If you've ever heard the phrase, "If you want something done right, do it yourself." then you'll be able to relate to this.

My IP was leaking a little, really just dripping, when the engine was cold at the KSB valve and between the head and the main body. So figuring I want to have it totally resealed, everything checked and the timing set to 1.6 I'll take it to a professional diesel shop. There's 3 around here that can do it so I took it to the one that is just around the corner from work. They tell me a couple days. OK, I got it there around noon on a Tuesday. After stopping by three times I don't get it back until 4 o'clock on Friday. I need my truck for Saturday as I was bumming rides to work which is 40 miles away from home and I had no ride for Saturday.

So I bust my butt, get it on and running, drive it around the block, it runs good but when I get back to the shop I see I have a new fuel leak. Looks to be coming from around the top housing where the governor spring is. I try tightening the screws to no avail. By now it's about 7 o'clock and I have to leave as they're locking up the shop. At least my ride was nice enough to wait for me so I go home.

So I have the little woman take me to work early on Saturday as she had to be at her job by 7:30 which is much closer to the house. Of course there's no one here until about 7:30 so I'm waiting around in the 'hood, in the dark for about an hour. This is really a bad area around here so I'm not comfortable at all.

So when I get into work I start checking it out and I see it's leaking from the steel ball on the inside of the AFC housing that seals the shaft. So I pull the housing off, drive the ball in a little deeper, pour some fluid over it and blow air from the inside around the shaft. Still leaking, so I go a little deeper, recheck and still leaking. All in all by the fourth time it finally appears to have sealed. I reinstall the housing, get it running and all is good.

I drive the truck all the next week and weekend, no problems, runs good, I'm happy, and then Monday I'm driving home and looking at the fuel gauge, something isn't right. 207 miles and less than 3/4 of a tank. I'm still about 20 miles from home on the highway. Well it's going down faster and faster as I get closer to home. I stop at a red light and when I leave I look back and there is a huge puddle on the road. Not good. I get home, pop the hood and fuel is just gushing out from the inside of the IP again. I look but can't really see where it's coming from. I park it in the grass, shut the hood and go inside, I'm a little ****** at this point. I eat, shower and go to bed.

2 o'clock this morning I get the bright idea to look up pics online and see exactly what is back there, I knew about the 3 sided bolt but I didn't think it was leaking there. Ah ha, the cover plate on the other side of the KSB valve might be it. So I go outside with my flashlight and start checking it out. Yep, I can see one of the screws that hold the cover plate on backed out about 1/8 inch. It's impossible to reach with the pump installed so now I get to go home after work, thanks for the ride Jon, and pull the pump off in my driveway, oh yeah did I mention it's supposed to rain today and tonight and turn near freezing cold?

Yeah, I'm a happy man right now. I paid $420 and some change to get a resealed pump back that had/has not just one new and worse leak than when I gave it to them but TWO!

Needless to say next time I'll buy a few tools and do it myself.

 

All I can say is that it's good that you had the knowledge and skills to approach and resolve your IP problems without having to return to the original repair shop time after time. As difficult as it can be without your wheels and depending on someone else for rides to work and so on I doubt if I would have handled the matter as well as you appear to have done. Can you imagine how frustrating the process would have been for a non wrench turner?

I read your post about how your handle came to be "Angry Johnny". I like the handle

Cheers!

Mike

 

Thanks Mike.

Yeah, I know it's got to be frustrating. I try really hard not to make mistakes but they happen. I wasn't all that upset at the first leak, stuff happens but the second one really got me upset. At this point if it had to go back to the shop that resealed it they would be paying a hefty tow bill. I don't want to take it back there if at all possible though. I really don't want them touching my heap.

 

If it's any consolation, I've never heard of someone completely resealing an IP who gets it perfect the first time. There are just too many seals that could go wrong, not to mention bolts and pins, etc. When I did mine I had to toake it off atlest 3 times.

A good lesson is to have a spare car or truck ready for at least a couple of weeks after the reseal.

 

Man that sucks Johnny...sorry to hear that they didn't do it right. But as you say, "If you want it done right....do it yourself!"

I screwed up my first IP re-seal...no leaks, but shattered the thrust washer between the cam plate and piston head...which then cracked the piston heads and ruined my IP.

The re-seal job is not that hard. The IP appears more daunting then it really is. Take your time, take 100's of pictures as you take it apart, and keep everything spotless and clean as it goes back together.

 

Ya know the thing was that all though I knew I could do it, it wasn't practical for me to do it. I didn't have the tools to set the timing or get those 3 sided bolts out, plus I wasn't comfortable with knowing everything I needed to look for as I don't do diesel work as part of my daily routine anymore. It just seemed that with the lack of knowkedge plus the time I would have spent doing it and not making any money at work I would have been better off having a pro do it so I wouldn't have to worry about it. Oh well, live and learn.

I got it off this morning, pulled the plate and the o ring was torn so I went back down the place that did it, they were very apologetic and gave me a new o ring, gasket and crush washers. It's all better now and runs great. But I still missed a day of work and about 12 gallons of fuel.