Between 705 & 1200 SQ/FT DeeDubz Powerstroke shop

[DeeDubz]

Happy New yr to everyone We just got back from Utah. The family an I went out to visit the wifes parents. We planned on staying out there 5 days... we left early. My father in law was grouchy to my kids. Wife had enough so we flew out new yrs eve Las vegas to SB. We did have a few days to go on some adventures. The Inlaws live in St. george. It was about a 30 min drive to one of my favorite YouTubers... at the time, Matts off road recovery. We loaded up in two vehicles inlaws, wife and kids. Honestly I just wanted to buy some merchandise and bounce. When we got to the entrance I could see Matt through the gate. It appeared that he was filming. Once the camera was down my MIL said hi to Matt and asked how he was feeling. At the time he had been battling a cold. It was received well.... Colby yelled "WE'RE FILMING!". I can give two shits if they were talking to me or my mil like that but my kids witnessed it... My kids were pretty disappointed. My oldest watches his channel with me quite a bit. We spent wayyyy toooo much money merch. The guy in the store gave us a tour of the yard. Matt and his team were in the shop.
From Matts place the wife an I wanted to go see the Fab rats place. Its about 1.5 hr drive. The kids had enough and went back with the inlaws to the house. We took a nice scenic tour of AZ and UT in the MIL Jeep. It was a trip driving up on their property... We felt like we shouldn't be there. We parked in front of the rat shack. Pauls Mom, aka Grandma, opened the door and welcomed us. She was such a super cool lady. We bought some t shirts stickers ect. I brought some stuff from my former job a few patches stickers and some pins. I thought they might enjoy that. I gave it to Pauls mom, she handed it back to me and said you can give it to him yourself. His mom took us into his shop. Both the old and the new part. We found Paul, Hunter and his son..."I think his sons name is Landon". Paul was on the phone. Hunter and "Landon" were working on his truck. Looks like they blew the motor. We got to check out the wrecker an see the LS he put in it. After 10mins I told Grandma that we could leave we dont need to bother him. She insisted we wait and that it wasnt a problem. He got off the phone I said hi, introduced my wife talked for a bit and left. Prior to us leaving grandma told us that Paul will always make time to meet his fans. We're the reason hes able to do what he enjoys doing. He quit his job after 20yrs to do what hes passionate about. We had told Grandma that we had gone to Matts place prior to coming here. She asked how the experience was. Almost like she already knew the answer. We told her the experience we had. She said she wasnt surprised. I guess Matt quit meeting with people. He told Paul this awhile ago. He doesn't have the time to meet ppl. Paul was pretty shocked and said that those are your fans. They made time to follow you and watch your videos. Anyway We said our goodbyes and headed down the road back to st. george. Just wanna say that the Fab Rats are the real deal. Check out their Youtube. They do a lot of awesome stuff.

 

[DeeDubz]

Over the last couple of weeks I noticed a sorta clack in my truck. I would notice it when I come to a stop. At first I thought it might be the coil overs in the front but its not. After watching a **** ton of youtube videos Im 100% sure what im hearing is the bolts that cold the control arms into place. I guess after 130k they get loose. The bolts are a 24mm.... I have one deep impact socket. I tried to tighten but theres not enough room on either side to take the deep socket. Fast forward to Thursday. I contact the local snap on franchise in my area. Might be time to buy some snap on tools specifically some metric. Ive done business with him in the past. He gave me a place and time to meet up. It happened to be a honda dealer 30mins away from my house. 15min later nothing... I even go walk through the dealer ship. I think maybe this guy is in the back where the service dept is. Nope, after wasting 30mins of my time i leave. I wont be using him any more. Ill take my money else where.
While I was waiting for the no show snap on man. My truck received a CEL. Its a p2074 for power stroke. Its a map sensor issue. Ive dealt with this in the past quite a few times. My module was notorious for tripping this code, prior to the updated version. I clear the code but It comes back 10mins later while im driving on the freeway. I clear it again... it comes back. Once I get home I pull it in to the shop. I have a old sensor *thank god* that I can swap it out with. Once I take it off I see the sensor has separated. Replaced, hopefully i dont have to deal with this for a while.
Replaced the down spout in the guest bathroom. I thought at first the down spout was a slip on. It had an opening on the bottom... but no set screw. I thought that was weird. I tried twisting it but it would move. I thought Id break it if I gave more force. It needed to be replaced so I figured if I break it oh well. A pair of channel locks I was able to twist it off. The new one went on no big deal. Wife will be happy now.

