New 71 deuce, many questions

[MikesDeuce]

Sooooo I finally registered on the site after doing enough work to convince wife to let me have one (used the “yea honey we can build an RV on it line lol!)

Went to look at/picked her up last Monday and a little background about her, the previous owner used her to pull his backhoe and let it sit for 3-4 years. 10 miles (out of 50-60) from his house, it came to a puttering stop. Saw that all fuel filters and in tank pump was completely blocked with crud. Fuel was brown and didnÂ’t even smell like diesel...

Luckily, the morning of, I had magically found and spoke to “73m819“ for a solid hour and knew what to look for. He even helped a lot with roadside troubleshooting!!!!! Much blessings!!

Got it running and made it back the rest of the journey and after many conversations with “73m819”, ordered fuel filters and went to put them in....
The old ones I pulled out were concaved and literally so blocked, I couldnÂ’t get the slightest light to go through them with my big streamlight!!

*probelm: the primary fuel filter housing is missing the “washer” and spring that holds the filter up in place!
-anyone have spares or old parts theyÂ’d like to sell??

Also upon initial inspection, she was “popping”, almost like a misfire.... figured it was because of old gas. The owner said he ran 50/50 tranny fluid and who knows what else...
****she smokes bluish at idle and under load! (Freaking me out!)
The popping has subsided and sounds wayyy better especially when I have the throttle pulled and set to around 1k rpm..... now it actually blows a little black.
Also added 3/4 of diesel kleen and keep adding fresh diesel and the color of the diesel in the tank doesnÂ’t look like brown pond water....
The flexy pipe from the turbo exhaust to muffler pipe looks like itÂ’s fallen off the clamp so could this be why the popping...? Kinda smokes around there and a slight smoking from the breather off turbo but no blowby from oil fill... Coolant and oil look ok with cross contamination....

Another thing is the parking brake is garbage.. lucky I have chocks and live on kind of a hill where I can park parallel with steering towards uphill to be ok for now.. any tips on adjusting the parking brake? I can turn the shaft easily with my hand while under the truck while engaged so thatÂ’s no bueno,,,

Any advice on these issues??

Also looking to source a temp gauge as mine stays zero!!!

Just ordered a light switch from Boyce bc the lock/mechanism entirely seemed busted and was stuck in BO...


Sorry for the long first post guys, IÂ’ll be sure to follow up with pics and a proper introduction ASAP!
IÂ’m in Columbus GA so if youÂ’re around here and wouldnÂ’t mind taking a gander at the truck, I donÂ’t mind buying the beer

You guys are the greatest! My many years of automotive forums experience have I never met such awesome lads!!! I was around these and similar “machinery” for 7years plus another 3-4 more in contract life but now.... Theres a love hate relationship with them, except now I can drive them how I want to lol! I also helped my old boss “build one” I’m a mech engineer at my 9-5 but I work as a systems engineer so if y’all need any consultation and or work done on any such issues, please feel free to call upon your new/younger brother.


I love the comradery here and definitely love the truck!
Looking forward to many more nights of working on the truck, buying more, and crooked necks from sleeping on the couch!

-Michael

Will get pics and new YouTube set up for deuce asap (unless y’all wanna see videos of my saltwater fishes lol)

 

[Menaces Nemesis]

Hey Michael, welcome...

One of the most profound things I've ever seen written on this forum was when someone (probably Cranetruck, Gringeltaube, M35Tom, Jeepsinker, or someone like that) stated something to the effect; "These trucks have sat for years, often times with less than decent upkeep... until you get all the contamination out of each system, and correct what's wrong, they'll continue to cost more than they should in time and repairs". I've found this to be so true. If something doesn't work right, in the long run, you'll be much happier if you go at each problem until you KNOW that every component within the system in question, is cleaned-out, adjusted, and working properly. This includes electrical contacts, and especially all the "soft parts" like hoses, wires, seals, etc.. Regarding the fuel system, especially given what you've said about the truck's past, I'd suggest you put your shoulder into it until you KNOW every bit of the tank, lines, filters, and all the way to the tips of the injectors is clean, tight and working right. Otherwise you'll likely be revisited by the trouble again and again, and possibly at very inconvenient times (while you're at it, my personal suggestion would be to bite the bullet and get all the Deuce spin-on filter kits available from; http://jatonkam35s.com, and check out Opti Lube XPD fuel additive (the red stuff).

