No kidding. Especially since he has to pass through here on the way to Il........[sm=icon_cheers.gif]

 

hummm, friday, it's 9:45 PST, what's up with that? no feedback? no updates? humph!

 

Ya BIG BABY I kept getting a CEL and an occasional misfire yesterday and this morning, yet the code reader would pull nothing. So, at lunch today (I am a Federal Contractor so I had the day off), I loosened the distributor and moved it a degree or so counter-clockwise. Talk about a PITA!!! Drove around for two hours running errands, and it performed well. No more herky-jerky with O/D off, no problems on hills, and no problems on deceleration. I changed the oil as I now have 800 miles on the rebuilt engine. I put in Mobil 1 Synthetic and a Wix filter. Hooked up my trailer and tomorrow I am headed to Alabama. I'll give a complete report at the end of my trip.

 

RIGHT ON!!!!

you did synthetic already? I probably would have waited about 5k miles... but thats me.

Glad to hear its better. so now you know you need to get the fuel sync done with a scanner and you should be all set. Are you planning on doing any mileage tests on the trip?

 

OK, I just got back from Alabama about an hour ago. I had my 18' dovetail trailer with a VW Beetle body on it along with two engines, two transmissions, and two front beams in the cargo box that I delivered to a friend in Alabama. I was very impressed at how the truck didn't lug going up hills and could even accelerate with some impressive pulling power. I drove all the way there (approximately 750 miles) with Overdrive off @ approximately 75mph whenever possible for the duration. I estimate my fuel mileage around 12.8mpg on the way there. On the return trip, I had two VW chassis on the trailer. One was just a bare pan (no front beam or transmission), while the other was complete chassis sans engine. Looks like my mileage was about 13mpg on the return trip with less traffic and I opted to use Overdrive on most of the return trip.



I did notice that at my second fuel stop on the return trip that the radiator had completely filled the overflow bottle and had some liquid spillage. The needle on the temp gauge was 200º the entire trip. I also suspect a lifter to be knocking as I heard a noise on the passenger bank while I was unhooking the trailer. Overall, the truck performed well and I think the mild mods really helped. I think a set of headers will be an even better improvement.

Also, I lost my dash lights, running lights, and fog lamps on the way out. The Beetle body jumped on a bump and landed on the line for the towing lights I have. The insulation was severed, which shorted something in the electrical system. I don't know what, as the fuses are all good. I am thinking it's a relay that is out.

I think the distributor needs to be tweaked another 1º or so. I may try that and then see if I can find a local shop that can check the cam/injector timing.

 

VWandDodge, that is good news. Your the 2nd person that has towed with the intake mod and not had any problems. Since I only tow occasionally, I think I will go ahead and do the intake mod on mine as well. Hopefully next weekend as I would like to have it done before the Thanksgiving ranch trip. Jeff.

 

Just an update. My truck and trailer went on a 765 mile adventure yesterday from Oklahoma to Copperas Cove, Texas. Plenty of hills, construction, and other happenings. I estimate that I used 57 gallons of gas, which works out to 13.42mpg. I can honestly say that I am freaking happy with that, considering how heavy that trailer is. I think I figured out why the coolant tank was blowing over on my trip to Alabama. I remembered that the transmission is also cooled by the radiator, so that extra heat would make a difference. A transmission cooler is definitely going to be in the works when the rebuilt (and beefed up) transmission is installed.

One question -- does anyone know if there are temp gauges available for the transmissions? I am going to get one of those A-pillar pods for a transmission temp gauge.

 

yes, autometer makes a nice one... have it in my '05, comes with the sending unit & guage. you need to supply the wiring...

I have the phantom II short sweep electric... move the mouse over the view illumination arrow & you can see what it looks like @ night. I put a resistor inline with my illumination terminal to minimize the brightness... have 2 guages setup right now 1 with & 1 without the resistor to compare by and decided to go with the resistor mod.

http://www.autometer.com/cat_gaugede...id=3525&sid=59

 

Here's a write-up I did on installing a tranny temp guage. Hope it helps.
https://dodgeforum.com/m_473701/tm.htm

 

Thanks to you and Steve. That kicks *** and I'm glad I am not the only person who thought of this.

On Wednesday, I am headed to Illinois to visit family for Thanksgiving, and then Thursday (hopefully) hauling a VW Bus from Illinois to Hamilton, Ontario. I suppose you'll all want a report from that trip?

The only drawback to that trip is Missouri [:@] Too damned many hills.