Hi everyone,
Not much of a forum guy here, but this seems to be a good one. Bought my first diesel as a weekend hockey/family truckster for me and the four kids after wifey had an affair and moved out with the kids; then bankruptcy and minivan repo'd. It was clear I needed something cheap that I could work on (many years ago I did a little drag racing, all our race cars wore bow ties). I was trolling on craigslist for Suburbans when this vision appeared on my screen:
While I am still bitter and have sworn off romance, I knew I had to have her. The listing said it ran and moved but needed some work to make it ready for the road. They wanted $1,800. Even though I was flat broke I had to go and look. She was living at a boat dealer and was being used as a lot truck. The original owner had special ordered her in '96 and I was told that she was retired from road use two years ago when the dealer maintenance reached something north of $30k. Well, it wouldn't start when I got there. I hung out for a while not knowing for sure what I was looking at and they came down a good amount in price and promised to get the dealer maintenance records. I went back a week later and, of course, they had not gotten the records. Late Thursday afternoon before the Fourth of July weekend I counted off five Benjamins and she was mine. Now I had to get it out of there.
A week later a friend and I went to try and get it started. The left side battery was nearly dry and the positive clamp was loose on the battery post as well as on the bare cable ends. Jumped it from another vehicle and the engine turned over well and tried to start. But, it felt like something was missing - there was no vibration when I turned the key to the on position. Time to check out the lift pump. Couldn't believe it, the wiring harness was not plugged in. After we connected it, the engine fired right up and has started every time since. Then I drove it off to begin the process of taking off the rough edges.
This ended up being a long story for an introduction. I have already learned a ton from everyone here and taken advantage of the great products offered by Leroy Diesel and PT Wiring Solutions - thank you Leroy and Bruce. I look forward to following all of your projects and learning what I can.
Not much of a forum guy here, but this seems to be a good one. Bought my first diesel as a weekend hockey/family truckster for me and the four kids after wifey had an affair and moved out with the kids; then bankruptcy and minivan repo'd. It was clear I needed something cheap that I could work on (many years ago I did a little drag racing, all our race cars wore bow ties). I was trolling on craigslist for Suburbans when this vision appeared on my screen:
While I am still bitter and have sworn off romance, I knew I had to have her. The listing said it ran and moved but needed some work to make it ready for the road. They wanted $1,800. Even though I was flat broke I had to go and look. She was living at a boat dealer and was being used as a lot truck. The original owner had special ordered her in '96 and I was told that she was retired from road use two years ago when the dealer maintenance reached something north of $30k. Well, it wouldn't start when I got there. I hung out for a while not knowing for sure what I was looking at and they came down a good amount in price and promised to get the dealer maintenance records. I went back a week later and, of course, they had not gotten the records. Late Thursday afternoon before the Fourth of July weekend I counted off five Benjamins and she was mine. Now I had to get it out of there.
A week later a friend and I went to try and get it started. The left side battery was nearly dry and the positive clamp was loose on the battery post as well as on the bare cable ends. Jumped it from another vehicle and the engine turned over well and tried to start. But, it felt like something was missing - there was no vibration when I turned the key to the on position. Time to check out the lift pump. Couldn't believe it, the wiring harness was not plugged in. After we connected it, the engine fired right up and has started every time since. Then I drove it off to begin the process of taking off the rough edges.
This ended up being a long story for an introduction. I have already learned a ton from everyone here and taken advantage of the great products offered by Leroy Diesel and PT Wiring Solutions - thank you Leroy and Bruce. I look forward to following all of your projects and learning what I can.
