Road Trip Woes

[89TownAce]

I'm currently on vacation, I took my family up to Monterey from the LA area. Not sure of the miles, but it was around 8 hours driving. Before I left I changed all the fluids and filters. Van ran like a champ all the way up, but the next morning I found a puddle of fuel under it. Looks like it's leaking from the fuel pump and possibly one of the injectors as well. Add to that today a screeching sound has begun at around 2k rpm when under throttle. I can't tell if it's a belt, the alternator or the turbo itself. I also can now hear my brake pad feelers scraping the rotors.

So assuming I'm still road worthy enough to make it home this is my game plan when I get back:
New brake pads, possibly turn rotors.
Fix fuel leaks
Find screech, if alternator then rebuild it, if turbo then replace it with eBay turbo
New belts
New timing belt just in case (at 185k now)
Replace valve cover gasket if I can find one...small leak on this one

I don't have the time these days to do the work myself so I'm having a trusted shop do the work. I estimate this is going to cost a pretty penny, around $2500 so I'm actually selling my 1993 Dodge Dually to fund it. I also gained a couple nasty dents from a bicycle accident on my rear hatch. My sliding door doesn't match very well and my front end is weathered....so I might also be doing a full repaint in a custom color! Rims are going to be powder coated satin black. Van color scheme is tentatively Concrete grey, with black lettering and orange accents. I'm nervous/excited, but I want to have the most reliable and unique little van in my state. No other vehicle has made me this happy and it deserves my attention.

Am I crazy? Any other suggestions?

[Gunflint]

Sorry to hear you are running into issues on your trip. Please keep us informed with how all of this goes....maybe start a thread documenting all of your findings?

Hope all goes well!
Matt

[fuquan]

Yeah. You could start a blog in the Van Blogs section. Good luck.

[Gunflint]

Oh yea and for that screech.....

Check to see if your crankshaft pulley is loose. Probably not, but I have heard rumors of this happening. It will take a 19mm socket if I recall.

Matt

[89TownAce]

Hmm that would be too easy! I'll check that first this morning. The good news is I made it home and the noise never got worse. Other than the screech and a leaky fuel pump the van was a champ and the dual AC worked the whole time.

I'm going to go ahead and get the alternator rebuilt and put a new timing belt on just for piece of mind regardless of what I find.

Now I'm off to search the forums for rear spare tire rack options. I want a full sized spare to match my 26" a/t's.

[Gunflint]

Glad to hear the rest of the trip was smooth. Keep us updated!

Matt

[89TownAce]

Update: Screech turned out to be the exhaust manifold gasket. Also, after taking the van to 2 shops and being declined by 3 others over the phone I finally found a local shop willing to work on my Ace! Their name is (ironically) Ace Motorsports in Upland, CA. The owner Dave and his crew went crazy over my van, they want to buy it off of me, but I told them it's a keeper.

So this week I'm having the following work done:
- Exhaust manifold gasket
- Turbo oil line replaced
- Valve cover gasket
- Fuel pump removed and all leaks repaired
- New brake pads all around
- New rear shocks
- Rims powder coated satin black

Next week I'm getting an estimate for a total respray in "Cement Gray" which is a Toyota color. This van is going to be so sweet when I'm done. Also, Ace is going to get started on a custom roof rack and side ladder. I'm doing very unique LED spot lights on the front of the rack...you guys will see it when I'm done.

[adamh]

did you have the work done? how is the van, did they re-skim the manifold when fitting a gasket?.

do they still want to have it after working on it :lol: ?

[89TownAce]

They still have the van. What they thought was an exhaust leak sound was what we think the bearing in the turbo. The turbo is being replaced. I was supposed to get the van today, but I haven't heard from them. I highly doubt they want the van now haha.

[adamh]

They still have the van. What they thought was an exhaust leak sound was what we think the bearing in the turbo. The turbo is being replaced. I was supposed to get the van today, but I haven't heard from them. I highly doubt they want the van now haha.

exhaust leak noise normally a high pitched repetative chirp like a small bird. turbo dying sounded exactly like a police siren going up and down in pitch with the accel/decel, they go in many ways i guess, that was my experience.

do you have a boost gauge fitted?. 5-7psi what i get with an old toyota turbo 5 psi just cruising, 7 when on throttle. the chinese one spooled alot quicker but made the same figures.

[ratatouille]

bump bump. How'd the work from the guys in upland turn out? In socal as well so im interested how they did... and your rack with ladder and led's? cheers

[89TownAce]

Ace Autosports did good work. My van has zero fuel or oil leaks now. My whistling ended up being a warped exhaust manifold, but I replaced the turbo anyways. I machined the manifold myself at my shop.

You could try Ace for your Towny, and if you do ask for Dave. However he was pretty sick and tired of my van by the time I picked it up so I'm not sure he'll want to work on another. Also, my injection pump died about a week after Ace worked on it. Can't say it's related or not, but very coincidental if not.

Just finally got my van back on the road.

Whatever you do, DO NOT TAKE YOUR VAN TO UNITED DIESEL IN SOUTH EL MONTE!!!! Trust me. I'll get into that more after the dust has settled with my insurance agency...yeah it was pretty bad.

Current plan for bumpers and rack are getting them custom made somewhere else. Still searching.

[spacelegovan]

bump bump. How'd the work from the guys in upland turn out? In socal as well so im interested how they did... and your rack with ladder and led's? cheers
interested in the rack build too!

[nomoneymike1]

I have a 91' LiteAce and just yesterday what I believe is the turbo starting making a screeching noise just like a belt would. I opened the hatch and confirmed the sound is not coming from the belts, also the timing of the sound is when the turbo kicks in. Turbo inspection coming shortly.

-Is the turbo hard to access?
-Any tips on what to look for?
-Are eBay turbos the only option?
-Are OEM available?
-Are eBay turbos crap?

My LiteAce only has 70K miles on it so it is concerning that it is making this noise.

BTW- I did change the oil a couple of days earlier. Maybe the oil level is low. Could that cause the noise if the turbo in not sufficiently lubricated?

All the Best,
mike