A tale of woe...one bad shop and now, problems

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CrzrGuinevere

CrzrGuinevere

Joined
Apr 24, 2025
Threads
10
Messages
134
Location
Eastern WA
I'll try to keep this short, but I need to rant as I am still angry. Took my '94 into a shop that was recommended by a friend. I brought it in, as I wanted a minor power steering leak mended from when I bought my truck. Life has been busy with my 3 yr old and it was my last leak I just wanted it quickly. I knew it would take me a bit to do myself. Granted, I should have taken more time to confirm the exact location of the leak as I didn't know if it was the high pressure lines or from the reservoir, etc.
The shop looked at it and said the leak was actually coming from my distributor. I thought it was odd for that, but again I didn't get a chance confirm pink power steering fluid or just oil. So I thought maybe I missed something else. Shop replaced my distributor and suddenly I had issues with rough idle, and engine not running properly; check engine light went on for the first time. Thankfully, I was able to get my most of my money back from the crappy shop after berating them for the shoddy work. I was able to get my OEM distributor back in, timing and all is good. Idle is still rough....and now I still have a check engine light. And after I was able to confirm my leak is power steering from the feed line. At least I have the o-ring to eventually get that fixed myself.

So my frustration continues and I'm out money for something that didn't need to be done. And I now I will have additional issues to chase down that I didn't have. Looks like my truck will be sitting a bit until I can figure these out. I've only had my rig since August, so I wanted to just get some things mended and enjoy driving it, but until I can get an OBD1 reader and figure this out I guess I'm screwed. My list for 2026 on my truck just got longer.

Rant over.
 
The obd1 reader is a paper clip literally,
revbeard

Thread '1994 check engine light.'

I just moved to New Hampshire, and it has become Winter. I noticed the check engine light come on and a distinct smell of burning tires, or brakes or something burning. Also the idle has becoming very erratic. I understand there is no simple diagnostic port on a 94. What should I do to begin diagnosing the problem? Thanks for any help
 
What did the shop tell you they did, exactly?
What distributor did they use to replace the original, used OEM, new OEM, aftermarket??
Did they replace the distributor cap/rotor/O-ring, spark plug wires while it was apart?
 
Do you have a FSM to trouble shoot yourself and we can help you along the way!
If you do not check the resources section and download it for free. It is very helpful at troubleshooting if you follow the steps and lists the codes.
 
Kernal said:
What did the shop tell you they did, exactly?
What distributor did they use to replace the original, used OEM, new OEM, aftermarket??
Did they replace the distributor cap/rotor/O-ring, spark plug wires while it was apart?
Click to expand...
They replaced the entire distributor with a crappy aftermarket one. Had issues not long after I left their shop.
 
Fj80oregon said:
Do you have a FSM to trouble shoot yourself and we can help you along the way!
If you do not check the resources section and download it for free. It is very helpful at troubleshooting if you follow the steps and lists the codes.
Click to expand...
I do have the downloaded FSM. I've started going through that. Initially was seeing what to check for the low idle I was experiencing initially, but that was before things got worse with the idle and general driving.
Fj80oregon said:
How do you know timing is good? Checked your self with the diagnostic port jumped on E1 to TE1 with the “code reader” paperclip in place.
Click to expand...
I had my local Aamco shop check the timing once the OEM distributor was back in. I should have taken it to them first, probably would not have any of these new issues.
 
Probably coincidence, but since this issue my speedometer needle doesn't want to work initially....after a few minutes of driving it has kicked in again. Hopefully my little red truck isn't on a slow track to dying. It does have 327,3xx on it
 
Did you reset the codes and then have them come back or are they possible remnants from an issue you've now resolved? I think that leaving the battery disconnected for a while is one way to reset the codes, but I'm not an ODB1 expert to know how long that takes or if there are easier (jumper based?) options.

With the changes you've made though I'd want to be sure about the timing and plug wire functionality/routing then I'd want to reset the codes and only deal with symptoms/codes that remain from there.

If it makes you feel better many of us live with small leaks for years. They are rust prevention, ongoing fluid refreshes or whatever you need to tell yourself to ignore them so that you can keep up with your overly full schedule (3 year old!).

Good luck
 
jpoole said:
Did you reset the codes and then have them come back or are they possible remnants from an issue you've now resolved? I think that leaving the battery disconnected for a while is one way to reset the codes, but I'm not an ODB1 expert to know how long that takes or if there are easier (jumper based?) options.

