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Expensive shooting match...


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I went to a Cowboy match Sunday, pulled around to give somebody a jump, put my truck in park, and the engine quit just like turning the key off. I got a diesel mechanic out to the range Monday with his diagnostic magic box, and three hours later, two fuses, and a new Fuel Injector Control Module, I was on the road home. $647.00 (plus entry fee for the match, of course)... really not that bad for an off-site, out-of-town service call and three hours labor working on a truck in the blazing sun in a gravel parking lot.

 

No gun-of-the-month for July now... good thing I bought two this month! :D

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You got off cheap. Can't see how a jump start would have caused that failure, probably coincidence.

 

About two weeks ago, I stopped to check my mail at the bottom of the mountain, tranny would not go into any gear after being in park. Drove fine with no hint of trouble until that point.

 

Then it did engage so I started up the mountain... Made it far enough I couldn't back down when something really failed hard... I think one of the clutch packs disintegrated. Used the 12K winch to pull uphill about 1/4 mile to the driveway (multiple pulls). There the truck sits. Have not priced transmissions yet, but sure it will be a big bill.

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Howdy,

I thought about dubble that.... buy that mechanic a drink,

a big one.

Getting any cornfuzer module for less that fve bills is cheap.

Best

CR

 

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I was really expecting about double that. :(

 

$327 for the module + the mechanic's $20 markup, and three hours labor @ $100/hour.

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My 2002 Chevy Duramax diesel pulled a first timer recently.  Would turn over but wouldn't start.  Fuel pump had bled down for some unknown reason.  After figuring it out, I manually pumped it up and it started right up.

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Petey says it's always cheaper to repair than replace.  I believe in the law of diminishing returns.  I don't know how we've stayed married 50+ years.

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Howdy,

It occurs to me that many insurance policy have towing that might

include emergency work.

I put in a claim for towing and emergency battery replacement and

got a nice check. It didn't cover all but it helps.

Twice I have been hit with battery replacement within a week of a tuneup.

I now have the month and year of install right on the battery.

Five years and slap in another unless its a very special battery.

I did have one that came in the miata go 9 years.

I was told they aren't sold in us because they are more expensive.

Well duhhh.

Best

CR

 

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The group 27 batteries in my 2000 F250 7.3 liter Powerstroke  won't start the truck within a few months of the battery warranty expiring.  They will crank the engine; however, it won't start; because, the current draw of the HEUI injector solenoids causes the battery voltage to drop too low for fuel injection.*  The problem is you can only see the voltage drop with a scope meter.  Discovered this by accident.  Was at our family cabin at Lake Tahoe over New Years one year.  When tried to start it one night it cranked a little slower than normal 7 wouldn't start.  Called AAA & couldn't even start it of the roadside service van.  Then AAA tried jump starting off a tow truck , no luck.  Had to buy two $125 batteries O'Riley which was the only place open at that time of night.  I have had the same issue in Fallon NV during the winter.  The truck is only used to haul stuff & drive when NDOT or Caltrans have chain controls when I drive to Carson/Reno area or CA.  It is parked for months; so, I installed a battery charger under the hood. 

*The Ford ECM doesn't have much diagnostic capabilities nor does it monitor many parameters.  It doesn't monitor coolant temperature.  The same engine sold by Navistar had a Navistar ECM that has greater monitoring capability.  You'd think that Ford would have included an ECM with more features with a option that added $5000 the the sticker price.  In 2000 these trucks were selling at a premium over sticker.  I am not surprised it doesn't include anything not necessary to control injection.  In the mid 70's I worked for a aerospace subsidiary of Ford & one of my coworkers had worked in Dearborn as a financial analyst.  He said Ford removed every unnecessary penny from manufacturing cost.   Totally the opposite philosophy of the multinational manufacturer of the products sold & serviced by the company I worked for from March 1978 until I retired.

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5 hours ago, J.D. Daily said:

The group 27 batteries in my 2000 F250 7.3 liter Powerstroke  won't start the truck within a few months of the battery warranty expiring.  They will crank the engine; however, it won't start; because, the current draw of the HEUI injector solenoids causes the battery voltage to drop too low for fuel injection.*  

I first learned of this battery behavior in 1967 when my Huey would not crank.  The battery looked fine when you put a volt meter on it, but voltage would drop fropm, twenty-four to six volts when you hit the start button.  I had a heck of a time convincing maintenance that it needed a new battery.  Since then I have seen the problem about six times, once on a Cessna 310, once on a battery powered cart and the other times on pickup trucks.

 

Duffield

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Haven't had a car problem at a match, but bought a gun or two after one broke during a match. Some are spendier than others.

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  • 1 month later...

And then this weekend at a two-day shoot, I had a blowout on a trailer tire and the fridge quit. Turns out the fridge was just a matter of being too damn hot out when I started it - ya gotta turn it down "incrementally" and put COLD beer in it, not WARM beer, or it tries to work too hard and turns off the refrigerator heat exchanger.

 

So... two new trailer tires, a new plastic fender liner, and a small patch on the plastic tarp underlayment stuff.

 

I gotta find a cheaper sport. 

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I got into my 1991 Toyota truck this morning, turned the key and went trap shooting.
It's been like this for the last 235,000 miles except when I left the lights on all afternoon.
It is the most reliable of all the vehicles I've owned.

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3 hours ago, Three Foot Johnson said:

I gotta find a cheaper sport. 

There are a few, but they are no damn fun. :)

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1 hour ago, bgavin said:

I got into my 1991 Toyota truck this morning, turned the key and went trap shooting.
It's been like this for the last 235,000 miles except when I left the lights on all afternoon.
It is the most reliable of all the vehicles I've owned.

1990s Toyotas will literally run 1,000,000 miles if reasonably maintained.

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I used to buy ugly junker 70's vintage Toyota pickups for a few hundred bucks for spraying, fencing, etc., drive 'em til they fell apart, then when scrap prices were right, haul 'em into town to the scrap yard. :) One didn't have a windshield when I bought it, so I welded a few steel clips around the opening to hold a salvaged Ford Courier windshield and foamed it up with Great Stuff. :lol:

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I was a wrench at Bullock Toyota in Hyannis, MA (Cape Cod) in the early 70s, before I went to IBM.
Back then, it we had NIASE certs... mine were in differentials and alignments.
I liked the design of Toyota a whole lot better than the others.. and simply hated VWs.... they never clicked for me.
We have been driving Toyotas for decades since then.

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I have never had anY significant issues with my one-ton Ford 4wd Super Duty, 8.3 liter Caterpillar engine pick up truck, except both front wheel bearings failed at the same catastrophically after a year, with <10k miles on the truck.  Nothing since, except battery failure, which give you some notice.  I always replace the batteries in pairs.

 

Cat Brules

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About two weeks ago went to leave work and thought the starter dragged a little bit.  Next day went out and the battery was so dead it wouldn't even unlock the doors.  Change under $200 for a new battery plus 30 minutes to remove it plus another 30 to get the new one back in.

 

First time I have ever had a battery die that fast since the old Delco Freedom batteries in the late 70s. They were notorious for cracks in the connectors between the plates. Get in the truck, turn the key and nothing. Jump start it,  remove the cables, let it run 30 seconds, turn it off, wait 30 seconds and when you turned the key the truck would start.

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Battery voltage under load is a whole separate reading than no load. It is causing havok in the forklift industry where the salesman convinces the customer to buy a new computer controlled lifttruck and doesnt even try to convince them to also buy the newest battery and charger technology. Then the tech has to try to explain why their new truck doesnt run 16 hours on a 30 minute recharge, as they were promised.

 

Imis   and a VOM is your friend

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