This 1995 Chevy medium duty truck dies every 5-10 minutes while in use. It turns out to be another wiring nightmare. Go figure... Send us a postcard: Watch Wes Work P.O. Box 106 Fulton, IL 61252 Send us an email: mail@watchweswork.com
I thoroughly enjoy the wiring diagrams. So many people I know skip the pen and paper step and get confused when wiring. It's so simple to do, takes 5 minutes, and saves hours! And your diagrams look awesome.
I agree, it's really not that difficult. May make mistakes if somebody is hanging over you shoulder or making you hurry but otherwise its rewardign work.
I had a background in EE (RF) before ending up in the auto service business and being able to read and understand electrical circuits and schematics/diagrams has been a huge help many times. Too many parts changers out there nowadays that can't read diddly squat and just load up the parts shotgun and let 'er have both barrels until something works.
The high fan current was likely from the old fan being seized. Just replacing the fan might have eliminated the high draw. But as usual you went the full Monty. Next time it seizes it won't take down the ship. Nice.
Looked at another way, next time it seizes nobody'll notice and it'll do whatever expensive thing that heat exchanger is there to prevent, instead of helpfully causing the 'truck shuts down' condition.
Your ability to delve into the madness of someone else's making, figure out their line of thinking, and make solid repairs always blows me away. If I had to repair that mess I would of ripped it all out and started over
I worked for 33 years for an equipment rental company as a road mechanic and always loved coming across the dodgy shop repairs (all sarcasm intended). My favorite line to use on my boss was “you’d almost think I knew what I was doing “. He’d just roll his eyes and walk away. I did love that job though. I’m retired now enjoying your videos. 👍👍👍
I had a mechanic friend that was troubleshooting an electrical short on an aftermarket flatbed on a chassis. He was frustrated by his lack of being unable to duplicate the issue. His frustration resulted in him kicking the bed, and the sparks flew, allowing him to find the culprit.
It brings boundless joy to my heart to watch you open that hose clamped junction box and realize instantly what was about to happen. This entire episode is so close to home for me that I laughed out loud at almost every single scene you cut together. Excellent. LOL. Happy Sunday from across the river.
MrAPC, you took the words right outta my mouth !lol 40 years doing Marine and Auto electrical and we've seen it all. Other half wonders why I talk to WES while diagnosing ! :)
Most mechanics seem to run from electronic issues, you calmly (or at least in the edited version of the video) just go step by step and figure it out. Nice job, it is fun to watch you figure things out. The area around you is lucky to have you.
Nice to see such a variety of "what a mechanic runs into" - Rainman Ray for his "doodle do" and "never any rust, but heat-related issues" ( in Florida) - Eric O (South Main Auto) with his "NY rust belt" problems and practical, and step-by-step diagnostic know-how - Wes with his "who else would SEE, let alone WORK ON - a Crop Duster chase truck?" wiring mess... in rural area (hard to get parts where he lives).. All entertaining, watching ~~40+ years - and 3 life-times of real-world experiences... and ingenuity ... ... that you'd never know of - or see - living in just ONE area of the country. We all appreciate the time & effort it takes to DO THIS WORK - let alone - make all this great content (with humor) and get glimpses of the day-to-day life in a shop .. it's priceless. Gotta love it.
Way to go Wes!!! Not only did the Dealer not get the repair job, but their award winning attitude cost them the parts sales as well. Being able to think on your feet is one of the things that differentiate Mechanics from Parts Changers. The down side is that it's so easy to burn hour of time on the internet sourcing parts for a simple cooling fan. Best of Luck.................
Customer service is almost a thing of the past, no wonder the local distributor went out of business with company support like that. 😞 Wes you're the real deal!!!
Another great video Wes. It seems like some companies go the hard way with their installations just so they can charge more because it took more time? Then cut corners like no grommet install to save time. Gets the customers out the door with guaranteed problems later for a repeat return customer. Your electrical diagnostic skills are top notch and I admire the thought process you go through. The fan install was 1st rate also. Doing the job right is not going the extra mile, it’s called professionalism!!!
