Misc Odds and Ends

So in keeping with documenting things a potential owner or current owner of a Bronco might want to anticipate... more little things I'll have to address and some tidbits.

There was a big accident in Dallas towards the end of June and I was idling it the Bronco for well over an hour.  When traffic cleared I found that I couldn't accelerate and it was behaving funny.  I was able to pull into a gas station and determine it wasn't a fuel issue.  It acted like the battery was dead but I checked it and it was fine.  Radiator was full though I did notice some white smoke before the engine died.  After waiting for a buddy to give me a rescue tow to his place it miraculously started!

On the advice of a friend I tested the fan clutch as it was likely the engine had overheated [the temp gauge hasn't worked since I bought the Bronco].  A simple clutch test is to see how hard it is to turn when the engine his hot.  There should be resistance.

The fan spins freely when the vehicle is cold (since you want the engine to heat up to an optimal temp) but once the engine is to temp the clutch will engage locking the fan clutch into the same rotation speed as the engine for optimal cooling of the radiator fluid.  So in my case I wasn't getting enough cooling of the radiator fluid and eventually I overheated.  Once the engine cooled and I was at highway speed the air cooling kept the fluid cool.  So $60 and about 6 bolts later problem solved.  I also picked up a water pump for $30 and a thermostat to have when the time comes.

Next issue after all that was one of my 33s went flat.  Plugged a hole and found another one I couldn't patch so I had to put the spare on.  So next up will be another spare 33" tire.  I can probably find a used one for $50.

Lastly, I noticed that the brake performance has been getting poorer and found that brake fluid was leaking from that same wheel that went flat.  So that means the wheel cylinder is leaking.  The generic store brand part is about $10 and you might as well do both sides.  The store brand brake shoes are about $20/side.  So you're looking at about $60 in parts plus labor.  I'll probably handle this one over the weekend.