Atlas75 Posted August 29, 2021 Author Share Posted August 29, 2021 Yep, I like that CRC cleaner. Use that and clean the ground and you might have them working. Definitely a ground issue. When I grounded out the drivers side license plate wire everything worked as it should have. Next step will be to repair the main ground. I love repairs that take very little money! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted August 29, 2021 Share Posted August 29, 2021 Definitely a ground issue. When I grounded out the drivers side license plate wire everything worked as it should have. Next step will be to repair the main ground. I love repairs that take very little money! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atlas75 Posted September 5, 2021 Author Share Posted September 5, 2021 Well my 41 year old truck greeted me with some good news and some bad news today. First the good news. After redoing numerous connections, putting a new bolt through the frame, and bolting the grounds to it, all the rear lights started working as they should! Left and right turn signals…one at a time, stop, and tail lights. It was great! Now for the bad news. As I was laying under the truck I happened to glance toward the drive side rear wheel and noticed the bottom of the backing plate and the drum where wet. I hoped it was just water from the rain we had but no dice…it was brake fluid. The reservoir in the master cylinder was nearly empty. So now I have to take that side apart again and most likely replace the wheel cylinder. Ugg…not so great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted September 5, 2021 Share Posted September 5, 2021 Well my 41 year old truck greeted me with some good news and some bad news today. First the good news. After redoing numerous connections, putting a new bolt through the frame, and bolting the grounds to it, all the rear lights started working as they should! Left and right turn signals…one at a time, stop, and tail lights. It was great! Now for the bad news. As I was laying under the truck I happened to glance toward the drive side rear wheel and noticed the bottom of the backing plate and the drum where wet. I hoped it was just water from the rain we had but no dice…it was brake fluid. The reservoir in the master cylinder was nearly empty. So now I have to take that side apart again and most likely replace the wheel cylinder. Ugg…not so great! Glad you got the lights working. But on the brakes, I wouldn't do it one piece at a time. If you have to replace one wheel cylinder I'd replace both. Then you only have to bleed the system once. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atlas75 Posted September 5, 2021 Author Share Posted September 5, 2021 Glad you got the lights working. But on the brakes, I wouldn't do it one piece at a time. If you have to replace one wheel cylinder I'd replace both. Then you only have to bleed the system once. Yea, I’m learning that the hard way. I replaced the one on the passenger side and didn’t do the drivers side because it seemed fine and was not leaking. I must have tweaked it while I was in there cause it’s leaking now! You know what they say…hind sight is 20/20. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atlas75 Posted September 20, 2021 Author Share Posted September 20, 2021 Yea, I’m learning that the hard way. I replaced the one on the passenger side and didn’t do the drivers side because it seemed fine and was not leaking. I must have tweaked it while I was in there cause it’s leaking now! You know what they say…hind sight is 20/20. I decided to put some fresh gas in the truck today so I grabbed a can and went to the station and filled it up with 5 gallons of ethanol free premium. When I got home I poured it into the tank and started the truck. That is when I noticed my gas gage stopped working! I am not sure what the cause is at this point but I know the wiring was hacked into when the aftermarket dual tank system was added and then hacked again when it was removed. I think I’ll start there and see what I can find in the way of loose connections. The ground for the system says G701 according to the 1980 EVTM and is located “in harness, attached to ‘Y’ brace”. Based on other parts of the circuit, I think it is somewhere under the dash, but I am not sure. Anyone know what/where the “Y” brace is? Would adding the gas cause any issues? Maybe the sending unit has a bad spot where it doesn’t register? What else should I check? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted September 20, 2021 Share Posted September 20, 2021 I decided to put some fresh gas in the truck today so I grabbed a can and went to the station and filled it up with 5 gallons of ethanol free premium. When I got home I poured it into the tank and started the truck. That is when I noticed my gas gage stopped working! I am not sure what the cause is at this point but I know the wiring was hacked into when the aftermarket dual tank system was added and then hacked again when it was removed. I think I’ll start there and see what I can find in the way of loose connections. The ground for the system says G701 according to the 1980 EVTM and is located “in harness, attached to ‘Y’ brace”. Based on other parts of the circuit, I think it is somewhere under the dash, but I am not sure. Anyone know what/where the “Y” brace is? Would adding the gas cause any issues? Maybe the sending unit has a bad spot where it doesn’t register? What else should I check? I don't know about the Y brace, but G701 is said in the later EVTM's to be "Behind I/P (instrument panel) near right hand side of radio." In other words, it is screwed into the firewall in the cab ahead of the radio. As for the sending unit, if you are lucky the ground will fix it. If not, maybe there is a "hole" in the potentiometer and it reads right above and below that point. To check, I'd pull the wire off the sending unit and ground it. The gauge should go to Full and then some. (Don't leave the ground on too long.) That will prove the wiring, ICVR, and gauge are good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atlas75 Posted October 3, 2021 Author Share Posted October 3, 2021 I don't know about the Y brace, but G701 is said in the later EVTM's to be "Behind I/P (instrument panel) near right hand side of radio." In other words, it is screwed into the firewall in the cab ahead of the radio. As for the sending unit, if you are lucky the ground will fix it. If not, maybe there is a "hole" in the potentiometer and it reads right above and below that point. To check, I'd pull the wire off the sending unit and ground it. The gauge should go to Full and then some. (Don't leave the ground on too long.) That will prove the wiring, ICVR, and gauge are good. As luck would have it, I gave a few of those cheap splice connectors a squeeze today and the gas gauge came back to life! I’ll rework those connections at a later date seeing as the gauge is now working. I have a few other items on the list to tackle first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atlas75 Posted October 3, 2021 Author Share Posted October 3, 2021 Yea, I’m learning that the hard way. I replaced the one on the passenger side and didn’t do the drivers side because it seemed fine and was not leaking. I must have tweaked it while I was in there cause it’s leaking now! You know what they say…hind sight is 20/20. Over the last two weekends I was able to get the leaky wheel cylinder replaced, bleed the brakes…again, and reinstall the axel. No leaks and the pedal feels pretty good. I took both my daughters for a ride and we had a blast. I did notice something though. When I applied the brake it pulled pretty hard to the left. IIRC, that is an indication that the brakes on the front left are grabbing harder than the brakes on the front right, correct? I’m guessing there is a caliper issue on the front right. With the little bit of daylight I had left, I removed the front right wheel and took a few photos. I noticed the rotor has a spot that looks unworn and I also noticed the brake pads were not roughly equal thickness. Anything else look suspicious? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atlas75 Posted October 3, 2021 Author Share Posted October 3, 2021 Over the last two weekends I was able to get the leaky wheel cylinder replaced, bleed the brakes…again, and reinstall the axel. No leaks and the pedal feels pretty good. I took both my daughters for a ride and we had a blast. I did notice something though. When I applied the brake it pulled pretty hard to the left. IIRC, that is an indication that the brakes on the front left are grabbing harder than the brakes on the front right, correct? I’m guessing there is a caliper issue on the front right. With the little bit of daylight I had left, I removed the front right wheel and took a few photos. I noticed the rotor has a spot that looks unworn and I also noticed the brake pads were not roughly equal thickness. Anything else look suspicious? And just for fun, I took a few general photos today as well. I realized I had only shared the one photo from the day I brought it home so here are a few more angles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts