The Diesel Boys Maintenance Thread *4x4/4x2*

wagon r · Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2006 4:11 pm Post subject:

^ for real.......yuh know how far yuh could reach on that extra $3..... Laughing

equipped2ripp · Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2006 5:27 pm Post subject:

dais life and death situation dey! Laughing

sweeks · Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2006 7:49 pm Post subject:

Yeah.... and you and me looking like clowns rocking the pickups .....

wagon r · Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2006 7:02 am Post subject:

.....aye watch how yuh sayin dat....folks go get the wrong idea... Laughing

bleedingfreak · Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2006 9:02 am Post subject:

"...Rock the pickup, rock the pickup baby, Rock the pickup, Don't tip the pickup over..."

Mr. Green

I does go by Peake's and wait for my foam to go down, plus I run the pump on the slowest slow. Or, idleness permitting: do it manually. I sometimes spend about 10-15 minutes filling up. But I don't overfill unless I going for a long run.

Why? I know that for gasoline tanks there is a backlash to overfilling - increased pressure in the tank due to expansion of very-volatile liquid-now-gas can be dangerous.

I can't say if diesel exhibits these same tendencies, (I assume that it would to some extent) but I prefer to be safe than sorry...

bleedingfreak · Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2006 9:09 am Post subject:

Running 480 km on the Mazda and still have 1/4 tank left! Surprised

But she not accelerating like a couple months ago - kinda sluggish these days. Going to get the fuel filter changed today, and see if the strainer needs a cleaning out. Gonna ask my mechanic to put the fuel treatment into the fuel filter and see if that makes any difference to performance.

Let you guys know later if my (I mean the pickup's) performance returns

Wink

roadhog · Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2006 9:20 am Post subject:

heyy you think you guys could post station to fill up in and ones never to go to unless is life or death situations?. im from the east side the best one i've read about is peaks so to go down there is a bit of a hassle. so i'd be lloking at like curepe junction the unipet one at the top, the one by kfc on the highway, valpark, maybee dinsley places like there. there is brand new nie station in pos by the road to trotters. was thinking about there. and how to know if you get bad fuel from a station? would it me a considerable power loss? or bucking?.

thanks

bleedingfreak · Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2006 10:19 am Post subject:

in Dabadie there is an older station with fairly new tanks - about 2 years old. NOT the one with the little QuikStoppe/Mini mart. It's on the left going towards Arima.

Also the BIG diesel station in Arima where all the maxis full up. They have 4 diesel pumps. They are on the left as you enter Arima, just after the supermarket. Can be a hassle to get to though, but it IS new and they maintain their pumps.

The Curepe Unipet is good - as said before - they fairly new - about 4 yrs I think. Those others on the SMR are really OLD! This station can be a bit harrowing to get into cause of the amount of traffic.

Barataria roundabout is also good. Well maintained IMO.

But um... use your eyes. you MUST be able to tell an old station from a new one right? Also note stations where there is higher traffic may mean better fuel. Avoid pumps that run slowly cause this is a sign of dirty filters.

Evidence of dirty fuel won't really manifest itself by way of power delivery or bucking. But your filter life will be shortened... Sludge/muck buildup in your tank is a more severe problem that occurs with time and will cause inadequate fuel delivery.

Val · Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2006 11:04 am Post subject:

Anybody have an Oil Pressure gauge installed in their pickup? I want to know what kind of pressures you all get.

So far the pressures I'm getting are as follows:

Cold Engine:
Idle - 40~50 psi (depending on temp, at 430am I got 60 psi)
1000~2500 rpm - 40 psi approx
Above 2500 - 70 psi

Hot Engine
Idle - 20~30 psi
1000~2500 rpm - 30~35 psi
2500~3500 rpm - 40~60 psi
Above 3500 rpm near full throttle - 70~80 psi.

Can I compare these readings with anyone else here? It's a 2.9 N/A Ford Ranger.
This is on Castrol 50 body oil btw.

bleedingfreak · Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2006 11:11 am Post subject:

^^^ Dont' have an oil guage but why is there a concern about your oil pressure? FYI? or u sensing a trubble?

Val · Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2006 11:26 am Post subject:

Well the stock oil light is designed to come on at 5psi or lower. If the engine has 6 psi of oil pressure for example, the light will not come on and it will read as though the engine is normal, however at 6 psi you risk lots of damage to your engine. The stock light does not allow for a great margin of error, and IMO is quite useless. Personally I thought it was a good idea to have an oil gauge, so now I will know way beforehand if something is wrong. I opted to mount a manual gauge instead of electric to get a better reading. I'm in the process of installing a water temperature gauge and an ammeter for the charging system.