 

[DeeDubz]

My boss has me banished from my shop until further notice. Had knee surgery on Monday. All those hard yrs on my knee finally caught up with me. Ive been walking around here and there but mostly sitting on my ***. My goal every day is to find the end of the internet. Not much else I can do. Been watching a ton of youtube and getting caught up on GJ! Should be in the shop for minor stuff next week... If the boss gets me permission lol. Lots of exciting things happening this yr. Retirement * at the young age of 41* start my own business.

 

[oldironfarmer]

Dang! That knee looks like no fun. Hopefully the results will have you good as new.

 

[Xti04]

Congrats on retirement bro! Whats the new business?

 

[DeeDubz]

Dang! That knee looks like no fun. Hopefully the results will have you good as new.

Friday I was finally able to take the wrap off. Just had to cover the stitches with bandaids. Already moving around better. Hopefully ill start PT soon.

Congrats on retirement bro! Whats the new business?

Thanks, Im going to do land clearing. Im going to get a larger skidsteer with a drum mulcher. A buddy of mine that I met in medic school has been doing it for a few yrs. Hes got about 2-3 yrs before he moves out of state. Hes been a lot of help with me getting started.

Most people it would be hard to walk away from a job that pays great. Comes with benefits and retirement. As well as endless opportunity for Overtime. It wasnt as hard for me to pull the trigger. I think if I had stayed a couple more yrs I dont think the wife an I would be together. My kids would have been devastated. I love my family more than my old profession. Looking forward to being my own boss.

 

[Xti04]

Medic is a tough job. I am goin thru thay same struggle with nursing and night shift. Its affecting my family life way too much. I hopefully have about 1 more month of it and then I will be moving to a mid shift. Not ideal for me and my side hustles, but gets me home in bed with the wife and here to help with the kids in the morning. Guy quoted me 1500 just to unload the machine. I just needed a strip cut where I was gonna place my fence. Ended up doing it with a buddies machine myself but those mulching heads are awesome. Good luck with the new business!

 

[DeeDubz]

Nursing is just as tough. Was a Engineer Medic for a fire dept in Socal. Over the last 20 yrs being away from home long stents have taken a toll on everyone. Wifes a medic too but no longer working in the field. Thankfully she's got a wayyyy better job than what I had so we re able to make the jump. I count my blessings everyday. Ive been home for 7 months and Can totally see a change in my family for the positive. Wife an I came the conclusion that we'd rather live poor than be a slave for my previous employer. Thankfully we ll be just fine.

 

[Bob Heine]

Wife an I came the conclusion that we'd rather live poor than be a slave for my previous employer. Thankfully we ll be just fine.

Danny, You may discover retirement requires less money to live as comfortably as you did when working. You won't be contributing money to a 401k. You won't be buying gas for a commute. You may not be going to a restaurant or fast food place for lunch. Most of all, the blank net pay box on your new paycheck means the federal, state and local income tax boxes, as well as the FICA boxes (Social Security and Medicare) will also be blank.

You may still have taxes deducted from your retirement income sources but even that's optional. I choose to make quarterly estimated tax payments to the IRS and then pay any shortfall on April 15 or roll over any excess to the following year's estimated tax but that's just me. I love it when I owe the IRS a few bucks at tax time because it means they haven't had my money any longer than absolutely necessary. I do try to make the shortfall small enough that I don't have to pay a penalty and associated interest. The IRS website describes how to avoid the problem:

"You may avoid the Underpayment of Estimated Tax by Individuals Penalty if:

• Your filed tax return shows you owe less than $1,000 or
• You paid at least 90% of the tax shown on the return for the taxable year or 100% of the tax shown on the return for the prior year, whichever amount is less."

For example:
"You would have underpaid your taxes by $3,000 if you owed $5,000 in taxes for the year but only paid $2,000. The amount is more than $1,000 and you didn't pay at least 90% of what you owed so you would be subject to an underpayment penalty unless you meet other criteria for avoiding it. The penalty would be the federal short-term rate at the time plus three percentage points. That rate is 8% heading into 2024, or $240."

I chose to pay 100% of the tax from my final year working in my first year of retirement. The refund was pretty large but I had a much better handle on the next year's estimated tax.

When I retired at 50 and then again at 55, we lived on my IBM pension plus dividends from a couple of dividend producing funds. Money was tight until I reached age 59.5 and was able to tap into my IRA and 401k penalty-free. I started Social Security withdrawals at age 62 (Liane didn't qualify so she received 50% of my amount). The decision to collect early was pretty easy for me. My father died at 55 and his father died at 53 so I figured 75¢ in hand was better than $1.00 in the bush. In my case, receiving 25% smaller payments for four years totaled more than $85,000. It would take 18 years to make up for that with 100% payments. That means I start losing money this year, when I turn 80.

I think you're right about being just fine!

 

[DeeDubz]

Bob, You make great points. I will be saving a lot when im retired. Looking at my pay stubs theres so much thats taken out every two weeks. As I mentioned earlier the plan to retire early was all based on my family. It comes at a cost and thats where my retirement comes in. Im basically cutting my income in half. Which im totally fine with. Some of my former peers have been pretty negative about my decision. Its not theirs to make.
Unfortunately Im not eligible for social security. Ive never paid into it. I have a pension through the gov. As well as other things that I contributed to over my 20yr career. At the end of the day ill be just fine.

 

[DeeDubz]

My first piece of mail for my business that isn't a bill showed up! Sadly I dont think ill be buying anything in the catalog. Got out in the garden yesterday. My sun flowers fell over and were covering my grape fruit tree. About an hour later I had 90% of it in the green can. Ill finish the rest next week after the trash man comes. Im starting to walk normal since my surgery. Im two weeks post op. I see my physician next week. Im still having difficulty bending my knee but every day im getting more range of motion.
My dad built a play house for my kids a few yrs ago. Its suppose to be a fire station. Both my sons have out grown it and dont use it any more. The shed had been a place to store bikes and scooters until now. The wife wanted it moved since its no longer being used. Moving it gave me an excuse to use my skidsteer to lift it up and put it behind my shop. Im going to store Fuels, Propane, misc bull **** in it. The cool thing is that im sure my neighbor is going to enjoy looking at it now.

After all of that I cleaned up my loft. Found my old brew making kit. A few other things that im going to post on offer up. Not a bad day. Now just wait around till the games start

Cheers!

 

[DeeDubz]

Ive been able to be a little bit more mobile. Moved all my fuel, gas, propane, def...ect into my shed behind my shop. I need to install a small light in it. The other night we ran out of propane on the BBQ. It would be easier to get into if I had a light.
We needed to replace our hearth in our fire place. The particular one I purchased was wasnt good enough. The wife didnt like it so Im going to return it. In order to do so I pressure washed it then rattle canned it.

My son made a few things for me to add in my shop. He made JFK american flag Muriel. He also made a small santa out of clay. Hes very artistic unlike me

Prior to getting cut on I moved my ammo safe out of the house. It was in the guest bedroom closet. Its a junk off brand cannon. I couldn't get it to open. I thought I might have to break into it. Im glad I didnt damage it. I just had to replace the battery in the key pad and it opened right up. I had forgot how much ammo i had acquired over the yrs. Living in commieforina its kinda difficult to find a place to go shoot. Its a pain in the *** to buy ammo as well... Until this week I guess the 9th circuit struck down the ammo band * you can buy ammo online at the moment* to bad I dont really need any. The picture is kinda deceiving I have a few more ammo cans full of ammo that I need to figure where to put. Its bolted into the slab and hidden in my garage.

 

[DeeDubz]

Over the weekend I fab ed a base for my parts washer. I wasnt really happy with it being in a dedicated space. I want the ability to move it around. Also before I pour 5 or 6 gallons of cleaner in it. Theres plenty of old steel in the shop to make a frame. The first part of my welds were ****. I thought I had a bad ground. After a while I realized it was the tip. I only had one .035 tip and it was slightly used.
Monday morning I went to home depot got some casters more .035 mig tips. One of the complaints I have with my shop is that when it rains it gets sooo loud that It can make it hard to concentrate. A good pair of noise cancelling ear buds solve the problem. SOcal is getting a huge storm. Pineapple express so I have a few days of this to deal with. Once I glued the casters I was able to set the parts washer on the frame. The shelf that is under the washer I lowered to the bottom of the frame. It makes it easier to store some bs under it instead of in the way.

 

[DeeDubz]

The other day I went down the youtube rabbit hole on harbor freight welding cart modifications. I had two welding carts that I would like to consolidate to one. My 40 dollar HF special will do the trick. So far I up the side post upright in stead of angled. The botton part of the cart has a small lip in the front that I cut. The plasma cutter now can slide in and out without the middle tray having to be unbolted. The middle tray will have my 110 HF stick welder. I hardly use it. Mainly if one of my friends wants to try and weld something. The Lincoln mig will sit on top with the bottle in the back. I had to cut a 2 1/2 hole in the back of the cart to accommodate the air chuck for the plasma. Work in progress.
My buddy come by the house on Wed. He had a check engine light in his 2016 Duramax. He doesn't have a garage or code reader. I offered for him to come by and ill check the code out. Sounds like he needs to replace his thermostat. Doesn't look to be too hard of a job. I told him we can do it this week sometime.

 

[DeeDubz]

Small update more to follow. I finished the top shelf. Thats where my lincoln will sit. Now im trying to fab a bracket that will hold my mig bottle. I made a templet out of card board. I found the perfect piece of steel in the scrap bin. I cut it free hand but still need to grind off the slag. The crappy thing is that I cant find any other pieces that will work for another bracket for the bottle. There needs to be two. We ll i guess ill figure something out. Probably wont get any time in the shop this weekend. Friends are coming over with their new baby.

 

[DeeDubz]

I wrapped up the welding cart on monday which was good that Tuesday my buddy wanted to bring his truck over and work on it. I was able to stack my plasma cutter, mig and small 110 stick welder on it. Painted it to match the color. Im pretty happy how it turned out. My mig bottle is empty im going to go get that replaced today at the local air gas. I might need to upgrade the wheels at some point but its functional and saves me some room.

A friend of mine mentioned hes had a check engine light on his 2016 2500 druamax. It was his thermostat staying open and over cooling his motor. Evidently this is a common problem. He asked me if he could bring his truck over to my shop and we try and fix it. Ofcourse we can. He mentioned that sometimes his projects become a pain in the ***. I said it cant be too bad. I watch a video on how to replace the thermostat, taking off the housing. The one thing they didnt show was how to drain the coolant. Theres a good reason for it.... Theres no petcock to properly drain your coolant. The video I was able to find on how to drain the sys was you take the passenger side wheel off. Take off the fender cover. Towards the front of the truck you can see the lower radiator hose. You pull a clip off and pull the hose off the bottom of the core. That problem is that it just drips down all over the steering components which makes a damn mess. We only drained a gallon or two which was enough to take the upper radiator hose off to access the theromstat housing. 6 or 7 13mm bolts. Switched parts out put back with no leaks.

 

[Xti04]

I wrapped up the welding cart on monday which was good that Tuesday my buddy wanted to bring his truck over and work on it. I was able to stack my plasma cutter, mig and small 110 stick welder on it. Painted it to match the color. Im pretty happy how it turned out. My mig bottle is empty im going to go get that replaced today at the local air gas. I might need to upgrade the wheels at some point but its functional and saves me some room.

A friend of mine mentioned hes had a check engine light on his 2016 2500 druamax. It was his thermostat staying open and over cooling his motor. Evidently this is a common problem. He asked me if he could bring his truck over to my shop and we try and fix it. Ofcourse we can. He mentioned that sometimes his projects become a pain in the ***. I said it cant be too bad. I watch a video on how to replace the thermostat, taking off the housing. The one thing they didnt show was how to drain the coolant. Theres a good reason for it.... Theres no petcock to properly drain your coolant. The video I was able to find on how to drain the sys was you take the passenger side wheel off. Take off the fender cover. Towards the front of the truck you can see the lower radiator hose. You pull a clip off and pull the hose off the bottom of the core. That problem is that it just drips down all over the steering components which makes a damn mess. We only drained a gallon or two which was enough to take the upper radiator hose off to access the theromstat housing. 6 or 7 13mm bolts. Switched parts out put back with no leaks.

Gotta love a cooling system with no way to drain it out without removing hoses. My 7.3 has a petcock luckily and I left it to drain overnight when I did my coolant reservoir last week. Between brake fluid and coolant the mess they can make on the floor drives me crazy.

 

[DeeDubz]

My little experience with vehicles is that they either have a petcock or you can pull a hose off and it drains free. We had to filter the coolant. When it hit the frame and other components it picked up some dirt. Oh well not my truck.

 

[DeeDubz]

Made a trip to airgas this am to switch my mig bottle out. Ive had it for two yrs. Prior to that it belonged to my dad. It sat in his shed for at least two yrs. I have no idea how much he paid for it. He never set his mig welder up. My mom ended up giving it away. So today at the store It was 111 bucks to swap. I thought it was going to be less than a hundred. I think i'll shop around next time. I believe there is a place in the IE that will fill your tank which I think is a little cheaper.

I was going through boxes in my shop and came across a box with no markings or words on it. I opened it up and saw that it was a record stand. My oldest loves records. Quick little project.

