Cummins Diesel Fuel Shutoff Solenoid Repair/Cleaning

My Motorhome wasn't starting at seemingly random intervals.  We'd take it on a trip to the beach and it would run fine, but if you stopped anywhere it wouldn't restart.  It reminded me of a vapor lock on a gas motor.  I grabbed the manual and started reading.  On my mechanical injection 8.3l cummins diesel the solenoid is the device that turns the fuel flow on and off.

Check out this You Tube video for it in action:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVQdOi3nBhs

One time when it wouldn't start I checked and the solenoid wasn't in the "Run" position.  I put the key in the ON position, ran back and lifted the solenoid into the run position.  It stayed in the RUN position so we continued on our trip.  After the trip I went to buy the part at NAPA . . $230.00 for the part!!!!  I looked online, $180.00 for the part!!!

Since I knew it was just a solenoid, I decided to take a look at it and put a ohm meter on the pins.  There weren't any shorts, when cold at least so I assumed that it worked correctly electrically.  When I started to move the solenoid pin, I noticed it was "crunchy".  So I took it apart . . . . look what I found inside . . .

Click the pictures for bigger photos . . .

The black gravel and dust stuff was inside the bore of the solenoid and I think it was binding up the piston.  The gravel stuff looked like pumice, but it didn't crush between my fingers.  Perhaps it was a pad at the base of the bore to absorb the impact of the piston in the bottom of the bore, but disintegrated???

I examined the piston and bore and found that the piston was scuffed or surface rusted in an area, but the hard chromed finish was perfect otherwise.

I cleaned up the piston with my Dremel Tool, a polishing bonnet and some compound.  It cleaned up perfectly.  I also used the bonnet inside the bore and polished off the rust and minor pits.

(If you ever need a Dremel Tool serviced, send it to Rob Dremel at the Palm Springs Service Center.  http://www.dremel.com/en-us/customerservice/ServiceAndRepair/Pages/default.aspx)

I blew everything out, the rubber boot looked great, so I reassembled it with a new zip tie.  The bore no longer was "Crunchy".

I reinstalled in in the Motorhome, adjusted the nut to set the fuel flow to full flow when fully engaged.

I've taken a couple of trips and put about 750mi since the rebuild/repair and it seems to work great!!!

Update 2/27/2011 - Still works great, not a problem since.  About 3000 miles on it so far.

Todd

Additional Hard Drives in a Macintosh G5 Tower

This is another along the lines of "did this really work?"

Years ago when the G5 tower came out I had a need for more drives inside the case.

I started looking at the case and determined that 3.5" drives could be installed in the front of the case.

Notice how the fan just clears the HD. Very interesting . . . I think Apple thought of this during the design. Keeps them very cool also.

I am using this old single G5 1.8ghz as a backup server using Retrospect.

However OS X Server with these volumes for Time Machine would be very slick.

They fit perfectly and you can add 4 more drives in the space.

You can remove that fan by pulling on the handle. It just slides out.

You can then use the standard HD screws to mount the drive to the front screen.

You'll need a couple of power splitters to obtain power from the CD drive. I've run 4 drives off of it with out problems, but YMMV.

You'll need a SATA or ATA card and cables to connect the drives.

Put the fan back in and run disk utility to setup the drives.

Chrysler Town & Country Emission Repairs

Finally got my 2 Chrysler mini-vans to smog the other day. Both of the cars had vacuum hoses that were cracked and leaking causing the p0172 code to set(Fuel trim too rich). The hoses that were cracked were on the intake manifold side of the purge canister solenoid(on the passenger side of the car).

On the 1997 the 2 inch hose that connects the 2 hard hoses(just above the fan belt) that connect the purge solenoid(on the radiator hanger) to the engine intake. (I don't have a picture yet . . I'll get one soon.)

The other(on the 2002) was under and behind the throttle body. This one has a 90 degree angle to it that was cracked on the outside edge.

If all else fails follow the vacuum diagram under the hood and check all of the hoses.

San Diego Aptera Event

I forgot all about this.  The SD Aptera event was fantastic.  My wife won one of the raffle rides and was taken around the parking lot.  The car was smooth, stable and quiet.  It going to be revolutionary!!!

 P.S. The San Diego Auto Museum has a great collection of cars on display.  Its a very unique collection of ultra rare cars from the U.S. and Europe.

EGR Solenoid for 1990 Geo Storm

I have a 1990 Geo Storm that needed a new EGR Solenoid.  You can't buy them anywhere new, and the used ones are ~$150.00 or more.

I found a replacement.  You can use a 1994 Chevy/GMC 25/3500 Solenoid.  Works the same.

You'll need to modify the electrical connector on both the solenoid and the harness.  Nothing serious I used a pair of small wire cutters to make the mods.  

The pins on the harness and the solenoid both line up, but because the connectors are physically different you'll need to modify the harness connector and remove a small plastic stub on the solenoid.

You'll notice that if the wiring harness connector didn't have the outside lip??? it would fit inside the solenoid connector.

1.  On the solenoid there is a plastic stub between the two pins.  Remove it.

2.  On the wiring harness connector(mine is the blue euro type connector).   Remove the outside part of the connector (the lip???)  I cut my all the way back.

3.  Connect the harness to the solenoid.

4.  Connect the EGR hoses backup to the ports.  Ignore the port with the filter on it.