No oomph! April 14, 2012, 11:36:17 pm Yahoo Message Number: 129851Okay, so we're tootling down the road at our usual 55mph with eye somewhat glued to the gas gauge because there's only one gas station between Wickenburg, Az and Kingman, Az and that's at Wickieup. We didn't fill up in Wickenburg because I didn't want to go out of my route on Highway 93. No problem, still a quarter tank and here's Wickieup just down this little hill. At the bottom of the hill I gave the old girl a little gas and, what? ? ? ? , no engine!!!!! With the little momentum from the hill, and no oncoming traffic, I muscled the wheel to the left and coasted into the dirt lot next to the Shell station rolling to a stop short of the pumps. Oh, oh. After about a dozen tries the engine still would not start. It turned over beautifully, but wouldn't fire. And Verizon doesn't work in Wickieup. I borrowed the phone in the gas station office and called AAA. About three hours later Mike's Towing showed up and, after disconnecting the drive train, towed us 58 miles to Kingman to Russell's RV and Auto Repair where they positioned us next to an electrical outlet and left us for the night. The next morning it took about 20 minutes or so to remove the Banks K & N air filter housing and the dog house inside the cab so they could see the engine and about 2 seconds to discover the wire had fallen off the coil. Joel replaced the wire and the old girl fired right up. We had them do an oil change/servicing since we were already there and $220 later we were on the road headed toward Lake Meade where we discovered that our generator wouldn't start. Arvrepair in Las Vegas fixed our generator by replacing the carburetor. They also wired in a fuel pump on/off switch so that when we don't use the generator for a while we can run the carb dry and store it without gunking up the carb. Nifty little switch. Our next adventure took place Friday the 13th. We should never travel on Friday the 13th. I don't know what I was thinking! We had a 30mph headwind, we're towing a jeep wrangler that somehow has gathered 'stuff' in it and we're most likely overweight after six months of living in our rig but even so, shouldn't we be able to go faster than 50mph on a flat road against the 30mph headwind and shouldn't we be able to go faster than 25mph even if it is up hill against the same headwind? It feels like our engine has no oomph! We are now parked in a casino parking lot in Primm, NV at the CA state line waiting until Monday to take ourselves back to Arvrepair in Las Vegas to determine what has impaired our ability to spring up hills in a single bound. We will post another chapter when it has occured. Sorry for the length of this missive. It has been cathartic, though. Carol and Linda Currently anchored in Primm 1991 MB, 2003 Wrangler
Re: No oomph! Reply #1 – April 15, 2012, 11:17:04 am Yahoo Message Number: 129854Carol and LindaWe pull a wrangler behind a 2006 30' IB We live in Ridgecrest Ca where wind like you describe is typical, sadly. We have been considering Banks to improve power up inclines. Headwinds for us decrease mileage more than anything else. We drop down to 40 mph in some areas. We have also had to drop to 25 on Tioga road west of Lee Vining Probably wouldn't tow on that road too We thought we bought an overloaded goose until we looked at the air filter. The poor girl had asthma. The filter was so plugged up with bees and grime that she was severely restricted. We drove through a bunch of bees and didn't think at all that we inhaled a bunch.Cheap thing to look at while sitting at Primm.Regards Lydia and Robin
Re: No oomph! Reply #2 – April 15, 2012, 11:39:37 am Yahoo Message Number: 129856Carol & Linda.... Would this be a Green MB?? Silver Wrangler with bikes?? I passed such a rig in south-western AZ and make lots of honking noises (I was in Ghost's Tracker). Hopefully all your problems are past and you have safe, hasslefree travels from now on!!!QuoteCarol and Linda Currently anchored in Primm 1991 MB, 2003 Wrangler Lisa and Ghost Rider temporarily separated..until Patagonia Lake 4/25!!
Re: No oomph! Reply #3 – April 15, 2012, 11:44:48 am Yahoo Message Number: 129858intilzha wrote: The filter was so plugged up with bees and grime that she was severely restricted. We drove through a bunch of bees and didn't think at all that we inhaled a bunch. --- Cleaning the air filter is an easy, cheap "performance check"; if it's dirty or clogged, use compressed air to blow it out or brush out the bugs and road gunk trapped deep in the filter folds with a stiff-bristled brush. (I use a 2" wide cheap paintbrush with the bristles cut to about half-length.) Replace the filter if necessary; check Rockauto.com for the correct application(s). (The Motorcraft FA1632 [application for 2000-2012 E450 V-1] is $10.73, much cheaper than the Ford parts store. Other manufacturers' air filters are listed; I use Motorcraft. YMMV) I've seen some air filters that were so clogged up that I was amazed that the rig would "go" at all!Joan
Re: No oomph! Reply #4 – April 15, 2012, 12:25:26 pm Yahoo Message Number: 129859"I've seen some air filters that were so clogged up that I was amazed that their rig would "go" at all!"Joan Fuel injected engines will continue to run cleanly until they cannot ingest enough air to keep running. The computer measure the air flow and precisely adds the appropriate amount of gas. Run an old carbureted engine in the same conditions and will belch black smoke and stop running much sooner. Gently sweeping bugs and debris out of an air filter, with a soft brush, is OK but stay away from the compressed air as it can easily blow small holes through the paper filter element, destroying its filtering capability. Filters are cheap, engines are very expensive. Best bet is to carry a spare filter in case a hive of migrating bees gets sucked into your LD's air cleaner. You usually know when this happens. We have run through air-borne migrating bees twice, requiring us to quickly stop and pull over due to the lack of visibility. Let me tell you that a windshield covered in dead and dying bees is a terrible mess to clean up. It's even worse for the bees.Larry
