Help...Direct Drive Unit "Bogging Down"

Discussion in 'Ask Our Repairmen' started by extremecleantn, Nov 26, 2010.

  1. extremecleantn Member

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    Have any of you direct drive users ever had this happen? The last couple of days I have noticed the unit choking down and almost dying. At first it was just with the upholstery wand, tonight it did it with the carpet wand. Any thoughts?
  2. TheEyeball Well-Known Member

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    Is the serpentine belt wet, or does it have coolant or other fluid on it? Vac relief working properly? Stainless steel filters in the dump tank clogged? Bad PTO drive shaft bearings?
  3. extremecleantn Member

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    Vac relief? Where is that located?
  4. extremecleantn Member

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    filters are brand new. don't think its the bearings. vac relief sounds right...
  5. TheEyeball Well-Known Member

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    Usually on a direct drive it will be on the dump tank, somewhere near the top. It looks like a springy thing.

    Sometimes its located on whatever they used for plumbing between the tank and the blower.
  6. extremecleantn Member

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    I absolutely knew you were gonna say that! I had a wreck the other day and the fresh water tank slid forward and broke the pvc drain coming out of the waste tank. I saw the "springy thing" in the pvc carnage, and thought it was supposed to be in there so I left it. Now I can hear it banging around in there. That is what it is. How the hell do I fix it?
  7. TheEyeball Well-Known Member

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    That I don't know without seeing it. Another thing that worries me is during that wreck if weight shifted around in there it could have jammed the drive shaft out of alignment. If its off just a little it could bind under load. I'd take some pictures if you can and try to get them to Ara.
  8. extremecleantn Member

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    It was just a small fender bender. I dont think anything big shifted. I saw a small grey "pod" looking device in the pvc drain line when I repaired it. I am almost positive thats what it is. Question is...where should it be? And how do I get it back there?
  9. Glides-R-Us 1-757-486-3532 I sell glides

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    Sounds to me that your fuel injectors are plugging up. Then you have not enough torque to power the drive shaft to the blower. This happened to me over 10 years back . Get some fuel injector cleaner and get it in the tank. If it is the problem it will get better within a day or 2 running it.
  10. TheEyeball Well-Known Member

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    I'm not sure without seeing it. If the relief valve broke off, that could mean there is a hole in its place, which would actually make the blower run more freely, which in turn would not be the cause of the bogging down. Unless it somehow got clogged or covered over. That would definitely bog it down--I broke a belt once when a plastic Wal-Mart bag got sucked around my vac relief valve. It's just so hard to say without seeing it. I can tell they usually aren't hard to find. Look for 6 or 8 holes that make up about a 4 or 5 inch circle somewhere on the dump tank.
  11. shane deubell Active Member

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    make sure everything is off, radio, heat, lights- made that mistake 50 times
    could be 50 things, ken was right it could be fuel injectors just replaced ours.
    Also check the belts in the engine make sure it is really tight
    Check all the air flow
  12. extremecleantn Member

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    Update: Worked on unit yesterday. Found a doorstop clogging up the hose. It was in the top of the filter housing and I had missed it when I had been cleaning the filter out. Also, the grey "pod looking device" turned out to be some sort of float (maybe for an automatic pumpout that is no longer on my van?) Anyway I hope that solves the problem, we'll find out tomorrow but I'm sure that was it.
  13. Ara Klujian Moderator & TMF Repair Expert

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    My friend... If your tank slid forward I would say that should be your concern first and formost. Your life is more important than your engine problems.
  14. extremecleantn Member

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    Appreciate the concern. I have had problems with the fresh water tank leaking. It has an aluminum tank, and had holes near the bottom. I had removed the tank, and ((cough..cough)) JB Welded the holes to stop the leak so I could still keep working. Well, long story short, I had to remove it again and have it welded. So the tank had not been installed properly to begin with, it had only been held in place with a ratchet strap. So that is why it slid forward. When it did it hit the drain and broke it. It actually was not a big deal at all, I had it back going in a couple of hours.
  15. extremecleantn Member

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    Update: (The I don't know crap version)

    Well, had to make a trip to The Cleaners Depot where Chris found I was not getting enough volts to my clutch. Small wiring problem, and now all is really well. I was only getting about 9 you need 12 minimum.
  16. Ara Klujian Moderator & TMF Repair Expert

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    Your in good hands with Chris. He is definately by far one of the best techs out there.

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