 

[Bob Heine]

Danny, I like your welding cart upgrade. I have two $40 Harbor Freight carts. My Harbor Freight MIG, set up for carbon stee with a single 40 cf 75-25 tank, sits on one cart. My Eastwood MIG, set up for stainless, and my Eastwood TIG (DC only) sit on the other. I was in a hurry so the two 40 cf tanks for the Eastwood machines (98% Argon, 2% CO2 and 100% Argon) sit in a wooden box on the back of the cart. I didn't have the scrap steel for the two tank setup at the time. I did paint the wood and lower shelf gloss black. The Eastwood MIG came with a spool gun so I can weld aluminum with a quick swap of the 100% Argon tank as well as using it for back purging with the stainless setup. Over time, more and more stuff has been hung on the carts and moving them feels sketchier and sketchier.

 

[DeeDubz]

Danny, I like your welding cart upgrade. I have two $40 Harbor Freight carts. My Harbor Freight MIG, set up for carbon stee with a single 40 cf 75-25 tank, sits on one cart. My Eastwood MIG, set up for stainless, and my Eastwood TIG (DC only) sit on the other. I was in a hurry so the two 40 cf tanks for the Eastwood machines (98% Argon, 2% CO2 and 100% Argon) sit in a wooden box on the back of the cart. I didn't have the scrap steel for the two tank setup at the time. I did paint the wood and lower shelf gloss black. The Eastwood MIG came with a spool gun so I can weld aluminum with a quick swap of the 100% Argon tank as well as using it for back purging with the stainless setup. Over time, more and more stuff has been hung on the carts and moving them feels sketchier and sketchier.

Thanks Bob, Im pretty happy with how it turned out. cant beat the harbor freight cart for 40 bucks. I have some metal that I could of sacrificed to build a heavier duty cart but Id like to not waste it on a cart. I didnt want to commit to building a $200+ cart thats just going to sit for the most time. It sounds like you do a lot more welding than I do. Im lucky to use my mig maybe once a month if that. How do you like the eastwood? None of my buddies in the area have one. My next project i need to find a new home for all my angle grinders. I have about 6 or 7 that I would like to make a holder for them instead of them laying on my welding table. I dont suppose you have a community angle grinder collection point? Take care bob

 

[Bob Heine]

Thanks Bob, Im pretty happy with how it turned out. cant beat the harbor freight cart for 40 bucks. I have some metal that I could of sacrificed to build a heavier duty cart but Id like to not waste it on a cart. I didnt want to commit to building a $200+ cart thats just going to sit for the most time. It sounds like you do a lot more welding than I do. Im lucky to use my mig maybe once a month if that. How do you like the eastwood? None of my buddies in the area have one. My next project i need to find a new home for all my angle grinders. I have about 6 or 7 that I would like to make a holder for them instead of them laying on my welding table. I dont suppose you have a community angle grinder collection point? Take care bob

Danny, I was doing more welding a few years ago. I got my first welder, an $88 Harbor Freight wire feed (their term for flux core) when I turned 63. It's been at least a year since I glued any pieces of steel together. I've been very happy with the Eastwood machines. The MIG and TIG were $499 each and the MIG included the spool gun.

Storing angle grinders, polishers and orbital sanders is a big challenge. I don't have a single solution. My first attempt was a flat bar on the end of a tool chest using some standoffs and bolted to the handle mount on the box.

I hung the big air sanders and grinders on the ends of my paint and body cart. The cart has morphed into a Frankencart.

For the 4.5- and 4-inch angle grinders I ended up building a shallow drawer in my table saw cabinet. The big drawer is for all the portable saws and cutters.

My poor orphan 7-inch Harbor Freight buffer hangs on a wooden cabinet. The mount is a piece of aluminum strap with a couple of bends from my Grizzly vise brake screwed to an old wooden cabinet.

Hopefully these give you some ideas. I'm interested to see what you come up with.

 

[DeeDubz]

Yesterday was our 16th anniversary. Prior to going out to celebrate I had a little bit of time to get projects done. Ive been wanting to install rain gutters on my shop. When it rains the water pools up by my doors and it starting to turn my concrete green. I have a bunch of rain gutters left over from where my patio cover was installed. Some sections have seen better days but I think it will work for what I need. I got one section done before it was time to go. Its probably a good thing cause I was starting to get pissed. Wife an I went and had dinner at a local restaurant that our friends own. Its been open for 3 months and it seems like they re doing pretty good. It was pretty packed. Barley any room at the bar. Today the wife is going to a fundraiser for a homie that has ca. Her and some of her girlfriends are going. I'll get plenty of time to hopefully finish the rain gutters.