Tanks for explaining what they were using the truck for, I’m a farmer from Norway and it’s quite some different agricultural your having over there😊 thanx for good content and keep it coming👍👍👍
When I was farming I’d do the same thing, planted grain sorghum in late June, then in mid October, fly wheat seed on & have winter wheat pasture for the cows. I hope that this makes sense to you. We’d work the land pretty hard.
That was interesting to see. Wes ,you always seem to get some good wiring jobs 🙄. But you just have to love dealing with manufacturers that won't talk to people unless they are dealers. At least the fuse did its job and they didn't end up with a electrical fire. Thanks Wes for sharing and have a great day👋
I worked on a friend's boat years ago with a 3116, it would run 30 seconds and stall, hand prime fuel through mechanical pump it'd restart, rinse & repeat. Turned out the unit injectors were fed through drilled fuel passages in the head and sealed off between the head, injector & combustion chamber by yellow metal cups that the injectors seated in. They apparently like to crack and let combustion chamber pressure into the fuel passages after running a bit. That motor grenaded itself a few months after we got all that straightened out anyway, swallowed one of its own valves, bounced it around inside the affected and adjacent cylinders then spit the whole mess through the turbo. Good times.
Great video! re: Hard start. I think a lot of those CAT engines have a check valve in the pump plumbing, that prevents the fuel from leaking back out and loosing prime. hard starting is a common symptom of that problem.
Right! When that check valve allows fuel to seep from near the engine back to the tank, it takes extra time to get that fuel back up to the engine. On my big truck, the check valve was way back behind the engine, and had to take the "dog house" off to replace it. Some years later on something totally unrelated, I had the heads off and the mechanic mentioned that it might be a good time to replace that check valve because he could very easily replace it. BINGO!!! I thanked him and had it replaced even though it was not causing any problems.
Wes, your definitely my favorite mechanic to watch on RU-vid and this so because your humor is fantastic and your content is educating, entertaining, and diverse. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention your wife’s delightful and helpful contributions, and the dog’s, too. 👍❤️🔧
I shared your site with my older brother that recently passed, he told me thanks many times that he really enjoyed watching a man that probably forgot more than any other mechanic on the Tube ever learned. Pretty high praise from another gone soul. Keep up the great work Wes. Your my favorite channel on the tube!
I’ve seen so many people do what I call FIGE jobs “ F it good enough … “ , I make good side money cleaning up their hack jobs and cleaning it up properly like you do. Hats off sir
Commonly referred to as a "loader truck". Our loader had a single pipe held by chains that was lifted and lowered by a winch. I spent many an hour running that truck and it was all designed and made by my dad!.
Wes - marketing suggestion. For your shop you can take a page from the Statue of Liberty and have a slogan for your business. "Give me your run down, mis-wired, poorly running, tangled mess of a vehicle ..." It seems that they find their way to you anyway so why not invite them in? While these projects likely are extremely frustrating for you, your videos are fantastic. Educational, informative, and humorous at the same time. Thanks for sharing this one.
Great video!!! Your diagnostics and walking through the issues is amazing, and then you telling us how and why is really captivating. I look forward to the next one!!!
After that mind-numbing and no doubt want to be fuse-blowing, no grommet, unprotected wiring disaster, your wiring diagram and subsequent installation was so clear, obvious and superior. Suddenly it all made some logical sense, that had been so lacking before. The heat exchanger 'deal' you were offered was simply absurd, I guess your fan cost less than 10% of the dealer quote. Too much work for a truck that wanted its pension book and a funeral pyre, but you came through, thoroughly entertaining and satisfying to watch.
the item you point out as a pump is the governor, think two stroke detroit, same with the injectors and it has a rack like the two stroke, change the filter by the tank under the cab, usually behind the fender, everyone either forgets about it or dont know its there,
Always amazes me how people stack everything on one circuit that can't handle the current that is needed. And than they wonder why it only works for so long... Thumbs Up!
You are a great teacher, but what I love the most is your ever increasing frustration as you triage your work. You give me a good chuckle, and I hope you get a good chuckle at the conditions of some of these vehicles. People like you make work worth working and life worth living. Keep up the great work!
