That's great, as long as they don't just arbitrarily say they're bad so they can sell you a pair.

 

The tech confirmed that the rear cat is bad, evidenced by what sounded like marbles rattling around when he shook it, and he said the front cat is no better off. So it looks like two new cats for me. On another note, I've been suspicious of the manifold gaskets for awhile now and the tech thinks their leaking, so I'm going to replace those as well. Pretty cheap for the parts and I can do the work myself. Runs like a champ otherwise.

 

This coming week I'm going to have both cats replaced. Meanwhile, I replaced the manifold gasket and somehow I managed to make the coolant temp gauge stop working. Oops, lol. Now I just have to figure out what I did to make it stop working.

 

My guess would be the wire isn't connected to the sending unit.

 

After reading through the book I figure either the wire came off or perhaps I broke it altogether. I'm only 5'8" so I had to stand on a little stepping stool to reach all the way inside and at one point the stool slipped out from under me. I managed to balance on my abs on the fender while holding the manifolds (way heavier than I imagined btw), but the back end of the manifold did drop down quite a bit before I caught myself and it. This happened taking the manifold off and putting it on too.

 

Got a video of that?

 

No, lol, but at least I know I still have solid abs hiding beneath the gut.

 

Your temperature sensor should be in the top portion of the block, under the back of the manifold. Hopefully it's just the wire and not the actual sender. FWIW, I usually either climb in or at least sit on the fender on a 6cyl, you have an acre of empty space on that one.

 

I finally got the truck to pass smog and I am now driving with up to date registration. I ended up having to replace the coolant temperature sending unit that I broke changing the manifold gaskets and I changed both catalytic converters. Here are the numbers from the final emissions test:

Based on these new numbers its not only running better than ever but better than average. The total cost of all repairs is approximately $600 including the two new cats ($150 each), one interior door handle and excluding registration fees. Keep in mind these are California State emissions standards with a feedback carburetor, so it is completely doable and for relatively little money if one does all of the labor oneself. Also keep in mind the work was done in my garage at my apartment while hiding it from management.

For future use, the list of all repairs made - the carburetor was rebuilt, spark plugs and wires replaced, the radiator removed and cleaned and the gasket replaced for the inlet end tank (it started leaking so that's why I took it apart), and the pre-carb heater hose replaced because it was missing. I replaced the EGR valve as it looked original and looked terrible. I found and repaired a leak in the fuel line beneath where the driver sits. I also traced and replaced all of the rubber hoses in the fuel evap system including dropping the gas tank and replacing those evap hoses. Many of them were bad. I replaced a bad o-ring in the charcoal canister and I replaced the pcv valve for no particular reason other than it was cheap and attached to the evap hoses. The manifold gaskets were replaced, coolant temperature sending unit replaced and both catalytic converters were replaced.

All I had in so far as experience is a Haynes manual, some basic tools, a willingness to do research (many thanks to all at FTE) and some common sense. There is more to do, but this is what I had to do to pass California State emissions testing.

 

Glad to see it passed, what a difference, No Carbon monoxide, that exhaust is almost breathable! Although a part of me wishes you had given up so I could have taken it off your hands.... Keep the bull nose trucking!

 

It was Dad's truck, so no chance of me getting rid of it, lol. Next order of business is solving an oil leak that recently developed. Not sure what type of oil yet though.

 

I'm glad to hear that all is well with it now. I'm just glad I don't have to deal with emissions tests.