 

[DeeDubz]

Finished up my rain gutter project. I think I have 2 sections left over. I had to through a few of them out. They got cracked from the weather. Some of the sections weren't as straight. Its not the best rain gutter job but it will keep the water away from my doors. After I was all done I pressure washed the concrete next to my doors to get rid of the green ish concrete. Prior to calling it a day I sealed all the joints with gutter sealant. I could do the back of the shop but I don think im going to at the moment.

 

[DeeDubz]

My daily driver decided to go into low power mode yesterday. I was able to limp it home and check the codes for the CEL. The first one was P2074 which ive been dealing with forever. Then P0069 and P04DA (. The 2074 code was my map sensor that ive replaced 3 times in the last 3 months. First thing I did I pulled the sensor and inspected it. Looked brand new no carbon build up. I checked the wiring harness best I could on top of the manifold all looked good.

The POO69 code is Boost stuck in the open position which seems like is the issue. When I cleared the code and took it for a test drive prior to pulling the manifold. My boost gauge was all over the place. Sometimes it would be zero at idle then the needle would stay in the middle at idle. When I would give the truck throttle it would almost max out.
P04DA is EGR flow is excessive. Makes senses having my boost all over the place. I was worried about the turbo maybe it was damaged but After taking everything apart The turbo appears to be fine. No play the impeller looks good no broken pieces.

I look all over the internet and youtube on wtf this could be. Everything was telling me that theres some sort of restriction in the intake. I pulled the air filter all the way to the manifold that sits on top of the motor. The filter was fine. There were a few videos where the air filter looked inside out because it was almost gasping for air for a lack of better terms. My air filter is after market with less than 40k since its been replaced. MAFS looked fine almost brand new as well as the cold air intake piping up until the throttle body. The throttle body had a bit of carbon build up. I cleaned it with throttle body spray. It seems to move fine. I don think I need to replace it. Everything from the throttle bottle - manifold up until the turbo looked like nasty coal. I assume this dirty aF because this is where the EGR comes in to play. Im sure someone can check me on that.
After about an hr ish I was able to pull the plastic and the metal part of the manifold. The upper part that is plastic has like 15 8mm bolts. I have no idea why but they have 5 inch bolts all on the back end of the manifold. Up against the back of the manifold and the cab. It would help if you had small hands but i dont. Once that was off The metal lower part came out with 4 bolts and two hoses. One for the EGR and one for the Crank case vent... I think.

Once the manifolds were out and separate I cleaned them for 2 hrs. Between brake cleaner and mineral spirits. I cleaned them the best I could. The crappy part with this sludge is once you get it out of the manifold I pools on the shelf in my parts washer and stains the side of my throttle bottle. Im trying to make it look better than I found it but its difficult. The parts are drying over night. Im gonna put them back together before we have a kids birthday party to go to.

Cross your figures that this works. If this doesn't I'll probably take my truck to the diesel shop by my house. They've been good to me but Id rather fix it on my one if I can. IF any one on the forum has any ideas Im totally open to it.
I will say this. If I have to take this stuff off again Im just going to get rid of my EGR and delete the freaking thing. The nastiness of the sludge ive had to scrape out of the manifold is horrible.

Cheers

 

[DeeDubz]

I was able to find the torque specs/sequence for the manifold. Woke up early and got the manifold an intake on within an hour. At first the truck was throwing the same codes after I had it all put back together. Super frustrated I took a break, got out of the house. Took my oldest to his best friends house for his sisters b day party. While I was there I ran into a guy who retired from my dept that I hadn't seen in 19yrs. Pretty cool hes doing well but I didnt wanna talk shop. After a few hrs got home and was able to dig in a bit on my truck. I pulled a couple of fuses on the panel. All were good. Next I replaced the MAFS and MAPS. Brand new out of the box. That did the trick. Knock on wood. I took the 250 for a rip and no CEL or low power mode. I'll call that a win.

 

[DeeDubz]

Finished putting together the top creeper. I tried to finish it up on friday but between picking up kids and running around didnt get it done. Im pretty happy with it however I thought it would fold up. It doesn't seem to fold up unless I take some bolts out but even then it doesn't really save much room.

 

[DeeDubz]

The switch on my bench grinder has been missing for a long time. Ive been just unplugging the cord to turn it off. I torn into it a bit yesterday got the switch out. Was just gonna replace that but I found that the ground wasnt connected to anything. There were several spots where electrical was bare wire. The case itself is metal. Its gonna get junked. I have a plastic bench grinder thats the same size. i dont use it because the base is plastic and broken. Making it impossible to attach it to any base. Im going to see if I can switch the motors out. I looked on offer up. Seems its just cheaper to buy a brand new one at home depot for 70ish. Offer up ppl want a hundred bucks... for a used one.

