hardwaretoad

Wish I'd known that when mine went like 6 years ago in the middle of a 3 week vacation travelling... ended up going to a stealer & buying the new line (with all the multiple connectors) and replacing the whole ball of wax thinking it was something magical... I think it cost like 80 bucks (then) or something... :furious:

Lets see, not really too much for it being an '87... little stuff mostly... Both the rear hatch and rear window struts need replacing ~ they do this--> :bow: so my head get's Both armrests on the doors are pretty much toast... Backup light switch needs replacing... Tires are reaching the end of their useful life... The dreaded exaust leak ~ not so little... Trying to time it so I can do a bunch at once, I want to put in a 3" BL, figure that will give me more room to install Thorleys ~ doing away with the leak. Planning on moving up to 32's on new rims, so that needs to wait on the BL as well. Maybe I'll have more room for the B/U switch while the body's loose, too... :idea:

What's an inch among friends...

I'm running 31x10.50x15 on my stock Legos, no body lift ~ '87SE... I see no problemos...

I just carry a spare key in my wallet...

Personally I think alot of the probs with American iron is the fact that Detroit very seldom ever follow a design out (other than the ubiquitous small-block Fords & Chevys). Think about it ~ they're constantly coming out with something that's "all new for (name the year)". Toyota's been building on the Camry for what ? 25+ years ? Porsche has built their 900 series since 1965, Honda has it's Prelude, yadda, yadda, yadda. All of them refined to where they're virtually bulletproof. Planned obsolesence is Detroit's mainstay ~ it dies, you buy a new one... losing 10 large the first year. :contract: It takes years & years to refine a total engineering package, you can't just keep coming out with another one every 3-5 years. To me it's more a "sucker" deal for the "one up on the Joneses" people that have to have the latest & supposedly greatest. If Detroit cared more about reliability & quality than 6-way power ashtrays & 42 cupholders in their "Limited Edition" Loony Tunes minivan, you might see me in one (except an Aztec, of course :oops: ). Until that day they can kiss my a$$... :X Really pay attention the next time you're out driving ~ take a note on how many GM (any brand) vehicles, whether they're truck, car, SUV, whatever, that have paint peeling off of them at 3 years old. Read the classifieds, how many 1990's Detroit rigs in there that have 125,000 miles or less that also have "new engine" or "new tranny" in the ad ? -study- A straight 6 will put out more torque than a V6, ask any BMW owner or Supra owner (me).

Anybody try feeding the squirrells ?

My exboss has one and a coworker's g/f has one, both of them say it's the worst rig they've ever owned ~ a true POS ~ cheap build quality, fit & finish is crap, reliabilty is questionable, you'll take it in the shorts while you own it & worse when you try to unload it... :contract: "BUY AMERICAN"... no thanks ! On the otherhand, I like the styling of the 2-doors, if that's any consolation...

Don't believe the stealer for a minute, TrailChaser. The combo switch is easily changed by anyone that can figure out the right end of a screwdriver... a 10 minute fix at most ~ I know, I've replaced mine ~ they're trying to ream you. Buy a new one & do it yourself ~ it's a piece of cake if they ever quit again or you end up having the "disappearing" headlight thing. Might try getting in there & cleaning the contacts first... -thnkboutit-

Are you using an isolator between the 2 batteries ? I'm assuming (ya, I know) you are for charging purposes. Did you just use a "generic" kit, or fab something up yourself ? -study-

This will probably result in your going back in there (not enough fun the 1st time ?), the white spacer is to insure the yellow-thing-a-ma-bob stays in place. Otherwise it'll just fall right out of the hole after a short period. Just leave your door panel off... -bounce-

Well, O.K., I may have been exagerating about the 3-6 month thing... Point I was making was that mine were wore out, after all, they were 6 years old when your Pathy was born. Then again, near as I can tell I use my directionals more than most people I see on the road, so maybe that contributed to their early demise... -thnkboutit-

:cool2: What a class fab job he's done on his rig, truly 1st rate. Too bad some of the EB people couldn't appreciate what he's done, or just how "worthy" :bow: the "lowly" Pathy really is... but everybody's entitled to their opinion. I did like how some of them "stood up" for datz510 ~ they showed as much class as his rig does. Kudos to his well written responses, well thought out & informative to those that don't know how good our rigs are or how dependable they are ~ they just don't like 'em because they're riceburners, etc. I like a well thought-out & engineered EB as well, but I'll stick with my Pathy, I prefer the better creature comforts it affords. I can understand his changing over to SAS with the serious offroading he does, our IFS would never hold up to the abuse. I think 88 would attest to that... Thanx for the link....

