Two Stroke Motocross
Two Stroke Motocross Forum => Open Forum => Topic started by: Coop on March 25, 2011, 02:18:44 PM
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I bought a 1990 Dodge B250 van to use solely as a bike hauler. It's 3/4 ton with a 3.9l V6 and auto transmission. It has two issues I am curious about, well issues besides it just being a Dodge :D. I got it cheap so I am ok with putting some into it to fix this stuff.
1) The speedometer works fine but the odometer quit on my drive home. From what I can research online if the speedo works but not the odometer there is a good chance it is the odometer gear inside the instrument cluster. True or false? It is freezing outside right now or I would go pull the cluster and look. Hopefully I can this weekend.
2) The anti-lock light is on all the time. The brakes have a full pedal and it stops "ok". But the pedal is very hard to push and the van seems anemic in the stopping department. It feels like an older non power brake vehicle. I read these symptoms can be associated with a bad ABS hydraulic unit. I am going to have it put on a tester as soon as I can but figured I'd ask around first. Might be a week or so until I can see if there is a code.
Thanks for any advice. I am not a car/truck/van person and therefore never took time to learn how to work on them like I can bikes :) .
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I bought a 1990 Dodge B250 van to use solely as a bike hauler. It's 3/4 ton with a 3.9l V6 and auto transmission. It has two issues I am curious about, well issues besides it just being a Dodge :D. I got it cheap so I am ok with putting some into it to fix this stuff.
1) The speedometer works fine but the odometer quit on my drive home. From what I can research online if the speedo works but not the odometer there is a good chance it is the odometer gear inside the instrument cluster. True or false? It is freezing outside right now or I would go pull the cluster and look. Hopefully I can this weekend.
2) The anti-lock light is on all the time. The brakes have a full pedal and it stops "ok". But the pedal is very hard to push and the van seems anemic in the stopping department. It feels like an older non power brake vehicle. I read these symptoms can be associated with a bad ABS hydraulic unit. I am going to have it put on a tester as soon as I can but figured I'd ask around first. Might be a week or so until I can see if there is a code.
1- Most likely
2-Possibly.If I remember correctly,most 90's were just RWAL.You should have a sensor going in to the top of the rear dif and likely none on the front.Is that your set up?Could be a the rear w/s sensor but of that era,the abs pump would be suspect as well.90 is pre obd so info is limited.
Thanks for any advice. I am not a car/truck/van person and therefore never took time to learn how to work on them like I can bikes :) .
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Dump it and buy a ford econoline ;D
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My wife once had an Audi with brake problems similar to your Dodge and it turned out to be that the rear brake circuit proportioning valve was seized.Come to think of it my son's Ford Ranger had a defective brake booster pot and symptoms similar to yours.
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Thanks guys (except factoryx LOL).
I am not 100% ford what the setup is. I really just brought it home yesterday. I really don't care about the ABS since it is just rear ABS on this vehicle according the owners manual. If I could bypass that I would haha. But that hard to push brake pedal and slow stopping over 20mph are kind of scary LOL.
The ABS valve and Power booster are both pretty pricey. Is there any way to test them so I don't just go throwing money at the van? From what ford said it sounds like hooking it up to my brother-in-law's code reader is not going to work.
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RWAL might as well not be there for all the use it is.You have so little rear brake bias anyway that antilock on that is pretty much a waste of time-my truck has it as well.
Various issues will cause a hard pedal/poor brake scenario.Sachs suggestions are possibilities.After you shut the engine off,wiggle the hose at the booster as if you were going to take it out(gently as the plastic fitting is fragile) and you should hear a sucking sound if it is holding vacuum.More commonly,you have seized/partially seized off calipers or wheel cylinders.This gives a high pedal as they aren't moving but poor brake for the same reason.
Try jacking it up and spinning each wheel(in neutral so rear will spin) then have someone gently apply the brake with the vehicle off to ck for wheel(s) not holding like the others.
I'd be willing to bet this is your issue.