Update on my truck. I think i need to Replace the heating element in my EGR cooler. Im still getting a P2074 code and P0401 code. That means im going to have to take the manifold off again. At least I'll know what im doing this time. Looks like the parts will be under 300. A couple of shops quoted me over 1000 for them doing it... I think ill do it myself. Im just worried about the EGR bolts on the top of the block. They have been known to break very easy. Theres a drill kit that ppl sell. I might get that just incase I need to drill and re thread holes.

 

[DeeDubz]

The bench grinder ended up not working out in the end. The motors were different sizes and different designs. In the trash they went. The ******* one has a plastic base with no way to anchor to a stable surface. The motor worked great but I figured it wasnt worth trying to fix. I can get a new one at home depot for 70ish. My welding table is finally clean at the moment. I found a place to put all my angle grinders. Even a place to put my surface refinisher.

 

[DeeDubz]

The last few days we've had high wind warnings in so cal. Welp the wind pushed my gate opener slab and now theres a gap in my gate. Enough that you could wiggle through. Not a big deal, I doubt anyone would wiggle through it and come on to my property but its bugging me and the wife. Tomorrow we ll see if we can fix it.
Its time to do some more major surgery on my F250. Time for an EGR cooler heat exchanger replacement. I ordered the parts last night. Should so up by thursday next week. My goal is to finish in two days next weekend. I spent 700ish. 300 on the heat exchanger, gasket kit and EGR flange bolts. 400 on a EGR bolt repair kit. The new power strokes are using ****** bolts on the EGR exhaust pipe on the top of the block. They've been know to break. Im hoping I dont need to use this repair kit but im getting it just incase. Ive been hitting the bolts with PB blaster.

 

[DeeDubz]

The last few days we got some really bad winds in my neck of the woods. Typically its not windy here. My gate at the top of my property acts like a sail when the wind pushes on it. It shifted the slab that the gate opener sits on. There was a 1 ft gap in it. I used my Kubota to pull it back in place. We tied a chain to the base and I pulled until the gate went back into place. I assume Ill have to do this again at some point. Wife had a kick riding in it. While I was operating it. I could hear a weird noise near the hydro tank. Id never heard it before. I thought for sure it was a leak. I couldn't find any leaks. Ill continue to monitor.
The drain on my parts washer was stuck pretty good. I used a impact wrench to get it off. I thought I was going to break it. Instead of using the drain plug I put together a drain valve. Its not the best but I was able to use parts that I already had in order to make it work.

 

[DeeDubz]

Some new tools showed up sunday. First 32oz dead blow hammer. Always wanted one. I was trying to buy a snap on but I cant find a franchise in my area thats worth a ****. Funny thing the hammer was in a bigger box than the bench grinder. Just one hammer in an oversized box. Finally bench grinder showed up yesterday. I might switch one of the wheels and put a wire wheel on.

 

[DeeDubz]

Picked up a few things this week. I found a decent parts solvent that wasnt super expensive. I picked it up at tractor supply 5gals for under 50. Prior to tractor supply I went to Parts authority. They had a parts solvent but it was 160.... I told them thanks but no thanks. Also met up with the snap on man bought a striking pry bar and a tab puller. Finally had some ratchets re built and a couple of tools replaced. I have some needle nose dykes that the tip on one side broke off. I had cracked a 1/4 to 1/2inch adapter replaced. Bought a new stool from home depot. Busy weekend of pulling my EGR cooler out. fun stuff. Also picked up another DTC on the way to my buddies house. Should be able to start the process of pulling it off this afternoon. Im gonna start with the EGR bolts on the top of the valve cover. Those tend to be a PIA. Ive been spraying them for over a week with PB. My plan is to get the truck up to operating temp them try and pull them out. Hopefully they come out easy and I can return the repair kit that was 400 bucks. After that ill drain the cooling system and probably take the air box out. Save the rest for sat and sunday.

 

[DeeDubz]

The hard part is over. EGR flange bolts are pulled out without any breakage. Got my truck up to operating temp. while being very careful not to burn the **** out my hand or arm. They came out pretty easy. So at this point im going to return the 400 repair kit that I will no longer need. These bolts are like a cheap composite. They were hard to grab. Everything was hot and they're not magnetic. After those bolts were out I drained the cooling system. Ford makes it fairly easy to drain both systems. Both have petcocks. I put a 1/2" plastic hose on the end and drained it into a bucket. Im going to re use the coolant.
The heat exchanger for the EGR is a 2017. Ford redesigned them the holes are larger so theres less of a chance for it to get plugged up. Ill have the old one pulled out today ill show what it looks like. I had to pull quite a bit of stuff off the egr and around the egr to gain access to it so I could pull it out. Also took the plastic manifold off as well as the air box and battery. The EGR cooler is out. I would have drove into it but the wife came down to my shop and wanted to get into the spa. Thats what I finished the day with. Today Ill probably have it almost done. The cooler is pretty heavy. Ive heard of ppl dropping the thing on the fuel rails on the passenger side. That causes a whole lot of other problems. Lucky for me I didnt do that. Well thats it for now. Im gonna have to buy some more snap on tools.

