84seven20

I don't actually have a welder so I'm planning to go the center punch, drill, extract route. Good tips on the heat and penetrating oil, will definitely give that a go!

Ok, great! I was thinking that getting the ends of this bolt out would be near impossible but if I can get the head off then it should be much easier for me to reach it. Still going to suck but at least not quite as much! I've read a few 720 head gasket repair threads and bought this tool when I got the gasket repair kit. I believe it should help keep the chain tensioner from falling it as well as keep the chain from falling into the cover. Do I just loop the string part onto something so the wedge doesn't move/fall into the chain cover?

Hi all, I bought this truck as a project a while ago and have been very slowly working on repairing it. I had noticed white smoke from my tailpipe and figured the head gasket was probably bad as is common with these trucks. I thought I would start by re-torquing the head bolts and see if that fixed the issue, then replace the head gasket if it didn't. Well, the worst happened: one of the head bolts snapped off when I was trying to re-torque that bolt after removing and cleaning it... and it snapped off at the top of the threads. I guess I must have torqued it way too tight but I swear I didn't hear a click from my torque wrench (pittsburgh 3/8 drive w/ a 2" straight extension). This was the third bolt I was working on, first two were fine/no issues. Any thoughts on how to get this SOB out of there? I'm thinking I'll very carefully try to drill the bolt out (using something like this) and use a set of screw extractors. I'd certainly appreciate any guidance and thoughts on how to do this, feeling pretty defeated...

Checking back in with this after spending a while bleeding the brake system! This time, I bled the NLSV, then the rear wheels, and then finally the front wheels. Unfortunately, still no brakes 😞. However, I did notice a few interesting things: when bleeding rear and front driver side brakes I had great pressure; fluid was shooting into my bottle, filling it up quickly and there were no bubbles to be seen. This was pretty much the same for the NLSV after bleeding a lot of air out, though it took quite a while. The only wheel that gave me trouble was the rear passenger side, which I was unable to bleed all the bubbles from and the brake fluid wasn't moving very quickly (like there wasn't much hydraulic pressure. This was interesting because the wheel cylinder on this wheel was one that I had to frankenstein together with old a new pieces since the new one I got had some machining issues (one of the pistons did not slide in the cylinder correctly). I'm wondering if the reason I was unable to get good pressure/bleed the bubbles from this wheel is because the wheel cylinder that I made with old and new parts has a small leak letting air in. This would explain the bubbles in the fluid even after bleeding it for around 20 minutes. Does this sound like a possibility? I think I'm gonna go ahead an order another new wheel cylinder and give it another shot. Also, after bleeding the last wheel and feeling decent about the brake pedal pressure, I put my tools up and went to give the brakes a test in my driveway. By the time I got the truck started (maybe a minute or two) my brake pedal felt a lot more soft than when I had just finished bleeding. This seems like it would make sense if pressure was escaping from the system from somewhere, which might support my wheel cylinder theory. As always, thanks in advance for the advice!

I absolutely did not do this, just double checked the FSM because I hadn't seen anything about this part and sure enough it says "Bleed air in the following sequence: N.L.S.V -> Rear Wheel -> Front wheel. Thanks again Datzen Mike!!! I'll give this a shot and report back.

Additional info: No brake fluid has leaked from anywhere since the events I described above.

Hi all, This is my first 720, a 1984 4x4 and my most extensive auto project to date AKA I'm learning a lot but still a newbie. I recently replaced both front axles (CV boots had been torn for a while) and the truck was in good running condition. Started, ran, stopped just fine after this, and the hubs locked properly so I know I did it right! Next, since I live in Portland and have to drive it out of town to get new tags (I don't think it'll pass a smog test, bought the car with the EGR deleted and a Weber 32/36 carb already on it), I figured I go ahead and replace all the brake components preemptively before I hit the highway. Prior to replacing these parts my brakes were working ok, but all of the components looked pretty old and tired. This was the first brake job that I've done; I replaced the rotors, calipers, pads, and 3 soft brake lines (both banjos for the front and one straight line that heads to the rear I think) in the front as well as both sets of drum brake pads and wheel cylinders in the rear. I adjusted the drum brake tension to where it felt good (just a bit of resistance when turning the rear wheels) and then bled all four brakes going from the passenger rear, driver rear, passenger front, and to driver front. The only component I did not replace was the brake master cylinder. I figured that if it worked fine before then it would probably be fine with the new components. When I was bleeding the front driver side brakes, I noticed that some brake fluid was leaking from where the banjo line connected with the caliper. I disconnected it but it looked fine, the copper washer between the banjo and caliper was there but didn't seem to be doing it's job. In order to get the connection to stop leaking, added a second copper washer between the banjo and the caliper and that seemed to take care of the issue. This was the only leak I noticed in the whole system, so I bled that brake and thought we were good. When I got in the truck, I noticed that my brake pedal felt loose/not stiff enough. Sure enough, when I tested the brakes (in my driveway), then did not work. I pumped the brake pedal for a minute and the pedal felt a little stiffer, but still not enough to provide any braking power. The soft brake pedal leads me to believe that the issue lies somewhere in the hydraulic fluid system. In my mind there are two suspects: 1) the brake master cylinder, which was previously working fine but is the only component that I haven't replaced, and whose cylinder seals might have torn as a result of being used with all new brake components, and 2) the two copper washers that I used between the banjo fitting and the caliper might be letting air into the system, though there is no longer any leaking fluid. Let me know what yall think about this, any suggestions are appreciated!!! Hoping to get this fixed soon so I can go get an alignment and start dailying this thing!

