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When it rains, it pours

hickslawns

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
39,720
248
Ohio
Seems like we can go for months with nothing other than routine maintenance like oil changes, and maybe a flat tire or something. When stuff breaks, it seems like it all happens at the same time.

1. F450 dump truck. Been leaking oil. Keeping it checked and was scheduled to drop off first of the week. Haven't been able to find the leak. Well, it showed up today and boy did it. Hole in the oil pan was seeping, but is now pouring. Ouch! Pull the engine to replace oil pan is not a cheap fix. Dang.

2. 2005 Chevy Colorado which pulls parking lot sweeper. Washed it and it decided not to start afterwords. Figured I got some moisture in somewhere/somehow. Nope. Got towed last night. Fuel pump just happened to go out when I shut it off. Should be done tomorrow. Dang.

3. Bobcat 773- Bobcats are a bit notorious for the safety switches getting buggered up. One for the lap bar, one for the parking brake, and one for the seat (newer ones have one for the door too if they have enclosed cab). Well, one of the switches decided to act up today. Had to load up and haul the S220 down to the retail shop to finish up today. Dang.

4. 2005 GMC parking lot sweeper with 20HP Honda rear engine. Rear engine has intermittently been acting up and not firing on both cylinders. Obvious spuradic coil problem. Well, yesterday was the final straw. Thought we had it fixed and actually did for a minute. Fired it up with new coil and she ran like a scalded dog. Decided to tighten drive belt for fan and apparently pinched a wire thus grounding out like a kill switch. That had me scrambling last night and to bed at 3am. Got the other truck to finish the route. Worked on it tonight from roughly 7pm until 11pm. Found grounded out wire and repaired. Now have spark. Still not running. No fuel. Tested wires and found no hot wire to fuel pump. Fixed it. Ooops. . . traced wrong wire. Ended up sending 2 hot wires to coil and fried another coil. Dang. Replaced with last spare and got power to fuel pump again. Now running. Crossing my fingers on this one. Dang.

5. Hooked tow behind sweeper to my Jeep since the Colorado is down for now. Found out the trailer lights aren't working on the Jeep. Rolling the dice on this one and repairing later. Shhhh. . . Dang.

Like I said, when it rains it pours. Glad I am not afraid to get some grease under these fingernails. I would be out of business otherwise. Never would have made it this far. lol

Wish me luck fellas. I need things to turn around. Last two days have flat out sucked. Lots of hours put in, down time, and money out of my pocket. On the bright side, we persevered and overcame each issue so far. Got to have a backup plan and a backup for each backup to make it anymore. Dang.
 

JD Boyd

*Supporting Member*
3,173
0
Urbana
That's the way it usually goes. Everything at once.... We have'nt been doing too much for anything to break. All this rain is killing us. Here I thought they were saying rain was over for a week or so and its pouring out as I type. In urbana we are 11 inches above normal so far....
 

hickslawns

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
39,720
248
Ohio
Hang in there, Hicks

I will tuffy. I am too stubborn or maybe just too dumb to quit. haha

Doesn't matter if it is new or old, Ford/Chevy/Dodge. Sooner or later they all break something. These are simply short term setbacks. We will be alright. It is just frustrating after the last two days.
 

tuffshot

The Crew
I will tuffy. I am too stubborn or maybe just too dumb to quit. haha

Doesn't matter if it is new or old, Ford/Chevy/Dodge. Sooner or later they all break something. These are simply short term setbacks. We will be alright. It is just frustrating after the last two days.

I understand where your coming from. It is not much different than working for a company where maintaining production at all costs is a key component.
We had a major annual outage a couple of weeks ago and the day after getting the main boiler back on line and having worked 14 days of 13 hrs a day. Another boiler showed its ass and spung a tube leak. The boiler was taken down and the leak was repaired . It wasn't back on line 12 hours and found another leak in a different location and we had to take it down again. Friday Saturday and Sunday were bad days. Gots to be tuff. LOL
 

"J"

Git Off My Lawn
Supporting Member
56,735
274
North Carolina
I will tuffy. I am too stubborn or maybe just too dumb to quit. haha

Doesn't matter if it is new or old, Ford/Chevy/Dodge. Sooner or later they all break something. These are simply short term setbacks. We will be alright. It is just frustrating after the last two days.

I was told an old saying years ago that holds true too this day "If'n its got tits or tires it'll give you troubles" good luck Phil.... JB weld on the oil pan always works as a temp fix..... might save some time and money for a while....
 

