
https://www.dollartree.com/las-total...xoCZQYQAvD_BwE

I went to ER today to get a bottle of instant fix.
The local CDC said up in the Reno area there is a flu like symptom going around. OH good we were up there Sat night to
see Larry the Cable Guy. Show was great, but now Iam not...LOL...
Then my right eye has been red and scratchy, I now have Pink Eye. Never had that one before.
So drops for the eye, pills for the cough, and codine cough syrup. Between me and the truck we`ll see who last longer.

Charlie

 

Charlie, to post a pic click on the circled icon. Then you just browse your device for the picture you need and upload it.

 

So I just insert my SD Card from my Nikon Coolpix camera into the computer. then pick the picture I want to up load.
If my Cell phone, guess use the USB Cable?


Charlie

 

Right, move the pics from your camera to your computer first. Then upload them to the site.

 

Thank You.

Charlie