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     Milan (Milan) Senior Member Username: Milan Post Number: 305 Registered: 10-2002 |
Our disco has been plagued with intolerance to moisture, especially of the car wash kind. It left me stranded a time or two and last time it was Lucie with the kids left inside the car wash. I had to go back for it few nights ago. I was cold, miserable and determined to fix it. I got the thing running and got it home. This was the last straw though. So I decided to look for solutions. I took one of the offending parts (expensive solenoid box) out of the truck and home for inspection. I took it apart and found out that while it was sealed with an o-ring, there were huge gaps around the knife connectors where the plugs connect to it. I figured: “Simple. Just seal these.” Went out to get some potting compound. Just simple epoxy, right? Right. Got it home, mixed it according to instructions and while waiting for it to stabilize, I was thinking: "Maybe I should seal those gaps with electrical tape so the compound doesn't leak through." Then I figured: "Nah. It should be thick enough not to seep." See where I'm going with this? I start pouring. The crap sits and I figure: "Viola". Then a small drip appears. Then another. Then most of the stuff seams to be disappearing somewhere. Being the smart cookie that I am, I lift the darn thing to see where it's leaking. That's when I lift it off the table and the black crap leaks onto my carpet. The only (light colored, of course) carpet in the house the kids have not destroyed yet and the only one I was not planning on replacing anytime soon. Then I realize I'm not holding it level and something wet yet sticky is running between the fingers of my hand. Shit. I look and not only is it all over the carpet and my hand but it managed to leak into the crack housing the o-ring and into 2 of the 3 solenoids on the circuit board. Double shit! Anyway. I spent the rest of the day pouring more and more of this stuff in, in hopes that as it cures it will stop leaking out the bottom. It would not and so I had to tip it one more time and I shoved rags in there to stop the leaks. More pouring, it seeps slower but it still seeps, soaking the rag. Well. I just let it and put a lamp on it to cure it faster. It stops leaking but there's hardly any compound left. I pour some more and put the lamp even closer. I leave in frustration. I come back in few hours and find it not leaking anymore. Now I can’t pull the rags out, as they are stuck in the connectors/plug housings. Rats! I rip them out and dig the leftover stuff with a screwdriver. Luckily it pops out, taking the black crust with it, leaving the connectors relatively clean. Whew! Now I clean the solenoid put the o-ring back and go to sealing the expensive ($800) ECU. Maybe I should have taken a hint from the last project, eh? Nah. I open the darn box and find 2 "motherboards" loaded with chips, resistors and other electronic crap. Did you notice how anything I don’t understand in the least is crap? Anyhow, the crap it looks sophisticated. I also find corrosion on 2 of the chips. Crust build-up that is spanning several "legs" of the spidery looking chips. It looks like sophisticated crap, so I take a sophisticated approach. I grab an injection needle (you know the syringe kind) and start scraping the crust off, the whole time thinking I wonder ho much I can screw this up and "will I need another $800 box to make the Disco run again?" I scrape it off, grab another sophisticated tool - tube of silicon - and get about sealing both sides of the box. One of the boards would not come out easy as some kind of solenoids/coils/whatever were clipped to the housing itself, so I leave it in and just goop the silicon around the plugs. Put the lids back on a viola, another almost waterproof unit. I find more black stuff on carpet, my hands and now my shirt too. Oh well. Let it cure. Next morning, bright and early, I head out as soon as the sun has warmed the driveway up a bit. I hate working in cold, so 11:30 it is. I put the boxes back in their place and with key in hand I approach the ignition. I must have forgotten a prayer or two, because as I put the key in and turn it, the motor starts spinning but no go. "Oh there must have been something wrong with those darn chips there", I say. This is a clusterf..k! You know, the ECF (Electronic ClusterF..k unit). So I go outside, now praying really hard that maybe it's just that stupid solenoid pack. It's only $130 I think. I'm not really sure, as last time my dealer replaced it I paid $700. Maybe it was the labor. It does take all of 5 minutes to replace but maybe the diagnostic took 10 hours? I snoop around, now sure it's the ECF but I’m still reluctant to pull it out again. I check for fuel in the fuel rail as it sounded like no fuel was going in. If it's no spark, then it's the ECU, if no fuel, maybe it's only that $130 or $700 box. I’ll save at least $100 if that’s what it is. Maybe more. I know one of the solenoids inside controls the fuel pump. Examination reveals no fuel in the rail. Ha! Maybe I'm not a looser after all. Now we’re cooking. Everything is happening fast now. Take the box home, pry it open, go back, plug it in without the cover, call wife, ask her to operate the key, see the solenoid not closing and no fuel in rail. Short the solenoid with the surgical needle, ask wife