Everyone hold your breath....

Summer......being a winter lover, I forget how much I love a fresh summer morning, sitting in the sun listening to the birds sing while I sip on a fresh cup of coffee.

On the docket for this weekend was engine room work and getting things crossed off the list for a road test.

Last year when we had our unfortunate drive shaft debacle the flying drive shaft punched a hole in the engine room floor. Pretty lucky when you consider all the vital components all around the area and the only casualty (aside from the drive shaft itself) was a hole in the floor.

So, I started to make a new framework for the replacement piece. 1" angle iron, a mig welder, some aluminum diamond plate and....

Back to what we had. Aside from needing a new oil pressure sensor, Everything was checked off the list. It was time to see if we are road worthy.

ROAD TEST!!

 

spidey senses

Now that the rear gasket is back on the flywheel housing went back into place. But a few of the bolts needed some TLC

I bought this "thread restorer" tool years ago, and I am always surprised how often I use it.

Not a new bolt but a great result. 

After the housing was back in its time for the  Flex Plate to be installed and torqued down.

Next was the tranny to be jacked up into position. As i was bringing it up, my spidey senses started to tingle. As I raised it,  it was starting to list to one side.  This thing is not a light piece and if she goes over I have a world of hurt ahead of me. I quickly threw a couple  4x4 posts up above and safety strapped the tranny to them.

Feeling like I wasn't in harms way any longer I unstrapped the tranny from the tranny jack and let it hang.

Suspended up off the ground I could take the jack out and see what damage has been done
 

A wee cotter pin, made of what felt like cheap aluminum, was the only thing holding that behemoth transmission from flipping on it's side. And that pin sheared.

I drilled the hole a little larger and put in a heavy duty pin, reattached the jack to the tranny making sure the lateral balance was correct. 

The transmission slipped into place(with some carefully placed swear words by yours truly)

Then with the help of Ron and Jeff we bolted the tranny in place and the flex plate to the torque converter. Next step is to fill the tranny with oil(change the filter) and try a road test.

Am I doing the right thing?

"No time like the present", "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" whatever adage you can muster up, there is likely another of the opposite point of view "If it 'aint broke, don't fix it!"

With the flex plate off, the flywheel housing off, now is the best time to replace the rear crank seal...even if it isn't leaking.

With the rear cover plate removed, I carefully removed the remnants of the old gasket

Took the rear cover plate into the shop and cleaned it up

Then reinstalled with a new (now black) gasket.......god I hope it doesn't leak
 

A job well done with my trusty sidekick, we deserve a cool drink!

Stuck on you

I wonder why I do this to myself. What you ask? Well it can be and tends to be a variety of little punishments I bestow on myself unnecessarily. For example, I like to pick a title for the particular blog post that perhaps conveys the gist of the post into a quick saying or phrase or song. But the depth of the reference is better understood by the end of the post. Or like today, it is  a song which is a tongue in cheek  reference to the issue at hand. But where I seem to be punishing myself is I chose a song which is an ear worm. Now that the 'play' button in my head has been pushed......there is no shutting it off.

"Stuck on you...."

So last post I referenced that to remove the flywheel housing was the engine mounting bolts and 12 little mounting bolts and it should pop off. But of course it did not. 10/12 came out beautifully, but the two closest to the exhaust manifold snapped off quicker than the bottom branches on a spruce tree. Despite my persuasion with a mallet, the housing did not want to budge. Reaching out to friends in the know, this magic elixir was recommended.

I have used penetrating oil before but this stuff is in a class of its own. My buddy Chris said 'soak it.....and I mean drench it in this stuff for a looooooong time'

So that's what I did. I would spray, go do some yard work, spray, go research bus parts, spray, go lumberjack..etc etc you get the picture

"....got this feeling' down deep in my soul that I just can't loose"

After a good bath in this stuff for a day and a half, I applied some heat to the housing around the broken bolts.

"Guess I'm on my way..."

Once again with my mallet of persuasion the housing slowly came off. 

With the housing off, the broken bolts were now standing proud from the engine block. I tapped on the bolt extractor and once again I started the bathing process with "Blaster"

"needed a friend..."

" And the way I feel now I guess I'll be with you to the end"

 

" Mighty glad you (didn't) stayed"

Con"GRAD"ulations!!!

Another day, another milestone. I cant say how proud we are of our kids and all that they do. The work ethic they display, the benchmark they set for themselves, it truly astounds me.

Yesterday marked another achievement milestone for Anna. She graduated with her BN in nursing from Mount Royal University, and even before the grad took place she buckled down, hit the books, and wrote her licensing exam. Moving her from a BN to an RN.

Its been a tough road. A real slog mentally and emotionally, but you did it and we are so proud of you for what you have achieved. I cannot wait to see what you do next....personally I am campaigning for a job in Hawaii where you own a big house on the ocean......but thats just me.....

 

We love you Anna Bannaner!

A bad break up

Trying to be helpful by removing the starter was a good thing. But my efforts to do some of the grunt work to speed things up may have slowed things down. But ultimately it helped us to realize the extent of the damage. It wasn't simply a 'crack in the housing but rather the starter ripped a chunk right out. 

The top bolt was the only thing holding the starter in place.

I am no expert but, after showing the pics and video to Chris Kruse from Krusers mobile in Montana

He confirmed my suspicions and said "start looking!!"

A little bit of time on the weekend in the mornings with a fresh cup of coffee and the Cummins web site I narrowed down what I need. First thing Tuesday morning found that I could get a new one from the manufacturer......for a pretty penny. I am currently searching for a quality used one. 

In the meantime, I conscripted Jeff into helping me drop the transmission out of the bus in preparation of removing the flywheel housing. Easy in concept but there always seems to be little snags along the way.

Not totally visible in this picture but once I had the flex plate off , the damage to the housing is even more extensive than the "chunk" missing. There are radiating cracks towards the center and the periphery of the housing. Now just support the engine, removing the engine mount bolts, then 12 simple bolts to come out and it should just pop off! Right?

Wrong!......where is my bolt extractor kit??