Slartibartfast

Depends which transfer you have. The one with the proper shifter can get stuck in 4x as the selector bit isn't driven by the shifter but rather by a spring (presumably so you can't force it out when it's under load, which could damage the teeth) and I've had that stick. It popped out eventually on its own (luckily I was on a dirt road at the time). I replaced the transfer case fluid and haven't had an issue with it since. If you've got the all-mode box with the little switch on the dashboard then I've got nothing. You can download the service manuals from nicoclub (I would post a link but my geriatric web browser keeps freezing up and losing my other tabs when I try loading the download page for some reason). Can you see what the mystery plug's wires go to? Color code? Again the service manual may be your best bet. If you have the all-mode box then it could be that the plug is supposed to be going to that somehow, but I would expect some kind of code if that was unhooked. Third trans? That sucks. You did clean out the trans lines and cooler before putting the new one in, right?

Does sound like your sensor's shorted. If you have a multimeter you can check the sensor with that to be sure.

Does anyone else smell prunes?

I can't imagine it would bolt up. It could likely be cut/welded to work but then you'd have a guard built for a round-nosed truck on a very square-nosed truck.

Yep--the only vehicle I couldn't get the oil filter off from underneath when I worked at a shop was my own. One of these days I'll put an oil filter relocation whatsit on it.

Don't know if it's common but it's a good idea--wouldn't want them to rust in transit or storage.

I'd start with the points, make sure you've got continuity between the contacts when they're supposed to be closed, then when you're sure they're making contact, make sure power is getting to the coil. There's a science to adjusting points but apart from the vague idea that a dwell meter tells you something helpful I've got nothing there. If the points drive you nuts, you can probably find a Pertronixs or similar solid-state ignitor. My dad and I replaced the points and condenser on our Scout with that just so it would have one less thing to go wrong. Just don't hook a Pertronix up backwards, that fries them instantly. Guess how I found that out! Looks like the distributor has vacuum advance as well. If it's still got power issues when you get spark back, the advance wouldn't be a bad thing to check for issues. Nice roof rack BTW.

I had a lot of trouble getting the O2 out of my '95 (ended up breaking it in two pieces actually). No corrosion issues on it either, I just didn't think to heat it.

Weird, mine looked alright inside when I had them apart last. I did add some grease to them for install but not enough to rust-proof. The allen screws are rusting like crazy though.

Don't worry about it blowing up just from a sending unit short, there shouldn't be much oxygen in the tank--fuel vapor won't burn itself. Do be careful when you pull the pump though.

Best thing I ever did to the motor in my '95 was cleaning out the throttle body. It's still not particularly quick but it's quicker than it was.

My dad and I pulled a Ford 302 + trans a month or so ago without separating the trans courtesy of hacking out the rad support. Worked great even with just a chain hoist and a good push to get the car out from under the motor. The shifter just unbolted on that one, but +1 on the transfer making things interesting. Worst case, the only thing between that transfer shifter and coming out is floor pan, and you don't need the floor pan, right? Grinder wheels are cheap.

If you pull the pump, you should be able to see which wires go to the fuel level sending unit and which go to the pump. Wouldn't be a bad idea to check for the short in there while you're at it.

Nice bodge! Hopefully the plastic's strong enough to put up with it.

The shocks are really the only bit of the system you can't easily replace, and seeing as how the newest WD21s in this country are turning 20 this year, they're probably not worth pulling. My '95 and '93 both have these. If I bounce the truck, put it in sport mode, and bounce it again, I can see a little difference in how the suspension reacts. I can't say I've ever noticed a difference while driving. When I part out the '95 (or swap out the shocks in the '93) I'm tempted to tear one apart and see what all is in there.

