Defeated (for now)

Readers of the blog may remember Leroy the farm truck.

Things were going well with Leroy, right up until they weren’t.  Near the end of last winter the brakes failed.  This was only a minor problem, as the truck has a plow blade which makes a very good brake at low speeds.  It really should be fixed, though.  A bit of quick diagnosis revealed a bad master cylinder.

So we parked it.  Who needs a plow truck in July?

When I came back to it this fall, I discovered that the antique battery had given up the ghost.  It’s not a big deal, but the truck has a Franken-battery system to power the plow hydraulics.  The standard (undersized) GM side terminal battery was linked by a pair of long cables to a monstrous standard style battery on the other side of the engine.  Yesterday afternoon was spent rewiring the system so that both would work together properly, and adding a hard wired charger.

It starts, it runs. Yay!

The master cylinder is an inexpensive part, but there are 6 different possible part numbers.  Digging for VIN numbers and build codes ensued.

Installation was easier than I expected.  That’s always a bad sign. . .

Now I stand defeated by the bleeder screws.  I don’t think they’ve been loosened since it left the factory 15 years ago.  I’m done for today.  Tomorrow I will source new ones and come back with the heavy tools.  Right now I intend to sit in the sunroom and watch Netflix with my dog.  It’s not snowing yet.