fixinto

When my valve covers were leaking it would leak while it was sitting and when it got worse it got to where it leaked while driving to the point of puking oil onto the passenger exhaust manifold. some of the bolts were hand tight or less when i changed them. Gasket was brittle and reminded me of hard plastic so it needed it. pat

where i live it gets fairly cold so sometimes in the winter if you had any condensation in your tire all the beads can freeze in one spot, so i highly recommend just a touch of anti freeze 50/50 with the install of the beads. Not a whole lot of people do that, but a few i found do. Pat

check the easy stuff first. go around your intake boot and make sure there isnt any vacuum leaks. "cracked plastic tube running to your throttle body." IF the boot is ok, there are other sources for leaks. For instance, if it only stumbled and ran rough with your foot on the brake, i would say your brake booster has an air leak. Another possible source is your PCV valve stuck open. OR your EGR valve is stuck open. I know that is a lot of stuff to look at, but usually a vacuum leak will cause rough idle, stalling, wondering idle, and so on. If under full throttle it feels ok or normal than more than likely it is a vacuum leak somewhere. or a faulty O2 mis reporting air / fuel I hope this gives you some direction without spending $ on it. Pat

^ would say spark or false air report. Pop the cap off of the Dizzy and check for the red dust. Also check for a cracked boot on the air tube after the maf. I would let the truck cool completely, take the maf off, clean it with a q tip and maf cleaner or alcohol "90 percent is best" be sure there is nothing on the wire, and be very gentle when u clean it. Running that bad it would almost have to have a fleck of something on it that you can see easily. if cleaning it doesn't help, use a multi meter or something like torque to see if it is functioning properly. Pat

=)

My fast idle cam has been disabled for years and it idles fine, starts up chugs a little around 650 to 800 then in 1 to 2 seconds comes on up to 1200 and slowly drops off as it warms up. If you are rocking the 3.3 cable driven there are 2 temp sensors. the one under the intake will cause wonky stuff. also the reset for the tps if it is the one for said engine and they didn't change anything is pretty easy. 2 feeler gauges and an ohm meter. "truck not running" dont quote me because it has been a couple of years but. Hook the meter leads upto wide open throttle part of the sensor " small alligator clips" will be 3 pins, hook the leads to the top 2. ohms should read pretty low with the throttle closed. Mine read about 19 ohms, was as low as i could get it. "even asked someone to meter theirs to verify 19 was normal" the manual says shorted. /shrug moving on, if it is adjusted correctly u can stick a .012 feeler gauge in between the throttle linkage and the throttle stop bracket and it should still read low ohms, then stick a .016 feeler guage in there and it should read OL or "open leads, over load, whatever you want to call it depending on what type of meter your using" pull the gauge out and the meter should snap back to low ohms. done. if the idle is high or low after that adjust your idle adjustment screw located on the back corner of the intake under the wonky 3 tube canister that its too early in the morning to remember the name of "take care not to knock off the hose that goes to your egr valve, its under the cylinder shaped canister" anyways, its a small round opening and plastic phillips head screwdriver, u will need a thick nubby screw driver to fit into the hole and clear the brake master cylinder. Adjust idle to desired position and walk away. i have a link to a crappy youtube video i made when i had my intake off and did this adjustment with it sitting on my little portable work table one night. fun times for sure. hope you get it fixed up and all of that blather may help you some how. Pat

Would check the fuel pressure after a long drive, snap the throttle and make sure it doesn't dip too much. Based on what i found there I would investigate further. As far as the filter, change it and chalk it up to routine maintenance. If the problem persist do some more investigating. If the pressure is low when you check it, a few options, pump / filter / regulator. If the regulator is bad it would probably make it run rich at idle because the vacuum wouldn't open it up, unless its leaking or something, but it wouldnt take u long to figure that out from the fumes and such. hope this at least gives you a starting point Pat P.S. if it comes down to the pump, i believe there is an access hatch for it on the driver side around the finder well area inside the rear of the pathy. "havent seen it with my own eyes yet, but that's the roomer"

