Ok I have cried on here about needing/wanting a new truck for over a year. No I don't care about riding around in a newer nicer looking ride. I care about a work truck that does what I need and can be depended on every time I get in it. My truck pulls our campers, the vending trailers and enables me to get the lumber and tools to these 2 houses to remodel. For a year it has run rough most of the time and smooth as silk the rest. To hear it some days it sounded like it had a couple of cylinders missing. Gas mileage was 10 to 12 mpg. empty or hauling a trailer. Every thing said it was in the plugs wires or rotor cap all have been replaced over the year no improvement.
A few weeks ago a neighbor stopped by while I was selling BBQ just to B.S. and he asked "what is wrong with your truck it has been sounding rough passing by." So I told him what I had done and it hadn't helped. He told me it was "that little black sensor on the side of the carburetor" ok thanks. Now this is a "good ol' boy" he drinks way to much and has run through more trucks than shirts so I didn't think to much on his advise. Well last week I towed a friends truck to my old mechanic and asked would a bad sensor on the throttle body make it sound like a miss?
Butch said start it up. I did and he listened a second, naturally it sounded perfect. He walked to the back and smelled the exhaust. He said it was real rich smelling mite be the throttle position sensor or the Map sensor not the wires and plugs. Butch said he was full up with work all I had to do was loosen 2 screw and pop on the sensor and start with the "little black one on the carburetor side".
Well I got that 40$ sensor it took 5 minutes to swap them out and my truck started purring like a fat cat in your lap. I have spent 100s in gas because of a nothing part. Live and learn . A simple fix had me ready to spend thousands on a new truck.
Now you know why I quit working on cars for a living. Also why I refuse to drive a newer rig.
ReplyDeleteI almost cried when someone told me my 83 El Camino had a computer in it. Apparently the very first year they put them in. This can only be remedied by swapping the V-6 for a V-8, which I do have, so I can use a distributor with a set of points in it. As you know, my other ride, the 64 Sprite, has points in it. There is an electronic ignition available aftermarket.
Umm, no.
I actually went back to school in 1989 for 3 years, got an Associates degree in Automotive Technology in a Ford Motor Co sponsored program and worked on brand new Lincolns and Mercuries at a dealership for ten years. I had worked on every major make of car out there at the time and saw where the technology was headed back in the late 90's. See what they have out there now?
They can have it.
I have had several old Ford pickups from the sixties and to me, they were pretty much the last of the real pick up trucks.
My idea of a real pick up?
One that you can open the doors and take a garden hose to the insides.
Glad to hear you got yours fixed. Start looking for a 65-66 Ford truck. Any amount of money you spend fixing one up will come back to you in the end. They quit depreciating thirty years ago and are starting to climb up in price.
I agree 100% I am not a ford man but my dream truck has always been a 68 to 76 3/4 ton 4 door camper special. They are just about impossible to find.
DeletePeople should do the math a decent 40 year old dream car/truck can be found for under 5000$ in great shape. Drop in another 2000 and you get a classic ride. Today a descent used car/truck will run 10 to 12000 and be worth 3000 when it is 15 years old. A classic will be worth more than you ever spend on it.
My dream truck is a 89-90 chevy 3/4 ton with a 350 engine. I'd remove the throttle body injection, new intake with a carburetor, replace the ignition with a point distributor and coil. All computers would be removed and junked.
ReplyDeleteMike that is a good daily use choice. A great body/interior will be findable for around 3000. The motor replaced and conversion would be 4000 plus a little. For 7000 you would have a EMP proof work horse. I like the step side GMC made those years.
Delete