Our "New to Us" Winnie

[jon_d]

Jon,
Apart from those minor annoyances, what was REALLY wrong with the engine?

Ray, nothing really. It was still a strong engine. starts first crank, idle smooth etc. Just worn out. We (the family) had a breakdown outside Port Augusta when heading across the Nullaboor. Got it fixed, but made me realised what the potential impacts are if you're completely disabled.

With the Mundi - qld trip (8-10 weeks coming), I thought it better to put some preventative maintenance into it.

[T1 Terry]

Has a bit of an issue on the last leg Tuesday, between Nerriga and Tianjara Falls, just past the Endrick River Bridge on the Nerriga/Braidwood Rd heading towards Nowra.

Very steep climb through that part, and for some reason, the auto failed to drop back to 1 st gear, so it was trying to climb up there with 12 tonne on it's back in second ..... the torque converter was working overtime and that heated the trans fliud and that heated the radiator (Hot air from the trans cooler being drawn through the radiator) and by the time I realised what was happening, it went from hot to real hot, the auto stopped driving and the radiator spewed out a lot of steam .... then the engine over heat protection cut in and cut the engine as well .....

Had an attempt at reversing back down the hill with no power steering .... the corrections took too long so I jack knifed the rear of the trailer back into the rock wall to avoid an unplanned rapid decent.

Gave it a rest for 15 mins, starting it every few mins to allow fresh hot oil to circulate through the transmission cooler and circulate the remaining water through the block .... as well as to draw some air through both the radiator and trans cooler to assist in cooling it down ..... thankfully, it restarted each time and eventually drive returned to the transmission so I could pull up the hill a bit and get the Winnie off the road enough for traffic to pass ..... but that was short lived, over heat transmission light and eng temp off the scale ..... and shut down again.

Wait for it too coold down more, get it restarted and start pouring water into it, 600ml bottle at a time ...... thankfully the Winnie has a good size water tank.
That worked well for a while, then it started gurgling and heaving water out ... immediately suspected head gaskets or cracked heads ......

More waiting till it cooled enough to get the radiator cap off for the 3rd time ... believing I'd already cause serious damage, I pour water in without the engine running, till the over flow bottle was full, put the cap on and attempted to restart the engine, no problems and the needle dropped to the centre of the gauge, pulled the tranny into low and continued to climb the hill, a slow over run at the top of each big climb .... till the temp gauge seemed to remain stable, so a careful drive on to Lake Illawarra.

Today, I decided to investigate just how much damage I had done .... it wasn't pulling near as well as it had, and I was pulling it back to low on every major hill ..... the miss was very noticeable .....

No burnt smell in the transmission oil, surprised there, no liquorice milkshake in the oil and it didn't smell burnt either ..... but a definite miss heard at the exhaust while idling.

Filled the overflow bottle to the top, cap on and kept squeezing the hose to feel how fast the pressure built up .... reached operating temp, thermostat opened and dumped a heap of bubbles into the over flow bottle ..... then just water circulating through the bleeder hose to the top of the bottle and back out the big hose that feeds into the bottom of the radiator, put the tranny into drive and a bit of throttle, engine temp remained in the centre, moving with each thermostat opening, but that was it, removed the radiator cap off the over flow bottle, nothing, but still a definite miss in the exhaust note under load ....

Turn it all off and start the DR Google search, suspecting electrical, but injectors, coils, the rubber boots over the plugs and the resistor spring wire things that link the coil to the plug (the one I suspected) plugs ...... the unanimous decision of 3 different forums and 5 yrs worth of posts, coils, they don't like getting hot ......

So, 10 coils on order at the princely sum of $255 ..... and sometime next week they should arrive and I can see if they were right or not ... if it isn't that ..... it will be another slow and steady trip back to Mannum when we eventually decide to leave .... a 60th Birthday, baby shower for Margaret's second grandchild and naturally here for the birth of her son's first child .... and possibly their housewarming as well .... I'd had 5 and the 6th kid on the way before we could afford a house .... and nothing as flash as this one they've bought either .... but then again, it isn't that much more than it's gunna cost us to have a 2 bedroom house built on our land in Mannum .....

T1 Terry

[jon_d]

That's no good.

About a 10% gradient for a 750m or so.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/YtJW857MzQg4Cesz8

Hope it's all ok.

[T1 Terry]

That's no good.

About a 10% gradient for a 750m or so.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/YtJW857MzQg4Cesz8

Hope it's all ok.