Ya we can crawl up a tree with the SE five speed but as far as interstate goes. 70mph 3200rpm. i usually drive 58ish. its 2500ish. better gas millage. pat

i would check the lines before i bolted up the new one. make sure they flow proper from trans into rad, and back out of rad through the line that runs back to the trans. Oil leak is uber common. Try tightening the rocker covers half to 3/4 of a turn. seems to work for a lot of the guys, although it didnt for me. had to pull the upper intake to change them out. They were like hard plastic instead of rubber. Probably original. If you do decide to address it, would be a really good time to change your plugs. "dreaded number 6" u know. About the seals. I would probably do a front and rear seal on the salvaged trans. and do a fill and drain with some el cheapo auto trans fluid before bolting it up for the last time and topping it off with whatever your going to use. Like you were thinking, its probably not a bad time to change the rear main while your in there. I suggest At least some blue lock tite on the converter bolts when you put it in. Dont want them backing out on you = crappy day. The transfer case shouldn't weigh more than 70 to 80lbs. "passenger seat for the win" set it on a towel and seat belt that bad boy in for safety. Trans. Ya gotta roll under the hatch for that. Bring some tie down bungy or straps to secure it, and to hold your hatch down just in case you have to leave the tail hanging out. "tie a shop towel on it so it will be marked for cars behind you to see more easily". Other than that, I cant really think of a whole lot of other things you need to change or mess with. Hope you get your pathy back on her feet. Best of luck to you \ Pat

Bought mine at 154k, throw out bearing was bad when i bought it. but shifted fine. Clutch just started slipping a little this winter when it got under 0. now i have 205k on it. Probably original equipment because oddly enough most things that i finally got around to messing with was original. But finally got me a second driver " i need to fix" and then i can address some of the longer jobs on the Pathy. FIRST on the list is...The clutch, PP, and throwout bearing. Pat

i cant remember if there is anything under the dash vacuum actuated.. i dont think there is but i briefly scanned that section when i was looking at in cab air filter location. Does messing with your climate control stuff have any effect on it, or changing which vent you are blowing out of. like the diff in defrost and floor. /shrug. very long shot. hope you get it worked out. but it probably does have something to do with the brake booster. Especially if there isnt anything else vacuum actuated. Pat

cool thanks for the update, been following this to see if you get it lined out

well thats good to hear for sure, "that u found a bad part" Because i was still trying to wrap my head around the overflow hose fixing it lol. At least you found it, sounds like a solid lead. Pat

Guys and Gals, I beg a favor of you. Just for my own sanity could someone please Hit your TPS with an ohm meter to see what the resistanc is on the wide open throttle portion of it with the throttle closed and the truck at operating temp. The top plug on the TPS in the wide open throttle part of it. The top two pins are the ones in question. Mine reads between 19 and 21 ohms in the closed position. I have seen a couple of different references to "shorted / or continuity". I am just curious if it is closer to 0 and mine is just a little off or if 19 to 21 is normal and they just mean u get a beep " if your meter beeps" when you check them. This isnt critical or anything, its just something that has been bugging me for a long time, ever since i did the adjustment to it really. The Pathy idles where it should and runs good. I just want to know form my own knowledge and sanity more than anything esle. Pat

96 SE manual transfer case, and manual xmission here, and my switches are behind the shifter near the ashtray. I was going to throw the measurements up as did someone above just to reaffirm, however my tape measure is ninja. "may have left it at my buddys house while wrenching on his Heep YJ. not sure. (sorry about that) Pat

While the injector trick is O.K. I am not sure you can reach all of the injector plugs on an R50 without taking off the upper intake? However, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. =) So here is mine, If you want to put the ECU in a constant state so you can adjust your timing before locking down the bolt, Unplug the TPS, Fire the truck up, let it come up to operating temp, where the idle cam has the idle where it should be, then adjust the timing to 15 before TDC, or the fourth mark left to right if you are looking at it from the front top view of the truck. "looking it in the grill from above the fan". the first line being 0 then 5 for each line. using a timing light. then you know you have it dead nuts. Turn the truck off, plug the TPS back in and all done. But if your old dizzy locked up as stated above if you just want to ballpark it, you should be able to stab it back in at TDC and face the fire toward number 1 and be "good enough" Pat

Sorry i posted before i saw this, Glad you figured it out. Pat

when i blew mine apart I had to take an adjustable wrench and grab it by the angle that runs in front of your engine and "twist" it slightly to raise it up a bit. Being a soft metal its not hard to "persuade" it to do what you need it to do, just avoid bending it sharply and back and forth too much in the same place. The more i wrench on my R50 the more it becomes clear that the FSM is more of a step by step how to when things go as they should, well the kicker is, things Rarely if ever go as they should one way or another. The info is sound, and the procedures for taking things apart are there, The torque specs and all of that are good, but something always seems to be in the way, or stuck, or cracked or whatever. When i stopped using the FSM as a bible and more as a guideline things became easier. It is funny how adjusting the angle on something by 4 or 5 degrees, or cutting something that is cheap and replaceable rather than fighting with it, saves you HOURS of frustration. Just remember, as long as you can still fix it, its not broken ;P P.S. not to state the obvious, but be sure all the brackets and stuff are loose to let you manipulate it. Pat

thanks for the update, i was wonderin what ever came of the misfire case. im almost sure its going to be something goofy. is your VQ drive by wire? just curiuos. Also, there is a FSB about a "butterfly screw that backs out and causes bad joo joo to tops of cylinder and valves. hope nothing like that happend to yours. "probably not because if it did, it would be yet another one of those all the time things" not just random. Probably a connector or something. Anyways thanks for the update, if you ever nail it down im very curious have a good one Pat