Regarding the smoke and your temp gauge... might sound stupid, but the two tend to be related... these trucks tend to run very cool. If your truck's cooling system is working good, you may have a helluva time getting it up to operating temp and keeping it there, and until you do, you won't have enough thermal efficiency to get a good burn, so you'll have smoke that'll look like it's a bit raw (Today it was 75 degrees here, and I drove around town with my radiator completely blocked except for an 8" diameter opening, and the truck stayed at 180-190, and my thermostat opens at 175). My advice here is to get a good mechanical gauge, and do what you have to, to get that op temp up to 180 as soon as you can and keep it there, without reving it hard when it's cold.

I doubt the pipe on the exhaust side of your turbo being loose would cause popping. Also, the small dia. pipe by the turbo isn't actually connected to the turbo. That's your "Slobber Tube" or crankcase vent line, and there's two ports on the rear side of it that may/may not be occupied that'll pass some smoke too. Don't get too excited if the tube smokes some, they tend to do that. Unless the truck is consuming oil, don't worry about it.

I had the same issue with my parking brake when I got my truck... tore it down to find the shoes were glazed, and had been run down into the rivets. They'll actually hold quite well with good shoes and proper adjustment.

I know I'm not giving you much in-depth info about fixing those things, but along with folks like the ones I listed above, the most invaluable resources you have here for specifics are the Deuce TM's on the home page, and the search bar. Just go after one thing at a time, and get some time away when/if you get frustrated.

 

[clinto]

MN is correct.

Sounds like that's a truck that someone just rode hard and put away wet and when it finally got to the point that they couldn't do that anymore, they sold it.

If I bought that truck, I would start with:

Totally flush the fuel system. If you have money, let a radiator shop vat the fuel tank. Make sure the in tank electric pump works. If you don't have money, get some doomsday cleaner, remove the tank, put 5 gallons in it, let sit for 24 hours, then rotate it. After you've done all 6 sides, take the drain plug out and wash it out. Do all the filters.

Drain all the fluids: axles, transmissions, etc. Refill with fresh.

Change the engine oil & filters.

Parking brake: They're hard to get adjusted right but when they're right, they're ok. My truck weighs 16K lbs and with a 10K lb. trailer behind it, the brake will hold it on a hill. I don't know about a San Francisco hill, but I haven't had an issue with it on anything I've encountered. The angle is hard to see in these pictures, but the truck weighed 26K lbs with the boulders and it's in neutral.



You need to verify the shoes have plenty of material left and that they haven't drug or worn unevenly. You pretty well ought to just go ahead and replace the shoes, they're always screwed up. There are 3 springs, they break or are missing frequently. Take the assy. off, take it apart, make sure everything is clean, greased and can pivot freely. Takes a while to get the adjustment right, so do a search and find some threads explaining how.

Once you're done all that, see if it still pops.

I'd also go through the brake system and hubs. Pull all the wheels, all the drums, inspect the wheel cylinders for leakage, clean and repack all the bearings, etc. Flush the brake system and refill with fresh DOT5.

If you do all that, you should have a decent, reliable truck.

 

[cattlerepairman]

Yes, the three handed 12 fingered triple jointed dwarf pr*ck that designed the adjustment part on the hand brake cable was the same fellow that specced the upper left master cylinder bolt and the lower rad hose!

 

[rustystud]

Yes, the three handed 12 fingered triple jointed dwarf pr*ck that designed the adjustment part on the hand brake cable was the same fellow that specced the upper left master cylinder bolt and the lower rad hose!

LOL !!! So very true !!!!

 

[Gatoreach]

Mike, Welcome to the start of your love/hate relationship with your perfectly running/sputtering Deuce!
My primary fuel filter was the original military full size filter, but a quick trip to Lowe's for nylon washers and a set of compression springs and i was running smooth. See pics for washers, and Lowe's only sells one type of compression springs.
The smaller nylon washer fits perfectly inside the primary filter mouth to keep it centered. The larger washer is what goes on the canister shaft.
Best of luck to you, Captain Kirk