EMMA : 1969 Kaiser Jeepster Commando C101

WJCO said:
You mean you didn't ignore the light and keep driving? Every customer I deal with always ignores the light. Get with the program.
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LOL!! I really hate idiot lights because when they come on, it's usually too late. When this light came on, it surprised the hell out of me - for one, I was surprised it worked. For 2, I was afraid I was about to blow my motor! :crazyeyes:

Fortunately, I was literally just a couple of blocks from home.
 
wayoflife said:
LOL!! I really hate idiot lights because when they come on, it's usually too late. When this light came on, it surprised the hell out of me - for one, I was surprised it worked. For 2, I was afraid I was about to blow my motor! :crazyeyes:
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Good thing you did. If an external leak like that is large enough to cause a drop in oil pressure, it wouldn't have been long before the motor was toast.
 
Okay, I have to confess, since getting bringing Emma home, I really haven't give her the kind of once over that I really should have but being that she was running so well (aside from the vapor locking issues), I just assumed all was well or at least, under the hood. After the oil light on the dash came on, I made sure to clean things up around the oil pump area and gave everything a closer look. Surprisingly, there were no new oil drips and a check of the dip stick confirmed that her 225 Dauntless V6 motor still had a full pan of oil. Giving things a look up top, I noticed that the PCV valve was just sticking out of the valve cover and not hooked up to anything (something I should have noticed a long time ago :doh: ) and this told me that part of my problem may have been related to there being too much pressure.

If I could guess, somewhere along my last drive, there was a build up of pressure that eventually released itself at the pressure valve and that left me with an oil pump that was no longer primed and could no longer pump oil. So, the first thing I did was to remove the plug from the back of the carburetor.
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From there, I installed a brass barb and plumb an emissions hose to the PCV valve.
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While I was at it, I found and reinstalled the old manual choke cable to the carburetor as well.
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And, after all that, I fired up Emma's trusty Dauntless motor and what do you know... the oil light went off. On top of that, having the ability to adjust her choke manually again sure helped fine tune how she runs as well! So far, no new leaks but I will have to give her a good test drive to know for sure if and what all may still need some help. :cool:
 
Nice work,

My FC was missing vac lines and once everything was hooked back up and ran better and the choke worked again.

I don't understand why people remove parts like this off motors. There's a reason it's on in the first place
 
Awesome diag. Hope the repairs last. Many shops out there would have quoted you a short block.
 
piginajeep said:
Nice work,

My FC was missing vac lines and once everything was hooked back up and ran better and the choke worked again.

I don't understand why people remove parts like this off motors. There's a reason it's on in the first place
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Thanks. If I could guess, the previous owner didn't understand how to use a manual choke and so he just left the carb wide open and disconnected the cable. With this, the motor will run reliably enough but as you know, not as well as it can with a bit of adjustment. As far as the PCV goes, I think people unfamiliar with old motors assume that positive pressure would vent out of the valve on its own and without the help of a vacuum. This of course is a mistake. If I could guess again, the previous owner decided to disconnect the vacuum line and plug the port on the carburetor so that he could give the brake booster the most help it could get from the manifold. I could be wrong but, I could see someone doing this. Like you, none of it really makes sense to me and clearly, all that stuff was put on there for a reason.

WJCO said:
Awesome diag. Hope the repairs last. Many shops out there would have quoted you a short block.
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Oh, I have no doubts. Glad I can work on this stuff myself :yup:
 
This is why I hate idiot lights so much!
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After my oil light came on again today, I decided to see what was really going on. Apparently, I just need a new oil pressure sender.
 
