M923A2 came home with me today!

[gimpyrobb]

HAHA! That sucks dude. I HATE the DMV.

 

[Ferroequinologist]

Way to go! That just means you will have the first legally registered M923A2 in Virginia. Ever. Cool.

 

[steelsoldiers]

Still waiting on my title. The guy the local office talked to last week had to pass it on to the gal above him. I'll go back wed. afternoon to see if any progress has been made.

I had a very busy day on saturday though. I got the wiper motor and new wiper blades installed. I also removed the old bent bumper and installed the new one. I then spent the rest of the day taking apart lights and cleaning connections trying to get everything to work. Some of the lights were extremely corroded. I still don't have the horn working or all of the lights working. I'm going to go double-check all of the ground wires again. The only thing left after that is the light switch itself.

The weird thing is that when the light switch is in the headlight position, the stop lights and turn signals don't work at all. If it is in the brake light position, the turn signals and brake lights work. I can't get the tail lights to work at all. I can only get the left front marker light working. The back ones are getting around 3 volts. Weird! I removed and cleaned all of the harness connections. I have been putting everything back together with di-electric grease. Thoughts?

Wed. I will rebuild the Haldex air dryer for the ABS brake system. I will also grind and prime the tailgate rust spots. Then, back to work on the electrical system. Hopefully I'll get the tags soon so I can start taking test drives.

 

[mangus580]

Chris, do yourself a favor, swap out that lightswitch... I have one if you need it...

 

[steelsoldiers]

It is the original switch. It may be fubar'd. I may take you up on the switch. It would be worth the shipping just to test the system with a known good switch. If my hair was longer, I'd be pulling it out

 

[Oldvw2]

Chris I am thinking it has to be the switch unless there is a section of the harness that has gotten crushed or shorted somewhere. The under-dash wiring looked good to/from the light switch when I spent that 1/2 day under there working on the bat switch and start switch.

Quick thought - check the feed wire to the light switch and make sure that you have 24v there.....

Chad

 

[steelsoldiers]

Thanks brother. I'll double check that wire. I have a switch on the way so I'll swap the sonofagun out and see what happens.

I just got in from running some 5-ton errands. I picked up my side window from the glass shop. $48 total for new laminated glass installed in the frame. Sure beats buying a new one. I stopped by the tire shop after that and had my used tire installed on the spare rim. I got it done for $28, but I had to work up a sweat helping the guy. He was a little baffled by the big rubber runflat You should have seen me working on that old nasty thing in my khaki's and a polo shirt! We used a come-along to squeeze the runflat together and then yanked it out with a electric chain hoist. He did a great job and the price was right so I'll go back when I get some "new" tires for all 7 wheels.

I need to get a rear window channel for my door glass before installing it. I called Saturn and they are out. Anyone know who has a good price on one?

 

[steelsoldiers]

Here's some new pics from the bumper swap project:

 

[maddawg308]

WOW! Looks a lot better now! Good job, Chris...

 

[dma251]

Chris,
I was told that there are three types of o-rings for the 20" wheel (s). Triangular, round (small), round (large). It is the small round one as you found out! I tried all three since my originals were mangled beyond recognition! If we were to get a group together to have some of these made for spares count me in! I would like to have about 10 extra for that future tire change and some spares.

I've never been to Winslow's but I'm going on the first to pick up a dump bed That I bought from Bruce, should I leave the checkbook at home?!?

I fought those O-rings trying to get them to hold air on my wheels, until I discovered a way of putting them together that worked great - instead of putting the o-ring in the little channel they make for it on the main wheel side, I lubed them up and snapped them INTO the groove on the radius of the wheel-ring that bolts on. there they are pressed against the outer radiused edge of the wheel, and sealed everytime. The only tire I have that has leaked a single lb. of air since I put them all together, is the only one that I put together the "proper" way.

It was so easy a caveman could do it....

 

[PWM]

Chris

Your truck is looking sweet, but I think that front bumper would look better with a winch behind it.


Pete

 

[steelsoldiers]

Ha, thanks Pete. A winch would be sweet, but way down on the priority list right now

I got my front wheel bearings pre-loaded last night. The passenger side was fine, but I had to fiddle with the driver's side quite a bit. The brake drum was binding against the shoes. I finally got fed up and pulled the brake drum (big mother!). After that it was easy. Then, I got the CTIS wheel valves hooked up and the shields put back on. It's coming together!!

 

[jfnemt1ff1]

Good Job Chris cant wait to see it.
John

 

[Oldvw2]

Wow - Looks good to see that left front assembled. Those brake drums are heavy, I think you can skip the gym this week! Did you have any trouble locking down the inner nut with the BFH?
Chad

 

[Jetnoise400]

Wow Chris, that bumper really was a pretzel! Looking great now tho!

Seeing the pics of your bent bumper brackets reminded me of something. I got sick and tired of having to swing the BFH every time I had a bent bracket, and since I needed it for a transmission rebuild I was doing, I picked up a little 12 ton upright shop press from hobo freight. That thing is great and only cost me about 130 bucks! It presses bearings and seals all day long, and straightens out bent metal like nobody's business. And it takes a lot less time and effort than swinging the beloved BFH Might be worth looking at.

 

[steelsoldiers]

Chad, no problems getting it tightened down with a chisel and BFH. Spin and tighten, spin and tighten.

Sean, a press is definitely on my most wanted list. I had to borrow Chad's when I was working on the Mog hub project.

 

[steelsoldiers]

Well, no major updates from the weekend since I was back in WV until returning last night. I tried a new light switch that Mike sent me to see if that fixed my lighting problem. No dice. I checked grounds and cleaned the contacts in my turn-signal switch. No help. The only thing I got to work was the 4-ways, but they were blinking the side marker lights too! Argghhh!! Tonight or tomorrow I am going to completely remove the front composites. The front fenders are pretty crusty where the truck was in salt water. It's possible that the connections under the inner shield are too. That will give me a chance to inspect everything. It still seems like it is back-feeding because if I have the 3-lever switch in the brake light position, the turn signals will work, but they blink the BO lights in the front composites too!

 

[Rattlehead]

Chris,

If you suspect a bad ground, for diagnosis you could string a temporary wire from the ground side of the lamp and go straight to the battery ground, or the block or somewhere convenient.

 

[steelsoldiers]

Good thought Neil. I am going to go over the entire wiring diagram pull-out and make sure I haven't missed anything. Maybe I'll get lucky and it will work after taking everything apart and putting it back together

You need to go bury up the M932A2 somewhere so you have it for your avatar pic

 

[steelsoldiers]

More electrical trouble-shooting last night. I got good news and bad news. The bad is that I still have a problem. The good is that I was able to isolate the problem to the rear wiring harness.

I pulled the front composite lights, cleaned everything and put them back together... no help there. Then, it hit me, disconnect the rear wiring harness at the connector and see what that does. When I did that, the front turn signals, 4-ways, BO lights and headlights all worked together just like they should have. Sweet. The right front marker light didn't work, but the socket was very corroded when I got it. It prolly needs replaced. So, now I am going to start at the rear harness connector and work my way back to the rear composites, checking every ground and connection as I go.

Progress....