My main concern is the heating up of the Parking/Hand Break, to a point that I had to remove the cloth covering from it to avoid the burning smell.

It is now in the OFF position since one time that I put the break on, all electrical went off, not until I played with it a bit, and after putting it back to the OFF position did that power come back ON and able to start the car. So I have never touched it again, only to feel how hot the metal gets.

Other issues going on around this is the flashing M & S lights every now and then, usually goes off after turning the engine OFF and ON a couple times, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, truth is that the car runs like in 3rd gear during the times they are flashing. It seems that they also go ON when using the A/C. They might be OFF, but after the A/C being running for a while they come ON. Radio shuts OFF and ON randomly too every now and then.

It sure seems there must be some electrical issue going on, a mechanic tells me it is a sensor in the gearbox, but I am not quite convince that's the culprit.

Of course money is an issue to have this checked out thoroughly by a repair shop, but I wanted to give a try and see if someone have had some experience with this particular issue.

Thanks!

 

You have a loose ground. Do not drive the truck anymore until you find the loose conductor or terminal. See my thread titled "Disco Inferno".

The truck went into limp mode to protect itself. Hence, the "third gear" feeling.

 

The M&S lights and limp home mode can be caused by a few things. The usual culprit is the xyz selector switch on the side of the gearbox which is sometimes defective but also can be chafed wiring above the gearbox which may have something to do with the parking brake heating up. It all sounds like it needs an electrical checkover as coors stated. There is another thread on here somewhere about an electrical short to the parking brake which may help.

I believe coors could be on the money here. It could very well be the handbrake cable is acting as a earth ground in lieu of a loose or defective ground elswhere. Be careful this could cause an electrical fire so easily or damage the wiring very badly and end up costing $$$$$$$$$.

 

Do not drive.
There is a large ground strap from the driver's side head (USA)
to the firewall.
This is a braided strap.

Make sure that is there.

If it is not there, you need a ground between the ENGINE and the FRAME.

Your ebrake cable will burn if you don't put in this ground.

 

Thank you all for your quick responses!

It seems we all agree is an "ELECTRICAL" matter that needs to be taken care of immediately, and from your answers and from what I have read before, it all points towards the "GROUNDING" issue.

I am actually using this car to a minimum, but will try not to use it at all until the issue gets resolved.

COORS writes about finding "the loose conductor or terminal", SOMEWHERE OR SOMETHING IN PARTICULAR THAT I SHOULD BE LOOKING AT OR FOR? ...BTW, yes I saw your "Disco Inferno" -pretty scary- and the reason why I started this thread, thanks!

I will try to look at OFFROADFRANCE's "chafed wiring above the gearbox" suggestion, hoping it might be something of this kind causing all this, instead of the actual XYZ Selector Switch being defective.

I will follow JFALL's recommendation to make sure the "braided strap" is there, BUT IS THIS THE ONLY GROUND I SHOULD BE LOOKING FOR? ARE THERE ANY OTHER "GROUNDING SITES" I SHOULD BE LOOKING AT THROUGHOUT THE CAR?

I'm trying to first look at all options I can do myself, but when push comes to shove I will have to bring it to some "electrical guru" in the area.

I will await for further comments and post my findings too!

Thank you all again! ;-]#

 

JFALL... I did locate that braided strap where you said it would be; it was just resting on the protruding bolt but it wasn't fastened by a nut, so I put a washer and and a nut and tightened it. I hope it being loose would had been the culprit, I'll go for a ride tomorrow to check it out, hopefully that was it! ;-]#

 

That WAS it.
I am sure.
the last cylinder head replace shop did not fasten it back on.
They were in a rush to get to the next truck.

 

Good result for adolfojbonilla and great prediction by jfall, well done.

 

:-) Thanks.
I remember that strap....
Glad I put mine back on after the head gasket job.
I guess that strap matters....
Not for decoration.

 

Indeed, you did take that headache away so I'm thankful for that.

One last thing though regarding the "hand-brake/eBrake"; I knew it was some-kind of short, because when I pulled the lever up all electrical went out, not until I played with it while bringing it back down to the OFF position did the electrical come back. One time the lever got pretty hot, to a point that the rubber grip was very soft and able to be moved a bit, in fact I was able to push it back a bit further.

The problem that still goes on is with the release button on the lever, I'm not able to depress it, it's stuck in the inward position, so I'm not able to lift the lever and activate the brake.

Any clues on how to release it and have the lever work again so I can actually use the hand brake/eBrake?