These gauges go on the vacuum and the drier low pressure connection. I had no idea how to hook them up and they didn't come with any directions. My first try was like this.

http://i61.tinypic.com/23k3gvb.jpg











But the other end of the blue low pressure line didn't screw on the drier. Hmm.

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I figured out if I swapped the line's direction around I could put the screw-on connectors on the bottom of the gauges, then use the snap-on connectors on Skippy. The blue snap on didn't fit until I took one screw out of the map thingy though to move it out of the way.

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Tada! Working gauges. Blue on the bottom of the gauges, yellow line to the vacuum pump.

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With my blue and yellow lines connected I turned on the vacuum pump and let it start sucking. Then I slowly opened the blue dial so it could clear out the hose to the drier.

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Now I opened the connector on the drier and that vacuum pump made like it was heading for the barn. brrrRRRRRRRR!!!!!! What a hungry little critter!

http://i57.tinypic.com/1zxt739.jpg

In just a couple of minutes (5 maybe?) that little vacuum pulled it down to here.

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Then I turned the motor off and it went back down (up?) to zero. Doh! My vacuum line was leaky I guess.

I did it again then closed the blue valve on the gauges. Success!

It was getting late. Don't start this next part if you're doing this until you can stay out there with it for at least 2 hours and watch the cans.

I let it stay on the vacuum for 1 hour. Some people say 2 hours, some say 30 minutes. I figure if it'll hold for 1 hour it'll be good enough for the girls I go out with.

Then I started ol' Skippy up.











And didn't notice any difference in the ease of starting at all. :(
It was very hard the first time, after that it was easy. I let him run for a while to recharge the batteries (15 mins or so) then turned him off. He restarted in about 8 seconds. The first time it took 3 different 10 second tries and he loped when he finally started.

After a bit he did smooth out and run OK. At that point I put the starting on the back burner and went back to chargin the AC.

Here's what I put in him.

http://i58.tinypic.com/io2e5f.jpg











I connected it to the drier and shook the can really well, then turned it from 3 oclock to 12 oclock every 10 seconds or so until it was empty. At first the compressor didn't turn on at all. Then slowly it started kicking on and off, on and off, as more refrigerant went in.

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With the motor running this side of my turbo thingy smoked like a big dog. I went ahead and put the hose on while another can loaded into the compressor so I didn't pass out from the fumes.

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That made the fumes come out right under where I was working. Dumb idea. So that turned into me putting all the pipes back on and the air filter connection. Well, that was done now, I guess!

I went back to the cans. At one point on the third can my compressor quit working altogether and the pressure went up. I don't know what happened, but I disconnected the freon and turned off the motor. After letting it sit for a minute I re-started and the compressor fired up again.

Thank goodness. I reconnected that bottle back up and was good to go through the entire pile. Here's everything Skippy ate that day. Inside it was so cold you could hang meat! And that was after 2 hours of idling in the driveway, LOL

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And that was it for the day. My hands are all tired and arthritic feeling today so it'll be the weekend before I do anything else. I will try starting him in about 30 seconds to see if he's going to start any easier now and maybe yesterday was a new-start fluke...


Darned if these problems keep poppin up. I need a lid for my problem pop-o-matic!

http://i58.tinypic.com/wv8nm0.jpg

Well I just tried starting Skippy. I turned the key on and the glowplugs ran for exactly 1 minute. Then I gave him a try. 12 seconds later he was trying to catch but still not firing off. Just cranking over and over. I stopped for a minute then tried again. Another 10 seconds cranking and still no dice, though he really was trying hard to catch and start. On the 3rd try he did finally fire up after about 6 seconds on the starter, then he blew me some white puffy smoke to get me to leave him alone.

Again, once he's warm he starts fine. :-huh





http://i61.tinypic.com/2llg1gl.jpg

So where did you get them fancy gauges and vacuum pump? I know a guy that just did a 7.3 swap that would love to borrow them - hey you know him too! Andrew, the BigBee. :-X06

Oh really? It was a loaner tool from Autozone. It costs up front, then you get it back when you return it. It was $318.00 "ransom" for the two weeks or so I had it. The other thing is they give you 90 days to return it so there's no all-fire rush.

:D

It's where I get all my tools that I'll only use once or twice. Just walk in and tell them you want to borrow it and they'll ring you up.

That's good to know! Thanks man!

Any time! :-X22


Do you know if you can run our trucks with the valve cover off? I'm seeing alot of "torque your bolts hot" and "unplug your injectors one at a time" posts and I'm wondering how you do all that without it running while you're torquing and unplugging.

I should have replaced all my injector O rings when I was in there, I'm thinking. :-hair

Yes you can run the engine with the valve covers off. Just make sure your on level ground because the oil runs to the back of the heads.

Glowplugger with your hard to start it makes me wonder about the ICP. Have you checked it by unplugging it and seeing if there is oil inside by the pins of the sensor? Also next time you do a cold start unplug the ICP before you try to start it up and see if that makes a difference. Because if the ICP is unplugged it goes to default mapping in the pcm. If it starts easier then I would say replace the ICP with only a Motorcraft ICP. Don't use a parts store ICP.

Now if you have already dealt with the icp and I missed reading about it sorry I haven't been around much lately. Keep up the good work!!:-drink

Thanks! I was wondering about that. I thought it might squirt out and make a huge mess.




I haven't messed with the ICP, but I did this morning to check. Assuming I have the right thing, I unplugged this:

http://i60.tinypic.com/2la807b.jpg
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The pins had a little oil on them, but not much. Then I tried to start him up after the glowplugs kicked off. Still very hard to start, three sessions of 10-15 seconds each and very slow to catch. He blew white smoke like a cloud machine after this, thought I'm not sure if that's related.

The ICP wet with oil should be replaced. You can clean it and get down the road for a bit but it really just needs to be replaced. That looks like the original unit, it's done it's job and deserves a retirement, dontcha think?


The AIH is glowing in the pic, it should not be powered up under these conditions. It only comes on when idling in like -20F temps or something crazy like that. Makes me think that's getting power which should be going to the GPs. Hence a hard start. Double check the wiring schematic on those relays, they look the same. Many people just yank the AIH and use the hole for a place to mount a tube for a boost gauge. Riff Raff sells a nice AIH delete plug.

Nice catch David!

I didn't know that. My AIH is connected directly to my GPR. Is that not how it's supposed to go? I didn't change it, it came that way.

http://i62.tinypic.com/2dahcux.jpg

Glowplugger, there should be two relays next to each other there, one for the GPs and one for the AIH.

Baatzy

I just went and looked at my `99. I have two relays and the AIH is connected to the front relay that you dont have. So yea, its sucking your power from the glow plugs.

You got it Baatzy! I just went out there and looked and there's another relay spot that is empty! Does it just run the AIH? If so, is it necessary at all?

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That's a lot of stinkin power according to the smoke it put out when I started him up that first time. I disconnected it and hooked it on the relay spot.

Now I just have three wires on the GP side of my relay. Do you happen to have a pic of your 99, both relays?

Thanks for the help! I feel like you guys helped me find a splinter that has been bugging me for a month.

http://i62.tinypic.com/zmxwtu.jpg