My new home - Page 4

wmkbailey · 09-07-2011, 03:37 PM

We are getting a lot of rain out here and I have not had much time to work on the van. I did finish the passenger side wall. I screwed the wall onto the van while the glue was still wet. It worked out very well, the walls dried to the curve of the van wall. Taking them out was easy.

I added a brace behind the wall so the edges will line up even.

This is a shot of the window sill cut to match the curve of the wall.

Finished product.

The driver side went faster, since I now know the issues that I have to deal with. The only hard part was the first piece goes all the way around the window. I was able to use the first layer of foam board to create a template.

All I have left to do now is to take down the section around window and cut the window sill to match. Glue, screw and re-install.

wmkbailey · 09-07-2011, 03:46 PM

Status of the van on the mechanical side. I took it back to the mechanic that sold it to me to have him look at it and come up with a way to get me back on the road. He sold it to me mechanically sound. 500 miles and three week later, the transmission goes out. He was in Florida so I took it to another shop and they replaced the solenoid pack and then told me it was shot and need to spend $3000.00 to replace it with a rebuilt.

Like I said before this problem is intermittent. So the first thing he said was "I thought your trans needed to be replaced". The trans is more than likely good if you can drive it and it shifts good. He says the issue is electrical, which is what I first thought the problem was. That is what the codes say. What I'm experiencing is the van is going into safe mode, because it cannot tell when to shift. It could be the speed sensor or several other things, all easy and cheap to fix. He said he would cover the cost to get me back on the road.

So we will see what happens.

**BroncoHauler** · 09-07-2011, 04:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wmkbailey

He said he would cover the cost to get me back on the road.

That's a rare mechanic. Hopefully his word is good.

Herb

wmkbailey · 09-21-2011, 06:21 PM

Two weeks and still do not have a van. I wonder if I will ever get on the road. I have so far lost a whole month of building. This me mechanic is doing the work on his dime and I have to be patient, because he is doing it after hrs. First thing he found was the other shop put the solenoid pack in wrong, which was causing the hard shifting and pressure issue. Now we are back to the original issue. It is a voltage fluctuation causing it to go into limp or safe mode. He said that points to a wiring issue, but after three days everything checks out. At least I know the trans is good. Now he is scratching his head. I feel he is on the right track. The code I was getting said bad voltage, wiring or PCM issue.

dimension4 · 09-28-2011, 11:59 PM

what about your alternator? could it be a bad voltage regulator in the alternator? you should get a pretty constant voltage from your battery, mine has a gauge but the only deviations are at 8 and 18, so it's hard to read. but if your volt gauge is bouncing around that could be the alternator voltage regulator.

wmkbailey · 09-29-2011, 08:42 AM

From what the mechanic says it is two of the shifting signals, all others are good. He tried to re-program the PCM and it would not take. He is looking for a salvaged one to test and see if that fixes the problem. I hope to hear from him sometime today. I'm glad I have photos on the forum, I forgot what my van looks like.

wmkbailey · 10-17-2011, 01:10 PM

Well I finally got my van back. After two more weeks of trouble shooting the mechanic found the issue, with help from ford. He put in the salvaged PCM and got it to work, but decide it had a crack and would not be reliable. After it was replaced with a new PCM, two days later it stopped working. After the second one was fried, ford replaced it, but he had to work with tech support to find issue.

The throttle position wires go through the dash wire harness. They were melted to the power for the diag port/cigarette lighter circuit. I discovered the Friday before my van broke down that the diag port was not working. I found the fuse, which was melted and replaced it. That put 12 volts on the throttle position wires, following Monday it broke. He fixed the wire harness and re-programmed the third PCM and after 200 miles it runs good. He only charged me $500.00.

The first mechanic wanted to replace transmission with re-built $3000.00. It would have fried also.

Ford_6L_E350 · 10-17-2011, 02:34 PM

It's good that you have an honest mechanic. At $500 troubleshooting an intermittent problem and working through it, he didn't make any money on that.

Mike

wmkbailey · 10-18-2011, 10:27 AM

Mike,

This is the guy who sold me the van. I took it back to him, when the other mechanic said the tranmission needed to be replaced. I had it for only 3 weeks and 500 miles. He earned my trust back.

Now back to the build.

wmkbailey · 10-18-2011, 06:00 PM

It seems I never get a break. I tried installing my swivel seat base I got from DiscountVanTruck.com. They bolted up to the floor perfect, but do not fit the bolt pattern of the seat. Is something missing. everyone says that the new base will raise the seat. My old seat base is 9" tall, this one is only 7". The studs on the seat are 14 1/4" on center side to side. The new base is 8" on center. I need another 2" clearance for the handle that is used to move the seat up and down.

Here is the base