Our friend Jen was wonderful last summer and let us use her truck to tow "Eventually..." to and from Elephant Butte. We kept her in a slip at Rock Canyon marina until we brought her home for the winter, so there wasn't too much back and forth. This year we don't want to spend the $200/month in slip fees, but we also don't want to impose on Jen every time we go to the lake. So, we decided it was time to get our own truck. After much reading and debate we decided that the F250 was the best combination of size and price for us. We found what seemed to be a great buy in northern New Mexico, and after John's dad and uncle took a look for us (since they were up that way anyways), we made a weekend trip of picking up our newest form of transportation.
The truck has been perfectly reliable so far, but as with any "new" used boat/car/truck, there are a couple of things that we wanted to spruce up. The first thing we started looking at is the drip, drip, drip of oil and coolant that have covered the underside of the engine in a thick black coat of grime. We took the truck to the car wash and used "Gunk" and the pressure-washer to clean as much of the black stuff off as we could. Then took a spin around town to dry everything off and get that leak (those leaks?) flowing, so that we could pinpoint where they're coming from.
Well... maybe pressure-washing an engine isn't the best idea. Tons of people say that it's perfectly fine. But, not long after we returned from the car wash, we tried to start her up and.... nothing but a little bit of smoke from one of the battery terminals. There are tons of things that could cause this, and we didn't think it was the pressure wash. She had started right back up at the car wash and a few times later that day. Probably just bad luck on our part and something else had gone out. Maybe the batteries? Or the starter? Or the funny looking wiring job that someone had done?
We took the batteries to be tested. One was bad. We replaced it. Still nothing. Ok, perhaps the starter or that wiring. We checked the continuity of the wiring at the starter to make sure it was getting power. It was. We took the starter out and had it tested. It tested as just fine. Weird. We asked around and looked online and then decided that it must be the starter... even though it's testing ok, it just doesn't have the ooomph to actually turn over the engine when there's a load on it. Ok, so, new starter. We put in the new starter... still nothing!
This is when we start to get frustrated. Why have we taken out and put back in the starter five or six times already when what we set out to fix was an oil leak? We decided to take a step back and think a little more. What do we know? We know that there is power getting to the signal post of the starter. We know that we have a brand new starter. We know that we have two good batteries. Hmmmm.... thinking back on how this all started.... where did that smoke come from? And why is this all happening right after we power wash the engine? Coincidence? Maybe not!
We took a closer look at that funny looking wiring. It looks like someone decided to put a new battery terminal on the wire going to the starter. And that they managed to stick the 000 gauge wire (a giant wire) into a connection on this new terminal that could only fit a 4 gauge wire (a much smaller wire). They managed to do this by hacking off half the width of the starter wire at the end and just jamming it into that small connector. Then they electrical taped it all together to hide their franken-wire. Hmmmm... maybe a bit of water worked its way into the system somewhere, caused a temporary short (until it evaporated away) and that short caused the bad wiring to get worse. Now there's power making it through that wire to the starter, but not enough to turn over the engine.
Ah ha! Eureka. We go get a new wiring harness. We put it in, and then put on the starter. John's been putting the starter in and out all these times, but I'm ready to get under the truck and turn some nuts. So, after he gets it bolted into place, he graciously lets me attach the signal and power wires. This is it! The very last nut! John warns be to be very careful not to over-tighten it and then hands me the, by now much to familiar, 8mm socket. I tighten it, figuring that, since I'm not super strong, I'll tighten it until it feels pretty snug and that ought to be good. Snugging, snugging, snap. "What are you doing under there?" John asks. From under the truck I stay quiet and just hand out the socket, with the nut and half the bolt in it.
Yup, on the very last nut I manage to break a bolt. Thankfully the starter has a lifetime warranty. After a few minutes of pacing, and a few choice words, John takes the starter back out and we head back to the parts store. They are nice enough not to ask too many questions and just give us a new starter. When we get back to the truck I let John attach those last wires.
And then... the beautiful, wonderful sound of a diesel engine. Perhaps not what we started out to fix, but that wiring was a fire-hazard and obviously unreliable, so maybe this off-track adventure was serendipitous. We'll tackle the oil leaks some other day... for now we load up the dog and head to the brew pub to celebrate the fact that, while still leaky, our truck lives again.
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