 

[Xti04]

Looks like something I would leave out. Too bad you are in Cali

 

[DeeDubz]

Started the morning off with no power. It was scheduled but the notification went to the wifes junk email. I went to the store in the am and saw edison trucks in the neighborhood. When I got home wife had the generator running. The thing works pretty good. I wanna get another one and put them in series to have 6000watt. We powered 3 fridges, tankless water heater, tv, router and a few other things.
I worked in the dark for about an hour. Thats when the rain came and shut down edisons work so they turned the power back on. I started to pull the heater core off the EGR. And i found the problem. The Out put side was plugged bad. I had the cooler and components sit in the parts washer for an hour. By this time we had power and i could run my air compressor. Cleaned all the surfaces and blew the egr out. Then I started the process of putting the heat exchanger in the core. Wasnt too bad just using body weight I was able to get the heat exchanger in.

Xti04 I wish I could leave this stuff off. I thought long and hard about it but. It doesn't make sense. CA ***** when it comes to this kinda stuff. Id have to register out of state, which i could. It would save me money. But im going to be towing a lot this yr and I think CHP wont harass me much if im register in CA. Also this truck will be replaced at some point in the future. A few yrs maybe. If I delete it id most likely have to sell it out of state and the value would go down.

 

[DeeDubz]

Once everything was put back together with the new heat exchanger I got it back mounted on top of the valve cover. Even did it without hitting the fuel rail. Putting the bolts back in it weren't too difficult. A few of them fell down on top of the motor but I was able to get them with the magnet. All the hoses put back I plugged the ECM back in. Air box and battery as well. The thing is ready for coolant. I bought this OEM coolant vacuum kit. The thing works pretty freaking good. I bought it on amazon for 70 bucks. It pulls a vacuum in your cooling system. Basically pulls all the air out then replaces it with coolant. Did this for both systems. Got it filled up and took it for a rip. Wife was in the spa and got a video of me driving up the driveway. Took it around the block. No DTCs im calling it a win. This am im gonna take my oldest for a ride. Go find a place to eat breakfast and make sure all is well.

Later this afternoon im going to rotate my tires and clean my shop. Its a freaking mess. Also next project for the F250 is a CP4 disaster kit. My truck is a 130k, the CP4 fuel pumps made by bosch are junk. They've been know to grande and destroy a lot of things. Ill probably do that next weekend. Its about 400 bucks should only take me 30mins.

 

[M.Brane]

Congrats on the successful repair. I thought my 6.0 had a lot of plumbing until I saw a 6.7 for the first time!

 

[DeeDubz]

Congrats on the successful repair. I thought my 6.0 had a lot of plumbing until I saw a 6.7 for the first time!

They defiantly dont make it easy thats for sure.

 

[DeeDubz]

Ive been meaning to install a CP4 disaster filter kit. For those who dont know Bosch makes the fuel pumps on most diesel pick up truck. They've been know to blow up and cause lots of problems and cost lots of money to fix. My truck has 130k on it. Its a ticking time bomb. This kit prevents the fuel pump from sending metal into the fuel system / engine / fuel tank. A fix that could cost 20k. The kit cost 400 bucks and is made by S&S diesel.

I often times work backwords. This set up would have made sense to do when I was doing my EGR but I decided to order it after everything was put back together. First process take air piping off as well as manifold plenum. All the way down to the turbo... again. This exposes the top of the CP4 fuel pump. The s&s installs at the base of the sensor. During this point I found a coolant leak. I noticed a puddle on the ground. Traced it to the top of the radiator. The hose that comes off the core going to the top of the block had leaks on both ends. Drove 20mins to the nearest ford dealer. The replacement was 180. The old hose had some heat reflecting so I cut a section of it and wrapped the fuel line coming off the CP4. It sits pretty close to the exhaust manifold. All the fuel lines looked very clean. I change fuel filters 15k to 20k. The filter kit installs on the driver side neat the coolant reservoir. All in all it took me 2 hrs to install. I still need to clean up my mess. That will happen today.

Cheers