With the changes you've made though I'd want to be sure about the timing and plug wire functionality/routing then I'd want to reset the codes and only deal with symptoms/codes that remain from there.

If it makes you feel better many of us live with small leaks for years. They are rust prevention, ongoing fluid refreshes or whatever you need to tell yourself to ignore them so that you can keep up with your overly full schedule (3 year old!).

Good luck
Click to expand...
I'll look to resetting it and see if the CEL comes back on. Yea, i should have just left it as it was and I wouldn't be in this new mess. I'll be leaving the power steering alone for a while.
At the moment, It "feels" a little less responsive in first gear when I get going, bit that is just a feeling.

Hopefully it'll run for a good while longer. I know the kiddo loves to ride in her "red cruiser".
 
ajax1 said:
You know that if the battery was disconnected the truck has to relearn idle. I would check timing then run it through some cycles. My 94 seems to take longer then my obd2 trucks
Click to expand...
I didn't realize that about the battery. I did just install a new battery a couple weeks ago. Only driven the truck 3-4 times since. The first time the CEL came on it cleared a few minutes later.
 
ajax1 said:
You know that if the battery was disconnected the truck has to relearn idle. I would check timing then run it through some cycles. My 94 seems to take longer then my obd2 trucks
Click to expand...
This....you do need to drive it a bit as the idle will be low after the ECU reset (battery disconnected). Usually 10-15 minutes of driving around town and then a higher speed pull is good. A couple of key cycles is good too with some driving in between (not just start and shut down/restart). You'll notice the idle coming up as you drive and come to stops and all is good if the truck is happy (no actual issues, just ECU learn).

And the paper clip/count the flashes method is all that you need to read codes. Unfortunately OBD1 is pretty basic on where this could point to, but helpful if you do follow the FSM.

And sorry for your issues...it's frustrating when a shop can't handle basic stuff like this, and on top of that, leave you with a rig that runs worse when you pick it up than when you left it. I do pretty much everything myself unless I do not have the tools (mainly tire mount/balance and alignment only).
 
FWIW, the '93 and '94 ECM resets itself after the problem which caused the DTC is corrected.
 
CrabCake said:
This....you do need to drive it a bit as the idle will be low after the ECU reset (battery disconnected). Usually 10-15 minutes of driving around town and then a higher speed pull is good. A couple of key cycles is good too with some driving in between (not just start and shut down/restart). You'll notice the idle coming up as you drive and come to stops and all is good if the truck is happy (no actual issues, just ECU learn).

And the paper clip/count the flashes method is all that you need to read codes. Unfortunately OBD1 is pretty basic on where this could point to, but helpful if you do follow the FSM.

And sorry for your issues...it's frustrating when a shop can't handle basic stuff like this, and on top of that, leave you with a rig that runs worse when you pick it up than when you left it. I do pretty much everything myself unless I do not have the tools (mainly tire mount/balance and alignment only).
Click to expand...
I'll drive it a bit and see how it goes. Hopefully it starts to feel like it did before this fiasco. I'll be attempting to do work myself from here out. I just don't have a lot of the tools. I am hoping maybe I can find some like minded Cruiser folks near me too. It's such a reliable engine, I just don't want this to compromise that. At some point I'm sure it'll need a rebuild or swap, but was hoping that was further down the road.
 
try contacting @Fj80oregon
 
CrzrGuinevere said:
I'll drive it a bit and see how it goes. Hopefully it starts to feel like it did before this fiasco. I'll be attempting to do work myself from here out. I just don't have a lot of the tools. I am hoping maybe I can find some like minded Cruiser folks near me too. It's such a reliable engine, I just don't want this to compromise that. At some point I'm sure it'll need a rebuild or swap, but was hoping that was further down the road.
Click to expand...
Do this: get a repair quote, and then price out the tools you need to do the job. Usually, the savings from DIY cover the tools, which you'll then have forever.
 
Theres a dongle called TOYOBD1 and their 1st gen dongles called Toyocomm reads the CEL codes as well as all the sensors at the tip of your fingers through their free Apps.
Search MUD "Toyobd1" and sometimes you get lucky soneone is getting rid if theirs.
The newer Toyobd1 only reads sensors but not CEL codes.

OBD1READ with Bare wires

zf-scantools.com zf-scantools.com
 
landtank said:
Go back and recheck you distributor. You can be a tooth off and still be in timing and the truck will not run right.
Click to expand...
I'm going to hope when my trustworthy shop reinstalled, it was done properly. I feel like I'd screw it up worse if I fiddled with it.
 
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