mazaa

Sorry been meaning to provide an update, I have family in town and was extremely busy with a project.
Yes, the truck is running smoother than ever, honestly speaking I am a bit surprised on how nicely it has turned out and feel very satisfied on a job well done. Since I work only two miles away these days, it is taking longer to flush the system. I am on gallon 4-6 of Distilled water with the flush, last nigh when I drained the radiator it was a fairly light almost tea color. I will see on the next drain if I should do it once more. I have been driving with the OBD and viewing live data, the temp hardly goes above 190 even in 95 F in Hotlanta these days

https://flic.kr/p/nRTg9k

rworegon

Hey, no need to be sorry.....life comes in between us and our rigs from time-to-time.
Flush sounds like it's coming along nicely and soon it will be buttoned up with red in it. 190 is about perfect too.

So, what's the next project on the rig?????? There is always a next project.

mazaa

There are many up coming rig projects, some maintenance too. BTW a close college buddy in Portland was posting his trip pics from the Columbia River Gorge, gorgeous place. I may take a trip there with my girl in not to distant future..

Upcoming stuff:
I am fixing my motive bleeder (the tube needs to be replaced) and will do the brake fluid flush next.

Then need to do the Rear Differential Breather mod, and finally replace my steering wheel as the old one has a hole in it, I already got a replacement from a wrecked one.

Thinking about buying the Front Hitch Receiver from Amazon rather than a steel bumper, as my goal is to build more of a expedition type rig.

Rock sliders, more so I can use the high lift as recovery points along the sides

A Hitch plate so I can carry the winch from front to back

Roof Rack, and a light bar

Soon I would replace the steering rack as well, from the readings the Safari comes recommended over the OEM

I took off the wheels last night and there is zero play in the LBJ, so I want to perhaps wait a bit on it

Fix tear in Driver's Side seat

Ah I think that is it for near term, most are not so time consuming..

Most importantly get out and enjoy life in the rig, I mtn bike, hike, kayak

What type of activities do you use the rig for?

rworegon

Yes, the Gorge is a wonderful place...so much to do outdoors. Much diversity in scenery and climate from west to east.

My rig was my DD until a couple of years ago. It's a forest service fire road, go camping/hunting/fishing, and, mainly, a winter ski season vehicle now.

I make between 15-30 trips to Mt. Hood every winter. It's an hour drive and often 1/2 or more of the drive is on ice or packed snow. The mountain teases me all summer as I look out at it from my front room.

That's a great list you have there.

mazaa

Happy 4th of July buddy, lucky you it is such a great area to live. I used to live in California and did a road trip all the way to BC Vancouver, got lost for couple days hiking around the Mt. Hood area with my Alice backpack and the crappiest gear a poor college kid could afford, drank lots of water with iodine pills but got lucky and I was able to find the trail, also visited the gorgeous crater lake. We will definitely be heading to Portland in near future.

An interesting thing with the on going flushing, when I drained the last two gallons of the truck they were very much red in color. BTW when I bought the truck I had installed an external Tranny Cooler, completely bypassing the Radiator so no chance of anything mixing there, plus its not oily and looks very much like the Pink/RED ATF?

So the initial 2G Drain when startiing TB and 1st Prestone Flush +2G has been green coolant. The next two 2G were tea colored, and the last two are Red in color, I decided to not put the ATF yet and filled again with 2G DH2O, idea why that might be?

Besides the AC belt needing a little adjustment, it is running really well. No leaks of any kind including oil seals, I am glad I did not screw with them.

I have a few items lineup for the weekend, starting with the Brake Flush

rworegon

And, a happy 4th of July to you. Glad you found your way off Hood. Tragically, some climbers/hikers/backpackers have not over the years.

Was the red from rust that was beginning to form from just having distilled water in it? Or, a byproduct of the cleaner? Is the new coolant going in soon for the corrosion protection?

Running the dH2O just long enough for the engine to come to temp is sufficient in the flushing process.

mazaa

Well no car work, my brother and I went hiking today.

The Red looks too well dissolved for being rust, I will post a picture and also put a magnet along the bottle and check for accumulation.

rworegon

Did you get the red color resolved?

mazaa

Yep it was not rust as it did not respond to the magnet, its was recycled and filled with red and water, been running really well, my seats were pretty ripped up and I found a tacoma set, my own seats and the covers both needed some cleaning.

Besides that pretty busy with work and family these days, I try to do a little here and there along with trying to get out some.

I hope all is well with you.