[ps2fixer]

I haven't quite had that kind of experience with women up here, but I'm not normally walking around much either, just walking in/out of stores to my vehicle to drive to the next spot lol. I'm around the start of the so called millennial generation. I connect so little with people my age though. That whole entitlement thing is their major downfall. I'd like to think I'm not like that, but I know I'm not quite the same as my dad's generation either. I know his worth ethics are stronger than mine, but I atleast put forth effort to make things happen. Kind of reminds me when I was younger, I hand shoveled a lot of dirt to basically help make my dad's back yard not a swamp. He had a tractor that whole time but no front end loader, but had a welder and plenty of metal to home build one. I guess I didn't think far enough ahead to even suggest the idea. I'm sure I shoveled atleast 150 yards of sand. The swamp used to come right up to the house just about, now it's beyond the pole barn which is 50+ feet long. My dad has a backhoe so that's why I'm looking to get a skid steer. No point in having the same machinery as everyone else and the skid steer should move dirt etc a lot faster than a backhoe and tons faster than hand shoveling xD. Even though it wasn't an efficient use of my time, it kept me busy and out of trouble and probably grew up with less bad habits because of things like that (no smoking, drinking, drugs, etc). I was using energy drinks for a while, quit those, used to drink pop like it was water, quit that too. About the only thing I have a bad habit of is I like sugary stuff yet, but I've been buying less of that kind of stuff. The pop thing is weird, I don't even really think about it when I don't have it, but if I have it, it's like every time I go for a drink, pop is #1 pick, so I just quit buying it and problem solved.

Anyway, back on the truck. I swapped out the multi function switch (blinkers, dim/bright switch, washer fluid) because it has a couple functions not working, well the replacement from the parts truck does the same thing. The functions worked fine on the parts truck, so the switch is likely good. There's some wire hack job work going on, not super terrible work quality, but clearly not done right. I recently bought access to Ford wire diagrams, so if anyone has a Ford and needs a diagram, shoot me a message before the subscription runs out (only 3 days and I'm on day 2 I think).

I don't think I mentioned it, but the fuel filter housing's drain valve has a small weep leak, I read there's 4 o rings in there. Guessing they are probably from when the truck was built. Front axle is a bit wet at the pinion area, could be the fuel leaking down the back of the block but not 100% sure.

For the grill block, I'm thinking of making a home made one. Make it similar to the ones that can be opened up for summer time, but maybe I can make it cover the whole front end with cut outs for the lights to actually seal up the front end fairly well. At the same time, could just focus mainly on the grill. Currently using cardboard, but ideally I'd have a grill cover so if it needs to cool the fan can pull air though the radiator yet.

Also, on my Toyota I saw no gain removing the clutch fan. My dad's been running his (same truck again lol) for years. He recently ran the truck for a while and got it hot, just enough to boil but not cause any damage. The diesel's fan is stupid heavy, I don't quite understand why the cooling fan needs to weigh like 50lbs. The fins are like 3/8in steel and the main frame the fins attach to are like 1/4in. With that much mass spinning, I suspect there could be some gains there. Either swap to electric, or maybe mount a lighter fan like from the Toyota trucks. Of course the toyota one is deisnged for a higher rpm engine, so might not pull enough air. Not really a big focus atm, but something to ponder on.

I haven't researched much on how the vacuum pump works, but in theory it shouldn't need to be running continuously, only when heater controls change, or the brakes are used. I suspect an electric one that automatically cycles could be good to lower the accessory load on the engine. The newer version of the truck uses a hydro boost setup for the brakes and all the heater controls are electronic controlled so no more vacuum pump for 99+. I've read a few times removing the accessory belt is good for about 10% better mpg, but with an engine of this size, I'd guess that figure would be a bit less. Of course the batteries have a large load on them and the alternator has quite a job to recharge them back up so after the initial start there's probably a lot more than 10% to be saved. Not willing to do an alternator delete due to the nature of these diesels needing a lot of power to start up.

Sounds like throwing a tune in the engine should give a solid benefit to mpg. From what I've read, the timing is advanced a bit and promotes more complete combustion. If I did anything with the WMO, it burns a lot better with advanced timing according to posts I've read. I guess WMO has a slower flame front than diesel.

Oh, I don't think I reported on the block heater situation. I bought a new cord for it, pulled the old one off and one of the terminals is loose so the block heater is also junk. I guess I should have checked that first, new block heater comes with a cord.