wmiller1337

First off: Hello, I am new to the board. I have always been a car/import guy, but after having an accident in my Mazda, I have inherited a 96 Chevy C1500, v6 with 160k, reg cab/short bed. Not a bad looking truck overall, except for some clearcoat peel.

I will spare you the story, but it has sat outside in the donor's driveway for almost 6 years. It blew a head gasket, which was repaired, but the job was never finished. I finished the job, and have gotten the truck to start and idle. New battery, wires, new oil, new oil/air/fuel filters, dropped the tank to dispose of old gas and a new fuel pump. Only issue I have in this area, is starting it. Not that hard, but I have to give it throttle to start and get a steady idle. After a few seconds battling to keep it running, it runs rather well. The plugs in there have 0 miles on them, but they were also installed 6 years ago. I think after I replace those, and let the engine run its course a few miles, it will be running pretty good.

The front brake rotors look rusted to hell, probably not a wise idea to keep those. Brake pedal is spongy, but I would think bleeding would fix that. When I attempted to back out of the driveway, it started making a bad vibration/knock and noise from back. U Joint maybe?

Ok, so once I get all that done, what else should I expect to go wrong? Or what else should I check before taking a test drive?

RacerX

I would worry about rusty front rotors. That will come off after you drive it for a few miles.

You mean after you get it started you give it throttle to keep it running. Its a TBI engine, you shouldnt have to give it gas to start it. Thats in the PCM fuel run circuit. Your starting problem? Take a look at your hoses, after 6 years the vacuum hoses may have some serious dry rot giving you the rough idle. SPongy Pedal? Well check your lines and see if you have any fluid in the reservoir and material on the pads. I ll will guess that the knocking could be stuff in the housing of the rear brake assembly. Something may be seized in there after not moving for 6 years. Take a look and spray some penetrating oil about. Get under there and check your motor mounts and yank on those U joints and see if they move excessively.

wmiller1337

Wouldn't* worry about the rotors you mean? Only reason I worry is the inside (vent area) has a thick buildup, I would think the stength has been weakened..

And let me clarify the starting/idling a little better. It will only crank if you turn the key. No fire. If you hold the pedal while you turn the key, it will fire after a turn or two, then once it's started, I have to help it stay alive for a couple seconds. Once it has that initial stutter out, it runs fine. I guess I made it sound worse than it is. Hold the pedal down to start, then blip it once or twice to get the idle to settle, and it's all bueno.

Checked the vacuum lines when I put it together, they were actually in good condition. But I might have missed a crack somewhere..

Brake fluid is full, but I haven't bled it yet. I will this weekend. I will check the lines then to. Pads look good, already looked into that.

As for the noise/knock, someone else mentioned that to me already. Rust builds up around the drum inside, then the shoe knocks into it. Makes sense, except it only seems to do it in reverse, which is a symptom of u joint. Then again, all I did was drive back and forth in the driveway just a few yards... But I will take the drum off and see how bad it is, and try to clean it up if possible.

RacerX

Sorry, doNT worry I meant. IF THE face of the rotor isn't cracked who cares how much rust they have?

Rubber hoses are cheap. By 10 feet and replace it all.

This car is carbureted isnt it? A TBI shouldnt have to do that. My G20 has a cold start procedure written on the sunvisor but a TBI shouldnt require that. If its carb'ed check your choke settings. Should have an electronic choke pull off but no workie, no workie, I think.

No, U joint failure is experienced by vibration in the driveline when the car is in gear and a clunk feel/sound when you are driving and let off the gas.

wmiller1337

It's definitely TBI. So it's not a choke issue. Not sure why a TBI would have this issue, but it is.

I will take your advise on the vacuum hoses though, they are cheap so why not.

RacerX

On a TBI set up there is an idle speed servo that is supposed to bump up the idle and get more air in there for cold starts. It supposed to manage the choke feature in EFI cars. It mounts to the side or rear of the TBI assembly and works the butterfly. Its usually a stepper motor, 2 wire. Take it off, take it apart and clean it with some carb. cleaner and a toothbrush. There may be heavy carbon build-up on the breather plate.

When you hold the throttle you're just holding the butterfly open because your start set up has too much fuel in there on a cold start. And it evens out after a while when your too rich condition no longer exists.

Brakes may not be bad. You had a Mazda previously but this truck has power brakes with the assist coming from a V8, Mazdas didnt have that so, the pedal may have felt harder. Take off the drums and see if all your dealies move easily.

Bill Miller

Well, I went to go look at it, but nothing got fixed.

Lifted to back end and took the tires off. Spun the drums to see if that was the sound. Passenger side made a light scratching sound, but not the sound I heard when driving. Then had someone press the brakes to see how well the drums were operating. Nothing. Took off the drums (driver came off rather easy, passenger was a b****) to inspect. Lines would bleed fluid (nasty dark brown fluid), but the wheel cylinders didn't push. E-brake engages, but could not get the either wheel cylinder to push out. Guess 6+ years locked them up. Drums and shoes look in good shape. But I guess I will be doing a full cylinder, shoe, turn job anyway.

Turned the driveshaft by hand and it makes a dragging sound. Hard to really pin it down, but I think it was from the front U joint, or that area. When I drove it sounded like the sound was from the rear, but I guess it was just the combo of the drum and driveshaft noise.

While I was there, I checked the differential fluid and tranny fluid. Both are full and still have color. I will replace them after a few miles and all the sediment is picked up of course..

So I think I am just a brake job and u joint job away from taking this thing for a spin. Again I ask, is there anything else I need to look at or replace before moving it? I don't want to overlook something and cause any more harm, that is easy preventable. Thanks.

RacerX

Why not just replace the cylinders and dont worry about the shoes or drums? If there is material on the shoes then dont worry about the light scratching sound. The cylinders are like $10 each depending on how many fairys fit in a VW Beetle. They were cheaper for my van than my burb even though they both have 11" drums.

If you do the front U then you might as well do the rear U too.

Bill Miller

Because I hate doing drum brakes. I have to tear it all down to replace the cylinders, why not spend a few more bucks to hopefully never do it again. Same thing as replacing both u joints at the same time. (I already planned on doing both).

By spending less than another $100, I will most likely avoid having to take driveshaft or drums apart for 10's of thousands of miles, probably outlasting the 166k mile engine/tranny.

Edit: Oh, and the scratching sound was the rust buildup previously mentioned. There was a few rust bumps on the drum causing the sound. Doesn't worry me, I already cleaned it up.

6LCHEVYZ71

Check the Idle Air Control Valve for the cold start idle issues.. I believe that's what RacerX was describing.

Could also possibly be the fuel pressure regulator diaphragm in the TBI.