This morning we woke up to about 2" of damp snow and temps around 40 f. That is just not quite enough to warrent firing up the scout with the plow so I took my shovel and made the rounds doing sidewalks and such.

When I finished I parked my truck on the street in front of my house because with the slippery stuff I was not sure if I could get back out of my driveway. So I parked, set the hand brake, got out and locked the door. I grabbed the shovel out of the back and started for the house. Suddenly I noticed the truck was moving backwards. I live on a hill. The truck was simply sliding the rear wheels and headed downhill at a brisk walk.

Yipes! So I trotted along side and tried to open the door. Locked. Drat! I then got the key out of my pocket, unlocked the door and hopped in (this is an act which requires some adrenalin to do with the height of the seat in the dodge) and put the brakes on. With the fronts chocked the truck stopped quickly.

So now I am thinking WTF to do. After thinking of the options I backed up a little more and put the front tires cocked against the curb and set the brake again and it stayed. Then to be safe I got out and dug the snow away from the rear tires for a few feet so if it slides again it will (hopefully) stop.

Snow fun!

Tom W

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Tom, Living in the Great White North, has it's moments at times! Paying attention can keep one from being killed and eaten!

YIA...Paul

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SONNY was right...Nobody Cares.
Calogero, from the movie, "A BRONX TALE."

Tom.....I'm glad you and the truck are ok.

.....Dan

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99 e300
98 e300
90 Suburban 1500 4x4
92 ZR-1
04 Tahoe 4x4
05 Scag 52" zero turn
97 e300 - totaled on black ice
84 300SD - gave to a friend
85 300TDT Euro - SOLD to my little bro

Thanks.

I have had a couple of images of me sliding under the truck instead of into it and getting run over by the front wheels.

OUch!

Tom W

__________________
[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

So Early Friday morning we got about 7 or 8" of heavy snow. It was interesting, to walk in it felt a lot like walking in dry sand. I got up and took my scout out to plow my parking lot. As I was heading back to my house to do my driveway as I took off suddenly I had a dead miss on one cylinder. I assumed that I had fouled a plug and went on home on three cylinders.

When I got home I called my indie and asked if I could bring it out. I have a 123 in my garage and my 123 autocrosser parked outside on its slicks so I was pretty sure I didn't want to go to the trouble to move them so I could get the scout in and work on it myself.....and the snow was still coming down pretty thickly. They said to come out after lunch. I went to the former NAPA store and bought oil change stuff, oil flush, a set of spark plugs and some Rislone to add to the oil.

I had noticed on the last snow that it was ticking and pulled the valve cover to discover a sticking hydraulic lifter. So I figured the fouled plug was on the cylinder with the sticky lifter.

When I got there my indie first ran a compression test. #1 had no compression. He pulled the valve cover and found the reason.....the exhaust pushrod (maybe it was the intake) was missing and the lifter as well. You could look in and see the cam lobe turning. We pondered the fact that it had enough oil pressure to supply the bearings without the lifter in there.

He fished out the pushrod and then the lifter and found the pushrod, which has a cup on top and is bullet shaped on the bottom had the side of the top cup blown out. Apparently the lifter collapsed completely and allowed the lifter to slip low enough to have the edge of the cup come up under the lifter and break itself ( I wonder if the valve hit the piston at this time?)....I hope not.

So we ordered a pushrod and lifter. Lifter was about $5 and pushrod was like $7. They can both be installed without pulling the head. I am still in shock at the cheapness of these antique parts. Benz shock I suppose.

So the parts will be in probably monday or tuesday.

Moral of the story....if your four cylinder scout has a collapsed lifter....don't let it go.

BTW, I found the four cylinder is rated at about 98 hp and about 175 torque, out of 196 CI. The v8 is twice the displacement and only about 1.5 times the power.....and the power is developed at about 500 higher rpm, with the same compression ratio. I am thinking it has a more aggressive cam than the v8.....possibly contributing to having enough lift for the pushrod to get caught on the edge of the pushrod cup.

By Monday I think the snow will be melted off my driveway.

Tom W

__________________
[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.