| [GMCnet] Clasco on the road [message #211166] |
Sat, 15 June 2013 15:33  |
glwgmc
Messages: 1014
Registered: June 2004
Karma:
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Day three and still hotter than these western kids are used to. Temps are hovering around 100 and humidity is not far off the century mark either. Coach continues to run really well, but hotter than I would like, at least according to the two temp gauges. Temp is stable at 210 to 215 at 60 and stable at 195 to 200 at 45. I still can't hear the fan clutch cycling so it may not work properly.
In waking up this old girl it is interesting to try to figure out which magic elixirs to use. Most of her driving took place when oils still had zddp so where ever we stop I have been looking for zddp additives or oils which say they have enhanced levels of zddp. When we first left Orlando I thought the oil consumption might be high and the coach felt sluggish with lower than expected vacuum readings on this gauge. In fairness, it has been a number of years since I drove a GMC with stock gearing so that has something to do with the feel. Our Royale has a 3.5 power chain and now a 3.21 final drive, as well.
Anyway, in talking with Dean Hanson (who will be the featured speaker at the Oct Coos Bay, OR, three club rally) a number of weeks ago he indicated that he was trying to help resurrect the original formulation of Slick 50 working with the original developer who licensed the name and formulation to someone else a couple of decades ago. since, the formula apparently has been changed. I had him ship a bottle of the original formula (now called Bishop's Original) and added that before we left Orlando as a lubricity enhancer. I also found some STP which said it had enhanced zddp so added a pint of that, too, in case the recent oils have been deficient.
Today the engine feels much better, smoother and less labored. Hope that is real and not just my imagination. I also have added an ethanol fixer to each tank of gas following an initial bottle of Sea Foam to help clean things up and try to counter act the ethanol. So far, not a hint of vapor lock. I did have JimBs guys install one of his insulated fuel pump to carb flex lines so that also may be a positive contributor. If ever there was weather ripe to cause vapor lock this would be it all except for altitude. Fuel consumption seems normalish in the 8 range and the vacuum readings are increasing a little at a time.
One thing that has really been critical is that we returned to JimBs place shortly after leaving for the first time because we could not keep the generator running under load. Hank, who heads up Jim's mechanical stuff these days sprinkled his holy water on the super simple carb and it now runs like a top. In use at every stop to run the roof air. It looks like the float seat was low initially causing too little fuel to enter the carb bowl. The engine would start and run for a while, but would soon sputter and die - sooner under load than not.
One last thing to comment on. The way Jim's guys hook the booster fuel pump to the selector switch is to put the power wire right on top of that switch where it is powered on when the switch is in the aux position. He has been finding several coaches where the fuse in that circuit will not support the additional load of the electric fuel pump even though it says it only draws 3 to 5 amps. That fuse is the lowest on the right side when looking at the fuse block inside the glove compartment. Stock it is a 10 amp fuse. It needs to be 15 amps to carry the additional load. Be careful, however, as the wire feeding that switch is only 16 gauge according to the factory manual.
More later as we seek some relief from the heat and humidity. Had to die for onion soup at lunch today in Abita Springs, LA, in a little out of the way place packed with locals.
Jerry Work
The Dovetail Joint
Fine furniture designed & hand crafted
in the 1907 former Masonic Temple building
in historic Kerby, OR
Http://jerrywork.com
541-592-5360
Cell 541-499-1027
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Jerry & Sharon Work
78 Royale
Kerby, OR
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