The great hunt for my electrical woes have led me to the distributor itself.. namely the stator/ hall effect device.... i can pick one up at my advance auto for like 20 bucks.... it looks like it is the same one i have now.. question is.. should i remove the distributor to replace this or can it be done sitting in the back of the engine.. if so, how does one pull the distributor out of this thing.. the book isnt real detailed on it.. chiltons manual... haynes are for women.

 

Mark the alignment of the cap, rotor and distributor. Then just pull the bolt off and pull it out, DON"T crank the engine while it's out. Put it back in so everything lines back up with your marks and it will be timed correctly. I think you need to press the gear off the end of the distributor to replace it.

 

alright then.. let the games begin.. where do i mark this alignment too?? the book is saying to make it so the cylinder one is tdc .. how would i know when it is?? do i crank the eingine and turn the distrubutor until it reaches 0btdc?? and then file in a mark on the cap the body and the engine?? and then pull it out.. wouldnt pulling it out move the timingfar enough to be out of sync for putting it back on??

 

I would make the reference marks with a sharpie or an awl. I don't see why you would need it at TDC unless you crank it. As it comes out it will turn a little bit , it's normal, remember how much and start it that far off when you put it back in.

 

alright man thanks a lot.. thanks for being so quick too this board rocks

 

done and done... the gears and the center spindle were a pain to get off but a board and hammer work wonders... replaced teh stator inside there put it back in times it all up and runs just great and smooth now.. only once did i have that stutter problem that sems to be common for these trucks.. so im not quite sure what that could be now... ive replaced almost everything except the vacumn controlled module up on the fender in the back... not even sure what it does or has any effect on enginge problems.. but gettin a bigger flex fan to push more air over the tfi incase its just that heating up

 

Glad to hear you got the job done and she's running better. I don't recall if you ever checked the codes or fuel pressure, or for that matter the details about your truck.

 

88 manual fm145 i believe ... no AC ... loud ticking ... pulled all the codes for the engine off part but for some reason i cant seem to get past the stupid throttle part of the koer tests... i do it as the book says and when it gives me the one blink i rev theengine then it says the idle is out of range and then goes to code 77 which we all know that means... so im not sure how to get past that at all... the problem i was having was it would stutter really hard and slam my suspension around while i was accelerating.. sometime it would just turn clean off then come back like 3-6 seconds later when i was in gear... scariest moment of my life.. also cost me a traffic ticket ....other problems include a few oil leaks one lets the oil run down where the water pump runs into.. beleve that is part of the head gasket or the lower manifold not sure.. alos a possible reaer seal leak.. the engine as i know of has like 190k on it at least... the guy who had it before me was a highway driver and put a lot of miles on the 1st and 5th gear .. you can hear it when driving there is a lot of chatter.. other than that im not sure what other info you wanted.. i replaced the fuel pressure relay.. fuel filter... all the tune up stuff twice now infact ..im a college student so fund are limited to me right now.. i dont take her wheeling nay more . axles like to click when i go over any big bumps in the road.. so havent had any problems with eh new stator in and had the ig coil replaced so hopefully those were the smoking guns of the whole shibang.

 

You may need to goose it better, LOL. You need to pass 3/4 throttle, 50% air flow increase and a 2000rpm increase.

The valve covers are the VERY common oil leak location, clean everything up and determine the cause. It's not a hard job and the problem can be fix when done properly.

 

its under the valve covers.. im supposing that part of the head?? ... i replaced the head covers when i got it .. they are nice rubber ones and they havent let a leak go by yet.. its there the intake meets the block itself im guessing thats hte head.. i have yet to dissasemble an engine and look at it though i was hoping to go to a junkyard and get a crap one and rebuild it for the heck of it and learn everything bout it.. it would end up being my summer/fall project i spose then put it back in my truck now... it passed the throttle test but it still gives me the idle is too high.. i just retimed it and everything and i posted on another thread about where the idle needs to be done... my tag says to idle at 850 because its a manual... is that 850 with the spout in or out?? cuz you have to time with the spout out and since the idle and timing go hand in hand im not real sure.. right now its set at 850 with the spout in and seems to run well i spose just want to make sure im getting all available power from doing it right...

 

It could be a leak from the area the lower intake meets the block or the head, tough to say without being there, try cleaning real good so you can see the origine of the leak.

On a 2.9L the idle is controled by the computer using the IAC so the speed will be maintained when the spout is disconnected. If someone messed with the stop screw on the trottle body the computer might be having a problem control the idle speed and thats why your getting the message. The rpms should drop to about 400 or less, even stalling, when the IAC is disconnected.

 

well of course ive meessed witht eh screw... ha.. shoud i take it to the dealer or a mechanic in the know to have them set the idle and stuff properly?? maybe it might be causing the problems im having?? .. which only seem to be happening when the sun is directly hitting my truck or the ambient air temp is above 85 .... its like my engine is trying to rev up but it doesnt happen.. and it stutters and i smell lots of raw fuel out the backk so im assuming that the plugs arent firing and .. since ihave replaced the stator the ignition coil the cap rotor the fpr the start solenoid battery ive gone through like 3 TFI modules.. havent yet pleaced the vacumn controlled ECM that sit up ont he fender wall that controls like the spark advance.. any of these seem familiar to the symptoms of it stuttering in the hot weather and .. it only occurs when i am giving it throttle.. if i just touch the pedal enough to have the car moving its fine but any more its starts fumbling so i dont know where to go.. ever heard of an 89 Distributor and TFi on an 88 block? because i know they had the remote mounting with ah eat sync for hte tfi on those.. is that a viable conversion or is an entire new engine needed??

 

The 89 distributor is the same, TFI mounted directly to the distributor.

Most compnents should throw a code so I don't think it's the MAP, if that the compnent you talking about.

Have you checked for vacuum leaks?

 

really? i thought they changed it form mountd on the distributor to fender moounted... ? anyway.. the compnent im talking about it located on the passenger side... mounted on the cowl... has a vacumn hose running fomr it to the throttle body... i think it has something to do with the spark advance.. but all in all my bet is on the tfi again because its only when its hot outside and the unburned fuel smell is leading me to think the pluigs arent firing and the module controls all that so i guess ill pick up another one and see if its any better... there are some small vacumn leaks nothing i would call immensly important to the well being of the truck i started having this problem about 6 months after i got it so it was running fine up til that point and i had the old inch thick radiator in it at the time .. then i switched it out to what i haveno and have been having problems with it ever since ... only when it gets really warm outside htough.. im a delivery guy so i drive it alot im taing it out tomorrow weather is supposed ot be 75 so we.ll see and hope

 

My 1989 had it on the distributor.

You could also check the air and coolant temperature sensers, they could screw up the mixture but they should throw a code if bad.