Jackalope

Dignitary Member
Staff member
38,841
260
I was going to say what J mentioned. JB weld a patch on that oil pan hole.

On the Colly. Are you sure it's the fuel pump? These trucks have GMs stupid ass malfunctioning pass lock system... For one reason or another it'll cut power to your fuel pump. I've had it happen to me 3 times already.... To start it you have to wait 20 minutes... If you don't wait 20 minutes and you try early, the clock resets..

It's "Anti Theft" It happens if the code in the key isn't read by the comp during cranking.. But I've had it happen after running it out of gas. Put gas in it and she just cranks and cranks and cranks but would never start. Wait 20-30 min hit the key once and she fires right up. It can also happen after a battery swap. Or if the battery has lost a cell.. The computer on these things are real picky about voltage.. And since EVERYTHING is controlled by that comp shit gets funky. Stuff like The AC will not work but the heaters will, Doors will lock unlock by themselves, Radio will work but the only volume is LOUD.. etc..
 

huntn2

Senior Member
6,090
157
Hudson, OH
Sucks phil...i can relate somewhat today. I loaded the 4-wheeler on the trailer and headed out to hang cameras with my BIL this morning. The trailer got a flat about 8 miles into our trip. Changed it and headed home. Maybe next weekend...
 

"J"

Git Off My Lawn
Supporting Member
56,735
274
North Carolina
Phil, sounds like you need a maintenance man on retainer lol.... You need to find an old retired guy to do the minor maintenance for yah.....
 

hickslawns

Dignitary Member
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248
Ohio
He would be on call 24/7 though J. Might not use him for months, and then have to pay him overtime one week. hahaha

Joe- Good thoughts on the Pass-lock.

J- Are you looking for a retirement job? haha

I should add pulling the 7.3L Powerstroke diesel in the dump is a major pain. Oil is drained. Wiped down the area. Sprayed with brake cleaner. Wiped down. Sprayed again. Repeated several times. Going to do the same a few more times today, then sandpaper to the oil pan to scuff and apply JB Weld. My mechanic did this to his truck 2 years ago and suggested it. He is pretty good about giving me options rather than just spending my money. He works on them as if it was his vehicle. If there is a "good" option "B" he will suggest it. If not, he will proceed with approval.
 
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"J"

Git Off My Lawn
Supporting Member
56,735
274
North Carolina
Phil, I retire in 4 years and then I'll look you up lol.... I do hydraulics and small engines and.light vehicle maintenance lol.... don't need health benefits and prefer under the tablebpay hahaha....... :)
 

hickslawns

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
39,720
248
Ohio
Too bad we are on opposite sides of the state J. lol

Well, sweeper truck engine is performing like a champ. Glad we got it done last night. err. . .Saturday night. Whatever, my days are running together here.

Colorado should be done or will be tomorrow, or today, or whatever. Joe- I asked him about the pass lock. He had already tested and found it to not be the problem.

Dump truck was also addressed today. I plan on checking it in the morning or sometime whenever I wake up tomorrow, or today, or whatever. lol Ready to swap the filter, and top off with oil hopefully. Should be setup like concrete by now and I am crossing my fingers it doesn't leak. I really don't want to pay the piper on this one. I had it sanded with some emery cloth to where the metal was shining. Pretty odd I felt that it wasn't terribly rusty. It was almost like a factory defect in the pan. Once the paint and coating had peeled off the pan the hole ended up being darn near perfectly circular. Not a typical rust hole in my opinion. Weird. Oh well, cross your fingers for me.

Only thing left is the Bobcat. Not sure what I am doing on this one. Might just drop it off to be repaired. No time to mess with it this week. For now I have the other Bobcat sitting next to it. If it fails there is always the backhoe or the tractor to load mulch I guess. lol
 

Hoytmania

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
11,518
167
Gods Country
Glad to hear that you are persevering through it all, and things are starting to come around. I know that by being able to talk with you last year at the shoot you are the real deal man. I would pick you for my business team any day brother, cause you know how to get er done. Keep it up!
 

hickslawns

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
39,720
248
Ohio
Colorado is done. Just picked it up. Fuel pump just decided to quit working when I pulled it into the car wash. Had good power back to it, and was grounded well. Just not functioning. Heading to finish dump truck now. Need to make sure it is ready to rock and roll too.