Hello all, I haven’t posted since I got this truck earlier in the summer, but I have gotten a lot accomplished...
At first the alternator(a newer 130amp) had not been wired correctly, so I have fixed that..I found out after buying
the truck that it had blown a plug out of cylinder 7 and whoever tried to fix it used a cheap insert...my CEL has been
On since I brought it home...I finally used the cal van kit and re-threaded the cylinder head and used the cal van insert
with 272 Loctite and JB weld under the collar....now my CEL is finally off and there is a noticeable improvement in the
motor running...it’s smoother and has better pickup than before...however here is where I’m at now...

I have noticed that coolant leaks while sitting and I imagine while driving as well...it looks like it’s coming from the gasket
area below the intake manifold where the hose connects..(not the hose with the thermostat that connects to the radiator)

there is possibly an exhaust leak at the y-pipe and in some of the other various connections along the exhaust...I have started
getting parts and plan on putting in new piping from
the manifolds back and deleting the cat...

But there seems to be some noise coming from the exhaust manifold on the passenger side...so maybe that gasket is bad as well...

But my major issue is that while driving it takes off fine and shifts fine,
but once it gets into like 3rd gear and the rpms dip below 2,000 the truck starts to shake...if I keep the rpms up above 2,000 it’s smooth...I’ve also noticed that if I rev it while in neutral or park that after it revs it dips low like it will stall and then returns to normal idle...this also happens sometimes when I shift into reverse, the truck actually turns off every now and then...

the last thing I’ve got to replace is the warm hubs...while they were better than the factory, they were neglected and it’s really a poor design...the hubs have been stuck in lock position, and I was able to free the passenger side but not the driver side...after taking the switch off the hub I noticed it sits in a plastic housing that turns...well that plastic has broken so the switch to turn it does nothing...at first I thought the locked hubs might be the issue of the shaking, but the shaking stops at increased rpms???

Has anyone dealt with a similar situation? Would love any input I could get...

**also this weekend while doing the thread repair, I cleaned my throttle body, MAF sensor, and replaced the negative terminal connections as they were terribly corroded from the coolant gases in the engine bay...I covered the new terminal with white lithium grease to try and form a barrier...

 

shaking and such because of your coolant issue. Fix that then see where you stand. Based upon what you said I would suspect leaking intake manifold. Might have a blown head gasket too based up the other issues.

 

Exhaust manifold leak can cause incorrect readings at the oxygen sensor. If your fuel trims are high (+10% or more) this will cause drivability issues due to the leak. You should also check (or just replace) the vacuum hoses if they're dried out.

Fix the leaking intake manifold first, though.

-- Dave

 

Didn’t think about hoses...I’m going to take some time and try and get up close
to the pass. side exhaust manifold and do a visual inspection as well as all my hoses
I really hope that it’s not the head gasket and just a leak either in the manifold, or close
to it...would an abnormal fuel trim give me a code?

 

An abnormal fuel trim doesn't automatically trigger a DTC. STFT change constantly (hence 'short term') via the data sent from the oxygen sensors to the ECU. If the short term fuel trim stays full lean or full rich long enough it will generally cause a misfire, and the misfire causes the DTC.

So no, a rich or lean fuel trim does not trigger a DTC in many cases.

-- Dave