changing the oil tomorrow -- got that on the shopping list.
the oil press. ga. sits on the lowest L line on the actual ga. it used to start up high and gradually work its way down. now it just sits there at the low line.
so the tach is electrical? thought maybe it had to go into the tranny somewhere. all i have to do is connect a neg. lead to the coil? how sweet is that?!?!?!
i am hemorrhaging coolant/water like crazy. gonna have to teflon tape some threads. got back in the barn and noticed that the upper radiator hose came off the water pump. also realized that there was no clamp on it either. thinking i should just replace the water pump anyway. cant hurt anything and no telling if the old one is bad or not. better safe than sorry and for $15, cant go wrong.
didnt think i had a leak anywhere due to the new gaskets. speaking of which, is there a good time frame to go by after installing those gaskets and before you crank it up?

 

is it common for it to take a long time (ie like 45-50mph or so) to shift into overdrive? seems like its winding up pretty good before it shifts. always done that.
hukd

 

Blue rtv works great for watertighting threads, i put a little on all the bolts for my water pump, and the thermostat/water neck.

Water in the oil, yep probably from the leaky intake manifold. Hopefully doesn't happen again after you change the oil.

The water pump will leak from the weep hole on the bottom, if it is getting ready to go out. You could probably see some crustys there. Generally if it feels clunky I would change it though.

From what you said about the fan, you might check on a rental fan clutch tool (free) from the parts store, it could be that the fan clutch is loose and I think you need the tool to tighten it.

The oil pres sender, should be just in front of the oil filter, and up a little. It looks like it will drop to low if the wire is unplugged, and should show mid scale when you touch the connecter to the block. If the gauge works, but the pressure is out, they say to replace the sender. It sounds like the sensor wire might be bouncing around. Put teflon tape on the threads if you change it out.

There is a dark green wire to the EGR vent solenoid, which I think is in that little vacuum tube solenoid mess on the back right of the intake manifold.
Engine coolant sensor has a lt grn - yellow, , Other than that they have a stripe.

Tach - drk grn-yel comes from the coil neg, that should be your tach feed. there might be one floating around behind your dash already, probably easier to run a new one though.

Do you have the electronic transmission? If so it is supposed to adapt to your driving style. So if you get on it pretty good, it will wait longer to shift. If you drive it nice and easy for a while it should shift a lot earlier. Mine feels like it starts in 2nd most of the time, and shifts to od by 30-35 (city). When i've been getting on it it waits about 10 seconds once i'm there to shift. When i'm getting on the highway it always waits till i'm cruising steady before kicking down.

 

Hukd- make sure you address that coolant in your oil issue soon. Coolant and engine bearings don't mix. It will eat the coatings on your main bearings and then you will be doing this all over again.

Glad to hear you got it running again!

 

took it out on the road again just now -- prolly a good 8 miles or so just around the area. ive still got a bad water leak and im pretty sure that its my radiator. question #1: when i turn my engine off, when its good and warm, it will still pump water thru my top hose for a few good minutes. is that normal and if not, what would be the cause?
#2: now that its warm, it acts like its trying to choke itself out and when i push the gas, its fine but back down at idle, its crazy low. youd think that when cold it would idle a little high -- and it does. but when its warming up, it'll jump back high and then come back down to this problem.
#3: my exh. man's are ash white they're so hot....trying to keep them from turning glowing red!!! is there anything you guys can think of that would make it do this? (it didnt get as hot -- engine temp -- as it did last night but im sure what little it is getting overheated isnt helping....but thats still not the total answer to why they're this color)
hukd

 

snip
#1: No, once the engine is off, the water pump is not turning, If there is any flow it's probably because the water level is low, and the water on top is turning to steam. Not a good sign. Did you get hose clamps on everything? The coolant system is designed to run at about 14psi. Full of water it can do that, but when it gets a little low, the water can flash to steam, and the pressure goes up real fast, that's when things start springing leaks. Even a good system will stay pressurized until the engine cools down though. Hopefully it justs needs to be topped off.

#2: "now that its warm, it acts like its trying to choke itself out and when i push the gas" Timing. That's what I meant when I said you'd see it when you drive it. You could make new marks on the damper just to adjust by. There is also a way to adjust by vacuum pressure, but you would need a vac gauge.

#3: Not sure, Maybe fuel mixture. Too lean Heats up the exhaust gast temp (?) I think. Maybe if the spark is too late. That would fit with the timing issue too. Adjust the timing first. A diesle guy will know this off the top of his head, for gasies we don't sweat EGT much.

Have you been pulling the spout plug when you adjust the timing?

 

Glowing red hot exhaust manifolds are an indication of a lean situation. You may want to change the 02 sensor to see if it will correct it. But first make sure your timing is dead on. Disconnect your spout plug before adjusting and remember to hook it back up when your done. Now that you have been driving it some, see if the Comp has any codes for you. Even if you haven't received a check engine light, I would still scan for some codes.

As for your low idle situation, did you mess with anything when your idle was like a "747" trying to bring it down? If so, you may want to reverse that back to what it was. Make sure your IAC is hooked up also.

 

whats the spout plug?
i figured that my O2 sensor was bad anyway. gotta get one of those tomorrow. my man's arent red yet....just ashy white.
does anyone know off the top of your head how many pts or qts the tranny is supposed to hold? i cant find it in my manual or cd-rom.
i found the reason why it was acting up so much when it was "trying to choke itself out". earlier while idleing, i was checking and filling the tranny. accidently spilled some fluid and it flamed up on the manifold. quickly put it out but evidently not in time to keep two of the vac lines from melting in two. got that problem resolved now.
i'll let you guys know if i get any codes and what the O2 sensor does for me tomorrow morning.
hukd

 

im not running a smog pump either. is that ok?
hukd

 

Hukd- caught on fire?? Gee whiz, if it wasn't for bad luck, you wouldn't have any luck at all would ya?

Maybe tomarrow you will wake up and your engine will be running just fine and all this was just a bad dream! (don't we wish!)

If the smog pump interferes with the operation of the motor the computor will let you know with some codes.

 

bad luck, stupidity, carelessness, taking short cuts, you name it, it happens here!
hukd

 

i think the tranny is 16.5 qts e40d, aod 12, c6 12.5.

I'd wait to put in the o2 till your timing is dialed, you may not need it. When i tried to eyeball my timing it was horrible, ran super lean and pinged on the slightest hill, even with a timing light I had to tweak it in several times to get it sweet.

The spout plug is a little grey jumper on the driver side fender near the hood hinge, puts the timing into manual mode for adjusting initial timing.

 

didnt know anything about the spout plug. ill look into that this morning. i pulled the O2 sensor. yeah, im gonna need that....caked in black soot. cant even tell where the slits are supposed to be. should help out my mixture problem a little too.
more later.
hukd
PS- timing light wont help me since I dont have the inertia ring to go by....no marks, no light, no necessita!

 

if im not mistaken, the 86 and newer trucks have the AOD tranny, correct? or has chiltons made yet another mistake....
hukd

 

is there a need to disconnect & plug the decel throttle kicker diaphram vac hose & then connect it to a slave vac line from the manifold just to adjust idle/timing?
didnt see a spout plug near the firewall and hinge on the driver side. saw one grey line, it was hard and going thru the firewall. didnt think it was the spout plug. what are you calling a "jumper"?
hukd