BTW, ABS will almost never cause the issue you describe though if your pump becomes restricted it's possible.If you want to unplug your unit and reroute your brake lines directly go right ahead.
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Thanks! I will try jacking it up and having my wife hit the brakes. Maybe today if it warms up any, haha.
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Have you pulled the wheels and inspected/measured the discs,drums,pads and shoes?I've worked on more then a few vehicles that wouldn't stop because the brakes were so badly glazed and discs and drums worn out. :D
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I haven't done anything yet. Too dang cold here the last few days and I am out of oil in the garage furnace. But I am leaning towards what ford said. I will keep everyone posted when I get a chance to look into it.
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Cold? Pbbffftttt.Geez Coop,I thought you were smarter than that.Obvious though it is,here's what you do-Send your wife out to jack it up and pull the wheels.Once ready,jog out and have a look then retreat to the house and slurp a hot toddy while watching her button it back up from the living room window-and shout instructions if needed.Too easy.At least that's what I'd do ;D
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Haha! My wife is not afraid to work on stuff, she removed an alternator once from a Jetta we had and I talked her through changing fork seals in my old Suzuki GS400 after my second back surgery. I think she would draw the line at what you suggest though :D :D .
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Now,now Ford,I'm all for gender equality and woman's rights but having your wife pull the wheels out in the cold and muck? You should be taking the lady out to the local fine diner,wine and roses and such.Are you sure you are not originally from N.Z.? ;D
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Now,now Ford,I'm all for gender equality and woman's rights but having your wife pull the wheels out in the cold and muck? You should be taking the lady out to the local fine diner,wine and roses and such.Are you sure you are not originally from N.Z.? ;D
That touchy/feely share your emotions crap may be the norm for Western Canadian "men" but is wayyyyyyyy too metrosexual for me.I"d get more excited with the old girl pulling the wheels in the cold and muck.I may have to move to NZ yet :D
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I may have to move to NZ yet :D
I'll be alerting customs if you do. :P
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Consider the "Touchy,feely" stuff a form of insurance,an investment in the future.When your partner has a mid life crisis you want to be in her good books. :-X :-X
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I may have to move to NZ yet :D
I'll be alerting customs if you do. :P
I'm bringing the mighty YZ with me.Be afraid.Be very afraid. ;D
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Consider the "Touchy,feely" stuff a form of insurance,an investment in the future.When your partner has a mid life crisis you want to be in her good books. :-X :-X
I don't believe in that hokey mid life crisis b.s. anymore than I believe women hitting their sexual peak at 40.Besides,how could she have it any better,she's got me. :D
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The time bomb is ticking. :o
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Hey,what's that ticking sound? Oh,the H with it,it's probably nothing..... ::) :D
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It is finally warming up. So on this list of issues:
1) Suckamundo brakes
2) Odometer not working
3) Battery drain when parked
I diagnosed #2 so far. After removing and disassembling the instrument cluster, it is the 20 tooth odometer gear that is broken. $28 freaking dollars for a new gear, that is only about 3/16" diameter!! I can't believe such a small piece of plastic is so expensive, but I want the odometer working again. I couldn't find a gauge at a junk yard to just salvage the gear out of it. According to the posts I searched on dogeforums it is a pretty common failure on the older vans.
Now hopefully later today or in the coming week I can tackle #1 & #3. I decided I am just bypassing that stupid RWAL because that also seems like a common headache on the B250's.
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Disconnect the positive terminal on your battery and hook a multimeter(set on amps) from the cable to the terminal to read your draw.Then start pulling fuses until the draw drops.At least this narrows it down to which circuit is the problem.Make sure your dome light is shut off before hand otherwise you'll show a large draw from the open door activating the dome light.I'm always happy with anything under about .2 A .Anything over that and you'll have issues.
