Over the course of the past month I’ve been trying to fix a problem which arose in my pickup’s motor. Basically it runs rough if you put a load on it, to the point of getting some loud clacking noise from the #4 cylinder. Off a hunch, I guessed at a stuck lifter – swapped them out – same problem.
What a blast I had though. I basically had to take the entire top of the motor off except for the cylinder heads to actually get at the lifters. My first attempt at setting the gasket for the intake manifold was a bust as I didn’t put enough RTV sealant at the front and back of the engine block. Thankfully I took it apart BEFORE I tried to run it and got to find out what a vacuum leak sounded like.
It took me maybe 3 evenings to get the intake manifold off the truck, removing each component, labeling it, etc… Then the heat wave struck and I ended up having to work around the 90+ degree temperatures to get the thing back together without killing myself.
I actually gave it a shot last night, starting the truck – but the battery had died and my little VW didn’t have enough juice to jump it. This morning I installed a new battery and it wouldn’t start. Turns out I was one terminal off on my distributor cap, so I just moved each wire over one, and it started right up.
Main problem I had now of course was that the engine was still running rough like it was, same problem existed. So I’ll be ordering a brand new GM L05 V8 for it, and after doing a little bit of restore work under the hood – install it in the pickup. On the upside, it’s not running any WORSE than it was, and I now have the confindence to undertake even more complex repairs on the truck when I need to.
Good learning experience overall, more to come with the buildup on the pickup and eventual complete restoration.
Cheers
