RowdyRebel Posted April 15, 2017 Share Posted April 15, 2017 So I've got an air line leaking, and the best way (so I thought) to get to it was through the floor panel. Guess than means some long-overdue spring cleaning. I've come to the conclusion that I carry WAY too much stuff in the cab of my truck. In case you forget, I have a day cab. Whoever said "there's no room in a Mack" was lying... 1 Quote When approaching a 4-way stop, the vehicle with the biggest tires has the right of way! Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/49555-spring-cleaning/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
j hancock Posted April 15, 2017 Share Posted April 15, 2017 Were you a Boy Scout? Quote JimIt doesn't cost anything to pay attention. Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/49555-spring-cleaning/#findComment-367459 Share on other sites More sharing options...
hatcity Posted April 15, 2017 Share Posted April 15, 2017 even got half a bag of potato chips if he's out a while Quote Success is only a stones throw away.................................................................for a Palestinian Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/49555-spring-cleaning/#findComment-367460 Share on other sites More sharing options...
RowdyRebel Posted April 15, 2017 Author Share Posted April 15, 2017 5 minutes ago, j hancock said: Were you a Boy Scout? 1 Quote When approaching a 4-way stop, the vehicle with the biggest tires has the right of way! Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/49555-spring-cleaning/#findComment-367462 Share on other sites More sharing options...
j hancock Posted April 15, 2017 Share Posted April 15, 2017 There you go. Nicely done! Quote JimIt doesn't cost anything to pay attention. Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/49555-spring-cleaning/#findComment-367463 Share on other sites More sharing options...
RowdyRebel Posted April 15, 2017 Author Share Posted April 15, 2017 4 minutes ago, hatcity said: even got half a bag of potato chips if he's out a while Food is about the only thing I DON'T carry in the truck... 1 Quote When approaching a 4-way stop, the vehicle with the biggest tires has the right of way! Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/49555-spring-cleaning/#findComment-367464 Share on other sites More sharing options...
RowdyRebel Posted April 15, 2017 Author Share Posted April 15, 2017 ...and it turns out it wasn't an air line. There's a valve on the top of the transmission that's letting quite a bit of air out. Not certain if it's a "serviceable" part that I can pull off, open up, and change an o-ring, or if I need to replace the valve. Might have to wait 'til Monday to talk to my local Mack dealer... Quote When approaching a 4-way stop, the vehicle with the biggest tires has the right of way! Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/49555-spring-cleaning/#findComment-367465 Share on other sites More sharing options...
hatcity Posted April 15, 2017 Share Posted April 15, 2017 24 minutes ago, RowdyRebel said: ...and it turns out it wasn't an air line. There's a valve on the top of the transmission that's letting quite a bit of air out. Not certain if it's a "serviceable" part that I can pull off, open up, and change an o-ring, or if I need to replace the valve. Might have to wait 'til Monday to talk to my local Mack dealer... make sure you have the vin# and model and year and transmission # Quote Success is only a stones throw away.................................................................for a Palestinian Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/49555-spring-cleaning/#findComment-367468 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirtymilkman Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 On 4/15/2017 at 3:23 PM, RowdyRebel said: Look at those soft clean hands............ Quote Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/49555-spring-cleaning/#findComment-367600 Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlotpilot Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 2 minutes ago, Dirtymilkman said: Look at those soft clean hands............ got some real good scrubbely Quote Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/49555-spring-cleaning/#findComment-367601 Share on other sites More sharing options...
RowdyRebel Posted April 17, 2017 Author Share Posted April 17, 2017 30 minutes ago, Dirtymilkman said: Look at those soft clean hands............ My wife would disagree with the "soft" part...about as soft as 80 grit sandpaper. Quote When approaching a 4-way stop, the vehicle with the biggest tires has the right of way! Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/49555-spring-cleaning/#findComment-367604 Share on other sites More sharing options...
RowdyRebel Posted April 18, 2017 Author Share Posted April 18, 2017 (edited) Well, for the MOST part, it was a pretty straight forward and simple job. Range control valve...4 bolts, 6 air lines, and an o-ring. Not for me. Got the air lines disconnected and started pulling the bolts...snapped one off. DOH! 1/4-20 should be simple enough...drill into it to use an easy out. Broke the damn wrench thing that holds the easy out. Plan B...drill it a little bigger and just re-tap it 1/4-20. Nope. Easy out made the hole such that the drill bit kept getting hung up. Size was close, though, so I figured perhaps I could just tap the stupid thing. Nope. Snapped the tap off in the hole. So, I cut my losses, dabbed a bit of RTV sealant on the hole, and put it back together with only 3 bolts. Got it back together, and it's holding air...so now back to repacking everything into the truck. Took a while, but I got it all to fit again. Easier to get at stuff, now, too... Edited April 18, 2017 by RowdyRebel Quote When approaching a 4-way stop, the vehicle with the biggest tires has the right of way! Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/49555-spring-cleaning/#findComment-367685 Share on other sites More sharing options...