I hope that you are taking some pictures, and keeping a record of your top 10 sketchiest wiring encounters. Although you might have to increase that to top 20.
Question ? Do the people ever go back & watch your videos about their repair ? I mean like when they bring you job's with crazy wiring & no diagram or engine's that don't start ? Any how, I enjoy watching your videos. Wishing you & your family noting but the best ! From Brooklyn N.Y. 😃 !
I think you should belong to a Mensa wiring program. I have difficulty putting batteries in a flashlight let alone figuring out those messed up wiring things. Great video as usual and thank you for them.
Ive seen upfitter shops do much more butchery hack work then farmer ever could. Farmers work with they have, upfitters dont get to use that excuse except for cheap corner cutting lazy
I work a lot on this engine if I had to address the hard starting I would start with the check vavle in the fuel filter housing do a leak back test on it
The stuff you have to deal with. I work on industrial electric motors. We are repairing quite a few at a significant cost to the customer because the lead times on replacements are in the 30+ week range. Oh and another benefit of covers crops is their ability to affix nitrogen into the soil.
Hey Wes. I recently ran into your channel and I have really enjoyed it. I like that you don't typically half ass repair things and want to fix it correctly the first time. Too many of us have suffered from a vehicle that had been screwed up by a hack mechanic/s. Having wrenched on old, classic VW's for decades as a hobby, it's amazing the amount of butchery you find from previous "professional" mechanics. Too many other RU-vid automotive fix it or will it run channels have "mechanics" that seem perfectly content in doing things half ass or cut corners sending the wrong message to their viewers in my opinion. My Dad use to say to me "if you can't do it right the first time, don't do it at all".. To bad such a high percentage of current "professional" mechanics don't live by that motto.
Some people shouldn't be allowed to own wire cutters 😳. Always run relay's try to stay away from factory harness tap off battery with fuse at battery unless you need a toaster put pilot light on circuit to remind you to turn off or put a battery disconnect on new feed from battery to shut down aux circuit. Tons of electrical work on class 8 trucks some of that will make you talk to yourself
I like the Can-Do attitude that you will work on anything and solve it. It seems that the owner would want you to solve All the wiring issues so the truck wouldn’t burn 🔥 to a crisp but it is what it is. Looking forward to seeing the next video Wes.
I just love sitting down in the morning with my coffee and a new episode of Watch Wes Work. Your episodes are like a good mystery novel, blended with a Hallmark romantic movie. There’s a surprise with suspense in the beginning but we know there will be a kiss at the end. As for the mystery of Cat engines, you might want to take a look at the Adept Ape’s RU-vid channel. He’s a Cat expert and has a lot of good Cat service content.
@@WatchWesWork Wes you would not have liked the 5 v16 1000hp generator sets we had at the computer centre plus a v12 same output for standby power ( yes it was a UK banks main computer centre ( 1.5 mw for the HVAC and 1 mw for the IBM doodads
@@WatchWesWork 👍🏻. I have a 2004 Cat C7 acert in a motorhome and I have come to the conclusion that while the C7 is an electronic engine, any issue cascades quickly into an avalanche of dollars. A turbo failure led to a Heui pump failure and while doing that I found that the front end needed parts. Sigh. Thank you for all the work you put into your videos. Especially the sarcasm. Makes my day.
Electronic gremlin is a lot of fun especially when you are chasing it down from someone else work great job and video God bless keep up the good work from GA
The joys of having older trucks in Illinois. Finding a ground is fun. I have an old McHenry County tandem that's more rust than metal. Wanted to use some of the evaporust but I'm afraid my truck would dissappear.
Also, to your struggles with finding parts or anything resembling customer service from vendors? Yea, it's a real joy these days, isn't it? Between businesses being short staffed and struggling with high turnover to the supply chain nightmares due to corporate America offshoring all manufacturing, it's amazing we can get anything done today.
Drives me crazy when people blame everything on politics. It's greed. Companies have no conscience when it comes to screwing their customers/employees. Must get the maximum profit!
