Re: General maintainance assistance, please

[jlandry@domain.elided (John A. Landry)]

The black helicopters hovering over the house recorded Nick Cuskey
<ncuskey@domain.elided> whispering:

>I just got my first scout, and I'm so happy.  It is a '77 traveler, but
>it has some problems.  

Not problems... opportunities for quality time with your truck!

>Under the hood, there is this really strange squeeking sound.  I put
>some fan belt lube on, but that didn't help.  It is coming from the
>front, on the passenger side.  Right in that corner.  A/C bearings?

Very likely it's going to be the A/C compressor clutch bearing or possibly
the alternator.  I had a mild squealing sound similar to what you describe
when my bearing failed.  I just had to replace the bearing in my A/C
compressor (used as an air compressor) clutch.  The bearing had become
brinnel hardened and internally disintegrated.  The replacement bearing was
$22.00 and I installed it myself using common mechanics tools.

You may be able to better isolate the sound by purchasing a mechanics
stethoscope.  Place the tip of the stethoscope on the non-rotating portion
of the compressor clutch and then the body of the alternator.  Hearing a
grind / crunching sound will help pinpoint the problem.

An alternative is to remove the A/C belt and see if the sound disappears.

>The
>brakes are a little tricky.  You have to really lay into them.  Almost
>like they are manual, not power, but the vaccuum drum is there.

I had the same complain when I first bought my Traveler.  I completely
rebuilt the brakes a few months after I bought the truck, and they still
are pretty "heavy."  I have since discovered through testing and comparison
with other Scouts that everything seems to be working properly.  I
attribute the heavy feel of the brakes to the shear weight of the truck
verses other much lighter vehicles you may be more used to and are using
for a comparison.  My Traveler weighs about 4800 pounds unloaded.  My
wife's Subaru wagon maybe weighs half that.

You should definitely invest in an IH shop manual and go through your
brakes, but don't expect the heavy feeling to ever go away... you're
driving a *real* truck!

>The
>heater works, sometimes.  It starts out strong, but then fades off until
>it stops with this weird charcoal smell.

Hmmm... sounds like maybe the blower motor is having problems?  The first
thing to do is check to see if it is working properly.  Then you may want
to replace the heater control valve located in the heater hose leading to
the heater core.  Next, make sure the heater core isn't blocked by debris
(leaves and such) and you may even want to remove and have the core back
flushed.  The heater core is simple to remove to clean.

>Does anyone have any quick fixes, tips, help, or anything for these
>problems?

Get a shop manual!!!  Read the FAQ... read the Digest... read the web
pages!  A good starting point on the web is http://www.binderbulletin.com/
After you read everything at that site, follow the web ring to hit all the
good IH web sites.

>Good to be in the club,

Welcome.

Regards,

John
------------------------------------------------------------------------
jlandry@domain.elided             |
Conservative Libertarian        |  Scout(R) the America others pass by
Life Member of the NRA          | in the Scout Traveler escape-machine.
WA Arms Collectors              |
Commercial Helicopter - Inst.   | 1976 Scout II Traveler "Patriot" model
http://www.halcyon.com/jlandry/ |     1977 Scout II Traveler (Parts)