Read this article: http://neptune.spacebears.com/cars/stories/oilgauge.html

wagon r · Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2006 1:10 pm Post subject:

.....i want to get a volt guage but it was more for the lights i have on the van than anything else. i did consider a water and oil but i going electric.

i i did take 15mins once jus to fill the tank in peake's.......the pump tripped and i couldn't get anymore, so i put it back and had the casheir re-load my $3.** to fill it. then i had to go back to get change because it topped out .65c short.... Laughing

thought i alone was mad for putting guages in my van but i see i'm not alone.

Val · Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2006 1:12 pm Post subject:

Why are you going electric? Simply for the ease of installation? I would think that the mechanical gauges would give more accurate readings. Btw, the Electric/Manual gauges are just different in the ways they get the reading eh (either by potential difference on a sensor, or actual mercury thermometer, barometer etc).

in the case of the Voltmeter and Ammeter, well those are electric regardless Laughing

And pretty easy to install too, you should do it. Helps you monitor the health of your charging system.

wagon r · Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2006 4:13 pm Post subject:

....plan to do it.....would be a christmas present to myself. i also plan to invest in some tools for the L2.....upgrade the ones i already have.

i hate it when you don't have the right tool for a problem.

van should be going in for service in two weeks.....i'll be on vacation so it'll be easy. wanna get the a/c adjusted as well, the heat during the day is murder... Neutral

bleedingfreak · Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2006 7:19 pm Post subject:

The guages are a good idea. I would do it as well, but you know I ain't alone in these decisions and my father is kinda stubborn Surprised

Val, where did you place yours in the Ranger? If I am installing it in the Mazda, I would like for it to be neat and tidy.

bleedingfreak · Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2006 7:27 pm Post subject:

Oh, and I made the trip to the mechanic to change the fuel filter. Turns out the filter (Sakura) wasn't bad at all Exclamation

Just some normal sludge. But the fuel pump strainer was a bit clogged Exclamation

Apparently, the membrane in this Sakura filter isn't fine enough to trap all this material... Confused

BTW the filter was changed 8000 km ago in July. Suffice it to say I put in another Sakura, cause I had bought it already. Only $40...

And, I can't seem to get the filter from Southern Sales (go figure Exclamation

) Funny: they trying to sell you Sakura as well ! So any other suggestions? I am trying to source Bosch at the moment to give it a try.

K & N anyone ? Embarassed

roadhog · Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2006 10:07 pm Post subject:

what about good diesel mechanics? who can you'll recomend?

civic minded · Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2006 10:41 pm Post subject:

Very Informative thread!!!!!!

the wife recently sold her car and we bought the 4x4 Ranger Automatic turbo diesel(2 months ago).
Now before you all shoot me down for buying a Auto 4x4 consider this -

The Ford Ranger Automatic comes with an LSD Tranny that actually produce more PSI than the manual. This vehicle does alot of highway/ traffic driving- so less stress using a clutch. Plus, even thou it is auto - i have not loss any towing capabilities or torque over the manual.

this vehicle is really a dream to drive - diesel consumption is excellent ( i make central to south runs on a daily basis - full tank last me for 1 week $87.00 max) the ride is really nice and it drives solid on the road -even at 180Kmph. ( i get no interior noise whatso ever.)

I have a habit at running at between 140km -160km on the highway.( i know thats not good cause it is a brand new vehicle but i really cant help it.)

I have installed a turbo timer + alarm

One thing i dont like is that even thou i got 60K warranty on the vehicle - they are really strict with what i can install on the vehicle - i was told -it would void the warranty if i were to use any other air filter than theirs - and i cant increase the rim size more than 18".
I noticed that the first few weeks , the oil level drops to about half on the dip stick - i was told that this was normal and oil levels supposed to be at half or less on the dip stick.BTW they use Mobil1 15w 40

I am hiting 5100kms right now and already schelduled a maintanace visit for thursday coming. they also told me that they add a fuel additive every time i serviced so there isnt need for me to add any fuel treatments.

roadhog · Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2006 11:34 pm Post subject:

damn yo i have to find out what rim size i can out i wanan slap some 22's on and i din even get my van yet sup to get it lics and stuff by next week i can't wait Smile

Val · Posted: Wed Nov 01, 2006 6:49 am Post subject: