Freshened up the place.
B.G. Willers 3.0 I guess you could call it. Stuck with the old theme for a couple years which was a nice slick theme. But this theme was released recently and it seemed kinda fancy, but not over the top. Give it a shot I guess. Maybe it will inspire me to post more! haha
Walkin’ Weiners
0 MPG
Draining the gas tank to drop it for the THIRD time.
Let’s pitch this tent!
We’re wanting to do some camping this summer and we needed a new tent since last year ours finally was getting some pretty decent holes in it. I wanted to do a little research before I just went out and bought a random tent. Come to find out a lot of the Wal-Mart tents SEVERAL people had complained about poles breaking. Since no one else sold tents here in Great Bend I was forced to order online.
I ordered this tent Tuesday with two-day shipping and it finally showed up yesterday (Monday). We didn’t get to camp this weekend and I called Sears and told them that I wouldn’t have paid extra for two day shipping if I knew that they were going to wait two days to ship it anyway. To my suprise, their customer service rep not only spoke english and understood my problem, but also went above and beyond and refunded my entire shipping cost! I don’t mind when people or companies make mistakes, as long as they make an effort to correct it, and I was very satisfied with how they handled it!
Our last tent was a good tent. It was small, but it was super easy to set up, and real sturdy in the wind. So with this one I wanted something that wasn’t complicated to set up, but wouldn’t mind something bigger. Turns out we found a great deal on the Coleman 10×12. Just two poles and a rainfly and you’re done. One person can probably easily set it up in 10 minutes. Should serve us pretty well.
Our little yellow tent had a good run.
Now we just have to find a free weekend to hit up the lake!
Morning Person
You know, for as long as I’ve been a night owl, I’m surly starting to appreciate the mornings. Here it is, Sunday 6AM and I actually set my alarm to get up this early. I let the dog out and sat on the back steps for a while, just enjoying what is bound to be the coolest air we’ll see today, and just listened to the birds and the crickets. Here on the main drag in Great Bend it just doesn’t get this quiet that often.
I noticed that all those things I swore would never happen to me as I got older just kinda happen. When I was a kid there’s no way I would have gotten up this early on purpose unless I had a very specific and necessary reason to do so. Nor would I look at the clock and think of 9:00 as “getting late”.
But we still have some youthful fun. Andrea hauled her desktop computer out to the living room yesterday and hooked it up to the HDTV to enjoy her new video card. We had to run network cords, power cords, audio/video cords all over the house to make it happen. It reminded me of the old LAN parties we used to have. Things like that I think you shouldn’t have to outgrow.
#*&@! @&$* BLAZER !@*$&
Okay, screw everything I said in that last post. The Blazer is dead again and I think I’m done.
06.17.10Finally think we’re there.
Well I know this has been the Blazer blog as of late, and updates have been sparse at that. But I think we’ve finally got the Blazer pretty much where we want it.
Just this morning I got the dash all put back together. I think I’ve got all the electrical stuff (I can) fixed under the dash. Still no reverse lights, but that’s because the previous owner removed the reverse light switch. This switch also tells the computer which gear you’ve selected, so since the computer know what gear you’re in… but doesn’t know what gear you’ve selected… it kicks on the check engine light. To be honest, I can live with it. I could get a new switch, it’s not expensive, but I have no idea where the wires went that used to hook up to said switch.
Other than that it runs pretty darn good. Defiantly has more power than either of our other cars. Gas mileage so far seems comparable to the Toronado. I think we’re finally to the stage where we can just drive it.
No project is ever finished by any means, there’s always little toys we’d like to add to it, but that can be down the road… whenever. For now, it’s a good old truck that I won’t mind if it takes some abuse.
Things I’ve Learned:
These newer computer controlled things are definitely more complicated than what I’m used to working with. When all the sensors and switches are intact, that’s actually a good thing because it will really point you towards the problem a lot quicker. BUT when the computer system is as hacked up as this thing is, it makes it an absolute nightmare trying to figure out what is actually wrong.
IF I buy another 1990+ automobile, it will have to be in real nice shape so that I’ll be confident that all the sensors and switches are likely still intact. If I ever decide to take on another basket-case, it will be something older. With a setup that’s a little more rudimentary.