The door check is the thing between the hinges that limits how far the door can open. Incidentally, my black Pathy had a nasty popping noise when closing the driver's door, which turned out to be the bit in the door that the check slides through missing one of its mounting bolts. It would bend inwards when I went to shut the door, bind up, and pop free again. One new bolt, problem solved. I wonder how long the PO ignored it. But yeah, my money's on the linkages in the door. Rattling on bumps sounds like it's an up-and-down rattle, not a horizontal rattle like you're testing for opening and closing it. I would pull the door card and try to rattle the linkages by hand, maybe even drive it with the door card off and see if putting a finger on one thing or another shuts it up.

I would be surprised if it broke the cat due to an alignment issue, but yeah, shimmy isn't a good thing. Get that sorted out, then track down the rattle if that's still there.

If there is, this is the first I've heard of it.

Sounds like a busted exhaust hanger to me.

Not a good sign... not to say it couldn't be a sensor issue though, maybe a bad throttle position sensor that thinks he's flooring it and shifts harder to compensate? Read up on how to run the codes for the engine and trans computers (and maybe check the AT section of the FSM for a hard shifting diagnostic) and keep in mind what a new trans would cost if that one is in fact hosed. Depending on what the guy wants for it and how much mucking around you're willing to do, it could still be a decent deal.

The ability to turn the interlock off can be nice if the clutch switch goes bad or if you need to move the truck a short distance when it won't start. I can see why they'd make it a momentary switch but it does seem stupid to put it on the right hand side. LSD makes it easier to kick the rear end out on loose surfaces or snow because when both rears spin, there's nothing to keep the rear end from going sideways. Take it easy in wet/slick conditions and you should be alright. Mine's only given me trouble when I was half-stuck already and the rear end kept sliding towards the ditch whenever I tried to go forward, and honestly the truck probably would've been there until spring if I'd had an open diff--what I needed was a better set of tires.

While you're in there, check your fan clutch, just to rule that out.

This doesn't sound like an electrical issue to me--a sticking injector or something along those lines would only flood the engine while it's running, and I can't imagine the engine would run smoothly with one injector stuck open. It also wouldn't explain how it filled the intake with gas while the truck was parked. My theory is that your fuel pressure regulator has failed internally. If the little diaphragm in there is knackered, fuel could be leaking past it directly into the back of the intake. When it was parked, the remaining fuel pressure pushed gas slowly through that line into the intake, filling the cylinder(s) with open intake valves to where they hydrolocked. Obviously the fuel pump wasn't running during that time, but given that you were parked at an extreme angle, the check valve that prevents gas from going down the evap lines if you have a rollover accident was more than likely closed, preventing the tank from venting through the evap system. (That system tends to hold some pressure anyway, causing the whoosh when you take the gas cap off.) On a hot day, the air/gas vapor in the tank would expand and have nowhere to go--unless there's a leak in the fuel system, in which case the expanding gasses would drive the fuel out through that leak. I would pull that vac line off and see if there's gas in it. If my theory is correct, I would expect to see some gas drain out of that line after disconnecting it from the regulator, and at least a little flow from the regulator with the key on (no need to start it, just get the pump running). +1 on changing your oil as soon as the problem is solved. The Cornbinder my dad and I have been working on had an issue a while back where the carb leaked a steady drip of gas into the intake. The poor thing ran so rich it rolled coal when it ran at all. It never leaked enough to lock up but the oil that came out smelled really gassy. Also, my cousin's Spitfire had a mechanical fuel pump diaphragm die and fill the case with gas. By the time she realized the oil level was way too high, the bearings were already shot.

I've read that they should match, and I know that the nozzle on the bottom of the blue dots looks different than the nozzle on the black dots. That said, my '93 has a black dot on #2 and blues everywhere else and runs just fine. The old plugs showed no mixture issues on that cylinder. I suspect the difference between the blue dot and the black dot is more about spray pattern than flow rate but that's just a guess.

Backed it out of the shop to work on a friend's rig and heard the sound of the exhaust rattling against the tow bar. I don't think it was hitting before I took the bar off... something's not right under there.