Muchacho Polaco

Alex was back at the house today. This time for the truck. We are in no short supply of mechanical needs it seems.

The truck has been running rough for months, ever since a return trip from Mexico late last year. Before departing San Carlos, I added some Slick40. I’ve used this product before with success, so I assumed I’d experience the same. That was not quite the case.

Since that return trip. The idle has been running high and it sounds a bit like a lawn mower.

It didn’t take too much work to determine the problem. There are little bronze valves in the intake manifold that regulate air flow. I was missing five of those valves. Not good. Apparently the Slick40 (or something else) had contributed to the screws loosening and the valves dropping out. Fortunately, they didn’t fall far and were found (including all ten screws).

Here are some of  the valves. They were totally black by being covered in carbon deposits. I spent some time cleaning them to bring them to beautiful luster seen below.

Once cleaned, I re-installed them (I was Alix’s helper today). The intake manifold also was saturated with thick carbon. I took the power sprayer to it which proved highly effective.

Sadly, I ordered the wrong gasket last week, so we were not able to put everything back together today. I just ordered the proper parts online and Alex will return when I receive them.

I also had him change the spark plugs. Some of them literally fell apart when they were being removed. Awesome. Alex wondered how the truck even ran. Historically, we don’t use this vehicle for much, other than trips to Mexico. Still, it’s incredible that we haven’t ended up on the side of the road on one of those trips.

So he will return next week. I’ll have him finish this job. I also need him to change the fuel tank sending unit as well, along with the fuel filter.

He spent the entire day here and it only cost me $70. That’s what I’d pay for one hour at a shop.