Old Blue - 1984 XL Flareside

[Rembrant]

("Above" the last bolt on the exhaust manifold, passenger side. I started recording video, sticking my phone down there to get as good as video as I could without burning myself. Then while recording, I saw a clue. I noticed a teeny tiny air bubble coming and going between the bolt, the washer on it, and the manifold.

I got my torque wrench out and tightened the exhaust bolts. The suspicious bolt turned about half a turn before it even felt snug, then maybe a 1/4 turn to hit 24 ft/lb. Two other bolts turned a bit also.

What length bolt do you have in there? Any chance it is bottoming out before tightening the exhaust manifold to the head completely? The factory used studs, but most of us use bolts when replacing.

 

[ArdWrknTrk]

("Above" the last bolt on the exhaust manifold, passenger side. I started recording video, sticking my phone down there to get as good as video as I could without burning myself. Then while recording, I saw a clue. I noticed a teeny tiny air bubble coming and going between the bolt, the washer on it, and the manifold.

I got my torque wrench out and tightened the exhaust bolts. The suspicious bolt turned about half a turn before it even felt snug, then maybe a 1/4 turn to hit 24 ft/lb. Two other bolts turned a bit also.

What length bolt do you have in there? Any chance it is bottoming out before tightening the exhaust manifold to the head completely? The factory used studs, but most of us use bolts when replacing.

There I go with my fixation again.,..

[Rembrant]

There I go with my fixation again.,..

Fixation? lol, what did I miss?

[ArdWrknTrk]

There I go with my fixation again.,..

Fixation? lol, what did I miss?

I was fixated on the leaky valve cover, and how or why it would be blowing bubbles.

[Rembrant]

I was fixated on the leaky valve cover, and how or why it would be blowing bubbles.

Oh...haha. Last time I saw bubbles coming out of an engine it was bad news. Funny story, when I met my wife 25 years ago, she was driving a little 1990 2dr Cavalier. The car was only 6-7 years old at the time and her mother had purchased it brand new. I was doing something under the hood while it was running...can't remember what, but probably checking transmission fluid or something, and I noticed little bubbles blowing out of the side of the engine....slowly, like the little bubble would slowly grow and then burst when it was about 3/8" in size. I looked down a little closer and they were blowing out between the block and the head, so I got an early warning sign that the head gasket was ready to retire at the young age of only about 7 years old, with about 50k miles on it. Bugger. That car was such a heap of junk, OMG...I spent every weekend working on it trying to keep it on the road, and it wasn't even 10 years old.

Anyway, point is, I can say that I saw it with my very own eyes that an engine can blow bubbles;).

[ArdWrknTrk]

I was fixated on the leaky valve cover, and how or why it would be blowing bubbles.

Oh...haha. Last time I saw bubbles coming out of an engine it was bad news. Funny story, when I met my wife 25 years ago, she was driving a little 1990 2dr Cavalier. The car was only 6-7 years old at the time and her mother had purchased it brand new. I was doing something under the hood while it was running...can't remember what, but probably checking transmission fluid or something, and I noticed little bubbles blowing out of the side of the engine....slowly, like the little bubble would slowly grow and then burst when it was about 3/8" in size. I looked down a little closer and they were blowing out between the block and the head, so I got an early warning sign that the head gasket was ready to retire at the young age of only about 7 years old, with about 50k miles on it. Bugger. That car was such a heap of junk, OMG...I spent every weekend working on it trying to keep it on the road, and it wasn't even 10 years old.

Anyway, point is, I can say that I saw it with my very own eyes that an engine can blow bubbles;).

No wonder your wife loves you so much! 🥰

Funny,

Shortly after I met my ex she got a little white Cavailer.

She mentioned that it would smoke... so I took a look under the hood. 😳

There must have been 3 quarts of power steering fluid covering everything!

I spent a good three hours in there with multiple cans of Gunk and a hose just getting it clean enough to work on and find which hose I needed to change.

[ckuske]

("Above" the last bolt on the exhaust manifold, passenger side. I started recording video, sticking my phone down there to get as good as video as I could without burning myself. Then while recording, I saw a clue. I noticed a teeny tiny air bubble coming and going between the bolt, the washer on it, and the manifold.

I got my torque wrench out and tightened the exhaust bolts. The suspicious bolt turned about half a turn before it even felt snug, then maybe a 1/4 turn to hit 24 ft/lb. Two other bolts turned a bit also.

What length bolt do you have in there? Any chance it is bottoming out before tightening the exhaust manifold to the head completely? The factory used studs, but most of us use bolts when replacing.

I'm not sure on the length, and I'm afraid to remove one to check haha. It is a good suggestion though - if I have to dive deeper (I thought I'd fixed this before and found out I hadn't) I will be sure to let you know!

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll check the PCV system out!

[ckuske]

Ok, so a fairly big update to put here! Short version: Truck is back on the road, but more layers of the onion still.