Take the 38" tires off of it... j/k

I went ahead & changed mine out mainly due to the fact that the plastic cams in there were pretty well wore out ~ they weren't positively engaging, etc., plus it beat taking the dang thing apart every 3-6 months, cleaning will only do so much ya know ?

Once you do get it dry, why not get one of those drop in cargo area liners ? You know, the ones with the 3" lip or so around them. They protect your carpeting from stains, muddy boots, etc. Of course that's assuming that it was something in the back that caused the wetness ~ not just leaky window rubber or something like that... Just read your other post... I'd say it's time for new window rubber, or move to Az. ~ we only get about 3" rain a year...

I had the same probs with my '87SE: driver's side lowbeam would stop working when switching down from highbeams, etc. Took it to an auto electrical place & they just scratched their heads(idiots). I bought a new combo switch (directional/high-low/cruise control) from the stealer and 10 minutes later no more problems. By the way, I thought I'd get reamed on this seeing how it was multi function, but if I remember right it was around 50-60 bucks* or so... I was figuring a couple of hundred at least... Thanks, T-day was fine, nice & relaxing... Hope your's was too *this was about 5-6 years ago ~ so figure inflation... :contract:

Kind of a bad pic, but it sure looks the same as the one on my '87SE. As the bodies were the same up to '95, I see no reason you couldn't bolt it right on yours. But then again... :confused: Plus, at $30. the price is right in my book... :contract:

Shop I used to manage up in Nevada we had air ratchets that'd go up to 620 ft/lbs in reverse... sometimes those weren't even enough to break some of the bolts that'd rusted onto the hydrocyclones we were rebuilding... and that's without them hiding in a suspension... Sounds like it's definately time for the "blue-tip wrench"...

"Rust? What's that ?", he says from his Arizona home...

As far as I've read on the posts (here & elsewhere) Thorley's are the way to go.... forget Pacesetter, etc. You'll pay more, but they're worth the wait to get them. Seems to me, I've also read no mods are needed, no matter what the ads say... "not for automatic".... Try a search, MaritimeMan is putting a set on right now, and there's other posts as well.... -study-

Not into sidetracking posts BUT, twm ~ sounds like a simple backup switch replacement, head to NAPA or somewhere & change it out. Have you even bothered to check your bulbs ? Might even be a loose connection on the switch. Crawl under there & look. -thnkboutit- As far as the fuel guage, could be a sending unit, could be the guage itself, could be wiring, could be a relay, could be a fuse, start with one thing 'til you eliminate that then move on to the next until you solve the problem. ALL probs can be fixed with process of elimination, just be patient & use some common sense to try & track it down. Try a search on the forum for guage probs or something, chances are you're not the first one here to have a problem with their fuel guage. The hood's not that hard to solve... next time you have it open, try adjusting the actuating cable where it hooks into the latch. Chances are it's stretched a little over the years, take up some of the slack and your in business. While you're under the hood, on either side of the front next to the fenders you'll see 2 black rubber bumpers. Give them each a twist a little at a time to raise them up closer to the bottom side of the hood. Close your hood, try the release ~ your hood should pop up. If it doesn't, tweak 'em a little more, but not too much.

Sounds like it's time for a new alternator to me. As far as keeping the mud or water out with a cover.... I'd say a resounding no. Those vents are there to allow heat to escape, you would shorten the life of your charging system far worse than the mud/water will.

Sounds like you've lost your backup light switch on the tranny.... get a new one & you'll be right as rain.... -bounce-