lumbee1
Native American
I've got several issues with the Cruiser that I need some advice/assistance with. After swapping the U-joints out last week, I've noticed the truck isn't running as smoothly. When I dropped the driveshaft, I marked everything with Whiteout to make sure I put it back in the same way. U-joints went it great and my marks lined up perfectly. I drove it last week to make sure the driveline was smooth. I noticed a slight stumble/vibration at all speeds both on and off the accelerator. The condition of the drive surface didn't seem to make a difference and I continued to drive it hoping it would either get better or worse.
Today, I was planning to drive the Cruiser to see if things had changed. When I started it up, the idle was not smooth and driving to the bus stop I noticed the same stumble/vibration. What I thought was the driveshaft, could have been a slight misfire. After the kids got on the bus, I drove it around the block to try and warm the engine up. The stumble/vibration seemed to be more pronounced and idle was not smooth. By the time I got the truck back home, the idle was indicating something was definitely wrong with little jumps in the tach.
From my experience, I like to think of components as part of a system. In my case the fuel delivery system and the engine electrical system would cause my problem. I don't think this is fuel related and so I'm concentrating my focus on the electrical system.
The Cruiser is not driven often but within the last 12 months, I've replaced the TPS, sparkplugs, and rotor. I cleaned the dizzy cap and the throttle body. I will be pulling the plugs to examine them hopefully tonight. My plug wires look fine but the outside doesn't really give a good view of the inside. Is there a test for the wires or should I just replace them? Vacuum lines are fine. PCV needs to be replaced.
BTW, 2 months ago while driving down the hightway I lost spark/fuel to cylinder 4. The truck was running rough. I got off the highway and took back roads home. As I turned into my neighborhood, the truck started running fine. I pulled codes to determine it was a misfire on 4. It has never happened again but I thought I should throw that out there.
Is there anything I should look at?
Today, I was planning to drive the Cruiser to see if things had changed. When I started it up, the idle was not smooth and driving to the bus stop I noticed the same stumble/vibration. What I thought was the driveshaft, could have been a slight misfire. After the kids got on the bus, I drove it around the block to try and warm the engine up. The stumble/vibration seemed to be more pronounced and idle was not smooth. By the time I got the truck back home, the idle was indicating something was definitely wrong with little jumps in the tach.
From my experience, I like to think of components as part of a system. In my case the fuel delivery system and the engine electrical system would cause my problem. I don't think this is fuel related and so I'm concentrating my focus on the electrical system.
The Cruiser is not driven often but within the last 12 months, I've replaced the TPS, sparkplugs, and rotor. I cleaned the dizzy cap and the throttle body. I will be pulling the plugs to examine them hopefully tonight. My plug wires look fine but the outside doesn't really give a good view of the inside. Is there a test for the wires or should I just replace them? Vacuum lines are fine. PCV needs to be replaced.
BTW, 2 months ago while driving down the hightway I lost spark/fuel to cylinder 4. The truck was running rough. I got off the highway and took back roads home. As I turned into my neighborhood, the truck started running fine. I pulled codes to determine it was a misfire on 4. It has never happened again but I thought I should throw that out there.
Is there anything I should look at?
