[V8] To Be Continued - I hope not!

[Dave Saad]

The electric cooling fan is expensive and hard/impossible to find. It is also rebuildable. 
If you do a preventive rebuild - clean it up, replace the bearing and brushes if needed, it will be good as new for about $10 in parts. Well worth the effort in my book.

Dave
Sent from my iPhone

On May 23, 2013, at 6:37 PM, ProfessorGT <cavallogt at gmail.com> wrote:

> Well, after replacing my engine last Sept, I've been driving my V8
> daily and taking the 4.5 hour commute from NJ to RI just about every
> weekend, and other than driving a stick in bumper-to-bumper traffic
> have been loving it.
> 
> This has not however been without incident, as I've had my share of
> frustrations along the way so far. Unfortunately we (wife and I)
> didn't make it to Carlisle, as there was was too much going on in the
> way of needed car repairs: Saturday was spent replacing a window
> regulator on my 97 Cherokee (daughter's ride), a high pressure
> hydraulic hose (fan and pwr strg) on the wife's 02 Grand Cherokee, and
> then Climate Control on the V8.
> 
> A couple of weeks ago I tackled replacing all the o-rings in the AC
> system, as well as a new accumulator, R-134a conversion fittings, and
> orfice tube, sucking the system down and then recharging. Well, the
> compressor wouldn't engage due to a code for an open high pressure
> switch. The problem turned out to be pin spread of the females at the
> high pressure switch connector. Other codes were present for low
> voltage, and an open outside temp sensor. Same deal on the female
> terminals for the outside temp sensor, so got those repaired as well.
> System was cycling and cooling properly, but electric cooling fan was
> found to be inop. (bad fan). Upon leaving the shop AC worked fine for
> a few miles, but then I smelled something burning. Was it me, or
> another vehicle? Shut down the AC. Couple miles later with no more
> smell I switched it back on, and then about a mile later the system
> went dark and was totally unresponsive! Ugh, the OW-DEE gremlins were
> messin' with my head again!
> Well this past Saturday, after dealing with the other rides in the
> stable, it was on to the OW-DEE! Common sense says for a total loss of
> power to the AC system, let's start at the fuse. Went to pull the 20
> amp fuse and it didn't want to release! Yanked it out and found that
> the fuse was not just popped, but was totally melted, and the center
> between the blades was charred! Good thing we didn't have a "thermal
> event"!
> Anyway, the blades show absolutely no signs of corrosion, resistance,
> or overheat, so the only conclusion I can reach is the fuse itself had
> an internal issue. This is obviously the cause of the low voltage
> code, which has not returned, and a simple fuse replacement has
> resulted in a sustem which has been working fine all week, including
> the 4.5 hour trip back to RI.
> I did replace the cooling fan so that is now working, but there is no
> connection between the 20 amp AC fuse and the cooling fan circuit that
> I can see. So, now at lease I can ride in comfort from a climactic
> perspective, and I'm smilin' about it.
> 
> On another front, I must digress to tell you of my braking woes, if fo
> no other reason than to warn you. Last sept/Oct I purchased new brakes
> for all four corners (except for rear calipers, thank GOD), including
> slotted, drilled and zinc-plated rotors, rebuilt front calipers, front
> and rear pads, and all four hoses. I delayed installing all these
> parts, as the pads that were on the car were almost new. The car sat
> since 2007 so there was lots of rust, so I disassembled them, cleaned
> and lubed things up. The pulsation eventually went away, but about a
> month ago, the R/F caliper began hanging up. I decided to replace the
> front brakes, so I installed all the nice new front brake parts. Low
> and behold, the R/F caliper was once again hanging up. It was not
> terrible, but dragging enough to glaze the front pads and heat up the
> rotor.
> I pulled it in the shop to diagnose the problem, and it came down to
> an issue with the caliper itself. (remember these were "rebuilt"
> calipers). It was difficult to remove one of the pistons, and upon
> doing so I found that whoever rebuilt them did a crappy job. Around
> the circumference of the piston bore were a series of dings which were
> handing the piston. All they did was abrasive blast the calipers, and
> replace the pistons, seals and boots. Problem was the dents/dings
> which raised metal and were binding the pistons. Guess they just
> jambed the pistons in and let it fly! I honed the bores to get a good
> fit replaced the seals and boots, and now all is fine.
> I mention all this because although I got a great deal on all the
> parts (about $240 delivered, for all Centric parts), I would never
> ofere another rebuilt caliper from these folks. They didn't even offer
> to supply the reseal kit at no charge, stating I was beyond their 30
> day warranty! I'm pissed!
> I will give them one opportunity to make good on it (send me new pads
> and another set of rotors, and I will be satidfied). The company I
> purchased all these parts from was Cequence.com They were real nice
> when they were taking my order, but refused to offer any support with
> the problems they caused due to inferior workmanship, not to mention
> all the BS I went through to get it straightened out.
> Once they respond to my request, I will follow up this post to let you
> know how I make out. I also will also post this on my facebook page
> because thus far they have refused to stand behind their products. I
> have to see if I can post a "recommendation" on their web site.
> 
> Anyway, the V8 is doing well, and the issue I'm dealing with now is
> trying to hund down the surging on accell which has recently
> developed. I understand this is common on these engines (3.6L) so any
> input is appreciated.
> 
> -- 
> Thanks,
> Professor
> CavalloGT
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