MOAB - Easter
Jeep Safari 2001
Well, I didn't have the time of my life as I was hoping
for. Moab spanked me but good (but not quite as hard as it did Super-D).
I pulled into Moab on Saturday afternoon, looking forward to a week full of
fun and adventure. There was plenty of adventure, but not so much fun...
It all started with a bad carburetor on the first day out (Sunday). We did the
spectacular Moab Rim trail, which was a lot of fun, except for the fact that I
couldn't keep the Jeep running. It was bad enough that I passed on the second
half of the day - Hell's Revenge. I hear it was fun.
Anyway, come Monday morning I decided to try and tweak
my carb a little. We were running the Helldorados - Both Lower and Upper - and
I knew that I wouldn't have any fun if I couldn't get running better. By the
time we were ready to leave, though, my carb woes were just beginning, so I
passed on that day's trip and worked on the carb instead.
I tweaked it all day long, and finally re-built it. I had JUST gotten it
dialed in. It would run almost straight up! Then it happened. As I was driving
back to camp from my test drive, I heard the vacuum lines let go. It sounded
like they ALL let go. So, I pulled into my campsite and jumped out and popped
the hood to see what was up. I lifted the hood and...FIRE. The engine was on
fire! I dropped the hood and grabbed my extinguisher. I re-raised the hood and
squirted the fire out. My engine was a mess.
At that point I was ready to give up, but as I looked at
the mess I realized I could recover. All of the vacuum lines had melted, and
one wiring harness, but that could all be repaired, and I had a book with a
decent vacuum diagram. So I went to work. By 9 PM that night I had everything
back together and it was time to fire it up. Crossing my fingers I hopped in
and twisted the key...success! It fired right up. I nursed it through warm-up
since the choke had melted in the fire, and then let it idle...hmmm...there's
an awful lot of smoke coming off the engine...
I grabbed my flashlight and took a look. Sure enough, there was oil pouring
out from under the valve cover right around where the fire had been.
<vent>Stupid AMC engineers...what were they THINKING when they designed
the engine with a friggin' PLASTIC valve cover???</vent>
So, from elation to devastation in under 3 minutes. I was ready to pack up
right there, but I was convinced to give it one more day, and try to get the
cover replaced or re-sealed. So, the next morning (Tuesday) I woke up and
trucked on down to Moab Off Road to see if they could help. They did indeed
have a metal valve cover to replace my old one. They got it in the shop that
afternoon and started work. One thing about those metal covers...they need
holes in the head to be tapped out to accommodate the new bolt pattern. I was
actually there watching when this happened...The first hole tapped out
ok...the second hole tapped out ok...on the third one I heard <SNAP>,
"oops". Believe it or not, the mechanic snapped the tap in my head,
making the new metal valve cover a dream. With a shrug he looked over at me
and said, "I guess we'll just have to try and re-seal your old
cover." HA!
So, he gooped it up with RTV and sent me on my way. I had to TOW it back to
camp because I had to let the RTV set for at least 2 hours before starting. I
decided to be safe and let it set overnight before trying to start it. So,
next day is Poison Spider/Golden Spike. I get up early and start it up to see
how it worked out. At first it seemed fine, but then a little oil started
leaking out. Not much, though, and I decided to continue on. A couple hours
into the trail, and I realized that continuing on was a mistake. But I was
committed to the trail, and there was no going back. By now the small leak was
a small flood. 4 quarts in 8 hours!!!! That was enough to make me just a
little frustrated. Oh yeah...I forgot the kicker...
When I pulled into McD's for the morning meet everything was great (except for
the small oil leak that would later turn into a flood). I went in, got food,
and came back out to wait for everyone else to show up.when it came time to
line up, I go to turn the key and...nothing...the key won't turn.
AUGGGHHHHHH!
After some tinkering, Julio was able to get it good enough to start and stop
the engine, but not much more. What ELSE can go wrong on this trip??? Well, as
it turned out, a lot.
So, back to the trail. We're cruising along the Poison Spider Mesa trail, with
my and my blue cloud of smoke. After a while I start to hear this weird
clanking sound coming from the front. It wasn't an axle sound, but more like
something had come loose. Everything seemed to be working ok, though, so I kept going. Finally we stopped for a break and I hopped out and took a look.
Oops...Randy! I need your welder! I had broken a spring hanger in the front.
We got me fixed up and kept on going. As the day wore on the leak grew worse,
and my carb started to act up again. At the very end, I could not get it to
idle, and it had 2 modes...above 2000 RPM or below 500 RPM..the power surges
were incredible. It was impossible to maintain a steady RPM between 600 and
2000 RPM. It just couldn't be done. By the time I got back to camp though,
that problem mysteriously disappeared...
There was one part of the day that convinced me that my problems were small
time...that was when Super-D did his rotating slinkey trick...but I'll leave
that for the trip report. I think Tom was our fearless leader that day.
At any rate, I had decided that I could live with my leak, and stocked up on
oil the next day. However, as I was driving to the meeting place, it was
expressed to me by a prominent member of the club (correctly, I'll admit) that
I was presenting the wrong image for the club, and that I should pass on the
day's activities. I spent 5 minutes in the McD's parking lot trying to seal up
the leak, and then realized that it was hopeless. So, I headed back to camp,
packed my things, and trucked right outta Dodge. Randy, I know you think I quit, and you're right. It just wasn't my week. So, where does that leave me?
With a broken Jeep and wounded Jeep ego? I think not...
I spent all this weekend putting my Jeep back together, and now it has a brand
new carb, a new sealed valve cover (no leaks - yahoo!), and a new ignition
switch. I'm good to go and can't WAIT to get back out. Randy, I know you think
I copped out, and maybe you're right, but it was a LOT nicer working on my Jeep in 75 degree weather, and it still took me all weekend to get it back
together. I would have missed it all anyway. As it turns out, I would never
have gotten my old cover to re-seal...The heat had cracked it in 3 places, and
had disintegrated the plastic in the immediate vicinity of the fire. No amount
of RTV would have sealed that cover. Luckily, my local Jeep dealer had a
replacement plastic cover in stock. Now it's running great, with no oil stains
to mark every stop.
Whew....I feel better.
Pete