WJCO said:
It happens. Good thing you checked it with a manual gauge to be sure.
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Yeah, I was starting to think about all the things that could be wrong and then I thought, maybe I should do a check to be sure. Glad I did :)
 
wayoflife said:
Yeah, I was starting to think about all the things that could be wrong and then I thought, maybe I should do a check to be sure. Glad I did :)
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Always gotta check the basics [emoji106] I must say I think that engine bay is cleaner than the one in my jk! Lol
 
I gotta say, I love this thread. After building and restoring about 20 Jeepsters and Commandos, there's nothing I haven't been thru with them. Each and every one has quirks and personality that will leave you scratching your head on numerous occasions. I swear the Toledo plant was haunted by some prankster poltergeist when they were being made...:beer:
 
jeepsterchris said:
I gotta say, I love this thread. After building and restoring about 20 Jeepsters and Commandos, there's nothing I haven't been thru with them. Each and every one has quirks and personality that will leave you scratching your head on numerous occasions. I swear the Toledo plant was haunted by some prankster poltergeist when they were being made...:beer:
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20!? I am very jealous. I love Commandos!
 
It's been a while since I've had a chance to work on Emma, our 1969 Jeepster Commando, so it was real nice to finally get out and give her a little TLC.

First up, I installed a reman Rochester 2GC carburetor with an electric choke. While she's still got some issues, the new carb did wonders to help her run smoother.
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Second on my to do list was to install a new radiator shroud. Don't know why people always remove these things especially being that without one, the fan won't be able to pull air through the radiator. With it in place, I'm hoping to see about 30% more cooling and with any luck, it'll help with the vapor locking issues she has in hot weather.
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Last but not least, time to take the ol' girl out for a spin. Pretty much the first time in months.
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[emoji41]
 
What's UP with WAYALIFE : Photos on the GO!!

Nice! It's crazy how people remove parts off these old vehicles that are needed. My Fc was missing the vacuum lines. It's not a surprise the previous owners couldn't get it to run.

Did you get a chance to look at the transmission and motor mounts?
 
piginajeep said:
Nice! It's crazy how people remove parts off these old vehicles that are needed. My Fc was missing the vacuum lines. It's not a surprise the previous owners couldn't get it to run.
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Vacuum lines seem to be the first to go. God forbid anyone just tries to find where one is leaking from. Not as if these older rigs have that much under the hood to begin with. Not like a 1980's CJ with CA emissions anyway. They had miles and miles and miles of vac lines :crazyeyes:

Did you get a chance to look at the transmission and motor mounts?
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I did and they were a bit loose and tightening them up did help. Thanks. However, I still had a hard shift into reverse and was able to isolate the problem to the idle speed being too high. After bringing it down, it shifts much better.

The biggest problem I have right now is that from a complete stop, if I step on the gas hard, the motor quits. In park and no load, I can step on the gas hard and it'll just rev fine. While driving, even at a crawl, if I step on the gas hard, it'll accelerate just fine. If I slowly accelerate from a stop, no problem - it only cuts out when in gear and when I give it sudden heavier acceleration. My initial thought is that it might be a fuel pump regulator issue being that I'm running an electrical pump - maybe flooding the motor. But I would think I'd see this problem in more conditions than just from a complete stop.
 
Emma : 1969 Kaiser Jeepster Commando C101

wayoflife said:
Vacuum lines seem to be the first to go. God forbid anyone just tries to find where one is leaking from. Not as if these older rigs have that much under the hood to begin with. Not like a 1980's CJ with CA emissions anyway. They had miles and miles and miles of vac lines :crazyeyes:



I did and they were a bit loose and tightening them up did help. Thanks. However, I still had a hard shift into reverse and was able to isolate the problem to the idle speed being too high. After bringing it down, it shifts much better.

The biggest problem I have right now is that from a complete stop, if I step on the gas hard, the motor quits. In park and no load, I can step on the gas hard and it'll just rev fine. While driving, even at a crawl, if I step on the gas hard, it'll accelerate just fine. If I slowly accelerate from a stop, no problem - it only cuts out when in gear and when I give it sudden heavier acceleration. My initial thought is that it might be a fuel pump regulator issue being that I'm running an electrical pump - maybe flooding the motor. But I would think I'd see this problem in more conditions than just from a complete stop.
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Umm, makes me think something is going on with your distributor. Maybe a timing issue or it needs new points. Does it have the vacuum advance? Maybe it's frozen up.

I tossed my points distributor and installed the omix electronic state and I can tell you it cleared up 99% of my stalling/idle issues. The rest was floats do fine tuning the carb.
 
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