Deuce problems after Haspin

[cbvet]

Well, I recovered from Haspin just fine, but my Deuce sure hasn't.

Some of you guys noticed that I had an axle seal leaking on the rear. We agreed "it should make it home alright". NOT.

About 50 miles into my return trip, my brake pedal was very hard to depress. Pulled over. RR wheel was smoking hot and brake lights were on. I bled a little fluid & the brake lights went out.
Apparently all the heat generated by the wheel bearings running in gear lube caused the brake fluid to expand enough to operate the brake light switch. I pinched-off the steel line to the RR wheel & drove on home. Remaining brakes working okay.

Will need bearings & seals I suppose.

Also noticed volt meter in the yellow.

Finally got a chance to work on it today and found more problems.
Pulled RR wheel. Bearings washed out with gear lube. No cork or RTV in the groove.

Left rear starting to leak too. I guess I'll have to check them all.

Alternator putting out only 23.9 volts. I'll check connections & grounds tomorrow. I'll see if I can find the info on adjusting the output. Might be time to install that 100 amp 1-wire alternator I have.

Found flame heater leaking badly onto turbo. I need to figure out how to remove the darn thing. Never used it anyway.

Noticed both front tires have small sidewall cracks . These are Michelin XL 1100R20s about 5 years old. Maybe 1,000 miles on them. Truck came with these from GL. Rear tires are same age & look fine. I wonder if I need to run higher pressure in the fronts? Currently 50 psi all around. Tires say 115 psi max. I'll switch the cracked tires to the rear for now.

Running at 50-55 mph, 2150-2350 rpm, temp gauge stays slightly over 200 degrees. Radiator cap leaks out coolant until it's just barely visible in the filler neck. Then it stops "venting". I wonder what that's all about?

RF axle boot cracked & leaking. Only about a year old.

Any advice on the tire pressures?
Does anyone know what fittings are required to eliminate the flame heater?

I have only a little time available to work on my trucks, and have to get all three ready for July 4th.

 

[marchplumber]

Hello, from "Mr. Murphy" That's quite the list. Goes to prove, if it's not 6, it is half a dozen. Good luck with the truck!
God bless,
Tony

 

[tm america]

Well sorry to hear you had some issues...The coolant leak sounds like it is just being overfilled. the level should be just to the bottom of the filler tube..I would check your vents on your axles to make sure they are not plugged and move freely.

 

[RAYZER]

I run 80 psi in the front 11- 20 xl's on my m35a2 ww, 50psi in rear with duels,seems to be working. You may have some moister in the brake fluid/system,the high heat would cause it to exspand.

 

[eagle4g63]

tm beat me to it but the I say the same thing about the coolant......they will find their happy spot and stop spitting out the "extra" just leave it there and you'll be fine.

Alternator adjustment is easy. Off the side of the little box that the wires hook to you will see an allen plug....remove that and under it is a small straight screw (small electronics pot) and it only turn a little bit, you can turn it clockwise and see if the output changes.....if not the regulator went out.

 

[cbvet]

Thanks for the tips guys!
I'll get back to working on it in a little while, if I don't get called out for any more emergency Slurpee machine repairs.

 

[ryan77]

I thought some thing was supposed to break every time you drive your deuce!!!!

 

[mobileauto2000]

If pressure is building up in the brake system you have a problem other than heat. When the brake pedal is not applied the fluid is free to return to the master cylinder.

You most likely have a blockage in the air-pack or master cylinder not letting the fluid return.

This kind of failure is often caused by contaminated brake fluid causing cups to swell in the master cylinder and not allowing it to completely return when the pedal is released.

The brake lights staying on show that the problem is ahead of the brake light switch.

 

[wb1895]

As for the alternator, check the exciter wire. My alternator was putting out the same as yours until I found that the exciter wire was split. I spliced the wire back together and it has been working fine ever since.

 

[Junkyard Wars Crusher]

I would agree with mobileauto2000 that the brake problem is likely farther upstream than the wheel. Maybe the reason only the RR wheel was smoking was that it was the one that had the least running clearance. (adjusted out the more than the others). I would look to a sticking air/hydraulic booster ("airpack") or the master cylinder.
The air pack can get cruddy and it doesn't release. That will cause the symptom you describe - hard peddle and brake lights on.

Also, inside the master cylinder are two small holes that allow fluid to return to the reservoir portion. These can get plugged and prevent the piston from retracting. That would explain why bleeding temporarily relieved the issue.

 

[cbvet]

Yup, you guys are right regarding the brakes. Obviously (now) any pressure should be relieved back thru the master cylinder. What's odd though, is that I had no problems after I pinched-off the brake line to the RR wheel. 140 Miles home.
I will bite the bullet & flush the brake fluid and see what happens.

Took the alternator to a shop in Elkhart Indiana, run by a fellow 'Nam vet. He said it was putting out 32 volts when I brought it in! Adjusted it down to 28.5 volts.
I had checked the voltage to the exciter terminal & it was reading 24 volts with the switch on. I wonder now if I may have been reading something like no-load (ghost) voltage, and do in fact have some bad wiring (as WB1895 suggested, that caused the problem. I can try running a hot jumper straight to the exciter terminal.

I also had them check out the new 100 amp 1-wire alternator I bought a few years back on ebay. No output! They didn't have time to open it up, but said they've had some brought in that were really just "shells". Sh-t!
Still living & learning I guess.

Again, thanks for all the advice.
Eric

 

[cbvet]

Well, the guy from the alternator shop called me.
He said the alternator was actually set up to be 12 volt, but was missing some parts. He's going to get it working for me, but says 100 amps in that size case is going to get pretty hot. No guarantee how long it will last.
I may make it into a gas powered generator.