IT'S ALIVE!!!

Well, it's not really alive, but the new Detroit Diesel water pump will bring my baby back to life tomorrow. As we rejoin the saga of the pump stuck in Mesquite, TX........it finally found it's way to the Tyler sorting center, and on to a truck headed for our neighborhood on Friday. Mark, the UPS guy, arrived at our door step around Noon with not only the long awaited pump, but the new door panels for our "new" Dometic fridge. I don't know if I can stand this excitement!

The door panels were an easy install (thank you CampingWorld for sending the correct ones this time.....undamaged), and have transformed the fridge into a modern looking appliance. There is a lot of wood paneling in our coach.....and don't get me wrong....I like the wood paneling, but there is a lot of it so being able to break up the paneling with black plexiglas is nice. The old fridge had faux wood panels that could not be transferred due to the freezer in the new Dometic being a little larger.

Doesn't she look purdy?

After ooohing and awwwing for a couple minutes I excused my self to tackle the removal of the old pump, and installation of the just arrived new pump. I first had to remove the fuel filter that is attached to the pump via a bracket so I could get at the 3 5/8" bolts that afix the pump to the engine, and that was amazingly easy. The harder part was separating it from the 5 hoses that were attached to it for 30 years. I got four of them off in about 45 minutes but the final one.....about 4 inches long....just a connector, would not budge, so I finally decided to cut it off and get a replacement at Napa Auto Parts, which in Bullard is about 3 minutes away. Once the pump was out I had to remove two pipe fittings to transfer them to the new pump.....now that was really the hard part. I carry a small pipe wrench with me....probably about 12 inches long....what I needed was one about 24 inches long to get enough leverage. I rummaged around in the trailer and came up with a 6" long piece of pipe that fit handily over the end of the pipe wrench and was finally able to break the fittings loose without destroying them. Once the fittings were transferred I began the installation of the new pump. Surprisingly it went in pretty easily, and I was able to reattach 4 of the 5 hoses before the sun set. I planned to reattach the 5th hose Saturday morning, use the torque wrench on the 3 bolts, and then reattach the fuel filter....then on to the big job of pouring 22 gallons of coolant back in the engine.

That fuel filter must be removed to get at everything else....

The pump is removed

The pump itself......this is a gear driven pump.

I jumped in the shower and then drove with Elaine up to Tyler to meet her brother and sister-in-law at BJ's Brewery.....we had a great dinner, and some really great stout beer. Tomorrow the finish of the water pump installation!