So all in all, the $400 Blazer turned out to be about a $1,000 Blazer if you figure in all the parts. It runs strong and the 4×4 works, so the real value probably falls somewhere in between those numbers. Not the best investment I’ve ever made, but if we drive it for a few years and sell it while it’s still got some life left in it, I think it could still be worth it. Andrea is taking it on it’s first out of town trip this evening to Hutch. Assuming all goes well (which by all indications it should) we’ll be taking it to Kanopolis this weekend for some camping, it’s true purpose all along! That is if our tent shows up in time…
06.10.10Teaser
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Re48REw5Rr4]
No, I didn’t crash at the end. I think the camera hit the window or something. REALLY!
06.8.10Victory over redneck!
You may have heard, but the Blazer is fully operational! Got the new fuel pump installed on Saturday and lo and behold she fired right up and didn’t miss a beat!
Dropping the fuel tank was not a fun job. Not hard, but awkward angles and tight spaces when it comes to disconnecting all the lines and hoses off the fuel tank. But with a good bit of patience it is all pretty easy. With the tank out everything looked good, but apparently the old fuel pump just couldn’t put out the pressure needed to fire off the fuel injector. Swapping out the old fuel pump for the new one was pretty straight forward too.
I admit I was nervous to fire it up. I really didn’t know what to expect, after all the work we’d been doing and nothing really got better, I was almost convinced that it was just never going to run right. So it’s a huge relief to be able to just hop in and drive it whenever.
The next hurdle will take some time. I still don’t trust it. I still sit at a stoplight and hope it doesn’t die when I hit the gas, or cringe just a little bit when I turn the wipers hoping I don’t blow a fuse. But should time prove it to be a somewhat dependable old truck, I think it will be a worth while investment even though we probably ended up paying quite a bit more than it’s worth considering all the parts we bought.
Go, Blazer Go!
05.26.10Blazer Update
Well, I’ve gotten to the point where I can’t progress any further on the Blazer without spending some money. Now that the weather is nice and Andrea and I have been talking about camping a lot this summer, we decided that we need to get it running ASAP. Especially since we’re already paying for insurance on it (which isn’t much, but still).
So I finally think I’ve got the fuel pump wiring straightened out and working like it’s supposed to. I decided to tear into the engine and inspect the fuel injector and fuel lines for any leaks and see if anything under the intake could be causing problems.
Upper intake manifold removed. You can see the injector in the middle and the fuel lines on the right. Do you notice anything odd? Look closely...
WTF!? A HOSE CLAMP to stop a leak? Just when I thought it couldn't get more rednecked!
I was amazed. To think that someone would go through all the trouble to remove the upper intake manifold and put it all back together and not spend the $50 on the new lines to just fix it. You can see the bright silver finish from leaking gas washing the wall clean and a puddle of gas and gunk down by the bolt at the bottom. “Well there’s your problem!”
So with new parts in hand we set out the replace the leaky fuel lines and the injector.
Old injector vs. New one. Pricey little bastard ($270). The old one's lines were so brittle they stayed in the position they were installed.
Yup... it's old.
Yup... it's new.
These are the nozzles that spray the fuel. Not the best technology today, but it works.
Old fuel line from inside the intake. This is the one that had small cracks leaking fuel inside the engine.
Those fuel lines were the hardest part of the job. They were obviously installed in the truck before the engine was put in at the factory. There wasn’t a whole lot of room and ended up having to get some smaller tools to get the job done. But after a bit of swearing, we got ’em out.
Ready to install!
With all the stuff out of there, cleaned all the gunk out of the intake. Didn't worry about making it spotless... not like anyone is going to see it.
My favorite part. Looking at all the new stuff perfectly in place.
Andrea got her hands (and face apparently) dirty with this job too! I love having a wife that's interested in this stuff!
As we were putting everything back together it started getting dark.
Before I tried to start it up, I told Andrea that I was nervous. That either it was going to do the same thing it was doing before, or it wasn’t going to start at all. Turn the key…. and it cranks over but wouldn’t start. I could get it running with some starting fluid, but it dies once all the fluid is burned up. It’s just not getting any fuel.
So I’m thinking we’re gonna need a fuel pump too. I don’t regret spending the money on these parts as the both were shot, but it sure would have been nice if that were it. Future updates to come. I’m definitely in too deep now to turn away.