Re: No oomph! Reply #5 – April 15, 2012, 12:47:31 pm Yahoo Message Number: 129860Well, I got really excited at the thought that our problem might be due to a dirty air filter. But, alas, we have a K&N filter that has only 13,000 miles on it and since they usually go around 50,000 miles before they need cleaning it is unlikely that is the problem. I think we will wait for Mike at Arvrepair to take a look at the situation tomorrow morning. BTW, we do have a partial Banks system on our 1991 460 c.i. engine and it has definitely provided the ability to, comparatively speaking, leap up hills with a single bound --- until now, that is. Linda thinks it is something to do with the transmission since it seems reluctant to shift as readily as it has in the past. Hmmmmm, dunno.Carrerachic - Nope, not green. We are blue. So not us.....Carol and Linda '91 Blue MB, '03 Tan Wrangler
Re: No oomph! Reply #6 – April 15, 2012, 01:04:47 pm Yahoo Message Number: 129861"Larry" wrote: Gently sweeping bugs and debris out of an air filter, with a soft brush, is OK but stay away from the compressed air as it can easily blow small holes through the paper filter element, destroying its filtering capability. --- Larry, thanks for that "no compressed air" information; I hadn't thought of that particular vulnerability of the paper filter! I always clean the filter with the sawed-off paintbrush - don't have access to an air compressor - but I know that blasting the air filter with compressed air is SOP for shops (if they do it at all); air shot = fast. ;-)Joan
Re: No oomph! Reply #7 – April 15, 2012, 01:16:36 pm Yahoo Message Number: 129862Carol and Linda Many people I know have had problems with their Bank's system computer control modifications (Sarah B.recently posted here with Bank's problems). These were on 6.8 V10s and your LD has a 460 V8. Still, it is something you might want to check out. Unfortunately, it is difficult to troubleshoot and most mechanics will have no knowledge of how to do so so unless they have a spare module to swap in. This inability to be easily diagnosed, and the lack of quickly available parts, are reasons why I have never considered installing a Bank's. In most cases, leaving an engine in stock Factory trim will give the best over-all, long-term service. If is difficult for the after-market to beat the Factory engineering (and it hundred of millions in development money) when it come to fully understanding what will give the best overall performance, which is more than just additional power.LarryStock V10 and NEVER a K&N filter.
Re: No oomph! Reply #8 – April 15, 2012, 01:54:19 pm Yahoo Message Number: 129864"we have a K&N filter that has only 13,000 miles on it and since they usually go around 50,000 miles before they need cleaning it is unlikely that is the problem." I wouldn't assume that an air filter should last for a certain number of miles. As others have pointed out, driving through a swarm of insects, or a cloud of windblown dust, or any of a number of things, can drastically shorten a filter's life. (I once had a filter partially eaten by field mice!) In short, don't assume--open the housing and check. It costs you nothing to do so, and you just *might* find your problem. One good rule of troubleshooting is "Try the easy, cheap solutions first, even if they seem unlikely."Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/
Re: No oomph! Reply #9 – April 15, 2012, 02:26:01 pm Yahoo Message Number: 129866Quote Carol and Linda Many people I know have had problems with their Bank's system computer control modifications (Sarah B.recently posted here with Bank's problems). Larry - I don't believe the Banks mods to the our 460 c.i. has a computer module. We had a limited kit installed with RamAir, air filter, constant size exhaust pipe, muffler ---- just improved air flow, basically. No Trans-Command module, no computer chips that I am aware of. Basic stuff, really. But thanks for the thought and I'll investigate to refresh my memory of what they installed five years ago.Carol and Linda
Re: No oomph! Reply #10 – April 16, 2012, 11:42:34 pm Yahoo Message Number: 129911The mystery of 'no oomph' is solved. Our catalytic converter disintegrated and blocked the exhaust. We had the catalytic converter replaced and, because we are clueless as to why it burned up, we also had the O2 sensor replaced. We are poorer, but now back to climbing hills in a single bound. Our engine and transmission sound and feel smooth as silk but something must be amiss for the converter to burn up and fall apart like that. We will pursue the whys when we get back to Washington in May. Meantime we are back to tootling along in our wonderful, fantastic, comfortable, homey LD. If we keep this up, it will soon be new again... Regards all, Carol and Linda '91 Blue MB, '03 Tan Wrangler heading for the California Gold Country BTW, Kudos go to Double Eagle RV and Auto Repair in Las Vegas for diagnosing the problem quickly and accurately and then referring us to a less expensive shop for the repair. And to Best Muffler in Las Vegas who fixed us up perfectly in short order for a (somewhat) reasonable amount.
Re: No oomph! Reply #11 – April 24, 2012, 06:17:57 pm Yahoo Message Number: 130092Larry, what's wrong with a K&N filter ?Ted C.Strongsville, OH
Re: No oomph! Reply #12 – April 24, 2012, 06:30:12 pm Yahoo Message Number: 130095Ditto for Larry's reply on staying stock. I found out the hard way with my previous 6.0 liter Ford diesel.--* ** * ***James A Jackson*mobile: 909 553-4768home: 951 769-7665 ** ** **[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: No oomph! Reply #13 – April 24, 2012, 06:50:55 pm Yahoo Message Number: 130097K&N Air Filters let dirt
Re: No oomph! Reply #14 – April 24, 2012, 07:15:01 pm Yahoo Message Number: 130099Most horsepower increases are claimed at wide open throttle on a test bench. Not actual driving.
Re: No oomph! Reply #15 – April 24, 2012, 07:55:28 pm Yahoo Message Number: 130106Also the KN oil can clog or coat sensors in the intake if not properly applied when serviced!Sent by wireless
Re: No oomph! Reply #16 – April 24, 2012, 08:37:51 pm Yahoo Message Number: 130110Thanks Bob... scratch that off my list for sure
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