LOL, yes it's the van now we don't have any way to go. The bolt broke off in the bracket that goes into the engine block.Thank goodness it didn't break off in the engine. Of course hubby had to crawl under it and take off lots of parts to get to bracket. He keeps changing shirts wet from the heat. So hubby drilled the bolt out of bracket thats holds tension pully took off all the parts alternator, tension pully, idle pully serpentine belt so he put them all back in and it slung the belt again, I knew it was NOT the time to tell him "I told you so". I told him to throw that piece of crap away and order another one instead of drilling the bolt out. He said I was right, but he was trying to save money, Well now he is all cut up both arms hurt all that metal and cages in his back is ,fun part he gets to do it all again ,but he said at least he got a trial run with it. His rose-colored glasses is endless, my negative attitude is critical now.
Marie--when buying off Ebay, be sure to check the "reputation" of the seller and see what the return policy is. Good luck.
Thanks Beth I think he did he said he was guaranteed by Ebay, but who knows. I was explaining it to a parts guy who said " call me back when you know the part number or name, then hubby came up and told me, so I didn't have to go through it all again. After all that he said we don't have that part and good luck.
Now he thinks he found a head for the truck, Napa online said to order it from local Napa dealer. I ask him not to mention that truck to me till Monday, but who listens to me. I told him he is one bug bite itch away from danger! He thinks its funny and I'm kidding.
Good for Hubby for slugging through. I'm sure your realism inspires him to be optimistic...you can be frustrated enough for the two of you.
Hey watch it ,your suppose to be on my side. Senior club members have to stick together. Anyway I hope I can sleep, and he needs some sleep too since he woke me up at 5am. He just said he found the head on EBay too for $500.00 Well NAPA said to see if they have it $524 plus $153 core chage.00 but they give you $153.00 core charge back when you bring in the core.. Of course this all depends if they have the head. I still think a machine shop would be the way to go but he may be right about the head being so old and how thin the head metal may be.
Good luck! Regarding EBay...Beth is right to be careful. But there are good ones out there. When I did a bath tear out, I replaced all the rotted window trim with Corian (that old countertop material) so it would be 100% waterproof. I found a seller who sells scrap and sent him the dimensions of what I needed to yield...he sent me pieces large enough to trim down to what I needed. When I received the stuff and saw that much of it had chipped edges, I flaked out and sent a frantic email. Long story short, I quickly realized that when I cut it down to what I needed, the nicks & dings would be trimmed off of the finished pieces, so I fired off an "I'm A Dumbass" email. He was nice enough to tell me that if I needed extra, he could just kick me some extra for free. So there are some good ones out there. But as Beth said...Buyer Beware.
Of course, $24 is worth getting new. The machine shop will charge more than that...and then you got their turnaround time. Go with NAPA...if they can get it. If they don't, tell the EBay guy that NAPA has it for only $24 more and see if he'll budge on price. One thing I've done is to add stuff to my Watch List. The Seller gets notification when that happens, and sometimes proactively makes you an offer.
Yep, my Truck is 40 years young, only thing wrong with it is rust due to moving back to Houston and taking it out of that dry Nevada air then parking it for almost 3 years in Houston. When I left Nevada I was using both fuel tanks and had no trouble other that a new carb that was given to me as replacement for a burn down of the first new one. So I had my Dodge TransVan loaded down with all my personal things and I had one of those old solid U-Haul hitches and I knew it could pull that Van without any problems but as I said this carb had been ran without a fuel filter and the buyer brought it back for replacement. I could not even get out of the city limits where I lived and it had no power pulling that Van. I was so tired since I had packed and worked for the past couple days before starting the trip I just parked the Van back at my friends place and told him I would be back to drive it to Houston. I did that and had trouble with the Van also but that's a whole different story for later. To finish the Truck saga I let it sit for almost 3 years and some how there was water in the right tank and I didn't realize it because it wasn't there when I drove if from Nevada. I finally made it to La and went to work straight away and I kept running out of gas because I was filling both tanks when I would gas up. I ran out and rolled over to the side of the road and stuck a hose in the right side tank and that was when I found the water, but the switching valve had also messed up due to age and the water. I just siphoned all of the gas out of that bad tank and poured the good gas back into the left side tank and while at work the next day I cut that switching valve our and blocked off that bad tank, new fuel hose from the left side to the carb and it was finally fixed and ran as it should. It was also rerouting return fuel to that right tank and it would run over when it dumped all the gas from the left tank. So a couple years later I was coming out of the dollar store and I happened to notice something hanging down at the right side tank. It was the bottom of the tank completely rusted out and falling apart. I have had no trouble with the left side tank.
He keeps thinking he should get the $524 on EBAy Its from Reeds Auto Parts in S.Carolina. Or that's who they say they are. He already has the seals and valve's he bought before he knew the head was blown.
Your lucky that tank didn't blow up. I know old vehicle's are trouble but my daughters are always breaking down too,so is my son that lives in Houston fairly new truck. I think the parts manufacturers were closed for pandemic plus lots of older autos were trashed by Obama plan.
Marie, when googling "Reeds Auto Parts South Carolina" it appears to be a salvage yard. You might poke around and see what kind of reviews they have if that's the place.
The tank was thin it would have just gone Poof and that would have been the extent of it. For 40 years now fuel pumps have been submerged in the gas tanks of just about every vehicle and the only time they catch fire or explode is in a wreck. The electrical connection is exposed to the gas and it is common to have a pump go bad early if you are a person who only puts 10 bucks in the tank when you buy gas. It is the gas that cools the electric pumps and keep them alive. Mechanical fuel gauges have a small current running in the tank on a resistor exposed to the gas as well. Fumes are the dangerous part of gas not so much the bulk fuel.
Man, if you got problems with the thing, you want to drive to where you got it and put it on someone's counter. Is he worried he's gonna have another "Gee, we can't get it after all" experience? It is a reasonable concern. One would think these guys all have the same sources, if it's not in stock at their own warehouses. Tell NAPA what you've been through and ask them to call a human being who will swear he physically touched it before you place the order...then order it right then & there and have it pulled (if possible.)
Thanks for looking that up Beth, but he already ordered it said it was last one they had, I hope to goodness this is ok. He also ordered my bracket from a place in Kansas. About $900.00 for two used parts, so if they ripped us off or the part is bad or it even comes. guess we will have two yard ornaments. He is going for broke,literily!