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12-10-12
After several days of having the low battery light and alerts showing, I checked the battery voltages individually yesterday, that is, disconnected from the car. Both batteries read identical 12.12 volts.
I checked them again this morning, and they were in the low 11’s and high 10’s. I checked the output of the alternator at ZERO.
The alternator on the Duramax is VERY easy to remove, save for taking off the fan shroud. But all was easily done, and I took the lifetime warranty Duaralast/Delphi unit to AutoZone for a no cost replacement. All good.
The heating thing is still puzzling. I gained 29 degrees (172 to 201) going up the COnejo grade, a little over a mile. This took just about one minute gain almost 30 degrees.
And this is without a load!
Whatever.
I’ll check the hifi one more time with the alternator working, and then ship it off to Monolithic again.
The headliner/equipment shroud can now go to Miranda. I will have him make some doggie pads (carpet) for the window sills, and perhaps panel partch or replace the upholstery where torn.
I need also to remake the mounting hole for the passenger hand pull. I have gone to larger and larger screws, but the mondo one has now pulled out. So perhaps a touch of welding is in order now.
I’ve also got some buzzing, either a surround or driver, and I need to track that down.
The radio head needs the yellow wire connected to always hot to preserve the memory. I can do that pretty easily tomorrow.
The 66 mph vibration seems to me to HAVE to be a wheel imbalance. I need to find a shop that does ON the car balancing, to take into account the brake rotors, hubs, etc.
1-10-13
I towed the Bird to Oxnard and back today, and the motor heated to 218 degrees at 60 MPH towing a 7K load. Otherwise, it ran bone cold. It came RIGHT down on temp as I crested the Conejo grade. I can figure NOTHING to do about it. So this will be how it runs. If I were to take the grade at about 40, it would likely run way colder.
1-16-13
The engine was about 2 quarts low, and not dripping much. Once topped off, it again is leaking mightily. So running it low might be an easy way to mitigate the problem until repair.
2-8-13
The light switch failed last night. VERY dark driving home! I got a new one this morning at AutoZone, but got home in the dark again, so won’t be going anywhere tonight (and raining), and hope to install the switch in the AM tomorrow.
I have not picked up the hifi headliner, nor seen Miranda (it is done).
Greg called about the amps, says all three are working perfectly (of course). He suspects the turn on wire is faulty. I have checked that many times at 12 volts, even umpired it, so I have no clue as to why it refuses to work in the truck. The former Tbird amps are good as well. I asked that he send me DIN plugs for them so I can use them in some other application.
3-2-13
Vince corrected no power to the radio by making it ALWAYS hot, key or not.
That’s OK.
The fuse box is hanging right behind the brake pedal, not a good thing (if stopping is important to you).
The horn works (GREAT!).
The rattles in the front persist, so there is continuing unhappiness with that. Perhaps soon that, too, will be solved.
Oil leakage is proliferate. I can’t have DPS jerk the motor until the Condor is running, perhaps another week or so.
I will be having Miranda redo the interior, but not in stock material. I’m going with the same Marine Red vinyl I had him use on my front room furniture. WAY tough, good-looking, easy to clean. I will also have Miranda do the door sills in carpet for the doggies.
This, too, must wait until I have a driver, unless Jose can do it in one day, and pick up the truck.
No word back from Monolithic on the latest iteration of solve-the-amp game. Greg will undoubtedly send them back, stating all work, and leaving me still in the dark.
IF I had the dough, I’d get an 07 used Duramax in a heartbeat.
For now, I must continue to keep this one sniffing perfection. The scent is anything but perfect right now.
3-12-13
I THOUGHT we had cured the heating with new thermostats. Not so. I went to Famoso, ran hot all the way up, about 219-225, and hit 250 at the top of the Grapevine on the way back, blowing off the top hose, and fitfully getting home with four stops on the way. Short story, I pulled out the stats, and found on reassembly that the thermostathousing was leaking. Off it came, new gasket, all together now and running statless at about 167 degrees with AC on.
We’ll be driving statless for quite some time now.
3-30-13
Without stats the truck runs 149-165.
That’s just fine.
I have not stress-tested it yet, but this is all it can do.
Vince got the horn working, reversed the mismatch of the front headlights (one low beam was in the high location, one in the low), has the radio on no key on and off, and helped me get the headliner panel back up. I still have not received the front amp back from Monolithic. I suspect there is a ground loose in the cockpit wiring, as I can affect the engine whine for the better when pushing up on it.
So some work to be done there.
There remains a rattling up front, and I suspect that is the left front shock.
There also remains the 66 MPH vibration, which I’m thinking is a tire imbalance.
I am going to have Miranda just do the front seat upholstery, even if not perfectly matching. I am going to check with him today on pricing for all vinyl versus just the front in fabric.
The under-dash wiring is messy, and Vince has yet to complete that and get it buttoned back together.
Also, the left front window is malfunctioning, and Dirk will hopefully get to it at Economy Glass this coming week.
4-10-13
The challenges continue: the left front lower A-arm lost its sway bar mounting, and the left front tire is WAY flat-spotted from the A-arm disaster of 8 months ago. I had Chatsworth Tire replace the left front, and balance the right front tire. They also noticed my muffler connection near the rear is loose.
