The Return of Rusty

[ClayJ]

On a different note, my order from Ford Era finally came in. Awesome shirt and hoodie but sure did take a long time to come in. Ordered on May 6th.

[Gary Lewis]

I think you are probably right - Rusty hasn't been converted.  And with a loose connection there's obviously no hope for it having a charge.  But, it may also not have any contamination inside.  So it is possible that pulling a vacuum and charging it with R134 will do the trick.  I'd take it somewhere that does A/C work and see what they find.

I like the shirt & hoodie!  I passed the link on to my family and we'll see what happens.  

[1986F150Six]

Gary Lewis wrote

I like the shirt & hoodie!  I passed the link on to my family and we'll see what happens.  

Gift time!

[ClayJ]

Rusty finally has a new windshield!  Time for a state inspection.

[Gary Lewis]

Well done!  Looks like they put a borderless windshield on so you can see the VIN.  

Good luck on the inspection.    

[ClayJ]

Yep, had to be able to see the VIN. I've read some of the horror stories here related to non viewable VIN's. Inspection should go off without a hitch. Here in Texas a 1981 only requires a safety inspection.

[ClayJ]

Good news, Rusty passed the state inspection. Bad news, I have another I repeat another cracked flexplate!! Rusty sounded like a dang rattlesnake once I pulled in for the inspection. There is something wrong internally either with the crank or the transmission. The transmission shop said all the run out measurements were within spec, so what the heck!!!! I'm at my wits end with this thing.

[grumpin]

I looked back through the posts and didn’t see. Did they do a run out on the engine crankshaft?

I don’t know if driveshaft vibrations would transmit through the tranny. May be something to check.

[ClayJ]

They did perform a crank runout check and said it was in spec. I even had them replace the harmonic balancer.

[grumpin]

Might find a shop to check the driveshaft balance.

[Gary Lewis]

No!!!!!!  Say it isn’t so!!!  

I’m so sorry. My wife just said “Did you sell him a faulty truck?”  I told her I didn’t think so at the time, but.....

Would you consider changing to a manual tranny?

[ClayJ]

I'm afraid so. I would go to a manual transmission if it meant it didn't break every 100 miles. Just not sure what to do at the moment without a definitive cause of the flexplate continually breaking.

[Gary Lewis]

I have the NP435 that came out of that truck, and I do believe I have the bell housing.  But I don't think I have a flywheel nor clutch.  And I'm pretty sure I don't have the clutch linkage, which is mechanical and hard to find.

It could be done.  Collectively we could surely scrounge up the parts.  But it'll be a fair amount of work.  And it just seems like there has to be something very obvious that's being missed.

Your pretty sure this flex plate is gone?  If so, I'd talk to the tranny shop and see what they say.

[ArdWrknTrk]

I'm not sure what to think either

Two shops, three flexplates.....

And the last place checked everything is in spec, replaced the converter and balancer.
Your FIL shop didn't see anything wrong either...

[ClayJ]

Gary, I guarantee the flexplate is about to break again. Fortunately this time I'm not trying to make a long haul on the highway. It hasn't broken completely like the 2 previous times yet but if I tried to make it home I know it would. I called the transmission shop earlier today and left a message so I'll see what they say on Monday morning. I'm not thinking the transmission is the issue. I think the engine may be the cause. Do you remember who the PO said did the engine rebuild? I'm wondering if a bearing cap on the crank has come loose causing the bad vibe and cracking the flexplate. Could possibly check that by dropping the oil pan.

[Gary Lewis]

That's really frustrating.  But I doubt an engine vibration would do that.  I say that because I had a an '82 that had a pretty serious vibration and it didn't cause a problem with the flex plate.  However, I cannot say it won't do it.

Do you feel any vibration?

And, I don't think you can get the pan off w/o at least jacking the engine up quite a bit.

The engine was supposedly built by the PO's cousin.  But, didn't I pull the main and rod caps and check clearances?  I'd have to go look, but if so any problems are more likely to have been introduced by me than him.  However, that engine has been to PA and back since, as well as many other places.

[ArdWrknTrk]

The family tree of your Bullnose's looks like a bowl of spaghetti....  

[Gary Lewis]

I think that's an apt description.  Dad's truck ran Rusty's engine for a while.  Rusty wound up with Dad's transmission and flexplate.  Dad's truck also used the ZF5 that is now sitting in Big Blue.  And I'm sure there were many other things that were shared.  

[ClayJ]

Honestly I'm so frustrated with this predicament. Would it be feasible to just yank the engine/transmission combo and replace with different/new/reman units for the peace of mind? I need Rusty to be reliable and he surely has not been that.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Um, any time you adopt a stray dog he might crap the rug once or twice.
I'd consider it a teething problem.

Do you have engine problems???
Do you have shifting problems??
Are you ok with leaving well enough alone, until this gets solved?

The truck is acting up, but none of the "experts" seem to know why.
I used to train dogs, but most of their 'problems' were caused by humans.