RCWD21

Is the AC idler pulley bracket and the lower metal radiator hose that's behind the power steering belt the same between vg30i's and e's? I believe it is but I'm unsure as I cant find a clear pic of a vg30i engine bay...

Thanks for the tips now I have more questions but they're not related to the rear end. Mind if I pm you slartibartfast? I can't find a picture of a stock vg30i engine bay or of the front of the engine to see what I'm missing and what certain brackets should look like, plus I'm u sure if I can use vg30e brackets or not....

I found the wires for the oil gauge. They were covered in a very thick layer of oil sludge and power steering fluid along with a ton of dirt.. apparently the stock gauge either has an issue or works perfectly fine. How could I test the gauge? Short the wires and watch the gauge move like with the temp gauge? Unfortunately I can't find any information about how to test this gauge and with the engine apart and a ton of wiring disconnected I don't want to chance hooking a battery up and cause a problem although I don't think it would do anything bad. Also the stock electronic shock on the front right is rubbing the upper control arm.. would bad bushings cause this? I noticed that the lower arms seem pretty far forward and the upper arms look like they're angled back horizontaly. Either way I should have the engine out tomorrow hopefully.

You just made everything so much clearer! in all my searching I never found that this. Thanks! time to look at yard prices and see if it's cheaper to get the whole rear end or just the internals. Might even look into a locker of some sort lol You learn something new everyday and that's why I love this place. I would have never found that out on my own lol

I've been searching more and more and still can't find an answer. Could someone that's viewing this thread help me with the wiring for the factory oil pressure gauge and tell me how I could test the gauge to make sure it works? There was an aftermarket gauge installed and hooked up to the factory pressure sending unit on the block. I'm not sure if what I'm looking at is the factory wiring or not but I could be as it's a very neat wiring job (very surprised by that honestly). Where I get confused at is that 2 wires run down to the unit on the block and then another to ground and another to the positive terminal for the battery forming a big T that runs through to inside. Those wires are hanging down in the foot well now since I removed the aftermarket gauge. Is that how the wiring is from the factory? This is my first TBI engine so the wiring layout is a lot different compared to the mpfi engines. Especially with the extra gauges in the cluster (which I really like and want to work correctly). I'm going to pull the cluster tomorrow and look for cut wires and see if anyone has been back there that shouldn't have been..

Sorry about the confusion, I didn't word it as best I could. And red, according to the info you provided I should already have the h233b installed from the factory in the 87 correct? If so why is there an open diff under there instead? What would a severely worn LSD differential behave like? I would assume like an open one right? I'm not familiar with differentials at all. But I guess I'll have to do some homework and take a scrub brush to the carrier housing. Oh and as for the orange stickers coming off, on my 90 it's long gone lol Also could you take a look at my other thread about this 87 in question? There's a few questions I need answered and I can't find any info pertaining to what I'm looking for.

No, you said that either rear end would/should act the same when doing the spin test. My 90 just happens to have a LSD rear end. But eventually the 87 will have an LSD rear end with the correct front differential too. I'm currently getting it back in running condition. So for clarification the 87 has an open differential and I will at some point in the future be swapping in an h233b differential along with an r200a from a donor from the junkyard. My 90 already has thever h233b and r200a differentials and is my DD and will only become a donor if it gets wrecked or damaged badly. This swap won't be anytime soon as I need to save up the money for parts and fluids.

Here's some pics of the damage. And some other things that were bad too. The passenger side cam seal was toast (looked dried out and pulled away from the cam surface slightly) and the driver side cam seal was showing signs of letting a little bit of oil past. As for the bottom end, with the heads removed the engine is smooth and free with no stiff spots or dragging.

The 233b in my 90 acts like it's locked with the wheels in the air. It's got the correct fluid in there. And Im not suspecting any damage, just the unknown factor. I this rig has clearly been neglected and the vent ends are packed with dirt and mud. I'm one that likes to make sure everything is 100% and as strong as it can be before I go and make my way through the woods and wherever else I'm interested in going. The difference swap will be in the future after I get it running and make sure there's not hidden problems with the transmission or other components.

Pulled the passenger side head off today. Every single valve in the head was bent. But the top of the Pistons seem ok. Luckily the carbon on the crowns acted as a bit of a cushion. Either way they will be cleaned and inspected. I'll post pics of the head once I get back there here in a few. Hopefully the rain holds off for a little while longer. I can handle a light sprinkle but anything more and it's just not fun to work lol

I was just curious as this differential doesn't behave the same as the one in my hardbody. I hated that damn rear end lol. The vent tube has been broken off and is just hanging behind the pumpkin. I'm planning on swapping in an h233b and an r200a so I don't have to worry about any damage already done to the current rear end and also I love having an LSD in my 90. Even thought about getting a locker for upfront. I've read a front LSD chews through cv axles lol.

