Ambulance – Recent Problems

Hello! I know it has been such a long time since I posted, but I really want to get back into it! I’ve said that a whole bunch of times, but this time I really mean it! (How many times have I said that one too?) I wanted to specifically make an update post on some of the things that I have been doing to the ambulance lately. 

The earliest thing that happened after I stopped posting was that I was having a problem where it would not start. It would make this clicking noise that we originally thought was coming from the fuel pump, but we were not entirely sure about it. The first thing we did was replace the battery though, since that also turned out to be dead. After we did that, it wouldn’t start. 

There were several things that we thought it could be, and we did some research and determined that a problem with the fuel pump was possible, so I replaced it. I have some footage of me doing this, and it turned into a very long and frustrating process. All of the tubes were very difficult to remove, and it ended up taking me about 3 hours. 

Well, even though we had a nice shiny new fuel pump, that was not the problem and it still would not start. The next thing we thought that it might be was the starter, so we did some research and determined that was very possible, so I went ahead and replaced that. It turned out to be an easier process than the fuel pump, but still just as frustrating. I have some footage from this process I believe. Even after we did that, it still would not start. 

So we decided that we didn’t want to waste any more time, effort, or money doing things that were not going to help, and we should get it towed. That was a whole other frustrating process that was made very difficult by the fact that my ambulance was pulled into the gate where it lives, and not backed in. Getting it towed took an entire day, but we ended up getting it done. 

The next day, since the mechanic was closed by the time we got there, I got a call from them telling me that it started right up and there was nothing wrong with it. This was very confusing to me since we had just had tons of trouble getting it started, and it never started for us. 

He ended up telling me that the only problem was that since it is a diesel engine, the oil in the injectors had drained out since it had sat for too long, and we just had to turn the key for longer to get it to turn over and start. We had no idea this was even possible, since with gasoline engines you should only turn the key for about 30 seconds at a time, but the mechanic said that the diesel engine I have is basically bulletproof and I should not be afraid to turn it for longer than that, just in case the oil has drained again. 

This was a very frustrating experience that we had, but I did learn a lot and now I know that I shouldn’t let it sit for too long or else the oil will drain out of the injectors. If I do leave it to sit for that long, I also now know that I can just turn the key for longer until it actually starts. I learned a lot about my engine just with this one situation. 

Also, another plus of this situation is that I now have a new fuel pump, starter, and battery that I probably won’t need to replace for another while now. I also learned how to do those things and I have some more experience and knowledge under my belt with it. I’m not entirely sure how the oil in the injectors situation works right now, but I do have plans on figuring that out soon since now I know how important that is, and I don’t want to have that same issue ever again. 

Another issue that I have encountered recently is a headlight issue. Every time I drive the ambulance, I completely disconnect the battery since I have some live wires that drain the battery really fast that I do not know how to solve yet. This should mean that there is no power going through the system at all. 

However, my headlights have been turning on by themselves hours after I disconnect the battery, and this has happened multiple times lately. I am not really sure what this means and am not fully equipped with the electrical knowledge to solve it yet, but I do know that the previous owner really messed with some of the electrical and that might be the issue. 

In addition to that, the headlights will be on when the dial is turned off, and they do not work properly with the dial how they are supposed to. The regular lights will be on when they are supposed to be off, the parking lights and the headlights will be on when only the parking lights are supposed to be on, and they will sometimes dim and light back up when I am driving. They haven’t completely turned off or anything like that while I am driving, and I do try to avoid driving it at night right now. 

My plan to solve this problem is talking to everyone I know about it, and also watching as many electrical videos as I can so maybe I can eventually just look at my headlights and figure out what the problem is myself. If I cannot accomplish that, as a last ditch kind of thing, I want to take it to someone who is really good with electrical in cars and engines and have them look at it and try to figure out the problem with me. 

I feel like this is a really dumb problem to be having, but I know that gaining this knowledge and experience will help me with more things in the future. I also have this silly theory that the spirits inside the ambulance are turning my lights on because they are upset with me for not taking them anywhere fun yet and just letting them sit in a backyard. 

I have been having a lot of issues lately with the ambulance, but I have also been learning a lot. I know that these are all problems that I have the capacity to fix, but it might take a while for me to learn all about them. I hope to not run into any more big problems soon, but I know that is a lot to hope for. 

Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you will stick around for the next post! Also, thank you all for sticking with me, especially since I haven’t posted in so long. I’ll see you guys in the next one!