@@gailtaylor1636 Sadly I agree with you. Corporate greed from the C-suites of American companies is running rampant and average Americans are paying the price. I'm all about capitalism. However, our American capitalism is so corrupt, broken and unrestrained with no accountability from our government. Hell, how could politicians hold these companies/individuals accountable? These politicians are on their payroll since they got elected with their campaign donations in the first place. Great system!
It's all complicated. We have a 300 unit apartment complex under construction in Austin. Subcontractor was able to deliver all the windows from an MN factory, but the same factory could not deliver doors at the same time, as their hinge subcontractor couldn't deliver. Hard to "dry in" like that. The 24 unit complex 15 minutes' away has door & windows (different sub & supplier) but can't get light fixtures . . .
Can you believe someone built this entire complex rig themselves? Amazing! all the hydraulics, wiring, the huge frame to support it all, I know the wiring wasn't perfect (probably worked for 20 years until the fan seized) but thats a helluva project for DIY Farmer to use for one small period of time a year (I assume) I want to see it in action!
It's amazing to see how these companies just lose money for the most inane reasons. I needed to warranty a sight for a pistol, and the company has a no questions asked replacement policy. 2 hours later and 3 emails and it was in the mail Monday. Meanwhile the manufacturer here only sells to dealers, the dealers only communicate through emails a day later, and refuse to sell you the part on its own. Sure. I absolutely WON'T throw a Chinese made fan on there I bought for 100.
If it makes you feel any better, the company I work for occasionally sends small replacement parts for free because the time spent invoicing and payment processing isn't worth the cost of the parts themselves.
My uncle worked part time on and off doing most of the diesel trucks, tractors, etc. for a small city in Arkansas for 30 something years. I asked him once what was the hardest diesel he had to work on -- Cat, Cummins or IH. His reply was that the hardest diesel to work on was the one that had been hacked up, jerry rigged, and redneck engineered by a bunch of other yahoos before he got ahold of it. Been in the auto repair business for ~20 years now and that's still some of the best mechanical advice I ever got.
Your bantering is classic. Trying to figure out a cluster f@@k always takes on issues, but Wes you always have amazed me with your results, that's why I love your videos.
1:18 Yes the 3116 and 3126 were mechanical. Common fuel rail with a rack to move all 6 injectors. 2:30 Yes that is a fly back diode. 22:31 Thank you for making the brackets. There is enough "Who did it and ran" done to this.
I wanted to see you start it up. I was curious to know if removing the load on the ignition circuit would help…maybe the shutoff solenoid gets enough power now to start properly??? I’ve noticed something similar on my 3116. If I have a Weak battery it won’t crank normally, but cranks great with remote start button, however starts real hard b/c the starter consumes so much power the shutdown solenoid won’t let fuel through, I think. With a fresh battery I have no problems. Great vid!!
Great vid as always.... u went out of your way to solve the issue as usual....best part is, the heat exchanger people, being how they treated you, lost a sale on a part due to being stubborn. 👍 Keep it up Wes. Always a relaxing vid.
The true "industrial" solution would have just been to cut the wires to the fan and keep working. Current draw goes way down, and since the fan was locked up it wasn't doing anything... therefore, you didn't need it anyway. :)
I'm guessing that's the hydraulic fluid cooler. Which invites far too many other questions. Have they been running the hydraulics "hot" all this time? Has the fluid level been checked? How few hours are left on the hydraulic motor that drives the auger after all that abuse? And, we know how much Wes just _adores_ hydraulic fluid 😀
What, no scotch taps, with a fine quality install that was originally done, you think there would be at least 1/2 a dozen. You get all the good jobs LOL, you and Eric. You will never be out of work.
I keep a stock of relay fuse combos as I have a severe dislike of inline fuses. Trying to find a link to my favorite setup. It's made by Buss. Of course they didn't want to sell direct, and anything less than the entire cooling "solution". Pretty sure that Thermal what ever company is just a front for a China manufacture. Cooling is literally LEGO's. Needs to fit these dimensions, and throw a fan on it. Hayden or Spal and call it a day.
Is it the bussman RTMR ones? Nice looking kit but personally not a fan cos I'd rather use the large style automotive relays as they're way more available.