RowdyRebel Posted April 18, 2017 Author Share Posted April 18, 2017 Guess we ain't done wrenching yet. Wouldn't start this morning. Slowly turn over a time or two, then the voltage would drop. Even with the pickup hooked up, it wasn't really doing much. Tested the batteries, and 2 of them were barely "OK" and the third just into the "weak"...but it's only a cheap 100A tester. Then, the starter began to make a wretched noise, so I quit. Pulled the batteries and starter and I'm heading to town more than a little pissed off. When they put the new motor in, I had told them to replace the starter...which they didn't. Money WAS tight at the time, so I didn't raise a stink...just wanted to get back to work. It has been slow cranking for several years, though, so it SHOULD have been changed when the motor was out of the truck and parts were being transferred from the old to the new. Who's bright idea was it to bury that 3rd bolt so it is nearly impossible to get at? My garage came a fraction of a second away from being impaled by a 12" long 1/2" drive extension with a 12-point 5/8" socket attached to it...a sign that perhaps I'm gaining SOME control over my temper. Anyway, old crap out. Need to go get new crap to install. 1 Quote When approaching a 4-way stop, the vehicle with the biggest tires has the right of way! Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/49555-spring-cleaning/#findComment-367730 Share on other sites More sharing options...
hatcity Posted April 18, 2017 Share Posted April 18, 2017 just wait until you have to find that 3rd bolt blind lucky my son is slim. He laid along the frame under the cab to get it Quote Success is only a stones throw away.................................................................for a Palestinian Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/49555-spring-cleaning/#findComment-367733 Share on other sites More sharing options...
RowdyRebel Posted April 18, 2017 Author Share Posted April 18, 2017 Well, after a whole bunch of cussing and carrying on in a manner likely to make a sailor blush, I came up with a solution for my lack of a 3rd hand. Redneck Engineering at its finest... 1 Quote When approaching a 4-way stop, the vehicle with the biggest tires has the right of way! Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/49555-spring-cleaning/#findComment-367742 Share on other sites More sharing options...
RowdyRebel Posted April 18, 2017 Author Share Posted April 18, 2017 Holy CRAP!!!!! Just finished up & put the batteries back in (I'd pulled them to take them with me to town & have them tested beyond what my little 100A tester will do) and hit the key. For the entire time I've owned this thing, it's cranked slow and seemingly hard. When I hit the key, it spun about as many times in 1/2 a second as it used to in 5 and fired up LONG before I expected it to. I'm used to 6-8 seconds of cranking (unless it's hot or really cold, then longer)...and this was running in less than 1. Damn, that's nice! Hopefully that'll let me get more than a year out of a set of batteries...set I'm on now is almost at a year and a half. Exide and Bulldog brands, I'll get 6-8 months out of them. Anyway, I'm pretty happy...and since I'm already greasy, I think I'll go ahead and grease the chassis today, too. Not QUITE due, but then I can go ride horses this weekend instead of having to do a grease job on this thing. Quote When approaching a 4-way stop, the vehicle with the biggest tires has the right of way! Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/49555-spring-cleaning/#findComment-367747 Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlotpilot Posted April 18, 2017 Share Posted April 18, 2017 1 hour ago, RowdyRebel said: Well, after a whole bunch of cussing and carrying on in a manner likely to make a sailor blush, I came up with a solution for my lack of a 3rd hand. Redneck Engineering at its finest... where there`s a will there`s a way Quote Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/49555-spring-cleaning/#findComment-367748 Share on other sites More sharing options...
j hancock Posted April 18, 2017 Share Posted April 18, 2017 Gotta love bungee cords Quote JimIt doesn't cost anything to pay attention. Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/49555-spring-cleaning/#findComment-367751 Share on other sites More sharing options...
RowdyRebel Posted April 19, 2017 Author Share Posted April 19, 2017 Well, done for the night. Got 'er greased & swapped out a u-joint I've been meaning to do since the last time I greased it, so it should be ready to go for at least a few more days. Starter isn't on 100%...turns out one of the bolt holes (top side away from the engine) was broke. The bolt had to have the threads cleaned up...almost like it had been cross-threaded in. About 1/4 of the hole broke off, so hopefully 2-3/4 bolts will suffice. Needless to say, I'm happy to have 'er back together so I can get back to work...but still a little PO'd that I had to do this job in the first place. Oh well...that's life, I guess. Quote When approaching a 4-way stop, the vehicle with the biggest tires has the right of way! Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/49555-spring-cleaning/#findComment-367758 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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