Hey y'all, Finally got around to putting on the new OEM master and slave cylinders in, lubed em up with brake fluid before hand to avoid tearing the seals. My partner and I bled and bled and bled until the pedal was pretty dang stiff, no air bubbles, but I still can't shift gears with the engine running, but shifting gears with the engine off goes just fine. From what i've read, this means the problem could likely be with the pressure plate or clutch disk and i will have to drop the transmission to access these. Never done this before, ant tips are appreciated!

Just bought the OEM master and slave cylinders, done messin’ around w/ aftermarket crap. Fingers crossed!

Awesome. At least that's something I can easily replace! I paid $30 or so at O'Reilys for the one that isn't working. I just tested the one that was on the truck originally and it wasn't working. I just took it apart and learned that the reason it wasn't working was because the piston inside the original clutch master cylinder was seized, just broke it free with a few good wacks. I also took apart the aftermarket clutch master cylinder to compare the components. It seems to be comparable by visual inspection but there were definitely some aluminum filings left in the bore. I guess that must have been what was causing the problem. Do you think it's worth rebuilding the original or should I just buy a new one at this point? I found an OEM Nabco one on ebay for $70.

The clutch pedal does go all the way to the floor and the clutch fluid seems to move through the lines fine so I don't think anything is jammed. Here's some more footage of the clutch pedal movement (you can see the master cylinder arm moving):

Hey y'all, Taking another look at things today. I recorded some footage to help convey things a bit more clearly. I inspected my clutch pedal play today and it seems like it might be more than 1/8". I have significantly more pedal play in the clutch pedal than in the brake pedal. Here's a video showing what this looks like: The weird part is that the metal bracket that screws onto the master cylinder pushrod is as far outwards as possible, so it doesn't seem like I can adjust it so that there is less play... The master cylinder that is on the truck is a replacement that I got at O'reilys, wondering if this is what is causing the problem. When I looked at them side by side before replacing it didn't seem like there was much of a difference but who knows. I'm thinking about putting the old master cylinder back on to test this theory (it doesn't seem like there is anything mechanically wrong with it). I also took a video of the clutch slave cylinder movement and the soft rubber line that attaches to the slave cylinder. This is also an aftermarket slave cylinder that I got at O'reilys. The pushrod doesn't seem to be moving far enough and the soft rubber line is not swelling with the clutch pedal depressed: Let me know what y'all think or if you'd like some more footage of anything. Thanks for the help!

Hey y’all, Spent some time working on things today. Took off and bypassed the clutch damper, cracked it open and it was full of black sludge. Bled again and checked for leaks but no luck, measured the slave push rod movement and it was only about 17mm at most... (just over a half inch), so this is nowhere near the 1.18” that I should be getting. I tried to move the clutch lever a bit further with the clutch pedal fully pressed down (and bled until no bubbles at all) but couldn’t get it out any further. I even tried a new slave cylinder but that one had a leak at the bleeder screw hole, what a waste. Since I’ve bled and bled and bled and bled, quadruple checked for leaks, and bypassed the clutch damper, i’m thinking that the problem must be with the clutch disc or pressure plate. Planning on dropping the transmission soon to figure the damn thing out. Does anyone have any recommendations for me at this point? This damn thing is driving me crazy.

Is there anything else you would recommend I replace if I'm going to drop the transmission anyway?