Longer version: I was at AWS re:Invent a few weeks ago in Vegas. While I was there, I was supposed to meet some colleagues at a restaraunt. I got there 30 mins early, so I had some time to kill. Even knowing the odds, I gambled a bit. I ended up hitting $4,000 on a slot machine. So of course, what do you do with unexpected "free" money? Spend it on the truck of course!

After the tax man, I had about $2500 to spend. I knew the brakes needed help and since I never tried to do it all on my own (and not wanting to get it wrong, the consequences didn't seem appealing to me), I got the brakes all done. All new rear stuff - drums, pads, wheel cylinders, hoses, etc. New master cylinder as well.

The engine has been running rough but didn't have time to dive deep into it, seemed like a fuel problem though. So, off it went to the carb shop. The brake mechanic couldn't get it running well enough to drive it down there, even though it was only three blocks away. Thanks AAA!

The carb guru Bill (who told me nicely that he hates the EEC-IV system with a passion) went to work. You may recall I put a new mechanical pump, and put a pass-through electric pump in as well to help starts after sitting for a long time... well, the new mechanical pump had suction and pressure, but no volume. Bill said that was very odd, he's never seen that before. Anyway, new pump, by passing the electric just to reduce variables. It ran much better, but still had some surging occasionally. Bill said the system runs so lean for smog that he has seen this before. He put a larger jet in, and the surging went away. He also cleaned the carb out and replaced the stepper motor that he said was "in pieces". He made the persistent hesitation off the line better, but its still there. He says it is a function of the EGR (which is also new, Motorcraft part) opening up and the existing exhaust gases leaning the mixture too much when first hitting the throttle... opinions/ideas welcome there. But, the truck is behaving much better.

Got the truck smogged - passed! I immediately hit the DMV and got it registered. Now I'm good for two years, and I intend to drive it more often to keep things happy.

I noticed my turn directionals weren't working... I put a new flasher in and it's better but it also may be related to the position ignition switch. One time after replacing the flasher, the directionals didn't work until I moved the ignition slightly. FWIW, other things like the gauges etc are working ok. I know this type of thing has been a problem for many, so I'll read those threads. I also need a new starter solenoid (PO stripped the threads on the positive side), I'll post a question about that in another thread.

There are some more things but I'll write about those later. I hope everyone has a good Christmas!

[grumpin]

Ok, so a fairly big update to put here! Short version: Truck is back on the road, but more layers of the onion still.

Longer version: I was at AWS re:Invent a few weeks ago in Vegas. While I was there, I was supposed to meet some colleagues at a restaraunt. I got there 30 mins early, so I had some time to kill. Even knowing the odds, I gambled a bit. I ended up hitting $4,000 on a slot machine. So of course, what do you do with unexpected "free" money? Spend it on the truck of course!

After the tax man, I had about $2500 to spend. I knew the brakes needed help and since I never tried to do it all on my own (and not wanting to get it wrong, the consequences didn't seem appealing to me), I got the brakes all done. All new rear stuff - drums, pads, wheel cylinders, hoses, etc. New master cylinder as well.

The engine has been running rough but didn't have time to dive deep into it, seemed like a fuel problem though. So, off it went to the carb shop. The brake mechanic couldn't get it running well enough to drive it down there, even though it was only three blocks away. Thanks AAA!

The carb guru Bill (who told me nicely that he hates the EEC-IV system with a passion) went to work. You may recall I put a new mechanical pump, and put a pass-through electric pump in as well to help starts after sitting for a long time... well, the new mechanical pump had suction and pressure, but no volume. Bill said that was very odd, he's never seen that before. Anyway, new pump, by passing the electric just to reduce variables. It ran much better, but still had some surging occasionally. Bill said the system runs so lean for smog that he has seen this before. He put a larger jet in, and the surging went away. He also cleaned the carb out and replaced the stepper motor that he said was "in pieces". He made the persistent hesitation off the line better, but its still there. He says it is a function of the EGR (which is also new, Motorcraft part) opening up and the existing exhaust gases leaning the mixture too much when first hitting the throttle... opinions/ideas welcome there. But, the truck is behaving much better.

Got the truck smogged - passed! I immediately hit the DMV and got it registered. Now I'm good for two years, and I intend to drive it more often to keep things happy.

I noticed my turn directionals weren't working... I put a new flasher in and it's better but it also may be related to the position ignition switch. One time after replacing the flasher, the directionals didn't work until I moved the ignition slightly. FWIW, other things like the gauges etc are working ok. I know this type of thing has been a problem for many, so I'll read those threads. I also need a new starter solenoid (PO stripped the threads on the positive side), I'll post a question about that in another thread.

There are some more things but I'll write about those later. I hope everyone has a good Christmas!

Good news! Have fun driving it!

[ckuske]

Good news! Have fun driving it!

Thanks! Next project is to take the bed off, paint the frame on the rear half of the truck (waiting for Eastwood, they are out of stock for the paint I use at the moment), and it needs a new pinion seal on the diff. Then hopefully Santa brings some interior parts, like door panels etc.