Wifes96NP

It could also be an attempt for corrosion inhibition. Not sure if it was a success lol

Don't worry about it. Since these trucks were built with way too much sheet metal as over redundant amounts of heat shields they needed to ground all this excess material as it can statically build up a charge and spark. If you don't drive through puddles of gasoline you are perfectly fine without

Mine did that. The cable retainer had broken behind the knob. It was over 5 years ago and cant remember precisely what I used but I had to rig something with probably bicycle parts to fix it. Still works now though

Just tightening the valve cover screws might not stop the leaking or it could make it worse. Seal replacement may be needed but from all the stuff that needs removing to accomplish it, it is a lot of work. I just had mine done. Unfortunately the EGR valve and assembly was so far corroded that the flange broke off in the valve and i had to replace it. The oil pan would be much easier. Not sure if this car uses a gasket, but if you clean it up after all residual oil has quit dripping, clean surfaces with mineral spirits, then use an appropiate permatex sealant, bolt it back up, it will hold for ever. Make sure you tighten to specified torque settings

The mechanic verbally told me it was advanced 2 teeth, however the report states it was just one tooth. I am guessing the latter because the distributor needed to be rotated from the slightly clockwise from midway factory setting, to being pegged out full counter clockwise. I don't know why the car feels more powerful than did years ago new, could be from the front CV joints I removed permanently 2 years ago.

Two problems: 1) left bank cam was advanced off time - fixed. This caused the knock sensor and ECU to go nuts 2) MAF is bad, likely the cause of the random stall. I removed the plastic on top, exposing the center pin's wire connection. it was loose. Much too small for me to solder so I just bought a new one Car finally has some torque, I mean more than it did 19 years ago new. It has some life to it

With a timing light on, and TPS sensors electrically disconnected, Where should I time it? On what mark that is, looking down from radiator (1 thru 5 as left to right) : | | | | |

Not yet, I assume it should read a certain voltage at various throttle angles?

Thanks Beatup96, Ill report back. I guess I can do a pressure check on the MAF.

Also, I have never changed the fuel filter and car has 206,000 miles. Also a Culprit?

Thank you for the leads, Beatup96 and rick88ss The problem with the car is totally intermittent. Has two modes of operation: "Normal" and "weak". Seems like if it goes to weak mode while idling it will die, but it CAN maintain idle once in the weak mode. However it's just my perception on what's going on. Two questions Would an idle control valve cause poor acceleration too? Will MAF problems create intermittent symptoms?

Just replaced distributor. Did not fix it. Interesting thing I noticed was the old distributor was rotated almost full advanced (like it was set this way by the mechanic I recently had change the belts), now using a timing light as such the yellow mark is timed spot -on with it set like this. My question is, if the timing belt was off a notch or so, would the distributor need to be pegged in adjustment to get timing back 15 BTDC. Before I removed the distributor, judging from the factory marks the adjustment bolt scored on the surface, it was recently tweeked to that setting which was just after the timing belt was changed (and we had the vehicle since 1996 so it couldve been no one else).

I will order a distibuter since it's only just over $100 the car has 200K miles. If that doesn't fix it I'll look in to the idle/TB area I'lll report back with the news, thanks for the help eveyone!

and it only fully stalls when it is stopped

It starts and warms up fine. Just randomly when driven for 10+ minutes does it stall (noticed at idle). It happens only occasionally, sometimes not at all for a day or two, but when it does it will rumble, stall or loose ignition all together. It is not associated with hitting a bump or vibration like a wiring problem would behave. It acts like a system that is used only at a certain threshold is causing it to fail. ECU has no idea it is malfunctioning either