I recently bought an 87 pathy that needs some pretty extensive work done too it but its nothing I can't handle with some time and patience. So after a few days and a ton of searching with no solid answers I figured I'd ask. Here's my questions: 1. The engine bay placard on my 87 says my axle is HG46. And if I understand correctly from the list of code explanations it "should be" an h233b rear end and an r200a front end. On my 90 I have HG43 as my axle designation and it has for sure the H233b and r200a combo. Here's where my confusion begins. I jacked up the rear end of the 87 and it acts like an open differential.. But according to that list it should be an LSD rear end. So what gives? Is that list wrong? I haven't crawled under there yet to look at the rear end and I don't see an orange sticker (my 90 doesn't have a sticker either) so I wasn't expecting much. Also how can I tell the difference between an r180a and an r200a and what does the HG stand for in the axle codes? Question number 2: With the rear end of the 87 in the air and me turning one wheel and the other wheel turning the opposite direction the drive shaft (with the auto transmission in neutral) will spin about 1/4 turn one way and then it will turn about a 1/2 turn the opposite direction and then it will sort of twitch back and forth and then start all over again. Would a severely worn out 233b act like an open diff and cause that sort of behaviour? Sorry for the multiple drawn out questions but I haven't been able to find an answer that clearly states what I'm looking for..

Anyone on here have these files? I could really use them..

Well I wanted to make sure the engine wasn't locked up or anything like that and to also test everything out. I'm hoping its just the valves as you said and nothing major but I'll be able to tell more when I pull the heads. As for why I'm doing this, I rotated the engine over with the timing belt on but I guess with 10 bent valves it would be pretty tight. I've never been into a vg30 engine so I have no idea how much room is between the head and piston at TDC. Its currently cheaper for me to redo this engine instead of getting another engine.. Plus I don't trust the junkyards here for a "running engine that's ready to be bolted in", plus I like having the satisfaction of going through an engine after a major problem and redoing everything and seeing it come to life again. I would go ahead and pull the heads but its been raining and I don't want the cylinders or rings to rust and cause even more damage. The engine itself didn't feel like it had seized from rust or was dragging from rust. It was sort of an even stiffness all the way around. I plan on getting everything ready inside and pulling the engine this weekend. That way I can pull the heads and keep everything oiled up nicely. I'm 90% sure the the bottom end is ok but if not I'll have to source another engine and save up even more money for parts As for my question about the oil pressure switch, I was asking for tips on how to test it to see if its good and also how to test the gauge. I'm familiar with the lay out of these engines. Just not how to test certain things. I'll post more tomorrow and get my dads inspection camera and check out the cylinders and pistons out of curiosity.

Ok I have some technical questions. With this being an 87 and having the oil pressure gauge in the cluster where would the wires for it be? Someone had run an auxiliary gauge and there's wires going to the battery and sending unit on the block through the fire wall. Halfway it t's off and goes done to the sending unit but there are some other wires that go to the battery as well. If it doesn't rain more tomorrow I'm going to look into this and try and sort it out. Is there a way to test the oil pressure switch? Can I hook it up to a pop off pressure gauge (used for testing the needle and seat spring resistance in carburetors) and apply pressure and have it hooked to the gauge or an ohm meter and see if it works? Is it possible that the gauge in the dash is bad? If so how likely would that be? Also the engine turns over slow and seems fairly stiff when I turn into over by hand with a 2ft breaker bar. I'm leaning towards a bad or weak starter as it's covered in oil... but when turning it over by hand I assume I'm also fighting the resistance from the transmission correct? I'm sorry if these questions seem stupid. I'm a bit stressed and trying to find everything I need to get this thing going again. I can't find the pics I'm looking for and with this thing being 28 years old there's not a lot in the junkyards around here.

And as for the harness I can forsee a lot of solder and heatshrink in my near future lol

Well buying replacement heads is out of the question right now.. besides. I can easily scrape down through that crud. It was that way in my 90 and when I was done it looked brand new minus a few places I just couldn't fully get to. But that's just the valve train. I have no idea the condition of the internal engine. It's a little tight with the breaker bar slowly moving it around but if I remember correctly my 90 was that way too.. I'm just hoping and praying that there's nothing wrong... it worries me that the engine turns over slow but I think that there's a problem with the positive lead going to the starter.. or that the starter itself is just weak. Although it ran as far as i know before all this happened... I can get engines for around $170 but the condition is unknown and I'd still need to redo all the seals and gaskets and little hoses on either engine. I'm going to mess with it more tomorrow. One last question. I can hook the battery up and the dash lights are off, I can turn the key on and then back off and all the lights stay on like if you had the key in the run position. In the 90 after a short time you can hear a relay click and all the lights cut off. With all the mess in the engine bay I'm unsure where to look because things are moved around and just haphazardly stuck in places where they won't move..

Pics have been posted in my other thread for those that are interested

In the first couple pics I posted, could someone tell me where that big hose goes that has that giant bolt in it? I'm a bit confused by that and I'm wondering what that guy did to this poor thing before it ended up in my hands

Could someone post pics of a stock tbi vg engine bay? I need to see what I need to get parts wise to replace what's missing. I have the timing covers and airbox plumbing and that's it

Here's the back seats and dash (I'm surprised the needles aren't warped like in my 90)

The rats nest behind the radio look at the back of the ignition switch! The connection is all of what? 8 inches away?

The body has a little rust but nothing major. Now under the back seats is another story. It's 90% rotted through but I think I can stop it and replace that whole area

Both heads are pretty cruddy but I'm sure they'll clean up good

Sorry about the double pic post guys.I'm on my phone and its kinda hard doing multiple links lol