[1dumbSAFARI]

Am I a total retard for doing that before I started learning how to work on this lovely hunk of continual work I purchased a year and a half ago?

I'm enjoying the process of slowly learning a thing or two and doing work on the thing. It makes me more confident in working on the cars we actually use on a day to day for minor repairs and maintenance.

My main imaginary ideas about what's actually wrong with the "truck" as it does say truck on the back. Are the spider, a possible vacuum leak, distributor timing, o2 sensors & egr. And also possibly the plugs that I put in last year when I did my own version of a tune up and decided on getting platinum plugs vs. copper. I'm not sure if there is an issue there as well. I don't know what sort of voltage we're dealing with since I just watched a video on the history of the spark plug.

Anyway, any comments are welcome. I'll probably keep holding on to this truck until I break it completely. It's a fun experience.

 

[Astrofarian]

Hi, and welcome to you...as I see this is your first post since joining the forum. As for your questions/musings/ponderings, it looks like you're on the right path. Platinum plugs are fine, in fact, some (myself included) see them as a bit of an upgrade.
As for what may be "wrong", we're going to need some more info to provide any help in diagnosing any issues. Overall mileage, fuel economy, driveability issues, any other symptoms etc. That's where you need to start. Don't start throwing parts at it, that just introduces more unknowns into the mix.
The '95 models are a bit of a "Red-Headed Stepchild" as far as being a transition year from First to Second Generation. Keep that in mind when reading any replies...
Lastly, and this is just MY OWN humble opinion, I would refrain from using terms such as "total retard" in future postings. I think we all know why.
Yes, working on vehicles can be fun. And a learning experience. Enjoy!
-M!ke-

 

[AstroWill]

That is perfectly fine as long as they are the proper plug/heat range.
The practical difference for us is longer maintenance intervals as the plugs got modernized. Of course that is based on a properly/well running engine.

Copper gets changed most often, then platinum came out and extended that, double platinum after that extended it more, and then iridium with the longest maintenance interval of them all and what I currently install.

Sure there are differences in how clean they stay, conductivity, energy requirements, but that stuff is kinda minor to compare to the maintenance issue.

Our vans went to platinum in 96, AC Delco replaced the platinum 41-932 with the iridium 41-993.

I prefer iridium plugs on sale

 

[1dumbSAFARI]

Appreciate the replies.

She's got about 145K miles on her. I've got rough idle and sluggish power unless I stomp on it. Also getting fuel smell from exhaust, so expect she's running rich as well, which probably explains the 14mpg I'm getting.

So far I've replaced a few things. She quit on me one day about 2 months after purchase and while talking to the tow guy on the way home he actually pin pointed the problem based on my description. So I had to drop the tank and replace the fuel pump. That was fun for my first experience. I also replaced the fuel filter as looking online said that is what you do at the time. I still have a 16mm socket stuck to a nut for one of the tank straps that I haven't managed to shake loose over a year later.

After replacing pump and filter I decided I'd to a fuel pressure test. I can't recall why. Maybe I did that as part of the diagnostic before dropping the tank. My memory is failing. Anyway the steady drop in pressure after the pump cycled off lead me to pulling the upper plenum to check the state of my spider and internal fuel lines. Once in there I noticed a small leak and so ended up replacing the fuel pressure regulator. I watched a few YouTubes about it and one in particular mentioned that sometimes guys end up leaving the old rubber gasket in the spider when replacing the regulator and it gets doubled up so produces the leak. Well wouldn't you know it, the bracket showing signs of warpage was an indicator, but whoever was in there before me did in fact double up on the little rubber o-ring gaskets by failing to get the old one out.

That all got her running again, but not very well. So I then decided I'd go the route of plugs & wires & distributor and did that. It did seem to get rid of the strange surge I would notice at specific RPM / Speed ranges, but otherwise still runs rough and rich and exhaust still smells of gas.

Less than a year later she quit on me again and wouldn't you know it, back to the plenum I go, based on fuel pressure test and smelling gas dumping under hood when cycling fuel pump. Turns out I must have got a wonky pressure regulator because it was dumping fuel, not just a small leak. So replaced again.

It's been a few months since then and I'm kicking myself for not just going ahead and doing the fuel lines and whole spider while I was in there as I'm starting to suspect the spider might be having issues. It was pretty brittle, but I didn't notice any apparent leaks. I just have a feeling I've got issues with the injectors.

Oh, I also dropped the tranny pan and replaced filter and trans fluid, but did not flush it. There was quite a bit of sludge at the bottom of the pan and she's not exactly shifting smooth, so I'm sure that tranny is on a slow death march.

Anyway, that's her and my back story. I'm going to check for vacuum leaks one of these weekends and after that will proceed further.

 

[AstroWill]

I still have a 16mm socket stuck to a nut for one of the tank straps that I haven't managed to shake loose over a year later.

LOL, interesting storage location

It's been a few months since then and I'm kicking myself for not just going ahead and doing the fuel lines and whole spider while I was in there as I'm starting to suspect the spider might be having issues. It was pretty brittle, but I didn't notice any apparent leaks. I just have a feeling I've got issues with the injectors.

Yea, probably better to replace them while you were in there, but now you have experience! Poppet valves suck, a lot.

Oh, I also dropped the tranny pan and replaced filter and trans fluid, but did not flush it. There was quite a bit of sludge at the bottom of the pan and she's not exactly shifting smooth, so I'm sure that tranny is on a slow death march.

That is the best procedure, but yea, that isn't the best sign, a little is expected but a lot is not good.

Anyway, that's her and my back story. I'm going to check for vacuum leaks one of these weekends and after that will proceed further.

It's all a process of elimination, and any progress is good!

 

[1dumbSAFARI]

If anyone is interested I finally ended up going to a pick and pull place and pulled a new CPI Injector (seriously looked brand new, or I guess recently remanufactured in this case) from a 1994 S10 pickup. Got super lucky with that.

Can't believe how long it took me to get around to that. Just been driving it around every few weeks or so to keep it from sitting too long, but ran into some issues with my Toyota Sienna (that's a whole other headache) so decided it was time to get this old gal running right.

Anyway, I replaced mine with that and now she runs great. Might still be running a little rich, but not nearly what it was. Maybe the computer will resolve that over time. Might also still need to adjust timing a bit.

Still has issues starting up. Takes several cranks at the key before it will get going, as soon as she does though, runs smooth and no more rough idle while warming up or at stop lights.

Going to have to do some poking around to figure out how I can get it to start better.

 

[1dumbSAFARI]

Well I tested the coil and while it was throwing spark, it seemed a little weak and being the original I went forward with replacing that, but that didn't resolve my starting woes. Based on the sound I started to wonder if the starter was not properly engaging so I removed my distributor cap and noticed that the rotor was not rotating here and there or was moving pretty slow.

Pulled the starter and it seemed to be working fine and the pinion gear was pushing out as expected, but I did see some fine metal shavings and the pinion action seemed, while strong perhaps not up to snuff. I could hold from pushing out with a screwdriver, but wasn't clear if the force required was preventative for the gear engaging. Took it to autozone to test it and it passed there as well, but we compared the action to a new starter and the pinion gear certainly seemed to push out with a bit more force and be much more stable (mine had some wobble). The parts manager said if it didn't solve the issue he'd let me return it, so I went ahead and purchased.

Wouldn't you know it. That seems to have resolved the issue. So far so good.

I've advanced the timing to improve the running, but I think I have a little work to do there.

Otherwise she's running and starting the best she has since I've owned her.

Anybody know a parts store that loans out timing guns? Autozone and Orielly around here do not.

 

[Bikley]

You can get a basic timing light on Amazon for about $25.