to start the vehicle, vehicle jumps to life, yell at wife for holding the starter engaged while the engine's running, yell again to stop. Realize it must be the stupid goop in the solenoid, Apologize to wife for yelling, thank her for helping and run to the house looking for sanding paper. Find some, clean the contacts, go out, plug the box in, start the car, feel good about ones self, turn engine off, put cover on, pop the box where it belong, close the hood and start the car to let it warm up as by now it's afternoon and the wife and kids wanted to go somewhere. Get ready to go, load the kids and wife and amuse them with an anticipated test run to the car wash. Car wash is full. Go somewhere else, then come back, wait in line, first car can't get door open, wait longer than one would have if he waited in the original line up, but get inside finally and everybody freezes. Even the car wash attendant is seen praying (he knows our truck). But everything goes smoothly and now one feels pretty good. Even with extra wash cycle thrown in for good measure. Except we did not get all the colored foam the car wash usually sprays out. Go inside, complain, get a free car wash. Now feel even better, albeit cheap. Not a true success yet, as occasionally we were able to wash the car in the past but hopefully it's a sign of things to come. | ||
| Clif Ashley (Cta586) Senior Member Username: Cta586 Post Number: 424 Registered: 04-2002 |
Thoroughly entertaining. A+ | ||
| Brad Ashe (Vodkaman) New Member Username: Vodkaman Post Number: 37 Registered: 10-2003 |
Great writing funny yet riveting at the same time! A good water crossing story to test your water proof job might make for a fun story. By the sounds of it better make it fast water may ice up soon. One last thing I will not be held liable for any damages done during the water crossing LOL. Great job should be proud of your self. One more thing do tell about the rug stained for life? Wife's words upon seeing black on her rug? | ||
| Curtis N (Curtis) Dweb Lounge Member Username: Curtis Post Number: 953 Registered: 05-2002 |
Milan, Do you think you could summaraize this experience for a tech article in the appropriate section? Thanks, Curtis | ||
| Riley Troy (Freeplay) New Member Username: Freeplay Post Number: 6 Registered: 11-2003 |
Good info.... thanks a lot! | ||
| Dean Brown (Deanbrown3d) Senior Member Username: Deanbrown3d Post Number: 1075 Registered: 02-2002 |
LMFAO! Very good!  | ||
| Eugene (Eugene) Member Username: Eugene Post Number: 125 Registered: 02-2003 |
Great story and information! I'm sure Dean will gladly guide you through the Pine Barrens to test the waterproofing! | ||
| Milan (Milan) Senior Member Username: Milan Post Number: 306 Registered: 10-2002 |
hehehe. I always want to take pictures and do a write up for the tech section but then I just can't wait and start working. But we may do Kevin's soon, so I would take pics then. The wife was not impressed with the carpet thing. "Why don't you do this in the garage???? We just had the carpets cleaned and this one came out rather nice looking still." were her words and they were accompanied by an astonished look. The garage is not heated and I needed the epoxy to cure. Besides I don't like freezing while working. Yet, she was really surprised how stupid I can get (even after knowing me for years). She was pleased with the stain on my shirt though. You see it's a shirt that's a bit worn, but being my favorite, I'm not allowing it to be thrown out. So she thought, this might do it. Not a chance. The attendant is an old army guy, familiar with rovers. When he sees the truck in the carwash, he puts his hands together and looks up at the sky in prayer. My wife noticed it. I had no idea it helped. | ||
| Bill Ross (Billr) Member Username: Billr Post Number: 113 Registered: 11-2002 |
Milan: Must be warmer in Calgary then here in North Bay. After about the middle of Nov., everything gets a coating of ice on it and I figure that will keep any moisture that isn't frozen out of stuff til spring. Then the sun gets warm, I thaw the old Rover out, everything drys out and I'm good to go until fall again. Great story. Brings back memories of when I did "garage work" in the living room. I could watch TV, drink a beer all the while working on some gizmo. Wife didn't like the idea of not putting newspapers down while I scraped "crap" out of the bits I was working on. Go figure. Now I have been "talked into" firing up the ole kerosene heater and working in my unheated garage. Just the ticket when its -20C, plus I don't have a TV out there. Great for cold beer, though. | ||
| Milan (Milan) Senior Member Username: Milan Post Number: 307 Registered: 10-2002 |
We're only couple of degrees below seasonal temperatures, so it is probably warmer than North Bay. Newspaper and scrapings in the living room bring back memories. LOL I don't do that anymore. Kids make anough mess as is. I confine my clutter and trash to the den/office, the garage, the shed and the basement. | ||
| Alan Yim (Alan) Senior Member Username: Alan Post Number: 927 Registered: 09-2002 |
Calgary is the "banana belt" of Alberta. But they still manage to complain about coldness. tsk, tsk... | ||
| Milan (Milan) Senior Member Username: Milan Post Number: 308 Registered: 10-2002 |
"banana belt". Yeah right. Maybe "banana split" you know, with ice cream and a Blizzard on the side. |
