Slartibartfast

We had a thread a while back asking 'how hard could it be.' Didn't look too bad but I don't think anybody ended up doing it.

^Same, and IIRC it was only twenty bucks or so. Even came with a bulb!

Did you turn the wheel back to where it started before hooking it all up? I don't know how tolerant the clock spring is, but I assume that it would be in trouble if the wheel turns too many times in either direction.

The throttle body's easy-ish to get to, just pull off the end of the intake tube and you'll be looking right into it.

Where's the flashing coming from? The connections, or the wires themselves?

Yep. Mine does that, especially when it rides up on the slider that aligns the latch. I tried adjusting it to minimize this and ended up making it rattle more.

Filled mine up yesterday. I poured about four gallons in that I'd reclaimed from the old tank, and it took 17 at the gas station to fill it. I'd wondered if air space in the tank might make it hold less gas than it theoretically could, but it looks like nope, it takes a full 21. 18 gallons is the most I've ever put in, though, and I'd gone 290 miles on that tank. Mine's at 17, except on long trips, where it's a little better (19 or so). Rebelord, did you mess with your speed sensor after putting the 31s on? The truck may be going a lot further than the odometer thinks it is.

Yeah, my tank had pretty much no crud in it when we dropped it. I dunno if the shop flushed it when they cleaned the pump (the tank sure hadn't been out) or if 'gunk' was the best hypothesis they could come up with when the problem solved itself. Was the float for the gas gauge intact? It's enough of a PITA to thread in that I can imagine somebody smacking it on the baffles and not bothering to pull it out.

It's five in the morning, I smell like a gas station, and a blue tapestry of obscenity hangs over my parking spot, but I won... the tank is in.

Tore out the leaky fuel tank... new one (hopefully) goes in tomorrow.

I tried to run mine out once and I was surprised at how far it went. The fuel gauge jumped around a little and the low fuel light came on now and then but IIRC I drove it for a week or so like that (I had a short commute). Then one day the engine stalled out because the fuel pump had (according to the shop that cleaned it out) ingested too much crud from the tank and gotten all gummed up inside. There isn't a low point in the tank where the pump mounts, and with the baffle plate that goes around it, it's not even up against the bottom. I dunno if that's for ease of construction or passive defense against sediment, but there's no way to completely empty the tank with the fuel pump.

Good to hear you found the main problem. You might try resetting the computer (unhook the battery for a while) just in case it got weird ideas while it was trying to start without fuel.

The RPM dip at full lock looks normal. My WD does the same thing. The steering system runs into its stops at full lock, which makes it work harder, making the pump more difficult to turn... and so the RPM falls a little. That part is normal. The noise (especially from outside of the car) sounds like something in the power steering is going out (and it makes sense that it's only at full lock, since, again, it's working harder there). It almost sounds like a noisy water faucet, like the fluid is getting past the pressure relief valve in the pump or pushing past the piston in the rack. You might try checking both components with a stethoscope to see if you can figure out which one is making the noise. Then again, my knowledge of power steering is pretty limited, so I could be talking crap here. Maybe the knock and the rumbling are coming from the same component. I'd start by checking the mounts for the steering rack, as that's something I've read about as a common problem on R50s (oil gets spilled and eats through the rubber). Apart from that, check the bolts you pulled to put the springs in. Maybe one of them worked loose?

Looks like the 15 gal thing is indeed a typo. I had a two gallon, 8 ounce fuel can, which I filled with water and poured into the tank ten and about a half times until the water level reached the fuel pump hole. (I saran wrapped over the fuel filler.) That works out to just over 21 gallons, which I imagine the displacement of the fuel pump cuts into just a little, putting it pretty close to 21 gallons even. The tank's from theradiatorconnection on eBay, and the box said Wiggley's. The listed dimensions are 34-3/8 x 20-3/4 x 11-3/4, it said it was for any Pathy from 87 to 95, and the listing rated it at 15 gallons. (I payed about $145 shipped.) On a related note, anyone have a recommended method for drying out a gas tank?