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Thanks. I read that technique online and planned to use it. Nice to see someone else suggest it as a viable diagnostic technique. This drain is pretty large as it will completely drain a new battery in just a few hours while it sits. I don't know if a dome light would do that would it? I drove it home 2 hrs without issue, went out 3 hours later to start it to move it, dead. Checked the battery it was 0V, 0% so I bought a new battery and the same thing happened. Now I don't have a battery hooked up until I can find the culprit. Stupid Dodges ;D .
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Wow,that is a large draw.I only mention the dome light as many people have been stung chasing a draw and the dome light buggered up the readings while there was nothing wrong with that circuit.Typically,the fuses are under the dash so you have the door open to pull the fuses.The door switch closes the dome/courtesy circuit when open which shows a draw on the meter.Just make sure your door is closed when checking your readings.Also be aware that most meters are fused at about 10A so if you happen to pull your headlights on while in "test" mode you may blow the fuse in your meter.
I'd still ck with the fuse method but with that large of draw,the alternator is a possibility as well.You can try charging your battery then disconnecting all wiring to the alt and see what happens.Sometimes when the diodes go it will still charge but will also provide an almost direct path to ground for your battery.
As for Dodge trucks and vans,they were always a little more simplistic and crude compared to a Chev or Ford-but also easier to work on and more reliable.A good trade off imo.
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I was kidding about the Dodge comment. I actually like this van. And so far it has been easy to work on.
The fuses are in the glove box, so having the door closed shouldn't be an issue. Someone else mentioned maybe it's the alternator. I will try what you said and disconnect the alternator when checking for the source of the draw.
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I finally got around to checking the fuses with the battery in and the key out. The #7 fuse has about .5 amps draw. That 25A fuse is:
"Stop lamps, Cigar lighter, Buzzers, Auxiliary Heater and A/C, & Brake Module."
I did noticed that when that fuse is in and I connect the battery I can hear "something", it sounds like a light hissing sound or maybe a small motor running. When that fuse is out the sound is gone. It seems to be from the passenger side area around the engine where I can't see or that frame rail. I am wondering if my hard brakes/Anti-Lock light being on and this are related. Maybe that Brake module is bad? Is that a possibility for this battery drain issue?
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sounds like it to me.
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Possible but you need to track down the buzz.It may be one of your warning buzzers(door,lights etc) has crapped out and has closed the circuit consistently causing the draw.Find the noise(it may be under the dash on the inside of the van) and disconnect it and recheck your draw.
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Possible but you need to track down the buzz.It may be one of your warning buzzers(door,lights etc) has crapped out and has closed the circuit consistently causing the draw.Find the noise(it may be under the dash on the inside of the van) and disconnect it and recheck your draw.
I never thought about it being inside, I assumed it was on the engine where I couldn't see it. I keep forgetting that the engine is basically under the dash, doh! I will look today.
I have a BIG pine tree that got pushed over in a storm and a skinny little pine tree is the only thing keeping it from falling on and crushing my shed. So we are dropping it today. After that I was going to do some work on the van since it's finally supposed to be sunny and sort of warm.
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At the family home the house next door had a rental suite and one November night the wind started blowing.A young girl who was renting the suite was at home watching TV when down came a huge Hemlock tree.The tree fell across the corner of the house with a 1 ft. diameter branch puncturing the roof and coming to a stop inches from her head!She moved out that evening and I never saw her again. :o
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I lost a pile in a windstorm late in the fall.I'd only started cutting,lugging when they got snowed under.I've been having a go this spring but now the blackflies have hit with a vengeance-bah humbug.Rotten buggers in your eyes,ears and nose.It's no wonder the moose go insane :D
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We have a bunch of pines around our property and I hate them. The majority are dead/dying and keep breaking or getting pushed over in windy storms. I love trees, but I hate these pines. Luckily a friend of a friend used to work as a tree cutter. He has all the climbing gear, heavy ropes etc. So for a case of beer he dropped this one before it crushed my shed :D .
One also fell in our side yard in that same storm and it missed the house by 10' maybe. And that one was one I thought was a healthy tree lol. Did I mention I hate pine trees? :D