Multiplied by quite a few of them, all the way to the Falls turn off. The map makes it look like a short climb and then it levels out, anyone who has driven along that road knows that is not the case.

But, all's well that ends ..... hills included, stunning country out that way, and the falls are well worth a look, that is a long way down from the top .... hard to believe we road our old iron framed push bikes with the 3 sp Sturmey Archer gear hub from Wollongong to Nerriga and home to Wollongong before dark It was all dirt road from Nowra back in those days

T1 Terry

[jon_d]

Yep, when you extend the route from the river to the top before it flattens out, it's a 200 meter rise over 2.8 ks.

The hill into my place is a little less; 292 meter rise over 3.8 ks. I start at the bottom in 3rd (top speed 35 ks max) and chug up at about 30 kph 2200rpm. On a hot day, the water is 110 and oil pressure is low.

But this is the best combo which keeps the EGTs the lowest. Any other gear or speed causes it to overheat chronically.

The Black Spur is similar rise but over twice the distance.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/fhjcSHdmG5tSQLMF7 I go up that in 3rd or 4th. Top speed about 50ks in 4th.

[BernieQ2]

You may have to rename that Chinaman Hill, seems like you run over a cupple
Bernie.

[T1 Terry]

Yep, when you extend the route from the river to the top before it flattens out, it's a 200 meter rise over 2.8 ks.

The hill into my place is a little less; 292 meter rise over 3.8 ks. I start at the bottom in 3rd (top speed 35 ks max) and chug up at about 30 kph 2200rpm. On a hot day, the water is 110 and oil pressure is low.

But this is the best combo which keeps the EGTs the lowest. Any other gear or speed causes it to overheat chronically.

The Black Spur is similar rise but over twice the distance.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/fhjcSHdmG5tSQLMF7 I go up that in 3rd or 4th. Top speed about 50ks in 4th.

I don't know the history of the road, but it reminds me of the old steam train hill climbing design ..... a steep pull to a flattened area to build up steam and stoke the firebox for the next climb. The climbs are steep, then a flat area, then another climb ..... it was only that the Winnie was trying to do it in 2nd and working the oil through the torque converter will beyond any design limits, that caused the problem, so a trans oil temp gauge will be a must have item, along with a warning light, so probably something like a Murphy switch gauge .... but they look a bit agricultural these days and the price
So maybe something in the electronic line, like this https://www.supercheapauto.com.au/p/saa ... lsrc=aw.ds .....

Will wait and see how changing to coils goes regarding sorting the loss of performance .... they might even be contributing to the fuel economy issues .....

T1 Terry

[jon_d]

Terry,

This listing may be an option for the repair.

Ford V10 and auto. New.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/156670083855?

[T1 Terry]

Terry,

This listing may be an option for the repair.

Ford V10 and auto. New.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/156670083855?

The 3 valve model, I'm guessing it could be squeezed in there and the rear mounts and cross member modified and a tail shaft modified to fit ..... then there is the two computers and all the wiring and I still have a V10 petrol engine with a thirst for petrol

I'm guessing they pulled it out to fit a C15 series Cummins or Cat diesel, the Cat revs harder and makes more power and torque out of the box, but upgrade tuning is very difficult because the computer is locked down by Caterpillar, where the Cummins is popular and has a laundry list of upgrades

I did look at adding a YASA axial flux electric motor in the tail shaft after the transmission and swapping in the Lexus V6 and 2 sp hybrid transmission. The YASA motor and controller is the same price as the advertised V10 and 6 sp transmission, and I already have the Lexus V6 and 2 sp hybrid transmission ...... With the 3 powerplants at full noise, they would smoke the Cat C15 @ 800kw and torque no one wants to talk about ..... but keeping tail shafts diffs and axles in it might be a full time job, so detune both the hybrid 2 sp and the YASA to maybe 400kw peak and 250 continuous ......

But, hopefully, for the princely sum of $255 and a few hrs work, I might be able to save myself a lot of work

Discovered two LPG hoses that feed the liquid to the converter have holes in them, one from each tank, still haven't found the filler hose leak(s) yet, so if the engine comes good with just replacing the coils, I'll replace all the LPG hoses rather than simply repairing the leaks ..... they have been on the there for 25 yrs after all ......

If the coils don't solve the problems ..... won't even look at that bridge yet, so no point in making plans on how to cross it .....

T1 Terry

[jon_d]

Thanks Terry for the 6 paragraphs of reasoning.... a simple "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind" would have sufficed