I have a brand new (off-brand) tank sitting in my garage, and a leaky stock (AFAIK) one in my Pathy... which I hope to get around to this weekend. If I do I'll do a ghetto volume test with a measuring cup or something. Or just measure the gas I put back in the new one, and add what it takes to fill 'er up... one way or the other I'll try and bring some numbers to this.

I never had trouble with my amps (besides the fact that they were unnecessary and not designed to work with the new head unit), but it does sound like they're what's going wrong with yours. One amp does the fronts and one amp does the backs, so that would account for one or the other working (if it was side to side I'd be pointing at the head unit). I'm guessing there are a few cracked solder joints inside the amps, which makes them cut out when they're cold. The amp bypass should fix the issue. The radio I installed had a wire for the power antenna, which I connected to the power antenna lead in the truck. (Got any wires left over?) It sounds like yours is broken. Mine was too. Some guys just ditch the power antenna and put a whippy one in its place. I fixed mine, because I kind of like the 90s novelty of the antenna popping out. The amp turn on wire is how the head unit turns on the external amps. If you're bypassing the amps (and not installing other amps), that wire doesn't need to go to anything anymore. The head unit will run fine with it disconnected. Also, you can rule out your speakers. If they were electrically dead (busted wire or something), they wouldn't come back on again. If they're mechanically busted (the foam between the cone and the frame dries out and crumbles), they'll sound lousy and make thumping noises as the cone thrashes around. My driver's door speaker did this shortly after I got the truck, and as a new driver, I immediately assumed that the tire was disintegrating.

Weird, no problems with mine yet. Guess I have something to look forward to.

If it was shorting, the fuse would be blown. It sounds more like an open circuit to me. What sort of harness did you use? If it was the type you have to solder yourself, check the connections and make sure you put the right wires together. Messed up speaker connections shouldn't prevent the deck from powering up, but I would look at the constant +, switched +, and the ground, and make sure they're hooked up correctly. If you get a voltmeter (recommended), you can check for 12v from constant to ground, and 12v from switched to ground with the ignition on. You can also check for continuity from the ground wire to a known ground (I'd just use the metal brackets under the dash). It won't fix anything on its own but it'll help narrow down the issue. Speaking of narrowing things down, you could pull out the radio and hook it to the battery with test leads, and see if it comes on then. It would suck to pull all the wiring out just to find that your new radio is defective. Bypassing the amps is easy. We've got a couple writeups on it, one of which I did. Even if your amps are fine (mine were), your stereo will sound much better without them.

I got rid of a 'tire carrier open' light by sticking a little rubber disk in between the plunger and the rubber boot of the sensor. No reason you couldn't do the same thing for your door. It'll just push the plunger in a little further when the door shuts.

I just bought a new tank because mine's leaking. Ended up going with one from eBay, since Rockauto wanted about $100 for shipping alone. Can't say how good it is since it hasn't shown up yet.

Wrecking yard?

Oh yeah, that SOB's coming off! I'm hoping to patch the last of the frame rot while I'm at it, so I'll need all the room I can get. I'll probably yank the flares too, just to get them out of my way. I'm really hoping mine come out without fighting me too bad, but I'll keep this in mind. Somebody on here did a write up on that a while back. IIRC he was Canadian, and the belt wasn't warrantied the same there. I think he just cleaned it out and wound the spring a couple turns tighter.

I busted off one in the back and two in the front. The buggers start moving and then bind up, release, bind up, release, and break off. I don't have a rattle gun so I'm using a ratchet with a 3' pipe on the end of it, which might explain why I'm snapping bolts. Trogdor, is there anything special to cutting out the capture nuts? I imagine they're easier to get to once the tank is out, but I'm still at a loss for how I'd get a grinder in there.

Is it just me, or is there a horse in this writeup?