I stopped by DPS to have them verify the source of a new leak: the back of the thermostat housing takes a large O-ring. I went to the dealer, got it and the sway bar bushing and strap, and showed happily the install by request to the parts counterman, Eli. He was most impressed.
I am running the garage fan on the dually now to cool it down, and will endeavor to replace the O-ring this afternoon. The truck was getting hot again, due to losing water.
I tried Hamrick’s a moment ago looking for Vince. He apparently, per rumor, is getting married!!!
He might have to borrow a second van for the bride to use….
I spoke with Greg at Monolithic and informed him the amps are upside down in the truck, He will try that position on the problem child and see if that affects anything.
Turns out the rear stat opening was the leak, requiring another trip back to the parts department. This is a wrist-killing, finger numbing task, but all done now. I did replace the rear O-ring, and on a test drive to Bob’s and back in Toluca Lake it worked fine. I discussed earlier today the oil leak situation with Hamlin, and had him show me exactly on another engine what in fact is the situation. I have grave doubts A-1 is going to ante up a grand for a qualified guy to fix this properly. The Valencia-based SoCal Diesel, with its owner named Guy, would be the place. I will do some negotiating with Moe at A-1 soon and see if he will just pay the dough to have it done.
Good luck on that.
I will endeavor to do that sway bar bushing in Vince’s absence, perhaps Friday or Saturday.
4-13-13
Had Chatsworth replace the inner right rear tire (GONE, flat, with a cut in it), move the right front to that spot, and put a new tire up front, along with balancing the rears. That was a $200 pop, bringing the tire repairs to $366.
There is still some vibration, although 60% less. I need a little more freeway driving to be sure.
I reattached the dash, so another source of noise should be abated. I also removed ALL the change in my little driveshaft tunnel console, another maddening source of noise.
And I now find the left rear mid-bass driver is not working. This seems oddly coincidental given the Dirk at Economy Glass had that panel off last week. I will remove it and see what gives there.
The engine is holding water and staying WAY cool.
4-19-13
The vibration is MUCH worse now.
And I was losing water. Turns out I replaced the FRONT stat gasket, and now the rear is leaking. I replaced that, and the front leaked.
So I now replaced BOTH, and so far we’re holding.
One “benefit” is that I’ve got the whole gasket-switch thing down to about 12 minutes.
4-24-13
Water holding, temp holding.
It was 5 quarts low on oil, as the oil pressure gauge was showing it. So in went 5 quarts.
The power window fuse apparently blew, as I have no window function.
The left rear speaker has two apparent problems: the mid-bass is not working at all, and one of the left side drivers rattles I have not sat down to patiently go through a procedure to isolate it, but it certainly does rattle. And, the engine/alternator hash is considerable.
I’m right up there at way annoyed at the whole not-working list on the truck.
4-28-13
I pulled the “cockpit” down and could find no ground anomaly. There IS one though.
I thought I corrected some wiring to the dome light, but that now does not work at all.
In pushing on different components, it appears the culprit is at the EQL. I’ll delve into it again tomorrow.
I did find a bad midrange driver in the left door, and the right door sound suspicious, too.
I pulled the left, and will check with Rob Anderson and Speaker City tomorrow for a pair of replacements.
The dome light thing may be a non-connected wire at the fuse box.
5-4-13
Hopeless as the above sounded, Ihave cured both the ground and dome light situations. The dome light was not connected, the ground was loose, and in the process I found the wiring was reversed once connected. All better now, including door switch actuation.
The ground thing was just some RCA connections on the EQQ (equalizer). These seem good now.
The rattling turned out to be tweeters, on both sides. The left mid-bass is working. I went to Speaker City and Mike sold me two units that are near-perfect replacements for the piggyback mounted tweeters. I had to do brain surgery on the mountings for them, modify the face plates, and cut the mounting rings, but all said they are in as original.
I have the left door to door this morning, but all appears correct.
The weather was high 90’s today, very hot for this time of year. The truck ran 194 at its hottest with AC on, and dropped to 178 without AC. The water appears full, so this might just be all it has for cooling. John at DPS had said he might be surprised if it didn’t get hot without stats. I don’t really get that, as the point of the stats is to open at temp, about 183-189.
I corrected some electrical, got the radio working on the key, tie-wrapped the fuse box up and away, and will replace the lower trim panel this morning.
The annoying (and scary) vibration HAS to be the center-support bearing, or a u-joint.
I have the bearing in hand, but don’t want to get God-awful dirty under the truck. I would have to roll out the rack, get it up outside, brace the wheels MIGHTILY, and do it in the driveway. I’m going to pay someone to do it.
And the right rear window switch, when activated from the driver door, shorts the fuse. Not so if actuated at the door.
I will give the truck to Miranda soon, once the Bird is a reliable driver.
5-13-13
Miranda did the front seat, headliner, and door sill carpet in a half day for $200. He is just the greatest.
The dash is all back together. Today was 102 degrees ambient, and the AC was frankly not doing that well. I will take a trip back to AirMec and see if all is well.
I of course am considering ways to augment the capability of the system:
1-Relocate the AC condenser, as I did on the TBird, either below the engine or up above the cab
2-Add another complete system and compressor. I have the Duramax climate control here, complete less compressor.
3-Add some fans to the front of the cooling system. The stock fan does not fully engage until VERY hot, above 210 degrees.
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