If you checked the fuel pressure and the rail read correctly, i wouldnt throw a fuel pump at it, its one of those things that its right or its not. Also if your fuel pressure were low, it would be a multi cylinder misfire more than likely, because your injectors are fed off a single rail per bank. The fuel pressure being off would starve all the injectors, not just the number 2. "just sayin" Remember also that you can stab your multi meter to the injectors and should get the same ohm reading plus or minus 5ish percent across the board. If you measure 3 and they are all around 1500 ohms, and you measure a forth and it is around 1100 ohms, or OL, or 100 ohms. there you have it. "just for the record i wasnt saying 1500 ohms is spec, it was just an example" Point being, there are several things you can do that are free, that will put you on the path to fixing the problem. I try everything to pin a problem down before i start throwing parts at it, because i found out a long time ago, that there are too many things that can cause the same symptoms and if you change everything it could be, until the problem goes away, it gets expensive in a hurry. Good Luck with getting her lined out Pat

cog on the drive shaft was slipping causing your RPM to fluctuate? I will have to file that one away. Something you dont hear about too often but its good to know. Thanks for the info. Pat

Could be, but it shouldnt be all over the place in short time span like that, "as far as i know" for instance, if it was charging at 13.8, and i did not change rpm or apply additional load to the electrical, it should slowly drop off depending on the charge in the battery right? well not so much, fully loaded she shouldnt dip bellow 13.6 or so ever as far as i know. /shrug i could be wrong of course, i just know that the truck has always drug a little during start, changed battery a couple of years ago, and it helped some, changed starter this year and it didnt make a difference, "but the truck started" hehe. anyways im guessing the alternator is either charging dirty, " too much ripple in the output charge" or it's dropping off too much to keep up with load, and when it gets to the winter months, im usually only driving in darkness, with the heat on, so its fully loaded all of the time. "work dark to dark" Today it was -8 wind chill, and i thought it wasnt going to start leaving work this evening. So any day now i will be push starting her. Maybe its just time for another battery. we will see eventually when something gives up the ghost im sure. Pat

Next time it happens, Find a place to stop, and shut off the engine, check the code (if you do not have a code reader i guess the nearest auto parts store will do) to see which cylinder and then pull that plug, see if it is wet and smells strong of fuel, if so, then the coil is not firing for whatever reason, I would probably check the wire harness where the number 2 coil plugs in to make sure there isn't a lose or interment connection to the coil. If the plug looks O.K. I would then think about the number 2 injector. As long as it is a single cylinder misfire code it makes life way easier on finding the problem. If the spark plug looks fine, and doesnt smell like fuel, and the plug in to the coil looks fine, i would probably follow the advice from above and do a quick switcha roo on the number 2 and 1 coil. If the problem stays with the number 2, then also as stated above it may be time for a compression check to see if you have a problem with one of the valves or something. I hope you get it lined out. Best of luck Pat

Sounds like a lot of fun filled and action packed stuff to come. Rancho makes a good shock / strut and i think they may be alittle cheaper than the other ones. SFD over Suspension lift well definitely make a pretty big $ difference as was stated above. Guard dogs over durtracs sound cool too. If they dont have them in your size off the shelf you may be able to "order them" . Manual hubs are also good. I recommend Mile Marker hubs being they are half the price of Warn and i have had them installed for a year now and they work just fine. "only thing is you have to remove the studs and install the bolts that came with the kit". "may" have to do that with all of them, dont really know being as i only have MM and nothing else. I would probably go with a, ( if it isnt broke, dont fix it ) attitude in regards to some of the other things on the list. Maybe get a happy brush guard to go with your lift and tires instead. ;P Pat

I was so happy u metered your alternator instead of just throwing parts at her. Good job man. =) Good story too. Glad you got er lined out. My alternator goes all the way down to 12.8 sometimes, and 13.4 most times and 14.1 or 14.0 when i first start it up, so it looks like the regulator is starting to get tired. probably has been tired for a long while now. but i usually don't change anything till it is broke. "well like the alternator / starter" you know, stuff like that. so as long as it wants to barely get er done, i will let her do just that. Have a good one Pat